Chapter 95: Backfire (3)

[It is true that Cédric and Christelle were different from normal Holy Knights from the start. In both cases, their natural powers meshed together with the Almighty God’s blessing.]

Cardinal Boutier explained.

The bishops of the Empire all quietly listened to her words.

[According to Sir Johann Geens, who has been dispatched here from the Vatican, both of them would be at least at the Bishop level even if they were to receive their appointments immediately.]

‘She knew about that too, as I expected.’

The Central Temple became rowdy after the Cardinal’s explanation.

The bishops were lowering their bodies to whisper to one another, nodding or shaking their heads, creating a rather heated atmosphere.

I looked to both my sides at the Imperial Prince and then at Christelle.

Based on what I could see through their veils, they both looked calm.

‘They’re so similar in times like this.’

[Your Eminence, the numerous citizens of our Riester Empire are aware of the two of their extraordinary circumstances. The people who watched the Great Clearance of Demonic Beasts and the nobles who observed his Royal Highness’s duel all sang their praises. Such holy abilities cannot be covered by the title of novice!]

Archbishop Tourcoing, who was standing, shouted so desperately that he was spitting.

It reminded me of the British Parliament.

[That’s right!]
[We second his opinion!]

The bishops shouted from all of their seats.

According to Sir Geens, it took a minimum of a year to be appointed as a Holy Knight.

Not to mention, that was already him decreasing the time estimation due to the talent of the two main characters; it usually took five to ten years for a single Clergy level Holy Knight to appear.

That was because it included their training period as squires.

[Crown princess Elise of the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom became a Clergy level Holy Knight at the young age of sixteen. It is because they accepted her exceptional talents. I apologize for saying this in front of Prince Jesse, but do you really think that she went through a year or more of intense training to be appointed? I do not believe so, your Eminence!]

One Archbishop jumped up and proclaimed, making the bishops start to whisper more.

Almost two thousand pairs of eyes all turned toward me.

I hugged the red pandas so that I wouldn’t get scared.

The Imperial Prince and Christelle also showed discomfort.

They were basically saying that the crown princess of another kingdom was appointed at sixteen because of her talents, so why couldn’t our Imperial Prince and our noble young lady do the same.

It was hard to call their actions unreasonable since there was a precedent. Their reaction was understandable considering that this was an issue of the Empire’s pride.

‘They might even be more sensitive about it because these two are the first in the Empire.’

“Why are they picking on someone who is just quietly sitting here?”

Christelle mumbled in a low voice. I quietly chuckled and told her that I was okay.

[I thoroughly read through the request from the twenty Archdioceses. The argument was a valid one.]

The Cardinal responded.

Her voice was as calm as usual. It was as if she had expected the meeting to go like this.

[Are there any opposing opinions?]

The room became completely silent. The bishops were all looking up at her with intense gazes.

It was hard to imagine that anybody here would oppose it. The Cardinal started to speak again.

[Then what about sending the two of them to the Vatican?]

The silent room became rowdy almost instantly. It sounded like something had exploded.

The appointment of Holy Knights was one of the Pope’s sacred duties, so people who wanted to officially become Holy Knights had to go to the Vatican to receive their titles.

However, the holy position had been empty since the death of Pope Elene, so the Holy Knights who came after her death were all appointed by Cardinals.

‘Mm, it definitely helps to have read the history.’

[We are also against that, your Eminence. Crown princess Elise had received her appointment with the blessing of the Cardinals in the safety of the Holy Kingdom’s palace. There is no reason for his esteemed Royal Highness and young lady Sarnez to travel such a long distance!]
[That’s such a great way to put it!]

It was a pretty young bishop who shared his opinion this time.

A couple bishops nodded their heads and clapped.

‘It seems more like a general assembly than an Annual Prayer Meeting at this point.’

[I see. Any other opinions on this matter?]

Silence descended upon the room again as if someone had poured water over everyone.

It was sort of funny how it would repeatedly get rowdy and then silent whenever the Cardinal said something.

I smiled and turned my gaze when I caught a figure gently waving from the front of the pews.

“……Eva?”

My eyes opened wide.

The young girl, who was wearing a large mitre and seemed to be buried in the heavy formal attire, was smiling in our direction.

I had forgotten that Eva was a recently ordained bishop.

Most of the bishops seemed to be at least in their forties, so it was pitiful, yet praiseworthy, to see a sixteen year old child sitting among them.

Christelle and I waved back.

‘She said that the letter to her parents was properly delivered. I hope it goes well.’

[Archbishop Castex!]

The chairman called out in a loud voice.

‘They must have moved on to the second question.’

“I guess that the earlier issue was resolved well, your Royal Highness?”

I whispered to the Imperial Prince. He answered back in a low voice.

“They said that they will request that the Vatican send some Cardinals over.”

‘It ended up like that as I expected.’

I nodded my head.

These days, Holy Knights were tested by three Cardinals. They are appointed if at least two of the Cardinals approve.

Cardinal Boutier has been the only Cardinal in the Empire until now, so it was amazing that three of them would be coming over.

There truly seemed to be nothing that could hinder the narrative of our main characters.

[Your Eminence, what is your perspective on the matter of his Royal Highness and young lady Sarnez not yet having confirmed priest partners?]

‘The most important question is finally here.’

Some attendants brought over some drinks and snacks for us at that time.

They must have thought that the meeting was getting too long.

“What’s in there, your highness? I can’t really see it.”
“The drinks are coffee for the two of you and Rooibos for me. As for snacks……”

It was a bit hard to explain in words so I asked for Christelle’s understanding and lifted her veil to show her the coussin de Lyon and the croustade.

Christelle must have been hungry, as she picked up the warm goose croustade.

I then pulled up the Imperial Prince’s veil and was having him pick something to eat when…

[Prince Jesse is a person of Venetiaan. Although he is capable of supporting them, we find it difficult for him to act as a permanent partner.]

“Bullshit.”

One bishop made that comment about me, and… Christelle swore back while taking a big bite of bread.

I was smiling bitterly when I made eye contact with the Imperial Prince.

His orange eyes were as dark as sunspots.

‘Wait, this bastard has a dangerous gaze going on right now.’

“Please eat this candy, eat the candy, your Royal Highness.”

I commented almost as if to console him.

The Imperial Prince picked up two or three coussin de Lyon and threw them in his mouth as if he was planning on eating them anyway.

The way he crunched on them sounded vicious. I pulled his veil back down and added on.

“You’re going to ruin your teeth like that, your Royal Highness. Please be careful.”

‘It’ll be sad if the male lead of a Romfan needed implants.’

[The relationship between a Holy Knight and a priest is very special. That is the case even if they don’t make a celestial covenant. Everybody in the Empire is aware of the fact that Prince Jesse has built a special friendship with the two of them during his time here, but having them rely on the prince for ether might lead to an issue of national security……]

“He is trying so hard to present the case that he wants to be the priest.”

I could hear Christelle sighing under her veil.

I picked up the Iced Americano and whispered to her.

“But that is true. It will make things complicated politically if you pair with a diplomatic hostage.”

Of course, not all of the bishops here were saying this because of their patriotism.

Most probably wanted to get involved with the Imperial Prince or Christelle for personal gain.

The Riester Bishop Meeting was a large and powerful organization.

“Then what do you think about it, your highness?”
“Excuse me?”
“Putting aside those other issues, just focus on how you feel about it, your highness. Is it uncomfortable being with us?”

Christelle looked at me right in the eyes and asked.

“……”

The temple did not feel dark at all at that moment.

The rowdy room seemed to instantly disappear.

Her blue-gray eyes were giving off a clear light.

I turned my head to the other side, looking into them like that made me feel as if I would suffocate.

A quietly burning gaze grabbed me by the collar.

“Hmm.”

I cleared my throat.

I felt like I should respond, however, I did not want to lie to the two of them.

I also had no talent for quickly changing topics.

I remembered how Eunseo would read QNW and say, ‘Dude, express yourself! How would anybody know if you keep your mouth shut?!’ She even smacked her phone a few times while saying that.

That had been directed at both the Imperial Prince and Prince Jesse in the original story.

It was also the case in Benjamin’s < Reason, Sensibility, and Holiness >, where the characters only vaguely expressed their true feelings and complicated things even more.

I did not want to create such a development with my words.

“I think that both of you are good people. I think that you would both be decent as partners as well. However, to be honest with you, I am scared that it will bring me harm. You might think that I am a coward, but I cannot do anything about it because I have always been like this. I have even had an assassination attempt on my life.”
“……”
“……”

As the second male lead with a time limit to figure out what I was going to say, this was the best answer that I could give right now.

I felt a bit awkward because they didn’t say anything back.

‘I thought this would be a polite way to reject them.’

Percy climbed onto my palm and I petted his chest.

[I don’t think that this is something that I can answer. Wouldn’t the opinions of the people involved be the most important?]

The Cardinal’s easygoing voice echoed over the platform. Christelle immediately jumped up from her seat.

Her voice was unexpectedly bright as she looked toward the Imperial Prince and spoke.

“I will go, your Royal Highness.”

The Imperial Prince bastard flicked his chin.

‘You gave the okay so quickly, do you even know what she is going to do?’

– Click, click.

I could hear her moving very energetically.

Christelle, who walked up behind the Cardinal, bowed respectfully before whispering something in her ear.

The Cardinal smiled and took a step to the side.

Our MC tightly gripped the altar, which was decorated with purple tulips, as if she had been waiting for this.

She then immediately took off the veil that had been getting in her way.

[My goodness!]
[What in the world?]

A portion of the bishops sat up straight and gasped. I flinched as well.

‘What a great way to suppress the competition.’

“Thank you to all of the esteemed bishops for your heartfelt advice and concern but as her Eminence mentioned, choosing our partner is our decision to make. To be honest with you, we have already made up our minds. So there is no need to have such a pointless argument.”

‘Wait a minute…… What is she talking about?’

I blinked in confusion.

The clear voice echoed through the room even without a microphone.

The bishops whispered to each other with shocked faces. Christelle’s momentum did not stop and she continued to charge forward.

“His Royal Highness and I will not partner with any of the bishops here but with that esteemed individual.”

[Excuse me, young lady Sarnez. It sounds like you are talking about a single person…… Is that right?]

The Chairman, who had been silently observing the situation, looked toward Christelle and asked.

He looked as if he heard something wrong. I felt the same way.

‘There is no way that she let that euphemistic rejection go in one ear and out the other while only remembering the good things I said, right?’

“Yes sir.”
“Cough, cough!”

I gasped and then coughed. I immediately covered my mouth with my sleeve.

‘Hey, Eunseo! I did as you said but the result is still the same frustrating development. What the heck?!’

[But something like that has never happened in the history of the Empire!]

“Isn’t all of this a first in the history of the Empire? Holy Knights appearing, them being appointed, and them choosing partners, all of this. That is why you all decided on it today. You decided to push forth our appointment to next month and you also opposed sending us to the Vatican. I thought that all of our esteemed bishops decided to start a backfire and follow the Holy Kingdom’s example in the event that a precedent exists.”

[……]

She was so persuasive.

‘Even I might take her side if I keep hearing this.’

“There is precedent of three people becoming partners. The records state that Julite, his Majesty, the late Emperor Romero’s lover, was partnered with two Holy Knights.”

The red pandas and I dropped our jaws in shock.

‘When did she investigate that? Was I the only one who didn’t know?’

I urgently turned to look at the Imperial Prince but he showed no emotions at all.

‘I really was the only one who didn’t know!’

“I do not have a competitive spirit toward the Holy Kingdom, but I have no choice but to use them as an example as our esteemed bishops have brought them up with every issue. I will not take any refutes.”

The bishops were rowdy but nobody said anything to her.

Although they were not happy about it, they could not say anything since Christelle said that she would not hear any rebuttal, despite mentioning Julite, or Juliette as they called her.

I gasped because that was so funny to me.

“Thank you very much. Have a safe trip home, everyone.”

She used an extremely Korean comment to finish her speech before respectfully bowing toward the Cardinal and returning to her seat.

She didn’t even forget to pick up the veil that she threw and put it back over her face.

Her showmanship was thorough and she was following the rules.

“I leave the political thing for you to take care of, your Royal Highness.”

Christelle stood in front of the Imperial Prince, made that comment, and held up a fist.

The Imperial Prince stared at her hand for a long time before finishing the fist bump.

“What the…?”

My thoughts subconsciously came out of my mouth.

‘What did they do just now? What are the two of them planning?’

“There is no need for you to pay any attention to it. Starting from now, you are…”