If their reason for entering the labyrinth is greed for money, they will ignore my words even more.
On the contrary, they might think that since the labyrinth’s traps haven’t been triggered yet, they should exploit it as much as possible until then.
“So, you’re saying you won’t speak?”
“I have no one to speak to anyway.”
“Good.”
It seemed that Princess Lasiell wished for Prince Lorath to get caught in the labyrinth’s traps and possibly even die.
“Getting caught in that trap won’t kill him, but it will certainly be fatal to the subjugation team.”
“Because of that guy, we had no choice but to hide, yet he dared to speak ill of my sister. He mocked her, saying she fled in fear because she was incompetent.”
It must have hurt her pride deeply.
Especially since Princess Lasiell greatly relied on Princess Kanabi; insulting her would have had a bigger impact than threatening Lasiell directly.
“I don’t know how well he’ll lead the subjugation team, but honestly, I hope he fails. Hearing this makes me look forward to it even more.”
She smacked her lips, expressing her desire for the labyrinth’s traps to be triggered soon.
I had thought hard and offered sincere advice, but seeing her looking forward to a scenario where many lives would be lost, I realized—royalty is still royalty, no matter how young.
A day passed after the princess returned.
Today, something surprising happened.
“You want to attend the service?”
“Yes. Is it possible?”
The Inquisitor, who rarely showed her face and was nearly impossible to track, suddenly appeared and expressed her desire to attend the service.
I was curious as to why she wanted to attend the service so suddenly.
Even so.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
I told her she could.
Why wouldn’t it be allowed?
The temple’s doors are always open wide.
However, I was extremely curious about why she suddenly wanted to attend the service.
“Weren’t you busy? I’m just curious why you’d want to attend the service.”
“I’m just attending the service.”
But she didn’t seem interested in satisfying my curiosity.
‘I guess I can’t ask further.’
I usually made it a point to attend services, but knowing the Inquisitor would be there made it feel like I must go.
I needed to confirm who the Inquisitor was focusing on.
‘Could it be that a heretic has infiltrated our temple?’
If that were the case, it would be chaos, so it was definitely worth investigating.
When the service began, Sister Melody attended as expected.
However, her presence was so faint it was almost unnoticeable.
I scanned the attendees’ faces to see who was present at the service.
‘Could she have followed the prince here?’
I considered this but decided not to jump to conclusions.
Instead, I resolved to remember each face and watch them closely.
‘If someone suddenly disappears, that person must be the culprit.’
That would mean the Inquisitor was moving discreetly.
“The service will now begin.”
The priest in charge of the service entered.
Since I was also attending, I decided to focus on the service.
Paying attention during the service was a priest’s obvious duty.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Today’s sermon was excellent. It brought me comfort.”
After the service, there was a time for offerings and interaction among the congregation.
During this time, I was usually cornered by the prince, engaging in conversation as a routine.
As usual, the prince sought me out today.
“What is this?”
But this time, he came with his hands full of something.
“Since priests can’t leave the temple, I brought this for you to try.”
“Your Highness, you shouldn’t give me something like this.”
“What’s wrong with gifting something to a friend?”
Normally, if someone wanted to give a priest something, they would use the offering as an excuse, but the prince openly declared his gift after being rejected once.
Well, there’s no reason he should care about my reputation.
Especially since I had rejected him first.
“It’s nothing extravagant, and yet you’re making an issue out of it? I’ve never seen a priest as dedicated to their faith as you. Aren’t you frustrated by how little recognition you get?”
He complimented me while subtly criticizing the higher-ups.
He was pointing out, in his own way, how my efforts weren’t being acknowledged.
‘What a devilish tongue.’
It’s only natural to feel good when someone recognizes your abilities.
At the same time, his subtle criticism of the church for not appreciating my work was the kind of comment that could sow dissatisfaction.
How many people had he shaken with that cunning tongue?
“You’ve got the devil on your tongue.”
“!!”
“!!”
What a shock.
For a moment, I thought I had said that out loud, but thankfully, I hadn’t.
“Surely, that wasn’t directed at me?”
The prince frowned, turning to identify the person who had suddenly interrupted the conversation.
Considering their suspicious appearance and the fact that they had blurted out something bordering on an insult, it was understandable for him to be perplexed.
“Who is this?”
The prince asked me, failing to hide his displeasure.
‘How should I introduce her? Is there even a need to share this information?’
There was no reason to recklessly tell the prince that she was an Inquisitor.
When I remained silent, refusing to answer, she stepped forward confidently, as if I had made the right choice.
“Are you going to deny it? You’re trying to bribe the priest with gifts and words while destabilizing the Church by undermining the Holy Kingdom’s trust, aren’t you?”
“…Who are you to show such disrespect? Are you prepared to face the consequences?”
The prince’s face turned red, clearly embarrassed that his scheming had been called out so blatantly.
Well, where would the prince have ever encountered such insolence before?
‘The Inquisitor doesn’t care if someone’s royalty or not. She just charges ahead. I guess she’s confident the Holy Empire will back her up.’
Royalty and the Inquisitor.
Anyone would assume the prince held all the power here.
But that didn’t mean he could do anything to Sister Melody.
Touching an Inquisitor was akin to challenging the pride of the Holy Empire itself.
“In fact, I should be the one asking. Are you confident you won’t regret meddling with a priest of the Holy Empire?”
It was shocking enough that she provoked the prince, but Sister Melody didn’t even flinch at his intimidation.
On the contrary, she pushed even further, asking if he was sure he wouldn’t regret it.
Sensing something was amiss, the prince scanned the situation carefully and said,
“It seems I’ve been misunderstood. I was simply expressing my concern for the priest. I’m not sure why my words were taken otherwise.”
Though his words had been intentional, he now pretended as if they carried no hidden meaning.
It seemed he had realized that acting emotionally without fully understanding Sister Melody’s identity might not be wise.
Still, someone here was remarkably composed and adept at handling such situations.
That someone was Sister Melody.
I was curious to see how she would respond to the prince’s words.
“Act cautiously. Misunderstandings can lead to unfortunate experiences.”
And those unfortunate experiences might be directly inflicted upon the prince himself.
The prince, not knowing Sister Melody’s true identity, appeared deeply troubled.
As for me, I just shrugged my shoulders in amusement.
“It seems today isn’t the right day, so I’ll take my leave.”
“I appreciate the gift, but I’d be even more grateful if you took it back.”
“If the priest won’t accept it, I’ll just throw it away.”
The items he gave me must have cost quite a bit, but perhaps his pride was wounded at the thought of taking them back, so he told me to just throw them away.
“Understood. In that case, I’ll treat these items as donations.”
The prince looked like he had a lot to say in response but eventually shut his mouth and left.
“Why did you do that?”
This time, I couldn’t help but ask Sister Melody.
“You seem to have realized he’s not as good a person as he pretends to be, but that was quite a provocation.”
He will likely seek revenge for this incident.
“That’s precisely why I did it—so that he would act.”
“Huh?”
As I thought, Sister Melody had been keeping an eye on the prince.
I couldn’t help but wonder—was the prince really connected to heretics?
Throughout history, heretics had often meddled in battles for the throne, throwing everything into chaos.
History tends to repeat itself, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they had targeted the messy Deltrak Empire to stir up trouble.
“Are you still in the stage of suspicion? If he’s entangled with them, this could escalate quickly…”
When she didn’t respond, I hurriedly added,
“Oh, I’ll avoid making hasty assumptions and just observe for now. But if you ever need my help, please let me know. I want to assist.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
I wasn’t sure if Sister Melody had taken my words seriously.
Still, if she remembered what I said in a moment of need, that would be enough for me.
‘Honestly, though, I doubt she’ll ever actually need my help.’
Come to think of it, there was something I needed to tell her.
“While you’re here, I should inform you about something I didn’t get a chance to mention earlier. It seems we’ll be entering the labyrinth in two weeks.”
“I see. Understood.”
“Are you okay with that? You seemed busy.”
“It’s fine. The reason I’m here is to protect you, Priest Arthur. Nothing else takes priority over that.”
“Alright, I’ll let you know once a more precise date is set. Please, take care of yourself.”
Although I hadn’t been targeted yet because I was still someone they wanted to win over, Sister Melody’s situation was different.
An obviously suspicious figure had appeared.
There was no way the prince wouldn’t investigate her.
‘Once he finds out she’s not some bigwig, he’ll likely make a move.’
Why wouldn’t he think she’s someone important?
Even if the prince investigated, Sister Melody’s true identity wouldn’t be revealed.
‘There’s no way a prince, not even the emperor, could discover the identity of an Inquisitor.’
That’s why I was worried.
“You never know what the prince might try to pull.”
“That’s exactly why I provoked him—to make him act.”
I didn’t understand why she would provoke the one person it was most dangerous to get involved with.
‘Should I wish him rest in peace?’
The prince’s future didn’t look too bright.