He had always sought the perfect victory. Demus had always won, at least in situations where no unjust powers were involved. It was a long-held second nature of his to create the perfect conditions for victory before going into battle.
Demus, who had been eyeing the painting, ran his tongue over his lips. As of late, a thirst that seared his throat had been gnawing at his nerves little by little.
But for now, it was still bearable.
She would kneel before him and surrender herself to him anyway. He was certain of it.
As if the whole pretense of expecting nothing was a lie, she would look up at him with wavering eyes and try to take his penis into her mouth herself.
Aah, imagining victory always felt good.
***
“Teacher! Did you hear that Cardinal Calliope is coming to Buerno?”
Once again, Millian brought up a topic completely unrelated to the class. Even when Liv flipped through the book without wavering, Millian kept the conversation going.
“Maybe this time my parents will be the ones to welcome the Cardinal!”
This time, she couldn’t ignore it. Liv, who had vowed not to respond, looked up with round eyes.
“In the Vendons manor?”
“Yes! There’s no place like our home in Buerno!”
As if she was satisfied with Liv’s response, Millian lifted her chin smugly, then paused, suddenly remembering something. After rolling her eyes and avoiding eye contact, she added in a sour voice.
“Sure, there’s the Marquis of Dietrion, but he’s the kind of person who doesn’t really care about who’s in town. And the Blaise family’s mansion is too far from the center of Buerno for the Cardinal to travel to and from.”
“But doesn’t the Cardinal have many companions?”
“Ay, we can just open all the annexes!”
Well, even if they ran out of buildings, the Barony of Vendons would still build one out of thin air to house the Cardinal.
Liv nodded, dismissing the unnecessary worry.
Certainly the Vendons barony had a fairly large estate considering its location in the center of Buerno. It was a better place to get to and from than the mansion of Blaise county, which was located near the village side of Buerno.
“It would be a great honor to serve the Cardinal.”
“Yes, it is!”
“But if the Cardinal himself is coming, wouldn’t the Marquis of Dietrion have no choice but to step up?”
Regardless of how much of an arrogant, looking down on everyone, man he was.
Unlike all the aristocracy that flooded countries and was treated as an honorary title, cardinals were a very small group of priests who were specially elected. A very high ranking cleric who might one day lead the Order.
Not even the greatest nobleman could treat a priest with disrespect. They didn’t belong to a nation, they belonged to the Order. And most countries had adopted the Order’s religion as their state religion.
“But I heard that in all this time, Marquis Dietrion has never hosted a guest. It didn’t matter even if the highest nobleman came from the capital.”
“But the Cardinal is a different story.”
Although, recalling his words in the chapel, there seemed to be no trace of piety in him…
Liv recalled the Marquis’ mansions she had visited. There were two, at most, but each was beautiful and grand. She had heard the words that he never entertained guests at his main home, the Lanxess mansion, but the other mansions were stunning enough, and she thought he could just open one of them.
“Actually, there’s a reason I’m so sure of this.”
“A reason?”
“You’ll be surprised to hear it.”
Leaning forward, Millian whispered in a low voice as if sharing a secret.
“Among the nobles who are accompanying the Cardinal, there is one whom Teacher Camille knows!”
“… Did you say Mr. Camille?”
“Yes! So of course he’s going to invite them to my house! After all, it’s more comfortable to be around people you know!”
Liv couldn’t hide her surprise this time as it was truly unexpected. She had guessed that Camille had a wide connection, but she hadn’t expected it to be like this.
If his acquaintance could even get to honor a cardinal, he must be from a pretty prestigious aristocratic family.
Liv came to wonder. What in the world does Camille do, to be friends with someone like that? Why would someone like that be an art teacher in a small town like this?
“That’s why Teacher Camille has been meeting with my parents almost every day lately. He now spends more time with my parents than he does in my class. He’s probably in my dad’s office now.”
“I see.”
In her mind, it was an interesting coincidence, but Liv had a feeling that something was out of place. It was ambiguous, something she couldn’t quite define what it was, but it was just too disturbing and unpleasant to ignore.
However, there was nothing Liv could do about it. What did Camille’s weirdness have to do with her?
Liv turned her attention back to her textbook, trying to ignore the prickle of discomfort like a thorn in her neck.
Cardinals, nobles, they were all so far away from Liv’s life. It would be much more productive to worry about Coryda, who would soon be seeing a doctor.
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know via our discord so we can fix it as soon as possible.
RECENTLY UPDATES
