I Favor the Villainess Chapter 69Lily Lilium

Passing through a stone gate decorated with elaborate carvings, Claire-sama and I stepped inside.

Inside the building, the light of lamps and candles brilliantly illuminate the inside walls giving them a historic feeling.

Simultaneously, the sanctity of this luminance makes me feel somehow tense.

(This is the Bauer Cathedral of the Spirit Church…)

We came to the headquarters of the Spirit Church.

The Church has branches all around the world, but the headquarters are here in the Bauer’s royal capital.

As befitting a major religion of this word, this building is beyond splendid.

Although it loses to the royal palace, it eclipses Claire-sama’s home, François house’s main residence.

However, as these buildings serve different purpose, it’s natural their sizes differ.

“Now that we came, who should we ask for a conversation I wonder”

“Ah, in that case let’s ask the person at the reception desk?”

I told Claire-sama that because I sent the advance notice, our purpose was reported.

However――.

“If we follow the established process, we will only hear what the Church wants us to hear. What I want to know is the real condition of the Church”

Saying so, Claire-sama passed by the reception desk and promptly went inside.

I hurriedly chased after her.

“Even if you say that, what will you do? Although the Church is in possession of various books, I don’t think you can browse them without a permission?”

“We do not particularly need to depend on books. We can ask the people here for a talk. Ah, wait, you over there――”

After going through the entrance and entering an area that seems like a place of worship, Claire-sama called out to a nun who was offering her prayers there.

“!? Wha, what is it…?”

Perhaps surprised by being suddenly called out, the nun became frightened giving an impression of a squirrel or guinea pig.

With silver hair and red eyes hidden under a black wimple, she was a somewhat ephemeral girl.

“I would like to hear about this Church a little. Do you have time?”

“Ah… Eh, err… Now is the time of worship…”

“In that case, I will wait until you are finished”

Implicitly saying she won’t let her do anything else, Claire-sama didn’t read the air.

That’s right.

Recently, she’s been behaving like a good person so I forgot, but this person was an arrogant villainess.

“Eh, err… that…”

“What is it”

“Hii! So, sorry…”

Because Claire-sama is a person with fierce eyes and intimidating air of superiority, or perhaps I should say terribly high-handed attitude, the nun became completely frightened.

It’s not only that Claire-sama’s pressure is strong, this nun is also timid.

“You have not done anything particularly wrong to me”

“… So, sorry”

“And again. In any case, finish your prayers. We will wait here”

“… Ye… Yes…”

The nun sent me a glance asking for help for an instant, but as I shook my head in silence, perhaps giving up she resumed worship.

“…”

As expected of a nun, the figure of her offering prayers to God would make a lovely picture.

There’s no trace of a startled small animal, her figure of wholeheartedly praying was exactly like a religious painting.

On a closer look, she’s well dressed for a mere nun, her facial features are also well-proportioned.

She seems younger than Claire-sama or me, perhaps she’s not an ordinary (her speaking style is also strange) nun.

“What are you being fascinated by”

While I was observing the girl’s face, Claire-sama said such a thing.

“No, I wasn’t really fascinated… Ha!? Is it jealousy!? Claire-sama is jelly!?”

“What are you talking about!? I am not particularly jelly! Or rather, what does jelly mean!?”

While we frolicked about as usual,

“Be quiet in the place of worship, octopuses”

the girl cautioned us with harsh words.

Claire-sama and I doubted our ears.

“Err…?”

“Ah! Tha, that… Sorry…! Lily sometimes mixes in strange expressions…”

The girl was greatly ashamed.

It seems her name is Lily.

This child doesn’t seem to be just a small animal character.

Incidentally, it’s cute when children refer to themselves by their name.

“Lily…? I feel like I have heard it somewhere… Oh well. So, have you finished your prayer?”

“Ye, yes. Thank you for waiting”

Lily corrected her seated posture.

“I would like to ask about the organization of the Church. Just a summary is fine, so could you tell me?”

“Or, organization of… the Church? In that case, the person dealing with public at the reception can tell you…”

“What I wish to know is not the state of the Church that the Church wants to show, but rather the raw state including the present problems”

“Ha, haa…?”

Why does she want to learn that was written on Lily’s face.

“I’d also like to ask that of you. Claire-sama came thinking of reducing the poverty among commoners”

“Po, poverty…?”

“Yes. For that sake, she hoped to find a lead in the workings of the Church”

“… Ri, right, that’s certainly a good reason. If you don’t mind, Lily thinks she could be helpful. By the way――”

Lily fixed her eyes on me and tilted her head.

“Ha, has Lily met you somewhere before…?”

“Actually, I also feel like I’ve met Lily-san somewhere before”

Unfortunately, I can’t remember where.

“It is a tired pick-up line”

“!? Tha, that’s wrong! Lily absolutely didn’t have such intentions…!”

“That’s right. I can only see Claire-sama. Ah, are you jelly? This time, you are jelly, right?”

“I am not jelly!? Enough already, could you stop using words I do not understand!?”

Again we had a lively conversation.

“So, be quiet in the place of worship, halfwits”

“…”

“…”

“Awawawa… I, I’m sorry…”

It was such an obvious curse that I thought it was spontaneous, but the person herself doesn’t seem to bear ill will.

“Lily-sama, what’s the matter?”

A well-dressed elderly man who happened to pass by, called out looking at this situation.

Lily… sama?

“Ah, Bishop Lona. These people wanted to learn about the Church, I was thinking of telling them”

“That kind of a miscellaneous matter is not what Lily-sama should be doing”

“Bu, but, a noble… what’s more, a daughter of the Minister of Finance showed interest, that rarely happens”

It appears my intuition some time ago wasn’t wrong, Lily seems to have some status within the Church.

“Excuse Lily for the late introduction. Lily’s name is Lily Lilium. A daughter of the Bauer Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Salas Lilium, and a cardinal of the Spirit Church”

The timid girl who could only be seen as two or three years younger than us smiled awkwardly as she said that.