Well, she had lived as his fiancée until just before their wedding three months ago. Whether it was an arranged marriage or a love marriage, for over twenty years, she had believed Gjorn would be her lifelong husband. How could she completely clear her mind in just three months?

As she unconsciously gathered excuses in her mind, Satin grew even more startled.

Why am I thinking of excuses?

With a lingering sense of unease, she glanced sideways at Rublier, who was already busy giving orders to his knights.

“Help the people clear the road.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Holy Knights dispersed.

It seemed like he had just made a casual remark. Rublier often made such offhand comments.

Satin swallowed the explanation she was about to give.

“Let’s go in.”

Rublier extended his arm for an escort. Placing her hand on it, Satin walked with as much composure as she could muster.

So, she hadn’t seen anything yet. She hadn’t seen Gjorn’s expression as he watched his former fiancée being cherished and shown affection by her new husband right in front of him. Nor had she seen the look in Delilah’s eyes, who had lost the limelight she had eagerly anticipated.

* * *

To reach the banquet hall for the event, they had to pass through a long outer corridor. Once they crossed the main gate, the inside of the Papal Palace was very quiet. The atmosphere quickly became awkward. Satin subtly withdrew her hand from Rublier’s arm.

It was uncomfortable.

What should she do about this atmosphere?

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with a suitable topic of conversation. Instead of forcing a conversation, Satin moved closer to the inner side of the corridor, fixing her gaze on the numerous famous paintings decorating the walls of the Papal Palace. Initially, she pretended to admire the paintings to ease her tension, but she soon became genuinely absorbed, slowing her steps.

“Did you always like paintings?”

Rublier’s voice brought her back to reality. Only then did Satin realize that Rublier had stopped because of her.

“I just look at them if they’re there. I often visited Madam Suzanne’s salon.”

Art was a relatively neutral topic, like the weather. Thanks to that, Satin answered naturally.

“Ah, the place that’s always open to artists.”

Rublier had heard of Madam Suzanne’s salon. It was that famous.

“The works exhibited there have been presented here.”

Since it was the Holy Kingdom, the paintings were mostly themed around the foundation of the nation. Satin subtly steered the conversation towards art. She tried to erase the earlier awkward feeling by discussing artists and their new works.

But even that wasn’t easy. Coincidentally, the heirlooms of the guardian families appeared.

Relics. The fragments of a sword broken into five pieces.

Looking at a painting that should have filled her with pride for her family’s honor, Satin felt a pressure on her chest.

A memory from a night long past slowly coiled around her.

After the heirloom she had brought from home was discovered, Rublier had revealed his true feelings that night.

‘I want to touch you and hold you.’

No! What am I thinking? Erase it quickly.

“…Where do you think the tip of this sword is?”

Satin hurriedly brought up a topic. To erase her personal memories and emotions, it was better to focus on the public significance of the sword.

“What tip?”

Fortunately, Rublier seemed to follow her lead without noticing her thoughts. Satin quietly sighed in relief.

“This pointed part. When the sword, broken into five pieces, was divided, Del Mare received the tip. But unlike the fragments held by other families, our heirloom isn’t intact. Look, it’s slightly blunt in this painting too.”

Rublier looked at the painting with interest.

“I didn’t know that.”

“It’s not noticeable unless you look closely. And we rarely see the heirlooms of other families… I’ve only seen it once in my life,”

Oops.

She almost mentioned the Sel Wio family’s heirloom. Satin awkwardly cut off her sentence.

Rublier smirked, a rare sight.

“You’ll see another one soon.”

“…No, there’s no need. It’s such an important treasure.”

The pressure from Del Mare alone was enough; she didn’t want to worry about the heir of Ka Dillon too. Satin mumbled her refusal.

“Did you know? The hilt attached to the handle is kept by Ka Dillon.”

But Rublier didn’t stop talking about the sword.

“There’s a joke that Ka Dillon produces many swordsmen because of the heirloom. It’s the only family with a sword hilt.”

At least the topic had shifted away from Gjorn. That was a relief.

Satin also remembered hearing the rumors. No one could hold a blade with their bare hands. Therefore, the swordsmanship skills of the four families who received the blade were similar. On the other hand, Ka Dillon, who received the handle, was distinctly different. Rublier was also one of those who inherited that blood.

It was unclear whether Pope Dionysius recognized the talent mixed in the bloodline of the Ka Dillon family and gave them that fragment, or if the Ka Dillon family, who received the handle, had awakened. Either way, it was an enviable talent.

“There is a similar story circulating in Del Mare. The tip of the sword always points to where the person holding it intends. Del Mare received the fragment of the Pope’s sword that stood at the forefront against the demons. The part that pierced the demon’s heart.”

Thus, Del Mare was called the sword of loyalty. And Sel Wio received the fragment placed exactly in the middle. The tip and the end of the sword. Because it was in a position to mediate both sides, Sel Wio symbolized neutrality. In fact, Gjorn had long played the role of mediator between the two. It was a fitting rumor, though somewhat pieced together.

“We are at the extremes.”

The handle and the tip of the blade. Somehow, the two most distant fragments had met.

Could this be why they felt they couldn’t live well together? If either of them had a different fragment, would they have been closer?

“The tip of the sword always points to where the person holding it intends…”

Rublier pointed out a part of the rumor Satin had conveyed.

“So, it was you, my purpose.”

The fingertips, lightly grasping as if holding a sword, moved straight towards Satin. The movement was quick and concise. It was evident that he was a warrior.

“It must have been decided from the moment I received the sword.”

“What?”

“Somehow, you kept catching my eye. Was it the arrangement of our ancestors?”

What is he talking about?

Satin was startled.

Don’t suddenly come in like this, pretending to be casual!

“As Sir Ka Dillon said, it’s just a joke. A joke.”

What a peculiar way to joke.

Throwing an excuse that she didn’t know what it was for, Satin hurriedly moved her legs.

The orchestra tuned their instruments. The wind instruments matched their sounds to the standard note of the oboe. The string section followed. Art is beautiful. Even tuning was a piece of music.

The triumphant tune of Caldeblanca, layered with grand melodies, adorned the entrance of Satin and Rublier. Most of the artworks dedicated to the Papal Palace were related to the founding of the nation.

The triumphant tune was also a dedication composed by some composer in reverence of Pope Dionysius and the meritorious families after returning victorious from a battle with the demons.

“This year is really strange. You are my first guest. Everything got messed up right from the entrance ceremony.”

A man with golden hair approached cheerfully. Rublier expressed his delight.

“Kirion.”

Satin also knew him. She had seen him standing side by side with Rublier, chatting at major national events. She had witnessed it a couple of times, so in reality, it must have been much more.

Their friendship was famous even at the academy, and there were rumors that Rublier was the person who most often had private meetings with Kirion, who currently bore more than half of the Pope’s duties.

“Hello, Archbishop Kirion.”

“Madam Satin. Congratulations on your marriage. I regret not being able to attend Rublier’s wedding.”

Kirion left a light kiss on the back of Satin’s hand. A man of Kirion’s status didn’t need to show such respectful greetings to a woman, but he willingly placed a light kiss. It was a courtesy to a friend’s wife.

“It was a hastily arranged marriage. Thank you.”

“You may not remember well, but I feel a certain familiarity with you, Madam Satin. I saw you a few times at the academy.”

“Me?”

Satin opened her eyes wide. She thought he might remember her personal details since she was the heir of the guardian family, but she didn’t expect Kirion to mention the academy. It was she who had subconsciously noticed Kirion from afar.

“Since you had always been close with Rublier, you naturally caught my eye as well.”

When did we ever? Can the Archbishop fabricate school days like this?

Far from being close to Kirion, she had never even had a private conversation with him before her graduation. Birds of a feather flock together, and in this respect, he was quite similar to Rublier. But given the circumstances, Satin had no choice but to hold her tongue.

“Anyway, it paid off. You ended up getting married, didn’t you? It’s very rare to form a bond early and get married.”

Kirion patted Rublier’s shoulder.

“Yes. I succeeded in that very rare case.”

Both of them oddly clicked together, making Satin curious about their intentions. What on earth were they up to?

Feeling bewildered, Satin turned her head and spotted Gjorn standing at a distance across the hall. She hadn’t heard him enter. The grandeur of the orchestra’s music and her distraction by Kirion had kept her from noticing.

Ah, they were matching their stories. Publicly, they were supposed to be a couple who had fallen in love and married.

Moreover, if Kirion, known for his long-standing friendship with Rublier, was seen having a pleasant conversation with him, it would put some pressure on Gjorn.

Officially, the Papal Palace maintained neutrality among the guardian families, but these two had been friends for nearly ten years. There was no problem in showing off their personal friendship. It was a safe way for Kirion to lend his support.

Though she found the answer, she didn’t feel comfortable. In fact, she felt even less at ease than before. Satin quietly became aware of the woman who had caused this discomfort.

Why is that woman here?

At first, she thought she had seen wrong. The rumors in the salon had assured her that Delilah had not received an invitation as a consequence of disrupting the wedding, so she had been relieved. Even though it felt like Delilah had taken Gjorn’s share of the blame due to her low status, she was still glad not to face her.

But the woman appeared.