Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Popes' Dress Selection
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The popes led me to a small room a bit further inside from where we'd been.
Luna dragged my arm along as she pulled me in. Floretta followed and closed the door. Despite its thickness—at least two or three finger widths—no closing sound reached my ears at all.
I looked around. The floor was entirely covered in red carpet. It muffled not just my shoes but even the popes' high heels, so it was clearly no ordinary luxury item.
The walls were shrouded in deep purple curtains. Except for exactly three spots, which I guessed were adorned with their banquet attire.
I wasn't confident enough to call those things clothes.
"Have a seat."
Floretta's hand pointed to a massive sofa on the opposite side from the entrance. Luna was watching me with a subtle gleam in her eyes too, so I obediently sank into the sofa. My body plunged right down.
The popes, however, showed no intention of sitting. They just stood there gazing at me. Our eyes met. A soft chuckle glinted back.
Honestly, it was incredibly awkward. I hadn't eaten anything, yet my stomach felt stuffed to bursting. Was this how the knight commanders felt upon hearing they'd get dresses from the popes?
"Um... Floretta? Luna? With both of you popes standing, it feels a bit weird for me to be the only one sitting..."
"No need to worry, honored guest. We invited you, after all."
"We can't have our guest stand. Please don't mind us."
Ignoring my reaction entirely, the popes walked toward the wall and reached for those banquet-attire-like things nestled between the curtains.
Floretta and Luna floated them over their bodies like overlays and returned to me. Up close, they looked even more absurd.
Luna met my eyes and spoke.
"What kind of dress would the honored guest prefer?"
"...Do I have to pick from these three?"
I glanced back and forth between whatever was hovering in front of Floretta, whatever was in front of Luna, and the one still unselected.
All three had insane exposure levels. Debating why they were so skimpy felt pointless.
Even the lingerie-and-sheer combo the knight commanders wore to the last banquet would seem modest compared to these scraps of fabric the popes held.
"If you have a specific style in mind, please tell us. Any requests?"
"No, it's not that... Something with a bit less exposure, maybe..."
"I'm sorry, but even for the honored guest, that's impossible."
Floretta drew a firm line. Her expression hardened slightly too.
"As beings closest to the Sun and Moon, we popes must always display our piety and sanctity. Covering the flesh? Absolutely not allowed."
*Sanctity and stripping—what's the connection?* The retort rose to my throat. I barely swallowed it back. Arguing here would just hurt me. I'd never win anyway.
"Evangelina is right, honored guest. A pope leads the Holy Kingdom. Why should we hide our bodies in shame? If we stand unashamed before the divine, we prove our piety by baring our flesh."
"Please reconsider. If a pope reduces her attire's exposure, the faithful will mistakenly think something's wrong and fall into chaos."
"..."
If a pope covers up, people assume trouble. From my perspective, it was ridiculous, but in this world's common sense, it was plausible enough to terrify me.
My common sense had changed industries plenty since I got isekai'd here.
"...Yes. I understand, Floretta, Luna. I was rude. My apologies."
"No need for the honored guest to apologize. As an imperial, it's natural you wouldn't know Holy Kingdom customs. We're grateful you've come to understand."
Overwhelmed by their fervor, I'd meekly apologized to wrap things up when a chilling thought flashed in my mind.
*No way the men do this too, right?*
The idea made goosebumps erupt instantly. My body shivered reflexively. That could not happen. I hurriedly spoke up.
"Floretta, do men have to increase exposure with deeper piety too?"
"What? Of course not. That's a funny joke."
The popes burst out laughing in unison—*pfft*. Luna especially covered her mouth, giggling uncontrollably.
"Baring the body to show piety is for women only. The scriptures depict the Sun and Moon as nude women."
"...That's a relief."
I sighed in relief at Floretta's answer. No need to see dudes stripped—truly fortunate. And I'd get normal clothes too.
"Greater piety earns one the right to draw nearer to the heavens. Our sacred vestments exist for that reason."
In short, since the Sun and Moon were depicted as naked women, only women emulate the divine, and more exposure means closer to god, demanding deeper faith.
I'd assumed it was just mod-altered common sense making piety boost exposure, but there was actual logic. Unexpected.
Though the end result was still those cloth scraps.
"We'll stop the faith talk to avoid boring you. Which of these two catches your eye?"
With beaming smiles, the dresses hovering before them drifted closer.
*It's finally here.* I swallowed a groan inwardly and stared at the dresses—or rather, scraps so unworthy of the name they'd insult other clothes.
Floretta held a necklace of fluttering fabric and a C-string.
An ultra-thin golden necklace dangled two triangular golden fabric pieces downward, narrowing to points.
The fabric was ridiculously short. Barely enough to cover nipples and areolas—that was it. Faithfully covering *just* the essentials.
Below was worse. Instead of underwear, a tiny C-string over the privates. So small I doubted it matched my palm's length where it touched.
It curved upward from there, ending near the womb. Bonus: a small heart-shaped tattoo marking the spot, like a label.
"..."
Head throbbing, I turned to Luna's offering. Another monstrous scrap, wildly different from Floretta's.
A thread-thin strap like the necklace wrapped around the hips, with an equally thin fabric strip dangling to barely cover the privates.
Above the waist, it mimicked a slingshot swimsuit. But the exposure was beyond imagination—thin straps everywhere except near the nipples.
The strap started right above the crotch scrap, stretched taut over the breasts, widened slightly at the tips to cover the essentials, then met behind the neck.
And that was it.
A looped strap around the hips, crotch-barely-covering fabric, micro-slingshot barely covering breast tips.
*Who the hell designed this crap?*
My vision swam. I never imagined outfits worse than the popes' sacred vestments. To top those, I'd thought they'd have to go fully nude.
No way this nonsense existed in vanilla Branok 4, so some NPC-clothes modder whipped these up too. I wanted to peek inside that guy's head.
Clutching my reeling mind, I barely spoke.
"Um... you're not wearing anything over the dresses?"
"Over, you say?"
"Like the sacred vestments you're in now... uh..."
I nearly said "sheer," but choked. Would popes even know the word?
"Oh, I get it. You mean this outer layer."
Floretta indicated her sleeve. I nodded. Even semi-transparent sheer beat nothing. Anything added would improve on this.
But their reactions felt off.
"...If the honored guest wishes, we'll gladly wear it."
"Y-Yes, me too... haaah..."
Floretta and Luna's cheeks flushed pink for some reason. Seeing that, a foreboding sense hit me: I'd massively misunderstood something.
Whatever it was, my request tied to something lewd. Otherwise, why the blushing?
Instinct screamed warnings.
"No. Forget I said it. Slip of the tongue."
I hurriedly backpedaled. Couldn't let that misunderstanding stand, whatever it was.
"...Understood, honored guest."
"Yes..."
*Why the disappointed faces now?*
Their shoulders visibly slumped. At this point, I desperately wondered what that sheer symbolized. Definitely not normal clothing.
"...Anyway, let's pick a dress first."
Forcing my gaze back to the popes' offerings to defuse things.
Precisely, to the third one I hadn't chosen yet.