“The article coming from the royal newspaper should be credible enough, shouldn’t it?”

“Rather, that might make some people doubt it. Especially at the temple, since they know my master and I are close, they may think there’s something fishy and try to pick it apart.”

That could be true. Carlos had thought about that part too, but hadn’t worried too much. If someone picks a fight, he’ll fight back.

A thousand times better than hiding in the shadows and manipulating things like someone he knew.

“It might be best to include a portrait of her with the master, but that might be too conspicuous… how about just describing her in detail?”

Carlos thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

He had tried to hide Irene as much as possible, but now he couldn’t.

Might as well make it public then.

That would make it harder for him to act and easier to pin him down.

At the same time Carlos and Zerdin were talking, Irene was meeting with a priest. One of the priests who had come with Trope.

Emerging from the office and on his way back to his room, the priest who appeared out of nowhere grabbed Irene, insisting on having a word.

Irene wanted to shake him off and run away, but he was too strong, and there was no one passing by to help.

She had even tried to scream for help, but the priest had grabbed her weakness and threatened her.

“If you want your mother’s grave in Silas territory to remain undisturbed, it would be best to keep quiet.”

To the residents of Silas territory, Irene was a stranger, but her mother was a cousin and family.

That’s why they not only held a funeral for her mother but also built a grave.

Of course, Irene had never seen it herself, being locked in a prison and only hearing about it from passing guards.

Her father was a demon, but her mother was her mom and friend. That’s why Irene had been sincerely glad that her mother had a grave.

But now this threat to disturb the grave made her unable to scream, and she ended up talking to the priest alone in a corner of the hallway.

“First, congratulations on clearing your dishonor.”

“It’s not ‘dishonor’, it’s ‘false accusation’.”

Irene said in a small but clear voice.

The priest immediately admitted his mistake.

“I chose the wrong word. I apologize.”

“What do you want to talk to me about?”
She didn’t want to converse at length with the one who had tried to kill her through a witch trial and asked bluntly.

“Would you not like to run away from Duke Esper here?”

At the piercing words, Irene flinched, and the priest smiled as if he knew she would react like that.

“I will help you.”

Then he spouts strange nonsense.

“I will help you escape safely from the clutches of Duke Esper.”

If someone else had said this, if they had said this before ranting about the witch trial, she might have been suspicious, but since she had already experienced it, she couldn’t believe it.

Irene watched the priest, her body tense.

“How can I trust what you say?”

“I swear by the name of the god I serve.”

For the priest to swear by God’s name was equivalent to risking his life.

But looking at him saying such things, it didn’t seem like he was lying.

If he sincerely wanted to help her, another question arose.

“Why… do you want to help me?”

The priest put his hand on his left chest and spoke devoutly.

“I simply want to help someone in distress as a faithful servant who loves all, in the name of God.”

“You tried to kill me just now.”

“It seems there’s some misunderstanding. I was against it.”

… Against it? Was he really?

As Irene blinked slowly in response, the priest’s expression grew more gloomy.

“The witch trial is a dangerous trial where even the innocent can die, and since there’s no concrete evidence that you’re a witch, I told my brothers many times not to do such a thing, but nobody listened to me. It seemed like they were bewitched by that peculiar devil.”

Devil. At those words, Irene recalled Polo’s screams.

… It didn’t look like a devil.

“Because of that, I’ve been uncomfortable and worried… I want to help you even more.”

It was a valid reason that erased all doubt. Since he swore by God’s name, she could believe he was sincere, but.

“So I will help you escape from Duke Esper.”

“……It’s okay.”

She didn’t want to accept help.

To be precise, she had a feeling that she shouldn’t accept help from the priest and refused.

Perhaps not expecting Irene to refuse, the priest asked in great confusion.

“Didn’t you want to run away from that man?”

The description changed from Duke Esper to that man.

“I want to run away.”

“But why then…”

“I don’t want your help even so.”

As Irene firmly stated her intention, the priest’s face contorted hideously.

“I don’t understand.”

For a moment, the priest’s ordinary brown eyes turned purple.

“Did you give your heart to that bastard in the meantime? In such a short time to that brat…!”

Just as the priest was making incomprehensible noises and reaching out to grab Irene’s shoulders.

Swish.

Something sharp flew and pierced the priest’s heart accurately.