IELNDMH - Chapter 78 < What Separates Lovers >
I Ended Up Living Up Next Door With My Ex-Husband
“I think High Priest Diat is scheduled to arrive in about two days.”
We only have about a month left.
That time should be spent with High Priest Diat? And from a few days from now?
The news was like a bolt from the blue. But that wasn't the end.
Remarkable news poured out one after another from Cedric's mouth.
“Furthermore, during that time, we will grant him the authority of the Pope’s representative.”
An order to live with a high priest who has the authority of the Pope's representative for a month. And that too with High Priest Diat, who was keeping a close eye on us.
No matter how I look at it, it was an action that fully reflected High Priest Diat's intentions.
'I guess they're going to keep an eye on us until the day the divorce is safely announced.'
The day we attended the Emperor's birthday banquet, I remembered his eyes always looking at us with disapproval.
'Otherwise, it couldn't be... It's not like something 'unholy' happened between the two of you, like love blooming belatedly, right?'
He called the relationship between me and Cedric ‘unholy.’
Even if it's a secret, divorce is divorce.
The simple fact that he had to watch a divorced couple living together was clearly pushing the stubborn Pope's patience to its limit.
Moreover, didn't our secret divorce begin at the insistence of Emperor Letitz?
At that time, the Pope must have thought that he had lost the battle with the imperial family as his opinion was ignored.
It was clear that his pride had been hurt whether he knew it or not.
Additionally, what if a divorced couple finds out that they have become lovers again while continuing their strange cohabitation...
It was as obvious as fire that the anger he had endured for so long would spread uncontrollably.
“Is there anything you can say to reprimand your mistakes?”
I felt uneasy, wondering if the Pope had found out about our relationship and made such a decision.
Fortunately, Cedric shook his head.
"Not at all. I don’t think that was your intention, seeing as you only wrote down routine messages other than that command.”
Relieved, I let out a long breath.
'Thank god. It seems that High Priest Diat has conveyed that the relationship between us is suspicious.'
It seemed that Archbishop Dyatt was planning to take action before the Pope became aware of our situation.
Among misfortunes, it is a fortunate situation.
Even as I was thinking that, my solar plexus suddenly became stuffy.
As I lightly tapped my chest, Bianca's round eyes became even more round.
“Your Highness, are you uncomfortable? Or is it because you don’t want the High Priest to come?”
"Ah... Is that possible, Bianca?”
I smiled faintly as I stroked Bianca's head, who was sitting close to me.
There was still a lot I wanted to do for this little one.
I want to let her know just a little more about how warm the embrace of her family is and that she has a place to stand with her little feet and take root in peace.
I thought there was still about a month left for that to happen.
I consoled myself like that...
'But I have to start practicing breaking up already.'
I chastised myself for my complacency and hugged Bianca fully in my arms.
Bianca couldn't hide her puzzled look at my sudden hug.
"Uh? Your Highness, why suddenly... … ?”
"Wait. Just a moment... I suddenly wanted to hug Bianca.”
Then, without knowing anything, the child burst into bright laughter in my arms.
“Hehe, anytime! It’s the best thing in the world when Your Highness hugs me like this!”
“Bianca...”
“So, do you always have to hug me like this from now on?”
“..."
"Yes? Will you promise, Your Highness?”
The child smiled at me like he always did.
But I couldn't answer that I would, as usual.
In the face of that reality, my heart only felt heavy.
“Wow, I guess Her Highness was moved by the Princess’s pretty words!”
Thankfully, Anton interpreted the sudden tears in my eyes that way.
However, Cedric's face gradually darkened as he knew the true meaning of my tears.
“Bianca, don’t bother the Grand Duchess too much.”
His mixed feelings were clearly evident in his voice as he gently addressed the child.
Eventually, Cedric and I locked eyes with each other in silence for a while.
Then, the moment when the two eyes turned to Bianca, who smiled brightly again.
“....”
"...”
The color of sadness mixed in our silence became darker than ever.
I picked up Bianca's plate, suppressing something that made me cry again.
“Bianca, let me cut this into bite-sized pieces.”
“Today too? Of course, it's nice to feel loved because Your Highness always takes care of me, but...”
The child pursed her lips and looked worried for a moment.
“What if you keep doing this all the time and my habits get worse? I’m already eight years old too?”
Bianca said proudly, showing off her eight short fingers.
As I looked at the lovely child tightly in her eyes, I couldn't bear it any longer and lowered my head.
“...Just a few more.”
Then I cleared my throat a couple of times and tried to clear my throat.
“Just a few more times for me... Pretend to be a spoiled child, Bianca.”
Meanwhile, at the same time.
The parish coach stopped in front of a shabby inn on the outskirts of the capital.
“High Priest, please get off.”
High Priest Diat, who had just woken up from his sleep at the coachman's words, massaged the area between his eyes.
“Where is this place?”
“This is an inn in downtown Belmonde. I plan to stay here for a night, change horses, and set off again tomorrow morning.”
High Priest Diat nodded his head, got up, and walked out the carriage door.
It was already a painful ride in a carriage running on a bumpy road.
He was glad to hear that he could comfortably stay for a night, even in a shabby inn room.
However, High Priest Diat's expression of faint anticipation suddenly darkened just a few seconds after he got out of the carriage.
The coachman glanced at him and spoke calmly as he moved the luggage.
“All local towns are like this. The buildings are incomparably shabby, and the people are extremely vulgar.”
It was just as the coachman said.
The tavern on the lower floor of the inn was noisy with the noise made by the workers who earned a living each day and the farmhands who preyed on their daily wages.
The situation was the same for the house next door and the house next to it.
It seemed like it would be no exaggeration to say that the city streets were full of noise, filth, and bad smells.
As High Priest Diat was looking around with disgust, the owner of the inn came out of the tavern and greeted him.
“I can’t believe the High Priest is visiting our store! There will never be an honor like this again!”
The innkeeper politely handed him his room key with both hands and repeatedly lowered his head.
The face of High Priest Diat looking at him was extremely insensitive.
“High Priest, can you bless our store as well?”
That time should be spent with High Priest Diat? And from a few days from now?
The news was like a bolt from the blue. But that wasn't the end.
Remarkable news poured out one after another from Cedric's mouth.
“Furthermore, during that time, we will grant him the authority of the Pope’s representative.”
An order to live with a high priest who has the authority of the Pope's representative for a month. And that too with High Priest Diat, who was keeping a close eye on us.
No matter how I look at it, it was an action that fully reflected High Priest Diat's intentions.
'I guess they're going to keep an eye on us until the day the divorce is safely announced.'
The day we attended the Emperor's birthday banquet, I remembered his eyes always looking at us with disapproval.
'Otherwise, it couldn't be... It's not like something 'unholy' happened between the two of you, like love blooming belatedly, right?'
He called the relationship between me and Cedric ‘unholy.’
Even if it's a secret, divorce is divorce.
The simple fact that he had to watch a divorced couple living together was clearly pushing the stubborn Pope's patience to its limit.
Moreover, didn't our secret divorce begin at the insistence of Emperor Letitz?
At that time, the Pope must have thought that he had lost the battle with the imperial family as his opinion was ignored.
It was clear that his pride had been hurt whether he knew it or not.
Additionally, what if a divorced couple finds out that they have become lovers again while continuing their strange cohabitation...
It was as obvious as fire that the anger he had endured for so long would spread uncontrollably.
“Is there anything you can say to reprimand your mistakes?”
I felt uneasy, wondering if the Pope had found out about our relationship and made such a decision.
Fortunately, Cedric shook his head.
"Not at all. I don’t think that was your intention, seeing as you only wrote down routine messages other than that command.”
Relieved, I let out a long breath.
'Thank god. It seems that High Priest Diat has conveyed that the relationship between us is suspicious.'
It seemed that Archbishop Dyatt was planning to take action before the Pope became aware of our situation.
Among misfortunes, it is a fortunate situation.
Even as I was thinking that, my solar plexus suddenly became stuffy.
As I lightly tapped my chest, Bianca's round eyes became even more round.
“Your Highness, are you uncomfortable? Or is it because you don’t want the High Priest to come?”
"Ah... Is that possible, Bianca?”
I smiled faintly as I stroked Bianca's head, who was sitting close to me.
There was still a lot I wanted to do for this little one.
I want to let her know just a little more about how warm the embrace of her family is and that she has a place to stand with her little feet and take root in peace.
I thought there was still about a month left for that to happen.
I consoled myself like that...
'But I have to start practicing breaking up already.'
I chastised myself for my complacency and hugged Bianca fully in my arms.
Bianca couldn't hide her puzzled look at my sudden hug.
"Uh? Your Highness, why suddenly... … ?”
"Wait. Just a moment... I suddenly wanted to hug Bianca.”
Then, without knowing anything, the child burst into bright laughter in my arms.
“Hehe, anytime! It’s the best thing in the world when Your Highness hugs me like this!”
“Bianca...”
“So, do you always have to hug me like this from now on?”
“..."
"Yes? Will you promise, Your Highness?”
The child smiled at me like he always did.
But I couldn't answer that I would, as usual.
In the face of that reality, my heart only felt heavy.
“Wow, I guess Her Highness was moved by the Princess’s pretty words!”
Thankfully, Anton interpreted the sudden tears in my eyes that way.
However, Cedric's face gradually darkened as he knew the true meaning of my tears.
“Bianca, don’t bother the Grand Duchess too much.”
His mixed feelings were clearly evident in his voice as he gently addressed the child.
Eventually, Cedric and I locked eyes with each other in silence for a while.
Then, the moment when the two eyes turned to Bianca, who smiled brightly again.
“....”
"...”
The color of sadness mixed in our silence became darker than ever.
I picked up Bianca's plate, suppressing something that made me cry again.
“Bianca, let me cut this into bite-sized pieces.”
“Today too? Of course, it's nice to feel loved because Your Highness always takes care of me, but...”
The child pursed her lips and looked worried for a moment.
“What if you keep doing this all the time and my habits get worse? I’m already eight years old too?”
Bianca said proudly, showing off her eight short fingers.
As I looked at the lovely child tightly in her eyes, I couldn't bear it any longer and lowered my head.
“...Just a few more.”
Then I cleared my throat a couple of times and tried to clear my throat.
“Just a few more times for me... Pretend to be a spoiled child, Bianca.”
***
Meanwhile, at the same time.
The parish coach stopped in front of a shabby inn on the outskirts of the capital.
“High Priest, please get off.”
High Priest Diat, who had just woken up from his sleep at the coachman's words, massaged the area between his eyes.
“Where is this place?”
“This is an inn in downtown Belmonde. I plan to stay here for a night, change horses, and set off again tomorrow morning.”
High Priest Diat nodded his head, got up, and walked out the carriage door.
It was already a painful ride in a carriage running on a bumpy road.
He was glad to hear that he could comfortably stay for a night, even in a shabby inn room.
However, High Priest Diat's expression of faint anticipation suddenly darkened just a few seconds after he got out of the carriage.
The coachman glanced at him and spoke calmly as he moved the luggage.
“All local towns are like this. The buildings are incomparably shabby, and the people are extremely vulgar.”
It was just as the coachman said.
The tavern on the lower floor of the inn was noisy with the noise made by the workers who earned a living each day and the farmhands who preyed on their daily wages.
The situation was the same for the house next door and the house next to it.
It seemed like it would be no exaggeration to say that the city streets were full of noise, filth, and bad smells.
As High Priest Diat was looking around with disgust, the owner of the inn came out of the tavern and greeted him.
“I can’t believe the High Priest is visiting our store! There will never be an honor like this again!”
The innkeeper politely handed him his room key with both hands and repeatedly lowered his head.
The face of High Priest Diat looking at him was extremely insensitive.
“High Priest, can you bless our store as well?”
“...Please give me the key to the room I’m staying in.”
"Ah! Here, we have prepared the most comfortable and nice room. If you go upstairs, you’ll see a hallway, and it’s the room at the very back.”
As soon as High Priest Diat received the key from him, he walked straight to the entrance of the inn.
“Well, High Priest, then tomorrow morning is fine, so make sure to consecrate it... !”
The owner's urgent words were scattered behind his back, but High Priest Diat did not even pay the slightest attention to him.
He simply felt a mixture of exasperated relief that there was a separate staircase leading up to the inn on the second floor and that he could avoid going through the tavern.
'This is truly an unpleasant place.'
After entering the room, High Priest Diat took off his hat and sighed.
He lived his entire life as an elite of the capital diocese and saw, felt, and served only sacred things.
He couldn't have been used to seeing the cityscape of a small provincial town that looked shabby, and to exaggerate, even ugly.
'I don't know why I'm going through all this trouble.'
Naturally, the more he lamented his current situation, the more he resented the former Grand Duke and his wife.
If it weren't for them, why would he have to suffer like this?
'What's more, I have to stay with the Twins Grand Duke for a month....'
High Priest Diat's sigh continued once more.
One month.
It was a time that could be said to be short.
However, the story is different when he spends time in a cold and unfamiliar area, especially in the castle of the Twin's Grand Duke, who shows hostility towards him.
Even though it was long, it was too long.
Thinking about spending a month face-to-face with that arrogant Prince of Twins, he already felt suffocated.
'I'll be lucky if I don't suddenly become ill while eating with that person.'
It was clearly he who asked the Pope to let him stay in the Grand Duke's castle.
But why does he feel so regretful?
High Priest Diat, who was sighing deeply, soon shook his head.
'Maybe it was God's intention to make them visible to me. Then this will be a test given to me....'
The external justification for High Priest Diart's stay at the Twins Grand Duke's castle was to personally deliver the Pope's blessings to the North.
Even the Pope knew so.
But in fact, his real purpose was different.
That is, to monitor the love relationship between the Grand Duke and his wife until their divorce is announced to the world as planned.
It would have been a relief if, through a month of surveillance, it had been revealed that their affection was an illusion.
'But what if it's true that they are lovers?'
High Priest Diat's sigh deepened once again.
The affection between lovers was definitely something worthy of blessing.
But if it brought down the authority of God and the Pope, the reputation of the diocese and the world for that affection would go in the opposite direction.
Affair.
A romantic relationship that violates ethics.
In the world, coveting someone else's husband or wife was called that, but in the diocese, the affection that blossomed between divorced couples was considered to be no different from that.
'That's especially true if a year has passed since the divorce and before both of you regain your legal status as single.'
He said he would quickly regain his affection, but because he could not bear the resentment of the moment, he divorced with permission from the Pope.
The diocese accepts such an act as an act of deceiving the authority of the Pope and the faithfulness of the couple.
And isn't Diat himself an important member of that parish?
He said that if he were to confirm that the affection between the former Grand Duke and his wife was true and not an illusion...
Is surveillance really the only thing that can be done?
High Priest Diat pledged to do even more than that.
'Even though it happened...Even if it means tearing apart lovers.'
High Priest Diat's eyes suddenly grew fierce.
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