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The situation deteriorated rapidly.
Years of highborn life gave me perfect control of my reactions. Nonetheless, I internally winced when the commoner girl confirmed what her and her parents' clothing already told us. She was the daughter of a guard and seamstress, the lowest of the Lower City.
The High Bishop’s pretense dropped like overripe fruit. He ordered his grey priests to seize the girl.
But then came the first surprise. The father fought back. As the mother hugged their daughter close, the father grappled with the three grey priests, knocking them unconscious in quick succession. His heroics, however, would yield no reward.
Admirable as his actions were, he defied an order from the clergy and, more importantly, her brother. While we were no longer considered nobles, such action against us would only result in execution. The High Bishop arrogantly informed the family of their fate as more grey priests gathered due to the commotion. The father may be a good fighter, but even he could not overturn the disadvantage in numbers.
And then came the second surprise.
A wave of mana surged through the room. Its strength and purity were on the level of an archnoble’s, powerful enough for me to notice. Accompanying it was a voice, woven from venom and mana.
“Enough!” The little blue-haired girl drew the attention of everyone in the room. Her irises glowed with all the Divine Colors. And though the others most likely couldn’t sense it, a thick mantle of mana swirled around her. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on my mother and father.”
A choked gasp escaped the High Bishop. Only then did I realize that his face flushed, slowly fading into blue. I stood up in shock. The commoner girl was Crushing him.
“You invited us here to have a discussion. Is this what you call a discussion?” She stalked closer to the High Bishop.
“Some-someone! Help!” That was all the High Bishop could manage.
As much as I enjoyed watching the fool of a High Bishop suffer, his death would lead to bigger problems down the line. I called out to the girl. “Myne! Your mana’s leaking out! Control your emotions!”
I drew her attention, giving the fat fool some respite. But as she met my eyes, the full weight of her Crushing came down on me. I was unprepared. I underestimated her. If not for the table, her Crushing would have brought me to my knees. What did this girl experience for her mana to become this powerful?
“How?” she asked.
“Like… I’m sure… you always do,” I forced out, struggling to counteract her torrent of mana.
“How am I supposed to quell my rage toward a man who wants to execute my father?” Her question silenced me with its simple logic. And in hearing no answer, Myne turned back to the High Bishop.
“St-stay away!” The bishop tried to crawl away only to fall under her Crushing once more. His face turned red, then blue, then a dark shade of purple. He began frothing at the lips as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. With a weighty thud, he collapsed to the floor.
“Hold it! If you continue, you’ll Crush his heart!” His death would draw her attention, and there’d be no good ending for anyone, especially Myne.
But her icy voice offered the High Bishop no reprieve. “He was ready to kill a person,” she reasoned. “I’m sure he was ready to risk his own life as well.”
I was the only one who could see her lips curl into a vicious sneer as she stretched her hands out to the bishop’s writhing body, as if to carry him up the towering staircase herself.
I would normally never engage in a battle unless my victory was assured. But this was no longer a question about practicality, but of necessity. I had no confidence in Sylvester’s ability to restrain that humanoid grun should she learn of the High Bishop’s death. Between stopping my stepmother and stopping Myne, I chose the latter.
“Myne!” I placed myself between her and the High Bishop, kneeing to meet her.
She silently glared back, her rainbow-colored eyes shimmering with mana and rage. “Move,” she commanded.
“You must calm down. We can still talk things out,” I stressed.
“‘Talk things out?’” Her head cocked to one side. Her brow twitched. I detected an air of sarcasm and amusement. “With force?” Her eyes locked onto mine. “Or mana?”
I met her Crushing head on again. Her mana bore into me, reacting against my own. The impact sent waves of pain surging though my chest. I coughed up blood, dyeing the temple floor in Geduldh’s color.
But I endured. My mind raced to concoct a method of calming Myne. I had no feystones nor magic tools to absorb the mana. That left appealing to Myne herself. Her mercy? No. She had none, as far as I could tell. Even I wouldn’t spare an enemy on moral principles. Then, what? Gold? A cure for Devouring? Ah!
I returned Myne’s glare with a warning. “You mustn’t kill him.” Sure enough, she remained unmoved. I continued, “If you kill the High Bishop, your parents will be accessories to the murder of a noble. I know you wouldn’t want that.”
Her icy mask melted like Ewigeliebe’s prison in Flutrane’s waters to reveal Geduldh’s warmth. She values her family, I noted.
“My family… would be hurt because of me?” The fluctuating mana around her dimmed.
“I see you’ve returned to your senses.” I hid my relief. Despite being a child, Myne was rational enough to understand my reasoning. With a second to collect my thoughts, I weighed my options.
Having Myne harmed was not an option anymore. Having felt her mana’s strength and capacity, Ehrenfest couldn’t afford to waste it. If we were to trap Myne here with force, we’d constantly be dealing with a rebellious girl with enough mana to challenge me. Should she get loose when I’m not around… we’d need half, if not the entire Knights’ Order to recapture her without killing her. The other option, if she remains here voluntarily, I would have to deal with the High Bishop’s wounded pride.
The choice was simple. “Let’s have the discussion you came to have.”
“You mean you’ll accept all our demands?” Myne’s innocent tone showed she had no idea how irked most nobles would be if they heard that from a commoner. But as someone constantly reminded me through the years, I was not most nobles.
“Yes, but before that, you must get your raging mana under control.” I gently rested my hand on her shoulder, hoping to reassure her. “Can you do that?”
Myne gave a small nod and closed her eyes. The mana in the room dissipated. And with my hand on her shoulder, I felt her own mana calm. When her eyes opened, the Divine Colors faded, leaving only her original, golden eyes. She swayed; the extensive use of mana had to be tiring. I caught her and steadied her as her parents ran up to us.
I stepped back to give them space and privacy, watching in admiration and envy at their exchange of kind words and warm embraces. As I used my handkerchief to wipe the trail of blood from my lips, Myne’s voice rang out with concern. “Umm… Head Priest, are you alright?”
Compassion? For someone who stood by while she was about to be ripped away from her loving family? For someone who protect the one who wished to harm her? But I quelled the questions in my mind and responded, “This is my punishment. This happened because I did not stop the High Bishop from antagonizing you.”
My eyes flickered around the room, jumping from Myne, to her parents, to the grey priests struggling to carry the still unconscious High Bishop to his room. “I did not expect your commoner parents to defy a noble’s orders.”
“Myne is my precious daughter,” her father declared with the tone and dignity of a noble. “I’ve said so countless times.”
His response elicited an amused sigh from me. The things we sacrificed for our pride and power.
I knelt again, placing a hand on Myne’s head. “I envy you for having such loving parents. Be they orphans or nobles, everyone in the church was cast aside by their parents.”
That was third surprise. Seeing this loving family protecting and supporting each other dredged up feelings from within me that I had not felt in years. It made me speak naively honest words that would be fatal in noble society. I had to be more careful. Thankfully, the only other noble present was the unconscious one being half-dragged, half-carried through the door.
As I gestured Myne and her parents to the chairs at the table, I thought about her future. I may have kept their family together for now, but sooner or later, for Myne to survive, she would have to enter noble society. And with her mana, that would mean getting Karstedt, and eventually Sylvester, involved. It would be an annoying job, but…
I glanced back only to meet her eyes staring at me. Golden irises that shone with trepidation and fear, but also hope and determination. Myne was as easy to read as an open book. That would have to change, but for the moment, it was reassuring to know she had nothing to… No, she couldn’t hide anything even if she wished to.
The silly thought made my lips curl upwards ever so slightly. My actions today ensured that our fates were woven together for the foreseeable future. Taking some responsibility was the least I could do.