~Chapter 31~
‘You know I’m the High Priest, don’t you? Winston told you everything, right?’ His cold gaze and attitude seemed to ask just that, making her heart lurch.
Adeline held the teacup to her lips with an expression of feigned ignorance.
“At the palace banquet, you mentioned I was wearing a low-ranking priest’s robe.”
Ethan’s friend, who worked at the temple, held a low rank but assisted high-ranking priests. He wouldn’t have given her wrong information.
‘Is he wary because he remembers the fuss I caused at the banquet? Or is he acting this way because of our encounter at the auction house?’
It would be nice to know which one had Theodor so on edge. While Adeline pondered, another icy voice rang out.
“Since things have come to this, I should be honest first.”
“Please feel free to speak.”
“I don’t want any tiresome misunderstandings either.”
“Misunderstandings?”
“I wore the low-ranking priest’s robe to move around more comfortably.”
“Wait a moment!”
As if something had occurred to her, Adeline raised her left hand. Theodor, who had unconsciously widened his eyes, narrowed them sharply again.
“What is it?”
“I thought about it, and if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”
“……?”
“Just tell me what you’d like me to call you, and I’ll pretend I don’t know anything else.”
Theodor’s eyes, which had only been cold, wavered.
There was no benefit in openly showing that she knew about ‘his disgrace at the banquet’ or ‘his visit to the auction house.’ Sometimes, pretending not to know, even when you do, is more advantageous.
“Everything must have its reason, I’m sure.”
“Are you sincere?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve encountered countless people who only pay lip service.”
“That’s something you’ll gradually realize by watching me.”
“…….”
“And I don’t like nitpicking every little thing. I prefer to think the other person has their own reasons and let it go. Call it the magnanimity of an adult, I suppose.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m the eldest at home.”
Adeline knows he is the High Priest, and Theodor knows that Adeline knows his true identity. It was information neither needed to voice aloud.
“You can call me Theo.”
“Alright, Theo-nim.”
Theodor stared sharply at Adeline, still seeming uneasy. Though she felt his piercing sharpness, Adeline smiled more warmly than usual.
‘If I’m this tactful with a potential lifelong VIP client, we probably won’t become enemies, right?’
Theodor was a man who would become Pope in the future. While marriage was legally prohibited, it was common for high-ranking clergy to secretly have lovers.
Adeline envisioned her business expanding into the Holy Kingdom, rather than dwelling on his minor scandals.
‘This time, I will not die and will definitely walk the proper flower path.’
She barely suppressed the urge to hum. Then, she noticed Theodor fanning himself with his hand. His flushed face looked somehow uncomfortable.
“The weather seems to be getting hotter lately. You feel it too, don’t you, Theo-nim?”
Adeline got up and opened the window wider. A cooler breeze than before rushed forcefully through the window.
“Miss Adeline, you are excessively kind.”
“I’m not as kind as you might think. It just happens to be a bit hot for me too, so I did that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Of course, I might be a bit kind to those who deserve kindness.”
Theodor, leaning against the windowsill, was flushed from his face to his neck. Adeline studied him carefully before sitting back down.
Theodor swallowed his tea a few more times and ruffled his hair. During a brief, heavy silence, he lowered his head, clenching and unclenching his fist.
“Actually…”
“……?”
“My words of gratitude for the painting were just an excuse to call you here.”
It had been strange from the start that Theodor, rather than the priest in charge of donations, had come to her. That he had invited her here for himself was completely unexpected.
“I had no choice but to pretend not to know you at the auction house. Though I’m sure it sounds like an excuse.”
“No, not at all. Priests probably don’t frequent auction houses often, so it’s understandable. I barely remember that day anyway.”
“My plan was, if problems ever arose later about the temple’s presence at the auction, to pin it all on a single low-ranking priest.”
‘Why is he telling me this?’
“Living life, I’ve found incidents and accidents always follow similar patterns. When a big issue explodes, you set off another one to wrap things up at an acceptable level.”
“…….”
“I suppose that’s just typical human affairs.”
It *had* been strange. He went to the auction not in plain clothes, but openly in a low-ranking priest’s robe.
Looking back, in the past when an incident occurred, they pinned everything on one low-ranking priest and expelled him, and the temple’s financial issues quietly disappeared. By framing it as the act of a single low-ranking priest, the entire temple avoided a major blow.
‘Just how many steps ahead is he planning?’
This man might be more dangerous than I thought.
Suddenly, Theodor seemed like a cunning figure who would stop at nothing for power.
Not minding the means to get what you want isn’t bad, but that’s only true when the other person is on your side.
“Still, it’s fortunate.”
“……?”
“That this time, such measures won’t be necessary. Since you donated that painting, Miss Adeline, it seems bad things won’t happen.”
‘I hope *I* don’t become the dangerous one.’
An inexplicable unease washed over her. But all Adeline could do was pretend hard not to know, not to understand.
“That’s a relief. I don’t fully understand, but it’s good to hear nothing bad will happen.”
Theodor nodded. His gaze turned cold again as he continued.
“Originally, that painting was one my eldest brother ordered to be purchased.”
‘So it was a direct order from the Pope.’
“He said to buy the painting to apply appropriate pressure, since it’s unclear who will become Emperor right now.”
Adeline couldn’t even nod, merely listening silently to his words.
“It might seem insignificant, but it’s a political show. The moment it gives off the feeling that the temple has openly taken someone’s side, the likelihood of mutual conflict increases.”
Openly hanging a painting in the temple that the Blackwood Grand Duchy was rumored to covet was a form of political provocation.
Adeline wasn’t unaware. She just hadn’t been overly concerned, knowing Winston wasn’t the type to be shaken by such things.
“The Holy Kingdom benefits when the Imperial family and Blackwood are not on good terms.”
“…….”
“His Grace, the Grand Duke of Blackwood, doesn’t seem to care at all.”
‘Winston is originally the inattentive type.’
She thought so, but Adeline couldn’t bring herself to say it outright.
Winston was like that with everything. He rarely showed interest or enthusiasm easily. He had never craved or passionately desired anything…
‘Let’s not think about it.’
The image of the man who had caught and wouldn’t let her go at the Grand Blacktree Hotel floated before her eyes, forcing Adeline to snap back to attention.
“That aside, Theo-nim, is it really alright for you to tell me these things?”
“Originally, it’s not.”
“Then I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”
When you hear something you shouldn’t, the best policy is to stay quiet and think, ‘I have no ears.’
Theodor stared at Adeline with wide eyes. He fidgeted with his hands, then drank his tea repeatedly.
When she saw him in the hall, no, even when she first entered the room, Theodor had acted coldly.
‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’
Adeline couldn’t tell if Theodor was uncomfortable with her or if he had something he wanted to say. She waited quietly. With the heart of wanting to resolve any discomfort for her potential VIP client.
“Miss Adeline.”
“Yes, Theo-nim.”
Theodor, who took several deep breaths, clearly looked uncomfortable to anyone. Adeline found this side of Theodor, so different from her past lives, unfamiliar. But he had also shown that puppy-like side at the palace banquet, so it wasn’t entirely strange.
‘Is this just how the youngest siblings are?’
Luca often made sharp, fierce expressions too, but would soon become cute again. Moreover, in her past lives, she had never talked with Theodor for this long.
Just as Adeline’s thoughts drifted to wondering what cute Luca might be doing, Theodor’s voice was heard.
“Miss Adeline.”
He looked much stranger than before. His lips, trembling and parting several times, seemed precarious. As if stifled, he tugged at the collar of his clothes.
The words that came from his lips, which he had been fanning with his hand, made Adeline’s eyes blink blankly.
“Why did you undress me that day?”
