She had wanted to keep this message deeply hidden at the bottom of her heart, but now she could now longer bear the feeling of it not being taken seriously.
Wendy seemed to be frightened by the news, after a while, she asked with a frown, “Are you sure of this?”
“Yes,” Nightingale confirmed it once more and to make it clear as she repeated Scroll’s question on that day. “When it came to the question of ‘Are you likely to marry a witch?’ He only replied with, ‘Why not?’ You know my ability, you know that I can tell whether a person is telling the truth or if he is lying, and when he had given his answer, he had not been lying.”
Wendy suddenly grabbed Nightingale ‘s arm forcefully. “You’re only allowed to remember this, never speak about it again, not even to any of the other sisters of our Witch Alliance.”
“Why?”
“Because he is destined to become the King of Graycastle, and what does a King without any descendants mean? Even without the Church, it would already become difficult to get the local aristocracy to support such a King! Therefore, this matter must be kept strictly confidential, you absolutely cannot talk with anyone about it! For now, all you have to do is to protect his safety. Do not forget, if he can become the King of Greycastle, or not, will also decides the fate of us sisters!”
Nightingale nodded her head, showing that she had understood.
“As for the matter that is bothering you,” Wendy thought for a moment. “Do you want to take the seat of the Queen or do you just want to stay by his side?”
“Of course, I want to stay with him,” Nightingale said without hesitation.
“Then aren’t you already staying at his side?” Wendy smiled, “there will indeed only be one Queen, but even if he ascends the throne, he will still need your protection. Do you understand what I mean by this?”
Nightingale just blinked with her eyes, but she didn’t reply.
“So, staying together isn’t difficult, what’s difficult for you is to accept the choice that you have to make,” Wendy said, “if you cannot do it, you have to give up your position, or you have to take on the next step… As for this question, what would be the right choice, only you know the answer.”
…
On the next morning, when Roland yawningly entered his office and opened the drawer, he discovered that the fishes had disappeared without leaving a trace.
Within the Cathedral at Hermes.
The Pope’s place remained vacant.
The three Archbishops sat side by side, and it was once more Archbishop Mayne who opened the discussion, “I heard that some unrest has broken out within the Kingdom of Eternal Winter?”
“Under the leadership of High Priest Coburn, the Judges stationed there are already dealing with that matter,” replied Tayfun.
“In the end, what was the reason for the unrest?”
“If it hadn’t been for those dregs that had been taken into the Church,” Heather whistled, “after the Queen has been beheaded, most of the nobles have joined the Church and were integrated into the upper echelons of the Church because of your plan to compromise, Mayne. They turned a blind eye to the plundering taking place under the guise of arresting witches by the city guards. But, the common people cannot accept this procedure which also naturally birthed resentment.”
“Heather, that had not been my plan,” Mayne responded in annoyance, “This was a decree ushered in by the Supreme Pontiff. This way we can take over and control the kingdom within the shortest amount of time, rather than having to continue fighting against the nobility. Furthermore, there are also some outstanding talents amongst them, winning them over should be a great help to us. As for those vermin, since their descendants can’t inherit their privileges in any case, they should be all eliminated within the next generation.”
“Alright, since you were only following the decree of the Supreme Pontiff, I won’t say anything about this any longer,” Heather shrugged, “but those violators who have corrupted the reputation of the Church must be handed over to me.”
Mayne looked at Archbishop Tayfun, who was muttering to himself hesitantly, “I propose that for the time being we do not try to deal with them. When the turmoil has come to an end, it will still be possible for us to place the aristocracy under house arrest, but doing so now, so soon after they have joined the Church, it will only create an unease within their rank.”
“No!” Heather pounded on the table. “We can’t permit them to go against the fundamental rules of the Church. Any looting taking place in the name of the Church is a felony, and it is me who is the one in control of the rules and arbitration!”
“This time, for the purpose of the overall situation…”
