Since I Don't Know Anything About It, Shall We Break Up, Your Majesty? - Chapter 63

“By any chance, among those priests, were the Pope or the Archbishop…?”

Lumiere asked, filled with fear.

Tamia shook her head and answered.

“Fortunately, they weren’t there. If the Pope had also been corrupted, I don’t think they would have been hiding in such a closed prayer room doing those things. They would have been more brazen.”

Tamia’s words made sense.

Lumiere sighed in relief, thinking it was at least fortunate.

If so, then it was likely just the corruption of a few.

“My heart feels heavy.”

“…Mine too.”

It would have been easier if they hadn’t known, but to find out something like this.

Not that Lumiere had the ability or the intention to reveal it and change something.

Right now, she was overwhelmed just trying to uncover what Tartien had done.

“Let’s wait and see for now. There’s nothing we can do right away just because we found out about this. Interfering clumsily might even put us in danger. Someday, an opportunity will come. I think it’s better to wait for that time.”

Tamia nodded in agreement.

Looking at Tamia like this, Lumiere suddenly smiled and said,

“Thinking about it again, I’m glad you came back safely, Tamia. Don’t go to such dangerous places again.”

Lumiere reached out with both hands and hugged Tamia.

“This time, let’s stay together for a long, long time. If it’s okay with you, Tamia, that’s what I want.”

“Miss…”

“If there’s anything I can do to help you, Tamia, please tell me. I may not have coins saved in a glass jar, but I’ll do my best with whatever I can.”

Tamia hesitated for a moment before raising her hands to hug Lumiere tightly.

She thought it was karma.

That it was her retribution, a debt she had to repay.

But meeting Miss again, it wasn’t anything like karma.

‘It has nothing to do with the past. I just want to help you, Miss. My small and pretty Miss.’

“…Thank you for saying that. I want to be of help to you this time, Miss. No matter what happens.”

Lumiere looked at Tamia with a happy face.

Having Tamia say that made her feel more reassured than ever before.

After patting Lumiere’s shoulder for a while, Tamia suddenly raised her gaze and stared at Lumiere’s painting.

“Miss.”

“Yes?”

“That painting…”

What Tamia pointed to was a painting of a certain mansion that Lumiere had been engrossed in lately.

“Do you remember it, Miss?”

“What do you mean?”

A spring night with starlight pouring down.

A beautiful mansion brightly lit up.

“This.”

Tamia looked at the painting with mysterious eyes for a while, then asked in a hesitant voice.

“Isn’t this the mansion you used to see in your dreams every night when you were young?”

* * *

Karl, who had returned to the palace through a secret passage, immediately summoned Fuego.

Fuego came running as if he had been waiting, as soon as he was called.

“What’s the matter, calling for someone at the crack of dawn like this, Your Majesty? Even I get some sleep in the morning, you know.”

And while pretending he hadn’t been waiting, he even yawned, which was quite amusing.

Such a workaholic.

Karl played along, pretending to be sorry.

“Oh? Then you should go back and rest well, and come back in the afternoon, alright? It pains my heart to work my one and only precious aide.”

“Ahem. No, Your Majesty. That’s just a figure of speech. And since I’ve come all this way, I might as well work. Going back and forth would be more tiring.”

How dishonest.

Fuego, whose eyes sparkled above the dark circles that couldn’t hide his fatigue, really looked like a pervert.

This friend enjoyed work more the more he was given, and sometimes even Karl found him hard to understand.

“Well, what did you call me for? Tell me quickly.”

He grumbled, pretending to dislike it, while continuously fidgeting.

Karl, who was amused by Fuego’s reaction, chuckled and pulled out several items in front of him.

They were all items he had received from Laurel.

“What’s all this?”

At a glance, they all seemed to be very ordinary items that could be seen commonly.

Bath salts that were said to be popular among noble ladies, potpourri that emitted fragrance from dried flower petals or herbs bundled together, and what looked like high-quality flower tea.

“Hmm, the scent is unique.”

Fuego’s expression changed to one of ecstasy as he lifted the potpourri to smell it.

‘It really is fragrant.’

The moment he smelled it, his nape tingled and he felt strangely good.

Perhaps due to the scent, his tired body felt a temporary surge of energy.

“…Hmm, this is quite nice, isn’t it? What kind of flower is it? It would be great to put this in the office.”

Fuego, who had put down the potpourri, picked it up again as if regretful and smelled it.

At first, he thought it was a bit unique, but the more he smelled it, the more strangely addictive it became.

Karl, who had been staring at the scene for a while, blurted out.

“These are things Tartien sent to Lumiere. They all have a strange addictiveness.”

“…Pardon?”

“They say it’s a flower grown in Tartien’s greenhouse… It’s a bit suspicious.”

At Karl’s words, Fuego began to examine the items placed before him closely.

Smelling each one, he could detect a subtly similar fragrance.

“…I can’t tell just by looking, but with Tartien’s name involved, it’s certainly suspicious.”

“Actually, come to think of it, I’ve been inside that greenhouse before.”

“Where do you mean?”

“They once invited ‘Karl Winger’ to dinner. When we had hidden Dr. Royce at Jourbon University.”

“Ah.”

Fuego nodded briefly as if understanding.

Winston Royce.

He was an economics doctor from Ingston who, while advocating for free economic activity of labor and capital, criticized that state intervention and exploitation by nobles should be reduced, becoming a target of Tartien.

Karl changed Royce’s name to Ben Steward and sent him to the neutral Jourbon University.

Even assigning him classes on economics and philosophy.

He even gave the privilege of waiving tuition fees for any student who wanted to take his classes.

The amount of sponsorship that went into this process was astronomical, to say the least.

But Jourbon University was worth it.

Berhe, Ingston, Levania.

The continent’s top educational institution created about 100 years ago by investing resources and capital from three closely connected countries.

With campuses in each country, teaching theology, philosophy, economics, and humanities.

About half a century ago, it also became an official institution responsible for the education of priests in the Holy See through diplomatic relations with the Papal Office.

‘Education should be sacred and equal, at the same time closest and safest.’

Following this teaching, Jourbon University claimed neutrality on the continent.

A place that respects the safety of professors and the autonomy of students, thus becoming the safest place on the continent.

Of course, it was extremely difficult to become a formal professor or student there, but Dr. Royce was more than qualified.

Karl was the one who brought Dr. Royce, who had become Tartien’s target, to Jourbon by any means necessary.

From then on, the relationship with Tartien began to subtly sour.

“…At that time, Maria Tartien definitely brought this kind of flower tea.”

“And then?”

Karl picked up the potpourri and inhaled its scent deeply.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the fragrance. And after a while, he asked Fuego.

“Fuego, how did you feel as soon as you smelled this?”

“Well… I felt good instantly. Should I say my mind became at ease? No, maybe it’s more like fatigue dissipated. It was strange. A feeling of my head becoming cool and then warm, something like that.”

“Is that so? I see.”

“Why do you ask?”

“…I can’t feel anything.”

“Pardon?”

“I can’t smell the fragrance. I can’t smell anything at all.”

Karl picked up other items and inhaled deeply.

They were all the same.

Setting aside whether it made him feel good or made his body languid, he couldn’t even feel the scent itself.

It wasn’t that there was a problem with his sense of smell either.

He could react to other scents just fine.

For instance, he could immediately recognize even the faintest lingering scent of Lumiere’s body odor.

Even if not that, he was someone who had lived with rotten pig skin attached for years.

If there had been a problem with his sense of smell, he wouldn’t have been so tormented living with that disgusting thing attached all that time.

“……But you know, it was the same back then too.”

“Back when?”

“Then.”

Karl’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the past.

His sharp golden eyes reminisced about that forgotten day.

‘Maria, why don’t you show Count Cissus our greenhouse?’

After years of being acquainted, the Tartien side invited him to their mansion.

It was a suspicious invitation, but he didn’t refuse as it was an excellent opportunity to officially visit their headquarters.

After the appropriately hypocritical mealtime ended, Duke Tartien pushed the back of his daughter who was entranced by Karl.

In that fleeting moment, Maria’s face hardened.