Chapter 420: A Problem From Above (3)

Even eye-catching sceneries became boring after being viewed too much and too frequently. Such was the case with the scenery upon traveling to the Capital.

I was fed up with seeing the mountains and cities, mountains and villages, mountains and rivers, and the endless landscape. I no longer found it as beautiful as when I had first seen it.

When I arrived at the capital, the sight I saw felt warmer.

“Honorary Cardinal!”

“Goddess’s representative!”

“Blessed by the Goddess Benignore!”

Naturally, I waved to the State people that were cheering for me from afar. I wanted to get off at the entrance to hold each person’s hand. It was a little disappointing that I couldn’t do that. The current situation, in which we had no choice but to move in a hurry, made me feel frustrated.

“Hold on tight. We’re arriving soon.”

“Okay, Hyejin.”

“It’s uncomfortable if you hold on too tightly, though. Please avoid excessive physical contact.”

‘What does she want me to do, then?’

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

“…”

Regrettably, the place where the Griffon landed was where the former Emperor, and now the leader of the State, currently lived.

I could see the faces of those who were already waiting for me. They were Senators Catherine and Elise. These were my dear allies, including Marlin and Oscar.

I didn’t know if my feelings were correct, but this pretty much felt like Honorary Cardinal Lee Kiyoung’s return to the social world.

I saw Yuno Kasugano arriving from Celia one step ahead, as well as other important connections that had been established in the past.

“Honorary Cardinal.”

“It’s been a while, Oscar. You don’t have to come out to meet me like this…”

“No. Of course, I have to. You are the hero who saved the continent. Are you feeling any better?”

“It’s hard to say that I’ve fully recovered, but it’s not enough to make me immobile. I’m sorry I came to see you so late.”

“No. If you say it like that, it makes me sorry instead. I would like to serve you with tea first, but…”

“I’ll pass by after I’m done with my work.”

The face of the former maid Alice, now named Oscar, noticeably brightened. It seemed as if my words sounded sweet to her.

‘She is still the same.’

Her hair, which used to be short like a man’s cut, was now a little longer and became bob cut.

I smiled because I knew her saying she wanted to serve tea wasn’t just a hospitality comment.

If something happened, it was important to give a good impression in advance, as the palace should take the initiative as well.

‘In fact, you don’t even have to do that…’

That was why Oscar and I were close.

Considering that I was the one who had put her in that place, to begin with, it was only natural.

Of course, she wasn’t the only one who had a good relationship with me.

“Senator Catherine. And… Senator Elise! It’s been a while, Marlin Young-ae.”

“It seems to be getting harder and harder to see your face as time passes, Honorary Cardinal.”

“Haha. It looks like there are true feelings in that joke, Senator Catherine. I’m sorry for not coming to see you often. As you know, I haven’t had the time, recently…”

“There’s no problem here. We know better than anyone else that the Honorary Cardinal is doing a great job for the State. I hope you can think of it as an affirmation in my longing mind. I wanted to see you that much.”

“I don’t know how much I missed tea time with the three of you. You don’t know how much I thought of it while lying in bed.”

“Is that true, Honorary Cardinal?”

“Yes, Marlin Young-ae. It’s absolutely true.”

“Perhaps that’s the same for Senator Marlin, Honorary Cardinal. Every time we met, she talked about you so much my ears start hurting.”

“Is that true?”

“S-Senator Catherine!”

“Can you see her blushing right now?”

“Haha.”

Marlin Young-ae was still showing the actions of characters from old love comedies.

Also, Senators Catherine and Elise, who responded with all their might, were still the same.

If there was something different from before, the aristocracy’s etiquette was almost omitted.

Seeing that they’re properly adapting to the changing times, I felt quite proud.

After that, I turned to greet the Celia people, including Yuno Kasugano.

“So, we meet again.”

“Yes. Mast- no, I mean- Honorary Cardinal Lee Kiyoung. How have you been?”

In addition, I concluded the formal greeting with the other characters.

Doing small talks like patting them on the shoulder or giving words of blessing was an extension of social networking.

Cha Hee-ra, who had also come with us, also greeted the happy faces that surrounded her.

Simultaneously, Jung Hayan looked at Yuno Kasugano quietly, as if she seemed to be recalling an incident that occurred a long time ago.

Although I swallowed hard, looking at Jung Hayan that raised her nose confidently, I was able to breathe out a sigh of relief.

“By the way, Honorary Cardinal, why did you come to the capital suddenly…”

“Haha. I came because I had some business at the Church.”

“You mean that Church?”

“Yes. It’s hard to tell the exact reason, but…”

“It looks like something happened.”

“Perhaps it’s something trivial, Oscar. You don’t have to worry about it yet.”

“Recently, I felt that the Holy See was a little unsettled… I couldn’t really interfere with it since it was something going on inside the Church, but the atmosphere didn’t seem very good. His Holiness Pope Basel has shown a very worried face recently… Can you please tell him that he can tell me anytime if he needs any help?”

“Of course. Pope Basel will surely be happy to accept it. Perhaps there will be an official announcement within today.”

“Okay.”

‘Is he keeping it a secret from her too?’

It made sense, to some extent. The State almost completely separated the concepts of politics and religion anyway.

‘She must have a lot of worries on her plate, too.’

My partner, who was moving with me, was suddenly stamping her feet. That already told me how she was feeling.

She was pretending to be calm, but I knew that must be burning deep inside.

It wasn’t something I had to worry about yet, so I put it aside, but I could see that she was feeling leery.

As I was walking slowly, I noticed some personnel approaching from a distance. I already knew who they were.

It was Pope Basel, surrounded by the Holy Knights.

‘There’s quite a lot of them.’

Of course, this was a normal escort force. However, at that point, I looked at the Holy Knights with suspicion as well.

It wasn’t a big deal, but because of my mentality that always assumed the worst situation, many useless worries aggravated me.

Of course, there was no reason to feel nervous right away. Even if something were to happen…

‘I have enough power.’

I didn’t have to look nervous; otherwise, it could open a can of worms. In this situation, it was more advantageous for me to look the same as usual at that moment.

I smiled at Pope Basel, who smiled in return.

I didn’t know whether his response was false or not, but the seeds of doubt faded a little.

Unless Pope Basel was acting, there would be no movements of the Church trying to get rid of me.

“Pope Basel!”

“Honorary Cardinal Lee Kiyoung!”

It was in that instant that a surprisingly loud voice popped out.

It was like a baby bird’s cry of bitterness as it waited for the mother bird.

Romeo’s voice as he looked at Juliet’s death would not be that passionate.

What accompanied the voice was relief and longing. Since it’s been a while since the Pope had seen me like everyone else there, it’s understandable, but I was able to take a breath because of his reaction being better than expected.

‘Good.’

As he came striding, the footsteps of the Holy Knights with him also began to accelerate.

Looking at him a little closer, I noticed Cardinal Basel’s face clearly looked visibly thinner.

As usual, he still looked neat, but he had lost a lot of weight. Perhaps he couldn’t sleep and eat well.

I saw him when we moved Jin Qing to the capital just a week ago, but he was far different from that time. Tears were even accumulating in my eyes.

It showed me how much of a hard time he had been through.

When I saw that old grandfather’s weakened appearance, I held his hand more tightly.

It was a spectacle to see him greeting Oscar and the other lawmakers while holding my hand.

Of course, it didn’t suit formality.

It was a mistake that Pope Basel would not make, but I felt sad as it seemed to be a point to tell us how much of a hard time he was having.

“You really did a great job, Honorary Cardinal Lee Kiyoung. You don’t know how much I worried that I couldn’t visit you in Lindel…”

“It’s not enough for you to worry, Pope Basel. I’m much better than what is known. Rather, it would have made me feel more uncomfortable if you really came to Lindel.”

“Is it… Yes. Right. You must have thought so. YYou did really well coming here, Honorary Cardinal.”

“It’s a matter about the Church. It’s something related to me too. I couldn’t just stand around doing nothing. You must be very upset.”

“Right… Honorary Cardinal, have you ever heard any voices from Goddess Benignore recently?”

“Not recently… but I have never even dreamed of this happening. I think it’s better to see the condition quickly, Pope Basel.”

“Right. We don’t have time to mingle around here. Let’s move quickly.”

“Yes.”

After the short answer, I moved hurriedly, of course, with my dearest escort army.

Pope Basel’s reaction gave me a little relief, but it was still much better to move with them.

Seeing that the Holy Knights weren’t holding us back, it seemed that they were allowing my people to go in together.

‘That means he trusts me that much. It’s not bad.’

“Pope Basel, can you tell me exactly when the anomaly occurred?”

“Of course. I know it was around 2:00 am, two days ago. It was first discovered by a common priest praying to the Goddess statue. After 10 minutes, I witnessed Benignore crying too. It’s embarrassing, but we still haven’t figured out exactly what caused it. Heretic inquisitors and bishop or higher priests are doing their best, but…”

“…”

“We haven’t made much progress. Access to the main hall with the statue is currently restricted to bishop-level priests, and we’re trying to be as careful as we can to contain the spread of the rumor, but we can’t cover the sky with a palm.”

‘Of course, it’s like that.’

The Church suddenly restricted access to the main chapel, and the priests’ faces above the bishop’s class were bluish.

It was amazing that stories were not coming out from the priests below that level.

While we were moving, I could see the priests with stiff facial expressions.

The atmosphere got darker as we entered the main hall, making me break out in cold sweat.

I slowly opened the main hall door with Pope Basel in the lead, and what greeted me was a spectacle.

‘Why did she cry, gosh.’

I had no choice but to harbor such thoughts in the face of such a phenomenon.

‘But, can that be used as a catalyst…?’

The same was true for the information that came into the Mind’s Eyes.