Knock
The knocking sound told that soone was here to accompany to the dinner table, and I opened the door, only to see the Duchess as well as our escort standing in front of our door.
"Is it ti?"
I asked the duchess, and she nodded.
Our escort looked a little confused to see the duchess acting so polite in front of a nobody like , but I did not dignify him with an answer or even an acknowledgnt.
Instead, I walked faster so that I could walk near the duchess. But she slowed down, causing to pass her and be in the middle of our escort and her.
Fenrir ran after , but he seed much less cheerful as well.
The guard gave a curious look, especially once he saw that I took the place of the dignitary behind him, and I could see many questions pop behind his eyes.
But it might be because he was afraid to ask, or because of my sudden reputation, but the escort chose not to speak up.
Instead, he led us to the sa dining hall we were escorted to before, and it still looked magnificent.
The night light caused the plants to get illuminated, and the high do reflected moonlight inside, causing the garden to have a silver hue to it. The flowers sparkled with holy light and reflected different colors of the rainbow.
I had stepped in a place I had been in before, but sohow, it felt and looked completely different compared to the day.
It felt more... fantasy-like, and my feet moved on their own to reach the central table.
"Welco back, our dear guests. I was waiting for you. Please, take a seat."
Cardinal Joshua told us, his smile stretched across his face. His defense looked impenetrable, not allowing to see anything on his face except his mask.
So I quickly took the seat he offered , and the duchess followed.
I had not noticed it last ti, but I did notice that she chose to sit on my side rather than the chair of honor that was reserved for her.
Not that the cardinal or the servants showed any reaction to it.
Whether they were offended by the duchess’s actions or not was a mystery I wouldn’t get an answer to at the mont.
Food was laid out just as abundantly as it had been yesterday, and the Cardinal clapped his hand once before he gestured toward the food.
"Our esteed guests, you can start now."
He told us as he took a sip of the juice in front of him. I also reached out to drink from my cup.
[Your resistance has made you immune to effects of other faith.]
The ssage was plastered all over my screen once more as I checked my phone, and once more, no one said anything.
The duchess waited for to take the first sip before she started as well.
[Your immune status is in effect and shared with your followers.]
The system reminded , and I went back to eating. For a few minutes, that was all we did before the duchess broke the silence in the air with her words.
"Cardinal Joshua, have you given any thought to the proposal I gave you? The Judgent Day is drawing near. Shouldn’t you make a decision by now regarding the spares?"
Duchess Isabella’s words were cold and to the point. She sounded like a woman out for answers.
"Hmm, I understand what you are saying, Duchess. But I also warned you that this is not a topic that I can decide on my own. There are seven Cardinals, and we need a majority to decide on sothing."
The man told us, and despite the smile on his face, he seed reluctant to speak up about this topic anymore.
I had a feeling that the Cardinal was trying to stall the duchess’s attempts to bring up this topic. But the duchess was adamant as well.
She gave a look, almost as if she was asking to interfere, but I did not want to be a participant in this fight.
Not that I got a choice, because the Cardinal also turned his attention to .
"Dear guest of the duchess, how has your stay been here so far? I heard so fun rumors about you and what you did around the temple."
The Cardinal asked this, but his smile told that he already knew what I had been up to today.
I almost choked on my food when I saw his smile, but I quickly composed myself to give him an answer.
"You want to know about my day?... Hmm, you can say that I had a rather fateful encounter... three of them, in fact. They were lovely kids, if not a little shy but also headstrong. Their guardian was just as impressive and had a lot to tell ."
I told the Cardinal, and his smile cracked for just a second.
Before I could figure out whether that small crack was a fragnt of my imagination or whether my words hit sothing sensitive, the Cardinal managed to heal his mask.
"Oh, is that so? But I think you are just as impressive, coming out of the sacred forest not only alive but also being escorted by the divine beast sent by our goddess."
The Cardinal praised , but his words did not sound sincere. It almost felt like he was mocking .
I tried to keep my cool, but I was reaching my threshold soon.
"Master, this is too much! How dare this bastard—! I will bite him. You don’t even have to say anything—"
Fenrir almost leapt across the table before I caught him and pressed him down.
The Cardinal had gotten a little tense as soon as he saw the dire wolf pup get agitated, but my fast action caused him to relax.
I held the pup down with one hand and turned to look at the Cardinal while I spoke.
"Your goddess is a caring one. Maybe that’s why her familiar is just as kind and told that he had a task for from your goddess—to take custody of those kids and help raise them."
As soon as those words exited my mouth, I knew I was screwed.
’Shit! What the hell are you saying, Cyrus Malcolm? Not only are you lying but also getting the goddess involved? Fuck—’
I blad it all on my agitation and the Cardinal. Had it not been for his probing my nerves like this, I would not have spoken a half-truth like that.
As expected, my words caused the Cardinal’s expression to finally falter for a few seconds as he tried to get over the shock of what happened.
"The guardian... asked that of an outsider? Hmm, this is a bigger deal than I expected. But there is no need to panic. We were about to hold a ceremony anyway to get answers regarding our prophecy from her. I am sure she will answer us all soon."
The Cardinal told , and I felt double screwed now.
If the Cardinals asked the goddess, then my lie would be exposed. But I could not show my panic and confidently ate my dinner before I went back to my room.
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