The priest’s expression brightened. Seeing that, Kay smiled faintly.
“But that will only be after the truth of the rumors is determined. If it becomes known that the Pope defamed the Countess of Green and broke off the marriage based on false rumors, it would only further tarnish the honor of the Holy Kingdom.”
Though Kay had attached a condition, the priest was confident. A reputable newspaper had put the rumors about the Countess of Green on the front page. They mocked Count Green for being so bewitched by his wife’s appearance that he couldn’t even keep her in check, and furthermore, expressed regret toward the Holy Kingdom for protecting such a Count. There was no way the rumors of the Countess of Green being a promiscuous woman were just rumors.
“I am glad we can speak reasonably now, Count.”
The priest, who had maintained a haughty attitude until now, found himself using honorifics without realizing it. The priest’s pride was wounded, but he had no choice. He did not want to experience anything as terrifying as what happened earlier. Regardless, since the goal had been achieved, he wanted to leave this place quickly without provoking Kay’s temper and return to the safety of the Holy Kingdom’s temple.
“Wait.”
Just as the priest was about to stand, Kay called him back.
“I’m not done talking yet.”
“W-what else is there to talk about…?”
“What if the rumors are false? In that case, how will you pay the price for ignoring my wife, the House of Green, and myself, all because you were swayed by false rumors?”
“P-price, you say…”
“You don’t expect me to just let it slide that the Pope personally instigated my divorce based on false rumors, do you?”
The priest swallowed hard. He had never even considered that, and the High Priest hadn’t told him how to respond to such a thing. However, it was only natural for Kay to make such a demand.
“W-what do you desire?”
*I’ll just listen to whatever it is and relay it to the High Priest,* he thought.
“I’ll be holding a wedding ceremony soon.”
Kay crossed his legs languidly and lifted one corner of his mouth.
“Only if the Pope attends in person to bless the wedding and officially apologizes to my wife, will this humiliation be erased.”
The priest’s eyes widened at the outrageous request. The Pope was not a person who moved so easily. He had not even attended the wedding of the emperor of the largest empire on the continent. He had sent a message of congratulations and blessings from afar, and everyone had been grateful for even that. Yet, not only did he have to come in person to give a blessing, he had to apologize as well.
However, the priest could not bring himself to say, “No.” Although Kay was smiling, his eyes had become gloomy like before, and it created an optical illusion as if a heavy, dark energy were surging behind his back.
*‘It won’t matter. There’s no way the rumors are false, and even if they were, I can just find an excuse later and have the Pope send only a message of blessing; they would still be grateful.’*
Thinking that, the priest nodded.
“Understood. I accept that condition.”
Kay smiled brightly and pulled a small machine out of his jacket pocket. It was a machine the priest had never seen before.
“Did you know there was magic long ago that could record conversations and play them back exactly?”
Of course he knew, but the priest couldn’t understand why Kay was saying such nonsensical things.
“A while ago, I invented an interesting machine at the Mage Tower with some mechanical engineers. As always, they sent it to me to see if it would be useful for the honorable Count Green.”
*Click-*
As Kay pressed the button on the machine, the conversation that had taken place between them until now echoed as if they had returned to that moment. It even recorded the priest clearly saying he would accept the condition Kay had proposed. Watching the breathless priest, Kay smiled.
“It seems useful.”
+++
Kay told him to stay at the estate and wait until the truth of the rumors was determined. Since it was a command rather than a suggestion, the priest had no choice but to stay in the guest building, the Western Wing, of the House Green estate.
*‘What do I do…?’*
Only now did he regret having acted so arrogantly in front of Kay.
*‘What if the rumors were all lies… What will happen to me?’*
+++
Rishi was reading a book she had brought from the library. It was a book about the history of the Holy Kingdom, detailing the process by which the Holy Kingdom had come to exclude beastmen long ago.
[It is a well-known fact that Benedertem, who was promised to be the next Pope, was a beastman. However, it was only learned late what species he changed into, and that was the spark that ignited the ‘First Beastman Uprising.’ At the time, beastmen were treated equally to humans, but depending on what they changed into, they were sometimes ridiculed and sometimes revered. Benedertem was a beastman who turned into a mouse. The fact that a man who could become the next Pope turned into a disease-spreading mouse sent shockwaves through the entire continent, including the Holy Kingdom. That someone who upholds the will of God would be a dirty, small mouse. Moreover, that he had been hiding that fact while becoming an honorable High Priest, aiming for the position of the next Pope. Benedertem was a righteous and honest man with deep faith. The fact that he turned into a mouse did not change that, but one could not suppress the evaluation of mice as beasts, which was ingrained in the public perception. Benedertem was deeply hurt by the attitudes of the priests, the public, and the Pope, whose treatment of him changed like a flipping palm. Holding a devious heart, he secretly gathered beastmen in similar situations and started the ‘First Beastman Uprising’ against the Holy Kingdom.]
When she had read that far, Kay came to find her.
“Rishi, sorry to disturb you.”
“No, it’s fine. I was just reading because I had a bit of free time today.”
Rishi closed the book, took Kay’s outstretched hand, and stood up.
“Would you like to go for a walk? Just the two of us.”
“I’d love to.”
Leaving the maids in the room, she went outside with Kay. She thought they were heading to the central garden, but the place Kay headed toward was the Western Wing.
“It seems a precious guest has arrived.”
“If you call them precious, then precious they are. They are a guest who will make our wedding even more brilliant.”
“Our wedding?”
Rishi, who didn’t know what kind of promise Kay had made with the priest, asked with a puzzled look, but Kay only smiled. Soon, they arrived at the garden in front of the Western Wing. It was smaller than the central garden, but it was filled with a fragrant and sweet scent. Most of the garden trees were fruit trees. Kay reached for a tree in front of him, picked a peach, and handed it to Rishi.
“Our estate is famous for having sweet peaches.”
“I didn’t know we had these.”
Rishi took a bite of the luscious peach. Sweet juice moistened the corners of her lips.
“Wow, it really…”
The words “is delicious” were swallowed by Kay’s lips. Kay, who had carefully tasted the juice-stained lips of Rishi, pressed his forehead against hers and whispered.
“Sorry. Your lips looked sweeter than the peach.”
“Were they that sweet?”
“They were even sweeter.”
Kay overlapped his lips with Rishi’s once more. The heart that had stopped in surprise a moment ago could now be felt beating sweetly. Strangely, this short, light kiss was more heart-fluttering than the secretive and sticky ways Kay would touch her. She was worried that this strangely accelerated heartbeat might be heard by Kay, but Kay, who pulled his lips away, wiped her lips with his thumb and said.
“I decided to prove to the priest that the rumors are false.”
“I see.”
“When shall we do it, Rishi? The sooner the better, I think.”
“When I heard the priest was coming, I had already reserved Tony’s Cave.”
The tavern ‘Tony’s Cave’ was located next to the main plaza of Londerivan City, the capital of the House Green territory. Since it was the largest and widest establishment in Londerivan City, it was a place often used by commoners when they held parties.
“Tomorrow, we will hold a party for the commoners there.”
“What should I prepare?”
Rishi put her index finger to her chin and tilted her head slightly as if thinking, then lightly tapped the tip of Kay’s nose with that same finger.
“Prepare to smile.”
+++
A surprise party hosted by the rumored Countess of Green for the commoners. At the main plaza next to the tavern ‘Tony’s Cave,’ so many people had gathered from well before the party time that there was not a single inch of space to stand. Invitations had been sent out separately… It was not for one single reason, so a variety of people gathered.
Those who wanted to see the Count of Green up close.
Those who wanted to gawk at the rumored Countess of Green.
Those who harbored ill will toward the scandalous Countess of Green.
Those who were resolved to eat their fill of delicious food and then leave.
Those who wanted to rise in status by catching the eye of the Count of Green.
Nobles living nearby.
And, reporters who had flocked to cover the protagonist of the rumors.
While they exchanged stories about this party, saying things like:
“Even the Pope has made a move, so the Countess must have had her feet held to the fire. To think she’d throw a party like this.”
“Do you think doing this will make what the Countess did simply disappear?”
“You shouldn’t just think that way. The Countess loves parties; perhaps she just wants to treat us to something, too.”
Rishi was changing into her dress.
Elegant, but not overly flashy.
Dressed up, but not looking like she had tried too hard.
And yet, looking as radiant as possible.
She pinned up her long, pale-reddish silver hair into a neat bun, then pulled out a few strands to drape over her elegantly curved shoulders. She wore only a single hairpin adorned with a pearl the size of a thumbprint, and donned a pair of small pearl earrings and a necklace. The dress was a very pale sky blue. It was an off-the-shoulder dress with wide, flowing sleeves that reached down to the back of her hands. Though it appeared plain for lacking lace or decorations, when Rishi wore it, it looked elegant and noble.
“I was worried because it’s not a dress that suits just anyone… but you look truly beautiful, Iris.”
Krisina, who had been attending to her, exclaimed in admiration. Erwel nodded fervently. Gillette was not in the room. Having heard about today’s party, Gillette had submitted a request for time off, saying she wanted to attend as a daughter of a viscount. Since it was what Rishi had hoped for, she had granted it without a word, but Krisina seemed displeased with Gillette for forgetting her duties. While a maid had the right to dress up beautifully and attend a party, Krisina felt that attending to the noblewoman she served should always come first.
“I am fine with this, so Krisina and Erwel, you should go and prepare for the party as well.”
“But the party…”
“Yes, Countess. We will go prepare and return soon.”
Just as Erwel began to speak, Krisina cut her off. Erwel glared at Krisina with a face full of dissatisfaction before being dragged out by the hand. As soon as they stepped into the hallway, Erwel shook off Krisina’s hand roughly.
“Krisina, please, let me at least talk to the Countess.”
“What were you going to say?”
“That… that I have a constitution where I break out in hives if I attend parties…”
“That’s not it, Erwel.”
“Ah, damn it. I was going to say I don’t f***ing fit in at parties, why?”
Krisina stared at Erwel silently.
“I know. I know that. But ever since I was young… ugh, damn it.”
Erwel scratched her head vigorously as if frustrated with herself.
“But Jeresien is the same way, isn’t she? Jeresien says whatever she wants, too…”
“You must call her Lady Jeresien. Or Lady Green.”
“Lady, my foot…”
When Erwel had said that much, Kay was walking down the hallway. The two quickly stopped talking and turned to look at Kay. For some reason, Kay had a look on his face as if he were trying to suppress a smile. For a moment, Krisina wondered if he had overheard their conversation, but she thought that couldn’t be possible. They had been speaking in very low voices.
*‘He must be in a good mood because he is going to see Iris. He always smiles like that whenever he enters this room.’*