The Monster Lady and the Holy Knight - Chapter 24

Startled by the sound of the door, Veronica turned around abruptly. She almost ran out of the room but stopped herself, realizing how foolish that would look.

No, calm down. You’re not locked in. If you panic and run out now, that’s when you’ll really look ridiculous.

She was, after all, Leon Berg’s guest. The priests were right.

Once Leon finished his audience with the Pope, he would come looking for her. He would explain the mission and, realizing there had been a mistake, he would move her to a different room. Leon was a rational man. He would agree that even if there was mold on the walls and bugs in the bed, an inn room would be better than this.

Veronica took a deep breath and tried to calm herself by looking around the room. There was another door, and when she opened it, she found a beautifully decorated bathroom. Several nun’s habits were hanging up. Everything in the room was flawless, no matter where her eyes landed. So why did it feel like she had stepped into a house of the dead?

She bit her lip nervously as she stepped out of the bathroom. Then, she heard a strange thumping sound from the wall. A loud bang, as if something had hit the wall from the other side.

Startled, Veronica instinctively moved closer to the wall. She pressed her ear against it. And then…

Bang!

The sound reverberated through the wall, making her jump back. She watched as a painting on the wall shook slightly. It was a painting of a man carrying a cross up a hill, with a woman wiping his face. They were trembling.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

High-pitched screams came from the other side of the wall. Veronica clamped her hands over her ears and backed away, unable to bear it any longer. She tried to leave the room.

But the door wouldn’t open. The handle turned as if locked.

***

“The purpose of this search is to find traces of Bahamut. Recently, a few knights who went out on reconnaissance disappeared. You are to search the area where they were last seen and report back.”

The voice was flat, without any emotion. It was exactly what you would expect from a well-trained Holy Knight.

Leon thought back to five years ago, when an eighteen-year-old rookie had followed alongside a fellow knight. Hadn’t the young knight said he respected him? That he had become a knight because of him?

Other than the shining look in his eyes, Leon couldn’t remember much about him. Those eyes that had once been full of dreams were now gone.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“The missing knights are Sir Roengreen, Sir Medici, and—”

“No, I meant your introduction.”

The silence that followed was brief. Leon didn’t rush him as he walked down the stairs covered in a red carpet.

“I’m Oscar Berg.”

Berg. That explains it.

“Is that why you’ve been following me around like a puppy?”

“I was instructed to serve you by His Holiness.”

“Ah, to keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t cause trouble?”

“Only within the Holy City. I’m not to follow you on the search.”

“You must be quite favored if His Holiness doesn’t want to risk sending you outside.”

“I dare not think about the will of those I serve. I am merely loyal.”

For the first time since the conversation began, Oscar’s voice held a trace of emotion. Leon paused, thinking of what to call that strong feeling, and by the time they reached the fourth basement of the papal palace, he had found the right word.

Resentment.

It was resentment toward someone who had broken their vows.

Leon smirked and continued walking. A child born with the Berg name was bound to seek recognition wherever they went, just as Leon had once obsessed over proving his worth to God upon learning of his holy power.

He despised the brother who betrayed their father and spent his entire life trying to prove his worth.

People who are weak need something to dedicate themselves to in order to survive—whether it’s a dream, family, money, or honor.

Leon’s steady steps halted at the door of the room where the woman was. The last room on the fourth floor, where high-ranking priests who had sinned were kept, was surprisingly well-kept for a room at the end of a black corridor.

The Black Corridor, where heretics and criminals were purified, was not a prison—it was a fragment of hell. Boys training to become holy knights were sometimes sent there for a time of repentance, so neither Leon nor Oscar was particularly startled. The more one listens to the sounds of others, the more painful it becomes. They had long since learned to block out such noise.

When Leon inserted the key into the lock, the door opened with a creak.

The room was quiet. Other than a lump under the blankets, it looked as though no one was inside.

Leon approached, and Oscar followed, closing the door behind them.

Leon sat on the hard bed and reached out toward the trembling blanket. The breathing under it grew louder, and just before he could touch it, the blanket was thrown aside.

Flashing red eyes.

Bahamut’s eyes. No, eyes that resembled Bahamut’s.

A sword shot out like a sharpened blade, stopping just in front of Leon’s chest. It had sliced through the blanket, sending white feathers flying everywhere. While Leon didn’t blink, Veronica’s pupils widened, trembling.

Relief, joy, and resentment. Leon read all of them in her eyes. As he grabbed the shaking blade, Veronica gasped and let go.

“I thought you were someone else… Oh, don’t grab it—it’s dangerous.”

“What’s more dangerous is how quickly you hand over your weapon once someone grabs it.”

Leon slid the blade off the bed and glanced to the side.

“I didn’t realize I was responsible for guarding you as well.”

Veronica followed his gaze and was startled to see the knight standing close by.

The knight with thick brown curly hair, despite his young face, exuded an intimidating atmosphere. His icy expression and the half-drawn sword were likely to blame.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why does the assimilated one carry a weapon?”

Oscar sheathed his sword as he asked the question. It was only then that Veronica realized this was the same knight who had met them outside the city walls, the one wearing a helmet.

“Because I gave it to her.”

“Sir Berg.”

“Don’t you find it strange to use that title? That’s why I avoid using it on purpose.”

Leon smirked as he added, “Wait outside.”

It was a short but clear order to leave. Leon’s lips were curved into a lazy smile, but his sharp gaze was that of a beast protecting its blood-stained prey.

Oscar was surprised by the defensive posture. The Leon he knew, and the one he had heard about, was indifferent to anyone and anything besides God. It wasn’t like him to bare his teeth at someone just for drawing a sword near the assimilated one.

“I apologize if I caused any misunderstanding. The door was locked, and I heard disturbing noises outside, so I thought you were dangerous people.” Veronica also apologized, cutting in.

Oscar gave her a suspicious look, scanning the woman in gray nun’s habit. She looked ordinary enough, hardly dangerous, especially compared to Leon. The only unusual thing about her was the pair of red eyes that didn’t match her hair color.

Finding no real threat, Oscar reluctantly replied, “…I will wait outside.”

After a polite bow, he marched out of the room with precise steps. The last thing he saw before closing the door was the two of them sitting on the bed, looking only at each other, as if they had completely forgotten the world around them.

The door closed with a creak and a thud, sealing them inside under the warm glow of the yellow firelight.

***

“It took longer than I expected.”

It was Veronica who spoke first. The room was filled with a warm atmosphere, and just the fact that Leon was present made the once-empty room feel complete.

“I had a lot to take care of. As you know, I left a lot behind in Aseldorf.”

Leon’s hair, as he spoke, was still damp and lay flat. Unlike its usual unruly state, the way it hung limp made him look like a young boy for some reason.

Veronica found herself imagining what it would have been like to grow up with someone like Leon—a proud, brazen, and mischievous boy. The kind of boy girls would outwardly pretend to dislike but secretly adore.

“I bought new armor and had dinner. And you? How was the papal hospitality?”

“I had meat pie. For dessert… oh, there was honeycomb.”

“Honeycomb, huh? How extravagant. The poor bees must feel robbed of their home. Back in my day, the papal meals were known for their simplicity.”

“You sound like an old man.”

Veronica’s candid remark made Leon chuckle. The awkwardness that had lingered since they had left the wilderness was gone, and he was back to his usual relaxed, nonchalant self.

He made no mention of the torture chambers he had passed or the locked door he had entered through. In the end, it was Veronica who had to bring up the topic.

“I thought you weren’t going to come.”

“Why?”

“I thought you were angry with me for what happened in the Great Temple.”

The smile slowly faded from Leon’s face as he leaned on the bed. Veronica didn’t take her eyes off his sharp features.

“I’ve felt awkward since this morning. You didn’t yell or even scold me, but…”

At first, she had waited naively. But after being locked up for half a day and greeted only by the sight of dinner being pushed through a slot in the door, she began to wonder if he would ever come. The image of him avoiding eye contact was seared into her memory. If even family could become indifferent, what could she expect from him?

The ‘noisy company,’ the uncertainty of their pass, the knight’s knowing expression, the locked door… Veronica wasn’t a fool. A child who grows up paying attention to others becomes an adult who can read between the lines. If she didn’t suspect that he had handed her over to the papal palace, she would have been naïve.

She wasn’t sad, really. She wasn’t sad at all. She was just lonely and cold, so she pulled the blanket over herself and curled up. Once again, she stood alone before the ashes of Bayern, trembling in the cold of the snowfield.