“Maria, that’s a bit……”

Captain Hervé Duhem answered in an awkward voice.

Maria scratched her short hair as she responded. “You’re about to call me stupid again, aren’t you? But wait, listen to me! We are basically imprisoned in our territory right now. According to sis, the entire March might end up getting sealed soon. It is going to end up as a siege! They are going to siege the entire city! It’s going to be like what we read about in the history books!”

“……”

Everybody turned to look at Antoinette. She opened her eyes wide.

“I didn’t say it in such extreme terms, little sis!”

“Either way, the results are similar. You said that Duke Sarnez framed us and made it seem like our fault? That’s an extremely grave sin! In that case, isn’t escaping from the territory the top priority?”

“Young lady, we should first see what her Majesty decides……”

“Maybe everything until now has already been her Majesty’s will……” Baron Fabrice Bellang and his daughter, Elody, who had been quietly listening until now, commented.

“Wouldn’t the misunderstanding become worse if we run away?” Lady Anne Bellang quietly asked.

Benjamin and Ganael were exchanging opinions as well. The Duhem trio had started the conversation while Thérèse, who had her eldest brother’s head on her lap, was quickly writing something in a notebook. It was an extremely serious situation, but I had other thoughts while looking at the siblings.

“Rather than just sitting here waiting without knowing the situation outside, being active seems to be……”

For example, ‘It’s such a relief that my brother is in the house I left behind.’ I didn’t know how much time had passed over there, but I was relieved that Eunseo had at least one of her two brothers.

Such unrelated thoughts like that.

“Your highness.”

Sir Johann calling me brought me out of my thoughts. He handed me a paper folded into a mitre. Thérèse seemed to have made it with the letter, but his dexterity was so good that the detains felt alive. I smiled toward him.

“Thank you very much. It’s beautiful. Demy, tada! There are things you like.”

– Squeeeee.

Demy, who had just woken up, was pulling at my sleeves, making me show the mitre. He quickly put it on and opened his mouth. It made him look like he was laughing, which made me chuckle. The red panda must have thought that this was the right time as it made a small branch to hold onto as he stood up.

And then…

– Shaaaaaaaaaaaa……

The entire cradle filled with flowers. The earth attribute ether was creating a small miracle. His round eyes were sparkling as if he had not been asleep.

I hugged Demy, who was waddling on two feet, and smiled brightly.

“Did you sleep well? Are you showing me something pretty because you are feeling good?”

– Squeeeee!

“I didn’t know his Holiness the Pope was on the continent.”

Sir Johann’s eyes curled up as he joked. Only then did I realize the situation and put the divine beast down. The little guy had created purple pansies on the mitre and handed it to me. I suddenly recalled how he had curled up on top of < The Pope Chronicles >.

‘I think that was the last day of the harvest festival. Is he still going on about that?’

“……You want me to become the Pope?”

I buried my face in Demy’s black tummy and whispered so quietly that even Sir Johann, who was right next to me, couldn’t hear.

Demy gave me a big hug. He seemed happy that I finally understood what he was trying to say. ‘This is bad!’

– Cree! Cree!

“Okay, I understand what you are trying to say.” I smiled bitterly and stood up.

It was understandable why the little guy was feeling this way. Demy started getting focused on the ‘Pope’ term since the hole in the sky appeared in the Blanquer Duchy. The red panda was not next to me and was protecting the Lord’s Castle at that time, but there was no way a divine beast would have missed such an extreme flow and explosion of ether. And the fact that a gate appeared where our house was visible……

“Mm.”

To sum it up, it was because the Paten of Wishes in my body activated.

I clearly remembered the dreadful feeling and repulsion I felt that day. The puddle of blood that dyed my sight red… The ominous fear that I never wanted to experience again…

– Whimper

“I think it will be hard even if you try to act cute like that.”

I gave him a rub as I mumbled. Telling me to be the Pope was probably Demy wanting me to become the ‘proper master’ of the Paten. It may just be conjecture, but that was the only reason I could come up with.

If I only thought about the perks of a Pope without considering the process or results, it wasn’t a bad deal for me. If I could freely remove the paten, I may be able to open the gate without feeling the same level of pain I felt that day. The problem was……

“That almost felt like divine possession.”

– Squooooo?

The Pope in the QNW world was, obviously, different from the Pope in the real world. The highest ranking religious figure of the Church of the Almighty God was not chosen by election from the Cardinals but by the Almighty God. The sign that she chose a new Pope was purple smoke coming from the chimney of the Temple of Boundaries, but that too was done not by humans but by the Almighty God. It was similar to the miracle of a purple tulip showing up when people made celestial covenants.

Basically, it had nothing to do with the second male lead who died in the original novel. A lot of the story had changed, but that was going a bit overboard.

‘Honestly speaking, I think the author made there be no Pope so that it is easy for the kingdoms to fight.’

“How do I tell him about that?”

At the same time, I didn’t want to break Demy’s innocence. ‘How did I explain it to Eunseo? Santa doesn’t go around riding dinosaurs and Rudolph isn’t short for Rudolphasaurus……’

“What would you like to do, your highness?” Sir Johann gently asked at that moment. I quickly snapped back to my senses.

‘Wow, everybody! Take a look at Jung Yeseo. He sure has it nice while people are talking about rebellions!’

“That, hmm… I think young lady Thérèse does have a point.” I quickly thought of the things I heard and responded.

Sir Johann’s eyebrows lowered as if he was disappointed. ‘Was that not right?’

“As mentioned already, it is difficult to fight our way through and the Imperial Capital Garrison has blocked the portal as well as all land paths. But we can’t just waste time over here. We have no idea what other extra conspiracy theories the enemies are spreading. I’ve been thinking about it this whole time, but……”

Everybody looked toward me. My neck immediately felt hot. I patted Demy as I carefully chose my words.

“I think there are two main reasons Duke Sarnez would do something like this to me. First…… Has to do with the Religious Partner.”

“Of course,” Marquis François Duhem mumbled in a dramatic tone.

Antoinette reacted like a spectator at the opera.

‘I can trust the people here so I should be able to tell them.’

“I don’t know how his Royal Highness feels, but her Eminence, Cardinal Aurélie…… She sees me as a candidate for it? She is considering me for it? At least she seems to?”

My voice sounded weird as I spoke. The weirder thing was that nobody seemed shocked at what I said. It really was true that the nobles of the Empire were great at maintaining their poker faces. ‘Sir Johann seems to have become an Imperial resident in this regard too.’

“If Duke Sarnez is thinking about planting a different priest to be his Royal Highness’s Religious Partner…… That would explain why he is trying to kill me or sully my honor. Of course, I have no desire to rise to such a position. Are you all listening?”

They were all seriously whispering to one another. The Holy Knight was the one to speak.

“Your highness, but that would lead to Dame Sarnez being hurt as well as your friend and partner. I heard that the Duke loves his daughter very much.”

“Yes, he cherishes Lady Isabelle and Christelle very much. That is what stumped me as well. Which is what led to the second reason……”

I hesitated for a moment.

You couldn’t take back your words once you said it, and this was too big of an issue. I thought about it three more times before I barely managed to let the words out.

“Which is Werner Venetiaan. I had a feeling that this might be the Prince Consort’s scheme. That guy…… Has been aiming for my life even after I came to the Empire.”

The whole room seemed to freeze over. I couldn’t help but gulp. Sir Johann’s white hair slowly flowed down. The Marquis slowly sat up on the couch.

“Your highness, that means……”

Our eyes met. The light pink eyes were sparkling sharper than I had ever seen before. There weren’t even the slightest signs of a smile on his even lips.

“That he is a spy who received an order from the Royal family of the Holy Kingdom.”

“……Yes. I am aware.”

It felt like he and I were the only ones in this big living room.

“Simon de Sarnez is a key figure of the Chambre des pairs and her Majesty’s favorite vassal. He is also someone I have been discussing the affairs of the Empire with until very recently.”

The Marquis continued to speak. I suddenly thought about the Andresy trial in the Empress Palace. The last thing I saw before leaving the audience room was the Duke and the Marquis having a serious conversation. He probably did not want to accept my hypothesis.

‘I’m sure there is a level of trust between the two of them.’ I was sure that they had a long friendship I did not know about.

“But eldest bro, if what his highness says is correct, everything makes sense……” Thérèse grabbed his arm. The Marquis blankly turned to look at his youngest sister. “Talking badly about his highness or trying to kill him, not stopping at his highness and trying to drag Baron Bellang, second bro, and you into it…… There’s no reason to go so far if he is only aiming for the position of soulmate. If he had bad intentions, dragging out discussions about his highness’s nationality is enough.”

“Thérèse.”

“If second bro had not noticed it, they may have easily harmed his highness. But second bro fought back and they immediately sent the garrison to pressure us. Maybe he expected things to go like this as well. He planned to frame someone from the beginning…… Because his crimes are too big.”

“……”

To cover the grand crime of being a spy, he didn’t hesitate to frame an innocent of conspiring a rebellion. The Marquis lowered his gaze. Antoinette walked over and held his hand.

Thérèse spoke in a sad voice. “If eldest bro surrenders and says that he will send his highness over to prove his innocence, that’s the end. The Duke will make sure that his highness, before he reaches the Imperial Palace……”

“That won’t happen. His highness is someone who has the Imperial family’s affection and trust. Which means that we need to protect him.”

The Marquis cut her off. I blinked in shock. His siblings nodded their heads and looked at me.

“Yeah.”

“That’s right! That’s who we are!”

“Of course. His highness is the person who guaranteed my celestial covenant.”

“Please don’t worry, your highness.”

Thérèse, Maria, Antoinette. After them, Captain Duhem smiled brightly as they answered.

I didn’t know how I should respond. I closed my mouth because I could not control my facial expression. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I still felt apologetic. I knew that I was the one who was most wronged here, but that’s just the way people’s minds work. They were suffering because they were entangled with me, framed, and hurt. How could I not feel like I did my friends wrong? But I didn’t think saying sorry was enough to express all of my emotions. I……

“Your highness, we will do everything we can to help as well.”

“The children are waiting for us in the territory, after all.”

“I need to make sure to feed Coco too.”

The Bellang family chimed in as well.

My face instantly crumbled as soon as she mentioned the three-colored cat, Coco. Benjamin, Benjamin, and Sir Johann’s faces lit up as well. I finally managed to smile brightly.

Yes. I just needed to respond with the best that I had to offer. Even if I was lacking and not useful, I just had to do as I had always done.

“Thank you very much. And I am sorry for making all of you suffer like this. I will do my best as well. Let’s do our best to safely meet her Majesty.”

“Then will you really head to the vassal state? To the twin islands of Decadence and Pleasure?

‘Hmm?’

“Maria, we decided to rethink that.”

The Marquis urgently stopped her. Thérèse tilted her head and pointed at her notebook.

“Eldest bro, it is unnecessary to rethink it. There is no way up to the Imperial Capital. It would also harm others if we asked the neighboring nobles for help……”

The young lady only spoke facts despite her quiet and timid demeanor. She was like the stealth aircraft of the House of Duhem.

“But if we go to his highness’s territory, Sérénité!”

“That’s far from here…… Look here, we still need to go through a regional portal. We are guaranteed to run into the garrison. We can’t even go to Baron Bellang’s territory.” The youngest easily suppressed her eldest brother.

I had been wondering what she was writing so persistently in her notebook, but she must have plotted out different paths using the maps of the Empire’s portals and the March to see the potential ways we could move. She had brains, albeit in a different manner than the Marquis.

“But we can’t just enter the vassal state as we please without any advance notice!”

“Why do we need something like that? Eldest bro, you are Admiral Emma Corleone’s plaything!”

‘Excuse me?!’

– Clang!

“Maria!”

“Holy Almighty God! Who taught you to speak like that?”

The living room instantly turned into chaos. Tithé whined after hearing the teacup break. All of our jaws dropped. Even Sir Johann looked at the Marquis in shock.

He quickly flailed his hands in front of us. I couldn’t tell whether he was sweating from shock or pain.

“Your highness, this is a misunderstanding.”

“Oh my, I think this is my fault. I said you were her toy but Maria upgraded it to plaything!”

“Antoinette!”

The story was becoming more and more interesting. It had been a desperately dangerous situation involving rebellion until just a minute ago, but my hands were getting sweaty for a different reason now!

—
Translator’s Comments

Mr Big Flirt is someone’s plaything????

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