Chapter 4. Wrath (11)
***
“It’s been so long! To think you’d come visit me like this – I’m so happy I want to embrace you and shower you with kisses!”
Hakan came running out with a joyful face. The Grand Duke stepped back with a contemptuous expression. Before anyone knew it, he was holding a handkerchief in his hand. He blocked the space between Hakan and himself as if it were a shield and muttered fiercely.
“If you do such a thing, I’ll kill you.”
Paying no heed to the Grand Duke’s threat, Hakan smiled brightly and spread both arms.
“Why are you being like this! Could it be you’re embarrassed? Don’t mind it.”
“…You’ve become even stranger since I last saw you.”
“Ah, it’s because I’m happy to see you! Happy! With the atmosphere at the Papal Court becoming ominous, didn’t you completely stop visiting? Do you know how much I missed you? I’m hurt, really.”
When the cardinals finally threw up their hands at the Pope’s bill to punish not only prostitution but also homosexuality, the Grand Duke had practically gone into hiding since then. There was no way to prevent the situation from taking a strange turn.
He was busy watching developments and hiding Ronen, so he had no energy to spare for interest in Hakan. This time too, he had come because Ronen brought up the drug matter – if not for that, he would have continued staying away.
When the Grand Duke stood still with an unpleasant expression, Hakan hesitantly lowered his arms.
“Hmm… Right. I had forgotten for a moment since I haven’t seen you for so long. Come in.”
At Hakan’s invitation, the Grand Duke put away the handkerchief he was holding. When the two sat facing each other, teacups, a teapot, and simple refreshments were set on the table between them.
“The world has been so turbulent lately that I too have been keeping a low profile. Even though I missed you terribly, I endured it. So seeing you come to me first makes me feel overwhelmed.”
“…As you should. You must have been reported for sure.”
At the Grand Duke’s words, Hakan drooped his shoulders. His face was quite glum.
“I already checked. The boys who used to whisper that they loved me competed to report me to lessen their own sins even a little. It couldn’t be sadder. How light their hearts must be.”
The Grand Duke barely restrained himself from saying that didn’t seem like something Hakan should be saying.
“They must not have known it was useless.”
“That must be it… Of course, I understand their desperation. How pitiful. They say people like us are given indulgences somehow and aren’t punished, but they’re different, aren’t they? It’s a situation where only the powerless get hurt. It’s terrible…”
“If you know that, why are you worrying about it so much? It’s not related to us anyway.”
Certainly it was the Pope’s will to punish sinners according to scripture. However, the courts only named the poor as sinners. Everyone had expected this. The judges didn’t want to drag their brothers and acquaintances into this affair. They had neither the qualification nor the power to do so.
The same was true for the Pope. In the past, when the theocracy was created under God’s will – that is, when seven families existed to protect the theocracy – it might have been different, but now each family had grown as large as the theocracy itself and enjoyed authority that could be called virtually equal.
Even the Pope couldn’t carelessly touch the seven families.
Yet there was a purpose to stirring up such affairs while invoking scripture and doctrine. To solve an unavoidable problem.
“…Ah, come to think of it.”
The Grand Duke spoke as if something had suddenly occurred to him. He looked at Hakan, who had been drinking tea with a sunken face, and continued.
“Your lover was a knight, wasn’t he?”
Though his tone was casual, Hakan’s face darkened further. Even though the atmosphere had sunk uncharacteristically for him, the Grand Duke didn’t particularly care.
“It can’t be unrelated. You’d better take good care of your lover. The Pope’s intention seemed to lie there.”
“…I know too. At least the fact that they’ve stirred up such terrible affairs to clean up things that have become useless.”
The Grand Duke opened his eyes wide as if quite surprised.
“You already knew that? You didn’t seem particularly interested in politics. Besides, the Pope must seem quite plausible on the surface. He’s famous for being devout.”
“In the end, he’s the same human being, isn’t he? Do you think there’s anyone in this country who truly follows God’s will? Even His Eminence Clemens, while being a devout believer, was also a person of Estania. He always followed his family’s will.”
Hakan sighed deeply while fidgeting with his teacup.
“Besides… that man couldn’t possibly be so virtuous. I’ve been pondering why he had to go to such lengths. What could be gained by doing such things…”
First, it was strengthening ecclesiastical authority. Though not as much as before, the theocracy’s influence still couldn’t be ignored, so when sanctions were imposed invoking God’s word, everyone had to comply.
The Pope simply made everyone sinners. For sinners, especially commoners and the lower classes who placed hope not in life but in what comes after death, the most fearful thing was being abandoned by God, so they all clung more to religion. If they refused the Pope’s commands and were excommunicated, the fear of death would choke them like a noose around their necks.
And secondly…
“Peace doesn’t need heroes.”
At the Grand Duke’s muttered words, Hakan nodded with difficulty.
The war was over. Soldiers were no longer needed. However, they still carried swords and caused various problems. On the battlefield, their madness had rather helped morale, but in a peaceful world, they were only a threat.
But there was no way to deal with them. After all, on the surface, they were heroes.
So the Pope decided to make them sinners. He planned to pin various crimes on them and dispose of them.
“Isn’t it too ridiculous that they encouraged homosexuality on the battlefield by packaging it as comradeship, but now that it’s useless, they punish it as sin? It’s bitter how God’s word is cleverly used for their benefit.”
“It’s nothing new. Doctrine has always been exploited by humans.”
“That’s true, but…”
Unlike the struggling Hakan, the Grand Duke was calm. The Grand Duke, who had moistened his throat with tea, spoke indifferently.
“It must be difficult.”
At the Grand Duke’s single remark, Hakan let out an even deeper sigh. He stared quietly into his teacup as if there were something inside. Only his own worry-filled face shimmered on the murky tea.
***
When the Grand Duke returned, things had been organized to some extent.
Though it couldn’t compare to before because of the hasty preparations, the thin, moldy cloth was nowhere to be seen and fairly smooth bedding was laid out, and the cold, damp room was now warm. They had obtained fairly expensive candles to brighten the room, so there was no smell.
Since they had also bought urgent food supplies and tableware, Nelly, who received the liquor the Grand Duke handed her, had set up a simple drinking table. Still, having learned by watching from the sidelines, her hands weren’t too awkward as she arranged the liquor bottle, cups, and snacks on the makeshift table.
The Grand Duke unfolded a neatly folded paper. Finding Ronen, who was watching this with serious eyes, amusing, the corners of the Grand Duke’s mouth curled up slightly.
“Is it fascinating?”
“…Yes.”
“Lady Cornelia seemed to often obtain drugs… Weren’t there customers who used drugs?”
“I only heard about it, this is the first time I’m actually seeing it.”
“They were relatively decent customers then.”
There was no response to that. Not everyone who had to take drugs was a madman, and likewise, not everyone who didn’t take drugs was decent.
“Since it’s your first time, it would be good to control the amount. I don’t want to deal with a corpse.”
Saying this, the Grand Duke mixed an appropriate amount into the liquor and shook the bottle lightly. When he held out the bottle to Ronen, who seemed somewhat nervous, hesitant hands received it.
“Your… Your Grace…”
Even at Ronen’s words, the Grand Duke only watched quietly. Having no choice, Ronen brought the bottle to his lips. As his head tilted back slightly, his adam’s apple could be seen moving up and down greatly as he swallowed the liquor. The Grand Duke reached out and touched the white, long neck. The prominent adam’s apple twitched.
The Grand Duke obediently took the bottle Ronen handed back. He still stared intently at Ronen while drinking from the bottle. He watched as the white skin gradually flushed red with heat, whether from the drug or the alcohol.
“Quick reaction.”
He could probably count on his fingers the times he’d drunk alcohol. At most, he would have had a little of the liquor customers offered.
The Grand Duke, who had put down the bottle, got up and headed for the bed. The old bed creaked. Though it wasn’t as soft or smooth as before, the Grand Duke didn’t have the presence of mind to care about such things. Even though he lay down leisurely, his body heated up and his breath became hot. He felt the illusion that his body had become lighter.
Perhaps because he wasn’t one to enjoy drugs, the drug’s effects seemed to spread more quickly.
“How do you feel?”
“Strange… no, good.”
“Do you feel like you’re in paradise, as Hakan said?”
“…I don’t think this level could be called paradise.”
Saying this, Ronen also got up.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
