VII: In Mauve
“OH, what should I do?” Maria said with exaggerated grief. “I never thought the pope would end up imprisoned.”
We were in another tent, and had just received a report that said Caim had taken control of the Theocracy of Mauve. Maria was speaking in front of a row of my high-ranking subordinates.
She was playing way too dumb. I knew perfectly well she had instigated Caim’s actions. But still, now that he had revolted, I had no choice but to get on board to a certain extent—thanks to something Maria had lovingly whispered into my ear the night before.
“What do you think about using this opportunity to attack and kill the Holy Knights, then to dispose of the pope and the clergy while making it look like the Holy Knights did it?” she’d said. “If you do, it’ll reinforce my legitimacy, and no one who knows the truth will be left alive. Isn’t it perfect?”
How heartless can this woman get? I had wondered. She was fully willing to erase anyone, even the people who had helped her out. I would have felt awfully sorry for the Holy Knights, and I didn’t have anything against the pope, either, so I wanted to resolve things as peacefully as possible.
“Don’t you all think we ought to rescue His Holiness?” Maria urged, trying to carry her plan forward.
How terrifying.
“Actually, the Holy Knights are probably right,” I said. “It’s only natural to think that the pope was the one secretly pulling the strings behind everything. Otherwise, it’s hard to imagine Eyland, Vulcan, and Kiel all joining together.” While mentally apologizing to the pope, I decided to push all the blame onto him. If I didn’t, this vicious woman wouldn’t hesitate to snuff out both him and the Holy Knights.
Warren nodded. “Your Majesty is quite right,” he said. “The Church of Mauve has considerable authority. It’s entirely plausible that they were the ones who were able to bring together the coalition.” The others largely agreed with me as well.
Chrom, who was the only one who knew about the connection between Maria and Caim, gazed at me with respect.
He probably thinks I planned this out. Listen, I didn’t. It was all Maria.
“Well, minor territories like the Theocracy won’t matter much to us either way,” Ogma said, then he pointed to the royal capital. “Our issue is right in front of us—Gardon. What should we do? Should we assault the city already?” He had no interest in anything but fighting.
The Eylish army hadn’t made any movements whatsoever since the battle where Count Wolf and Count Broome had sortied while the king of Eyland fled. With their king and the Three Counts gone, they probably no longer had anyone who could unify everyone. That being said, their army was still larger than ours. Also, Farune was best at fighting in the open. It didn’t seem like we’d be able to fight at an advantage in a siege, and besides, I never wanted to take over Eyland in the first place.
“For now, let’s head to the Theocracy and install Maria in the papacy,” I said. “Eyland has many followers of Mauve. If Maria issues a decree in her capacity as pope, Eyland won’t be able to ignore her. There’s no need to force an attack right now.”
I decided to put off everything I didn’t want to do. The Theocracy was close to Gardon, which made sense given that they had once been part of the same country. I would make Maria the pope, as she wished, and leave the rest up to her. As for me, I wanted to go back to Farune as soon as possible.
And so, I decided to head to the Theocracy of Mauve with Maria, Chrom, and the Black Knights in tow. I didn’t take the Hundred because I had learned my lesson last time: nothing good ever came from bringing them with me.