Chapter 58

* * *

The needle-sharp conversation ended when Gilbert arrived.

Brother Vincent took my personal physician and headed for the infirmary where his comrades lay.

Gilbert had met Vincent once before at the monastery and when he saw the man who had returned as head of the Inquisition he went pale.

He stood there replaying every little thing he might have done wrong.

Honestly I did the same.

“Your Grace, please look at my hand for a moment.”

“Yes?”

“Quick. I think it’s safer outside the building.”

The moment Vincent disappeared I dragged the duke out into the garden where the snow reached our knees.

The wind was fierce and there wasn’t a single person in the grounds. Every window in the wing was tightly shut so it was actually the best place to talk.

The only problem was that I felt like I might freeze to death, but never mind that for now.

“Did you know Brother Vincent’s true identity?”

“Vaguely…”

I regretted how I’d brushed off the duke’s earlier words. The shameful black chapter when I begged him to let me find Vincent and even unleashed the knights flashed through my mind.

I wanted the earth to swallow me.

If no one was watching I’d have ripped my hair out.

“But I never expected he’d be dispatched personally. I knew he was an inquisitor but I didn’t think he’d already be prefect…”

“Excuse me, what did you say just now?”

“It’s nothing.”

The wind was so loud I couldn’t hear the rest.

I was about to press him further when the duke spoke with an oddly amused look.

“Yet for being so surprised you were fairly calm back there. You didn’t look shaken at all in front of Brother Vincent.”

“Your Grace, do you know this?”

“…?”

“People who are too scared actually lose their fear. It’s like they reach a strangely good state.”

That was me right then.

The first time I saw Brother Vincent’s face on the mountain I really thought my heart would drop out.

I kept asking myself whether I’d ever said anything blasphemous in his presence, whether I’d done anything suspicious that could brand me heretical.

I went over it and over it until there were so many instances it was ridiculous and then I just laughed.

Not a joyful laugh but a laugh of someone who’d reached a kind of detachment.

“Don’t worry too much. Even if he’s the pope’s man he still can’t act in Lombard without my permission.”

“That’s a comforting thing to say.”

“I’m sincere.”

The duke stopped walking.

I followed his gaze and naturally stopped too.

“It means no one will harm you on Lombard soil.”

“Your Grace?”

“So act as you please as you have until now. Isn’t that part of your charm?”

“You do take mocking to an art form.”

I shot back and the duke snorted. His casual air made me even more unsettled.

I wasn’t in a position to complain after getting a second life, but I knew many things the duke had done before our marriage to push me out.

Some I’d heard as rumors, others I guessed from memories of my previous life.

‘I can’t tell whether he’s sincere.’

Is that look and those eyes an act?

If I fell for the duke’s theater what then.

‘This gives me a headache. The Duke of Lombard and Brother Vincent…’

Two men whose motives I couldn’t read stood near me.

Both held my life in their hands so my head throbbed.

And in moments like this I knew the perfect way to escape reality.

“I have a favor to ask, Your Grace.”

“Say anything.”

“Please push through the budget. As much as possible.”

“…?”

Make up work that doesn’t exist and then work overtime like mad. If I’m buried in official business my personal problems won’t seem to matter so much.

So I chose to walk into that kind of madness.

* * *

At the same time Vincent was leaning by the window looking out over the courtyard.

This was an official residence but the garden belonged to a great noble and looked far too bleak.

It was nothing like the city of Argenbach where flowers bloom all year.

“That physician is skilled. After this mission we’ll kidnap him to the holy city.”

“That would be an insult to the duchess who kindly lent him to us Brother Matteo.”

Vincent turned toward the pair who had been arguing loudly since earlier.

Even while spread out in the infirmary they couldn’t stop bickering.

“Why does a noblewoman who hides in her rooms need such an excellent physician? Is the duchess likely to have her whole body torn to pieces? If we take him he’s more useful to us.”

“He refused to go in the first place.”

“Then kidnap him…!”

“Looks like life is getting a bit easier for him.”

Finally Vincent stepped in.

Elicia’s physician was undeniably skilled. He set broken bones perfectly without error and his hands were quick.

That made it easy for Vincent to infuse divine power as well.

They still couldn’t sit up yet but their color was far better than when they moaned in pain.

‘Maybe the moaning stage was easier.’

Even after Vincent intervened Judith and Matteo kept growling at one another.

If they could move they’d have drawn their weapons this instant.

Thankfully they couldn’t.

“By the way what is that woman? She treats a great demon like a pet and yet is an ordinary civilian?”

“I find it hard to believe the duchess is an ordinary civilian.”

“I’ve never seen such a disgusting life form. Ugh. Half demon, half cat?!”

“It’s odd that the duke wanted everyone to shut up about the cat if he wanted to keep it alive. He let a monster roam his domain. As His Grace foresaw this place is strange.”

The Duke of Lombard could have killed Judith and Matteo.

Vincent wouldn’t have allowed things to get that far because the trouble would be messy, but if it had escalated to an all out war it wouldn’t have ended with a few broken bones and internal injuries.

‘Such terrifying sword qi.’

A force so destructive even Vincent felt chills.

It was almost tempting to test it.

“I have a question, Lord Vincent.”

“What is it?”

Sister Judith finally spoke with caution.

“I heard you spent time with the duchess while infiltrating here but there’s no mention of her in the report you filed to the Holy Office.”

“I’ve been wondering that too. The magical energy around that woman made me think she was a masked great demon. Why didn’t you report it to your superiors… wait, could it be?!”

Matteo’s eyes bulged.

“The woman you said—”

“…”

Vincent didn’t answer.

Judith’s expression hardened. It was the look she had when Matteo caused a major incident.

“Messes with reason can be let slide as personal deviation. But the duchess can’t. I’ll report to His Grace as soon as we return to the holy city.”

“Want to die here, Judith?”

“Lord Vincent!!”

Judith glared at Vincent with disbelief.

Matteo whistled as if intrigued but he too couldn’t hide his surprise.

The most bewildered of all was Vincent himself.

He’d been living on his own terms.

He didn’t even remember his childhood. Vincent had been born with a powerful sanctity and, following long tradition in Argenbach, had been taken from worldly ties and raised in the Great Cathedral.

He didn’t know who his parents were. Maybe he’d been sold for a small compensation. He didn’t care.

Everyone around him had been in the same condition.

‘Philipbo hasn’t shown up lately. Maybe he’s been dispatched? We were supposed to spar together.’

‘Ah, the news hasn’t reached yet. Sadly Brother Philipbo is…’

Divine power runs on life force.

Because of that Vincent had seen many die without warning.

You can live today and have no guarantee for tomorrow.

Standing in the brightest place but in truth no different from a condemned man made the eyes of Vincent and his peers take on a hint of madness.

They lived as they pleased since no one could stop them.

Some even delighted in obvious privileges.

There was no regret.

‘But that woman… she makes me feel strange.’