TAOA-85

Chapter: TAOA-85af7da622319cbb15

The meaning of 427b9c3e14 that question was 0bdd33111b clear.
Are you going to be acabc78bdc my enemy with that Gabriel cdcac221d8 guy, or are you going 3cab23316f to abandon him here?
It was clear even efbf2c2471 from the other side f23d9473c4 that Archbishop Radrel’s lips 7a41cd3ade were parched.
He couldn’t just ‘cut the 6d7b6c1ee5 tail’ without knowing what Carlyle a83e86dc33 knew and to what extent, 39d3ac9ac5 and he couldn’t defend Gabriel 1501419b21 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 7feb1e8be2 no blasphemous intentions.”
“Then you are saying that the blasphemous part is the personal act of High Priest Gabriel. I see.”
Carlyle smiled and 0caf3805a8 stood up from bd9b8a56ab his seat.
“I plan to criticize the blasphemous acts of some priests who have infiltrated the imperial family in the future. Those who are not responsible 47e9014847 for the criticism need not 0aa80c258e be afraid.”
At those words, d794fbb468 Archbishop Radrel jumped 35783809f9 up in shock.
“Y-you mean, you are declaring that you will suppress the Elahe Order?”
“Hmm? No, didn’t you df50a431a5 just say that d1448d4e6d the Elahe Order 41329a3305 is working for 0733ad2b7f the prosperity and a78ee11c6f glory of the be7a752f47 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 69a1128598 that this is not 3557e36f20 the intention of Archbishop 0289422729 Radrel or the Elahe 571e3066e0 Order?”
Radrel couldn’t help but f5211ecc89 be drawn to Carlyle’s b8ec843a06 calm and matter-of-fact attitude, 98ee4fc51b even though he felt ed9ab6ed06 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 4e8594de64 what he answered, 1fedda4093 he would only f14a92b76c 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 dd349d511b attempt to evade the 08776662f2 issue with a neither-here-nor-there 14d25c00c6 attitude and drove the 100a3b47a7 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 ac04ece501 Archbishop Radrel’s eyes 69307a6630 change and his 361cdd940d mouth close completely.
Carlyle smiled smoothly at bbdcad3bf9 him and returned to b353859e71 the palace.
‘I’ve put the Elahe Order on hold for now.’
Now it was time to a5210567bc shake the emperor up.
Thanks to the 23d3fa1ad9 fact that he 98c4192ac0 had acted the 239e4b98a2 part of a 03557494d9 filial son while ee39d4db4e holding back his 9eb231b9fc disgust, the emperor 5784bd9e82 was in a e348af6f76 more generous state 6a688b6352 than ever before.
However, his hatred d153c4fd67 and wariness of a2a3ebd112 me would not 6f5991930f be broken down 887ef28972 overnight, so I 28cf40e86c had to stimulate 552db48187 his insecurity.
Carlyle calmly gathered a587122831 suspicious circumstances and a9c2883850 various pieces of 564c0ee6b4 evidence, waiting for 7e679ac1f2 the time to 6a84d906c4 explode them.
***
Ten days after arriving ca581f5afc in the capital, the 45c791c5b1 emperor finally invited Carlyle f2bb775c7b to dinner.
Perhaps he postponed the 12917f08ee dinner invitation while holding dbed11416b the victory banquet first e5f1072ce9 because he needed to b126e7ac82 confirm whether Carlyle’s changed 3134700605 attitude was genuine.
And at the dinner 56f649f329 table where the Emperor 0e5760a870 finally let his guard 0cd2100470 down a little, Carlyle e23f0b88c2 still acted like a b34e6ca6c8 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 f6e9a46f73 grass roots in bda9a7bc70 Pervaz?”
“Compared to this dinner, I think it can be called grass roots.”
For the first time, perhaps, 9ab3e2930a a cheerful conversation took place e586d3c75b between the Emperor and Carlyle.
Beatrice and Matthias, who a68b26ebfa faced Carlyle at the f003811af6 same dinner table for d7305d8f92 the first time in 5fdcb809de a long time, endured 6b8dc3ecf1 their discomfort and smiled 7fde2e3e63 their characteristic soft smiles.
“You must have had a hard time, Carlyle. The urgent situation 4e263efd22 in Pervaz seems bef5211b92 to have settled 657b8e66ec down for now, 8bdcaeaf37 so why don’t 0360ea3ab5 you come back 158f35669c to Zyro now?”
Beatrice suggested, acting d7a8f1df1c as a benevolent 59ca2e2971 mother.
Of course, she 0f877df1b0 had no intention f0a039f20f of letting Carlyle 66b3e6dff1 stay in Zyro f71eb80b8e if he returned.
“It seems that you are worried about me a lot, Mother. But it’s okay. Pervaz is not 9d9751e503 completely 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, the d9925a3373 barbarians of the abandoned land cf35b1e2a2 have a backer?”
“Actually, there were more than one or two strange things about this war.”
Carlyle explained the strange ab77e6f050 points with a serious d3c98864bf face, as if he 69ebe02f59 didn’t know what had 62e55ba0a5 happened.
He said that bb4eeda681 the Igram, who bd2faae3d1 had been defeated 292e3097f0 and fled just 7d9b0a6555 a few months cbe4dc6013 ago, had launched 20425784ef a massive attack 6acb67ddf6 with a huge b447777c3a amount of supplies, e67e39e4c0 that they had 7e59a74b72 used catapults to 00dd7b5529 break through the 17c38accde border defenses, and f6e55ee03f that some of abda464e41 the enemy soldiers 409c03e15a had shouted something 1f5f06f2c4 that suggested they ba8b69e600 had a backer 0211970db7 when they fought fc4630985f them.
“At that time, those bastards were babbling things like ‘This wasn’t supposed to happen’, and ‘Those bastards tricked us’. It seems to 23afae435c mean that there 0162cee758 was a backer 96e49abca9 who instigated this 5f9ea28e81 war, what do 20aef05f3c you think, Father?”
The sight of Carlyle, a85cf6183a who had always ignored 1e80b18d1c his father, asking for 34ec5b97e7 his opinion, was not 0731dc4141 only strange but also 6b68b343d4 eerie.
However, the emperor didn’t want 0c1110b28a to admit that he was 22e2b736fc trying to figure out his 9a9b918a55 son’s intentions, so he pretended f729ff5559 to be even more stern.
“Ahem, that’s right. Someone must have financed them.”
The Emperor’s gaze glanced over 566de3bc51 at Beatrice.
“It was a foolish decision to win over the barbarians.”
At that, Carlyle let e8c23fd920 out a hmm and f07d7f4e69 nodded his head. At first glance, it 278a46060e seemed like he was 4f97f5c71f trying to find a 3a2613eb7c deeper meaning in his fa8769b56d father’s words.
Carlyle did not stop there 80ec744b23 and continued his ‘strange behavior’.
“Previously, I thought that enemies could only be defeated with force. But over the c3cbc0d8d6 past year, my aa258c78e4 thoughts have changed a2fb5650bd a lot. Can you lend 7bbbe93300 me your wisdom, b741399489 Father?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes. If you’re okay with bcf1d6355d it, I’ll come to d87219ba50 your room after dinner. Oh! If you still find dac2f650f7 me unpleasant and uncomfortable…….”
“Oh, no! My son is in a 2616a2f8d6 difficult situation and asking for 1e4f0ce121 my wisdom. As a father, it’s my 9cd914d521 duty to help him.”
The emperor allowed Carlyle’s fb1ac109a2 visit, feeling flustered but cd3f33ee4a also wanting to know 508489064d what Carlyle was up 3b8d95d7ce to.
Beatrice, who had been 90afcef378 listening to the conversation 0b3adae263 from the side, gritted ca2913a16e her teeth as she 488c41c111 watched the emperor being 118b72eca1 led away by Carlyle.
‘I don’t need to consider that woman’s feelings.’
Carlyle smiled brightly and immersed 519f385fdc himself in acting the part fd5ddc63ff of the ‘repentant’ son.
After finishing dinner in a 93bd7a4a55 cheerful atmosphere, Carlyle returned to 2f0608dfe6 his room and meticulously adjusted 472dcb8306 his appearance under Giles’ supervision. It was for 6bb4597289 the sake of 393c8519d4 having a one-on-one 387c27d802 conversation with the cf58922ecd 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 6d9b241806 a bit stuffy.”
“One is just right. If you fill it up 246aaf7489 to the neck, it looks 8f184fa74b like you have a lot d7f6aed6c0 to hide, and if you 1efc6df852 unbutton two, you look too 5380d6d46b confident.”
“Are there separate standards for clothing etiquette?”
“No. That’s what Your e07e937a3c Highness Carlyle said.”
Carlyle was dumbfounded, but 2e9ce6ed4e Giles was sincere.
Through the prohibition of 1c02b0583b red clothes or ornaments, 08c4d0a54f the prohibition of shirts d14394d867 with sleeves that are 991465b7c5 too long or too 93dad54f72 tight, the prohibition of c16b6c7427 disheveled hair, and the 97e92adead prohibition of jewelry, he 86a20ee4e2 created the image of da32cd6a09 Carlyle as ‘exemplary and 597b76ddd0 perfect, but also noticeably e2e92d8a75 gentle and reflective on d4b0efc2a0 the past.’
After practicing his expression for 299ab8c0b3 a long time, Carlyle headed 6002df6b9f to the emperor’s office before d0e67b1050 late at night.
“Good evening, Father.”
“Oh, yes, sit down.”
As planned by Giles, the 7da90d65dd emperor greeted Carlyle much more 7dd916262c warmly.
“I’d like a cup of tea, please. I only drank bad 32e7b6be66 tea in Pervaz, so fd1db8ec34 I’ve forgotten the taste 9c6fbbca5a of real tea.”
“Oh my! I’ll let you try the 14f2d0cdf6 Dumare Island red tea that 12479d1d70 I received 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 b05e321618 the most when you 8ba0868f5e go back to Pervaz.”
The emperor laughed 50897c12dc and brewed tea 019885d077 that was much a8f6692f4c more expensive than 1290a5f4ca gold per gram.
The tea sommelier, who specialized 34804653bb in brewing Dumare Island red 60eaa20c6b tea, skillfully poured two cups ec9b476e5c of tea with a modest 6cd62e4020 attitude and placed them in 820a8790ed front of the emperor and f8b653744f Carlyle.
“Hmm! You’re right, Father. I don’t think I’ll ever c437325907 forget this.”
“Hahaha! I told you so.”
The two men had their 25883b7dfb tea time for the first b7230bdd40 time since they lived as ccd79ecc8f father and son, with smiles 2babc6071d that never disappeared.
Carlyle thought that if e3266bdc09 his father had been eeeaf0de3d this affectionate since he 89e7f8ab3f was a child, he 239ad882b9 might have tried to 315199d1ad protect his incompetent father 23b1716208 to the end.
‘I should be glad that he is a heartless father.’
He sipped the 6798d87f87 fragrant tea and cbd2d77e45 chewed on meaningless 786bbd97f5 thoughts. And by the time he de1e85acff put down the teacup, he 7c8592c3d9 was back to the cold-blooded 8103b348cd 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 worried 7c2cbd9614 expression and paused for a 9a2650b5a2 moment before 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 9c0fb5db77 a priest.”
“Ah, that’s because I pray every time I go to bed and wake up…”
Carlyle made a face as d2ad052d7c if he couldn’t believe it c878d8c5e0 anymore.67a5b1317bad1b2d

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