Chapter 229 – Confession – 1

“What do you mean you’ll show me?”

“You’ll find out if you come with us.”

Floretta and Luna each grabbed my hand and urged me on. I obediently followed behind them. I wondered what they were trying to show me, but they just smiled at me and brushed it off.

“Here we are, Delta.”

The place where the popes stopped was in front of a room, and as soon as I entered, I froze in surprise.

Inside was a sacred robe. Unlike the robes that the popes wore, this one wasn’t just close to clothing in name only; it was a true sacred robe that wrapped the body tightly from head to toe.

The existence of the sacred robe itself wasn’t the issue. Anything the popes gave me wouldn’t be strange given my current position.

“Do you like it?”

“We designed it ourselves. When we create the robe, we’ll meticulously stitch it together by hand.”

It was indeed a design that was incredibly extravagant.

The entire robe was adorned with the Holy Kingdom’s unique patterns, one-third was gold, one-third was silver, and the remaining third was pitch black. I could even see all sorts of accessories decorated with pure gold and silver.

The accessories on the arms were so flamboyant that the coat designed to drape over the shoulders looked similar. The back featured the forms of the sun and moon adorned with gold and silver.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was a heavy crown, encrusted with gems and gold and silver, placed atop the collar, making me wonder if I could even move properly wearing all of that.

In all seriousness, it felt like I could be seen from several kilometers away.

“When did you make this?”

“We haven’t made it yet.”

“You haven’t made it yet?”

“Please touch the robe, Delta.”

I reached out towards the sacred robe. However, my right hand just passed through the space where the robe was and slipped back.

I recalled that the popes had said they were going to hand-stitch it themselves when they created the robe. It seemed that they had just roughly shaped it for now, using some method.

“We only established the form as we need your feedback, so it’s just a rough shape for now. If there’s anything you’d like to change, please let us know.”

“There’s no need to feel burdened at all. You can command it as many times as you like, hundreds or thousands.”

The fact that I had to wear such a robe was immensely burdensome.

I looked around the robe lying right in front of me, shining as if it emitted sunlight and moonlight. What am I supposed to do with this?

“…What’s this robe for?”

“It’s the robe that will be used to proclaim your existence to the entire Holy Kingdom. As you receive the blessings of the sun and the moon, you must shine brighter than anyone else.”

“So I only have to wear it once?”

“If that’s what you desire, it can be done as many times as you wish—”

“No. That’s enough. Once is sufficient.”

As I rejected it outright, Floretta and Luna chuckled softly.

“We expected you to say that. You are quite humble and do not wish to show yourself.”

“We knew that, but we felt we had no choice but to rely on your grace. Please forgive our rudeness, our lady.”

“…If it’s just once, I’m okay with it. If I had to wear it regularly, I would have dreaded it.”

“It is an incredibly uncomfortable robe. It is unforgivable rudeness that we cannot even apologize for.”

I glanced over at the sacred robe that Floretta and Luna were wearing.

There was more exposed than covered, and they didn’t even wear underwear, with their entire bodies clearly visible through the see-through fabric, and their private parts barely covered by a single piece of cloth, along with their towering high heels.

Looking only at the appearance, wouldn’t that outfit be more uncomfortable?

“If you had said you would choose the Holy Kingdom, I wanted to show you this.”

“What if I had said I would stay with the Empire?”

“We would have had to keep it hidden in our hearts until the day you’d look back at the Holy Kingdom.”

“However… you have your sights set on greater things than us. You have dreamed beyond that. You are more than qualified to take us; the sun and moon hold you dear… The Pope of the Sun and the Pope of the Moon will always follow you.”

Floretta and Luna rubbed their faces against my shoulder, their expressions filled with pure joy.

A full day had passed since the popes had been stubbornly outside the Imperial Palace, so they communicated their intent to return to the Holy Kingdom, having achieved their purpose of drawing me in.

When I told Kaiquilia about it as I entered the bedroom, her expression was quite uncomfortable, but she didn’t mention anything specifically. She seemed to think there was no harm in the popes going back.

Even after saying I would choose both the Empress and the Popes, Kaiquilia’s demeanor had not significantly changed. She remained as high-handed as usual, and her every word dripped with pride.

The difference was that she frequently cast her gaze toward my lower half, biting her lips and slightly trembling.

Judging by her gaze, it seemed that she was quite unhappy about the things that had happened while I had helplessly followed her orders in bed.

My meeting with Kaiquilia was also not long. After biting her lips and squirming for a bit, she issued an invocation of the summoning.

I left her, who was starting to blush slightly, behind and returned to the room.

“…My Lord?”

In the room where I stayed, Aurora was present. She was sitting on the sofa, reading a book and leisurely sipping tea. As soon as she saw me, she smiled brightly and waved her hand.

“What brings you to my room?”

“Not much, just thought I’d drop by. Why? Is that not okay?”

“Of course it is. I was just curious what was going on.”

“I really have nothing to do. Right now is a time to reflect. I got a serious scolding from my aunt last time, didn’t I? If I move carelessly, it could end badly. And, I rushed here too quickly because I heard you got dragged to hell.”

When I thought about what it meant to be scolded by Kaiquilia, I recalled that I had tried to reinstate the Silver Dawn Knights and that she had directly mentioned it when we met.

If I hadn’t been around, it wouldn’t have been strange if something went wrong, so it made complete sense for Aurora to stay quietly out of trouble.

I don’t know about now, but back then, I had no way to deal with Kaiquilia.

“What were you doing, Delta? I heard you were at Minerva’s Mage Tower. How long has your research taken that you’re just now back?”

“Oh, I have something to say regarding that.”

I originally planned to briefly stop by the room before going to see Lize first. But since Aurora was here, it wouldn’t hurt to mention it indirectly.

“Really? What is it?”

“It’s a rather sudden request, but can I call you by your name without any honorifics from now on?”

The hand that was bringing a teacup to her lips stopped abruptly. Clink clink, her hands started to tremble. Tea spilled down the side of the porcelain cup, leaving a dark stain on her black dress.

“Wh-what…?”

She seemed so shocked that she couldn’t even speak properly. I approached closer. The tremors increased the closer I got. Hic, a little gulping noise escaped her.

“You… do you know what that means…?”

“I do. It means that instead of an ambiguous relationship where we merely mixed our bodies, I want to formally establish a relationship.”

“…What kind of wind is blowing? Did something go wrong in your experiments at the Mage Tower? Wouldn’t Minerva have allowed you even that much—”

“No, I just spoke to His Majesty the Emperor and Your Holiness the Pope.”

The trembling of her hand stopped.

But it wasn’t a calm settling down; it was more like her body had frozen in shock. Thud, the book barely held in her hand fell onto her thigh.

I picked the book up off her thigh and placed it on the table, then set down the teacup that was dripping tea and wiped Aurora’s hand, soaked with tea, with a handkerchief.

Creak creak, her head turned away.

“What did you say?”

“First, I want your permission. Is that okay?”

“I’m fine with it. Of course, I’m fine with it. I’ve actually been wanting to ask you to relax around me… No, no, that’s not what’s important right now. What did you say to my aunt and the popes… What?”

Her golden eyes shook incessantly. It was a natural reaction given how sudden my confession was.

“You… don’t tell me… with them…”

“That’s right. Just as you think.”

Now that I had received permission, I casually replied in informal speech.

As I said this, Aurora remained frozen in place, showing no signs of movement. Her eyes were filled with astonishment as she stared at me. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something but kept mumbling instead.

“Why? Do you perhaps dislike it?”

“No, I definitely don’t dislike it… It’s just that I think it might be more than I can handle with just you and Lize… But… I thought you should naturally go that way…”

Aurora was babbling.

“I’ll explain the details later when everyone, including Lize, is gathered.”

After all, there was still one more person I needed to tell.