Chapter 248
Lionel nodded and signaled Miguel with his eyes, then moved away from the rest of the party. Since his arm was still around my shoulders, I naturally came along.
‘What’s going on? That expression looks serious.’
I pricked up my ears and caught something alarming. Something about visitors who had come to Hered.
“The Holy knights have come as well?”
“Yes, it appears that at minimum, someone of cardinal rank or higher has come.”
The wedding customs in nations that worshipped the One God were nearly identical.
At their core, the ceremony consisted of a priest as God’s representative, officiating the rites so that bride and groom could take their marital vows before God.
For commoners, the parish priest would typically conduct the ceremony in a church as part of a mass. Nobles who held their ceremonies at their lordly manors required a separate process to invite a priest.
High-ranking nobles and royalty who maintained close ties with the Main Temple would sometimes invite a cardinal or higher-ranking clergy to officiate. Lionel, however, had skipped that process entirely.
Given the enormous donations he made, had he simply asked, even the Pope would have gladly come in person.
But since Lionel’s and my goal was to draw as little public attention as possible, we’d settled on having Hered’s parish priest officiate.
That had been the plan, and yet…
‘They sent a high-ranking priest and Holy knights without even being asked? What in the world is going on?’
The person presumed to be the high-ranking priest hadn’t even clearly revealed their identity.
They’d said they would properly introduce themselves and exchange greetings once the lord of the castle returned, then shut themselves in the prayer room and refused to come out.
While we were listening to the account of the uninvited guests from the temple, the carriage and additional escorts that Lionel had ordered finally arrived.
Among them, I spotted knights in white armor that stood out sharply even in the midnight darkness.
‘Wait… those are holy knights?!’
They appeared to be the very people Miguel had mentioned.
It was past midnight. Guests staying at the castle had mixed themselves into the welcoming party. How were we supposed to interpret that?
Lionel, too, narrowed his eyes at the unexpected development as he watched them.
Then, suddenly, I noticed one person among the holy knights.
That person wore a cappa[1], the cold-weather cloak priests donned when setting out on pilgrimages, and with the hood pulled up in the already dark surroundings, their face was nearly invisible.
However, judging by a height similar to Dantère’s and broad shoulders, this person was most likely male.
‘That must be the high-ranking priest Miguel mentioned.’
If they were a cardinal from the Main Temple, it seemed holy knights would be assigned as escorts in those numbers.
The priest’s gaze swept over the Luanax knights, then Vivian, Dantère, Ardin, and Halid in turn, before settling on us standing a short distance apart.
Had he recognized Lionel?
The man began walking directly toward us, and the holy knights fell into step behind him.
“Sasha, stay behind me for the moment. Just until their purpose becomes clear.”
Lionel whispered low, then tucked me behind his back before they could reach us.
But things deviated from expectations yet again.
When Lionel moved in front of me, the priest changed course.
Circling around, his target was not Lionel. Apparently, it was me.
The moment I realized it, I darted behind Lionel once more, but this time, they didn’t seem to care.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, at last.”
The priest stopped before us. As I peeked just my face out from beside Lionel’s arm, he fixed his gaze directly on me and spoke.
His voice was that of a boy whose voice hadn’t yet reached puberty, youthful and clear.
When he pushed back his hood, silvery blue-green hair cascaded down to his waist, catching the pale moonlight.
The man’s eyes were a similar hue to his hair. His two eyes, gleaming with a cool light as they looked at me, were filled with unmistakable joy.
‘He knows me…?’
That description of his appearance… hadn’t I encountered something like it before?
‘I feel like he was some important character….’
As I stared at him intently, the memory hovered just at the edge of my mind but refused to surface.
Then Lionel, who had been studying the man, spoke.
“…I hadn’t expected Your Holiness to visit Hered without notice.”
Wait… that pretty man was the Pope?!
Translation Notes
[1] ↩
