“Me? Your Holiness?”

Upon hearing Johannes say that the Pope was looking at me, I belatedly glanced towards the Pope, and it was true.

The Pope’s pale blue eyes were directed precisely at me.

Once our eyes met, I couldn’t look away for a while.

As I always felt, he truly looked like a sacred person.

Cream-colored hair that shone brightly, bathed in sunlight.

Pale blue eyes, closer to the color of the sky.

The Pope was a being that sparkled divinely, as if born from light itself.

I couldn’t deny the fact that his gentle, handsome face made him appear even more sacred.

He’s handsome. No, should I say he’s pretty?

While I was unable to take my eyes off the Pope’s prettily handsome face, it happened.

The Pope suddenly turned his horse’s reins in this direction.

“…?”

I watched blankly as he approached, not knowing what was happening.

Until our distance was close enough that I could touch him if I reached out.

Why did he suddenly come towards me? Even stopping the parade?

Belatedly, I looked around in bewilderment.

The Holy Knights at the front of the parade, the Silver Knights in the center, and even the other common soldiers following behind were all looking this way with surprised faces.

The Pope, who had surprised everyone like that, soon dismounted from his horse and extended his hand to me.

“We meet here, Yulia.”

Though confused, I followed the Empire’s etiquette and took his hand.

Then I lightly pressed my lips to the back of his white, delicate hand.

“It’s an honor to meet Your Holiness.”

It felt a bit awkward to kiss the hand of an unrelated man, but it couldn’t be helped.

As the Pope was respected as the spiritual pillar of the Empire, knights below the rank of Knight Commander had to show respect in this way.

“…”

Even after I removed my lips, he held onto my hand silently for a while.

As that silence and contact felt somewhat awkward, I withdrew my hand first, and then he finally spoke again.

“Why didn’t you join my escort this time?”

“This year, I’m attending the event as the Emperor’s partner. Not as the Vice Commander of the Knight Order. That’s why I couldn’t join the escort.”

“That’s a pity. I had hoped you would stand by my side.”

“…?”

I was puzzled.

It’s true that I had diligently served as the Pope’s escort before, but I had no other connection with him beyond that.

I just silently guarded his side as a knight.

Occasionally his gaze would flicker towards me, but that was all.

As I stood there bewildered for that reason, the Pope smiled at the corner of his mouth.

“You may not know, but you are a very important being to me and the Lord.”

“An important being… you say?”

“Because you are a being who will change the fate of the Empire.”

If I had to guess, he seemed to be praising my achievements in the Rift.

Because I fight hard, the Rift closes and the Empire’s fate changes, something like that?

I immediately bowed my head deeply to him.

“You flatter me. I can close the Rift and protect the Empire thanks to the help of my precious comrades. I alone cannot change the fate of the Empire.”

“But don’t you bear an especially heavier destiny among them? You who have returned, going against the flow.”

The one who returned.

When those words came from the Pope’s lips, I involuntarily flinched.

It might be an excessive thought, but it seemed as if he knew about my regression.

No, he couldn’t possibly know. It must be my imagination.

I shook off my worries thinking that.

Traveling back in time to the past is generally impossible.

So it’s an excessive worry to think that the Pope might know about my regression.

As I relaxed my expression a bit, he smiled at me again.

“The Lord pities you. As do I. So I will offer you help.”

“By help, you mean…”

“Soon, a time will come when you need my help. Come to me then. Just one… I will grant you any one request.”

Before I could ask what he meant, he extended his hand to me again.

Understanding the meaning, I immediately grasped his hand and pressed my lips to the back of it.

Then, as I removed my lips, I slightly raised my gaze to observe his expression.

He was watching me kiss the back of his hand with pale blue eyes.

I couldn’t easily read the emotion contained in those eyes.

Satisfaction? Joy?

In any case, the Pope was accepting my kiss with his fine eyes curved like half-moons.

It was while we were holding hands like that.

“Your Holiness, we must go. Everyone is waiting.”

The Commander, who had approached at some point, stepped between me and the Pope and urged the Pope like that.

The Commander’s expression didn’t look good.

He seemed somewhat annoyed that the Pope had suddenly stopped the parade to come to me.

Eventually, the Commander glanced at me with that dark expression as well.

“…”

Even when looking at me, he didn’t smooth out the wrinkles between his brows.

Maybe I shouldn’t have accepted the Pope’s conversation?

The Commander might have thought I had kept the Pope for too long.

I immediately bowed my head to them.

“I’m sorry.”

As I apologized, the Pope, who had been blocked by the Commander, replied.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Sir. Rather, I should be the one apologizing. It was I who approached you rudely.”

“No, that’s—”

“I’m sorry, Sir. So please don’t forget what I said and make sure to come find me. Until then, I’ll be eagerly waiting for you.”

Replying so politely, the Pope moved away from me again.

The Commander, who had been lingering by my side for a moment, asked.

“What did you talk about?”

I was about to honestly tell the Commander the contents of my conversation with the Pope, but I stopped.

It seemed I shouldn’t mention that the Pope had called me a being who would change the fate of the Empire, or one who had returned going against the flow.

“He asked why I didn’t join the escort this year.”

“Is that all?”

“…Yes.”

The Commander stared at me for a while, then let out a deep sigh.

“Well, I understand. I should go too. Too much time has been wasted.”

“Yes, His Holiness the Pope is still looking this way. He seems to be waiting for you, Commander.”

The Pope was indeed still looking in our direction.

When I glanced that way, he waved his hand lightly at me.

I waved back at him, then lightly bowed my head to the Commander as a farewell greeting.

The Commander, as always, looked at me as if something was distasteful, then joined the parade.

After the street became quiet, Johannes, who had observed the entire situation from beside me, suddenly said.

“I don’t understand what His Holiness said. About calling you one who has returned going against the flow, or saying that there will be times when you need help… Did he perhaps receive some kind of divine revelation?”

“…I don’t know either.”

“Anyway, if you really do need help as His Holiness said… I’d rather you come to me then. If it’s something that would trouble you, I’ll take care of anything for you.”

“Thank you, Johannes.”

Hearing Johannes’ touching words, I patted his head.

The soft feeling of his hair under my hand magically melted away my troubled thoughts.

After the parade ended, we returned to the villa around 6 PM.

It was extremely busy from then on.

We had to go to the Imperial Palace by 9 PM to attend the ‘Night Ball’, the last event of the ceremony.

Because of that, I ended up receiving some light scolding from the maids.

“The time is too tight! If only you had come back a little earlier!”

“Other young ladies would have been preparing since morning, even skipping meals to look slim! We can’t lose either!”

“It’s alright! Just trust us! We’ll make you look absolutely beautiful!”

Unlike me, who didn’t have much thought about dressing up, the maids enthusiastically started to adorn me.

First, they dressed me in a gown.

Then they applied finely ground pearl powder to my collarbone and shoulders.

They said it would make my body beautifully sparkle when it catches the light?

Thinking that there are all sorts of strange cosmetics, I left my body in their hands.

Fortunately, they all worked quickly, so it didn’t take long to get ready.

Around 8 o’clock, all preparations were finished, and Johannes, who had also finished his preparations, greeted me.

“Sister! I’ll be leaving first! I’ll see you at the ballroom!”

After greeting me like that, he hurriedly left.

He had to go pick up his partner, Lady Adelheit.

It was customary for the male partner to escort his female partner to the Imperial Palace together.

Therefore, I had to wait at the villa until Ernant sent a carriage, but fortunately, the carriage arrived not long after.

However, the carriage Ernant sent looked quite different from what I had imagined.