I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family

His casual words rang a bell in my head.

My suspicion that Luca might be the duke had been confirmed.

And that brought a smile to my face.

“Yes. Rather than a disease, there must be another problem that caused it. So I’m going to dig up some information first.”

“I’ll do my best to help you.”

“Since Luca is helping me, I feel like everything is going to work out just fine.”

As I smiled and made eye contact with him, the carriage gradually slowed.

I could see that we had reached the familiar temple from the carriage window. No different than last time, the priests immediately flocked to our carriage.

“Madam. Shall I open the door?”

“Yes.”

The priests were gathered in a smaller number than before and looked at me with shining eyes.

“Is there anyone you want to meet? If there’s none, allow me to show you around.”

It was my first time seeing this priest.

It wasn’t just that. They surrounded us like a pack of hounds fighting for prey. But when some of them recognized who we were, they couldn’t hide their disappointed expression and turned their backs.

As if they already knew that I visited this place once.

“I’m here to see Priest Raphael.”

“I see. Then someone else will guide you to him. Hey, you. Take them to Priest Raphael.”

Of course I would prefer to meet Raphael more than these unfamiliar priests. But the priest, who had been talking so amicably until just now, signaled to another priest nearby with a disappointed expression.

As if suddenly I had become a nuisance.

So this is how you’re going to behave, huh?

“I’m Isaac the junior priest. I’ll show you the way.”

“Thank you. Last time, I gave a donation to Sir Raphael, but today I’d like to give a donation to Isaac who kindly guided me. Will that be okay?”

At that moment, the priest who pretended to be friendly and the other priests stopped walking.

The low-ranking priest who had pushed me to Isaac rushed to block my way.

“Now that I think about it, I just happen to have time. Please allow me to guide you. Step aside, Isaac.”

“No. I’m sorry. I want to be guided by Isaac. You seem very busy.”

I passed him with a smug smile and treated him just as much as he treated me like a nuisance earlier.

“A-Are you sure you want me to guide you?”

“Yeah, it’s my own choice. Ah, here’s the donation.”

In the future, I’ll receive a lot of funds as the duchess. I simply gave Isaac a very small portion of it. His eyes lit up upon seeing the money.

“This is such an honor for me. Thank you very much!”

“You’re welcome.”

I could hear the disappointed groaning behind me, but I walked ahead without minding any of them.

“That aside, if you’re a junior priest, then I assume you’re not as busy, right?”

“Yes. Except for praying time.”

“Then, I’m thinking of visiting every three days, so would you like to escort me from now on?”

“Yes! I’ll be waiting.”

I already met Raphael once, but a senior priest like him wouldn’t always be available. So it would be pretty useful to get to know Isaac.

In the meantime, we reached the room after walking through the hall for a long time.

“Would you please wait here for a minute? I’ll bring in Priest Raphael.”

“Yes.”

The door closed, and the same silence lingered over Luca and me like last time.

“The temple is really filled with money-crazy people.”

“At first, the High Priest fired those who did shady business within the temple. But it comes with a consequence.”

“Consequence?”

“I should rake in as much money as possible if I’m going to get kicked out anyway. That’s what they thought.”

A dry laugh escaped my mouth.

“Whoa. They never fail to impress me.”

“In the end, the High Priest gave up on them. There’ll always be people like that no matter how many people he kicked out.”

Why can’t I do it when others can?

And that’s why corruption would always exist in this place.

At that time, the door opened and Priest Raphael rushed in.

“Who brought you here? If you had contacted me, I would’ve taken you here without trouble.”

“No. It’s alright. Will I be able to meet the High Priest today?”

“Of course. I checked earlier that the High Priest is here today.”

“Then can I meet him right away?”

“……”

But Priest Raphael didn’t budge from his spot with a spark in his eyes.

So I had to take out my purse again, pretending as if I had forgotten something.

“Is this enough-”

“Yes. I will do my best to bring His Holiness to you. So please wait a moment.”

He really irked me whenever he spoke like that. I started to consider abandoning him and just stick with Isaac next time.

Raphael hummed a tune as he pocketed the money and left. A moment later, he walked in with the High Priest just as he promised.

“It’s an honor to see you, Your Holiness.”

“Aren’t you Duchess Petri? I didn’t expect to see you this soon.”

“Aren’t we supposed to grab any chance presented? Anyway, I couldn’t thank you properly last time, so I asked to meet you even though I knew you were probably busy.”

“It’s alright.”

Shortly after our greeting Raphael closed the door, and there were only me, Luca, the High Priest and his knight in the room.

“But it seems like you’re doing a better job as a High Priest. I don’t think you’ve ever done it before.”

I could feel the knight’s sharp gaze on me. Well, it’s not like I care about his stares anyway.

“Yes. That seems to be the case. I’m done with my business anyway.”

“Your business?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking for something. But I couldn’t find it no matter how hard I searched. That’s why I couldn’t really focus on my duties here.”

I only nodded without a word.

“But I’ve been looking for something that I haven’t been able to find for a long time. In fact….even if I found what I’m looking for, I still won’t do my duty in this temple. I hate to deal with political interest and corruption that only gives privileges to those who give donations. But now I changed my mind.”

I could see the High Priest’s face was shining so brightly while he was rambling non-stop.

“That was an abrupt change.”

“Yeah. I changed my mind thanks to Duchess Leona.”

“Because of me?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you going to specify what exactly made you change?”

Along with a smile, he nodded with a solemn look. I had nothing more to say if he reacted like that.

“That aside, you can come to the temple anytime if you want to see me. I may not be able to help you a lot, but I can give my blessing for your future.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll be on my way now. I have another purpose for coming here, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to take more of your time.”

“Yes. I hope peace will always be with you.”

I bid farewell to the High Priest for the last time before leaving the room. I was going to ask Raphael to guide me, but he was already gone.

“Who are you looking for?”

Instead, Isaac waited in front of the door even though his duty was already over.

“Oh, Isaac?”

“Yes! I’m here. Do you need any help?”

“I want to go to the temple library. Can you take me there?”

“Oh! Only priests are allowed to enter the library. More importantly, only an authorized person can enter…do you still want me to take you there, though?”

I lifted the corner of my mouth as I pulled a medal from my rabbit pocket.

“Can I enter if I have this?”

“Ah! Yes! You can enter. Let’s go.”

He was such a kind man. If it was Raphael, I would have to pay him once more.

“Isaac. Don’t you earn extra money as a priest?”

“Oh! W-Well, I’m just a junior priest! So I don’t do such business….um yeah..”

“Don’t worry. I understand what you mean.”

“I…I didn’t come into the temple to make money. Of course, in order to not starve and send some money to my parents….so I have to….you know…”

Just like the High Priest’s knight, some people in the temple are truly here to serve God.

So I watched him in silence.

Come to think of it, he looked older than Priest Raphael.

“So what’s the difference between a senior and a junior priest?”

“We were ranked after taking a test. I…I failed several tests. People hated me because I couldn’t get along with my superiors.”

“I guess you can only pass the test if you can please your superior, huh?”

“That seems to be the case for the priests and knights here.”

A bitter smile crossed his face as he quickened his steps. I felt like I was poking someone in the wrong place, so I followed him quietly with a guilty feeling.

And then we arrived in front of a white door guarded by two knights.

“You can’t go in here.”

“Oh, this person has…”

Isaac tried to explain about my medal in hurry, but the knights looked down at him with a mocking tone.

“Does a junior priest know anything about literature?”

“Don’t be so mean. I know this priest. Aren’t you Isaac? You entered the temple at the age of ten and have been a junior priest for 30 years. How pitiful.”

“What a fool.”

Whether they realized my presence or not, they threw shade at Isaac as if they were superior to him.

They weren’t that great anyway.

“So just leave, Isaac. Do you even know what this place is like? I can’t even bear to watch a bastard like you.”

“…Please hear me out…”

“You seem pretty cocky just because you brought a believer with you. Get lost already.”

It didn’t stop there. As if they didn’t care whether I was there or not, the knight hit Isaac in the stomach with his scabbard.

“Ugh..”

“Get lost.”

Did they even normalize violence like this?

So I rushed forward to shield Isaac, and naturally, Luca also marched forward to shield me.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What am I doing, huh? I’m just protecting this priest from crazy people like you.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Will you still be able to say that after I show you this?”

I took out the medal and brandished it at them.

At that moment, the knight’s face stiffened.

“T-That’s…!”