Chapter 94

“Father, I’m here.”

“Nigel.”

The man who appeared exchanged a brief greeting with the emperor, then turned his gaze this way.

He was sharply handsome. Pale skin, gray hair, a pronounced nose, and thin lips.

He was undeniably good looking, yet there was something about him that made him hard to warm up to.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a situation where warmth mattered.

“It’s been a while, Sister.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know you were so fluent in foreign languages.”

“I wouldn’t call it fluency. I’m still at a beginner level.”

Unlike Rosalind, who spoke in an oddly half polite tone, Nigel clearly addressed me with full respect.

But that didn’t mean he was being friendly.

According to Edwin, Nigel was the real brain of the imperial palace and a major political power, so it was too early to relax.

Sure enough, the pupils watching me narrowed like a snake’s.

“Sister, I heard an interesting rumor.”

“Oh?”

“They say you’re fluent not only in Marcene but in several other languages as well.”

I tilted my head as if this was the first time I’d ever heard such nonsense.

The problem was that it wasn’t entirely unthinkable.

‘How did he find out?’

While staying in Bellamare, I’d spoken freely with merchant guilds from many regions.

I hadn’t planned to, but the officials’ interpreting skills were so disastrous that I eventually gave up pretending not to understand.

Thanks to my past work experience, everyday conversation and even technical terms slipped out smoothly.

Luckily, everyone around me had fallen into the ridiculous misunderstanding that I’d been pretending to be stupid to survive in the imperial palace, so no one found it strange.

I let my guard down, and this was the result.

“That’s news to me. But you know, I’ve always had a lot of rumors following me around.”

“It came from a reliable source.”

“Sounds like it’s time to change your source.”

Even if he questioned me in a foreign language, I could just pretend not to understand.

But things didn’t go according to plan.

The emperor stepped in.

“If what Nigel says is true, then I’m curious too. Just how excellent a teacher the Duke of Lombard was.”

“You flatter me, Your Majesty.”

Even before I could dodge the question, Edwin cut in.

He walked up to the platform with ease, parting the crowd, and stood beside me.

“But it wasn’t that I was a good teacher. My wife was an exceptionally talented student. I merely offered advice.”

“W-What are you doing right now?!”

The man I thought was my savior was dunking me alternately into freezing and boiling water.

Just having Ed beside me made me feel much calmer.

Unfortunately, his mouth was shoving me straight into molten lava.

I discreetly pinched his arm. It was so hard I couldn’t tell if it was flesh or stone, but I tried anyway.

Even so, Edwin didn’t flinch and continued speaking with the emperor.

“Ah, it seems envoys from the Holy City Argenbach have arrived. Shall we speak with them?”

“Eli will surely meet Your Majesty’s expectations. Eli?”

“…”

Edwin turned to me with a smile, then stiffened when I responded with icy silence and only the whites of my eyes showing.

Still, he showed no intention of backing down.

Instead, he squeezed my hand firmly from behind, as if encouraging me.

‘F*ck, if I get caught by the inquisitors, I’m screaming your name first.’

His placating look wasn’t very convincing, but he was still Lombard.

Guessing he had something in mind, I nodded.

At that moment, priests wearing pure white cloaks embroidered with the Great Cathedral’s crest approached.

“By the command of His Holiness Pope Leonel the Second, we greet His Majesty the Emperor of Valdin.”

“Oh, honored guests have arrived. A most welcome sight.”

After receiving the emperor’s greeting, the priests introduced themselves one by one.

The head of the Secretariat of State who assisted the pope in diplomacy, along with his attendants.

The head of the Congregation for Evangelization and his entourage.

‘So far, so normal.’

I stood there nodding calmly, then suddenly flinched.

The last group stepped forward from the Holy Office. That is the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and his attendants.

The direct superior of Brother Vincent, the head of the Inquisition.

‘No, why is that terrifying man here?!’

I’d been perfectly fine in front of the emperor, but the moment I heard the Holy Office named, cold sweat broke out.

This wasn’t logic. It was pure instinctive fear.

Feeling my palm grow damp, Ed, who was holding my hand, turned to me.

“Eli?”

“This won’t work. No. Um. I’m not feeling well.”

I started edging backward, trying to escape.

But the emperor introduced me faster.

“This here is my most beloved niece, Elicia. She recently wed the Duke of Lombard. I would be pleased if you bestowed your blessings upon her.”

“For the peace between our nations, we gladly—”

Following the emperor’s gesture, the priests turned to look at me.

All at once, they froze.

Their eyes, fixed on me, began to widen as if they might burst.

At the same time, the cold sweat on my palms increased.

‘What is it. No, what is it?!’

The priests rubbed their eyes as if seeing things, their bodies trembling. The head of the Holy Office even prayed and made the sign of the cross.

Watching this, the emperor leapt to his feet.

“Priests of the Holy City. All things are guided by the will of God. Speak of what you have seen.”

“Ahh…”

The head of the Secretariat of State groaned and approached me before I could retreat.

“A soul this pure.”

“By God. Such a sinless and pristine soul is something I’ve seen only in His Holiness the Pope.”

“A talent that should be devoted to faith. Would you have any interest in establishing true justice in this land?”

“No. Absolutely not. You’ve got the wrong person.”

I stepped back with a stern face.

Every word grated on me, but that last suggestion from the head of the Holy Office crossed a line I couldn’t ignore.

I had only just begun a stable new life with my companion gold coins.

I was full of scars, but through their warm love and steady care, I was finally washing away the past and moving toward the future.

And now they were talking about establishing true justice in this land?

That was exactly what those inquisitor bastards always said.

“My judgment of people has never been wrong. You have talent, Sister.”

“No, sir. What talent are you talking about?!”

“So Brother Vincent was right after all.”

“Vincent? Wait. What Vincent? What did that guy say?!”

A retort flew out every time the man opened his mouth.

Vincent was an extremely common name. He was the prophet who received the first revelation from the sun god Leto.

Because of that, if you grabbed any random priest, at least one in five would be named Vincent.

Even the head of the Congregation for Evangelization had Vincent as his baptismal name.

But I had a sharp, ominous feeling that the Vincent the Holy Office head mentioned was the Vincent I knew.

‘Wait. Calm down.’

I finally became aware of the surrounding gazes.

I was charging at the Holy Office head like I was about to grab him by the collar, not caring who was watching.

All the social dignity I’d painstakingly built was—

“Ah, as expected of Lady Elicia.”

“Marriage alone wouldn’t change her temperament.”

“To think she’d even go wild on the head of the Doctrine of the Faith.”

…Yeah. My dignity was already dead.

No matter who you were, there was no way you wouldn’t feel embarrassed after causing a scene like that in front of this many nobles, especially against the Holy Office head.

After barely escaping the priests, I planted myself firmly in a bright shadowed corner for the rest of the banquet and batted away every approach.

I ignored the rule about wearing masks and glared like a rabid dog whenever someone came near.

Eventually, the nobles began to avoid me altogether.

‘Hic hic hic.’

Yeah. Who was I kidding, trying to act all refined. I should just live the way I always had.

I sincerely wished everyone would just leave me alone so I could be by myself.