Chapter 32
Flustered by his words, Delonas cautiously poked her upper body out from under the desk, then half-crawled out.
As she stood up, she saw the Pope, whose clothes, unlike hers, were not a single wrinkle out of place.
“…….”
She felt it would seem like she was fussing if she straightened her clothes now, so Delonas fixed her gaze on the floor.
“…Straighten your clothes.”
…It seemed her disheveled clothes were bothering him.
Delonas awkwardly smoothed her clothes with clumsy gestures.
Her mouth, tense, seemed to taste of something metallic. Her hands, brushing off the wrinkles, trembled faintly.
“You should drink some water, too.”
But then, a glass of water was offered to her.
“……?”
It wasn’t his own drink; it was simply a normal glass of water, offered as one would to a guest.
It was the first normal treatment she had received since coming here.
“…Um,”
Was it okay to accept? Was this a pretext to punish her again?
As Delonas hesitated, the Pope frowned slightly.
He also seemed to have briefly placed a hand over his chest.
What is it? Is he in pain?
“If you won’t drink it, I’ll discard it.”
As he moved to put the glass down, Delonas hastily took it.
Come to think of it, this person… he seems to be using formal speech with me.
…Did he always use formal speech? I don’t think so…
Delonas lowered her gaze to hide her slight bewilderment and drank the water.
It was cool, clean water. So much so that it even tasted sweet.
Above all, her mind, which had been dreamily clouded, seemed to clear.
The heavy feeling, as if a stone were lodged inside her, also seemed to ease.
She felt she understood without being told. This was holy water.
Even if holy water was common, was it so common as to be used for drinking?
As she stood holding the empty glass in confusion, the Pope spoke.
“Then, let me ask again. Do you wish to live?”
She felt his gaze on her.
Without realizing it, Delonas clenched her hand tightly around the glass.
She didn’t want to die. But she didn’t want to live like this, either.
Saying such a thing seemed like it would displease the Pope.
Above all…
“Ugh…!”
The moment that thought arose, a sharp pain began to spread through her heart.
The Pope paused, then spoke.
“If you wish to live, give me the glass.”
Even if speaking was difficult, action was possible.
When Delonas quickly extended the glass, the Pope accepted it.
“I understand your will. So, you can stop thinking now.”
Stop thinking?
While she was pondering what he meant, the distant pain in her heart vanished.
Was she supposed to go back under the desk?
Not knowing what to do, Delonas simply stood by his side, her hands clasped together.
The Pope took out a sheet of paper in front of her.
Then, he brought a small vial of holy water and poured it onto the paper.
―Splash!
Instead of getting soaked, the paper became translucent.
“……?”
While a surprised Delonas watched with wide eyes,
the Pope began to write in the continent’s common language.
[Regarding your previous proposal, I, personally, view it very positively.
I wish we had time to discuss it in detail.
I have an external schedule soon. I would prefer if our meeting appeared to be a coincidental, chance encounter.
For your reference, the condition for agreeing to this promise is the Princess’s―]
The Pope, who had been writing up to that point, let out a short breath.
As if he were suffering from something.
Then he continued writing.
[―survival.]
Was there any possibility that the ‘Princess’ mentioned here wasn’t her?
On the continent now, including the fallen Beakin, there were only two imperial families.
Archion and Beakin.
And currently, there is no princess in Archion.
She had heard there was a power struggle between the favored second prince and the neglected first prince, the Crown Prince, but the problem was…
That Crown Prince’s name was Aldenas.
Could that seemingly pseudonymous name, ‘Denas,’ be related to him?
While her eyes widened, the Pope folded the letter and completely immersed it in the holy water.
―Ssssaa….
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