Ines quietly gripped the hem of her skirt. Though it was a natural response from Carlos, she couldn’t help feeling hurt. As she was reproaching herself for being so shameless, Michael continued speaking.
“Was my connection with the Claudia family ordinary? Come to think of it, isn’t it because of the late Duke Claudia that I rose from a priest to my current position as a temple official? It would have been impossible without the Duke’s generous support.”
That wasn’t entirely wrong. Among the temple officials who were mostly from noble backgrounds, Michael was the only one of common birth.
The reason he had managed to rise to the position of temple official was thanks to Duke Claudia’s patronage. He had delivered substantial donations to the temple on behalf of the Claudia family, using that as a stepping stone to reach his current position.
But when his backing family was destroyed overnight, he naturally became anxious. Ines quietly observed Michael. She was trying to understand his true intentions. She had seen him around her father occasionally.
She already knew he was a greedy man, like the other nobles who had parasitized her father.
Believing he must have other motives, Ines carefully opened her mouth.
“So what would you have me do?”
“Haha. As expected of Duke Claudia’s daughter. Since it’s come to this, I’ll speak frankly. I ask that you make an offering to God as a sign of repentance for your sins.”
“…An offering?”
“Yes. Well, it needn’t be too large an amount. Just enough to show Your Majesty’s sincerity.”
As expected, money was his goal. At Michael’s words, Ines let out a short breath, like she had known it would come to this. Yes, demanding money was easier to resolve.
“Would you wait here for a moment? There’s something I need to retrieve from my room.”
“By all means.”
Michael’s expression softened, thinking he had reached an understanding with the queen. Soon she returned holding a small box in her hands.
She carefully handed the box to the priest.
“This is all I have.”
When he opened the box, colorful jewels caught his eye.
These were the accessories she had brought from her mansion when she entered the palace. Since they were items she had owned since her days as a noble lady, they were all precious pieces.
“If you sell these, it should be enough to buy at least a small house in the capital.”
However, despite receiving the money he wanted, Michael’s expression was stiff. He tried to force a smile while maintaining his composure.
“I’m grateful that you’re offering these precious items, but I fear it may be somewhat insufficient. I heard there were foreign assets remaining from the ducal family…”
“Foreign assets?”
“Yes. I heard there was land in Brillant.”
“Ah.”
Ines let out a short breath, recalling that. Though the land’s title had been transferred to her name, it wasn’t property she could dispose of freely.
“That property has already been transferred to the royal family through my marriage to His Majesty. What I’ve given you is all I can offer at my discretion.”
Michael’s expression darkened at Ines’s answer that she couldn’t give him the land. It wasn’t the answer he had wanted. However, unwilling to give up hope, Michael hastily added.
“Then how about using some of the queen’s palace budget? Who would object to using it for an offering to God rather than gambling or luxuries?”
However, Ines firmly rejected his proposal.
“Though I am queen, I cannot use the palace budget for personal matters.”
Her voice was sharp as a knife, indicating this was absolutely not possible. Faced with her strong will, Michael could press no further.
Sensing that the queen wouldn’t bend to his will, Michael looked at the box again. As she had said, the jewelry was worth enough to buy a small house in the capital, but it was far from enough to secure his position in the temple.
After contemplating something for a moment, Michael seemed to make up his mind and pulled the box closer.
“Then there’s nothing to be done. For now, I’ll accept this since you say it’s the best Your Majesty can offer. However…”
He looked at the necklace around Ines’s neck.
“You’ll need to give me that necklace you’re wearing as well.”
Ines was visibly taken aback, not expecting him to demand even the necklace Carlos had given her. She instinctively covered the necklace with her hand.
“This necklace?”
“Yes. After all, Your Majesty must give everything you currently possess to show true sincerity. I don’t think it’s an unreasonable request, as you’ll surely acquire more jewelry in the future.”
“But this…”
Ines bowed her head with a troubled expression. She didn’t mind parting with anything else, but this necklace was different. This was a gift Carlos had prepared especially for her.
‘Even though Carlos doesn’t seem to remember I have this, still…’
She didn’t want to give up this necklace too. Seeing her obvious hesitation, Michael spoke again.
“It’s just one necklace. To hesitate over giving up a single necklace when you might not even be forgiven enough to keep your position as queen. Tsk tsk… I question whether Your Majesty truly feels remorseful.”
At this reproach directed at her, Ines bit the inside of her cheek. It felt unfair that she had to give this up when she had never even been intimate with Joseph.
But no matter how much she protested her innocence, no one would believe her words. Finally, Ines gritted her teeth and unclasped the necklace, pulling it off.
Right, just a necklace. A necklace that now held no meaning for Carlos. It was just an object that she alone attached meaning to.
If a scandal could be covered up for the price of one necklace, that was getting off cheap. Consoling herself thus, Ines handed the necklace to Michael.
“Here it is.”
“I gratefully accept Your Majesty’s heart.”
Michael put the necklace in the box while hiding his cunning expression.
As she stared at the box with eyes dripping with lingering attachment, Michael raised his head as if he had more to say.
“Ah, yes. And there is one more thing Your Majesty must do.”
“…What is it?”
Was it not enough to take all her remaining possessions? Ines looked at him with uneasy eyes.
“Yes. You must come to the temple and offer a prayer of repentance.”
At the word prayer, Ines internally breathed a sigh of relief. She could certainly manage to say a prayer. But her face quickly hardened at Michael’s next words.
“This isn’t the simple prayer you’re familiar with. What Your Majesty must do is a traditional ritual in Vernar for women who have sinned to seek God’s forgiveness.”
A ritual that sinful women had to perform. Anxiety swept over her.
“What is it?”
“It’s called the Prayer of Atonement, perhaps you’ve heard of it.”
Ines flinched at the words ‘Prayer of Atonement.’ She had learned about it during her religious studies in the past. If she remembered correctly, that ritual was…
“It’s a ritual where one cleanses their sins by writing prayers on the chapel floor with their tongue.”
It was an extremely unethical ritual that ignored human rights. Even reading about it in books as a child had made her cringe. And now they were telling her to perform such an act.
Ines’s composed expression crumbled. Michael glanced at her and added.
“Originally, the purpose was to reflect on and repent for one’s sins while writing prayers on the floor with one’s tongue. But we can’t perform such an old-fashioned ritual from 100 years ago in this day and age. The Prayer of Atonement is conducted differently nowadays.”
“What do you mean by differently?”
“While you still kneel on the floor to write the prayer, instead of using your tongue, you use your finger. Think of it as writing a letter of repentance on the chapel floor with holy water.”
Writing with a finger, was it. Should she consider this a small mercy? Ines struggled to get her bearings.
Unlike how readily she had given up her jewelry, Ines began to seriously consider whether she needed to go this far.
If she were a commoner rather than queen, she might have willingly done it. But what would happen if a nation’s queen were to display such behavior in the chapel?
If this spread among the people, her position could become even more precarious than before.
‘Should I talk to Carlos?’
Perhaps ask him to give more money instead or something…
But she quickly dismissed that thought. She remembered Michael’s words about having just met with His Majesty before coming here.
‘He said to do as I please.’
In other words, Carlos meant he wouldn’t get involved in this matter. Perhaps what Michael had demanded of her had already been discussed with Carlos.
Thinking of this made her heart ache.
She even imagined publicly confronting Joseph’s letter head-on with denials. But that had to remain just imagination. The outcome would surely be bad.
Ines had learned something from experiencing the diamond necklace incident in the past.
That people don’t want to hear the truth, they want to hear what they want to believe.
If not for her family’s power at the time, she might have already been imprisoned. So now, without any power, there was nothing she could do.
‘I can’t burden Carlos any further.’
Moreover, he must be troubled about his mother. She didn’t want to be any kind of burden to him.
She never had any choice to begin with.
—
T/N: Grow some spine, girl! jk. Can someone please erase all the suffering that Ines is going through! Aaaargh.
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Nous_Defions
I want to cut all the limbs and tongue of that dastardly priest… To think he’s a man of cloth… Whether fiction or reality, it makes me even more adverse to religion… Despicable hyporcisy…