Chapter 8 Part 5
I had worried that he might ask us to remove our hat or robe if he found us suspicious, but this was actually a fortunate turn of events.
“Thank you.”
As soon as the priest, whose eyes had somehow become reddened, cleared the way, Hyle quickly passed by him.
Hyle must have been tense in his own way—the arms holding me had subtly tightened.
“I didn’t expect carrying me would be so helpful.”
“If it helps things go well, I can hold you anytime.”
“My legs are too healthy for that.”
Previously, Hyle would have made an incredulous face whenever I tossed a small joke, but lately, the corners of his mouth were noticeably rising.
Observing this change was quite interesting. It felt exactly like successfully taming a wild wolf.
After encountering two more priests, we finally reached the cathedral entrance safely.
I’d heard that except for days when all citizens gathered for collective prayer, the cathedral doors mostly opened only for bestowing blessings.
“Finally…”
Hyle’s hand gripped the cathedral’s doorknob.
While interrogating the Cardinal about the third prophecy was one goal, I had an additional purpose.
That was—!
“Ah, you’ve arrived. I should have gone out to greet you, but I was busy with doctrinal teachings since morning… Please, come in.”
Cardinal Xenoph was the masked man I’d been looking for…!
…No, that’s not right? The masked man who prophesied my death had purple hair, but the Cardinal had sky-blue hair.
I was certain the Cardinal would be the masked man, but he wasn’t? Then who on earth is the masked man?
In truth, I had been almost convinced that it was Xenoph. I couldn’t believe it.
Thanks to the incredible reality that Xenoph wasn’t the masked man, my deductions returned to square one.
Realizing that all my deductions and plans to uncover the masked man’s identity had been meaningless futile efforts was quite a bitter pain.
“Your Eminence, I’m pleased to meet you.”
Hyle’s voice had deepened.
It wasn’t an intentional technique, but his sincere voice.
Perhaps for Hyle, the current situation was difficult to accept.
Someone in a position where he could have a private audience with the Cardinal and Pope anytime he wanted now had to infiltrate just to see the Cardinal’s face.
Experiencing it firsthand, I now understood more clearly why Hyle had wanted my engagement to Abel to be broken.
“I see that’s your wife you’re carrying. I hear you’re newlyweds but haven’t even been able to register your marriage.”
Xenoph was even more quintessentially ‘Cardinal-like’ than I had expected.
His outstretched hand was gentle, his gaze was kind, and his returned words were exceedingly courteous.
There was not a hint of falsehood in his caring gaze as he examined me in Hyle’s arms.
Why would such a benevolent person hide the prophecy?
“I think we can stop the act now.”
With Hyle’s words, I descended lightly from his arms.
My feet, which had been floating in the air all this time, finally touched the ground, and at last, delayed vitality returned to my stiffened body.
“Indeed. While we’re at it, Xenoph, you too.”
Hyle removed his robe, and I took off my hat. With the things blocking my view gone, Xenoph’s face became even more clearly visible.
His sky-blue hair, which reached down to his ears, flowed with healthy luster, and his brown eyes—which believers considered benevolent—contained a strange light whose depths were unfathomable.
“Haha, well… I’m sorry, but I haven’t been acting. How could I dare to act in front of whom?”
Far from being flustered at seeing us, Xenoph continued the conversation calmly, laughing with composure.
Suddenly, Xenoph’s sharp earthy eyes looked directly at me.
At the same time, his momentarily closed mouth opened again.
“Not when the Holy Maiden chosen by the Goddess is so close.”
“…Do you have no intention of hiding the prophecy?”
“Haha, if the Young Marquis and the Holy Maiden came together, it means you already ‘know,’ so what would be the point of hiding it?”
In response to Hyle’s cautious words, Xenoph merely showed a kindly smile with his eyes narrowed.
Seeing him so readily admit the truth, I felt a bit deflated about the days Hyle and I had spent putting our heads together, planning what to do if he pretended not to know about the third prophecy.
“Then answer. About the latter part of the third prophecy.”
I took one step closer to Xenoph.
Xenoph gazed at me silently, then bowed his head with a contemplative expression for a moment.
“Hmm, I’m not sure what you’re referring to. Moreover, regarding the third prophecy, since quite some time has passed since the final interpretation was completed… there is no ‘latter part.'”
“You do know that if you lie in the name of the Goddess, you will surely pay the price?”
No latter part? That couldn’t be.
Are you saying the Goddess really abruptly designated me as the Holy Maiden?
It already lacked plausibility that I was the designated person, and now you’re saying there wasn’t even an explanation?
Despite my sharp question, Xenoph narrowed his brow as if wronged and slowly nodded.
“Yes, that’s truly all there is. If you ask His Holiness the Pope, he will answer the same as me. Above all, this is the first I’ve heard of any rumor about a latter part to the prophecy… Perhaps you’ve been deceived by maliciously spread rumors?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not the type to fall for such shallow tricks. No matter how truthfully you claim to speak, it would be troublesome if you thought I’d believe you unconditionally.”
Regardless of what I said, Xenoph still faced me with a smiling expression.
What was certain was that Xenoph was half-enjoying the current situation.
He seemed slightly flustered at first, but… when I wavered at his claim that there was no latter part to the prophecy, Xenoph naturally seized control of the conversation.
There was something subtly unpleasant about him, with a strange discomfort seeping through the kindness he displayed on the surface.
“If the Holy Maiden cannot trust me, there’s nothing I can do… but I am entirely on your side. Above all, the fact that you have been designated as the Holy Maiden is still strictly confidential. If possible, I would like you to keep this secret for the time being.”
“I’m sorry to say, but I have no interest in the secrets the temple wishes to keep. I find even being here extremely unpleasant. Wasn’t there already a separate Holy Maiden candidate?”
I didn’t know exactly what had gone wrong, but the Holy Maiden in the original work was definitely Hertiana.
Just as the female protagonist couldn’t escape her role as the female protagonist, being the Holy Maiden was also a main setting that constituted Hertiana as the lead character, so I couldn’t imagine there would be a change to that.
“Well, a Holy Maiden candidate… If you’re referring to Miss Hertiana, it has long been determined that she is not the vessel for the Holy Maiden.”
Xenoph answered simply with a regretful tone.
Long determined to be a misjudgment… But hadn’t Tia been going around as the Holy Maiden candidate until now?
She even appeared before the Empire’s citizens last time!
“Ah, unfortunately, since she had already appeared once before the citizens, she’s merely playing the role of the Holy Maiden for the time being. This is indeed our fault for hastily interpreting the prophecy.”
Xenoph readily finished his answer as if he knew what I was thinking, then smoothly smiled and straightforwardly admitted it was the temple’s fault.
With someone so extraordinarily suspicious continuing to be so compliant, Hyle and I were left speechless.
I still couldn’t believe there was no latter part to the third prophecy, but… there was nothing we could do at this point.
“I actually wanted to meet the Holy Maiden in person, so I’m glad you came here.”
“No matter how much you revere me as the Holy Maiden, I will never cooperate with the Grand Temple, so it’s useless.”
When Xenoph reached out his hand toward me and slightly approached, Hyle, standing nearby, grasped my hand before him.
Thanks to the warmth transmitted through his palm, my cold hand regained its heat.
Though his taking my hand was an impulsive action, I didn’t dislike it.
Xenoph, who had been gazing at our clasped hands with a subtle look for a moment, soon turned his gaze back to me.
“Of course, we would prefer if you stayed at the temple, but if you dislike it, I have no intention of forcing you. But… since you’ve come this far, would you consider visiting the temple occasionally in the future?”
“Why should I do that?”
“Well, because you are the ‘chosen Holy Maiden,’ my lady. It is our duty to measure how much holy power the new Holy Maiden possesses. This is a procedure all Holy Maidens throughout history have undergone, so you need not doubt this.”
Holy power test! Fortunately, I knew about this part from reading the original work.
If I remembered correctly, Hertiana had also taken a holy power test at Xenoph’s recommendation.
In her first test, the amount of holy power was small, but after the villainess Rosiel died and she escaped from Fergio’s imprisonment, the quantity increased dramatically due to her awakening.
Having been designated as the Holy Maiden, I too needed to go through that gateway to measure my holy power.
Of course, someone like me with a demon’s heart couldn’t possibly have such a thing… nevertheless, I had no intention of ignoring the formal procedure.
I needed to keep setting foot in the temple to learn anything in the future.
But I didn’t want to simply comply with Xenoph’s demands.
Moreover, now that I knew he wasn’t the masked man, I had no reason to suspect and observe him further.
“I’ll do as you wish, but in return, you must also grant one of my requests.”
“Whatever the Holy Maiden requests, I will do my utmost.”
Xenoph nodded his head once more, still with that clean smile.
It was now somewhat frightening that he never showed any sign of trouble.
“I’ll take the holy power test without complaint, on the condition that if any prophecy from Renesia comes down in the future, you share it with me immediately.”
As he said, since I was the Holy Maiden, it shouldn’t be a particularly difficult condition.
Of course, if I were always present at the temple, I could verify it directly without needing to be informed.
But the fact that I had been designated as the Holy Maiden was still confidential… and even if it became known, I had no desire whatsoever to stay at the temple.
For me, with demon blood flowing through me, a temple flowing with pure white light was certainly too harsh a place.
“I will do so.”
Xenoph approved my request immediately, without lengthy consideration, as if it were nothing. Then he requested that I come closer for a moment, saying there were preparations for the holy power test.
When I approached him without much thought, that’s when it happened.
“Stay closer to His Highness the Crown Prince than to Feros. Only he can illuminate the darkness within you, Holy Maiden.”
For an instant, a brief whisper quickly reached my ears.
Though it passed in a moment, the voice penetrated my eardrums so clearly that I remembered the content distinctly.
Stay close to Abel… with what intention was he saying such a thing?
Unable to understand the meaning, I looked at Xenoph with suspicious eyes, but he delivered the test schedule with an expression as if nothing had happened, then gently smiled saying that all business was concluded.
Looking back at Hyle, he didn’t seem to have heard the whisper.
Does that mean he deliberately did it so that only I could hear?
“Then our conversation ends here. Since I plan to frequent the temple for a while, I’d prefer you not make excuses about schedules like before.”
Hyle shot a warning remark at Xenoph, then tugged on our clasped hands, pulling me into his embrace.
“Of course. The temple is always open to the Feros.”
It was an artificial smile and dialogue without a trace of sincerity, but there was nothing to gain by picking at it, so Hyle and I left the cathedral as we were.
Thanks to a simple magical transport device installed at the back door of the cathedral, we were able to quickly arrive at the square.
“Rosiel, do you believe the Cardinal’s claim that there is no latter part to the third prophecy?”
As we walked together toward where the waiting carriage was, Hyle’s low question reached me.
A faint distrust nestled in his somehow meaningful tone, dissolving throughout the entire sentence.
I felt the same as Hyle.
One shouldn’t easily trust people like Xenoph who act as if they know everything.
Even apart from that, the fact that he naturally avoided talking about the prophecy was definitely suspicious.
“No, I don’t believe the words of priests. Needless to say about Cardinals or Popes. As you know, we don’t get along in various ways.”
“I agree. I’ll look into this separately. I’ll contact you soon.”
“That would be appreciated.”
Boarding the waiting carriage, I quickly headed home with Hyle’s send-off.
Since the meeting with Xenoph was a less satisfying encounter than expected, fatigue doubled down on me.
But… should I tell Hyle about the whisper?
Though the directive to stay close to Abel was a bit annoying, it didn’t seem to have any particular intent, so I was conflicted.
Somehow, I felt that if I mentioned it, it would only increase unnecessary suspicion.
It wasn’t particularly good content to relay…
“…It’s probably nothing.”
If I learn something later, it wouldn’t be too late to mention it then.
More importantly, the Laté mansion visible through the carriage window somehow looked more gloomy than usual today.
An ominous intuition rose that some extremely troublesome matter was waiting for me.
