The Inquisitor's Suspicion
Loras tossed a coin pouch to one of his subordinates, ordering the man to put it in the offering box, then left the temple. He kept up his pleasant facade until the very end, but neither Princess Reciel nor I missed how deeply his pride had been wounded.
Princess Reciel, on the other hand, couldn’t stop laughing at the way I’d handled things at the last moment. “I’m a little worried that petty bastard won’t just sit still after being humiliated like that, but damn, it feels good.”
It was nice to see her so pleased, but I couldn’t help feeling concerned. She seemed far more shaken by the prince than I’d expected.
If Reciel wavers, our whole team wavers.
That was why a leader mattered. It wasn’t a job just anyone could do. Seeing the princess—the one who was supposed to be reliable—get tossed around by the prince had naturally chipped away at everyone’s trust.
She must have realized it too. Her laughter died away, and after a moment of thought she spoke again.
“I know my behavior today was pathetic. I’m not usually like this. I got pushed around one-sidedly this time, but from now on I’ll show you what winning looks like.”
“You seemed quite flustered. Are you all right?”
“…Priest Arthur, you really have a steadfast heart. I was impressed that you could act so naturally even in front of him. Thanks to you, I came back to my senses. You did so well—I can’t keep showing such a disgraceful side.”
I’d been feeling burdened by how brightly her eyes had been sparkling since earlier. Now I finally understood why.
“Why did you react that way?”
To me, Princess Reciel had looked like a herbivore chased by a lion all the way to the edge of a cliff. Or maybe a cat hissing and swiping at anyone who tried to touch her.
At my question, she cleared her throat in embarrassment.
“That man is good at charming people. He steals those who were on my side and turns them into his own. I was afraid you might fall for it too, so I overreacted and responded too aggressively.”
Ah. So that’s why she’d made such a scene earlier.
It made sense that she’d been sensitive. If I switched sides, Princess Canaby’s personal information would go with me. Still, if she’d told me about it beforehand, I could have been more careful. I was curious why she hadn’t said anything until now.
And that question was soon answered.
“I’m sorry to say this, but I was also testing you. The people I thought would always stand by my side have switched over to him far too easily.”
“!!”
“If you had given him even the slightest opening, I would have quietly… taken back what’s mine.”
Princess Reciel’s expression as she carefully avoided saying Canaby’s name looked incredibly gloomy.
After I’ve already stuck my nose so deep into their business, it would be ridiculous to try and back out now, wouldn’t it?
If that was the plan, I should never have gotten involved with this dysfunctional family in the first place. I might already be in too deep to pretend I didn’t know what was going on. Look at me right now—I wasn’t even angry that she’d tested me. I just felt sorry for her.
I’ve gotten way too close.
I didn’t want to reveal my honest feelings to the princess, who had no idea what was in my heart, so I said,
“As a priest, I simply strive to ensure that everyone under the light can equally feel His warmth.”
I’d laced the words with my resentment at having been the only one who thought we were close, but Princess Reciel seemed perfectly satisfied with them. She beamed and even puffed out her chest, thumping it proudly with her fist.
“Good. Then I won’t doubt you anymore, Priest. And since that man is narrow-minded, he’ll definitely remember what happened today. If he ever approaches you with harmful intentions, come tell me right away. I’ll stop him no matter what.”
For the record, I was the one who had proudly refused the bribe Princess Canaby once tried to give me in the form of a shameless donation. I hadn’t changed since then. No matter what kind of offer Prince Loras made, it wouldn’t change me either.
Out of everyone who’s said they’d protect me, she’s the least reliable.
Still, I couldn’t exactly tell someone who’d offered to protect me that I didn’t trust her, so I simply answered, “I understand.”
After all, the prince already knew what happened when he carelessly touched a priest.
“Yes.”
“I should be going now. If I’m late, she’ll throw another fit.”
Princess Reciel shook her head as if she was sick of it.
“I’ll never forget the way you handled yourself today, Priest Arthur. Talking to that bastard always left me in a foul mood all day, but today was actually pleasant. I should go see how twisted his face looks right about now.”
She left the temple, saying that just imagining it was fun, but seeing it in person would be even better.
The unexpected appearance of the prince had left my head throbbing from all the tense exchanges. What bothered me most was how extraordinary he seemed.
“You were speaking with a rather strange person.”
“Ah! You startled me.”
I must have been so distracted by the prince and princess that I hadn’t noticed Sister Melody approaching. How could I have known that the person I hadn’t seen since our first day here would suddenly appear at a moment like this?
She was wearing a black robe with the hood pulled deep over her head, adding to her ominous aura. When I jumped in exaggerated surprise, she pushed the hood back to reveal her face.
“It’s me. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Whew, I almost had a heart attack. When did you get here?”
“Just now. The person you were talking to earlier—are you close with them?”
I’d thought she was just asking out of curiosity, but apparently not. The fact that she’d asked twice meant the person who had been quietly lingering in the background had suddenly spoken up because she wanted information about him.
“Are you asking about Her Highness Princess Reciel?”
“I wasn’t talking about the woman.”
So she was asking about Prince Loras. He had left quite a while ago, which meant she must have been watching me for some time.
“If it’s the man, then you must mean Prince Loras. Why are you asking about him?”
“The prince…”
“Yes. Prince Loras of the Deltrack Empire. I heard they replaced Princess Canaby with Prince Loras as the representative of the subjugation force from the Deltrack Empire. But why are you asking about His Highness?”
Attention from a heretic inquisitor was rarely a good thing. The people they took an interest in were usually either connected to heretics or their victims.
Surely the prince isn’t a victim? That doesn’t seem likely.
If he wasn’t a victim, then he was involved with heretics himself. That would be an entirely different kind of disaster.
“…He just caught my eye.”
Sister Melody clearly had no intention of giving me any details. She closed her mouth. Since pressing her further didn’t seem likely to get me an answer, I decided to curb my excessive curiosity.
I’ll find out eventually if there’s a problem anyway.
Whatever happened to a prince of the Deltrack Empire, even a heretic inquisitor wouldn’t be able to handle it quietly. So whether I wanted to or not, if something came up, I’d naturally hear about it.
Prince Loras kept his word.
Of course, that only meant he kept his promise to come pray often. Just as Princess Reciel had predicted, he didn’t try to get revenge or act petty. Honestly, I’d expected him to be furious about being forced to put the money in the offering box himself, so his completely different attitude was rather disconcerting.
He’s been incredibly friendly toward me.
Just as he’d said, he visited frequently to pray and tried to build a connection with me. Seeing how sincerely he prayed, it didn’t seem like his claim of being devout was a lie.
However, after every prayer, he would always single me out for conversation before leaving. The topics varied. Sometimes he complained about the hardships of organizing the subjugation force. Other times he shared personal worries about how difficult his younger sibling was to handle.
Is he still trying to win me over?
The more time I spent with the prince, the clearer my impression of him became. There was no sincerity in his kindness. Every conversation with him carried an undercurrent of probing. In other words, I was certain there was a separate reason for his friendliness toward me.
Of course, part of it was probably to annoy Princess Reciel, who grew anxious every time he approached me.
But.
He wants to find out where Princess Canaby is.
He was trying to locate her through me. Since he was the one who had sent people to kill her, he would know that her disappearance meant something. What the prince wanted was to cut off the weakened princess’s breath once and for all.
Every time the prince visits the temple, his subordinates are searching the place.
It was obvious they were looking for any trace of Princess Canaby. But the only person who knew where she was staying was me.
If they keep coming up empty, will they start targeting me next?
If persuasion didn’t work, what would come after?
Blackmail?
When I saw people like him, it made me realize just how difficult it was to truly treat everyone equally under the light.
There’s still no evidence, so I’ll have to watch and wait, but it doesn’t sit well with me that I have to pray for the future of someone like him.
That was why I almost wished Prince Loras would turn out to be someone who had lost the right to stand equally beneath the light.
If Sister Melody hadn’t shown interest, it might have been different, but the moment she saw him she had asked who he was.
Now that I think about it, there are plenty of suspicious things about him.
The rotten personality that had tormented the princesses since they were children. What angered me most was how he had stolen the people around Princess Reciel and made her feel betrayed.
To do something like that to a child who still needed protection.
Even an adult would feel sick to their stomach and be unable to recover from such a shock. What would it do to a child?
There were more reasons I disliked him. The way he pretended to be kind on the surface. I had tried not to judge him too hastily based on what Princess Reciel said, but the more I met him, the stronger the sense of unease grew, and I kept thinking I didn’t want to get close to him.