Part Three, Section Three: “Words of the Dead”
Chapter Ninety-five
Leaving Archbishop Henry’s estate, Prince Oswald and I got into a carriage. For a while, we gazed at the scenery outside in silence.
"Hey, Miss Philia.”
"Oh, yes? Do something bothering you, Your Highness?”
After a period of silence, Prince Oswald spoke to me.
"No, I just thought your words earlier were unusual. You should have anticipated that mentioning Miss Elizabeth would anger Archbishop Henry, shouldn’t you?”
Perhaps concerned about how I spoke back then, Prince Oswald gently tried to draw out my true thoughts. I, too, preferred not to adopt such an attitude or manner of speaking.
"I deeply regret how I spoke.”
"I see…”
"However, through that exchange, I became certain Archbishop Henry altered the will.”
"What!? Truly? Miss Philia…”
I intentionally used those harsh words for this purpose—to elicit Archbishop Henry’s emotions and draw out the truth.
He made several mistakes in his interaction with me. Until today, I had considered the possibility, albeit slight, that the will was not altered, and that my only choice was to resign as a saint and become Pope. If Archbishop Henry’s acting or lies were flawless, then I would have had to continue fighting the fear of that slim possibility.
The elimination of this fear meant a lot to me. Now I could move forward without hesitation because I had gained the mental composure to do so. All that remained was to confront Archbishop Henry with irrefutable evidence.
"Archbishop Henry made a slip of the tongue during the dinner.”
"Hmm. I was also irritated by his manner of speaking to you, but is that the issue?”
"No, that’s not it. I’m talking about the time when he said words resembling a confession of having altered the will himself.”
"Hmm, did he say something like that? I have absolutely no recollection of it.”
While he skillfully provoked and tried to make me uncomfortable so he could end the conversation, he was so absorbed in it that when his own actions were questioned, he responded somewhat carelessly.
"First, when I pointed out that His Holiness’ will was altered by Archbishop Henry, he denied he would rewrite his own name to mine.”
"Hmm. What’s strange about that? Just that alone doesn’t clearly show Archbishop Henry is lying, I think.”
"No, if he truly didn’t rewrite it, he shouldn’t have said ‘Change my name to yours’. Archbishop Henry knew that in the original will, his name was written as the successor.”
"Huh? But that’s because you… No, you didn’t say that he ‘changed Archbishop Henry’s name.’”
It was pure speculation that Archbishop Henry’s name was originally written in the will. After all, until the will was presented after being handed over, only Archbishop Henry could see the contents.
So, I only mentioned to him that the name had been altered to “Philia”. Yet, when he responded, he denied the fact that "Henry" had been changed to "Philia".
Why could he say such a thing? It could only be because he knew the will originally had his own name written on it.
"And he made another mistake when I mentioned Ms. Elizabeth’s name.”
"Ah, that moment! He was so angry then… I was distracted, so I don’t remember exactly what he said.”
"At that time, he said ‘Elizabeth is unrelated’.”
"Oh that’s right, that’s what he said! Hmm? What’s odd about that? As someone who loved his sister, it’s natural he’d want to shield her from being dragged in…”
As the prince mentioned, Archbishop Henry likely used that wording because of his love for his sister. However, flipping that statement revealed a certain fact.
"Your Highness, by saying ‘Elizabeth is unrelated’, doesn’t it seem he’s implying ‘Archbishop Henry is related’?”
"Huh? Oh, you’re right! If he was really asked about baseless allegations, you’d expect him to angrily say ‘Neither I nor Elizabeth are related’!”
In other words, at that moment Archbishop Henry reflexively tried to shield his beloved sister. If the act of rewriting the will itself was truly baseless, he should have simply denied that fact, yet he strongly asserted that Elizabeth wasn’t involved. This was an overreaction. Because he was the one who altered the will, his strong desire to protect Elizabeth came through.
"Thanks to these two statements, I became convinced that he had indeed altered the will. In other words, I can now steadfastly assert the order for me to become Pope is unjust.”
"Amazing. To deduce all that from a short conversation.”
"A detective novel Ms. Lina lent me was helpful.”
To explore the contradictions in someone’s logic through logical thinking, you first need to let the opponent speak and expose their emotions. Recalling the depictions in the novel that Lina recommended to me when we previously discussed hobbies, I proceeded with the conversation with Archbishop Henry.
"Oh right, that ‘Weeping Detective’ series? With the detective who catches criminals while crying. Lina recommended that to me too.”
"Yes, that’s the one. Once I started reading, I got absorbed.”
"I see. If you find it interesting, maybe I’ll give it a read too… Huh?”
Talking about the book Lina recommended, Prince Oswald suddenly clapped his hands, and then made a puzzled expression, tilting his head. Then he gazed straight into my eyes. It felt like we hadn’t looked at each other this intently in a while.
"Could it be… Miss Philia, did you deliberately provoke Archbishop Henry’s anger?”
"Um, yes. It was deliberate.”
"Pfft…! As expected, you’ve got him under your thumb! Sorry for admonishing you without realizing!”
"No no, it’s thanks to you admonishing me, Your Highness. I think Archbishop Henry didn’t find anything odd because of that.”
Because Prince Oswald acted naturally, Archbishop Henry didn’t doubt my questions in that scene at all, and looked triumphantly at me, who had been scolded by the prince, as if he had won, when I asked my question.
"Anger dulls thinking. I’m glad I could draw out that emotion.”
"I see. I get emotional quickly too, so I need to be careful.”
"No, I think Your Highness being honest and straightforward is wonderful. At least, I like that side of you.”
"Hmm? That’s kind of embarrassing. Ha ha, so you like my childish side.”
Prince Oswald scratched his head, looked away, and laughed.
I don’t think you are childish. I’m simply drawn to your unwavering nature that always pulls me forward, and I wanted to convey that.
In the swaying carriage, Prince Oswald and I found ourselves holding hands without even realizing it. My genuine feelings were that I didn’t want anyone to disrupt this happiness. Therefore, no matter what circumstances Archbishop Henry might have, I couldn’t back down here.
I vaguely understood that he likely had sad motives for doing this. And that he harbored emotions bordering on hatred towards me. There were things neither of us could yield on. That was why I thought this battle wouldn’t be easy.
"It seems stubbornness will clash.”
"If so, we won’t lose, right? We’re both stubborn people. We’ve lived unyielding all this time.”
"Hehe, that’s true.”
Your Highness Oswald, how many times have your words given me courage? Thanks to you, I feel I can go anywhere.
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