“Schlus······. If you’re going to indulge, do it properly, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then how about we… cross the line completely?”
Iris’s hand grabbed my neck and started to pull me down.
I could have resisted, but I let myself be pulled down.
I was curious about how Iris would react.
Iris soon closed her eyes and spread a barrier around us.
With her plump lips pouted and lying still, she looked just like a sleeping princess from a fairy tale.
A princess so innocent that she couldn’t recognize a man.
I decided to do as Iris wished.
“Um······ um······.”
*Chirp.* *Smooch.*
Our lips lightly touched and then parted, making a cute sound.
At first, it was short.
Then it became a little longer.
As the time our lips met stretched, Iris’s breathing became increasingly ragged.
As if she were yearning.
“Huh?!”
I had no intention of holding back any longer.
I grabbed the back of Iris’s neck and pulled her in, greedily exploring her lips.
I bit her upper lip and slid my tongue in through the gap, invading the inside of her mouth.
At that moment, Iris was just surprised, her hands flailing as if she didn’t know where to put them.
“Hah!”
As I savored Iris’s tongue, I firmly squeezed her chest with my right hand.
Perhaps it was a bit painful; Iris’s eyes widened as she clutched my side.
Even so, I continued to knead her chest without a care, and Iris began to desperately push me away.
Maybe it was time to stop.
I released Iris and pushed my body up.
“Ahh······!”
“Why? Were you scared? You said you were ready to take on anything.”
“Hah······ hah······.”
Iris lay there, her clothes a mess, catching her breath.
That sight was enough to stir up desire within me, but I resisted it.
What Iris wanted wasn’t me.
She just wanted to explode the desires and impulses she’d been suppressing until now.
It was just a coincidence that I was the one present.
“Ah, n-no. I just got surprised······. If we could try again, I wouldn’t be flustered this time—”
“No need to try again. Attempting to have relations with someone you don’t truly love leads to this. Cool your head and think about it later. Don’t act impulsively like a child.”
“······.”
Still, having faced the raw, unfiltered sexual desire this time, I believed she had learned something.
There were no romantic and elegant first nights like those in fairy tales.
The price of touching a starving beast after months of coming here would be too heavy for an untouched virgin.
I hoped Iris would be more cautious.
I had no idea what made her so impatient all of a sudden······.
“I-I love you. I-I love you, so please let’s continue—”
“Really? I actually have someone I’m promised to marry. Can you still love me?”
“W-Who is it?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Ah······.”
Iris did not say anything more about her love.
After all, for someone like Iris, who dreamed of pure and innocent love, loving a man who already had a fiancé was bound to be too much.
“Get dressed and come out. Dinner will be ready soon.”
The moment I turned to leave, I felt a chill run down my spine and had to look back in surprise.
There stood Iris, her head lowered, trembling slightly.
Was she in shock?
Still, I had no intention of forcing myself on Iris here.
That would only leave scars on both of us.
Time would heal it.
I left Iris behind and exited the room.
.
.
.
“Seriously······. Someone I truly love······. That’s right······.”
*Drip.*
Tears fell onto the bedspread.
Iris, unable to stop the flow of tears, sniffed continuously.
No matter how much I thought about it, I felt wronged and irritated.
I had only been a little surprised.
No matter how beast-like Schlus was, I could have accepted everything…
“Impulsive? Ha!”
The more I mulled over Schlus’s words, the angrier I became.
Was I acting impulsively and like a child?
That was truly absurd.
I had been watching Schlus longer than anyone else.
It was me who saved him ten years ago.
It was me who rescued him from the depths of despair.
I was the first to like the boy who had lost his family, eyes, and ears but never lost hope.
How could the love I nurtured for ten years be dismissed as impulsive?
“I liked you first······. Huh······. I-I liked you first······.”
Who could it be?
The person he promised to marry.
Could it be Erica? Or maybe the daughter of that mercenary?
But that didn’t really matter.
In the end, it was my fault for doing nothing for ten years.
Iris clutched her chest and cried endlessly.
Was deciding to become a saint so wrong?
So I had to watch the man I loved drift away?
If I had known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have become a saint at all.
“Should I just give it all up?”
Whether I got dismissed from the Papal Palace or whether others pointed fingers at me, should I just throw away the title of saint?
Yet at the same time, what if Schlus rejected me, that fear flooded Iris’s heart in an instant.
If he said he already had someone he was promised to marry, someone he loved, then what would be left for me?
*Huh······.*
Schlus was right.
I was a coward.
A terrible coward who couldn’t move forward out of fear of both this and that.
Iris, caught in self-hatred, calmly adjusted her clothes and stood up.
I was hungry.
It was truly embarrassing to go down and see Schlus’s face, but I couldn’t skip a meal.
As Iris sighed and approached the door, she noticed the barrier was still up.
At the moment she was about to release the barrier and open the door.
“Uh?”
“······.”
As soon as she opened the door, she faced a girl in a maid’s outfit kneeling on the other side, something covering her face.
At first, I thought it was some cloth or handkerchief.
But as it slipped down, revealing the girl’s flushed cheeks, I finally recognized the true identity of that cloth.
It was none other than a piece of lingerie.
Men’s underwear.
*
The atmosphere at the dinner table was strange.
Normally, Emilia would either go somewhere to do household chores or sit beside me chatting while eating, but now she stood like a robot, staring blankly.
That cold gaze seemed strangely directed at Iris.
Meanwhile, Iris was elegantly cutting her meat, seemingly angry at me without saying a word.
The table filled with silence was incredibly uncomfortable for me.
“Ha, haha. Well, our day as husband and wife is coming to an end. Is there anything you want to try as a couple?”
“Nothing but what I just tried and failed at.”
“······.”
Saying that made it seem like I was rejecting her.
In reality, she had surprised me and shoved me away.
Yet, my heart felt uneasy.
I wondered if what I thought was for Iris’s sake was actually providing an opportunity to drift apart.
Should I have just closed my eyes and gone for it?
That thought gnawed at me.
“Iris.”
“Yes.”
“In the Flechette family, you have a niece, right?”
“So what······?”
“I’m thinking of proposing marriage to that girl. What do you think?”
“······.”
The reason Iris approached me so insistently was to combine our powers.
Until not long ago, I had a strong independent force but was in a precarious position that could be purged at any moment.
But when the Emperor switched, I suddenly changed positions overnight, and seeing Iris acting so boldly made her intentions clear.
It’s a marriage alliance.
Iris probably believed she was the most suitable candidate, but giving up her status as a saintess to bring me into the Flechette family wasn’t a wise choice.
Depending on the situation, the political power of being a saintess could be more potent than my military strength.
However, due to today’s events, there was a concern that this would be interpreted as a complete rejection of the Flechette union, hence this proposal.
This way, Iris wouldn’t have to give up being a saintess and could still connect me with the Flechette family, so she would be quite satisfied…
“But that girl is still only 12 years old.”
“We can just wait.”
“Are you serious······.”
“······?!”
Iris muttered that and set down her utensils, standing up.
When I looked at her face in surprise, she looked angry.
Damn. Did I just ruin the marriage completely?
Did I say something wrong?
“I’m going to go back now. Let’s end the husband and wife play here.”
“Iris.”
I hurriedly chased after her and grabbed her wrist.
But Iris tried to jerk her arm away irritably.
Yet, as I didn’t let go, she turned around to meet my gaze.
I thought she would glare at me furiously, but…
Iris’s bright eyes were already brimming with tears.
She lowered her head, and tears, like chicken droppings, fell onto the floor.
“Why are you always so hasty, Schlus······? Is it impossible for you to not have everything preordained? Are your plans really that tight that you won’t even give me a moment to wander······?”
Finally, I realized.
Even this dumb and insensitive me began to understand.
Iris fought this hard not for the sake of joining families.
She didn’t just accidentally burst forth with the suppressed impulses either.
Her consistent feelings were directed solely at me.
Not at the most powerful courtier in the Empire or the Emperor’s personal knight, but at me, a simple commoner.
Yet, I kept viewing Iris merely as a saintess and the representative of a family, which was a mistake.
“I misspoke. I’ll cancel that earlier proposal.”
“Why? *Sniff*······ I thought it sounded like a great idea. Let’s proceed with the engagement just as it is.”
“No. I’ll wait, Iris. Until you make a decision. Until then, I’ll keep waiting, so just tell me your choice when you’re ready.”
“······.”
I embraced Iris and whispered like that.
I decided to wait for Iris’s choice.
Whether she chose to give up being a saint and marry me for an alliance, or if she decided to live as a saint and connect me with her niece, that was up to Iris.
If I suddenly proposed and forced her choice, Iris would be flustered.
So, I decided to give her enough time to think it over.
To leave no one to blame later, to ensure there were no regrets.
“Okay. I… I’ll go now, then.”
When Iris lifted her head, her expression seemed to have improved.
I wiped the tears from Iris’s eyes and straightened her disheveled veil.
With a strained smile, Iris turned her back and left the mansion.
Soon, attendants flocked around Iris.
I watched her retreating figure for a long time until she disappeared from sight before finally closing the door and turning back.
“What is this mess while we’re eating······.”
Emilia crossed her arms, looking at me with a bewildered expression as she smirked.
To a third party, it must have seemed quite ridiculous.
“Hey, bro, you succeeded? You’re receiving the love of the saintess you so adored. Now you can toy with that innocent heart however you like!”
“What does that even mean?”
The saintess I adored so much, huh.
It seemed like she had a serious misunderstanding.
Just then, as I was about to correct her.
*Emergency.*
An encrypted communication spell flew in, and I instantly deciphered it in my mind.
It was Hertlocker’s message.
*The Inquisitors have entered the institution. Be cautious, as things seem strange.*
Inquisitors.
While the name might just sound like strictly rigorous interrogators, they were different in my novel.
Here, Inquisitors also functioned as combatants who eradicate heresy with swords and spears.
The problem was that each one of them had combat prowess that rivaled the Imperial Guard’s elite.
Because of their immense power, the Emperor had prohibited the presence of Inquisitors in the institution to keep the Papal Palace in check.
For them to enter now meant they had come to stir up trouble…
I felt nothing but a sense of foreboding.
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