AFTER tending to Queen Cordelia, Sonia and Chris made haste to Clare Castle. Patrice offered to arrange for reinforcements, but they turned it down. Their opponent wasn’t human. He wasn’t even alive. No matter how well trained the soldiers might be, they doubted any could stand a chance before such a foe.
“I suppose you could send word to the Central Church and ask the Pope to pray for us,” Chris told Patrice and escorted Sonia, who had changed into casual clothes, to their carriage. Chris boarded the carriage with the cloth-wrapped sword in hand.
✦ ✦ ✦
“PRINCESS, why are you bringing that?” Chris asked, pointing at the bottle Sonia carefully held.
He recognized it. While she had been resting at the Royal Abbey, the Central Church entrusted him with it “to pass on to Lady Sonia.” He had handed it over to her himself. As he recalled, the Abbess had commissioned the Central Church to sanctify the body oil inside, which Pamela had fragranced.
“Well,” Sonia began, “I thought it might prove useful. I’ve already covered myself with it.”
At her suggestion, Chris decided to let her rub some on his hands. His fingers were rough with calluses from the sword, and bushy hair covered the back of his hand and fingers. But Sonia wasn’t the least bit afraid of touching him now.
“...I was afraid of your beard and body hair because I was possessed by that ‘man’ you called ‘Father Ferns,’ wasn’t I?” she asked.
“Yes,” Chris answered with a nod.
“This Ferns is the priest who is cursing the Clare line, isn’t he?”
“...That’s right.”
Sonia pinched the back of his hand, making Chris cry out, “Ouch!” as he pulled it away.
“You should have told me when we first met...” Sonia pouted with puffed cheeks. Chris couldn’t help but find her adorable, despite the gravity of the situation. He smiled wryly to himself.
“I’m sorry. Honestly, His Majesty didn’t tell me the full story. He simply said, ‘I want you to save the last living heiress to the Clare name from the clutches of a demon.’ I didn’t know which of the countless demons was lending its strength to that priest—now a demon in his own right. Why did God send a message for me to grow a beard? Since neither the King nor the Pope knew, I had to search for clues before I could do anything. I didn’t want to tell you something wrong and distress you...”
“Is that why you called yourself my fiancé...?”
“That’s right,” Chris answered. “I thought I only appeared in the divine revelation because I’ve received protective magic as a Diamant, the highest-ranking knight in the Order of the Birthstones.”
“So did you figure it out? Do you know why you had to grow a beard?”
“I sure did! I found the hint in a painting hung in Clare Castle!”
“A painting... I know there are a great deal of paintings hung throughout the castle...but it must be a religious painting for it to be relevant,” Sonia said, the gears turning in her head.
Her grandfather, William, was an art collector, so countless paintings in the castle were preserved unseen. But Chris had just said it hung on the walls within the castle. That meant it had to be one of the religious paintings currently displayed somewhere in the castle. Furthermore, it had something to do with a beard...
“Ah! I think I’ve got it!” Sonia exclaimed. There was one painting that fit all of the criteria. “A long time ago, Grandfather commissioned an artist to paint a scene from a dream he said kept revisiting him!”
Before she could say more, Chris held his index finger to his lips and hushed her with a “Shh!”
He leaned in close and whispered, “You never know when or where he could be listening. We don’t want him to devise a strategy to counter us.”
Chris was right. They were facing an otherworldly being capable of the supernatural. If that weren’t bad enough, he was receiving assistance from the worst adversary possible—a demon. This was only compounded by the fact that the priest was unaware he was using the dark powers of evil he had fought against in life.
“...Are you sure he—Father Ferns—doesn’t realize his soul has fallen into darkness? If we make him realize the truth, will the terror of his sins make him retreat? Then couldn’t we save him as well?” Sonia asked in an equally hushed voice.
It would likely be hard for him to come to this realization on his own, as his personality appeared so set in his ideas. Plus, the reaction of others had only made him dig his heels in deeper.
“From what I heard, it sounded like my grandfather and the priest kept rubbing injury into insult. It reached the point where neither was able to back down,” Sonia pointed out.
“...You truly are kind, Princess,” Chris whispered in awe without thinking.
“I told you to stop calling me ‘Princess!’” Sonia snapped, bringing a smile to Chris’ face as he rubbed his head awkwardly.
“Sorry about that! Although it would make things much easier if he came to repent for his sins, it will be hard making him come to the realization that he’s been in the wrong all along. His hatred hasn’t ebbed away with the passage of time...but rather, I fear the desire to annihilate the Clare line has carved itself into his very soul. The body can heal with time, but the soul...is outside of our domain...”
“I see...” Sonia replied, holding the rosary nestled between her bosom.
“For now, let’s focus on devising a plan to rescue Lady Pamela and breaking your curse.”
Nodding her head in response, Sonia said with a smile on her face, “Right!”