Chapter 107…………………………….
“Um, I heard the Saint was married once before, is that true?”
“…What?”
The Saint faltered for a moment. It was an excessively rude question for a mere guide to ask.
Naturally, Bernadette drew her sword and leveled it at Nicholas immediately.
“How rude!”
The horses snorted and halted in surprise. Nicholas, startled, held up his hands.
“My apologies — I only meant—”
“I don’t care about your excuses. Dismount and kneel to apologize this instant!”
In the end, Nicholas had no choice but to get down from his horse and apologize. Yannick beside him did the same.
“We’re sorry. We were wrong!”
The Saint forced a smile and said it was alright.
Still, for the two days and nights it took to reach Saruin after that, Nicholas couldn’t bring himself to speak to the Saint again.
“Why would you blurt something like that out? Geez…” Yannick clicked his tongue, embarrassed on Nicholas’s behalf. Nicholas clenched his jaw.
“Well, it’s the sort of thing that would naturally come up once we reached Saruin.”
“Still… that story about the Saint being a kidnapped bride is well known. That can’t be a pleasant memory — why bring it up?” Yannick added.
Of course Nicholas knew that story too: Erishi Ahen, who had been kidnapped by the devil’s spawn, endured the trial, and became a Saint.
‘Adem — that damned fool.’
Watching Saruin draw closer, Nicholas sighed.
‘What on earth is he plotting?’
He’d expected Adem to return to Poldenbach, but Adem had suddenly announced he would remain in Til Neve Cedric, left it at that, and vanished somewhere.
Before leaving, he had begged Nicholas repeatedly to help when the time came.
Nicholas had been shocked to learn the Saint was somehow involved and initially refused.
But he’d learned things during that time, and eventually had no choice but to tell Adem, “All right.”
‘Still — if you’re plotting something, the least you could do is tell me a little about it.’
Adem had said, “Just do the task I’ve set,” but Nicholas felt as if he was walking a tightrope.
Now that he’d been silenced like this, if whatever Adem was planning went wrong…
‘Our trading company would be finished…’
Nicholas tore at his hair. Yannick, who was riding ahead, looked back and clicked his tongue. “You barely have any hair to begin with; don’t rip the rest out.”
But once they actually arrived in Saruin, it was Bernadette who regretted it.
‘Damn. I should’ve listened to that merchant.’
And with good cause.
“We have no interest in hearing stories about the Poldenbach Emperor.”
Persmatra, the forty-fourth, wearing a sullen face, said that bluntly to Bernadette when they met in Saruin.
“Wait, Persmatra!”
“This sudden visit is inconvenient. We’ll set a date and summon you — please rest.”
And with that one sentence, the reception room door slammed shut. Bernadette could only stare at it, stunned.
In the end, the two men from the Atheist Trading Company and the Saint, and the Poldenbach delegation led by Bernadette, had no choice but to sit together in the Saint’s guest chamber.
At least the Saint was from Poldenbach; they had the courtesy to give them a guest room.
“So here’s the thing…” Nicholas said bitterly, licking his lips.
“Duke Racheize’s dealings did a lot for Saruin.”
Everyone from Poldenbach knew that Duke Racheize had opened trade with Til Neve Cedric during his glorious expedition. But the full story wasn’t widely known.
“Hmm, should I even say this? It’s gossip about the high and mighty…”
“If it’s Duke Racheize, he’s already fallen from power back home, so there should be no risk to you,” Bernadette said sharply when Nicholas hesitated. Nicholas just rolled his eyes.
“I only have one life, too…”
“What do you want?” Bernadette asked.
“In case things go wrong, swear on your liege that you’ll protect the lives of our company men.”
“How presumptuous!”
To swear on the liege a knight serves is to pledge one’s life that an oath will be upheld — a matter not to be tossed about lightly. Bernadette’s hand went to her scabbard; Nicholas said, “Oh dear,” and prepared to flee.
The Emperor’s envoy, watching, stopped Bernadette.
“Please don’t. Right now they need us more than we need them.”
“…”
Bernadette glared but swore nonetheless.
“By the Absolute I serve, I swear I will once protect the lives of you — no, your company’s men.”
“Thank you!” Nicholas bowed deeply. The Emperor’s envoy blinked in surprise.
‘Don’t most people swear by His Majesty the Emperor in situations like this…?’
Whatever the custom, having extracted the oath, Nicholas spilled the truth: Duke Racheize had been laundering Poldenbach coin fervently in Til Neve Cedric at that time.
The Saint, who had been quietly observing, was taken aback at the term.
“Laundering…?”
“The Duke lacked goods but had coin. He would take Poldenbach coin, buy goods in Til Neve Cedric at the same face value, then sell them back to Til Neve Cedric — and receive purer coin in return. That way he could profit without paying taxes.”
Til Neve Cedric’s coin was much purer than Poldenbach’s.
Bernadette and the others hadn’t known, but what Lahan had been doing in Til Neve Cedric besides the spice trade was precisely this: Duke Racheize laundered his coin in Til Neve Cedric, and while he was at it he massively expanded trade with Til Neve Cedric.
“And who benefited most from those trades was Saruin.”
“Why is that?”
“Saruin is more material-poor than other places. Naturally, Duke Racheize poured a lot of supplies into Saruin — at cheap prices.”
The Emperor’s envoy and Bernadette both pressed their hands to their foreheads. Saruin had reason to be hostile to the Poldenbach Emperor.
After the Emperor’s rise, the trade ships of Duke Racheize had all been sold off cheaply to others.
And since the Emperor never paid Til Neve Cedric much attention, trade volumes with Saruin would have shrunk compared to before, leaving them in a difficult position.
Besides, the Duke had paid much higher prices for Saruin’s saffron than anywhere else — Saruin would understandably resent the Emperor.
“That’s not all.”
“What else?”
Nicholas rolled his eyes and spoke a line that stunned everyone present.
“Duke Racheize swore that, if he ever became Emperor, he would marry the governor’s daughter of Saruin.”
The Saint was so surprised she parted her lips slightly.
“The… Duke said that…?”
“Didn’t he mean the governor’s son?” Bernadette interjected. Nicholas shook his head.
“No — the daughter.”
“But they’re both women.”
“Forgive me, but everyone here has been to Til Neve Cedric; you know how things are there.” Nicholas’s comment made people look at one another. The Emperor’s envoy spoke in a dispirited tone.
“I’ve heard of men keeping male concubines, or women keeping female concubines….”
“You can’t say that out loud. Not here in Til Neve Cedric.”
Nicholas declared gravely.
“In Til Neve Cedric they bless unions of all kinds — not just man and woman, but all human pairings.”
So how did the Saint’s marriage or not relate to Duke Racheize’s attempt at a same-sex political alliance?
“Persmatra will likely propose a marriage alliance to the Saint again. He probably thinks it’s the strongest form of alliance Poldenbach has.”
Everyone’s expressions turned awkward. Only the Saint blinked, murmuring, “Oh my.”
Needless to say, when Elio Poldenbach heard what Bernadette had told him, his face contorted.
[I never thought my sister was this insane.]
Til Neve Cedric allowed polygyny or polyandry only in cases where a heir could not be produced.
When Poldenbach people first heard that rule, they didn’t think much of it.
But that “inability to bear an heir” meant…
[If a man takes a male spouse, or a woman takes a female spouse…]
“My apologies, but that is how it is.”
If the Eridrahan Church were to find out, it would erupt.
