To successfully make her son the emperor, Empress Cleo had allied with various factions behind the scenes. During the last offering ceremony, she had honored a request from one of them by sprinkling a special blood on the holy relic that they had provided. To others, she had simply claimed to use animal blood, pushing the point that the royal family shouldn’t have to keep shedding their own blood. In reality, no one knew exactly “what kind” of animal blood it was.
Whether for good or for bad, the offering ceremony itself was completed, but all sorts of dreadful things happened afterward. The South was known as the most bountiful land in the Empire. It was difficult to influence the North Temple, which was close to the Castrain family, so the Empress had put a lot of effort into planting her forces specifically in the South Temple. When she had sent Prince Brian there in person, she had delivered so many valuables in crates that it was enough to make even Kronen, who was used to luxury goods, gasp in admiration.
That was why Kronen had turned a blind eye to such a dangerous act. However, because of the unseasonal natural disasters and poor harvests that followed, bad rumors had spread. People whispered that it was because Prince Brian, who was not yet the emperor, had arbitrarily changed the traditions of the ceremony, causing misfortune, and the temple had stood by and done nothing. No matter how shameless his face and flexible his tongue, it was something that even Kronen couldn’t help but be concerned about. It was related to his own position, after all, and he didn’t want to lose his place as the head of the Southern Temple.
Now they were asking him to cause trouble again, and there was no way Kronen was pleased.
“Tsk, no matter how noble Her Majesty the Empress is, the temple only follows the name of the gods. The rumors about the last offering ceremony were already bad; are you telling me to tarnish the temple’s name with my own hands this time, too?”
“Are you saying you’ll ignore Her Majesty the Empress’s orders? How much grace has she bestowed upon this temple?!”
“Augh, tsk…” Kronen clicked his tongue. He turned his head away from the agitated Gregory as if to mock him and deeply inhaled the scent from the censer once more.
Kronen didn’t wear humble, high-end clothes like Marjid did. The South was a wealthy city, where merchants came and went every day, buying and selling all kinds of precious goods. In such a place, even if you claimed to live an upright life, wearing nice clothes would often make you the target of ridicule. Of course, he pretended to live a clean life while secretly accepting bribes, but there was a big difference between going through the motions and not bothering at all. Was there a need to openly show off in front of others?
In that sense, Kronen’s hobby was incense. His hobby was to enjoy a rare scent in a sealed room, a scent so rare it would take ten times its weight in gold to purchase a single handful. No matter how much incense he enjoyed in his private space, if he ventilated it properly, it would leave no trace. That was his motto: to be able to easily withdraw from any situation, no matter what he was planning.
In that regard… Kronen narrowed his eyes as if to size up his opponent.
“Isn’t it enough to humiliate that girl in a way that doesn’t tarnish the temple’s name? Perhaps because you’re a knight, Sir, you’re… a bit too inflexible.”
Gregory’s eyes widened at Kronen’s words. “So, what you’re saying is…”
“Where is this? It’s Artura. There are many rich people, many merchants, many beggars… and many thieves.”
Gregory turned ashen and exclaimed, having understood Kronen’s meaning. “N-now, if that happens, I am the head of the security detail! I will be blamed…!”
“So, did Her Majesty the Empress say that I should be blamed? What good would gold do me if I were to be dismissed from this position?”
Gregory glared at Kronen. All this was similar to a butterfly effect caused by the recent falling out between High Priest Marjid and Empress Cleo, who had been on good terms before. Kronen was a prominent member of the noble faction and naturally sided with High Priest Marjid, who was the head of the noble faction within the temple. Kronen had always offered Marjid bribes, asking him to look out for him behind the scenes.
If it were last year when Brian had come in person and their relationship was still good, it would be another story. But their relationship had already soured; was he supposed to risk everything again? It was a preposterous idea. Gregory’s face darkened as he said, “…Her Majesty the Empress said she would try to have you ascend to the position of high priest instead of Marjid if you handle this well.”
“Tsk! Nonsense.” Kronen snorted.
‘That’ Marjid and the Empress had both been humiliated. Just hearing that made him think that the youngest princess, who had suddenly allied with the Castrain family and started running amok, must be quite the schemer…
“To begin with, unlike last year, Lisianthus, the second son of the Castrain family, is here as that princess’s guard. Last year, he picked fights with her at every turn because he didn’t like her, but you were the one who told me that he’s taking a lot of care with the princess this time.”
“…” Gregory frowned.
“You expect me to pull off something you don’t even know how to do yourself? I’m not a fool.”
“I didn’t want to say this.”
“What?”
“Her Majesty the Empress said that since you have no grasp of your place, she told me to remind you of it once more.”
“What is this sudden rudeness…!”
“She knows about the mistress and child you have secretly hidden in the capital.”
“…!”
Kronen’s face hardened.
Those who had devoted themselves to God were forbidden from marrying. Of course, it was no problem if you left the religion. The number of people who had been priests in the past but had returned to secular life was not small. It wasn’t impossible to become a priest even if you already had a child by cutting ties with your family.
However, Kronen had no intention of abandoning his holy position. High-ranking clergy would often secretly have mistresses. However, they would never have a child. While you could deny having met someone, a child was a different matter… if you didn’t get rid of it, you would have no choice but to give up your position as a priest.
But Kronen didn’t want to get rid of his child. In fact, he had a grand dream. If he could succeed and become the high priest after Marjid, and then the Holy Pontiff, how wonderful would it be to have his child enter the priesthood and slowly rise in rank to take his place after him? He was originally born into a humble noble family. Wasn’t this a much more noble life than the power, honor, or money he could have obtained from his birth?
He knew better than anyone that this was his weakness. He had even kept it a secret from Marjid. It had been years since he had last seen his child’s face. How could she possibly know?
“You fool! Her Majesty the Empress wouldn’t have entrusted you with something as big as the offering ceremony without thinking about the future.”
The Empress was shrewd. Of course, there were times she had to be the subordinate, but there was no way she didn’t know how to handle someone like Kronen or what his mindset was. The mindsets and desires of those who longed for a higher position were generally similar.
Gregory drove the point home to the flustered Kronen. “Remember! Her Majesty the Empress is furious. Fine, if it’s so difficult to use the offering ceremony as a trap, then use another method! Somehow, you have to get your hands on the princess!”
“…Understood,” Kronen spat out his words, with the murky and sticky eyes of livestock who had spent their lives with a knife to their throat, only to finally realize a shackle had been placed on their own neck.
“You said you wouldn’t make me do anything dangerous?”
Barbara had the face of a child forced to swallow bitter medicine. It made sense. Barbara was a veteran maid despite her age. If she hadn’t come with me, the Empress would have probably forced another lady-in-waiting on me. It was to be expected. For the sake of appearances, a member of the imperial family never received a letter with their own hands, so they needed a lady-in-waiting who could act on their behalf if they couldn’t make a judgment or if there was a problem.
However, this time I didn’t have to deal with such a high-ranking noble, and since I was young, there was no point in forcing an older lady-in-waiting on me, so I was content with just Barbara. But I had just told her that she would be separated from me, so it made sense for her to look like that. Still…
Debbie was sent by the Castrain family, and strictly speaking, her role was not that of a maid but for other duties. And it was dangerous to take Barbara to where I was going…
For a combination of reasons, Barbara was now taking my place. I fiddled with the wig that Barbara had been given and deliberately smiled brightly.
