ELND Chapter 78

Chapter 78

The One Who Separates Lovers

“High Priest Diart is expected to arrive in about two days.”

We only had a little over one month left together—

And now we were supposed to spend that time with High Priest Diart?

Starting only a few days from now?

It was news as shocking as a bolt from the blue.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Cedric continued delivering one unbelievable piece of news after another.

“And during that time, His Holiness apparently intends to grant him the authority of a Papal Representative.”

A High Priest with the authority of the Pope’s personal representative… living with us for an entire month.

And not just any High Priest, but Diart—the very man already wary of the relationship between Cedric and me.

No matter how one looked at it, the decision clearly carried Diart’s intentions.

He plans to openly monitor us until the day our divorce is officially announced without incident.

I remembered the way he had glared at us throughout the Emperor’s birthday banquet.

“Or perhaps… surely something ‘blasphemous’ hasn’t happened between the two of you? Such as feelings blooming again after the fact?”

He had called the relationship between Cedric and me “blasphemous.”

Divorce was still divorce, even if it had been secret.

And merely enduring the sight of a divorced couple continuing to live together must already have pushed the rigid Pope’s patience to its limits.

Moreover, hadn’t our secret divorce begun because of Emperor Letitz’s forceful pressure?

The Pope had likely viewed the matter as a defeat in his power struggle against the imperial family after his own objections had been ignored.

His pride had surely been wounded.

And if, on top of that, he discovered that the divorced couple continuing this strange cohabitation had fallen in love again…

It was obvious his long-suppressed fury would erupt beyond control.

“…Did he say anything blaming you personally?”

A sudden anxiety crept over me.

Had the Pope learned about us and made this decision because of it?

Fortunately, Cedric shook his head.

“Not at all. Aside from that order, the rest of the letter was filled with ordinary messages. It doesn’t seem like that’s the reason.”

Relief escaped me in a long breath.

Thank goodness. It seems High Priest Diart hasn’t directly told the Pope he suspects us.

It looked like Diart intended to deal with us himself before the Pope learned the truth.

A blessing amidst misfortune, perhaps.

Even as I thought that, a suffocating heaviness suddenly tightened in my chest.

I lightly pressed a hand against it, and Bianca’s round eyes widened even more.

“Your Highness Bee, are you feeling sick? Or do you just dislike that the High Priest is coming?”

“Ah, of course not, Bianca.”

I gently stroked the child’s hair as she sat close beside me, forcing a faint smile.

There was still so much I wanted to do for this little girl.

I wanted to teach her more—just a little more—about how warm a family’s embrace could be, and what it felt like to have a place where she could firmly plant her tiny feet and belong.

I had comforted myself by believing we still had over a month left to do that.

But now… I have to begin preparing for goodbye already?

Scolding myself for my foolish complacency, I suddenly pulled Bianca tightly into my arms.

Caught off guard by the sudden embrace, she blinked in confusion.

“Huh? Your Highness Bee, why all of a sudden…?”

“Just for a moment. Only for a little while… I suddenly wanted to hug you.”

The child, knowing nothing, simply smiled brightly in my embrace.

“Hehe, anytime! When Your Highness hugs me like this, it makes me the happiest in the whole world!”

“Bianca…”

“So from now on, you have to keep hugging me like this forever, okay?”

“Right? You promise, Your Highness?”

As always, she smiled at me innocently.

But unlike usual, I couldn’t bring myself to promise her anything.

Faced with reality, my chest only grew heavier.

“Oh my, it seems the young lady’s sweet words moved Your Highness to tears!”

Thankfully, Anton interpreted the tears suddenly gathering in my eyes that way.

But Cedric—who knew the true reason behind them—grew steadily darker in expression.

“Bianca, don’t trouble the Grand Duchess too much.”

The complicated emotions weighing on him seeped clearly through the gentle way he spoke to the child.

Soon, Cedric and I silently met each other’s eyes for a long while.

And the moment both our gazes returned to Bianca’s radiant smile—

The sorrow hidden within our silence deepened more than ever before.

Suppressing the emotions threatening to rise again, I picked up Bianca’s plate.

“Bianca, I’ll cut this into smaller pieces for you.”

“Again today? I mean, I do like how Your Highness always takes care of me—it makes me feel loved…”

Pursing her lips, the child thought for a moment.

“But what if I become spoiled if you keep doing everything for me? I’m already eight years old now, you know?”

Bianca proudly held up eight tiny fingers.

I stared at that lovable child as if trying to carve every detail of her into my memory.

Then finally unable to endure it any longer, I lowered my head.

“…Just a few more times.”

I cleared my throat several times, trying desperately to ease the tightness choking my voice.

“For my sake… just a few more times… pretend to be a spoiled child for me, Bianca.”

Meanwhile, at the same time…

A church carriage stopped in front of a shabby inn on the outskirts of the capital.

“Your Eminence, we’ve arrived.”

At the coachman’s words, High Priest Diart, who had just woken from sleep, rubbed the space between his eyes.

“Where is this?”

“An inn in Belmont City. We plan to stay here for the night, change horses, and depart again tomorrow morning.”

Diart nodded and stiffly stepped out of the carriage.

The ride over the rough roads had already left him miserable enough.

So the thought of even spending one comfortable night in a shabby inn room felt almost welcome.

However, the faint anticipation on his face darkened rapidly within seconds of stepping outside.

Glancing at him, the coachman calmly continued unloading the luggage.

“All provincial cities are like this. The buildings are unbearably shabby, and the people are just as vulgar.”

The coachman was right.

The tavern beneath the inn was deafeningly loud with laborers living hand-to-mouth and prostitutes preying on their wages.

The neighboring buildings were no different.

It would hardly have been an exaggeration to say the entire street was drowned in noise, filth, and foul odors.

As Diart looked around in disgust, the innkeeper hurried out of the tavern to greet him.

“To think a High Priest would grace our establishment! We’ll never receive such an honor again!”

The innkeeper bowed repeatedly while respectfully offering the room key with both hands.

Diart’s face remained completely indifferent.

“Your Eminence, would it perhaps be possible for you to bestow a blessing upon our inn as well?”

“…Just give me the key to my room.”

“Ah! Of course! I prepared our finest and most comfortable room especially for you. When you go upstairs, you’ll see the hallway—the room at the very end is yours.”

The moment Diart received the key, he immediately headed toward the inn entrance.

“Y-Your Eminence! Then at least tomorrow morning, please don’t forget the blessing—!”

The innkeeper’s desperate words scattered behind him, but Diart paid him no attention whatsoever.

He merely felt irritated relief that there was a separate staircase leading directly to the second floor, allowing him to avoid passing through the tavern.

What a thoroughly unpleasant place.

Entering the room, Diart removed his hat and sighed deeply.

All his life, he had lived as an elite member of the capital’s diocese—seeing, feeling, and serving only holy things.

There was no way he could be accustomed to the sight of a provincial town so shabby and miserable it bordered on grotesque.

I truly don’t know why I’m putting myself through this.

Naturally, self-pity arose—and the more it did, the more resentment he felt toward the former Grand Duke and Duchess of Twins.

If not for them, why would he have to suffer like this?

And on top of that, I must spend an entire month with the Grand Duke of Twins…!

Another long sigh escaped him.

One month.

If one wished, it could be called a short time.

But things changed when that month had to be spent in a cold, unfamiliar region—inside the castle of a man openly hostile toward him.

It felt unbearably long.

Just imagining himself facing that arrogant Grand Duke of Twins every single day already made him feel suffocated.

I’ll be fortunate if I don’t end up with indigestion just from dining with him.

After all, it had been Diart himself who requested permission from the Pope to stay in Cedric’s castle.

So why did he regret it so deeply now?

After sighing repeatedly, Diart finally shook his head.

Perhaps it was God’s will that placed them before my eyes. If so, then this must be a trial given to me.

Officially, Diart’s public reason for staying at the Grand Duke’s castle was to personally deliver the Pope’s blessings to the North.

Even the Pope himself believed that was his purpose.

But in truth, Diart had another goal entirely.

To monitor the relationship between the former Grand Duke and Duchess until their divorce was officially announced to the world.

If, after a month of observation, it turned out their affection was merely his misunderstanding, then all the better.

But what if they truly are lovers?

Diart’s sigh deepened once more.

Love between lovers was something that should naturally be blessed.

But if that love dragged the authority of God and the Pope through the dirt, then the Church and the world would judge that love very differently.

Adultery.

An immoral relationship.

Ordinarily, society used that word for those who coveted another’s spouse.

But the Church viewed rekindled love between divorced spouses no differently.

Especially before a full year has passed since the divorce, before both parties legally regain unmarried status.

To divorce with the Pope’s permission simply because they couldn’t endure a fleeting resentment—only to immediately rekindle their love afterward…

The Church considered such behavior a mockery of both the Pope’s authority and the sacred trust of marriage.

And Diart himself was one of the Church’s foremost representatives.

If he confirmed that the affection between the former Grand Duke and Duchess was not merely his imagination—

Could he truly limit himself to simple observation?

Diart resolved that he would go even further if necessary.

Even if that means… separating two lovers from each other.

For an instant, High Priest Diart’s eyes sharpened fiercely.