My Fiancee Was the Villainess of This World

50 – Count Cuckoo’s Regret (3)

Each building has its own meaning.

In the case of nobles, it is to show off their wealth to visiting guests, and in the case of merchants, it is to give confidence to potential customers who visit.

And in the case of the cathedral, it is to instill piety in the visitor.

Unlike other buildings, the unique cathedral has the power to inadvertently silence visitors even if they are not religious.

But the silence now flowing through this cathedral was at least a million light-years away from piety.

“….”

Everyone is paying attention.

Sir Bertrand, Martin, so-and-so… And to me

We couldn’t help but keep our mouths shut at the subtle air current flowing between Priscilla and Count Cuckoo.

Who would dare to open his mouth in this situation?

It is a love-hate relationship that has lasted for 15 years.

Even the writer Hemingway, who is said to have made the world cry with 6 words, couldn’t put this situation into writing.

Bewilderment, confusion, sorrow, pain, and faint relief.

There were so many emotions in Count Arbest’s eyes that he probably couldn’t express so simply.

On the contrary—

“….”

Priscilla’s expression was so calm.

It just felt like he was coldly analyzing how to accept this situation and set the mood amicably.

The difference coming from that gap was so intense that I felt a sense of distance as if it were not real.

To compare, it was close to a sense of difference, as if a scene from a tragedy and a scene from a comedy were drawn and forcibly attached to each other.

Life is a tragedy when seen up close, but is it a comedy when seen from afar?

I feel like I have confirmed with my own eyes the reason why tragedy and comedy cannot coexist.

The distance between the two is close.

If we take one step at a time and stretch out our hands, we will touch each other.

However, it seemed that the 15 years that were never seen by the eye had twisted the two into a relationship that could no longer be reconciled.

A strange sound suddenly mingled with the silence that seemed to never end.

Sniff sniff.

“Where is the fragrant smell… Ah!”

The person who muttered so carelessly was, of course, so-and-so.

So-and-so rudely pointed at me, then hurriedly withdrew his fingers and shouted, “Fire!”

“Ah.”

Your body is burning.

“Keuugh!”

As soon as I recognized that, I let out a pain filled with pain that seemed like I was going to lose my mind.

Then Priscilla hurriedly jumped into my arms.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha…” Keugh.”

“Are you okay!? Sin, I’m sorry!”

Like the black and white drawings she drew with charcoal, Priscilla, who had no color, was filled with colorful colors.

And the Count, who caught it in his eyes, bowed his head at me with a very complicated expression.

If Priscilla leaves my arms and comes to me and enjoys her peace, it must mean that because of my greed and regret, she will not hurt me anymore and will withdraw.

‘Did you intend to live buried in a swamp named regret for the rest of your life, Count?’

I am sure I know better than anyone else because I have spent half of my life regretting it.

There is nothing at the end.

The only thing that awaits at the end of the emotion of regret is destruction.

‘That’s not a place for you to live, Count.’

Even in a relationship that went astray like a twist of fate, you were concerned about Priscilla’s future until the very end.

To me, he seemed like a better father than anyone else.

So I will accept everything from you.

Your hatred and anger toward me were justified.

The fact that you gave money to the cathedral in violation of the laws of the empire, and the fact that you fabricated documents to raise the funds.

I, the dawn of the Empire, Maximilian will carry them all.

“Count Arvest.”

“Yes, Dawn of the Empire….”

“Raise your head.”

After gently releasing Priscilla from my arms, I slowly raised my head and looked straight into the Count’s eyes.

“The unscrupulous man who insulted the empire still remains in this territory. As the lord of this territory, do your duty.”

“Yes, I will obey the will of the dawn.”

The priest should be imprisoned in the prison of Count Arbest with his limbs bound by now.

Because he has a contractual relationship with the count, the lord of this place, the count has to issue an order to banish him.

First of all, because criminals can’t use the teleport gate without the lord’s permission.

‘It’s gotten a little better.’

It felt like the melancholy that had been around the Count had disappeared a little.

The Count hurriedly left the cathedral and headed for the estate’s prison.

There, there was a gagged piglet that was so muddy that there was no place left unscathed.

“Will you loosen his gag and blindfold?”

The Heretic Questioner glanced at me.

Anyway, if he took off the gag, he would make comments insulting the empire again, so the situation seemed burdensome.

I nodded to the Heretic Questioner to mean that it was okay.

“Ku, ah, ugh… pole!”

The piglet let out a moan of pain and lifted an eyelid as heavy as its own belly.

“Why did you lie like that? Why… Why!”

The Count glared at the priest with an expression as if his eyes were about to shed bloody tears.

It was a desperate yet bloody expression that seemed to have condensed his hatred towards me many times over.

“Are you lying? Kut! Hee hee! I… I? That can’t be! You also… You saw it too!”

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Even in the situation where the limbs were bound, the priest twisted his massive body and screamed loudly.

“I saw it with my own two eyes! Do not be ridiculous… ! Bastards who sold their faith for this money… !”

The priest seemed to think that the Heretic Inquisitor had put him in a trap by aligning himself with Miri.

“Look… look at this…. God still has me… I mean, look down….”

The pig’s body was very faintly illuminated by the light of divine magic.

He looked at the light with mad eyes and laughed.

“If I am wrong… What is this light, these ungodly bastards….”

The ‘heresy’ that the Heretic Questioner hates the most is a religious person who can use sacred magic like this priest.

Why does God allow them to use divine magic even though they have abandoned God’s will and committed injustice?

Does that mean God allows sinners?

Or is it that the sinner is doing the right thing?

Or is it that there is no connection between faith and sacred magic in the first place?

If that’s not the case-

It is because they bite their tail like this and make them question their faith.

That’s why the Heretic Questioners handle their work with the mindset that ‘a mortal cannot fathom the will of a great god’.

Because if you don’t accept it that way, even the people themselves will have no choice but to have doubts about their faith.

Look, even now, he is showing his intention to kill with a very uncomfortable expression.

And that uncomfortable look wasn’t just the Heretic Questioner.

Earl Arvest also seemed to be confused between the sight he had seen that day and the one he had seen earlier.

So I took a step toward the piglet.

“Wrong, priest.”

“… Ha ha, ha ha, hehehe, hehehehe, am I wrong?”

“Yeah, wrong.”

“hahahaha, heehee, kick!”

The priest looked at the light that gently wrapped around his body and let out a laugh that showed a glimpse of madness.

“Then what is this!”

You don’t even know that, it’s stupid.

That’s why you are now locked in place and crawling on the floor.

“God’s mercy.”

“Ha! Divine Mercy? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”

As if I thought my words were nonsense, the priest twisted his body while letting out an unpleasant laugh.

“Is Moore that funny?”

“Kiki! Who said such sophistry—”

“In the Holy Kingdom, humans are taught that they are equal before God. But human beings are not equal from birth.”

As I said that, I stepped on the priest’s thigh.

“Awesome! Dare to be in front of me… Are you talking about faith?”

“The moment you are born, you are divided into male and female, and you grow up belonging somewhere between the ruling class and the ruled class. If there is a child who knows ten by learning one, there is also a child who barely knows one by learning ten. There are beautiful women who catch people’s attention, and there are also beings who are crippled from birth.”

“Yeah, keuh… Very, very well done, Dawn of the Empire… Ki-Hit! I’m very, very envious Ah~ You were born with everything~… !”

“But there is only one, all of them are equal in front of the sun. Bugs rolling on the ground and beings called agents of God are equal in front of the time the sun creates. To borrow the expression of the Holy Kingdom, it would be ‘All people are equal before God’.”

“… What?”

“Even if you spend a more rewarding time than anyone else, even if you spend a miserable time to the point of pointing fingers, all human beings share the same time. Everyone is equal before the sun. It is also part of the founding ideology of the empire.”

As I said that and caught my breath, the Heretic Questioners knelt down on the spot and made the sign of the cross with a reverent expression as if they were listening to the word of God.

“Everyone has the right to enjoy the warmth of the sun. Those who are born and those who have nothing have the right to receive the grace of the sun! The empire that served the sun god judged that. That is why there are so many institutions in the Empire.”

“Ji, what nonsense are you talking about… !”

“There are nurseries for orphans in various parts of the empire. If there is a person with a disability in the family, the tax is reduced, and if it is more difficult to live than that, the minimum amount of food is provided. Even if you are a sinner, if your sin is not serious, your limbs are supposed to be left intact so that you can glue your mouth. Besides that, we take care of the people in need through numerous systems.”

“Well, what does that have to do with this now…? !”

“As a result, there are no crime-infested slums in the system, although there are areas where the poor live. Even if not everyone can enjoy the same sunlight, as if there is a sunny place, there is a shade, but it can be said that it is the result of trying to convey the warmth of the sun to everyone as much as possible.”

“….”

You still don’t know?

“The same is true of the power that dwells within you. Just as the Empire embraces the poor people who were born without anything and embraces them with the warmth of the sun, the shabby power that dwells in you is also the result of the sun god’s compassion for you. It’s like the minimum amount of mercy for the little buggers who wouldn’t even be able to eat it without holy power.”

“Oh, no, no… No, no no!”

“However, because your depravity has reached its peak, God has finally given you one last chance. Yes, on that day six years ago.”

“Ah….”

“You threw away the last mercy from God. Now, do you understand the meaning of your insignificant divine power?”

“aaa!!!”

“The Count.”

“Yes, Agent of God.”

After the lengthy, throat-slitting speech, the delusion in the count’s eyes disappeared as if it had been washed away.

He immediately declared the dismissal of the priest, and ordered the soldiers to banish him permanently from this territory.

The Heretic Questioners drew me the sign of the cross, dedicated only to God, and then dragged the priest, who had become a complete failure, and left.

In the prison where everything ended like that and a strange silence came again, the count was looking at me with a completely different expression from before.

At the mercy of fate, he has lived a more miserable life than anyone else.

Lost time cannot be regained, and he will continue to struggle in regret with no exit.

But even in such a situation, he was smiling with a mixture of relief and joy.

It must be because of his trust in the man who will protect his daughter instead of himself, who cannot stand by his side from now on.

By the way, Count.

It seems you are misunderstanding something.

Humans do not change easily.

Just as you couldn’t get rid of Priscilla until the end with the goodness you were born with, I also couldn’t completely get rid of the life I’ve lived as a fool for six years.

Kuh, kuh, kuh hahahaha!

……

…

“… Majesty? Sin, sorry. Can you say it one more time?”

“Is that so? Then let me tell you one more time. Didn’t you surely call Priscilla a cuckoo? Parents of cuckoo chicks… Are you not a cuckoo?”

“… Majesty?”

“It seems that the cuckoo is crying ‘Your Highness?’ These days, Count Cuckoo.”

“….”

“Kuhm! Ah, ‘I can’t ruin Count Arbest, which has been going on for hundreds of years, with my own hands because of my personal feelings, right? I endured and endured’ Hmm. Was this a lie?”

“….”

“The laws of the Empire are strict. It’s a law that even nobles can’t easily avoid. However, you can’t even blame a cuckoo, who is not a human being, can you? Isn’t that right, Martin?”

“… That, yes, Your Highness.”

“Now, what about Count?”

“… Cuckoo.”

Don’t worry, Count!

As the dawn of the Empire, I will provide warm sunlight to the dark clouds that hang over you and your family.

However, if you are exposed to sunlight for a long time, you may get burned.

So, take this sweetly.

From now on, whenever you think of Priscilla, don’t let the grace she received from me come to mind first.

From now on, you will regret all the things you did in front of me, Count Cuckoo!

hahahaha, hahahahaha!

Now, nine days until I return to recuperation.

Thank you, Count Cuckoo!