* * *
“…Thank you.”
I accepted the nameplate, its texture familiar under my fingertips—rough yet carefully polished, just as I remembered.
Satisfied, the Pope smiled.
“So then,” he said, intertwining his fingers beneath his chin. “What brings you here today?”
“Ah, right.”
The main reason I’d come here resurfaced, momentarily forgotten during our conversation.
I stopped fiddling with the nameplate and took a deep breath, steadying the slight tremor in my voice.
“I went to Gadget.”
“Oh? Gadget? Did you meet my friend there?”
“Alexander?”
“Yes.”
“I did.”
The memory of Alexander surfaced.
His serpent-like gaze had been disconcertingly enigmatic.
Everything about him had felt slippery—impossible to grasp.
I couldn’t tell if he was on Kerelona’s side, Kaindel’s side, or playing an entirely different game.
The Pope’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“What did you think of him? Quite a fascinating fellow, isn’t he?”
“Fascinating… yes, I’d say so.”
The more I’d talked with Alexander, the more I’d felt like I understood him—while simultaneously realizing I didn’t know him at all.
It was a strange, paradoxical experience.
“But at least I learned what I needed to know.”
“And that was?”
“I wanted to know what Kaindel was planning.”
“Ah… the Hero.”
I nodded.
“I didn’t want Kaindel to throw everything away just for me.”
I hesitated, the words tangling in my throat.
Memories flooded in: the way Kaindel shone so brightly among others, the way I had admired that light.
I’d loved his unwavering confidence, his radiance.
“I wanted him to live his life fully.”
That was all I could say out loud—a hollow, pared-down version of the truth.
“I see.”
The Pope’s voice was soft.
The Pope didn’t seem particularly surprised, as if he had already known about the relationship between me and Kaindel.
Without adding further explanation, he closed his eyes for a moment before slowly opening them again.
“Of course, I did wish for Kaindel to struggle as much as he hurt me.”
“That’s only natural. You must have suffered a lot.”
“But… I didn’t want it to happen this way.”
I tried to smile, but it didn’t come out quite right, my lips curving in a way that barely resembled a grin.
Seeing my feeble attempt, the Pope gave me a gentle smile, as if he understood the turmoil inside me.
“At any rate, I wanted to know what Kaindel was planning, and thanks to Alexander, I found out. It was a huge relief that the operation hadn’t been carried out yet.”
“That doesn’t mean we have a lot of time, does it? The operation is set for the Day of the Goddess.”
“That’s why I came to see you, Your Holiness.”
From what Alexander told me in Gadget, I only learned about how Kaindel intended to manipulate public opinion.
But even Alexander didn’t know exactly how he planned to break the contract with Kerelona after turning public sentiment against her.
However, if the wedding with Kerelona hadn’t been called off yet, and if the day of the operation was also their wedding day, then Kaindel’s intentions were obvious.
That’s why I had come to the Pope.
“Me?”
The Pope looked genuinely taken aback, as if he had never expected me to say such a thing.
I clenched the nameplate resting on my thigh, gripping it so tightly that the back of my hand turned white.
I needed to pour all my nerves into this, or I wouldn’t be able to handle the tension.
“I know that Your Holiness is the one officiating Princess Kerelona and Kaindel’s wedding.”
“Not officiating, exactly. But I have been given the role of joining them in the name of the Divine.”
“Please don’t do it.”
“I don’t quite understand. Could you say that again?”
“Kaindel is planning to ruin the wedding. Whether he causes a disturbance or uses the negative public sentiment to incite the people, he’ll make sure the wedding happens in the exact opposite way of what the princess wants.”
And since the wedding day is also the day of the operation, a violent clash would be inevitable.
Just imagining the obvious outcome made my head throb.
In other words, Kaindel was prepared to go through with this plan, even at the cost of a military confrontation with Kerelona.
From the moment he spread information damaging enough to provoke her, conflict had become unavoidable.
A military confrontation with Kerelona.
Taking responsibility for what he started.
How far was Kaindel willing to go for all of this?
“So, you’re saying… he’ll ruin the wedding?”
“Exactly.”
I widened my smile slightly at the Pope’s question.
I didn’t know whose side he was on, just like I didn’t know about Alexander’s true stance.
But I wanted to hold onto any last lifeline I could.
Even if that rope led straight off a cliff, I didn’t want Kaindel—who had already lost so much because of me—to bear this burden alone.
This was also a choice for myself.
“That’s why I’m here to ask for your help. Please, Your Holiness… stop Kaindel.”
“How could I possibly interfere with what the Hero intends to do?”
“If not stop him, then at least get in his way. That’s my request.”
After saying that, I bowed my head deeply.
The Pope had no reason to grant my request, but I still held onto a sliver of hope.
If he stepped in, even the most difficult tasks would become possible for me.
The Pope fell silent.
His fingers, which had been tapping lightly on the table, gradually slowed.
Tap, tap, tap.
The steady rhythm of sound filled the suffocating silence.
“So, Sir Isaac… you’re proposing a deal.”
“…Yes.”
“In that case, a deal requires something in return, does it not?”
“Something in return?”
“Yes. If I grant your request, what will you give me in exchange?”
“…….”
A cold chill crept down my spine.
Was it because of his title as Pope?
I hadn’t expected this to turn into a worldly negotiation.
I had only considered the possibility of outright rejection or acceptance.
How naive of me.
Something the Pope would want.
Something that would intrigue him.
I bit the inside of my cheek.
A faint metallic taste spread in my mouth—it seemed I had broken the skin.
But perhaps because I was so focused on this conversation, I didn’t feel any pain.
Come to think of it, this was the natural course of events.
In hindsight, Alexander had been the unusual one.
He had offered me information in exchange for simply knowing an old friend’s taste?
I had willingly accepted it, despite knowing it was too good to be true.
What could it be? What did the Pope want from me?
I clenched and unclenched my fists.
If he had wanted nothing from me, he wouldn’t have even brought up the idea of a trade.
That meant the answer was there—I just needed to find it.
“If I do as you ask and interfere with the Hero’s plan…”
“…….”
“Will you tell me the truth about this world?”
“The truth about this world?”
“You brought back the Heart of Calamity, did you not? But there’s something about it that doesn’t sit right with me.”
Sensing my unease, the Pope softened his tone, as if coaxing me to relax.
His voice was gentle, but beneath it lay the unmistakable weight of his true intentions.
“How did the Calamity die?”
* * *
