Life in the Grand Cathedral was perfect, except for the slightly… no, very uncomfortable feeling in my heart.

Food and clothes were provided without me needing to ask first.

My aching leg had long since been healed by the expensive potion they provided.

So, to stretch my body a bit, I got up early in the morning and picked up a wooden sword.

It was a sword gifted to me by the Pope, and I planned to lightly sweat while swinging it in the cathedral’s backyard.

As soon as I made the plan, I went out to the backyard and raised the sword straight up.

It was usually quiet, but now in the early morning there was no one around, so I could swing freely without worry.

Whoosh—

For a wooden sword, the sound of it cutting through the air was quite sharp.

The sensation in my hand felt good too.

It felt like that sensation was vividly awakening my whole body.

I continued swinging the wooden sword to wake up my body that had grown dull from resting for several days.

Whoosh— Swish—

Once vertically, once horizontally, and then diagonally from that twisted position.

The crisp morning air cooled my sweat.

I focused solely on the sword, unable to even look around.

Clap clap clap. The sound of applause came when I had swung the sword exactly 52 times.

“Your Holiness the Pope…? How long have you been watching?”

When I heard the applause and turned my head, there stood the Pope.

To my question of how long he had been standing there, he replied with a grin.

“I followed after seeing you go to the backyard. I’ve been watching almost from the beginning. Your concentration was impressive. You didn’t notice me at all even though I came.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s not why I said it. Rather, the opposite.”

He pushed his cream-colored hair behind his ear and continued.

“Your focus on one task was truly admirable.”

I was used to receiving this kind of praise.

Everyone would invariably admire me when they saw me swinging a sword.

But his praise was, how should I put it… a bit ticklish.

So when I couldn’t respond and averted my gaze, he smiled and approached me.

“Do you know something?”

“…?”

“When you swing the sword diagonally in a big arc, it reminds me of a silver butterfly. Because your hair spreads out widely. The sparkling, scattered hair resembles a butterfly’s wings.”

The Pope who had approached carefully took a handful of my hair.

He gently kissed the hair that shone blue in the dawn light.

It was an extremely careful gesture, as if handling something sacred.

“You know, when you see a butterfly sitting on a flower, don’t you watch anxiously, unable to touch it easily for fear it might fly away?”

“Is that so? I just caught them when I saw butterflies.”

“I was too slow to catch them. So just now, I was quite anxious watching you. Since you resemble a butterfly, I feared you might disappear like one if I approached carelessly.”

This man, how should I put it, had a smooth tongue.

I didn’t realize it when we first talked, but the more we conversed, the more I felt he was really good with words.

Ernant was also good at speaking, but it was somehow different.

If Ernant excelled at teasing others, this man seemed specialized in… flattery.

While I was standing there blankly, not knowing how to respond to his smooth flattery, he suddenly changed the subject.

“May I hold the sword too?”

“Of course. It’s the sword Your Holiness gifted me in the first place.”

“Thank you. I wanted to try swinging it once.”

I readily handed him the sword.

It might not look good for others to see the Pope holding a weapon, but it was just a wooden sword after all.

He soon grasped the wooden sword I handed him with both hands, but his posture was… extremely awkward.

When I was six years old, was it?

I don’t think I held it like that even when I first picked up a sword.

“You need to straighten your back more.”

Unable to watch any longer, I put my hand on his waist to correct his posture.

Like a diligent student, he immediately straightened his back according to my guidance, but even that looked awkward.

“Please lower your arms slightly. If you raise them so high, your arms will block your vision. You won’t be able to see the enemy.”

“Is this low enough?”

“…No, you’ve lowered them too much this time. Just a moment, I’ll directly adjust your posture from behind.”

I approached behind him and positioned myself as if embracing him.

Then I raised his awkwardly lowered arms and straightened his back that was becoming hunched again.

I also narrowed his stance that was too wide.

I often adjusted posture like this from behind when teaching children swordsmanship, so I didn’t feel embarrassed or awkward.

However, my actions seemed a bit unfamiliar to him.

“…It’s embarrassing to have you adjust my posture from behind like this.”

“Huh? Ah, is that so? I’m sorry. I was insensitive. I usually adjust posture like this when teaching young knights. It’s something I do so often that I did it without thinking… I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I didn’t mean I disliked it. Please continue adjusting my posture.”

I was glad he didn’t dislike it.

Following his request, I continued adjusting his posture from behind.

His back flinched severely every time my body touched him, so I was careful to minimize contact as much as possible.

As the Pope, he probably didn’t have much experience touching others, so he seemed quite sensitive to physical contact.

Anyway, as I was struggling to adjust his posture, he suddenly shared some intriguing information.

“I’ve found someone who can remove that ability-sealing item on your neck.”

“You found someone? Really?”

The ability-sealing item around my neck.

To remove this item, the help of someone with a special ability was needed.

I asked the Pope briefly.

“Is it someone with the ability of curse-breaking?”

“That’s right.”

A kind of curse ability was embedded in the ability-sealing item.

In other words, it could be said that my ability was being sealed by the power of a curse.

So to remove it, we needed to use the ‘curse-breaking’ ability… that is, the ability of ‘curse removal’ to undo the curse within it.

However, finding awakened ones with this curse-breaking ability was extremely difficult, but it seemed the Pope had managed to find one.

I unhesitatingly expressed my gratitude to Pope Frit, who must have worked hard.

“I can finally get this wretched thing off my body. Thank you so much, Your Holiness.”

“It’s nothing. I can do anything for you. I’m just a bit worried. If you regain your ability, will you leave my side like a butterfly…?”

I laughed lightly at Frit’s jest.

“I’ll visit often even after returning to the knight order.”

“…I see.”

He glanced at me with a slightly bitter look.

Wondering if I had said something wrong, I went over our conversation, but couldn’t pinpoint anything specific.

Fortunately, it seemed to be my imagination as he soon asked me with a bright face.

“So, what do you think of my posture? Do I show any potential?”

“…Yes. With a little practice…”

Trying to lie made me feel like my nose was itching for no reason.

After much deliberation, Ernant chose to return to the imperial palace.

The rescue of Yulia had already been decided to be left to the imperial guard.

There was no need for Ernant himself to wait on the island.

Above all, it was not recommended for the Emperor to leave the palace vacant for long.

He quietly dealt with the mountain of work that had piled up in just the short time he was away.

It was when he became extremely busy like this that an unwelcome guest arrived.

“Your Majesty, Duke Habicht is requesting an audience. What shall we do?”

Hearing the aide’s report, Ernant let out a long sigh.

“So he’s come after all.”

“Shall I tell him to leave?”

“No.”

Rubbing his tired eyes, Ernant stood up from his seat.

“If he was docile enough to leave when told to, he wouldn’t be so annoying.”

“Then…”

“Bring him to the Second Audience Chamber. I’ll speak with him there.”

Unlike the First Audience Chamber, the Second was a place for private meetings.

When they needed to have conversations difficult to have in front of ministers, the brothers would meet there.

Ernant had a feeling. That Martin had surely come all this way to have a very private conversation.

So he went to the Second Audience Chamber first and waited quietly, and soon the aide brought Martin there.

Afterwards, the aide and the imperial guards immediately left the place.

In the audience chamber where only the two of them remained, Ernant spoke first.

“How many years has it been since you sought me out first?”