It's Not Adultery, It's Romance?
"I see. Your Highness... No, I mean, Brother Seron suspects the queen of infidelity." Asa's careful adjustment of her address while watching my reaction drew a nod from me.
Asa looked somehow exhausted, yawning from time to time. She had been the one to greet me when I returned straight to the palace after making breakfast for my younger sibling, so I voiced my concern for her first.
"More importantly, you look rather tired. If you're truly fatigued, you may rest, Sir Asa."
"...It just struck me all over again what a terrible man you are, Priest."
"?"
What was that out of nowhere? The abrupt remark left me dumbfounded, but...
"Well then, shall we begin?"
Seeing she still had energy left to spout such nonsense, she seemed fine. I began moving, leading her along with me.
It will be more difficult than I expected.
In truth, this entire matter could be settled instantly with my unique magic. However...
Seron did not want that. Even if the affair proved true.
He had no desire to reveal the sight openly to others. That was the true intention he had revealed.
It's troublesome, but... well, we're hardly complete strangers.
It seemed right to extend this much courtesy. Therefore, the method Jenkinson chose was a somewhat persistent one.
Knowing what kind of woman the queen was, he intended to provoke her directly.
"First, I plan to scour every possible location for a secret meeting. Follow me."
"What? You're going to search this entire vast palace?"
Of course, this palace was smaller than those of the Empire or the Yura Kingdom—even smaller than the Grand Cathedral of the Holy Kingdom—but it was still a royal palace. Naturally, searching every inch would consume an enormous amount of time. That was why Asa wore a fed-up expression, yet Jenkinson remained utterly calm.
"It's good exercise, isn't it?"
"...I really think I chose the wrong superior."
Even as she grumbled, Asa followed obediently, and Alkai showed no complaints from the beginning.
"Where will you start the search?" Alkai asked.
Jenkinson answered while walking briskly. "Hmm... It won't be an openly secluded spot. With high probability, it will be a space concealed by magic."
It was the queen, after all. She wouldn't have chosen a careless location for her trysts. It was almost certainly a magically hidden space.
"Then won't it be difficult to find?"
Asa voiced her doubt after listening to my reasoning. Indeed, locating a space hidden by magic was no easy task. Even I found it difficult to detect areas deliberately concealed with spells. Attempts to sense them with mana were hindered by the way such magic blended seamlessly with the surrounding energy.
Therefore...
"!"
Asa looked startled at my magically transmitted words that no one else could hear, while Alkai wore an expression of open skepticism about whether such a thing was even possible.
That was a wonder made possible only through unique magic; replicating it through ordinary spells would be extraordinarily difficult. Still...
Well, this much is no problem at all.
Out of sight of the others, I subtly created several small eyes from my mana and scattered them. Being transparent, they would be nearly impossible to detect unless someone was actively searching for them.
"If we stir things up enough, something is bound to surface," I said with a smile.
I intended to use this opportunity to demonstrate just how viciously an inquisitor backed by royal authority could torment people.
--
"I-I know nothing."
The man in charge of managing all the servants in this palace—Head Butler Baron Jekyllheimer—broke into a cold sweat. No matter who he was, this young inquisitor currently tearing through the palace on the king's orders was not someone he could treat lightly.
The king's command. An inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom. And the eldest son of Greg, the Guardian Deity of Rucella. All these identities combined to make the man untouchable in this palace—someone even the king himself might not be able to stop in certain situations.
"Search more thoroughly. There must be at least one missing servant."
H-How does he...
In truth, the occasional disappearance of a few servants was not unheard of. But such matters were the royal family's shame; revealing them to outsiders was...
"...Brother Jekyllheimer. This is not a request."
Yet the moment the priest's eyes grew calm and still...
"It is an order."
The instant the word "order" left his lips...
"I-I will show you at once. I have the compiled documents ready."
In the end, Jekyllheimer yielded. He had already known. Even if this man ransacked the palace at will or interrogated suspicious knights as he pleased, there was nothing they could do to stop him.
--
"Priest. Isn't this... a little too aggressive?"
Asa asked with a worried face as she watched Jenkinson ruthlessly tear through the palace. He was searching the queen's chambers without restraint, inspecting the knights' quarters, and interrogating any knight who caught his eye. No matter what, this was still the royal palace. Doing whatever he pleased like this... and even giving orders to the head butler. Was this truly acceptable? That was the source of her concern.
"It's fine. Even if I acted far more drastically, there is no one who could complain."
Jenkinson, however, showed no worry. He had already committed far worse acts in other palaces without batting an eye. With the king's permission behind him now, he could truly do anything. And even without it, in Rucella he was an existence the king could not easily obstruct. Simply being the son of Greg, the Guardian Deity of Rucella, already placed him beyond the king's casual interference.
"More importantly... this is quite something."
Jenkinson wore a bitter smile as he examined the places where servants had vanished. He had wanted to believe it wouldn't be this bad... but it seemed his hopes were in vain.
"Alkai. Gather firewood. Pile it in the square."
"Understood."
Firewood?
Watching Alkai immediately depart to collect wood, Asa suddenly felt dizzy. She already knew what it meant. There was only one reason an inquisitor would request firewood.
--
Tap. Tap.
Sezanne Lipianne, queen of Rucella, tapped her desk irritably with a fan. Wearing a gray dress that clung to her beautiful figure as if to flaunt it, she gazed down with violet eyes reminiscent of a cat.
She was in a foul mood. It displeased her that her weak husband suspected her, and it displeased her even more that this priest was now freely ransacking her palace on the basis of that suspicion. Even if the suspicion were true, displeasure was still displeasure.
She found it offensive that he would dare suspect her. And...
That little brat...
Looking at her chamber that the insolent little brat had torn apart, Sezanne bit her lip hard. The little brat who used to follow that man around with a foolish expression—had he grown bold enough to challenge her now that he'd gained a bit of stature? It was absurd. His face had become rather handsome, but without Greg's backing he was nothing but a greenhorn who could do nothing.
And Greg was not in Rucella at the moment.
She calmly organized her thoughts and, as always, concluded that she simply had to do what needed to be done.
"Tell the princess to keep that holy knight occupied."
"Yes, understood."
Even as her family butler nodded while sighing as if he truly didn't want to do it, she thought calmly.
An inquisitor is nothing...
Eliminating him would end the matter. Greg's son? If they dealt with him while Greg was away and simply erased the evidence, it would mean nothing. Thinking this, she smiled.
She had no idea. This woman who had reigned like a king in this remote minor nation, living as she pleased... had no clue what kind of being the inquisitor named Jenkinson Beckett truly was.
--
"Sir Asa. The princess is looking for you."
Asa tilted her head at the sudden approach of the butler.
"Me?"
What is it this time?
Even as she thought this, Asa glanced sideways. She naturally assumed Priest Jenkinson would refuse. That was what she expected.
But...
"Go ahead."
Unexpectedly, Jenkinson smiled gently and gave permission.
"What? Ah, yes..."
Though flustered, Asa obediently followed the butler and disappeared. To her, Jenkinson's words were absolute.
Once Asa had left as well, Jenkinson, now alone, walked calmly. Of course... he had not sent Asa away out of consideration for the princess.
It should begin soon.
Jenkinson knew the queen well. A woman overflowing with vanity, who wished to appear meticulous and calculating yet was in truth a foolish and cruel creature. He was certain that ransacking the palace so violently would disturb her mood. And once her mood was disturbed, she would undoubtedly make some kind of move.
She had the princess summon Asa to separate her, and then...?
Recalling the plan he had overheard through his eyes, Jenkinson smiled. Did she intend to eliminate him? Yes, that was exactly how she had always operated. Whenever her secret meetings were discovered or seemed likely to be, she had maintained her secrecy by removing the witnesses.
But...
"It seems I've been underestimated quite thoroughly."
If so, she was mistaken this time.
Slither.
Jenkinson had deliberately moved to an isolated area. He looked at the two men trailing him with daggers drawn and felt almost disappointed. Only two...
Crack!
"!"
The moment Jenkinson's fist, which had closed the distance unnoticed, slammed into one man's face, the man tumbled backward helplessly. The other man panicked at the sight, but Jenkinson spun naturally and drove his elbow into the man's temple.
Crunch!
That was the end of it. Both men collapsed and did not rise again. Jenkinson placed his hands on their heads and began reading their memories.
They don't know the location of the tryst...
They were merely following orders anyway. He had no particular intention of killing them. Jenkinson's goal had been only one thing from the start.
The partner in the affair is... Seamus Beheim.
This request had only involved the queen and her lover.
Seamus... is it.
Jenkinson smiled. He had finally found him. The woman's... partner in adultery.