Chapter 230: The Grand Duchess’s Acting Skills
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 230: The Grand Duchess’s Acting Skills
The sound echoing through the library made Miel’s heart skip a beat.
The guards stationed at the door simultaneously cast sharp gazes toward him. Beneath his white uniform, his legs trembled uncontrollably.
“Stop right there.”
The Holy Knight waiting to escort them blocked Miel’s path, his face set in a grim expression as he raised his sword.
Miel swallowed hard, the sound loud in his own ears. Behind him, the Recording Priest was marching toward them, his eyes narrowed sharply.
Miel stole a glance at the Grand Duchess beside him. Unlike him, whose hands were drenched in sweat, she looked perfectly composed.
The Recording Priest approached and asked Miel in a biting tone, “Are you, by any chance, carrying a book that is prohibited from being checked out?”
The Recording Priest’s eyes were fixed on Miel, but the question was aimed at all three of them.
A moment of silence followed.
The Recording Priest looked down his nose at them arrogantly. “If there is a book you are attempting to take out illicitly, please produce it now.”
Just as the heavy pressure began to stifle the air, a voice broke the tension.
“Do you actually dare suspect us?”
The Grand Duchess spoke up, her voice laced with displeasure. “I heard this library was miserably outdated, and it seems the rumors were true. What a ridiculous false alarm.”
“With all due respect, the library’s alarm magic has never once malfunctioned,” the Recording Priest countered stiffly.
“So, you intend to block the path of the Grand Duchess?”
“It is standard procedure to conduct a search when the alarm is triggered.”
Ha.
The Grand Duchess let out a scoff. “It sounds to me like you’re saying you intend to lay a hand on my person.”
“…I will summon a priestess to search Her Highness and the Saintess.”
At those words, the Saintess flinched and looked at the Grand Duchess. Her eyes betrayed her shock; she clearly hadn’t expected the Recording Priest to go as far as searching her as well.
The moment everyone noticed the Saintess’s flustered expression, the Grand Duchess took a step forward.
“Move aside. Do I look like someone with enough free time to play along with such pathetic games?”
However, instead of backing down, the Holy Knights stood their ground, blocking her way.
“What is the meaning of this insolence?” the Grand Duchess raised her voice. “Do you think you’ll be safe after treating the Grand Duchess of the Empire this way?”
The Holy Knights wavered slightly, but they did not retreat.
“Please wait just a moment. Once the priestess arrives and the inspection is complete, we will let you go immediately.”
The corner of the Grand Duchess’s mouth curled into a smirk.
“So this is why you prevented even a single maid or knight from following me? Was your plan to isolate me from the start and insult me like this?”
Her sharp gaze swept over the surroundings.
“You must have expected me to just stand here and take it.”
The Grand Duchess held up the ruby necklace around her neck. “Do you know what this is?”
The Holy Knight standing before her looked tense, as if sensing the energy emanating from the necklace.
“The moment I press this, Blenheim will receive word that the Grand Duchess is in an emergency situation.”
She toyed with the necklace as if she might press it at any second.
“Will you be able to handle it when the Blenheim knights stationed outside storm into the Grand Temple?”
She spoke threateningly, leaving them to imagine the consequences of what would happen after the signal was sent.
The Recording Priest seemed to weigh the situation before finally making a decision.
“Even members of the Imperial Family must follow the laws of the Temple while within its walls. We cannot let you leave until you have been searched.”
“Is that so? Then I have no choice.”
Just as the Grand Duchess was about to press the necklace, Miel reached out frantically and shouted.
“I—I have a book in my robes!”
At his cry, both the Grand Duchess and the Saintess turned to look at Miel with looks of pure shock.
Under their stinging gazes, Miel pulled out the book he had hidden inside his white uniform.
The Recording Priest snatched the book from his trembling hands.
<Horoscope Guide for Priests>.
A look of absurdity crossed the Recording Priest’s face as he read the cover.
“You tried to take… just this?”
“I—I am sorry for causing such a disturbance, Your Highness.”
Miel, pale as a ghost, stammered as he looked at the Grand Duchess.
“…What kind of book is that?”
The Grand Duchess’s voice, which had been so confident moments ago, now had a slight tremor at the end.
Conversely, the Recording Priest, his shoulders now squared with confidence, narrowed his eyes.
“It is a book dealing with hollow superstitions, like telling fortunes by the stars.”
He looked at Miel with utter disdain.
“For a while, it was a trend among certain dishonest priests to use this book to read the romantic fortunes of noblewomen for extra income.”
The priest put extra emphasis on the word “dishonest.”
Miel’s face turned bright red.
The Holy Knights all frowned and looked at the Grand Duchess. They seemed to assume Miel had tried to smuggle the book out to read her romantic fortune.
“Really, you…”
The Grand Duchess raised her voice as if in embarrassment. “No matter how curious you were, did you really think you could just take a book from the Grand Temple’s library so carelessly?”
“I have no excuse.”
“…I apologize for this,” the Grand Duchess said to the Recording Priest, looking mortified. “It seems I was a bit oversensitive.”
Miel could see the Recording Priest’s mind working quickly. He seemed to be debating whether to escalate the matter to the High Priest or just let it go.
“I came to the Grand Temple today to make a donation,” the Grand Duchess added subtly, seeing his hesitation.
The Saintess, standing beside her, chimed in, mentioning that the Grand Duchess had specifically expressed a desire to donate to the library.
The Recording Priest’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
“That is why I came to see the library in person.”
As the head of the library, a donation was a carrot he couldn’t ignore.
“On a day like this, wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t cause any more bad blood?”
She was speaking in circles, but the meaning was clear: If you want the donation, stop right here.
The moment money was mentioned, the Recording Priest’s attitude softened visibly.
He straightened his back and spoke politely. “Normally, smuggling a book results in a ban from the library, along with a month of probation or a pay cut. However, since Priest Miel does not belong to the Grand Temple, those punishments are meaningless. I will let it slide this once.”
“I was blinded by a moment of curiosity… I am sorry.”
As Miel bowed his head, his face looking haggard, the Recording Priest reconsidered and handed the book back to him as if granting a great favor.
“The reason checkouts were blocked was to prevent priests from using it for profit.”
He added that while it wasn’t a recommended book for a priest, he would make a special exception if it was for research purposes.
It was a plausible excuse, but in the end, he was just making a show of doing the Grand Duchess a favor.
The Holy Knights also offered awkward apologies and cleared the way for her.
A short while later, they exited the Grand Temple library.
“It is quite a distance from here to the plaza in front of the Grand Temple, so we will escort you by carriage.”
The Holy Knight led them to the Temple’s carriage. Once the three of them were inside and the door was firmly shut, they all let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.
The Grand Duchess slightly lifted the cape covering her chest, revealing the faint silhouette of a book tucked beneath.
“I was so nervous we’d get caught.”
Seeing the Grand Duchess look not the least bit tense despite her words, Miel felt the strength drain from his body.
This went back to the moment in the library when the Grand Duchess had decided to steal the book.
— “The alarm will go off if we take the book out,” the Saintess had warned.
After a moment of thought, the Grand Duchess came up with a plan.
— “Let’s take two books.”
— “Miel and I will each hide one,” she had whispered.
— “But we’ll get caught on the way out.”
— “That’s when Miel gives up his book. No one will suspect we stole two.”
It was ridiculous. There was no way such a flimsy plan would work.
— “I—I’m a priest! If I get caught doing something like that…!”
— “Miel. Didn’t you just swear an oath to me? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t shy away from any hardship or trial?”
But Miel hadn’t imagined that “hardship” would include getting caught stealing a book from the Grand Temple. When he looked toward the Saintess for help, she also looked troubled.
— “I have to live here at the Grand Temple. And I need to keep coming back to the library to help Her Highness…”
Fine. For Her Highness, he could certainly endure his meager reputation being dragged through the mud.
Miel had steeled his resolve and asked, “Then which book should I steal?”
— “…Let’s go with this one.”
And the book the Grand Duchess had picked out was, of all things, the <Horoscope Guide for Priests>.
Coincidentally, it was a book written by his own mentor, Priest Venemus.
‘Why did the master have to write a book like this…?’
The Grand Duchess had disappeared behind the bookshelves for a moment and returned with <Considerations on Mysterious Beings> hidden inside her dress.
‘This plan is going to fail.’
He had been certain of it the moment the alarm rang.
— “Do you think you’ll be safe after treating the Grand Duchess of the Empire this way?”
The Grand Duchess’s acting had been so superb that even he was momentarily fooled.
— “Safe travels.”
In the end, the plan had worked perfectly. He couldn’t help but marvel at her wit.
Of course, Miel was now the priest who had been caught stealing a horoscope guide from the library.
“See? I told you it would work.”
The Grand Duchess shrugged confidently, then noticed Miel’s slumped shoulders.
“Miel, don’t be too embarrassed. In return, I’ll make sure to build you a huge temple!”
Miel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.