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Chapter 36
The journey to Jasper’s territory was long.
Though I had anticipated a long trip, considering it was a border region, I had not expected it to take longer than traveling into the duke’s lands.
The only relief came when even Wendy, exhausted, fell silent.
After two weeks of travel, we finally arrived at the gates of the territory—a sight that brought a small sense of triumph.
“Wow, my lady. We’ve finally arrived. Shall we greet the count at once, soak in some warm water to wash away the fatigue, and then lie down for some rest?”
“Are those words for my benefit, or yours?” I replied.
I let her idle chatter pass and waited, though not for long, before a knock on the carriage door announced the driver’s voice.
“Your Excellency, the gatekeepers request identification.”
I smirked at his trembling tone, expecting a scolding, and opened the window.
Two armored knights stood outside, their presence intimidating enough to make the driver quake.
“Our driver should have brought the official document from the temple. Wasn’t that proof enough?”
I scolded the knights, but they remained unmoved.
“We are following procedure,” they said.
“The temple sent the document in advance. Didn’t you receive it?”
“We were informed that it would arrive, but protocol requires that you disembark, undergo a search, and only then may you enter.”
I laughed loudly, as if the answer amused me immensely. The knights looked flustered.
“Count Jasper treats his guests in a peculiar way. Is this his will, or your independent decision?”
This time, no reply came. Their hesitation betrayed their awareness.
‘They received prior notice, and a young woman is acting as a cardinal—so they assumed they could belittle me and assert their pride.’
Though the temple’s reputation had waned since its peak, it still represented the Empire’s religious authority.
Receiving a formal document from the temple obligated compliance, regardless of personal feelings.
‘Some nobles resent this special treatment of the temple. Perhaps the border count or these two knights are among them.’
‘If they had any sense, they would step back before putting the blame on the count.’
Whether this was the count’s doing or simply a response to a young woman wielding the temple’s name, they had chosen the wrong person to challenge.
“Is this your decision?”
“W-we are only following procedure…”
“I wonder, do the laws of the territory take precedence, or the law of the throne?”
The knights broke into cold sweat and eventually apologized, yielding the way.
As I closed the carriage window, Wendy’s anger erupted.
“Even after seeing the temple’s document, they acted like that! It’s insulting! An affront to you!”
“Indeed. What is Count Jasper thinking?”
This was no ordinary mission to spread doctrine—this was an Inquisition, meant to confront the so-called heretical barbarians.
‘Even if I show my best, they’re being presumptuous.’
I kept my expression neutral despite my rising irritation.
Everything Count Jasper did would eventually rebound on him—that was the reason I had come here in the first place.
Count Jasper of the borderlands—he was the most notorious heretic in the Empire.
In every past life, I had tracked Leandros’ movements. Naturally, I knew of the one where his reputation would be most inflamed: Count Jasper.
‘He was infamous for offering sacrifices to the evil god.’
Scathing newspaper articles, outraged crowds, and the temple asserting its authority only amplified his notoriety.
And how was Roy involved?
He was the one who reported the presence of heretics in this territory.
Before the divine mission, the barbarians’ actions were dismissed internally, but once the mission was granted, everything changed.
Leandros examined the report and went to Jasper’s territory, dealing with the heretics with the help of an assistant.
And that assistant was Roy.
‘I nearly died when they discovered I was the informant, but Leandros saved me. I thought, this must be fate!’
Their shared values led them to become friends, laughing heartily and embracing once the incident was resolved.
‘Thank you for not ignoring my report and coming to help, friend!’
Seeing Roy laugh comfortably rather than angrily, I could not bring myself to approach him.
I did not want to approach. His smile for Leandros should not twist for me, an Apferdita.
When I died and returned via reincarnation, I bribed temple officials to burn Roy’s report.
The cardinal’s abuses had weakened the temple’s authority, making it easy to cover my tracks.
I continued to prevent them from meeting, ensuring Leandros never encountered Roy.
As a result, Roy met a mysterious death within Jasper’s lands, his body returned cold to the family.
‘He was carrying the Apferdita family crest in his coat pocket. That’s why they sent the body back here.’
Saint, who received Roy’s body on Jasper’s orders, comforted me in my shock.
‘They suspected it was the barbarians’ doing.’
Saint held me tightly, the first time I saw him truly angry, and our family loudly opposed any treaties with the barbarians.
But I knew the truth: Roy’s death was not by the barbarians, but by Count Jasper. He had died confronting heretics.
‘It’s alright, Lys. I will protect you,’ Saint had promised, staying by my side.
Though I rose from that life thanks to Saint’s support, it ended in tragic poisoning.
In the life that followed, I no longer burned Roy’s report. They remained friends, as if fate dictated it.
‘Since he was the count’s assistant, I’ll meet Roy first and try to persuade him. If I approach as a cardinal rather than family, he might at least listen.’
Yet from the very start, my plan went awry.
“Hahaha! Barbarians? There’s no way such lowly people roam my lands!”
Count Jasper rejected the temple’s request the moment we met.
“I heard heretics have been appearing in the capital, causing chaos. I understand your concern for the temple… but this is the borderlands.”
Before I could respond, he continued.
“The people here have long despised the barbarians. They feel shame in hesitating to fight them. Wouldn’t it be better for the count’s knights, more experienced than a cardinal, to handle them?”
