A Petty Quibble

Although there are some differences depending on the country or ethnicity, there is one common element in engagements or marriages.

That is none other than expressing gratitude to God and seeking permission.

Here, “God” varies by region, such as the World Tree Yggdrasil of the World Tree Church, or spirits in spirit beliefs.

Of course, the largest proportion is occupied by none other than the World Tree Church.

As a religion widely spread throughout the continent, there is a ceremony where one goes to the church to express gratitude and seek permission from God for marriage or engagement.

Of course, in the beginning, they might have actually performed such ceremonies, but this ceremony has long since become merely a formality.

Even if one seeks permission from God, there’s no way God would actually answer, so one just expresses gratitude to God at the church and seeks permission, and the priest simply says something like “God has granted permission”… and that’s it.

These days, there are even cases where people don’t even go to church and just pretend they did, which says it all.

The reason this topic suddenly came up was because the World Tree Church had used this to cause trouble.

Yes, using this ceremony that had already become outdated and meaningless.

Riel and I had completed the engagement ceremony and left the count’s territory to return to the royal capital.

Although we had returned, there was still some time before the academy reopened, and many students besides us had returned to the dormitories early to prepare for the second semester.

During this pre-semester period, there was a being who had become popular among the academy girls.

“Auwa!!”

“Kyaaaa! So cute!”

“Is this the Wentos family’s youngest sibling? So adorable!”

None other than Sirr, who had followed us to the royal capital.

We had explained her as a child born after I came to the academy, who had become too attached to Riel when she visited the count’s territory, and cried when they tried to separate, so we had to bring her along.

Coincidentally, her hair color was the same shade of green as my mother’s, making such an explanation possible.

“Auu?”

“C-can I touch her?”

“A-Aria, it’s my turn next…”

Sirr had shown considerable displeasure at the late summer heat when she arrived at the royal capital, but she quickly adapted and returned to her energetic self, showing curiosity about her surroundings.

In the process, she caught the eye of students preparing for the academy reopening, and with her cute appearance, she monopolized popularity among the female students.

Well, Sirr herself… can I say “herself”?

Anyway, since Sirr didn’t show any aversion to people’s attention and was rather showing curiosity from her side, there was no reason to stop it.

And on a day when the reopening of the academy was just around the corner, I left the dormitory after receiving a sudden contact.

“…So the church said such a thing?”

“Yes, it’s an incredibly shameless matter.”

Having received a summons from Princess Aine, who had returned to the royal capital ahead of us, I was at a teahouse in the royal capital.

Princess Aine and Commander Gareth were waiting at the teahouse, and the master of the teahouse had left after serving tea, perhaps due to a special request.

I left Riel behind.

Not only did she need to look after Sirr, but since the contact mentioned church-related matters, I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

“Sigh, this is truly embarrassing.”

“No. Extremists exist everywhere.”

The origin of this incident stems from the report of our engagement that went up to the royal family.

When it comes to the engagement or marriage of nobles, especially high-ranking nobles, it is information that the royal family must be aware of.

Therefore, the news of my and Riel’s engagement was reported to the royal family, and the royal family distributes the reported news to various departments for processing.

The problem was that one of the officials working in the department that received the report was a believer in the World Tree Church. Moreover, a very fanatical believer.

He immediately informed the church about my and Riel’s engagement.

“I should weed out the fanatics in the palace at this opportunity.”

“…Wouldn’t it be problematic to undertake such action over religious issues?”

“Religion is free, but if it causes problems, that’s a separate issue.”

As an aside, the official who reported my and Riel’s engagement to the church has now been dismissed on charges of leaking official documents.

Both the kingdom and our count and duke families also plan to claim compensation from him, so his life could be said to have ended.

Setting that aside, what the church brought up after hearing the report was, absurdly, the marriage ceremony that had become merely nominal for decades.

Since the church side hadn’t confirmed that Riel and I had performed that ceremony, they were asking us to come to the church and receive that ceremony.

It was really nothing more than a petty quibble.

“…They’re really shameless.”

“Indeed. They’re asking those they tried to kill to voluntarily enter their den.”

Moreover, since most churches in the kingdom have already closed, the available churches are limited.

In other words, there’s a very high possibility that they’re setting a trap and waiting.

Even if we break through the trap and receive the ceremony, their intention was obvious.

If we receive the ceremony and express gratitude and seek permission, they would interfere by saying nonsense like permission wasn’t granted.

There has never been a case where permission wasn’t granted in the marriage permission ceremony.

That’s natural.

Since the act of offering gratitude and seeking permission is close to a show, they wouldn’t actually hear the World Tree’s voice.

And even if she actually were in charge of it, she who loves all living beings on earth would never have withheld permission.

Anyway, they would likely try to interfere between Riel and me by not giving permission and saying it’s an engagement not permitted by God.

I can only say their intention is completely obvious.

If we don’t receive permission, they would likely wage a campaign saying high-ranking nobles had an engagement without seeking God’s permission.

Even though the church has weakened and withdrawn, the number of World Tree Church believers in the kingdom cannot be ignored.

There are quite a few believers even among nobles, which says it all.

The official who leaked my and Riel’s engagement fact was also from a lower noble family.

Of course, as a duke family in the kingdom and a count family that almost dominates the north, we could ignore such public opinion, but it’s better not to have seeds of anxiety.

“Your Highness, please don’t worry.”

“Do you have a solution?”

“I didn’t expect the church to go this far, but we do have a countermeasure.”

Yes.

We had someone who knew the church well.

Cardinal Gerald was waiting for a report.

Recently, when a report came in due to a believer’s tip-off, he was shocked.

That devil had finally stepped forward to get engaged to the witch.

He tried to stop it somehow, but the other parties were the duke and count families, power holders of the kingdom.

Even for a church with believers across the continent, it’s impossible to openly block an engagement between high-ranking nobles of the kingdom.

In the end, the method Cardinal Gerald used was to nitpick using old customs.

It was literally just a childish quibble, but as a church with believers across the continent, it’s not ineffective.

Especially for high-ranking nobles who care about their image, they can’t just ignore it.

If they could lure them to the church with this, wouldn’t it be killing two birds with one stone?

He didn’t know what choice they would make, but either way, he could at least inflict a small blow on them.

Thinking that, Gerald waited for the report.

“Cardinal! Cardinal Gerald!!”

Seeing a priest running in a hurry, Gerald had a feeling that the time had come.

“What is the matter?”

“Huff… huff… a report!”

This priest was one of his close associates, and he was also aware of this plan.

The fact that he came running like this meant it was surely a report about the recent plan, as expected.

“Yes, what have they decided to do?”

“Th-that is…”

The priest handed over a single sheet of document.

Cardinal Gerald took the document and looked at it.

His eyes widened as big as saucers.

‘Certificate.’

‘This church certifies that the blessing and permission of the great World Tree has been granted for the engagement of Kyo Wentos and Riel Ignis.’

‘First Priest Alicia Melrot.’

“A-Alicia Melrot?!”

Recently, she was the woman he had determined to be a heretic.

He knew the holy knight order he sent to deal with her had returned without results, but since there had been no news afterwards, he had half-forgotten about her.

And now she pulls this stunt?

“I-It’s invalid! Alicia Melrot is a heretic I designated…”

“About that… the heretic designation has already been revoked.”

“Who decided that?!”

“His Holiness the Pope. This certificate was also approved by His Holiness.”

Cardinal Gerald felt like he might fall backwards.

With so many things happening recently, he hadn’t paid attention to the Pope, only to have him strike him from behind like this.

Although most of the church is currently dominated by the Cardinal faction he leads, the Pope is still the Pope.

He can’t cancel something the Pope has already approved without a clear reason.

When he designated Alicia Melrot as a heretic, he had already half-forced it, so support for him was already wavering.

If he acts rashly any further, he might provide an excuse for the Papal faction.

Cardinal Gerald left the place with a sour expression.