“Episode 47”
Seeing his wife, who stripped apples and chewed them earnestly, seemed too admirable and adorable for Evan to bear. He smiled and gathered the pillow she used last night, which still smelled of her, under his arm, showing his bare upper body and gently speaking with a slightly drowsy voice.
“Before your trial begins, that woman’s divine power examination will start. Lucien Bu Ariakne will naturally announce that her divine power is righteous and befitting of a devout believer. But I think differently. I’ve already filed a complaint questioning her divine power examination at the temple.”
“What connections do you have with the devout believers? Well, even if you do, devout believers are already absorbed into the royal family. Although the power of the royal family and the temple is similar, the temple is already being supported by the royal family’s finances. Even the temple is standing toe to toe with the emperor as the supreme god. Unless you’re really looking for real gods in the north…”
“Yuliana, people have forgotten something.
“Yes?”
Yuliana looked down at Evan as if asking what he was talking about.
Evan squinted his eyes as he looked at his partially undressed wife, bathed in the pale dawn light. Despite having held her all night, she was still alluring.
Eventually, Evan sighed inwardly, burying his face in the pillow. He had already woken up, but he wished sleep would come again.
Of course, it was an impossible thought. Wiping his slightly sweaty forehead, he deliberately spoke gruffly.
“The mines. I mean, the clergy who ventured to capture the ancient sorcerers are stationed at the borders of the north.”
“…The devout believers?”
Yuliana’s mouth slightly agape. She was starting to grasp what he was trying to say, but the exact implication wasn’t clear.
Yuliana added, “They’re people doing noble deeds. I’ve heard that they’re selected among devout believers every year. But what help are they providing?”
“Yuliana, who is the current Pope?”
“Um…wasn’t it Theswell?”
Yuliana chuckled at the memory of the very obese man with dark skin laboriously ascending the podium during the annual speech of the Papacy.
“That man is the Pope.”
“No, he’s a bishop.”
Yuliana’s eyes widened at the unexpected statement.
“…But, that man even presides over the succession to the imperial throne…”
“Right. He’s the archbishop who acts as the Pope’s proxy. Devout believers acknowledge him as the Pope but don’t address him by his full title. Specifically, his position is ‘archbishop and representative of the Papacy’.”
“Then, is the Pope affiliated with the Ecclesiastical Council?”
“Yes.”
Evan looked at his bewildered wife and pursed his lips.
“As a punishment for supporting the entrance of the sorcerers into the demon realm, the Pope decided to leave a small temple in the north for generations. So, the Pope had to delegate most of his duties to his representative. However, there’s one thing the current obese Theswell can’t do, and that’s discerning the ‘entrance to the demon realm’.”
“…So, you’re going to call the Pope to testify that Emerald Lake is the entrance to the demon realm?”
“Yes.”
Yuliana’s mouth gaped slightly at her husband’s unexpected plan.
“That way, we could strip ‘that saint’ of her status. But, the Helcen Ducal family will turn the tables. Emerald Lake is a deeply rooted place for the Ducal family. People with loose tongues will naturally say it’s related to the demon realm, and…”
“Yuliana.”
“Yes?”
Yuliana looked at Evan with pity for trying to overturn such infamy because of her.
However, Evan continued to smile as he looked at his wife standing amidst the dawn light. Extending his hand in worship of his own deity, he beckoned her.
Approaching hesitantly and taking his hand, Yuliana was suddenly pulled towards him by the force of his grip alone. She collapsed onto the bed, and Evan lay back, untying the knot of her partially loosened robe, and lowered his head between her legs.
“For a year, while scouring the north, I sometimes went to that small temple to pray.”
As Yuliana felt the warmth of his breath on her navel, she briefly held his head.
A faint heat tingled at her fingertips, and an arrogant man exhaled as if he knew, then he breathed life onto her skin and kissed her lips.
Just as their lips touched and parted in a fleeting moment, he spoke.
“That clumsy old man saw too. Ah, that old man was the Pope.”
“…”
Yuliana swallowed hard. She bit her lip deliberately, so no sound escaped.
Evan smiled again, as if he knew that too. Then he placed himself between her legs. As he moved, his black hair brushed against her skin.
It was so ticklish and subtle. Yuliana briefly released her hand, then grabbed his head again. At that moment, Evan felt like speaking again.
“That Pope asked me if I came for honor or money. It’s a stupid question no matter how you look at it. What could I possibly want?”
He chuckled as if finding it amusing. Then, he exhaled deeply, watching her skin tremble. It was an insistent gaze.
“Evan, I…”
Yuliana shook her head.
Though she held onto his hair, she felt strangely defeated. But it was a sweet defeat, and she didn’t mind at all.
Yuliana breathed heavily. She felt her throat being choked in a strange way. Listening to her increasingly agitated breaths, Evan spoke as if chewing his words.
“It’s you. I came for you, so what could I want?”
The man who had climbed on top of her completely laughed brightly. Then, he embraced her body once more.
* * *
When they emerged from the bed, the morning sunlight was shining brightly. After Evan left for work as usual with the palace knights, Yuliana was tidying up the roses in the blue rose garden he had gifted her. However, in Evan’s absence, a sense of unease crept in again, causing her to eventually stop trimming the healthy rose stems.
“Sigh…”
She sighed deeply and sat down on a chair. Anna, who keenly sensed the Duchess’s mood, approached her briskly. Yuliana smiled wryly as she saw Anna approaching.
“Hello, Anna. You must have been surprised to hear that I collapsed yesterday.”
“Yes, Your Grace. Truly…”
Anna hesitated, as if she was about to say that she contacted the Duchess with the “magical tool” given by the Duke. There was no need to mention that secret casually. Anna swallowed hard, feeling anxious.
The cheerful smile on her tiny face was now overshadowed by shadows. Anna pondered as she recalled the atmosphere between the Duke and the Duchess yesterday. Somehow, the Duke seemed to have caught onto something about the Duchess. Otherwise, the man who exuded nothing but confidence wouldn’t have looked so lonely.
Thus, the youngest maid stood at a crossroads. Should she give up on secretly communicating with the Duke’s lady, or…
“Anna, does the ducal family no longer receive newspapers?”
“Um…what?”
Anna, who had been absent-mindedly staring in front of her master, was startled and shivered. Until recently, she had been completely absorbed in the task of reading and hiding the newspapers that had been burned, as ordered by the servants of the ducal household.
The esteemed Duchess, a great sorceress, had found the newspapers that had been discarded by ordinary people burned in the blink of an eye.
Yuliana smiled, waiting for Anna’s hesitant response.
“I, I…”
Anna stammered, sweating profusely and shaking her head. How did she manage to find the newspapers, which she had hidden with all her might, to avoid disturbing the Duchess’s mind? The sight of the Duchess calmly reading the newspapers made Anna extremely nervous.
Seeing Anna standing there dumbfounded, Yuliana smiled for a moment.
“It’s okay. Household spells like this are not difficult. By the way, why did our servants decide to throw away the newspapers so quickly?”
Yuliana flicked her hand.
Then, piles of newspapers, which she thought had been burned, floated in the air and landed in her hand. Anna knelt on the patchy grass.
“I, I actually threw away the newspapers last night. We decided not to receive deliveries. But, they’re all lying, aren’t they? The foolish royal family keeps spreading lies about the ducal family…”
“More accurately, they’re spreading lies about me. Cute Anna. In a way, I’m like these blue roses I’ve cultivated. Look at all these inflated rumors. Did I really have so many nicknames?”
Yuliana chuckled. Anna looked through the newspapers with difficulty. The standard language used by nobles and commoners was quite different, making it challenging to read the words written by royal journalists.
Although newspapers were quite efficient for influencing public opinion, they were a distant medium for ordinary people.
Anna grimaced as she glanced at sporadic articles. She noticed provocative articles written solely to provoke in the noble society. Even in her view, they were humiliating articles.
“What… What is a ‘clean trial’?”
Anna asked nervously. Anxiety crept into her large brown eyes.
“Um, what is a ‘purity trial’?” Anna asked, her large brown eyes filled with uncertainty.
Certainly, the concept of a ‘purity trial’ was unfamiliar to commoners. Yuliana pondered how to explain the nobles’ ‘inheritance rights.’
Yuliana tightly clenched the magically restored newspapers in her hand, then dropped them on the table and rested her arm on the armrest. As the spring breeze gently smoothed out her wrinkled mind, she spoke softly, furrowing her brow.
“The nobles of the Empire despise bastards greatly. Don’t you know why?”
