My sleep felt restless, and when I woke up the next morning, my eyes throbbed with the need to sleep more. However, my body refused to go back to sleep once the sun was up.
Fenrir had woken up as well by now, and he looked around with a hungry look on his face.
"Master, I slept really well. And now I am hungry. I want to eat sothing. When is breakfast? Can you give it to now?"
Fenrir asked in quick succession. I could hear his stomach growling as he jumped around.
Due to a lack of rest, I felt my head throb, and my desire to make Fenrir quiet down was increasing by the second.
Before I could act on my impulses, soone knocked at my door. When I opened it, a guard quickly bowed before .
"Excuse , dear guest, but the Cardinal would like to ask you to join him in the garden... alone. Cardinal Joshua has sothing to talk to you about."
The guard told , and as soon as he saw that I was looking around for soone (most probably the Duchess), he clarified that I needed to co alone.
I could see their tactic to intimidate imdiately. There was no doubt in my mind that the Cardinal had asked for alone because he did not want to butt heads with the Duchess, and I seed like the easier target...
...Which I was, and I was not even going to deny that. I was soone who easily folded when it ca to my self-preservation.
However, this ti, I had a guarantee in the form of Goddess Helia, who was going to save my life if things went south. So I was not that worried.
"Sir, please hurry up. Cardinal Joshua is an important person. Even if you are a guest, you need to co quickly..."
The guard looked hesitant and shifted in place a few tis to calm himself down. He was trying so hard to show that he was not impatient.
"Alright, I understand. Just give a few minutes and I will be ready to head out."
I told the man before I slamd my door in his face and then returned to my bathroom. I took a quick bath (I missed warm-water showers) before I got ready.
Fenrir also went through the bath with , and within ten minutes, we were both ready to head out.
When I opened the door, the guard looked relieved to see . He led us down another path I had never seen before. It was dark and had no human presence. The walls were narrower and tapered toward the inside.
Everything in the passage felt like it was trying to box in, but I remained calm as I followed my guard.
"You are... rather calm for soone in this situation. I feel my fear rise every ti I go through this passage. Is it not the sa for you?"
The man asked in a curious voice, and I just shrugged and refused to give an answer. The guard got my ssage and looked forward.
He did not try to scare after that, and we arrived at the garden where Cardinal Joshua was waiting for .
Only... he was not alone in the garden.
Lines and lines of guards stood on either side of him, and they looked at his every move as the Cardinal took a sip of his tea.
He noticed as soon as I took a step toward him and gestured for to sit.
"Co, take a seat for now, Duchess Isabella’s dear guest. I have a few things to talk to you about, if you don’t mind."
The man told , and my feet dragged toward the seat that had been prepared for .
The Cardinal smiled the whole ti as he kept sipping the tea. He looked unbothered as he put the cup down.
As soon as my body touched the chair, the Cardinal gave a serene look.
"What do you think about this Do and the people here, Duchess’s guest? This Do is a place filled with peace, quiet, and happiness. It’s unlike any other place you have seen before, right?"
The Cardinal asked, and I looked at the beautiful garden around as well.
It indeed looked lovely and peaceful at first glance. But there were rotten parts under the surface.
Still, I did not feel like the right person to point that out.
"Hmm, it is lovely indeed. But I doubt this is what you called here to discuss."
I said outright, and the Cardinal sighed before he looked at the garden.
"That’s right. The beauty of our garden is not why I called you here. It is all secondary. The most important thing for and the other people here is peace. And for that, I cannot allow you to take our treasures away from us. So I would like you to decline helping the Duchess out."
The Cardinal outright told that he wanted not to help the kids out in any regard.
I had expected this, but it happened even faster than I had hoped.
"I know that it can be hard for soone of your... standing... to stand against the Duchess, but fear not. You can ask for any reward in return, and I will do everything in my power to give it to you."
That was a really tempting offer. However, it was too late to make that offer to .
Their goddess had made an even better offer with an actual return for .
Still, I was not going to outright tell the Cardinal ’no’ and sign a death sentence for myself.
"What about your goddess? What if she objects and gives a different opinion during the hearing?"
I asked, and the Cardinal looked taken aback. His eyes sharpened, and he suddenly looked like he was trying to calculate sothing as he looked at .
Finally, he cald down and gave a reassuring look.
"Don’t worry about our goddess. She has already assured that what I am doing is right. If you agree to help , then no harm will co to you."
Cardinal Joshua sounded sure of himself when he spoke. But I had talked with Goddess Helia as well, and she had told sothing else.
So either the goddess was playing , or the Cardinal was being lied to.
’This ss just keeps on getting bigger and bigger, huh. I’m getting a headache now. Fuck this shit.’
I cursed in my mind, but my face kept smiling. I was trying my hardest not to show what a ss my mind was at the mont.
"Anyway, you won’t lose much if you choose to join our side and leave the Duchess. I promise you this much. So please, do consider joining our side."
The Cardinal talked about his side and the benefits it would provide . He never said anything about what would happen to those kids.
I had a feeling he did not see those kids as even human, and I felt compelled to bring it up.
"And... what would happen to those kids if I do take your offer?"
I dared to ask.
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