Chapter 68
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68.
As I suspected, the "Trial of Heresy (In Progress)" notation on the magical scroll referred to the incident where I would be accused of heresy.
'I deduced it from the fact that it was the only trial still marked as pending, plus there was one missing character—naturally.'
One of the seven near-death crises that befell the original protagonist Roselita Salice was none other than the Temple's heresy accusation targeting her as her influence within the Capital City grew ever stronger.
Unlike me, the original Roselita had been prepared; as her wealth increased, she cared for the poor districts and even established vocational training centers, schools, and hospitals for them.
She did all this to establish the original Cassian Artez's position and to remain by his side.
The more she acted this way, the more the Temple's high-ranking officials—those blinded by donations—grew displeased, thinking a mere child was standing against them.
And from that process came the heresy accusation.
In the original story, they had apparently revived "witch hunts" for the first time in two hundred years.
'Since the nickname "witch" had already been attached to me because of those Summer Palace fools, it would have been easier for them to recall.'
As I regarded the Heresy Inquisitors with such thoughts, Cassian quietly spoke.
"I wondered why the Priests were so insistent on attending the conferment ceremony."
"Perhaps because the Temple also sent support for this expedition, and His Majesty graciously provided that excuse as well."
It was obvious, but the two of us had found it strange while preparing for the ceremony, and having checked the magical scroll this morning and made our deductions, we weren't taking it seriously.
Of course, His Majesty, who had suspected it first, showed no agitation whatsoever.
"His Majesty seems quite unperturbed, perhaps because he experienced such things so often in his youth."
Cassian Artez chuckled softly at my words.
The Emperor was likely the one who despised the Temple folk most in this entire Empire.
But for now, since the Heresy Inquisitor had stepped forward, the Emperor remained silent.
'By saying his expectations were high, he meant for me to resolve this well on my own.'
Instead, the nobles who had been unable to jeer during the conferment ceremony began opening their mouths with delight.
"Ah, so even His Majesty the Emperor recognizes that Winter Palace witch! She must have used sorcery—we all thought something was odd, didn't we?"
The Summer Palace fool who sneered whenever he saw me opened the floodgates.
"That's right! No matter that she's the Second Prince's fiancée, to receive protection from knights, follow an expedition, and gain a title of Marquis through sheer luck!"
Adding to this was another who, whenever he saw me, boasted about belonging to an ancient earldom.
How much he must have resented that I, unlike him—a mere heir to an earldom—had become the confident holder of a proper title through this conferment ceremony.
"Why don't you kneel before the Heresy Inquisitors at once, Roselita Salice!"
"Are you trying to show your lack of breeding even now!"
"Your Majesty, strip that heretic of the title you granted her at once!"
The petty fools opened their mouths wide with momentum.
It was quite understandable that they all shared the common trait of having failed to advance not only in rank but also in administrative positions.
They didn't even notice the thin frost of coldness forming over the Emperor's blue eyes.
And as if emboldened by those fools, the Heresy Inquisitor who stood confidently at the front even struck a whip he had brought forcefully against the ground, threatening both Cassian Artez and me.
"Your Highness! If you protect her just because she is your fiancée, you will find yourself burdened with the very stigma you barely escaped! Do you wish to incur God's displeasure once more?"
As if that were somehow a threat to Cassian Artez.
"It seems you are laboring under a misunderstanding, Heresy Inquisitors."
At their actions, Cassian Artez spoke in a cool voice, as though issuing a warning.
"As one of the Knight Order's commanders, I must warn you—this is the Imperial Palace where His Majesty resides, and carrying weapons in the presence of the Emperor is forbidden by law."
"We act only as sacred representatives of the Divine Lord. This is not a weapon, but a holy relic that displays the Divine Lord's power."
To me, it looked like nothing more than a gaudy trinket studded with diamonds.
Weren't priests supposed to live in poverty?
At their retort, Cassian laughed softly and shrugged his shoulders.
"I do hope you won't come to regret those words. And there's one more thing I must correct."
Cassian lifted my hand and brought it to his lips in a light kiss, regarding them with eyes of an exquisite, mischievous violet.
"My beloved Roselita requires no protection from me for something as trivial as this."
"Such conduct is also shielding a heretic!"
Witnessing Cassian's uninhibited contact with me, they cried out in shock.
As if echoing their words, the loose-tongued fools raised their voices again.
"Has the Second Prince also been bewitched by sorcery?"
"In the old days, witches used to manipulate minds like that."
It was a remarkably backward statement for an era when even Magicians wrote formulas rather than drawing magical circles.
Instead of being intimidated by their words, I withdrew the notebook I always carried in my pocket and, armed with the finest business smile, slowly opened my mouth.
"For you to speak with such confidence, you must have evidence, surely?"
"Our very presence here is the evidence!"
"Ah, so you're witnesses? Then you directly observed me using sorcery? If so, could you tell me when and for what purpose I employed such magic?"
"That is something you must confess! Come at once and follow us before His Holiness to make your confession of guilt!"
"Saint Wesley Morel mentioned that His Holiness was so busy with dragon subjugation that despite multiple requests over 48 hours, he never showed his face."
At the sudden mention of Wesley's name, the Heresy Inquisitors faltered.
"It's remarkable that His Holiness, who refused even when Saint Wesley pleaded so earnestly, somehow finds time to see someone as insignificant as me! Or perhaps—"
I tapped my fountain pen against the notebook and approached them.
"You Heresy Inquisitors receive teachings under His Holiness and hold the very title of 'Heresy Inquisitor,' yet you've brought me here on mere suspicion without proper evidence. Are you planning to demonstrate such incompetence?"
"D-don't you dare try to bewitch us, you witch!"
"If you're susceptible to bewitchment at my mere suggestion, shouldn't you step down from your position as a Heresy Inquisitor?"
I laughed openly at them.
"Or is it that you have no answer to the reasonable questions I've posed, so you resort to irrational talk of sorcery and bewitchment?"
"W-why aren't you seizing this heretic at once? Isn't her very attitude—showing no respect toward us—itself proof of heresy?"
The leader of the Heresy Inquisitors shouted to those around him as I drew closer.
"Whoever apprehends this woman shall receive a glorious medal from His Holiness himself! Seize her at once and force her to kneel!"
At those words, knights clad in capes and long mantles approached me.
"A medal from His Holiness in person, no less! Quickly—"
As the Heresy Inquisitor pressed his advantage with loud declarations, the Winter Palace Knight Commander at the front delivered words that defied expectation.
"If the Temple is so remarkable as to discern heresy without proper evidence, merely by intuition, why didn't you show such concern when we went unpaid?"
"W-what?"
"When we fought monsters and rolled through dangerous terrain, when our wages were six months in arrears, the Temple collected their portion from wages we never even received."
The Knight Commander regarded the Heresy Inquisitor with a cold gaze.
"Do we look like ignorant fools merely because we bear swords? Do you not know why witch hunts were abolished?"
"This... this isn't a witch hunt..."
"Then why did you just call our Margrave a witch?"
The Heresy Inquisitor's words caught in his throat, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
"Or perhaps a Temple Priest such as yourself has forgotten the Temple's own history? Two hundred years ago, Saint Stasha—who could wield Divine Descent itself—personally abolished witch hunts, declaring that they revealed the Temple's cruelty rather than mercy, not the will of the Divine."
"That is to say..."
"Does the Pope and the Heresy Inquisitor now disregard Saint Stasha's own will and desecrate the Divine's name? I cannot judge who the true heretic is."
The hall fell silent in an instant.
Even the petty nobles who had eagerly awaited my arrest now did nothing but cautiously gauge the atmosphere.
The Winter Palace Knight Commander, who had stood between me and the clergy, opened a path with a weighty glance that seemed to signal an end to the matter.
And unlike the Knight Commander's dignified nature, I was not so restrained.
"Why don't you simply be honest, Heresy Inquisitor? You wanted to brand me a heretic and confiscate my Dragon Lair, just as they did during the witch hunts of the old age."
I laid bare their true intentions with a bright smile.
And this was precisely why Saint Stasha had abolished witch hunts two hundred years ago—she had deemed them shameful.
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