I’m Done With Unrequited Love - Chapter 59

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Episode 59
“…….”
I found myself at a loss for words.
“It seems not so much time has passed, but I’m glad to see you again.”
As I fell silent, Ariel was the first to nod.
Ariel beat me to it before I could even ask anything.
“Since you seem confused, allow me to explain — I have been serving as an attendant to His Holiness the Pope.”
“……An attendant, you say.”
“Yes.”
At those words, the pieces in my mind began to fall into place.
According to the information I’d gathered, Ariel had been frequenting the Papal See since last year.
‘……So that’s why.’
She’d become the Pope’s attendant?
‘But through what route?’
Yet regardless of my questions, Ariel continued her explanation in an untroubled tone.
“That friend I mentioned before — it was His Holiness the Pope.”
“Ah, the one who takes great interest in me, as you said.”
“Precisely.”

So that friend was Pope Rita.
If so, my doubts only deepened.
“Your Holiness, might I ask the reason for your interest in me?”
The Pope’s answer was straightforward.
“Just because!”
“…….”
I felt deflated.
Then the Pope grinned and added an explanation.
“I’m joking! Fidellia Jonas is so famous that there’s hardly anyone in society who doesn’t know the name.”
“Who told you that?”
“Bruno.”
‘Ah.’
Separate from my curiosity being satisfied, the Pope’s authority seemed formidable indeed.
Casually calling the Emperor by his first name like that.
“I’m rather ignorant of worldly affairs, you see. As you know, the Pope is doomed to rot away in the Papal See.”
That was true.
I knew at least that much common sense.
Room and board are guaranteed, of course, but even if one marries and starts a family, one cannot establish a residence outside the Papal See.
No staying out overnight.
Limited outings.
Restricted audiences.
“So! I have no choice but to hear about such matters through acquaintances skilled in these affairs.”
“And that would be His Majesty.”
“Correct!”
Certainly, if one were Emperor, one would be well-informed about worldly matters.
‘Well, he is the Emperor, after all.’
It’s his duty to oversee the entire empire.
Especially Bruno the Emperor — he was the sort of man who indulged in any bit of scandal that set his dopamine rushing.
‘He’d be bound to know all the gossip.’
Now all my questions were answered.
In short, Pope Rita was…….
‘Simply wanting to meet a famous celebrity in person.’
I disliked admitting that I was a celebrity in this world, but if even the Pope was like this, it seemed the time had come to accept it.
“I heard tidings of how the world turns from Bruno, and while conveying the Will of God, I also came to hear of you, Fidellia.”
“I see.”
‘The Will of God.’
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
Did Pope Rita know about the sacred voice of the Holy Pneuma Temple?
“And besides, you are the acquaintance of the adoptive father of the sibling of my friend, are you not?”
“Rita, why must you twist it so? You could simply say benefactor.”
“Is that so?”
Rita the Pope tilted her head at Ariel’s observation and continued speaking.
“Ariel and I first met in the Commercial District next to the Papal See and became close. I’ve been badgering her into accompanying me like this.”
“I see…….”
Even in that brief encounter, it was clear that Rita the Pope was remarkably talkative and had an easy way with people.
After that, the Pope continued with several more meaningless remarks, then asked what she’d come for with an expression of obvious amusement.
“So, what’s your reason for coming to see me?”
At last we could get to the heart of the matter.
Rita the Pope turned to look at Ernan and asked, and Ernan gave his answer.
“Prince Xavier has asked that the sword which Your Holiness took from him be returned.”
“A sword?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Rita the Pope, her expression oddly ambiguous, scratched the back of her head and looked between Ernan and me before asking again.
“So Xavier sent you, is that right?”
Without waiting for our answer, Rita the Pope released a sigh so heavy it seemed the earth might cave in beneath it.
“Ah…… it’s all fallen apart.”
“……?”
“Xavier should have come himself.”
Rita the Pope, now looking somewhat deflated, turned and walked briskly back to the Papal Throne, settling into it.
Thump.
Rita the Pope, having practically collapsed into the Papal Throne, looked down at us from that lofty seat and muttered to herself.
“……Well, this too must be the Will of God. I should have known better from the start, I really should have.”
The Pope seemed to give some instruction to Ariel, who had stepped closer to her.
Ariel nodded, then brought out a single sword from within. It was a longsword, rare to see in this age.
Though it was made for a child.
But before Ariel could hand it over to us, the Pope’s question cut through the air.
“You want to take it?”
It wasn’t a matter of wanting to take it—we had to take it.
Because he was a prince, after all…….
“Fine, but there’s a condition.”
“What might that be?”
Ernan asked, while I stood with my mouth firmly closed.
‘A condition? What sort of condition.’
Why couldn’t she simply give it?
But my tightly sealed lips would open the moment the Pope spoke her next words.
“Work to bring Xavier into the fold of the Church.”
* * *
In the end, we did receive the sword.
<Work to bring Xavier into the fold of the Church.>
At those words, it was Ernan’s turn to fall silent.
I managed barely to respond to that shocking declaration.
<Is that the Will of God?>
To the clergy, this question is a direct strike.
Whenever a cleric says something that feels off, if you counter with “Is that the Will of God?” the cleric ends up thinking, “Oh, was I being so heartless?” It’s a magical language that works every time.
But Rita the Pope seemed to have no such qualms.
<It is the Will of God.>
<…….>
She’d affirmed it outright.
‘She’s no pushover, that’s for certain.’
Rita the Pope even laughed and elaborated further.
<His family is in complete chaos.>
<…….>
<It’s only natural to want to save a friend, isn’t it?>
It was a rhetorical strategy that left no room for rebuttal.
‘Though how chaotic can it be to warrant all this?’
I would need to observe the royal family up close to truly understand.
I had Sarubia as a friend, but I really only knew her, not her family members—there’d been little connection with them.
As the saying goes, what looks like comedy from afar becomes tragedy up close.
Looking at just Sarubia alone, it did seem fair to say her household was excessive.
‘At least spare me from their family register.’
Ah, this isn’t a problem with the imperial institution itself—it’s Bruno’s personal character flaw.
Still, if the imperial family was in more of a chaotic state than I’d realized, I couldn’t help but worry about Xavier.
‘When I met Sarubia last time, he carried himself with such composure, and he seemed far too mature for his years.’
Now it all made sense.

He’d spoken with such conviction that I didn’t have the nerve to counter him with another “Is that the Will of God?”
So I left the Audience Chamber, taking Ernan with me—he’d been standing there speechless the entire time.
Afterward, this was what Ernan said.
“There’s never been a time in all the imperial genealogies when the imperial house was in better order than it is now.”
“Yet His Holiness still calls it a chaotic state. Do you know why the Pope would say such a thing?”
Ernan, idly massaging his opposite wrist, dropped his answer bluntly.
“I have some idea.”