On Saturday morning, Charlotte arrived in the family dining room with a little secret anticipation and began enjoying the lavish breakfast prepared for her.
Unfortunately, her good mood was soon spoiled by her father, Raoul Sauron, who sat in silence and occasionally glanced her way.
Several days had passed since Tuesday, when she had visited the Gustav household and toured the printing factory with Roselle and Green. Her personal maid, Lila, who had been waiting at the entrance, had witnessed the attack inside the factory, and Roselle was bound to report it to his father as well. Keeping it secret had been all but impossible.
After learning what had happened, Raoul had clearly grown rather upset over his daughter's repeated concealment of the dangers she faced. He had been waging a "cold war" during their daily meals and morning and evening greetings for quite some time, leaving Charlotte feeling helpless before a stubborn elder.
As she ate breakfast, she could not help looking at Raoul.
The printing factory matter had already dragged on for several days. Green was waiting for news, and Roselle was probably studying those machines, yet she still had not broached the most crucial step on her end.
"You've stolen three glances at me already. Is there something you want to say?"
The baron's voice suddenly rang out. He set down his coffee cup and looked straight across the table, waiting for his daughter's answer.
You've been sneaking plenty of looks at me too. You're just waiting for me to speak first... Charlotte grumbled inwardly. Realizing this was no time to bicker, she put on a faint, ingratiating smile and said softly:
"It's about an idea Roselle Gustav and Green Randall have. Um, Green is the young man who helped me the last time I was attacked..."
Her voice grew quieter as she spoke. She lowered her head and glanced at Raoul from the corner of her eye, but when she found that mentioning Tuesday's events had not brought another angry look to his face, she continued:
"...They plan to launch a regularly published bulletin for local readers in Sushit. It would mainly cover information the city hall permits to be made public, shop notices, job openings, lost-and-found notices, and some lighthearted stories and interesting rumors. I'd like to know whether something like that needs a publishing permit."
Raoul frowned, apparently not having expected this sort of question from his daughter, and asked in puzzlement:
"A bulletin? Has someone commissioned Baron Gustav to do this?"
As I thought, people in this world don't even have the idea of buying newspapers. They only buy literary periodicals when they want them, and bulletins are just posted in squares and outside city hall. No one would pay for printed sheets full of official jargon that offered them little help... Charlotte considered this for a moment, then explained:
"They would publish and sell a small newspaper on their own initiative. The city hall news is only a pretext. Most of the space would be devoted to job listings, changes in prices, and recent happenings in this city or even the country as a whole-things ordinary people would find interesting. They think it would sell well."
As for paid advertising once circulation grew, Charlotte did not reveal that just yet.
"Selling to ordinary people..."
Raoul repeated the words quietly. He clearly did not think such a cheap newspaper could make much money and even regarded it as a fanciful experiment by a few young people.
But perhaps because Charlotte had taken the initiative to break their cold war for the first time in days, the displeasure in his eyes finally faded.
"If it's only distributed locally in Suhit City and doesn't touch on the government affairs of other regions, you generally only need city hall's permission and a guarantor of some standing." He thought for a moment. "But if it prints political news from Trier, discusses war, taxation, or royal secrets, or interprets the contents of the Church's Holy Bible as it pleases and makes the Church feel it has taken sides, that is not something a baron of the Sauron family can casually guarantee."
A baron of the Sauron family? So Father is willing to act as guarantor, and it doesn't sound particularly difficult... Starting with local everyday information is safest. We shouldn't court disaster by touching current politics right away, much less stir up religious conflict. Of course, if we secure the Church's tacit approval, perhaps we can go a little further... Charlotte committed these key points to memory.
Watching his daughter sink into thought, Raoul suddenly smiled and remarked:
"I thought you weren't interested in these things."
Charlotte froze.
She quickly recalled that the original Charlotte had chosen only language, music, etiquette, and similar subjects suited to a noble young lady's social life for her tutoring lessons. She had shown little enthusiasm for accounting, law, and estate management-the nobility's "traditional crafts."
Even after her elder brother Reynold Sauron had died, effectively leaving her the sole lawful heir to Baron Sauron's household, she had shown no interest in the knowledge she would have to master.
In the Intis Kingdom, women could not inherit the throne, but they could inherit hereditary titles and family property, though they ranked behind male heirs. Since most families had multiple children, women rarely actually inherited. Countries such as Loen, Feysac, and Feynapotter each had their own traditions, of which the original Charlotte had heard only passing mentions in her tutoring lessons.
Because the old, timid me is already dead. The me here now is interested in gold louis, titles, and status... She made the nasty joke to herself, then smiled and said:
"I just think I ought to learn a little more, so I can ease your burdens."
Raoul's expression softened. He seemed to want to reach out and pat her head, but held back because the dining table stood between them, and because she was no longer a little girl.
"Once Roselle decides to go ahead with it, I'll ask at city hall for you."
His tone was encouraging.
"Thank you, Father." Charlotte suppressed her delight and expressed her gratitude, then took advantage of the warmer atmosphere to continue. "There's one more thing. I need to visit Saint Roch Cathedral again today."
Raoul's gentle smile froze on his face.
"To see that nun who used you as bait?"
His tone turned cold, and his expression grew stern.
As expected, Father even knows about Viève. Lila probably doesn't know her, but Roselle heard my explanation, and once Uncle Leon learned about it, he would have told Father too... No, once the newspaper is established, I'll have to demand a bigger share to punish them... Charlotte grumbled inwardly. With her father still staring at her, she had no choice but to nod.
"Yes. She asked me to come to the cathedral over the weekend, saying she wanted to discuss the people who attacked me on Tuesday."
Charlotte's gaze drifted toward the cup of chocolate before her, which had already gone cold, and her voice dropped:
"I just thought the matter had already been resolved, and you've been worried enough lately..."
"Resolved?" Raoul did not raise his voice, but Charlotte felt even guiltier. "If the Church took the initiative to help you, that means Etienne really does have some connection to those murders in the old district. Do you think two or three people could cause something on that scale? Could there not be an even greater danger behind them?"
Charlotte opened her mouth, but ultimately could not argue.
From her perspective, the city's two major Churches had dealt with most of the cultists that very night. All that remained was to lure out the last few disgruntled survivors. But explaining any of that would inevitably require revealing the existence of Beyonder powers, as well as the fact that she was very likely the last surviving sacrificial offering.
One lie required more lies to cover it up, and she had already told countless lies.
Raoul watched her in silence. Only after a long while did his expression soften, and he said slowly:
"I know that even if I stop you, you'll sneak out anyway... Since the Church has already caught Etienne's accomplices and truly has been protecting you in secret, Miss Viève must have her reasons for asking you to come."
Charlotte quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"But," Raoul continued, "this time, Lila must stay with you throughout. And when you return, you must tell me what happened yourself. Don't make me hear it from your maid again."
Charlotte immediately nodded:
"I understand."
Leaving her personal maid in the carriage, Charlotte entered Saint Roch Cathedral alone, stepping into its gold leaf, stained-glass windows, and enormous murals.
This time, she did not have a chance to queue at the confessional. Just as she approached the side aisle, she saw a man in a gold-trimmed brown coat emerge from behind a pillar.
Charlotte recognized him. Outside the printing factory on Tuesday, he had stopped the workers who wanted to approach the storeroom and carried away the woman in black whom Viève had felled with a single punch.
"Good morning, Miss Sauron." The man touched the brim of his tricorne and bowed with a smile. "Sister Viève is waiting for you. Please follow me."
Charlotte nodded and followed him through the prayer hall to an area at the rear of the cathedral that was closed to ordinary worshippers.
As they walked along a corridor paved with pale stone tiles, the man suddenly said:
"You were very brave when facing those heretics that day, and sufficiently calm as well. If you hadn't devised a plan to lure them into a confined space and bought time with holy water, we might not have captured those two dangerous individuals so smoothly."
No, that really was just an accident. I never realized the beggar was one of the ambushers, and I only avoided the woman in black's attack through sheer luck... She wanted to say that she had merely been driven into a corner, and that it had little to do with bravery or composure, but his tone was so sincere that she did not know how to contradict him.
In the end, she could only say awkwardly:
"Praise the Sun."
The man's expression immediately grew solemn. He spread both arms in the already narrow corridor, stood straight, and replied reverently:
"Praise the Sun!"
Brother, aren't you a little too devout? There's no one else here... Charlotte silently shut her mouth and decided to say as little as possible to this fanatic from now on.
After passing through the corridor, they ascended a spiral staircase.
The stone steps were narrow and clean, and the walls were painted gold as well, with ventilation windows at regular intervals. Charlotte recognized this as one of the cathedral's four small towers. Realizing she was heading to the area above the prayer hall, she eagerly prepared to see an official Beyonder base hidden within the Church.
Yet the farther they climbed, the more spacious their surroundings became. Reference rooms, lounges, rows of filing cabinets, and sunlit corridors so quiet that she could hear their footsteps echo made her feel as though she had entered an area where the clergy worked and rested.
It looks like I'm still a long way from getting anywhere near the real core... She was a little disappointed, but felt that this made sense.
While she was thinking, the man stopped before a dark wooden door and knocked lightly twice.
"Come in."
Viève's gentle voice came from inside.
The man opened the door and stepped aside to let Charlotte enter.
The room was much brighter than she had imagined. A huge stained-glass window stood directly opposite the door. Morning sunlight streamed through the glass onto an old-fashioned long table, the backs of chairs, and the Sun Holy Emblem on the wall, making the entire room seem enveloped in a warm golden mist.
By the window, Viève had changed back into her ordinary nun's habit. Her blond hair was neatly tucked beneath her veil, and her expression was as gentle as it had been in the confessional.
She first nodded to the man in the brown coat and said:
"Thank you, Brother Jellen. Please leave us, and lock the door on your way out."
Only after he had closed the door did she turn back to Charlotte with a smile.
"Good morning, Miss Charlotte. There are a few things you should know about the attack several days ago." Without any small talk, she went straight to the subject Charlotte cared about most. "The good news is that we managed to get quite a lot of useful information out of them before they died. The bad news is...
"...This is still far from over."