TCBVF 143

Chapter: 143

…He had promised that.

“Why isn’t Chief Priest Evans doing anything?”

Priest Pedro bit his lip.

Two days had already passed since he made the issue public.

But Isaac hadn’t shown his face once. And after the Temple released only a lukewarm statement, they kept silent. That bothered Pedro.

“And… the paper that broke the story has such low credibility.”

If a major newspaper that filters the news had carried it, things might have been different. At least people wouldn’t be saying, “I can’t trust that outlet.”

“I should meet Chief Priest Evans again and discuss this…”

Thinking that, Pedro staggered to his feet.

He looked around the shabby little room.

“…”

If he had stayed at the Temple, it would have been easier to meet the Chief Priest in such a crisis. But Isaac had insisted Pedro stay in this one-room lodging—so no one would notice him, or so he said.

“Could it be… did the Chief Priest stick me here just because he’s annoyed with me?”

Pedro forced down the doubt rising from deep in his chest.

“No, that can’t be. He said he trusted me.”

Tomorrow, I must see Chief Priest Evans.
I must also remind him not to forget support for the children.

Pedro steadied his heart with effort.

At that time

“It seems you’ve been meeting the High Priest alone quite often lately.”

Savoring the scent of tea, Isaac spoke leisurely.

The High Priest, staring straight at him, suddenly asked:

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m far too foolish to know what you mean, Your Eminence.”

“Don’t try to fool me.”

The High Priest snapped sharply.

“Priest Pedro.”

“….”

“You moved him from behind, didn’t you?”

Isaac answered only by taking a sip of tea.
Last time he’d met the High Priest, he hadn’t even dared touch the cup.
Now, he was at ease.

“Saying the Duke of Claudius misused donations—this lie is far too big.”

Click.

Isaac set down the teacup, then smiled with his eyes.

“But if you want to strike Claudius while he’s rising, nothing works better than damaging his morality.”

His smile deepened.

“You know this, which is why you’ve kept quiet. Am I wrong?”

“…”

Bull’s-eye.

Isaac went on, unhurried:

“Of course, there’s a limit to how long we can sustain this negative mood. Claudius won’t sit still.”

He gave an irritating little shrug.

“Well, I don’t think they lack the documents to counter a shallow trick like this.”

“Then?”

“What I aimed for was the controversy itself.”

A dark malice colored his pale blue eyes.

“Isn’t it entertaining? Watching the ‘noble’ Duke of Claudius’s honor get stained.”

Isaac’s eyes gleamed.

“People care about sensational news. They rarely care about the corrections that come later.”

It was true. Claudius wouldn’t just let this go. They’d push hard for corrections too, but—

“Still, now that the mood is set, it’ll be quite a struggle to flip it back.”

Even then, a faint ember of doubt would remain—quiet most days, but the moment anyone poked it, it would flare up and devour Claudius’s “morality.”

“Well, Your Eminence, you responded lukewarmly as well.”

“That was—”

“From that alone, I took it as your tacit agreement with me. Was I mistaken?”

If there had been no intent to attack Claudius from the start, the High Priest could simply have declared, “Claudius never made slush funds.”

But instead, he’d said:

“We will investigate.”
The obvious, safe answer.

On principle, yes. But since Claudius was innocent—and the Temple knew it—
it was hardly the right response.

More precisely—

It was the response that magnified the controversy.

Isaac narrowed his eyes at the High Priest.

“That wily old snake doesn’t even think to thank me for spoon-feeding him this…”

Their gazes met.

Isaac erased his irritation and smiled pleasantly.

“So I chose a tabloid with rock-bottom credibility and sent Pedro there on purpose.”

“Hm…”

“How could a powerless priest contact a major outlet? I needed the picture to look natural.”

Isaac spoke in a lively tone:

“If we push out a few more entertaining articles like this—one month, no, even a single week of keeping the controversy alive will deal a huge blow to the Claudius Foundation’s image of transparency.”

The High Priest kept silent, but Isaac could tell: he was convinced.

“And even if Claudius gathers and releases their records quickly, it’ll still take time. Plus, won’t they have to respond to the tax office too?”

“The tax office?”

“Yes. With a scandal this big, the Imperial family can’t just sit back. At minimum, they’ll pretend to investigate.”

Isaac coaxed him further:

“Well, no matter how clean Claudius runs things… if you shake hard enough, some dust is bound to fall.”

“And then?”

“Once suspicion is lit like this, those who promised donations to Claudius will return to the Temple.”

Donations flowing back to the Temple—
That sealed it.

“So, what do you need me to do?”

This time, the High Priest’s voice had softened.

“Transparent, aren’t we.”

Smirking inside, Isaac kept his face gentle.

“You’ll eventually announce the Temple’s findings—and that Claudius did nothing wrong. Just say it as late as possible, please, so the controversy lasts.”

“Is that all?”

“Mm… Could you also contact the Imperial family?”

“The Imperial family?”

“Yes. Tell them the Temple is conducting a sincere internal investigation and ask for their cooperation.”

A faint crease formed between Isaac’s brows.

“The Imperial family is on friendly terms with Claudius, after all.”

The Imperial family wanted peace between the Temple and Claudius.
If they tried to wrap things up before the mood set properly, that would be a problem.

The High Priest nodded, then asked again:

“Claudius aside, won’t Priest Pedro resist?”

“There’s a saying: ‘Speech is silver, silence is golden.’”

Isaac smiled gently.

“I intend to have Father Pedro practice that virtue.”

“…”

Isaac continued softly to the silent High Priest:

“You know, don’t you? How useful a forever-silent Pedro would be to the Temple.”

It was true.

The dead do not speak.

Which meant—

The Temple could pin everything on Pedro.

We mourn the unfortunate death of Priest Pedro.
Our investigation also finds that the Duke of Claudius bears no fault.
It was merely Priest Pedro’s personal delusion.
The Temple and House Claudius will continue as good partners.

That much would suffice.

“Very well. I’ll cooperate as much as I can,” the High Priest said firmly.
“Just make sure there are no problems.”

“Understood.”

Isaac rose and excused himself.

“Then I’ll take my leave. I have much to do.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The High Priest’s tone was gentler than before.

Isaac strode out with confident steps.

“Look forward to it, Dietrich.”

When Priest Pedro closed his eyes forever, Isaac planned to give that detestable Dietrich a little gift as well—

A tiny spark of doubt that Claudius might have killed Pedro in revenge.