The woman who had been looking at the altar with evil eyes smiled provocatively at him.
"Should I come wearing something like a brisham next time?"
His face hardened coldly.
The bridal gown was a traditional Eastern dress that was very revealing. The image of her walking through the chapel in a sheer silk dress that barely covered her shoulders and back made something surge up in his gut.
"Don't even dream about it."
Her face flushed at the words he spoke softly.
"I was just joking. You don't have to be so serious about it."
He didn't say anything in response, because he knew she wasn't joking.
Before her leg injury, she often caused a stir by appearing in outrageous attire. The current Thalia seems like the troublemaker of that era.
He wasn't sure whether to welcome this change or be wary. He didn't want her to continue to hide in the castle, avoiding public attention. But he also didn't want her to flaunt her beauty and cause trouble.
In particular, she had to stop confronting the spiritual leaders of the Easterners.
"After the event, I plan to meet with the high priest separately to discuss the issue regarding the beast."
He tilted his head towards her to prevent his voice from being drowned out by the choir's singing.
"I will negotiate well so that they will no longer criticize Your Highness over Khan problem, so please refrain from any actions that cause unnecessary friction with the religious order."
"...I didn't really mean to cause trouble."
She suddenly looked embarrassed and awkwardly lowered her eyes.
"If he overlooks the existence of Khan, I have no intention of bothering that annoying old man."
He straightened up, relieved that her attitude had softened.
Just then, the choir's singing ended, and the high priest stood up on the pulpit.
First, the priest offered a prayer of blessing in the ancient Osiris language, looked around the congregation, and then began to preach in a loud voice.
"Today I want to talk about temptation. Countless temptations in the world lead people into sin. We must always be aware of this."
The priest then launched into a passionate discourse on the allure of the flesh that leads humans to corruption and the fatal danger of beauty that paralyzes reason. Barcas, staring down at the high priest's obsessed face with cold eyes, observed Thalia's complexion.
Her face, which had seemed relieved that the sermon wasn't about warnings about the dangers of beasts, gradually hardened. As everyone in the chapel began glancing at her, she seemed to realize the high priest's arrows were pointed at her.
He carefully cupped the back of her hand that was resting on the armrest.
"Don't worry. I won't let him do that again."
When he opened his lips as if to say something, Thalia quickly nodded.
He turned his gaze back to the altar. The priest, in a powerful voice, continued his blunt accusations against her. And the majority of the congregation gathered in the chapel seemed absorbed in his sermon.
He felt like he needed to talk to him as soon as possible.
***
After forcing his wife, who insisted on waiting for him, into a carriage and sending her to the castle, Barcas headed straight for the high priest's residence. As if anticipating his visit, a young priest, apparently his secretary, promptly led him to the reception room.
"It's been a while, Your Excellency."
As he entered the simple yet neatly decorated room, he was greeted by the high priest wearing simple gray robes instead of the usual religious vestments.
Barcas responded with a slight nod and took his seat across from the old man. The priest placed a steaming cup of tea in front of him and offered a polite smile.
"I have heard of your exploits in the North. I would like to express my gratitude for your dedication to the Empire. I am sure God is watching over you with joy."
“I didn’t come here to hear such empty words.”
The old man's face darkened as he brought his teacup to his lips at the blunt reply. Barcas immediately took out the book he had seen.
"Please stop this unjust attack on my wife."
"Why do you conclude that it is unfair?"
The high priest retorted in a stiff tone.
"Your Excellency, don't you know the truth? The Eastern Church is now reaching its limit of patience. If I hadn't tried to dissuade them, a heresy trial would have been held long ago."
Barcas adjusted his posture, leaning against the back of her chair. It was a danger to his life.
He suppressed the urge to crush the priest's stubborn face and pretended to hear a joke.
"You're exaggerating the issue. My wife only raises one wolf. If she were to stand trial for something like this, every wizard on the continent of Robiden would be wiped out."
"They simply treat the monsters as experimental material. But doesn't the Grand Duchess regard that dire wolf as her own child?"
The priest, who had been refuting in a stiff tone, let out a long breath.
"The reason I've turned a blind eye to the Grand Duchess's actions until now is that I sympathize with her situation. I witnessed up close how much the young Grand Duchess suffered immediately after losing her child, so I've turned a blind eye to her devotion to such a dangerous creature."
"Then please pretend not to know from now on."
Barcas snapped in a somewhat harsh tone.
"I intend to take every precaution to keep that wolf from causing trouble. But I hope you stop bothering my wife."
"It's not just because of that hideous beast."
The priest put down his teacup and let out a heavy sigh.
"Your Excellency, you must have received reports that the Grand Duchess has been going out more frequently since last spring. Perhaps it was to accompany the wolf... but the Grand Duchess mostly wandered around the suburbs outside the castle walls."
"What's wrong with taking a trip outside the castle for a change of pace?"
"There is eyewitness testimony that the Grand Duchess attended a pagan gathering in that remote area."
An eerie silence descended. Barcas, who had been staring at the priest's face for a moment without moving, soon burst into laughter.
"You're being too harsh."
"I don't have the leisure to do such a thing in front of the Grand Duke."
The priest continued speaking with a solemn attitude.
"This isn't just a rumor going around the streets. It's the content of a report that the Heresy Investigators will send me directly."
Barcas immediately responded with a sharp rebuttal.
"My wife is thoroughly protected by the warriors of the Sheerkhan clan. In particular, whenever she goes out, she is accompanied by several soldiers. Are you claiming that my wife evaded all those guards and attended a pagan gathering?"
"According to investigators, the meetings often took place in the dark of dawn. Could it be possible that the Grand Duchess sneaked out of the castle while everyone was asleep?"
"This is an outrageous slander."
Barcas lowered his voice to a growl.
"High priest, you know very well that my wife's leg is in poor health. She's only just regained her health. And yet, she managed to escape the castle, evading all the scouts?"
He let out a blatant laugh.
"Even a script written by a third-rate poet would be better than this."
"I have no intention of judging the truth here. I simply hope that the Grand Duke will stop her problematic actions before things get any worse."
The priest leaned back in his chair, looking tired.
"Furthermore, I hope you will cooperate in cracking down on heresy, which has been spreading rapidly for several years."
Barcas let out a hollow laugh.
"Now, are you asking for the cooperation of the Grand Duke's family while calling my wife a heretic?"
"If the Grand Duke eradicates the heretics in the East, the suspicions directed at the Grand Duke will naturally subside."
The high priest gently persuaded.
Barcas frowned at the continued headache.
Although he could not trust everything this old priest said, he felt it would be better to take action himself rather than watch the heresy hunters dispatched by the Osiris Vatican run wild.
After thinking for a long time, he finally opened his mouth.
"Yes, but there's a condition."
“Please speak.”
"Please discard the report submitted by the heresy investigator. If the same story that was told to me today is told to someone else."
Barcas's eyes suddenly became cold.
"We will face each other in a less friendly atmosphere than we do now."
The priest, whose lips had been stiff, soon nodded.
"Let's keep that in mind."
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