Chapter 3: Siblings
ONE overcast afternoon, Ophelia found herself riding alone in a carriage with Claudio. She sat tucked as far into the corner as she possibly could to avoid bumping into his long legs. Of course, she wouldn’t have needed to sit in such a cramped position if Claudio would’ve just angled his legs a bit to the side…
“Have you heard the details of today’s investigation?”
“Yes, Lord Bruno explained it to me.”
“If it was Bruno you heard it from, you should be fine,” Claudio responded, bracing his elbow against the armrest and resting his cheek in his hand as he turned to gaze out the window at the passing scenery.
The two were headed to the National Art Museum.
The case Claudio and the others were working on involved a number of aristocrats facilitating the illegal entry and exit of foreign citizens across national borders. These aristocrats were all of different ranks, and no amount of investigation had uncovered any particular connections between them. Originally, Claudio had suspected they were colluding with another country and planning to overthrow the government, but they hadn’t found any evidence to support that theory. In fact, using Ophelia’s ability, they’d all but disproven it.
But in that case, what were they plotting? All of the nobles identified had been moving unverified individuals into and out of the country, a few at a time, during the same period. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
They hadn’t been able to follow the trail of any of the “laborers” who had allegedly fled after entering the country, but Bruno’s investigation had uncovered an unusually large number of foreigners visiting the National Art Museum recently.
“They’re probably just ordinary tourists, aren’t they?” Ophelia said. “I seriously doubt people who entered the country illegally would boldly show up at an art museum, of all places.”
Claudio fixed Ophelia with a pointed glare. However, the fact that he wasn’t shouting meant that he wasn’t particularly angry. By this point, Ophelia had gotten used to his intense stare and no longer felt afraid.
“At the moment, there isn’t any particularly noteworthy special exhibit going on. All the pieces on display are permanent exhibits that the art museum has been in possession of all along. The museum we’re going to is rather dated, with no significant ‘wow factor’ to draw in visitors,” he explained. “There’s a modern and elegant art museum conveniently located within the Royal City, so there’s no real reason for tourists to bother traveling all the way to this one.”
“What kind of pieces do they have in the permanent exhibits?”
“You grew up in this country and have never been?” Claudio’s eyebrows raised incredulously.
“I try to avoid crowded places as much as possible…”
“Your family is too overprotective. The majority of the artworks the National Art Museum possesses are religious paintings from our country’s national religion, Euvtomeum.”
“Uh-huh…”
“You don’t sound very interested.”
“Are you interested in religion, Director?”
“Not at all.”
“I thought that might be the case.”
“Religion provides guidance for those who feel lost, but it’s not something I require. I’m not lost.”
“…I thought that might be the case.” Ophelia turned to look out the window. She’d never been there before but was pretty sure they would be arriving at the art museum any time now. “Oh! Is that the Cathedral?”
“Based on the fact that you’re even asking, I’m assuming that you’ve also never been to the Cathedral?”
“Only once, when I was very young…” Ophelia removed her hand from the window and looked down at her lap, where she folded her hands together.
Large crowds flocked to the Cathedral every day to offer up their prayers to God. Among these congregants were people with guilty consciences who hoped that praying would absolve them. The sight of such people using pretty words to defend themselves and playing at contrition without truly repenting their actions had left Ophelia a shuddering mess. After that, Ophelia had refused to go anywhere near not only the Cathedral but even ordinary churches. Although the Crown recognized Euvtomeum as the national religion, its practice wasn’t compulsory. And given that her memories of what the private tutor who oversaw her education at home had taught her about the topic were fuzzy at best, Ophelia didn’t know much about Euvtomeum.
“I suppose there’s no reason to visit a place like this if you don’t have any business there.”
Ophelia’s eyes widened at Claudio’s casual remark. She couldn’t believe that the king’s younger brother wouldn’t admonish her for not praying to the national deity, Euvtomeus.
“But the building itself is quite impressive. It’s on the way, so why don’t we stop?” Claudio knocked on the wall of the carriage and ordered the driver to make a stop at the Cathedral.
“Um, if you’re stopping just for my sake, you really don’t have to…” Ophelia said.
“It’s not for you. I haven’t seen the pope in ages. I’d like to talk to him, so you’ll just have to tag along.”
Ophelia glanced at her hands, but they weren’t trembling. It seemed he really was stopping for his own purposes. Ophelia chuckled at the brutal honesty of his statement, and the tension eased out of her shoulders.
The carriage passed through the gates of the Cathedral, and as Ophelia had feared, the grounds were teeming with people. There was no differentiation between the social classes here. Aristocrats and commoners, and even royalty, all passed through the same gates and traveled down the same road.
There were people who’d come to pray for their family’s happiness. There were people who’d come to confess, driven by guilt. There were even people dressed in travel gear who seemed to have come on pilgrimage.
The instant people flooded her line of sight, Ophelia’s knees began clattering together.
“Oi, are you okay?”
Claudio grabbed Ophelia’s arm to stop her from tumbling forward. The people passing by cast suspicious glances at Ophelia’s odd pose as she stood with her arms and legs splayed wide for balance, somehow just managing to stay upright.