NTWBR 11

Chapter 11

“It doesn’t matter what business Prime Minister Marshal has here.”

“Your Highness?”

“We just need to make the High Priest take His Majesty’s side, don’t we?”

“That’s… true, Your Highness.”

With that, Irene walked across the grand corridor.

The sound of Irene’s heels echoed lowly throughout the hallway.

One step, one step.

Every time Irene took a step, the shoulders of the attendants at the end of the grand corridor flinched.

Seeing this, Irene did not walk quickly at all.

Instead, she took her steps slowly, even more slowly.

The time she perceived felt shorter than expected.

Arriving at the end of that wide corridor, Irene found herself facing Prime Minister Marshal before she knew it.

“Prime Minister.”

“Y-y-y, Your Highness the Princess?”

“You’re not calling her Madame Paylin?”

“M-madame…”

“Enough.”

Irene pushed past the flustered Prime Minister Marshal and took a step forward.

Then, what came into Irene’s view was an old man wearing a faded brown priestly robe.

“I greet the High Priest.”

Irene offered a polite and respectful bow.

Prime Minister Marshal’s face was filled with astonishment at the sight of Irene.

And the old priest looked down at her with an expressionless face.

“Do you have proof, Your Highness the Princess, that this man is the High Priest?”

At the old priest’s calm words, Irene smiled.

She couldn’t help it.

She had seen his face on her wedding day in her past life.

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize the High Priest, with his face and expression unchanged from that time.

*’I already know you’re not the real High Priest. But on the surface, you are the High Priest!’*

Sharpening her gaze, Irene stared at the old priest.

Then the old priest, too, flashed a light in his eyes between his wrinkled eyelids.

“Wouldn’t it be a problem if I didn’t recognize the one who is the First Servant of the Lord God?”

At Irene’s play, the old priest reacted.

“I suppose I should offer my formal greetings, High Priest.”

“Heh heh.”

“I, Irene de Estana, greet the First Servant of the Lord God.”

Once more, she bowed deeply.

It was different from the light gestures of ordinary noble ladies.

A dignity befitting a princess was imbued in every single action.

At this, the old priest looked at Irene with an interested gaze.

“I don’t know what business you have, but if you tell me, I will relay it to the High Priest.”

*’This one is also a snake! Still, on the surface, he is the High Priest!’*

However, contrary to her thoughts, Irene wore a gentle smile outwardly.

And she took a step closer to the old priest.

“This is not a matter to be discussed here.”

As Irene finished speaking, the old priest was silent for a moment, then moved his steps towards the inside of the grand corridor.

“High Priest…?”

“Come.”

Irene followed the old man who disappeared towards the end of the corridor with a gesture to follow.

The place they arrived at, following the old man, was a small room furnished with only a few old pieces of furniture.

The most valuable thing in it was the statue of the Lord God.

“High Priest.”

“I do not know what you wish to say.”

“Is it anything special?”

“However.”

“However?”

The old priest, pausing mid-sentence, wiped the statue placed on the old shelf with the hem of his robe.

Then, he no longer directed his gaze at Irene.

“If you tell me, I will relay it to the High Priest.”

“I’ll speak plainly, Old Priest. And High Priest. Please take my side.”

Cutting through all the formalities, she brought up the main point first.

“Is that all you wish me to relay?”

At the old priest’s words, Irene no longer felt the need to be courteous either.

Because she hadn’t come to make a simple request, but to force a political decision.

“I do not know what my Father offered you through Prime Minister Marshal.”

“You came without even knowing that?”

Now that it was just the two of them, the old priest spoke as if openly disregarding her.

Despite this attitude of the old priest, Irene didn’t even blink.

“Probably power or wealth.”

“……”

The old priest signified affirmation with silence.

Irene inwardly smiled at this reaction from the old priest.

*’Father’s thinking is always the same! Unchanged, unchanged!’*

A sigh of relief escaped her at the unchanging nature of Father Fern, who believed people could be bought with wealth and power.

If Fern V continued to show the same responses, she thought it would be even easier to deal with him.

“I cannot give you either, but I can give you legitimacy.”

“What do you mean?”

Irene almost laughed at the old priest’s reaction, as if he couldn’t understand her words.

*’He truly was a snake! Alright, I’ll use you.’*

“This old man is dull, so I find it difficult to understand what you, Your Highness, are saying.”

Although he humbled himself as dull, greed and ambition for power flowed in the old priest’s eyes.

Irene was not unaware of this.

“Legitimacy in the succession of the throne.”

“And what is that, Your Highness? Please enlighten this old man.”

His actions were humble, yet he treated her as if she were a child.

Irene merely laughed inwardly at this.

“This is what I can offer the High Priest. The legitimacy of having supported the most rightful heir.”

“……”

The old priest was silent.

Though silent, his eyes were calculating.

Irene could almost hear the old priest’s mind working.

*’Old man…! You’re working your head hard!’*

“I cannot promise you wealth or honor, but I can give you honor.”

“It is all futile.”

Outwardly, he was the embodiment of a clergyman, but inwardly he was calculating.

Irene was all the more pleased with this discrepancy between his outward and inward actions.

“High Priest. I, Irene de Estana, cannot guarantee other things, but.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Please speak.”

“There is one thing I can say for certain.”

She carefully took a step closer to the old priest.

The old priest, startled, moved his feet, but she caught his robe and stopped him.

“Why are you startled?”

“Y-your, Highness.”

“If you have nothing to hide from this person, there should be nothing to be startled about, should there?”

“Yo, Your Highness.”

She prevented the old priest’s hand from trying to free the caught robe.

And she took another step closer to the old priest.

The distance between Irene and the old priest became a span, close enough to hear each other’s breaths.

“If the Temple takes this person’s side. No, if it takes no one’s side.”

Gulp—

She heard the old priest’s Adam’s apple bob.

“At the very least. Within this Estana, the Temple’s fairness can be further elevated.”

“……”

“So, please take my side. Or at least, remain neutral.”

“……”

It was only after several hours that Irene concluded her meeting with the old priest and headed for the imperial palace.

Throughout the journey to the palace, Irene remained silent.

*’Should I have pushed harder…?’*

Her mind was complicated.

She didn’t have a decent, impressive card to play immediately.

Power, wealth.

Whatever Irene could offer was limited; that was the reality.

Irene felt frustrated by the unfathomable intentions of the priest.

While Irene was heading to the imperial palace, at the Temple, the old priest and a young priest were facing each other.

“So, Delion, which side do you want to take?”

“High Priest. Haven’t you already heard everything?”

“I’m asking for your thoughts, Delion.”

The old priest called the young priest ‘High Priest.’

The young priest, addressed as High Priest, was kicking the floor as if he had completely lost interest.

“You must decide, High Priest.”

“That’s why I’m asking, Delion, which side are you going to take? I’m asking you!”

“High Priest.”

“Just think about it. The Emperor of this country said he would give you wealth and power.”

The price offered by Prime Minister Marshal, who came as Fern V’s proxy, was enormous donations and the enhancement of the Temple’s authority.

Estana had become secularized due to the weakening of the Temple’s authority over several generations.

In such Estana, the proposal to elevate the Temple’s authority was very sweet.

“Elevating the authority of the Lord God is something we must do, High Priest.”

“My point is whether we have to do it by interfering in a power struggle.”

“Then, which side do you, High Priest, wish to take?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know!”

At the young High Priest’s reaction, the old priest squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again.

This was why, as usual, he was known outwardly as the High Priest.

“High Priest.”

“Why?”

“If you choose the Princess, the Temple’s fairness will certainly increase.”

“That… I suppose so?”

“And if the Princess becomes Emperor, the Temple’s authority will also rise.”

At the old priest’s words, the young High Priest tilted his head.

At the High Priest’s reaction, the old priest smiled warmly again and sat down beside him.

“Why?”

“Because the Princess wouldn’t dare mistreat us, who helped her become Emperor.”

“But she might mistreat us.”

“Judging by the Princess’s attitude, she seems more likely to favor the Temple than the current Emperor.”

“How can you tell that after just one meeting? She could be worse than the current Emperor!”

“She came to bow to us; she couldn’t possibly be worse.”

At the old priest’s words, the High Priest looked unconvinced.

Seeing the High Priest like this, the old priest continued.

“At the very least, she won’t be worse than the current Emperor.”

“So, Delion, whose side are you going to take?”

“Which side do you, High Priest, wish to take? If I were you, I’d stay still.”

At the old priest’s words, the High Priest questioned back.

Then the old priest stroked the High Priest’s head and spoke.

“Because even just maintaining neutrality will be beneficial for us.”

“Beneficial? What benefit?”

“At least we can maintain the Temple’s authority.”

“Why?”

“Because by not interfering in politics, we raise the Temple’s fairness and authority.”

“I don’t understand.”

The old priest knelt in front of the young High Priest.

And he raised his wrinkled hand to hold the High Priest’s.

“High Priest. How did Her Highness the Princess appear to you?”

“Hmm? She looked clear and pure.”

“Is that all?”

“She seemed to know what she wanted. And it looked like she would treat me well if I took her side.”

That was how Irene appeared to his young eyes.

Clear and pure, but with a clear desire. That’s why she shone even brighter. That’s what Irene was.

At the High Priest’s judgment, the old priest again wore a smile on his lips.

“That judgment is likely correct.”

“Do you think so?”

“Because, by the grace of the Lord God, the High Priest’s eyes are always right. Whom shall we send?”

“…I’ll go. Prepare it.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll go.”

Meanwhile, the journey to the palace was slow and tedious.

She felt like lashing the sluggish feet of the horses pulling the carriage with a whip to make them move faster.

Arriving at the imperial palace, filled with frustration over the High Priest’s unclear intentions, a young priest was waiting for Irene.

As soon as she heard the news, Irene had this priest enter her study.

“What business brings you here?”

“I came on an errand from the High Priest.”

This meant he had brought an answer. The priest pulled out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Irene.