The Crown Prince knew everything. As the most dreaded thing he wished wouldn’t happen became reality, Trope closed his eyes tightly in deep despair.

Trope had many questions he wanted to ask, like how Jerdin knew this fact and if he could possibly keep it a secret, but Kalos didn’t give him the chance.

“Withdraw.”

“But Your Grace…”

As Trope tried to reply, Kalos frowned. At the same time, Deuce appeared from somewhere and held a sharp sword to Trope’s neck.

The cool sensation of metal touching his skin made him shudder. Cold sweat dripped from Trope’s forehead onto the sharp edge of the blade.

“I-I will withdraw now.”

Valuing his life more than protecting the temple’s reputation, Trope fled the office.

Jerdin watched Deuce whistling as he sheathed his sword.

“You’re still popping up here and there. It would be reassuring to have such an excellent guard knight in the imperial palace. What do you think? Any interest in joining the imperial knight order? I’ll give you twice the salary you receive here.”

Despite offering various other rewards like noble titles and sweet temptations, Deuce didn’t even glance at Jerdin. He respectfully greeted Kalos and then left.

Jerdin clicked his tongue in great disappointment as he followed Deuce’s departing figure with his eyes.

“That man is still loyal to you, Master.”

Kalos sank deep into the sofa’s backrest and replied.

“And you’re still as ill-mannered as ever.”

“It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching, Master.”

Jerdin countered with a joke and sat across from Kalos.

“But why are you alone? I heard from Dewey that she was with you.”

The ‘she’ Jerdin referred to was Irene.

“She went back to her room.”

“Really? Ah, I wanted to see what kind of person she is. Can’t you call her back?”

“Stop talking nonsense and leave.”

Despite the cold response, Jerdin smiled brightly without a trace of hurt.

“If I leave, you won’t receive the things you requested. Is that alright?”

“…Haa.”

Kalos let out a short sigh and rubbed his throbbing temple.

“I’m sure I raised you to be a polite child, so why did you grow up to be so ill-mannered?”

“Master, you’ll become like me after spending a few years in the imperial palace. The palace isn’t a place where you can survive with manners alone.”

His tone and expression conveyed the hardships he had endured. Knowing well how harsh the imperial palace could be, Kalos, instead of saying anything, called for a maid to bring tea and sweet cake.

“Oh, it’s chocolate cake, my favorite.”

Jerdin beamed as if he had never been serious, and ate the chocolate. Looking at him like this, he seemed more like a 12-year-old than a 21-year-old.

As the saying goes, ‘Even a dog isn’t touched while eating,’ Kalos waited until Jerdin finished his cake before asking.

“Why are you so late? I’m sure I told you to arrive within a week.”

“Well, I wanted to, but the Esper territory is too far from the capital.”

Jerdin wiped his mouth with a napkin before continuing.

“Besides, it took some time to handle the tasks you assigned me.”

Kalos snorted.

“It took you this long just to handle that much?”

“I’m less capable than I thought, so it took longer than expected.”

Though one might expect words of complaint like ‘How can you say that?’ or ‘That’s too much,’ Jerdin readily admitted it.

“Still, I’ve finished preparations so that I can publish an article anytime you give the signal.”

Kalos nodded.

“Did you tell the Emperor what I asked?”

“Of course. For that to be published as an article, His Majesty the Emperor naturally needs to know about this.”

“How did the Emperor react?”

“Ahem.”

Jerdin cleared his throat and then imitated his father.

“Oh my, to make such a request. It seems he is serious this time. Well then, we have no choice. Let’s do as he wishes.”

Perhaps it’s because they’re father and son sharing the same blood. Jerdin’s acting was exactly like the Emperor. One could clearly imagine the expression on the Emperor’s face as he spoke.

“It’s fortunate that the Emperor gave permission. Then I’ll give you the witch trial confirmation certificate, so publish an article about that incident along with what happened at the witch trial in tomorrow’s morning newspaper. Make sure to clearly state that the woman was cleared of the witch accusations.”

“The woman?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No. It’s not exactly a problem, but…”

Jerdin stroked his chin and muttered as if to himself.

“I heard that you and she have become quite close, so I was a bit surprised to hear you refer to her so casually as ‘that woman’.”

Kalos chuckled as if it was absurd.

“Then what should I call her?”

“Well, the most basic would be her name, right?”

“I do call her by name.”

Occasionally.

“If you’re going to spout useless words, hurry up and contact the newspaper. You brought the magic messenger bird, right?”

The clockwork magic messenger bird was made in pairs, and if you each held one, you could contact each other.

“I did bring it, but… if it’s not too presumptuous, may I make a suggestion?”

“What is it?”

“How about including some content about her in the article?”

When Kalos looked at him as if asking what he meant, Jerdin continued.

“The life of an article is credibility. The more detailed the content, the higher the credibility. So if we describe her appearance, personality, and background in detail, everyone will think the article content is true.”

“Wouldn’t it be credible enough just because it’s an article from an imperial newspaper?”

“That’s precisely why some people might be suspicious. Especially the temple, knowing that you and I are close, will surely try to find fault, thinking there must be something more to it.”

That’s true. Kalos had thought about that part too, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. If they picked a fight trying to find fault, he would just fight back.

It was a hundred, no, a thousand times better than always hiding in the shadows and engaging in behind-the-scenes machinations like someone else.

“Publishing a portrait of her with you would be the most certain, but that might be too conspicuous… How about just describing her in detail?”

Kalos thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

He had tried to keep Irene’s presence hidden as much as possible, but now it was no longer possible.

Then let’s just openly reveal it.

That way, he won’t be able to move easily and will have to be cautious.

*

At the same time Kalos and Jerdin were talking, Irene was meeting with a priest. It was one of the priests who had come with Trope.

The priest, who suddenly appeared on her way back to the bedroom after leaving the office, grabbed Irene and wouldn’t let go, saying he had something to say and wanted to talk for a moment.

Irene wanted to shake him off and run away, but the other’s strength was too great for her to do so.

There was no one passing by, so she couldn’t get help either.

Then she was about to scream loudly for help, but the priest grabbed her weakness and threatened her.

“If you want your mother’s grave in Silas territory to be safe, it’s better to stay quiet.”

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

So the residents not only held a funeral for her mother but also made a grave.

Of course, Irene had never visited it directly because she was locked up in prison, and she had only heard about it from the guards talking in passing.

Her father was a devil, but her mother was a mother and a friend. So Irene was genuinely relieved that her mother had a grave.

But when he threatened to touch that grave if she didn’t stay still, Irene couldn’t scream and ended up talking alone with the priest in a corner of the corridor.

“First, congratulations on clearing your stigma.”

“…It wasn’t a stigma, it was a false accusation.”

Irene spoke in a small but clear voice.

The priest immediately acknowledged his mistake.

“I chose my words poorly. I apologize.”

“What do you have to say to me?”

She asked directly, not wanting to talk for long with someone who had tried to kill her through the witch trial.

“Don’t you want to escape from here, from the Duke of Esper?”

When Irene flinched at the words that hit the mark, the priest smiled as if he had expected it.

“I will help you.”

Then he uttered strange nonsense.

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

If someone else had said these words, or if they had said this before mentioning the witch trial, she might have been tempted, but she couldn’t believe it because of her past experience.

Irene watched the priest tensely.

“How can I believe what you’re saying?”

“I swear on the name of the main deity I serve.”

For a priest to swear on the name of a god was tantamount to betting his own life.

But seeing him say such things, it didn’t seem like he was lying.

If he was sincere about helping her, another question arose.

“Why… are you trying to help me?”

The priest placed his hand on his left chest and spoke reverently.

“I am merely trying to help someone in distress as a faithful servant of the god who loves all people.”

“You tried to kill me earlier.”

“There seems to be some misunderstanding, but I was against it.”

…He was against it? Is that true?

When Irene blinked slowly to ask again, the priest’s expression became even more gloomy.

“The witch trial is a dangerous trial where even innocent lives can be lost, and there was no clear evidence that you were a witch, so I told the brothers several times not to do something like a witch trial, but no one listened to me. They seemed to be bewitched by that wicked devil.”

Devil. At that word, Irene recalled Polo screaming.

…He didn’t look like a devil though.

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

It was a valid reason enough to dispel all doubts. She could believe that he was sincere, especially since he had sworn on the name of God, but.

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

“…It’s okay.”

I still don’t want to accept help.

More precisely, she refused because she had an uneasy feeling that she shouldn’t accept help from the priest.

Perhaps he hadn’t expected Irene to refuse, as the priest asked back in great surprise.

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

The expression changed from ‘the Duke of Esper’ to ‘that man’?

“I want to escape.”

“Then why…”

“But I don’t want to accept your help either.”

When Irene firmly stated her intention, the priest’s face contorted unsightly.

“I don’t understand.”

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

“Have you given your heart to that bastard already? In such a short time, to that guy…!”

As the priest was about to grab Irene’s shoulders while uttering incomprehensible words.

Whoosh-.

Something pitch-black flew in and precisely pierced the priest’s heart.