episode_0062

Prince Loras eventually threw a bag of money to his subordinate, told him to put it in the offering box, and left the temple.

Although he kept a kind face until the end, Princess Rasiel and I knew that his pride was greatly hurt.

And Princess Rasiel couldn’t stop laughing because she really liked what I did at the end.

“I’m worried that that poor guy won’t just sit by and do nothing, but thanks to you, I feel relieved.”

I’m glad you like it, but I’m worried because Princess Rasiel seems to be more swayed by the prince than I thought.

‘If Princess Lasiel wavers, our entire team will waver.’

This is why leaders are important.

It’s not something that just anyone can do.

It was natural that trust would be broken when he saw the princess, who should have been trustworthy, being manipulated by the prince.

The princess also seemed to know that, so she stopped laughing and thought about it before speaking.

“I know I didn’t do well today. I don’t do this every time. I was beaten one-sidedly today, but I’ll show you that I’m winning next time.”

“I heard you were really flustered. Are you okay?”

“… Arthur the priest really has a straight mind. I was impressed by how he acted without caring even in front of him. Thanks to that, I also came to my senses. I thought that I couldn’t continue to show him such a poor appearance after the priest treated me so well.”

I had been feeling uncomfortable with Princess Rasiel’s sparkling eyes for a while, but I realized there was a reason for that.

“Why did you do that?”

To me, Princess Rasiel looked like a herbivore being chased by a lion and standing on the edge of a cliff.

Or maybe a cat that hisses and tells you not to touch it.

Princess Rasiel coughed in embarrassment at my question.

“The author is good at deceiving people. He takes away people who were on his side and makes them his own. He thought he could get away with it, so he overreacted and had no choice but to respond violently.”

Aha? So that’s why you were making such a fuss earlier?

It is understandable that I had to be sensitive because if I went over there, Princess Canabi’s statue would also go over there.

However, I wondered why he had not told me about it earlier and was only telling me now.

And my doubts were soon answered.

“I’m sorry to say this, but I also tested how the priest would react. People who I thought would always be by my side and support me fell for him too easily.”

“!!”

“If you had given him even a little bit of leeway, he would have snuck it out… ”

Princess Rasiel’s expression, which did not dare to mention Princess Canabi’s name, looked extremely gloomy.

‘It’s ridiculous to say that you’re going to back out of this problem after already meddling in it so much.’

If that was the case, I shouldn’t have gotten involved in the bean curd household chores in the first place.

I may already be in too deep to close my eyes and pretend not to know about someone else’s business.

Look at it now.

Rather than feeling angry that you tested me, aren’t you feeling sorry?

‘We’ve become too close.’

I said it because I didn’t want to tell the princess my true feelings, who had no idea what was on my mind.

“As a priest, I am just trying to make sure that everyone can feel His warmth equally under the light.”

It was a word said with hatred towards the fact that I alone thought they were friendly, but Princess Rasiel accepted it and smiled brightly as if that alone was enough for her.

He went one step further and straightened his chest and pounded his chest with his fist.

“Good. I won’t doubt the priest anymore. And since he’s a narrow-minded guy, he’ll definitely remember what happened today. If that guy approaches you to harm you, come to me and tell me. I’ll stop him no matter what.”

By the way, I am the person who boldly refused the bribe and extravagant donation that Princess Canabi offered.

Even now, I am no different from then.

It also meant that no matter what kind of persuasion the prince offered me in the future, it would not be able to change me.

‘Of all the people who promised to protect me, you are the least trustworthy.’

I couldn’t say anything unkind to the person who promised to protect me, so I had no choice but to say that I understood.

Doesn’t the prince already know what will happen if he touches a priest rashly?

“Yes.”

“I have to go now. If I come back late, there will be trouble again.”

Princess Rasiel shook her head as if she was fed up with it.

“I will definitely remember the way Arthur Priest acted today. The days I talk to that guy make me feel bad all day, but I can’t help but feel happy like this. I should go see how wrinkled his face is by now.”

Princess Rasiel left the temple, saying that it was fun just to imagine, but it would be incredibly fun to actually see it.

The unexpected appearance of the prince left me with a headache from the war of nerves.

It was especially regrettable that the prince seemed to be unusual.

“You were talking to a strange person.”

“Ah! This is a surprise.”

Because I was so distracted by the prince and princess, I didn’t notice any movement until Sister Melody approached.

How could I have guessed that someone I hadn’t seen since the first day I arrived would suddenly show up at this moment?

She wore a hood pulled down low over her black robe, adding a touch of gloom.

As I was being overly surprised, Sister Melody took off her hood and showed me her face.

“I’m done. I didn’t mean to surprise you.”

“Oh my, my heart almost sank. When did you get here?”

“Just now. Are you familiar with the person I was talking to just now?”

I thought you were just asking out of curiosity, but it looks like that wasn’t the case.

Asking twice meant that the person who had been acting like he was there but not there until now suddenly spoke to him in order to get information about him.

“Are you asking about Princess Rasiel?”

“I didn’t mean women.”

It seems like he’s asking about Prince Loras.

Prince Loras had been gone for quite some time, so it must have been quite some time since she had been watching me.

“If you are a man, you are probably talking about Prince Loras. Why are you asking him?”

“Prince… .”

“Yes. This is Prince Loras of the Deltrak Empire. This time, the person representing the punitive force in the Deltrak Empire has changed from Princess Kanabi to Prince Loras. But why are you asking, Prince?”

The attention of the Inquisitor is not a very good thing.

Because the people they were interested in were likely to be involved in heresy or were victims.

‘The prince is the victim? I don’t think so.’

If you are not a victim, then you are a party involved in the heresy.

That was a mess in its own right.

“… It just stands out a bit.”

Sister Melody kept her mouth shut, as if she had no intention of telling me the details.

I decided to put aside my excessive curiosity because I didn’t think I would get an answer even if I asked more.

‘If there’s a problem, we’ll find out later anyway.’

Since this happened to the prince of the Deltrak Empire, even the Inquisitor cannot handle it quietly.

So, if something happens even if I don’t want it, I will naturally have to know.

◎ ◎ ◎

Prince Loras kept his word.

Of course, that means I kept my promise to come pray often.

As expected from Princess Rasiel, there was no retaliation or petty behavior.

Honestly, I thought he would be upset that I made him put money in the offering box himself, but I was a little taken aback by his completely different attitude.

‘You were very kind to me.’

As he had said before, he tried to become friends with me by coming out to pray often.

Seeing him praying so earnestly, it didn’t seem like he was lying when he said he was very active in religious activities.

However, after finishing the prayer, he always pointed to me and talked to me.

The topics of conversation were varied.

There were times when he would vent about the hardships of forming a punitive force, and other times when he would express his personal concerns about his younger brother not listening to him.

‘Are you still trying to persuade me?’

In fact, the more time I spent with the prince, the more my image of him became clear.

There is no sincerity in this person’s kindness.

There is always an element of exploration in the conversations I have with him.

So, I am sure that there is another reason why the prince is kind to me.

Of course, it could also be to appease Princess Rasiel, who becomes nervous every time she approaches me.

but.

‘You must want to know where Princess Canabi is.’

He was trying to find Princess Cannabi in me.

Since he was the one who tried to kill Princess Canabi by using people, he would know that there was something to his disappearance.

What the prince wants is to end the life of the weakened Princess Kanabi.

‘Every time the prince visits a temple, his men run around ransacking the temple.’

Anyone could tell that they were looking for traces of Princess Canabi.

But I am the only one who knows the whereabouts of Princess Canabi.

‘If I keep failing like this, will they come after me?’

If persuasion doesn’t work, what’s next?

‘Is this a threat?’

When I see such bad people, I think about how difficult it is to keep the promise of treating everyone equally under the light.

‘There’s no evidence yet, so we’ll have to wait and see, but it’s not a good thing that we have to wish those people a bright future.’

So I think it would be better if Prince Loras were someone who lost his right to be equal under the light.

Even if Sister Melody hadn’t shown any interest, didn’t she ask who he was as soon as she saw him?

‘If you think about it, there are some suspicious parts.’

A wicked personality that has been tormenting princesses since childhood.

The most upsetting part is that he betrayed Princess Rasiel by taking away the people around her.

‘How can you do that to a child who still needs to be protected?’

It would be shocking and unbearable even for an adult, so what would happen if a child experienced that?

There were other reasons why I hated him.

The point was that on the outside he pretended to be a nice person.

I tried not to be prejudiced by Princess Rasiel’s words, but the more I met the prince, the more uncomfortable I felt, and I kept thinking that I didn’t want to get close to him.