Ding, dong!
Ringing out were the dozen bells that signaled the start of the funeral, and yet there was no sign of the ceremony's commencement.
[Rienne] "This doesn't make any sense."
The High Priest, who was meant to lead the ceremony, had vanished. The only ones present were the priests meant to accompany him, who claimed to know nothing of his whereabouts.
[Rienne] "Who was the last to see High Priest Milrod?"
Becoming anxious, Rienne gathered the priests and clergymen from the Temple together. They all awkwardly glanced at one another, but none could give a clear answer.
[Rienne] "Someone must've seen him. When was the last any of you heard from him?"
[Priest] "Well….."
The priests quieted, turning and whispering to one another with hushed words before quickly summarizing the situation.
At the very least, they were certain the High Priest had left the Temple. They could all clearly remember him making his descent. Once the priests made their way down, the coffins came next. All six of them were loaded onto a cart.
But then some of them claimed to see the High Priest get on a horse. Some didn't.
Essentially, none of them could track the High Priest's location after he arrived at the royal chapel.
[Rienne] "Who was tasked with supporting him during all of this?"
[Priest] "That's….."
And the answers became murky again.
The ones who served the High Priest closely were those lower in the hierarchy. They usually would choose one among the young clergymen, and they'd take turns attending to him.
[Priest] "No one was selected to follow him from the Temple today."
But the High Priest didn't have an attendant this time around. They said he didn't need one because so many priests were sent with him, so the additional help was unnecessary.
[Rienne] "Then we'll just need to find others who may have seen something."
It was the Tiwakan who were tasked with moving the coffins.
Just behind the altar were the six coffins, and beyond even that were the ones meant to watch over the proceedings—sitting in chairs or kneeling on the floor.
As she stood in front of the altar, Rienne turned back and looked at Black, sitting among the pews, right in the front row.
[Rienne] "Lord Tiwakan."
The look on his face made it clear he knew something had happened.
[Black] "What's wrong?"
[Rienne] "The High Priest has gone missing. Would it be possible to speak with the people who accompanied him from the Temple?"
[Black] "Yes."
Black gave a soft and gentle answer and gestured his head behind him. Despite how small and insignificant of a movement it was, Phermos immediately understood the signal.
[Phermos] "Yes, my Lord."
[Black] "The High Priest is gone. Did you know anything about this?"
[Phermos] "What? The High Priest?"
It looked like this was the first Phermos was hearing about it.
[Phermos] "How could that happen....? We'll find him immediately."
[Black] "If there was an incident, there must be intent behind it."
[Phermos] "Of course, my Lord."
Phermos quickly left the chapel.
It was becoming clear even to the onlookers who came for the funeral that something had happened. Quiet and low murmurs began to spread through the crowd.
[Rienne] "Who do you think could have done this?"
Rienne whispered to him with a soft voice. When he said 'intent', there was only one way to interpret that.
[Black] "Someone who takes issue with this."
[Rienne] "Ah…..right."
Rienne glanced over towards where the Kleinfelders were sitting in the pews. Linden was there, but Rafit was nowhere to be found. They were still conscious of Rafit's face being recognized.
Linden Kleinfelder was definitely suspicious if they discovered there was intent behind the incident, but it still didn't make sense.
This funeral was meant to mourn Rafit Kleinfelder. At the very least, they needed to look upset that their eldest son's parting rites were being delayed.
[Rienne] "I don't know what they'd gain from doing this. They may not like that the funeral is being held in the royal chapel, but there is no better location as of now."
[Black] "That means they're taking issue with something else, not the place."
[Rienne] "Something else?"
[Black] "A person, maybe."
[Rienne] ". . ."
Then, a haunting thought came to Rienne's mind.
Is he upset that the High Priest decided against delaying the wedding because he received Tiwakan money? Is that why he's decided to take out his frustrations like this?
…..No, he's not the kind of person to simply vent his anger. He would think of something much worse…..
Thump!
Rienne's thoughts were cut off by the urgent sound of the chapel door opening.
[Phermos] "My Lord, we've found the High Priest!"
It was Phermos, charging into the chapel with a group of mercenaries.
[Rienne] "What? Where?"
In spite of him saying they 'found' him, the High Priest wasn't with them.
[Phermos] "I think he's here."
[Rienne] "What do you mean….here?"
As Phermos pointed out, everyone's eyes expectantly followed the line his finger made.
Straight towards one of the six coffins.
.
* * *
.
Scrape...
The lid of the coffin was being pushed aside.
After Phermos left, he began to question people who helped move the coffins, looking for any other information. That was when someone made a comment about one of the coffins seeming particularly heavy.
[Phermos] "There's no better place to hide a body than a coffin, I suppose."
Phermos murmured to himself, peeking through the crack as the lid of the coffin was slowly moved aside.
After hearing about the disappearance of someone, and later hearing about one of the coffins getting heavier, the most natural progression was believing an additional body had been added.
Scrape….boom!
Finally, the coffin was opened.
[Rienne] "Ah…!"
There were two bodies in the coffin.
The body, laid on top and seemingly forced in, was indeed the High Priest.
[Phermos] "Just as I thought."
Phermos adjusted his glasses, muttering to himself as he did.
[Phermos] "Considering someone made an attempt to hide the body, this makes it certain. This was no accident... he was murdered."
No one could deny it.
Rienne immediately turned her head and looked at Linden, but he was leaning forward with a shocked expression on his face—like he was just as horrified as anyone else.
That makes no sense.
Wasn't he the one who did this? Rienne felt so certain that he was responsible…. so why did he look like that, acting like he didn't know anything?
[Phermos] "We'll need another coffin."
As if Phermos' words made everything real, suddenly the priests' faces looked extremely bewildered. Some even fell to their knees, reciting memorized prayers.
[Rienne] "Who will lead the funeral now? Was anyone else prepared to take his place?"
The question was so sudden, the priests were surprised.
[Priest] "Well….. we don't….."
[Rienne] "Are you saying we must postpone the funeral?"
[Priest] "Ah, perhaps….. if we cannot fill the High Priest's chair..."
[Rienne] "Well, I was only wondering..... Then shall I ask if you have anyone in mind for the position? Is that a better question to ask first?"
[Priest] ". . ."
All seven of the priests quickly quieted, averting their eyes away from her.
No candidate was chosen ahead of time because it was the duty of the aristocratic delegation to choose that person.
Linden Kleinfelder stood up from his seat.
[Linden] "Considering how short on time we are, we must call upon the delegation as soon as possible to discuss a new High Priest, Princess."
[Rienne] ". . ."
Rienne quietly bit her lip.
Is there no end to your shamelessness?
[Rienne] "Of course, Lord Kleinfelder."
[Linden] "I'll close out the meeting as fast as I can and inform you of the new High Priest."
His words were no different from saying the new High Priest he'd send for would just be his puppet.
[Linden] "Let us depart."
With that, Linden left the chapel alongside his party. This funeral was meant to say their farewells to the eldest son of their family, and yet no concern was found on his face.
[Black] "Don't think you've lost this.
Rienne felt someone grab her hand from behind.
It was Black.
[Rienne] "….Huh?"
Rienne lifted her head up and looked at him. His eyes were so clear, they were like blue mirrors shining down on her.
[Black] "Maintaining order in Nauk is my responsibility now. We'll find the one who did this."
[Rienne] "Oh…."
Rienne's response was soft.
Black was right.
Linden had completely forgotten about that. He was only ever able to get away with whatever he pleased because Rienne lacked the power to properly keep him in check.
But things were different now.
The Arsaks had a new order on their side—their new Guardian Knights. The safety of Nauk was in their hands now. Having forgotten that, Linden was just digging his own grave.
The murder of a High Priest was something that could not be forgiven.
[Rienne] "I trust that."
Only one problem remained.
[Rienne] "Provided we can find evidence as well."
If they wanted to accuse Linden of murder, they needed ample evidence to back it up.
.
* * *
.
They couldn't leave the bodies alone any longer.
Though the funeral itself was postponed, the bodies were eventually buried—all six of them laid to rest and returned to the earth. All of them except for the body of the High Priest, who lacked a coffin.
A mess from start to finish, the already dismal affair of a funeral was made even gloomier.
All the way until just before dawn, Rienne spent time with the grieving families, comforting them in their sobs and sorrows, and sent them all home with a gold coin each.
[Phermos] "I can see clearly why the Princess was so poor, now."
Phermos pointed out, awkwardly scratching his cheek.
The road, bathed in moonlight, was quiet and calm. Even the normally loud sound of horses felt quiet and subdued, as if they knew they were coming back from a grave site.
As they returned, Black did his best to stay a comfortable distance from Rienne as he followed her from behind.
It wasn't lost on him that the bodies they buried that day were dead by his hand. He didn't exactly regret what he did nor was he disgusted with himself for having killed others.
But he was worried Rienne might see things differently.
[Phermos] "Perhaps it's virtuous of a leader to do that sort of thing, but she should really look at her own circumstances first. Didn't she need to repair her current mourning dress because she couldn't afford to get a new one?"
After staying quiet for a moment, Black frowned.
[Black] "It's because she's that kind of person that she accepted my proposal." (1)
[Phermos] "That's true, but..."
Phermos scratched his cheek again. The more he learned about Princess Rienne's circumstances, the more he realized the complexities of it all.
Why couldn't you have proposed earlier….back when Princess Rienne wasn't involved with another man?
There still would've been a commotion regardless, but no one would've died over this.
It was already unusual that the Tiwakan were dealing with the bodies so closely, but now Phermos was being made to confront how uncomfortable he felt when he watched Princess Rienne bow her head before the mourning families.
[Phermos] "But how did they kill the High Priest? I didn't think they were foolish enough to do something like this."
Phermos quickly changed the subject. This topic was much more important right now.
The Kleinfelders continued to be a roadblock when it came to Black's marriage to Princess Rienne. Not to mention how difficult it was to solve this problem without bloodshed. That meant they couldn't conduct themselves as roughly as they normally did.
Phermos believed he was starting to understand what Black truly wanted.
What his Lord desired was to get back not just the land of Nauk or Princess Rienne, but the entirety of his past that he had lost.
Bloodshed wasn't necessary to do that.
Using such blatant force implied 'to take away', not 'to take back'.
[Phermos] "Do you think he's confident he hid all the evidence properly? If any remains, we'll find it somehow."
[Black] "That's the question. When the body was revealed, he seemed surprised. Didn't look like an act."
[Phermos] "Oh…..so you don't think he meant to kill him? Or maybe the assassin he hired made a mistake…..?"
[Black] "Something must've gone wrong."
[Phermos] "Then we can start there. If a mistake is made, no doubt the evidence of it lingers."
[Black] "Right."
Cutting off his words early, as per usual, a few moments later, Black added on one last sentiment.
[Black] "Leave no stone unturned."
[Phermos] "Oh….uh, yes sir."
After that, Black went on ahead. Left behind all by himself, Phermos clicked his tongue with a puzzled expression on his face.
[Phermos] "He seems very concerned about this."
Black approached Rienne, but just as he was about to start matching her speed, he slowed down and quietly trailed behind her.
Phermos never thought he'd see such a sight, watching Black mutter to himself like he'd given up on whatever he was going to do.
[Phermos] "Who knew my Lord could act like that….."
It certainly was a surprise.
.
* * *
.
Thwack!
[Linden] "Are you out of your mind!?"
Meanwhile, a small storm was brewing on the Kleinfelder's side of things.
Linden ran around, completely unhinged, wreaking absolute havoc on everything he saw. Someone's head was bleeding from the box Linden had thrown at them, completely silent as they sat.
[Linden] "What the hell were you thinking, putting the body in the coffin like that!? You should've done it without making it obvious who was responsible!"
That someone was the one who killed the High Priest on behalf of the Kleinfelders. Even the sight of this person silently bowing their head made Linden fume.
[Linden] "You idiot! If you didn't want to be caught, why would you do that!?"
Thwack, thwack!
Without rest or mercy, Linden Kleinfelder beat them.
* * *
T/N: (1) He's saying that Rienne only accepted because she cares about her people.