Edited

46.

It all started with an elderly high-ranking priest from the Western Temple, Edio. He knocked on the door of McFoy as if it were a matter of life and death.

When Edio’s sudden visit occurred, Erica’s face briefly tensed with nervousness.

Edio, a highly respected priest in the West, was nothing more than an old man who made my mind restless just by looking at him. He couldn’t even utter a word in front of me without stumbling over my eccentric way of speaking.

It had been several years since I had ordered him not to push his face into everything due to his frustrating nature. Despite this, he had the audacity to knock on the door of McFoy without warning.

I could guess why Edio had come to see me. Nevertheless, I decided not to hand him over to Erica and went to meet him myself.

As I hastened my steps, the massive doors of the audience chamber swung open with a loud noise. I saw the old man standing alone in the spacious hall, looking startled. Ignoring his presence, I headed straight to the highest seat in the hall, the seat of the Lord of McFoy.

Finally settling into the Lord’s seat and looking down at Edio, he still had his typical awkward expression. Watching him continuously wipe away the sweat dripping from his forehead, I couldn’t help but make a clicking noise with my tongue.

Edio, who had tried to bring good news, faltered once again. After gathering his wits and composing himself, he finally got to the point.

“Milord, the Morfoc family, at the Southern Temple, has… requested a break-up trial.”

A high-ranking priest revered by such people. Not only his stumbling speech but also his anxious, darting eyes were even more displeasing.

The Empire had a total of five temples, including the Central Grand Temple and four other temples located in major cities. Typically, when a believer requested a trial at a nearby temple, if deemed appropriate, the case would be sent to the Grand Temple.

The Southern Temple was the land where Philip, the lord of the Morfoc family, was born and received his third name. If you had to say, it could be considered a temple somewhat connected to the Morfoc family.

However, I had provided funds to all temples and priests over the years. From the temple’s perspective, the named believers were at the level of being trampled on the street.

The temples naturally paid attention to worldly affairs. They came to me instead of ignoring the trial request from the faithful Morfoc family.

Of course, it was right to have spent money for this purpose.

Typically, issues related to the McFoy Lord’s religious blasphemy and accusations were handled by junior priests at local temples. McFoy was the largest sponsor of the temples.

“Those who serve Mehera should naturally accept the grace of McFoy, not to mention the unreasonable request from the Morfoc family… The problem is… that.”

The fact that a high-ranking priest intervened directly in matters that were usually dealt with by junior priests meant that there was a problem.

“Go on.”

“To the noble Lord of McFoy… I humbly cannot find the words to speak, but…”

“Get to the point.”

Eventually, I snapped impatiently.

“Y-yes. Th-the problem is that the Morfoc family, in front of the temple, caused a disturbance claiming to be unjustly treated, and many witnessed it. As milord knows well, the temple plays a role in addressing the grievances of the people of the Empire… That is…”

Edio trailed off again, glancing nervously. This time, I raised an eyebrow at him.

“So what you’re saying is if the people of the Empire take Morfoc’s side…”

Temple trials were quite entertaining. Especially trials between nobles, they were a thrilling spectacle. They didn’t support the Morfoc side to hear unjust stories.

“The temple must consider the sentiments of the believers. Are you suggesting we consider your position?”

“Of course, the temple is unequivocally on the side of Lord McFoy. The bond between McFoy and the temple is strong.”

“Hah!”

I couldn’t hold back a chuckle. Edio quickly lowered his head.

He’s amusing me. He doesn’t want to lose believers but still wants to keep receiving money.

“…How much money have you swallowed from me?”

At my grim voice, Edio looked up again. His eyes, devoid of any sense of direction since losing his gun, shook as if there was an earthquake.

“You can’t handle such a simple matter and come crying to me? With such ridiculous reasons for break-up? Purity this, purity that!”

Anger surged from the mention of purity.

“My Lord, that’s not what—”

“Shut up. Ignore Morfoc until I say otherwise. If cutting off the money is so urgent for you, what kind of confidence do you have?”

“T-then how long do we have to endure? Morfoc is very obstinate—”

“Edio.”

I cut off his excuse, knowing I couldn’t listen anymore. Fortunately, Edio wasn’t completely oblivious. He shut his mouth and held his breath.

“Being afraid of the long-standing prestige of an empire’s noble is understandable, but daring to say you’re afraid of Morfoc in front of me. Do you know who I am?”

“You’re… Lord McFoy.”

“I thought you’d gone completely mad, but luckily, you’re still sane. Until I say so. It won’t take long. Ignore whatever nonsense Morfoc brings until then.”

“Yes, yes! My Lord. I will convey as it is to the South.”

“Our break-up trial with Philip at the temple would be quite uneventful. Do it well.”

It was when I dropped the last hint.

Clang—accompanied by the sound, the bronze shield decoration placed in the corner of the hall fell down. The bronze shield, hitting the finely crafted marble floor, produced a long, resounding echo.

Everyone in the hall, including me and Edio, reflexively turned to the direction of the sound.

A round head popped up from where the shield had been. Unfortunately, that small head had crimson hair.

“Damn it…”

I spat out a curse under my breath. Among those who could freely roam around McFoy Castle, there was only one with crimson hair.

“Archie McFoy.”

From infancy, Archie, who loved hide-and-seek, grew up playing a game called ‘catch me if you can’ on the vast stage of McFoy Castle. Despite pretending to be grown-up, Archie, who had no friends his age, still occasionally brought in junior knights to play catch me if you can.

…Because other than knights, he didn’t have suitable opponents to play with often.

I didn’t know who Archie was playing catch with today, but seeing him hiding in the corner, it seemed like it was his turn to be caught.

“Did you all hear that? How did he sneak in again? No, more importantly, doesn’t he have a class? What would he have in the morning?”

As I pondered where to start the criticism, Archie turned his head towards me with a sullen look. The moment our eyes met, I instinctively straightened my neck even more.

Edio, though elderly, was a sly old fox. Sensing the stormy night between the temperamental aunt and the rebellious nephew, he quietly bowed and left the hall with agility after showing proper manners.

In my heart, I also wanted to follow Edio’s lead. But—

“Auntie!”

As soon as Edio discreetly left, Archie raised his voice as if he had been waiting.

“What did I just hear? What was that noise just now? Morfoc, break-up? What?”

Archie, tiny as a mouse, looked quite angry. Did I just hear something absurd? Philip Morfoc? Dare he?

I could see McFoy’s characteristic arrogant anger in Archie. It was a reaction not much different from mine, so I didn’t bother to tell him to maintain his dignity.

There were three reasons why I didn’t tell Archie about Morfoc.

First, the reason for the break-up was too low for a child’s emotions. Things like being treated unfairly or losing innocence were difficult to explain to a child.

Second, it was too humiliating to tell someone like Morfoc that ‘McFoy’ was in danger of break-up. It was infuriating to think about explaining to the arrogant nobility that our one and only bloodstain was getting a break-up.

With these two reasons alone, I had to carefully consider how to handle the situation, and I planned to choose my words wisely after Archie had sorted out his thoughts to some extent. At least until this situation turned around and McFoy was able to break-up Morfoc.

Lastly, the third reason.

This Archie guy, when he starts talking, it’s not just something, and his way with words was extraordinary. Especially his nagging was remarkable. Especially towards my aunt.

“You don’t need to know.”

The thought of avoiding the nagging bombardment made me instinctively turn my head.

However, ‘You don’t need to know’ was the phrase Archie was most fed up with these days. Archie’s face turned red in an instant.

Archie roared in frustration. Everyone’s eyes popped out at his more than expected unruliness.

“You’re doing it again! My aunt always does that! When were you going to tell me this time?”

Was it really necessary to go this far? The arrival of Norma and Antoinette made me completely forget, but suddenly I remembered that there was a cold war going on with Archie and this similar issue.

Archie jumped up and down, starting with ‘This is absurd,’ and firing questions like ‘Why is McFoy in this mess,’ ‘What’s with the talk about innocence,’ and ‘So what are we going to do about it.’

But there was nothing I could immediately answer Archie.

This aunt caused a stir because of the incident of returning alive from Tartarus, which is—.

Before moving on to the temple trial, to make retaliation difficult, with Morfoc and his lover. Oh, Morfoc has a lover—.

…No matter how much I thought about it, it was settled. Archie might act mature, but he was only eleven years old.

“Just be quiet and only follow what this aunt says, without worrying about anything else.”

I carefully chose my words, but this was the best I could do. For a moment, a sense of betrayal and hurt flashed across Archie’s face. Archie tightly clenched his lips, then repeated the gesture.

“…Such a guardian.”

Finally, a voice full of resentment flowed out of Archie’s tightly shut lips.

“Not needed.”

Before I could react, Archie, without even showing proper manners, left the hall.

“Not needed.”

For a moment, a long, tense silence fell underfoot. I pretended not to hear it. It was a kind of self-defense.

Erica, shocked by the young master’s behavior, reflexively turned to her master, then held her breath. The expression on her master’s face at that moment would probably be unforgettable for the rest of her life.

If you had to pick just two important things in the master’s life, it would be the family and the young master. Ultimately, the reason why the master clung to her life was because of the family and the young master.

Although she sometimes joked about not being a good guardian, the dedication and love the master poured into the young master were tremendous. Such a statement from the young master must have been quite shocking to the master.

Of course, the phrase ‘not needed’ was not sincere, but rather a mix of resentment and petulance, as the master would know. The master’s expression was unavoidably distorted.