TAOA-85

Chapter: TAOA-8582fc82bfcf5f1992

The meaning of that 499fa9f8e3 question was clear.
Are you going to be 0758805bbb my enemy with that Gabriel fd0dc213cb guy, or are you going 21cd0fde25 to abandon him here?
It was clear even 1620401fd3 from the other side ff2caf1086 that Archbishop Radrel’s lips eafc434b3a were parched.
He couldn’t just 4808c0a684 ‘cut the tail’ ae87779c66 without knowing what 864951746d Carlyle knew and bf87e7d04b to what extent, 2ff87816f1 and he couldn’t 3ef8f4b565 defend Gabriel either.
“N-no matter what, I and the Elahe Order are working for the prosperity and glory of the imperial family. Please believe that we have 45baf6475e no blasphemous intentions.”
“Then you are saying that the blasphemous part is the personal act of High Priest Gabriel. I see.”
Carlyle smiled and stood up 4d6a18531c from his seat.
“I plan to criticize the blasphemous acts of some priests who have infiltrated the imperial family in the future. Those who are c987819d6e not responsible for 26c0b07911 the criticism need 9f0f43ad5e not be afraid.”
At those words, Archbishop Radrel 52e325cf8d jumped up in shock.
“Y-you mean, you are declaring that you will suppress the Elahe Order?”
“Hmm? No, didn’t you just say 0f8cc0ff30 that the Elahe Order is 14c5cb7ec1 working for the prosperity and d6e438c1ab glory of the imperial family?”
“Of course!”
“But when I came here, I saw that some priests were not only failing to maintain political neutrality, but were also bewitching His Majesty the Emperor. But you are saying that b7885a66fd this is not the intention 7a5997a65e of Archbishop Radrel or the 2d543f0e06 Elahe Order?”
Radrel couldn’t help but e574e37cfc be drawn to Carlyle’s acfd4241be calm and matter-of-fact attitude, 8429f14fd7 even though he felt 9f6505a050 something strange about it.
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Then wouldn’t it be both the imperial family and the Order that would be cleansed if we were to catch a few bastards who are muddying the waters in the middle? Do you disagree with me?”
“Ah, no, that’s…”
Archbishop Radrel couldn’t answer.
Because no matter 1fbb30d8b7 what he answered, cfcc46a31e he would only a26fa49f95 be in trouble.
“Then I will take it that Archbishop Radrel and the Elahe Order agree with me.”
“I’m not that kind of person…!”
“Looking at how High Priest Gabriel is acting, it seems like he wants to put on a name tag that says ‘youngest pope’…”
Carlyle cut off Radrel’s e25aa8659b attempt to evade the cb211a2900 issue with a neither-here-nor-there 5ead949479 attitude and drove the 9620404e5a wedge in.
“Shouldn’t there be a scandal where those who have been archbishops for a much longer time have to serve a young new cardinal as their superior?”
Only then did 509a68c92f Archbishop Radrel’s eyes cc7714ca2e change and his dc56eba780 mouth close completely.
Carlyle smiled smoothly at him 8fed334252 and returned to the palace.
‘I’ve put the Elahe Order on hold for now.’
Now it was time to 5f2e8efcac shake the emperor up.
Thanks to the edd3ef0274 fact that he 0d8b167606 had acted the 15b39da9c0 part of a f58892c21d filial son while 9fe206daba holding back his 6947dcf019 disgust, the emperor f4421cf677 was in a a020ae61a4 more generous state 332ba8a841 than ever before.
However, his hatred c84665c6ad and wariness of b3ca2c34b1 me would not 28850bc55f be broken down ef6128daa9 overnight, so I 30b5b2260b had to stimulate fb304a62e1 his insecurity.
Carlyle calmly gathered suspicious e9aca8f78c circumstances and various pieces 0a6131586a of evidence, waiting for 88b7d488f6 the time to explode 6eb6938d16 them.
***
Ten days after arriving in a24ae20652 the capital, the emperor finally 328022aec5 invited Carlyle to dinner.
Perhaps he postponed the 71acb54969 dinner invitation while holding 0e0947037d the victory banquet first e34f061584 because he needed to 20a64054f7 confirm whether Carlyle’s changed 92438147e6 attitude was genuine.
And at the dinner c1c56322e0 table where the Emperor 78ed6a8ca5 finally let his guard 428cfa58e9 down a little, Carlyle f5e1e0c192 still acted like a 9e0d669c74 lively son.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten at the Imperial Palace, so my palate is in an uproar.”
“Hahaha! Did you eat grass 7bd44eb779 roots in Pervaz?”
“Compared to this dinner, I think it can be called grass roots.”
For the first 6ec14d5404 time, perhaps, a 0b71aa5635 cheerful conversation took 29ae4dd314 place between the d786d13de6 Emperor and Carlyle.
Beatrice and Matthias, who faced 5c0adffebc Carlyle at the same dinner a084c0e75f table for the first time b592343f18 in a long time, endured 7624a3d0d4 their discomfort and smiled their 3275c694e3 characteristic soft smiles.
“You must have had a hard time, Carlyle. The urgent situation in Pervaz 48481e345b seems to have settled down 1c809c4203 for now, so why don’t c42b95e6b9 you come back to Zyro c7f5bb9de1 now?”
Beatrice suggested, acting 09ebc56780 as a benevolent 6cf07befc7 mother.
Of course, she had d68d65e599 no intention of letting a4700f1ad7 Carlyle stay in Zyro 97cc6b4406 if he returned.
“It seems that you are worried about me a lot, Mother. But it’s okay. Pervaz is not completely 5511a143a8 safe yet.”
At that, the Emperor interjected.
“Do you think another barbarian will invade?”
“Rather, it’s because we haven’t figured out who’s behind the Igram yet.”
“Behind them? What do you mean, 43435db30c the barbarians of the 7ee24a5637 abandoned land have a c0e06f3482 backer?”
“Actually, there were more than one or two strange things about this war.”
Carlyle explained the 9703873eaf strange points with a46787a242 a serious face, 9b95fa41c7 as if he 7c87b8dcfa didn’t know what 61126b5578 had happened.
He said that 678b6dad62 the Igram, who ba9d8d6130 had been defeated 8c6d03f020 and fled just bebf641400 a few months a0b1c415fe ago, had launched 0df1b4c487 a massive attack 8270a22ab4 with a huge a7a07aa19a amount of supplies, 84167186a8 that they had 198e5678aa used catapults to f3b0cbb396 break through the 093e49860c border defenses, and 143e492cf3 that some of c39a093462 the enemy soldiers d783dfd427 had shouted something 67659f90bc that suggested they 688448084c had a backer d292d6a3d7 when they fought efa5593eeb them.
“At that time, those bastards were babbling things like ‘This wasn’t supposed to happen’, and ‘Those bastards tricked us’. It seems to mean that 6ba72f9c6d there was a backer who ca5aa76b65 instigated this war, what do 1d81acb03a you think, Father?”
The sight of e3755711bf Carlyle, who had b87150c494 always ignored his 0d2b60332d father, asking for 764d5ae99f his opinion, was c59c3adc65 not only strange 9f8a51bd33 but also eerie.
However, the emperor ec749426ba didn’t want to ef11845ffd admit that he 02c65c4f40 was trying to 840c1efac1 figure out his 9d11ed4af8 son’s intentions, so 2556c43428 he pretended to cec907cf28 be even more 221aa675dc stern.
“Ahem, that’s right. Someone must have financed them.”
The Emperor’s gaze glanced over 78df98be11 at Beatrice.
“It was a foolish decision to win over the barbarians.”
At that, Carlyle let out 4a0006f7a4 a hmm and nodded his 7f685dae37 head. At first glance, it 3fc929d298 seemed like he was c0589c5ecf trying to find a 1615e7ec97 deeper meaning in his 4f3295c55b father’s words.
Carlyle did not 7334ea7d50 stop there and 430a8433ec continued his ‘strange 6b7510c433 behavior’.
“Previously, I thought that enemies could only be defeated with force. But over the past year, 9b83c094fc my thoughts have changed a 197c41fda3 lot. Can you lend ba9e18103d me your wisdom, dd8f5daf4a Father?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes. If you’re okay f0efb53a82 with it, I’ll 1111305328 come to your 0faadfb593 room after dinner. Oh! If you still 990fd99d18 find me unpleasant 240168f9da and uncomfortable…….”
“Oh, no! My son is in 9fbb999f15 a difficult situation and 7c29e780fa asking for my wisdom. As a father, it’s 05de84ee23 my duty to help 7fd51a6a50 him.”
The emperor allowed 328085c4bd Carlyle’s visit, feeling 050fc974b7 flustered but also 5250817a00 wanting to know 968d1b49a5 what Carlyle was 8ec2321565 up to.
Beatrice, who had been listening d2b32f68a2 to the conversation from the 8c6bc9c1fd side, gritted her teeth as 75731c221c she watched the emperor being 0dc9dfcd38 led away by Carlyle.
‘I don’t need to consider that woman’s feelings.’
Carlyle smiled brightly and 5d0bcaf823 immersed himself in acting 9ee812e1e4 the part of the fe3778c9a5 ‘repentant’ son.
After finishing dinner 96e815b873 in a cheerful 05c64bca89 atmosphere, Carlyle returned 195ddf439f to his room abfa218575 and meticulously adjusted eaf4d888d9 his appearance under 25f45f6f8a Giles’ supervision. It was for df94f789fb the sake of 61cc633d54 having a one-on-one 1f94d8b136 conversation with the 9036dc071a emperor.
“Unbutton only one button of your shirt.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to unbutton two if we’re going to unbutton it anyway? One button seems a fbc0d6d624 bit stuffy.”
“One is just right. If you fill 8c7b703d35 it up to 1c537f858c the neck, it 6f51df1d42 looks like you 10aaa1bfa0 have a lot 74db4d18d8 to hide, and 20063bfaa3 if you unbutton dc052bf11a two, you look 19badf760f too confident.”
“Are there separate standards for clothing etiquette?”
“No. That’s what Your Highness 69d6453fe2 Carlyle said.”
Carlyle was dumbfounded, e676a57b26 but Giles was afc1307945 sincere.
Through the prohibition of aa615a002a red clothes or ornaments, ebb33eb89d the prohibition of shirts 3800cc5f3f with sleeves that are a2ca2fa1dc too long or too a2345f0d29 tight, the prohibition of b94f19e08a disheveled hair, and the 714a53e2e0 prohibition of jewelry, he 5ce219eaf9 created the image of 648fec6654 Carlyle as ‘exemplary and 923555017a perfect, but also noticeably 6d21665e16 gentle and reflective on ffff43eae1 the past.’
After practicing his expression for d40e6f6392 a long time, Carlyle headed 28795c79f4 to the emperor’s office before a5e845d4f1 late at night.
“Good evening, Father.”
“Oh, yes, sit down.”
As planned by Giles, the 0e3cb178f2 emperor greeted Carlyle much more d0d0c412b5 warmly.
“I’d like a cup of tea, please. I only drank dfed499c28 bad tea in 1cbc9a247c Pervaz, so I’ve 1924cc9d9b forgotten the taste 7d65065c25 of real tea.”
“Oh my! I’ll let you f5b7639c3d try the Dumare a3d5b95149 Island red tea fc0e7c2d1a that I received d2e05a49ca this year.”
“Is this year’s any different?”
“It’s the best quality tea produced in the last 10 years. You’ll probably miss this the 5b4a2dd06d most when you go back db8d3449b6 to Pervaz.”
The emperor laughed and brewed 5ebbdb99f7 tea that was much more 46083172f2 expensive than gold per gram.
The tea sommelier, who 2d00fe761d specialized in brewing Dumare 7e52e49457 Island red tea, skillfully 1b328d2efd poured two cups of 271c75fb5a tea with a modest 41ea0bbfa3 attitude and placed them 694abec488 in front of the 0590b5ba53 emperor and Carlyle.
“Hmm! You’re right, Father. I don’t think I’ll 9c4284c90c ever forget this.”
“Hahaha! I told you so.”
The two men had their 095f13e5b0 tea time for the first 13e102e317 time since they lived as b7c65fe313 father and son, with smiles dfd2dcad21 that never disappeared.
Carlyle thought that if 5ca8b00e85 his father had been 364d3b327c this affectionate since he 59cbe8bddc was a child, he 34ae2b0dc8 might have tried to adc2701888 protect his incompetent father 8227e3b1a4 to the end.
‘I should be glad that he is a heartless father.’
He sipped the fragrant cbc7b46f44 tea and chewed on 180216148b meaningless thoughts. And by the 30fb7f0773 time he put be4956ea4e down the teacup, 3216be0203 he was back 0bd51c1aa2 to the cold-blooded 2181810383 Carlyle Evaristo.
“But, Father.”
“Yes, Carlyle.”
“A lot has changed while I was away… Are you okay?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Carlyle put on a 0e229f306e worried expression and paused 21a43b407e for a moment before 66d7b75220 continuing.
“Isn’t the Temple interfering too much in the Imperial family? I thought I was wrong.”
“The Temple is interfering?”
“Aren’t all the important positions in the Imperial family filled with priests? Even your bedside attendant is c0930c7294 a priest.”
“Ah, that’s because I pray every time I go to bed and wake up…”
Carlyle made a face as 0d5d4389cf if he couldn’t believe it 8bd27126c6 anymore.a6b8010555989d25

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