Part Three, Section One: “A New Pope”
Chapter Eighty-five
The day after reuniting with Elsa and Mammon, I was summoned by Prince Reinhardt. It seemed Elsa had visited the Parnacota’s Royal Palace as well after coming to see me.
"Ms. Philia, please have a seat over there.”
When I went to Prince Reinhardt’s office, he stood up and directed me to sit on the guest sofa. Elsa and Prince Oswald were already in the room.
“Yesterday, Ms. Elsa delivered a letter to the royal family that the Pope has passed away and that his will designates Ms. Philia as his successor.”
It looked like an official letter had come to the royal family from the Clamu Church headquarters as well.
With this, Parnacota was forced to make a choice: whether to send me to another country or not.
No, they didn’t even have that choice. Even if I stayed in this country, I wouldn’t be allowed to continue serving as a saint. Since I’d be regarded as a heretic for defying the Pope’s orders…
"I’m sure you all are aware of this, but defying the Pope’s will means making enemies of every country on the continent. Not only trade embargoes against us, but in the worst case, it could even lead to war.”
Lowering his tone, Prince Reinhardt explained that going against the Pope’s orders would result in being cut off from all neighboring countries, leading to isolation.
"I understand what you’re saying, Brother. But even so, I find it unreasonable to make Miss Philia leave this country. You must think so too, don’t you? You were the one who decided to bring Miss Philia here as our saint!”
Prince Oswald spoke with a strong tone, stating it was still unacceptable.
Maybe he also thought there was nothing to be done about this matter, but he still expressed his thoughts clearly and straightforwardly, which was just like him.
“Ms. Elsa, let me confirm again, you have no objections whatsoever to my brother, Ms. Philia’s fiancé, living with her in the Kingdom of Dalbhat?”
Hearing his appeal, Prince Reinhardt spoke of Prince Oswald and I going to Dalbhat together.
If I recall, yesterday Ms. Elsa said that was fine. What is his aim with this question?
“Yes, as I explained yesterday, I guarantee their livelihood. They’ll be treated as royal guests, it’s unthinkable to mistreat the Pope’s husband. I promise Great Saint will lack nothing in becoming Pope if only she comes to Dalbhat.”
Elsa explained to Prince Reinhardt, emphasizing the assurance of my living conditions more than yesterday.
This was probably the most the Clamu Church headquarters could concede.
“Oswald, I’ll get right to the point. Go to Dalbhat with Ms. Philia. That’s the best course of action.”
“B-Brother! Don’t suddenly…! There’s no way I can accept that! Neither Miss Philia nor I intend to leave this country!”
Prince Reinhardt, in an adamant tone, ordered us to go to Dalbhat. In response, Prince Oswald stood up and objected.
From Prince Reinhardt’s position, I understood he had no choice but to say this.
For the kingdom of Parnacota, which shared borders with many countries, diplomatic issues were indeed a matter of life and death. If prioritizing the defense of the nation, there was no option but to comply with the current order without resistance.
“Oswald, think about this calmly. You and Ms. Philia can live happily together. Isn’t that satisfactory?”
“Satisfactory?”
“That’s right. We’re guaranteeing you can live with the one you love. Not only that, but the Clamu Church headquarters has even promised to send a new saint to Parnacota. There are absolutely no problems regarding national defense. You need only think about protecting Ms. Philia, nothing else.”
Alice was an exceptional saint, and with her abilities as an exorcist, it was not an exaggeration to say that the safety of the country was guaranteed.
Certainly, Parnacota would lose nothing with my absence. On the contrary, if I remain, the disadvantages of both a diplomatic crisis and the loss of the saint would be significant.
I also felt a sense of kindness from Prince Reinhardt as he spoke to Prince Oswald as if to persuade him.
“Oh, is that so? Are you suggesting that it’s better to suppress personal feelings if it leads to a peaceful resolution of everything?”
But Prince Oswald’s anger didn’t abate. Rather, he slammed the table and further rebelled against Prince Reinhardt.
“Yes. You will obey this time, Oswald.”
In contrast to Prince Oswald’s rising temper, Prince Reinhardt calmly and composedly admonished him, unperturbed.
On this matter, I sensed a determination even stronger than when I insisted on heading to Girtonia to help Mia, despite his opposition.
“What do you think about this, Ms. Philia? I want you to persuade my brother if possible. I believe he would obediently accept it if you said something.”
Prince Reinhardt asked my opinion.
Even if I tried persuading him, I don’t think Prince Oswald would bend on this matter…
“Personally, I don’t want to leave Parnacota either, and have no intention of leaving at the moment.”
“So you feel the same as Oswald. I see.”
Looking surprised, Prince Reinhardt pondered for a while after hearing my opinion.
He must have thought I would agree with him.
“Great Saint, are you seriously saying that? I thought you were smarter than this.”
“You’re overestimating me, Ms. Elsa. However, I felt uneasy about this offer from the beginning. So first, I want to resolve those doubts.”
“Uneasy? What do you mean?”
If this matter was unavoidable, there might be nothing we could do. In the end, to avoid troubling this kingdom, Prince Oswald would likely agree to the two of us leaving the country. However, the reason I couldn’t accept this was the lingering unease I had felt from the start. Because I felt something fundamentally wrong with this story, I couldn’t bring myself to accept it wholeheartedly.
“Firstly, according to the usual practice, the next Pope should be one of the archbishops, so I wonder why I’m being made one. Wouldn’t it be natural for one of the archbishops, not me, to be chosen as Pope?”
Deviating from usual practice by choosing me instead of one of the archbishops was a major source of discomfort for me. No matter how I think about it, there was no reason I needed to stop being Parnacota’s saint in order to become Pope.
“There have been exceptions. The 5th Pope Richard Aderbein and 12th Pope David Damon were bishops before becoming Pope. It’s not strictly necessary to be an archbishop.”
“In the cases of the 5th and 12th, there were special circumstances that they had to make exceptions because the archbishops were quite elderly at the time. And there’s not a single precedent in the history of a saint becoming Pope.”
Indeed, as Elsa said, there were instances where someone other than an archbishop had become Pope. However, that was due to timing issues, with the archbishops being over 80 years old and considered too frail physically.
The current archbishops were relatively young, including the oldest, Orustra, who was in his sixties, and the youngest, Henri, who was in his twenties.
In the Clamu Church, the system was not based on seniority, so if one overcame rigorous training and was judged to have impeccable character and abilities, it was possible to become an archbishop at a young age.
Nevertheless, someone as talented as Archbishop Henry, who rose to archbishop in his 20s, had only happened twice in history, so there was no doubt he was exceptionally gifted.
“I understand your argument. However, Great Saint, just because there are no precedents doesn’t mean you have the right to refuse. Well, you can refuse, but you understand that the consequences may lead to an unfavorable situation, right?”
“Yes, I’m aware that if I decline this offer, it will trouble Parnacota.”
“If you care about this country, become Pope. Stand at our helm and use faith to save the entire continent this time. You can serve as both Pope and saint.”
Everything Elsa said was logical and correct.
It was likely that she was urging me strongly to become Pope because she also cared about my well-being.
“I’ll think it over carefully with His Highness Oswald and decide how to respond. I still have six days to reply, right?”
“Miss Philia…”
Rather than giving an immediate answer, I said I would discuss it with Prince Oswald and give a conclusion. Elsa had said she would give me a week, so there should still be time to consider this.
“I pray you don’t give a careless answer.”
She accepted my response.
It was only six days, but I intended to come up with some kind of answer.
The future of both Prince Oswald and me was at stake.
I steeled my resolve to choose a path without regrets.
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