OSMLH 06

Chapter 6

One of the paladins leading the way suddenly turned around and looked at Lulutie. When their eyes met, Lulutie blinked several times.

He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with dazzling blond hair and green eyes.

With a wide grin, he approached her in quick strides.

All the paladins were tall and fully armed.

Standing right in front of them made Lulutie feel like a little child, and she couldn’t help feeling slightly nervous.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Kronu Erebus, the vice-captain.”

Lulutie nodded and accepted his greeting.

“I’m Lulutie Brücke.”

“Ghk…!”

The knight who received her greeting made a strange sound.

Surrounded by so many unfamiliar people, Lulutie couldn’t help tensing up.

The rules governing the clergy were different from those of ordinary nobles. Had she somehow committed a faux pas?

“Did I do something rude?”

He waved his hands frantically, then clenched both fists tightly and let out a high-pitched cry.

“My goodness! Even your voice is beautiful. It’s like that of a famous singer blessed by the gods themselves!”

Kronu looked genuinely moved, as though an actual goddess had descended before him.

Lulutie wasn’t accustomed to receiving compliments. The tips of her ears turned bright red.

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Not at all. I see our captain every day, so perhaps my eyes have become so accustomed to beauty that they’ve gone blind. But seeing you has made them open wide again.”

Lulutie thought of Kainchel.

In the novel, Kainchel had been described as more beautiful than anyone else, and seeing him in person had far exceeded her imagination.

His violet eyes shone between strands of hair that fluttered delicately around his face. There was something deeply melancholic about his gaze, as though his eyes carried countless untold stories.

The moment their eyes had met, he had looked a little sad.

And somehow, even that sadness suited him perfectly.

It was a terrible loss for the Empire that someone like Kainchel was destined to die.

Fortunately, Lulutie happened to know how to save him.

“We’re all breathing a sigh of relief now that our sister-in-law is going to marry our captain!”

Before the warm afterglow of receiving her first compliment could even fade, Lulutie felt all the blood drain from her face.

This was the perfect opportunity to make things absolutely clear.

“I haven’t married him. Please don’t call me that.”

“If it’s marriage you want, we can arrange it immediately. This place is part of the temple, after all.”

“Unfortunately, I didn’t come here to get married. I followed him because I wanted to properly apologize for my rudeness.”

Kronu’s expression fell.

For a man with a build as massive as a bear, his dejected appearance was strangely fitting.

“Won’t you reconsider?”

Even if Lulutie returned to the Brücke ducal residence, she would only be forced to marry another man her father had chosen for her.

If that was her fate, she’d rather stay with the paladins, who were friendly toward her.

As long as she could get their help in dealing with Count Heind, that would be enough.

“I’ll stay here for a few days, but I can’t remain here for long.”

At her firm answer, the knight’s expression hardened.

It was completely different from the gentle demeanor he’d shown just moments ago.

Was he planning to threaten her?

Even if he raised his voice and tried to intimidate her, she wouldn’t change her mind.

Lulutie straightened her back and held her ground before the enormous man.

I have to act calm.

Despite her confident posture, her fragile heart was pounding wildly.

“Are you worried that Duke Brücke might put pressure on the Holy Knights?”

Instead of a threat, something entirely unexpected came from him.

Lulutie’s lips parted slightly in surprise.

“Young lady, you don’t need to worry about that. None of this is your fault.”

Having made his position clear, the knight relaxed his posture once more.

“Even if the duke comes charging in here, don’t worry. We may not look like much, but we’re the strongest military force on the continent. The duke’s knights aren’t even worthy of comparison.”

“You knew how my father would react? How… did you know?”

Duke Brücke had carefully maintained his perfect public image.

Yet they had somehow seen through the man’s true nature.

Did they possess an exceptionally capable intelligence network?

Kronu merely shrugged as though it were nothing remarkable.

“A parent who sends their precious daughter to an old man is either insane or a rotten bastard. There aren’t many other possibilities.”

Kronu laughed lightly, but Lulutie couldn’t bring herself to smile.

Even if they knew what her father was like, there was no reason for his behavior to change.

The possibility of conflict remained.

Perhaps reading her thoughts, Kronu made another suggestion.

“Forget about all those external problems. What is it that you want to do, Young Lady?”

“I want to apologize for the disrespect I showed him and offer appropriate compensation.”

To Kronu, compensation probably meant money or valuables.

But Lulutie’s idea of compensation was different.

She intended to protect Kainchel’s life.

She knew exactly how he would meet his death.

If she knew the future, then surely she could prevent it.

He gave her answer a bitter smile.

“So you have no intention of marrying our captain.”

“No.”

Kainchel had known the heroine for a long time.

The heroine, who served as the Empress’s lady-in-waiting, had fallen in love with Kainchel and finally gathered the courage to confess her feelings.

But Kainchel rejected her confession, using his status as a priest as an excuse.

Then, around the time he began preparing for the Magnolia expedition, he finally accepted her feelings.

Lulutie didn’t want to interfere with their love.

“If that’s truly what you wish, then I suppose it can’t be helped.”

He strode ahead and opened a firmly shut door.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, he voiced his thoughts.

“Our Holy Knights have been hoping for you and our captain to be together as soon as possible—”

Creeeeak!

The rusty, un-oiled hinges let out such a loud groan that his words were completely drowned out.

There had been something strange about what he’d said, but perhaps she’d simply misheard him because of the noise.

There was no way they could have known about Lulutie for that long.

Rather than answer, Lulutie looked through the open doorway.

The sight inside left her speechless.

The temple was supposed to be a symbol of austerity.

Instead of lavish decorations, its buildings were generally constructed from subdued gray brick or white marble, creating a solemn atmosphere.

The dull colors were understandable.

But what on earth was that hideous thing hanging from the ceiling?

It took Lulutie a moment to realize that the skeletal structure was supposed to be a chandelier.

More precisely, someone had removed every single crystal ornament, leaving behind nothing but the bare frame.

It looked like a fish that had been completely stripped of its flesh, leaving only bones behind.

Short candles had been placed on top of the skeletal chandelier.

To make matters worse, they were crude candles made by collecting and reshaping melted wax.

And the ceiling wasn’t the only strange thing.

There wasn’t even a simple carpet on the floor.

Nor was there a single statue depicting a god.

Lulutie was rendered speechless.

She walked forward while staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Ah!”

Because she had been so focused on the ceiling, she failed to notice something beneath her feet.

Her foot caught on it, and she stumbled violently.

Fortunately, Kronu caught her firmly before she could fall.

Once she had regained her balance, Kronu avoided her gaze and muttered,

“Please… watch your step.”

Lulutie lifted the hem of her white wedding dress slightly and looked down.

Now she understood why he had turned red and avoided looking at her.

The floor was a complete disaster.

It was cracked and chipped in numerous places, with holes and uneven sections scattered everywhere. If she didn’t pay close attention, she could easily trip and fall.

Lulutie carefully watched the ground as she walked.

The moment they continued forward, Kronu grew unusually quiet.

Thanks to that, she was able to take a closer look at her surroundings.

The chapels and wedding halls that outsiders frequented were maintained as best as possible, but the parts of the temple reserved exclusively for priests were in an absolutely dreadful state.

It seemed the temple had no money to spare at all.

They were so poor that they couldn’t even afford repairs. They had sold off not only the statues but even the crystals from the chandeliers.

And this was supposed to be one of the important buildings belonging to the Holy Knights.

According to the novel, the Imperial Family had tamed the temple, which had eventually become a den of corruption.

Recently, the number of people who worshipped the goddess Chryscentia had been declining.

With donations drying up, the temple could no longer afford the lavish lifestyle it had once enjoyed.

That was when the Emperor, who needed the Holy Knights, secretly approached them.

He offered them funding in exchange for their cooperation with the Imperial Family.

The temple accepted the offer to satisfy its own interests.

But there had never been any mention of them being this poor.

If they were this desperate, they probably would have accepted any offer.

Now that her guard had lowered, Lulutie couldn’t help looking around carefully.

Kronu, who had been blushing in embarrassment, eventually spoke.

“It’s not much to look at, is it?”

“Why did it become like this?”

Since he had brought it up first, Lulutie found herself asking.

Kronu scratched the back of his neck and gave an awkward smile.

“Apparently, several decades ago, they made one wrong prophecy after another, and the number of believers plummeted. We’re not allowed to run businesses, so we have to survive on donations. These days, there’s practically no income.”

The temple was an organization devoted to serving the gods, but even they needed money.

Since they weren’t permitted to run businesses, the temple depended entirely on donations to survive.

The faith of the Chryscentia Church was built upon prophecy.

The Pope, the head of the church, possessed the ability to communicate with the goddess.

Once a year, he spoke with the goddess and received prophecies concerning major natural disasters such as typhoons and droughts.

Using those prophecies, the believers could predict the weather in advance and prepare accordingly.

When they safely survived a disaster, they expressed their gratitude by making generous donations to the temple.

But at some point, the prophecies stopped being accurate.

One after another, they turned out to be wrong.

As their predictions repeatedly failed, people began mocking them as the “Liar Weather Bureau.”

Farmers who lost their crops and went hungry even came to resent the temple.

That was when the Imperial Family stepped in.

They announced that they would take responsibility for compensating victims of major natural disasters.

From that point onward, imperial authority grew stronger while the power of the church steadily declined.

The religion was ancient, and there were still plenty of deeply devoted believers.

Yet it seemed that behind closed doors, the church was struggling terribly.

“You can’t receive prophecies anymore because the Crown Prince of the Holy Kingdom disappeared, can’t you?”