I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family - Chapter 91

It was truly amusing to witness such a spectacle.

When a nobody suddenly becomes powerful enough to put those who bullied him into their places.

And there was an unholy pleasure from watching the knight who previously had been ridiculing Isaac turn pale.

“..H-How could you….!”

“His Holiness himself directly gave it to me. And I’m not just an ordinary noble lady, I’m Duchess Petri. Even if we are equal in the eyes of God, seeing how all of you unfairly divide the wages and torment people, it is only right for me to exercise my position as a duchess.”

I looked at them with a smile.

“D-Duchess Petri….W-What brings you here?”

“I’ve never thought the Duchess would personally visit the temple…M-My deepest apologies.”

I took a step slowly toward the men standing there without knowing what to do. Meanwhile, Isaac followed closely behind.

“You have to apologize to Priest Isaac, not me. You know what? It was he who brought me here.”

I used honorifics to people all the time, but I made an exception when talking to those who aren’t human.

“But….”

“Moreover, you mistook me as an ordinary aristocratic lady. I’m going to file a formal complaint with the High Priest, and I’ll ask him to kick you out. I’m pretty sure the person who gave me a free access to this place won’t hesitate to do that much”

The two men’s faces turned white upon hearing me.

“In the end, even if you leave this place, all you can do is to work as a knight. I might as well use my authority to mark you down. Isn’t that a perfect future for a bully?”

People who bullied others for no reason were the worst type of people on earth. Especially those who worked in the same field.

Even if the High Priest couldn’t kick them out, I’ll make sure to hold them accountable for what they’ve done.

“Please don’t do that. We just…think that he’s pathetic…”

“I think it’s you who are pathetic. I was going to stop by the library, but seeing you, who still haven’t come to your senses, makes me want to meet the High Priest.”

I hated to do this because I felt like a child snitching on another child to the teacher, but it was better than allowing this reckless treatment of Isaac to continue.

But they were being uselessly prideful. They didn’t even consider apologizing to Isaac.

But at that time.

“What’s with the fuss?”

An unexpected person suddenly appeared. So I turned my head toward the familiar voice.

The man who walked behind me was none other than the High Priest himself.

“Hoho. Why aren’t you going in yet?”

“Oh, I greet His Holiness the High Priest.”

“I greet His Holiness Caleb Benedict Samuel.”

Isaac and the priests who guarded the library door hurriedly bowed their heads.

“Please tell me. Did something happen?”

While I was fascinated by the High Priest’s gentle tone, the knight opened his mouth first.

“It’s not a big deal, Your Holiness. It’s simply a misunderstandi-”

So I cut him off.

“Misunderstanding, you say? That’s funny. Then explain to us what kind of misunderstanding it was?

I glared at the knight in the rear.

“That’s….”

“Didn’t you hit your own colleague, people who share the same belief with you, and the one who brought me here? You mocked him by saying that he was an idiot who stayed a junior priest for 30 years.”

“It was a misunderstanding. I never said that.”

They were indeed quite shameless. Normally people would have their conscience pricked if I said this, but the knights shook their heads as if they didn’t remember anything.

“Isaac, did we ever say anything to you?”

“…That….”

His eyes visibly shook before he lowered his gaze to the floor.

“…No, nothing…”

Subjected to violence and enduring years of bullying, he knew it was no use talking. He’d just end up even worse if he said anything.

I was so angry at those adults who behaved nothing like their age and at Isaac who couldn’t even talk about what he had been suffering.

“Wow. That’s funny. You just made me a liar. Even though I’m the Duchess. I think I know why my husband doesn’t like the temple.”

I looked at the High Priest sternly.

“I’m very disappointed that this is how the temple turned out to be. How can you call yourself a loyal subject of God when you lie so blatantly like this? I shouldn’t have high expectations of you.”

The High Priest slowly approached the knights.

“What’s going on? Who’s telling the truth here?”

“……”

“Why are you both silent? Do you swear in the name of our God Amidius you are telling the truth?”

“Of course. I-In the name of Amidius, I-I swear I’m telling the truth.”

The High Priest turned around to face me.

“That’s what they said, Duchess Petri.”

“….If priests or knights swore in the name of god, will you condone their behavior?”

“Because one must not use God’s name recklessly, let alone tarnish it.”

“So what happens if someone lies using God’s name?”

“They can no longer stay here to serve God.”

There was one thing that became clear from the conversation with the High Priest.

‘People in the temple must not tell lies.’

If that is the case, then I should ask Isaac. Even at this moment, Isaac remained silent with his head down.

Passing by the overly-confident knights, I approached Isaac.

“How about you Isaac? Are you also telling the truth in the name of God Amidius?”

Only then did I see him tremble. Meanwhile, the knight behind him was shocked by the sudden question and surreptitiously kicked Isaac’s feet to shut him up.

“Aren’t you going to talk?”

“I….”

Isaac couldn’t even raise his head, so I patted his shoulder to soothe him.

“The High Priest is right in front of you. So you can just tell the truth comfortably.”

“I….I…I’ll speak only the truth in the name of God Amidius. The Duchess is right. I lied because I was scared.”

“I see. So who was telling the truth here? Two people say nothing happened and two people say the opposite.”

He looked around and found Luca standing next to me.

“Just in time, there’s one more person with us. Let’s vote using the majority rule.”

“Y-Your Holiness. But we are the knights here….!”

“It can’t be helped. Both sides are speaking in the name of Amidius. So who can tell me which side is telling the truth?”

“Your Holiness! It’s unfair because that knight is on their side…..!”

But the High Priest didn’t care no matter how loudly they shouted.

“Please tell me.”

“The Duchess is telling the truth. If you want, I can tell you every single word they said.”

“Well then, that makes the temple knights liars.”

“Why don’t you side with us, Your Holiness!”

“Then it’s decided. I’ll kick out the knights who lied right away.”

“A-Are you really kicking us out?”

“You should be punished for tarnishing Amidius’ name. Maybe I’ve been so quiet these days that everyone thinks I’m a pushover.”

“But Your Holiness…..!”

The knights shouted, but the High Priest didn’t even bat an eye. Instead, he held Isaac’s hand tightly.

“I know you told the truth. What’s your name?”

“It’s Isaac.”

“Isaac, you’re still shaking in fear. You don’t have to worry anymore. I will let you win over your fear by giving you proper appreciation for your sincerity.”

He smirked and then approached the knight.

“You get to decide whether you want to walk out on your own or get dragged out.”

The knights’ lips quivered at the sentence.

“That’s ridiculous! Are you going to kick out a senior priest just because of that junior priest!? Huh?! Are you sure you’re not going to reconsider?”

“Yes. It’s not about Isaac being a junior priest or not. It’s because you have told us a lie in God’s name. Forget it. I’ll just kick you out myself.”

Without the slightest hesitation, the High Priest grabbed the knight by arm.

“Isaac, can you guard this place temporarily?”

“Y-Yes sir!

Eventually, the still-complaining knights had to be dragged away by the High Priest and his aide. They kept protesting as if getting treated unfairly.

On the contrary, Isaac looked at them as if finding them pitiful.

“W-What will happen to me now?”

“You don’t need to worry, Isaac. You just need to guard this library.”

“Umm, but…”

“I think Isaac is suitable for this position. I’m sure our god blessed you more than anyone else.”

At the High Priest’s words, Isaac looked like he was going to cry.

“I-I’m so grateful. The Duchess is such a kind person.”

“This is nothing to be thankful for. Then I’ll go inside first and take a look at the library.”

“Yes! I’ll be guarding right here.”

So I entered the library with great relief. A library that was so tranquil and exuded the ambiance of a temple.

Warm light seeped through the glass ceiling, and numerous books filled the white bookcase.

“This place is….”

“There are so many books.”

“It’s tempting to explore more, but we should focus on our objective first.”

“You’re looking for books about diseases, right?”

“Correct.”