Holy Kingdom – Crossed Paths (4)

“Wh-what? Why is my body…?”

Rena, who had suddenly collapsed, seemed unable to comprehend what was happening.

“Hoho! Are you alright?”

The Pope chuckled heartily as he began slowly walking toward Rena.

“W-wait a minute, no…?”

Rena tried pushing herself up with her arms again-

-Thud.

She collapsed face-first before even lifting herself slightly.

Rena could clearly feel her limbs gradually stiffening.

Yet she kept struggling to rise, palms pressed against the floor.

“…No. This can’t be happening!”

But her movements grew weaker by the second.

It resembled a fish caught by a fisherman, desperately flopping to return to water.

But the fish’s fate was already sealed.

Soon, immobilized and powerless, it could only await the fisherman’s mercy.

Rena trembling on the floor was in precisely the same predicament.

The Pope watched her pitiful state with satisfaction.

‘It took longer than expected for the effect to kick in. Nearly gave me a headache.’

Cold sweat had broken out on the Pope’s brow, imagining the disaster if Rena had walked out.

Fortunately, he’d stopped her before things spiraled out of control.

Upon reaching Rena, the Pope bent down to meet her eyes. He picked up the recording device lying nearby.

“Your deduction earlier was quite impressive, Miss Rena. Even preparing this recording device to finish me off. But alas-your earnest performance of innocence backfired when you drank that tea.”

“Y-you poisoned the tea? But you couldn’t have known I’d uncover your plan… How…?”

As Rena struggled to make sense of things,

“Hah.”

She suddenly laughed hollowly, realizing the truth.

“Your Holiness never intended to let me leave regardless of my reaction.”

The poison being in the tea from the start meant the Pope had planned this all along.

“As expected, clever Miss Rena understands immediately. Correct. Your answer was irrelevant-I planned to remove you from the Hero’s Party one way or another.”

His lengthy explanations to Rena were merely stalling tactics. No matter her response, he’d have manipulated the situation.

“I got lucky. Had I not tampered with the tea today, you might’ve won. But it seems the Goddess smiled upon me at the final moment, not you.”

Rena bit her lower lip hard, glaring at him.

“How dare you utter the Goddess’s name after this? You’re utterly mad. And I can’t believe you’d use such dangerous methods on a Hero Party member without hesitation.”

“You know better than anyone, don’t you? That one can’t achieve their goals by hesitating over methods. Ah, no need to worry about the poison-it’s not lethal. Just temporary limb paralysis.”

“…How comforting.”

“As you’re experiencing firsthand, this poison neutralizes mana. Struggling is pointless. And since soundproofing magic envelops this room, screaming for help won’t work-you already know that.”

No allies to hear her. No escape routes.

A true rock-and-a-hard-place situation.

Just as Rena thought she was doomed-

Something on the floor caught her eye.

Her final contingency for emergencies.

The switch.

Pressing it would surely bring Jade running to save her.

Rena subtly checked the Pope’s attention.

“Hmm. What shall I do with you, Miss Rena….”

Fortunately, he seemed too preoccupied with her to notice the small switch.

Rena desperately wanted to press it immediately, but her paralyzed arm could barely move an inch.

She needed to stall until her trembling fingers reached the switch.

“Confident about covering this up? Even if you kill me here, Jade will expose you.”

“Now you’re dropping the ‘Your Holiness’? How hurtful.”

“Should I call you a motherfucker instead?”

“My, your language has deteriorated, Miss Rena. Regardless, I’m the Pope. Killing you would be… troublesome.”

Rena kept trying to distract him while inching toward the switch.

When her finger finally grazed the switch-

-Snap.

“No!”

The Pope snatched away her last hope right before her eyes.

“Miss Rena, I’m disappointed. Your darting eyes gave you away. Should’ve stayed calmer. Youthful inexperience shows in unexpected situations.”

“Please give it back. I beg you….”

Rena pleaded, but the Pope had no intention of returning it.

Instead, he dangled it between two fingers before her face.

“A switch? Since you reached for it so desperately, pressing this must alert the Hero? He’d come rushing to save you. A cute last resort-but foiled. Got any more tricks? You’ve been pulling things out like a magician.”

“….”

Rena just stared blankly, speechless.

“My. Has our brilliant Miss Rena finally reached her limit?”

The Pope grabbed Rena’s cheek with one hand, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Miss Rena, are you terrified? Your face is priceless right now.”

Though Rena had maintained composure until now, her pupils shook with raw terror.

“…Yes. I’m scared. But whatever you do to me won’t change the outcome. Jade will end you-like I said.”

“Oh dear. Now you’ve dropped formal speech entirely.”

“Shut up. I want to gag that mouth of yours right now.”

All pretense of respect for the Pope had vanished.

The man before her was just a monster wearing a holy mask.

“Regardless, what matters is that you’re in my grasp.”

The Pope didn’t care about her disrespect.

Such formalities were meaningless now.

“Speaking of the Hero… What can a naive, weak Hero possibly do? He’ll become my obedient pawn instead.”

“Don’t underestimate Jade. You think he’s that stupid? That he’ll forget me and fall for the Saintess if I disappear? The bond between Jade and me won’t break over your petty schemes.”

“We’ll see about that.”

With that, the Pope abandoned Rena and walked back to his desk.

“Originally, I planned only minor adjustments before sending you off. But you’ve forced my hand by cornering me like this.”

Rummaging through a drawer, the Pope retrieved something.

A small box.

Channeling holy power into it, the box clicked open.

-Shhk.

Inside lay a gray cube.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Wh-what is that? What are you planning…?”

“An artifact. You should feel honored-it was meant for the Saintess.”

Clutching the artifact, the Pope approached Rena.

To her, he looked like the Grim Reaper.

“Get that away!”

Sensing danger, Rena tried to resist but couldn’t move from her prone position.

The artifact was thrust into her face.

“Don’t worry. It’ll only hurt a little.”

“No! Jade, help me― Kyaaaaah!”

**

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

“!!”

Jade’s eyes snapped open at the loud, pounding noise.

Harsh sunlight streamed through the window, stinging his eyes.

“…What was I doing?”

He didn’t remember lying down to sleep.

Still groggy, Jade tried piecing together his memories. His last recollection was waiting for Rena’s return.

After dealing with diplomats, he’d intended to wait in his room but must’ve dozed off.

“Sigh….”

Jade sighed, rubbing his temples.

He must’ve been exhausted.

Handling seasoned diplomats was an ordeal he never wanted to repeat.

‘Did Rena see me asleep and just leave?’

If so, he felt terrible.

Her meeting with the Pope couldn’t have lasted hours-she was probably in her room.

-Fwip.

Jade pulled the switch from his pocket.

‘Glad I didn’t need to use this.’

Though worried about Rena, the silent switch confirmed nothing had happened.

Even asleep, he’d have woken if it activated.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Ugh?!”

Someone hammered his door violently again.

“Geez, scared me. Now that I think about it, this noise woke me earlier… Must be urgent.”

Nobody would knock like this without good reason.

Jade quickly opened the door.

-Creeak.

“Jade!”

“Annie?”

Annie stood there, frantic.

“What’s wrong this early? You’ll break the door knocking like that.”

“Why didn’t you answer?! I’ve been looking everywhere!”

“Sorry. Must’ve been more tired than I thought.”

“Never mind that! Something terrible happened!”

“Calm down and explain. What’s going on?”

Jade didn’t think anything major could’ve occurred overnight-until Annie’s next words froze his thoughts.

“Rena’s been taken by the holy knights.”

“…What?”

“On charges of attempting to assassinate the Pope.”