Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: The Popes' Gratitude
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Only when the sun vanished beyond the horizon and the moon rose, blanketing the world in darkness, was I finally freed from my torment.
In truth, I had tried to sneak away midway, fearing my patience would hit its limit if I kept watching, but Stella and Selene held me back, begging me not to leave and to stay with them.
Floretta and Luna had clung to each other, sobbing for so long that they only snapped out of it once the surroundings were pitch black. They wiped away their tear tracks and approached me, their faces slightly flushed.
“……Thank you for waiting for us, Your Excellency.”
“I'm sorry. I was just so happy…….”
Despite sitting on the dirt floor for so long, their outfits remained pristine. There wasn't a speck of dirt or any disarray. Their calves and thighs were spotless too.
They could have just stepped out from somewhere formal, and it wouldn't have looked out of place at all. At this point, I was intensely curious about what material their clothes were made of.
They looked like outfits that would flash nipple or crotch with the slightest movement, yet they'd never done so—not even once—and they'd just been scraped directly against the dirt floor without a mark.
“Um…… Your Excellency, there's something I need to say to you…….”
Luna stepped forward. She hesitated for a moment, then clasped her hands in front of her lower abdomen and bowed her head deeply and politely.
“For saving me…… for ensuring I didn't have to die and leave my little sister behind…… thank you. Truly, truly, thank you.”
“I thank you as well, Your Excellency. For saving my sister, and…… for making sure I didn't have to live on alone without her.”
Floretta beamed as she followed Luna's lead. The weight of her chest shifted downward, jiggling heavily. The angle laid bare the deep cleavage of her nearly bare bosom.
‘Thank you for saving us……’
In the game, the Pope of the Sun and the Pope of the Moon were siblings, but their relationship was distant. So one dying wouldn't have truly grieved the other.
Above all, neither had desperately sought ways to defy the oracle like Floretta had. Both believed the gods' decree of death meant they must die, accepting it as natural.
They didn't weigh death heavily, so even if the protagonist saved them, they never reacted with the intensity Floretta and Luna showed.
Still, they always gave proper thanks, and the Holy Kingdom's fall left a bitter aftertaste, so I'd diligently taken down the bosses each playthrough…… but getting genuine gratitude from the popes like this? That was a first.
‘Well, this isn't so bad.’
A moment later, Luna lifted her head and gave me a dopey smile. On a face that looked like it wouldn't bleed even if pricked with a needle, it was surprisingly out of character.
“Is it strange to see my sister smiling like that, Your Excellency?”
As if reading my mind, Floretta tossed out the question. Luna's cheeks flushed a bit. I nodded silently. Floretta looked fully understanding.
“Though it doesn't suit her appearance, Sister Seraphica has always been far more affectionate than me. But she sealed shut the doors of her heart, convinced she had to sacrifice herself.”
“……Hnnng.”
“Even that cold demeanor came from a desire to make us hate her, so we who were left behind might suffer a little less. I saw through it all and accepted it quietly. What do you think, Your Excellency? Isn't she an awfully cute sister?”
“That's embarrassing, Evangelina…….”
The Pope of the Moon cupped her cheeks with both hands, pulling her hair over to hide her face. Her flushed cheeks vanished behind the silvery strands. It was worlds apart from her former stoic self.
Floretta giggled at her sister, then gently wrapped her hands around mine. She pulled it right up to her chest. Before I knew it, my hand was nestled between the abundant twin peaks.
“Your Excellency. This is terribly shameless of me, but…… may I ask one favor?”
She squeezed, burying my hand deep in her cleavage. While I sat there dumbfounded, Floretta continued.
“It would be impossible before the Holy Kingdom's people…… but in a sacred wild like this, could you call me ‘Floretta’ or ‘Evangelina’? Either one is fine.”
“You want me to call Her Holiness the Pope by name?”
“Yes. My sister would be happy with ‘Luna’ or ‘Seraphica’ too. You more than deserve that right, Your Excellency. That's why I dare to ask.”
I glanced at Luna. Still hiding her face behind her hair from the lingering shyness, she peeked out with just her eyes, then shyly nodded.
I turned to the Heresy Inquisitor and the Heresy Interrogator. They wore expressions like it was only natural. Since the principals themselves had asked, I opened my mouth obediently.
“Understood. Your Holiness. Or…… Floretta…… ma'am?”
“Thank you, Your Excellency.”
Floretta smiled radiantly. I couldn't help thinking she should release my hand from her cleavage now that I'd agreed.
It didn't feel bad, but this was putting me in a tough spot all around. Surely she hadn't wedged it there strategically to lower my chances of refusal.
The Pope of the Sun didn't seem the type for such sly tactics, though.
“But you don't need the honorifics. Please, call me casually?”
“……Yes. Got it. Floretta.”
As her name left my lips, the palms around my hand tightened even more. My fingertips brushed something soft and yielding. I desperately redirected my senses elsewhere.
“It has such a lovely ring…… but alas.”
“Alas? In what way?”
“You're calling me by my family name, not my given one. Evangelina would have been fine too.”
“So, does that mean Evangelina is your first name?”
A slight question arose. The Branding 4 world's naming convention followed real Western countries—given name first, family name last. The game's setting was medieval-fantasy Europe, after all.
But the Pope of the Sun had introduced herself as Floretta Evangelina. By her words, Floretta up front was the family name, and Evangelina after was the given name.
“You've got it exactly right, Your Excellency.”
With that, my hand was finally freed. The heat from between her breasts still lingered on my skin.
“When we sisters ascended to pope, we set aside our human family names. We inherited Floretta and Luna from the previous popes. In the Holy Kingdom's ancient tongue, they mean sun and moon, respectively.”
Releasing my hand, Floretta reached out to Luna. She carefully brushed the hair covering her face aside and gently pried away the hands over her jaw.
Luna flinched but let Floretta do it. Her shyly blushed face reemerged. Whatever it was, she still looked utterly embarrassed.
“We are popes of the sun and moon before we are human. So it's only natural for our family names—Floretta and Luna—to come first.”
Floretta smiled brightly as she peeled stray hairs from Luna's cheeks.
“But since you wished to see us not as Pope of the Sun and Pope of the Moon, but as Evangelina and Seraphica, I make this bold request. Any more questions, Your Excellency?”
“I understand fully. Floretta.”
“……Still not Evangelina, I see.”
Floretta pouted cutely. Maybe because she'd already shown me her bawling with her sister, the majestic aura from our first meeting was gone.
But the pout was brief. Floretta soon wore a benevolent smile again and bowed toward me.
“No helping it, then. I'll await the day you fully open your heart to us sisters.”
With her farewell done, Floretta turned and departed. Luna bowed to her little sister(?) wait no, to me following her lead, then turned as well.
At least her abundant hair hid her back view—a small mercy. Without the sheer parts, the popes' rears were utterly bare.
Their figures vanished in an instant once a bit distant. Sacred spells, no doubt.
With the popes' send-off over, Stella and Selene approached from afar. They stood side by side before me and bowed politely, just like the popes.
“Allow me to thank you once more on this occasion. For protecting Their Holinesses and saving the Holy Kingdom. In the name of the Heresy Inquisitor, I thank you.”
“M-me too, Your Excellency. For protecting Their Holinesses and saving the Holy Kingdom. In the name of the Heresy Interrogator, I thank you.”
Selene lingered after her bow, fidgeting alone before adding one more thing.
“……And I apologize for what happened at the Lunar Cathedral. I'm sorry, Your Excellency.”
“The Lunar Cathedral?”
“When you mentioned the monster beneath the Holy Kingdom to me…….”
‘Ah. That's what she meant.’
No wonder she'd been so wary of my reaction.
“Why is the Heresy Interrogator apologizing for that? Anyone could see I was the one being unreasonable. If anything, I should thank you for believing my nonsense.”
From Selene's position, it was the obvious response.
Claiming I'd handle a monster even the popes couldn't touch, with no proof—just trust my skills—and pushing it stubbornly? No one wouldn't be baffled.
Plus, she'd gone along with it in the end, so she had no reason to apologize. I waved it off.
“And please, call us by name from now on.”
“Huh?”
“We don't have family names, so just Stella and Selene. Skip the honorifics. Their Holinesses said to call them casually—wouldn't it look odd treating you two formally?”
“Well…… you're right.”
True enough—casual with popes but formal with them would look weird.
“Your Excellency. How long do you plan to stay in the Holy Kingdom?”
“Who knows. That's not for me to decide alone.”
I gave Selene's question a vague answer.
Things had gone oddly, with even Iris and Claudia deferring to me, but I couldn't commit without consulting the knight captains.
Deciding solo without asking them would be insubordination. They'd probably let it slide without complaint, but I didn't want to act like an arrogant lone wolf on that assumption.
“Understood, Your Excellency. Please stay in the Holy Kingdom as long as you wish. We promise the highest hospitality.”
As Selene spoke, her purple eyes gleamed faintly. Stella gave me a similar look. Seeing that suddenly made me uneasy.
What were they planning this time?