Confession – 1

“You’re going to show me?”

“If you come with us, you will know.”

Floreta and Luna each took one of my hands and urged me on. I quietly followed behind them. I wondered what they were trying to show me, but even under my gaze, they merely smiled with their eyes and vaguely brushed it off.

“It’s here, Delta.”

The Popes stopped in front of a room, and as soon as I entered the room, I froze in place, surprised.

Inside was a holy vestment. Not a garment that was only nominally clothing, like what the Popes wore, whose actual role was to accentuate the body, but a true holy vestment that completely covered one from head to toe.

In fact, the mere existence of a holy vestment wasn’t the problem. My current position meant it wouldn’t be strange at all for the Popes to give me anything.

“Do you like it?”

“We conceived it ourselves. When weaving the garment, we will also meticulously embroider it stitch by stitch.”

It was just that the design was incredibly extravagant.

The entire garment was engraved with the Holy Nation’s unique patterns, and 1/3 of the garment was gold, 1/3 silver, and the remaining 1/3 jet black. All sorts of ornaments decorated with pure gold and pure silver were also visible.

The coat, which seemed designed to be draped over the shoulders due to the extremely elaborate ornaments attached to the arms, was similar. On its back, the forms of the sun and moon were decorated in gold and silver.

To top it off, a crown encrusted with jewels, gold, and pure silver was placed on the collar, making it a costume that made one wonder if they could even move properly if they wore all of it.

Exaggerating a bit, it seemed like one’s appearance would be visible from several kilometers away.

“When did you make this?”

“We haven’t made it yet.”

“You haven’t made it?”

“Please touch the garment, Delta.”

I reached out my hand to the holy vestment. But my right hand simply passed through the spot where the holy vestment was, going right through it.

I recalled what the Popes had said earlier, that they planned to embroider the garment themselves when weaving it. It seemed that for now, they had only roughly shaped its appearance, whatever method they used.

“We have only shaped its form, as we must incorporate your opinions. If there is anything you wish to change, would you please tell us?”

“There is no need for you to feel any burden at all. You may command us as many times as you wish, be it hundreds or thousands of times.”

The very fact that I had to wear such a garment was incredibly burdensome.

I looked around the brightly shining garment right before my eyes, which seemed to emit sunlight and moonlight. What should I do with this?

“……What is this garment used for?”

“It is a garment that will be used when proclaiming your existence to the entire Holy Nation. As you are receiving the grace of the Sun and Moon, you must shine brighter than anyone else.”

“And it’s over if I wear it just once then?”

“If you wish, you can do so as much as youㅡ”

“No. It’s fine. Once is enough.”

When I flatly refused, Floreta and Luna chuckled.

“We had anticipated that. For you are truly humble, one who does not reveal yourself.”

“Although we knew that fact, we judged that we had no choice but to rely on your mercy. Would you please forgive the impoliteness of us sisters?”

“……If it’s just once, it’s fine. If I had to wear it normally, I would have thought about it a lot more, though.”

“It is a very uncomfortable garment. That would be an impoliteness so severe that we wouldn’t even dare to ask for forgiveness.”

I glanced at the holy vestments Floreta and Luna were wearing.

More was revealed than covered, they naturally weren’t wearing underwear, their entire bodies were clearly visible through the sheer fabric, their private parts were precariously covered by a single piece of cloth, and they wore high-heeled shoes.

If one only looked at their appearance, wouldn’t that garment be even more uncomfortable?

“If you had said you would choose the Holy Nation, we definitely wanted to show you this.”

“What if I had said I would remain in the Empire?”

“We would have had to bury it deep within our hearts. Until the day you would one day look back upon the Holy Nation.”

“However…… you have reached far beyond us sisters. You have dreamed beyond that. You are one who is overflowing with the qualifications to take us, and since the Sun and Moon hold you dear…… the Pope of the Sun and the Pope of the Moon will follow you forever.”

Floreta and Luna rubbed their faces against my shoulder. Their faces were extremely happy.

The Popes, who had stood firm in the Imperial Palace for over a full day, perhaps having achieved their goal of drawing me to the Holy Nation, willingly conveyed their intention to return to the Holy Nation.

When I entered the bedroom and conveyed those words, Caecilia’s expression was one of extreme discomfort, but she didn’t comment separately. It seemed she thought there was nothing bad about the Popes returning.

Even after I said I would choose both the Emperor and the Popes, Caecilia’s demeanor hadn’t changed much. She was as overbearing as usual, and every word dripped with pride.

The difference was that the frequency with which she would cast her gaze towards my lower body, then bite her own lip or tremble slightly, had increased.

Judging by the direction of her gaze, it seemed she was quite resentful of having helplessly followed my commands in bed.

My meeting with Caecilia wasn’t very long either. She bit her lips and cowered by herself before issuing an order for me to leave.

I returned to my room, leaving Caecilia, whose cheeks were slowly starting to redden, behind.

“……Youngju-nim?”

Aurora was in the room where I was staying. Aurora was sitting on the sofa, reading a book and leisurely drinking tea, when she saw me, she immediately waved her hand with a bright smile.

“What brings you to my room?”

“Nothing in particular. I just stopped by. Why? Is it not allowed?”

“Of course not. I was just wondering what was going on.”

“It’s true that I have nothing to do. It’s time to be cautious right now. I got on my aunt-nim’s bad side last time, didn’t I? If I move carelessly, I won’t see anything good. Also, I rushed here too quickly upon hearing you were dragged to hell.”

Thinking about what it meant to be on Caecilia’s bad side, I recalled the time I tried to reinstate the Silver Dawn Knights and Caecilia specifically brought it up when we met.

The atmosphere was such that it wouldn’t have been strange at all if something had happened had I not been there, so from Aurora’s perspective, quietly staying out of sight was natural.

I don’t know about now, but back then, there was nothing I could do about Caecilia either.

“Delta, what have you been doing? I heard you were at Minerva-nim’s magic tower, how long did the research take for you to just arrive now?”

“Ah, I have something to say regarding that as well.”

Originally, I had planned to stop by the room briefly and then go find Rije first. But since Aurora is here, it wouldn’t matter if I subtly told her.

“Oh? What is it?”

“It’s a sudden request, but from now on, would it be alright if I dropped all honorifics and just called you by your name?”

The hand that was bringing the teacup to her mouth stopped abruptly. Trembling, her hand began to shake. The tea overflowing from the rim of the teacup ran down the side of the porcelain, leaving a dark stain on her black dress.

“Wh-that, wh-what……”

The shock must have been considerable, as she couldn’t even speak properly. I approached her. As the distance narrowed, her trembling intensified. I heard a hiccup.

“You, you…… do you know what that means…….”

“I know what I’m saying. It means to officially enter into a relationship, not just a vague physical one like before.”

“……What on earth possessed you? Did you undergo a botched experiment at the magic tower? Minerva-nim has the kind of personality that would do something like thatㅡ”

“No. I just came from telling His Imperial Majesty and His Holiness the Pope as well.”

The trembling in her hand stopped.

However, it wasn’t that her mind had calmly settled down and stopped, but rather that she was so surprised her body reflexively froze. Thump, the book she had barely held onto in her hand rolled onto her thigh.

I placed the book that had fallen onto her thigh onto the table, set down the teacup that was dripping tea, and wiped Aurora’s tea-soaked hand with a handkerchief.

Creak, creak, her head turned.

“You told them what?”

“Before that, I’ll hear your permission. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Of course, I’m fine. Rather, I was the one who wanted to ask you. I was wondering when you would start treating me comfortably…… No, no, that’s not important right now. To my aunt-nim and His Holiness the Popes…… what?”

Her golden eyes trembled incessantly. It was a natural reaction, given how sudden the confession was.

“You, surely…… with them…….”

“That’s right. It’s exactly as you’re thinking.”

Since I had received permission, I replied casually in informal speech.

Upon hearing this much, Aurora remained frozen in place, not moving. Her eyes, looking at me, were filled with horror. Her lips kept parting as if wanting to say something.

“Why? Do you perhaps dislike it?”

“No, I definitely don’t dislike it…… but it feels like Rije and I wouldn’t be able to handle it anyway…… and I also thought that you, of course, should do that…… so…….”

Aurora rambled incoherently.

“I’ll explain the details later when everyone, including Rije, is gathered.”

Because there’s still one more person I need to tell.