Chapter 9
Perhaps he was having a simple meal, the man holding a spoon set it down.
As he did, he made eye contact with her—brown, dry, and expressionless eyes.
“I heard retching sounds.”
It seemed he had managed to hear. Delonas flinched.
It couldn’t have been a pleasant sound to hear, but even she, in the imperial palace, had never punished someone for such a thing.
However.
“Apologize quickly!”
Several rough priestly hands pressed down on her head again, and she had no way to resist.
“…!”
Is this something I should apologize for? Just as she slightly opened her mouth—
“Your Holiness, it seems this one’s education is still insufficient to stand before Your Holiness. We will educate it further and send it back.”
Your Holiness…?
The person before her was the Pontiff? She had heard he was a young man, but…
The thought that those dry, expressionless eyes might hold a murderous intent made her body begin to tremble.
‘His Holiness the Pontiff won’t let you off if he sees you!’
‘You know how much he cherishes Archion, let alone the blood of Beakin that harmed his family!’
It was because of the infamous reputation she had heard about him ad nauseam from the holy knights on the way here.
‘Those who displeased him were thrown alive to flocks of starving crows and packs of wolves!’
Given that she had even heard such gruesome words, Delonas’s hands trembled with instinctive fear.
Then, abruptly, the Pontiff spoke.
“Have it eat this.”
And with that, didn’t he set down his spoon?
The priests also seemed surprised, murmuring among themselves.
“Your Holiness, you’ve barely touched it.”
“My appetite isn’t particularly taken.”
But the Pontiff’s voice was cold.
The priests soon exchanged glances.
“It seems the sight of something filthy ruined it.”
Seeing the blood of Beakin, who killed his family, couldn’t have stimulated his appetite.
“Our thoughts were short-sighted.”
“But Your Holiness, please reconsider giving such precious food to that thing. It is too valuable to give to it.”
At that, the Pontiff moved his brow as if annoyed.
“It’s more troublesome to prepare a new meal, so it’s just giving away the leftovers. More than anything.”
He looked at the priests and said.
“If you don’t at least feed it this, are you telling me to bathe in the bathroom where it retched?”
At those words, the priests’ faces paled.
“…No, it was a thoughtless remark.”
The priests bowed their heads at the chilling words.
Only then was the food placed before Delonas.
“Then, since the meal is over, I shall go for a walk. I would appreciate it if the cleaning were finished by the time I return.”
With that, the Pontiff rose to his feet.
As the priests withdrew like a receding tide, Delonas blinked.
…This seems like a study, is it alright to leave me alone in a space like this?
But it wasn’t as if any documents or such were left behind, and more than anything.
She was so terribly hungry.
Even though this wretched feeling was new and she didn’t know what to do, in the end,
Delonas reached for the food.
Even if the food showed no signs of being touched, it was the first time she was eating something another person had left behind.
“…”
Unknowingly, she bit her lip.
But since no one is watching…
She picked up the bread.
—Plop.
A tear fell.
***
The Pontiff had told her to clean up.
And the priests, while she was still eating, came in, threw down some cleaning supplies, and disappeared.
‘You’ll have to clean it thoroughly so as not to provoke his displeasure.’
And what they provided, once again, were only cloth scraps and holy water.
“How am I supposed to clean with this…”
Of course, the bathroom, presumably used by the Pontiff, wasn’t particularly dirty.
But the holy water Delonas knew of was just water.
Though rumors circulating among the people said that the divine power imbued in Archion’s holy water was so potent that merely touching it to dirty stains or mold would make them vanish as if washed away.
That was why, they said, in Archion, soaps and detergents made by adding all sorts of things had become obsolete.
“That can’t be true.”
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