Isolde disliked everything.
"Isabelle, you’ve become so pretty."
"How did you get better? Did the church heal you?"
"Have you slept with your husband? What’s he like?"
She disliked the village women flocking around Isabelle in an effort to get her attention,
"I’m sorry, but if you come any closer, Sister Isabelle will feel overwhelmed."
the nuns’ attitude as they tried to attend Isabelle,
"Sob, sob... I’m so relieved the wedding ended well."
and even the sight of her mother shedding tears of joy at her younger daughter’s wedding. Isolde disliked it all.
It’s so irritating.
Isolde hated her younger sister, Isabelle.
Because she believed Isabelle had ruined her life.
Those were things that were supposed to be mine.
As the older sister, she had been healthy and beautiful from birth.
Meanwhile, her younger sister Isabelle had been ugly and sickly.
Yet their parents’ attention had been directed not at her, but at Isabelle. And because she was the older sister, Isolde had always had to yield to her younger sister.
Isolde hated that.
Why did she have to give things up?
Why did she have to suffer because of her sickly little sister?
Why would no one pay attention to her?
She did not want to understand it, nor did she want to accept it.
"Mom, I want to marry John now too."
"Hm?"
Isolde took Adelia’s hand and rose to her feet.
"Isabelle is completely better now. Then there’s no problem with me marrying John, right?"
"W-well, that’s for the village chief to decide... Mom doesn’t really know."
"Then let’s go persuade him together. You can at least do that for me, can’t you?"
"Mom will do her best."
"Let’s go right now."
"Ah, but Isabelle’s wedding isn’t over yet."
"Stop taking care of Isabelle and take care of me for once!"
Isolde shouted in front of everyone.
Her face burned under the gathered stares, but she could not contain the uncomfortable emotions threatening to burst out of her.
"Every time! Every time! Every single time! You only ever took care of Isabelle! Isabelle is married now. So take care of me now. Please..."
"Isolde..."
Though she could not explain the feeling, Isolde wanted her mother to hold on to her hand until the end.
At least for today, she wanted her mother to take her side.
"Mom is sorry."
But, as expected, Adelia gave the worst possible answer again.
And that was Adelia’s bad habit.
"Aaaah! You’re always like this! I’m the only bad bitch, right? Fine! I’ll take care of my own life!"
Isolde shook off Adelia’s hand and left the wedding hall.
Having finally abandoned all expectations of her mother.
. . .
After finishing an important conversation with Garon, I returned to where Isabelle was.
"Isabelle, is something wrong?"
"Honey..."
Isabelle wore a gloomy expression as she stared off somewhere.
As far as I knew, there was only one person who could have put her in that state.
"My sister went home."
"Your sister?"
As expected, Isabelle was feeling down because of her older sister, Isolde.
"My sister must be suffering because of me too."
"That’s not true. I think your sister... brought this on herself."
Given Isolde’s selfish personality, she must have been jealous of Isabelle for having such a splendid wedding.
Perhaps, just like last time, she believed Isabelle had taken something from her.
But Isabelle saw things differently.
"I understand how my sister feels. If I had never been born, Mom would have paid more attention to her, and my sister would have been happier. But I had to be born..."
Tap!
"Eek?!"
I calmed Isabelle by flicking her forehead.
Then, looking at Isabelle as she clutched her forehead, I spoke.
"Isabelle, don’t ever say something like that again."
"Honey..."
"If Isabelle hadn’t been born, I never would have met you. Don’t say that again."
"...I won’t say it anymore."
"Promise me."
When I held out my pinky, Isabelle hesitantly held out hers as well.
Judging by her uncertainty, it seemed to be her first time making a pinky promise.
"If you break the promise, I’ll take this pinky."
"Eek?! R-really?"
"I’m joking. It’s just something people say."
I lightly bit Isabelle’s pinky as I said it.
"But if you break your promise, I’ll bite you like this instead."
"Mmph, I-I’ll be careful."
"And I haven’t forgotten my promise either. So don’t blame yourself anymore."
"Honey, thank you for indulging me."
"It’s nothing. It’s for the woman I love, so I should at least do that much."
Only then did Isabelle shake off her gloom and smile softly.
Then we gazed at each other fondly and were just about to kiss...
"Um, Brother, it’s about time for you to head over... I’m sorry."
Our kiss was thwarted by a nun who suddenly came to find us.
"It’s all right. It’s the regular report, correct? We’ll come right away."
. . .
After safely concluding the wedding, Isabelle and I followed Vanessa to the church’s chapel.
We were going to attend the regular report Vanessa had requested.
Before we entered the chapel, Vanessa cautioned us.
"Please be careful with your words in front of the Inquisitors."
"I will be careful."
"I-I will be careful."
Seeing how visibly nervous Isabelle was, Vanessa smiled kindly and spoke.
"You needn’t worry too much, Isabelle. Just explain what happened at the time."
"Yes!"
"It seems you understand, so let us go in."
With that, we entered the chapel.
Inside were six senior nuns from the church and seven nuns who appeared to be Inquisitors.
It’s incredibly solemn in here.
Reina spotted Isabelle and smiled faintly. Isabelle silently greeted Reina with a small wave.
Then Reina made a V sign at me with her fingers.
It seemed she had successfully handled the task I entrusted to her.
I’ll have to praise her thoroughly later.
Once we entered the chapel, one of the nuns who saw Isabelle and me questioned Vanessa.
"Director Vanessa, who are those people?"
A nun wearing a mask.
Judging from the pressure and atmosphere surrounding her, that woman was probably the leader of the Inquisitors.
"They are the married couple whose true love was acknowledged by Seraphim, as stated in the report."
"The couple who received the [Mark of Love]..."
The masked nun’s gaze was endlessly cold.
Even Vanessa, a strict adherent to principle, had a human warmth to her. But I could not feel even a trace of humanity from that nun.
She looked like a machine that blindly followed nothing but the order’s doctrines and the extermination of heretics.
I felt it in the game too, but she’s terrifying, Claudia.
Inquisitor Claudia, who could be considered the final boss of [A Lewd Nun’s Circumstances].
This was likely the most dangerous situation I had faced since possessing this body.
The moment she took a dislike to me, I was as good as dead.
Well, as long as things go according to plan, Claudia won’t have any reason to threaten me.
After all, she was merely a nun who followed doctrine.
I calmly proceeded according to plan.
.
.
.
.
"...And that is how Seraphim acknowledged the love between my wife and me, and how [Rose’s Punishment], which had tormented my wife, was cured."
The Inquisitors listened quietly to my explanation.
Only Claudia among them asked me a question.
"What is the exact location?"
"I know it."
Reina interjected.
It appeared she had stepped in after seeing Isabelle struggle under the oppressive atmosphere.
"I investigated it together with Brother Ian, so I will explain on their behalf."
"And who are you?"
"I am Senior Nun Reina."
"So you are the rumored candidate for sainthood."
Reina and Claudia’s gazes met.
Was it because they were originally the heroine and final boss?
The atmosphere between them felt murderous.
"Sister Reina, since it was not written in the report, I ask for confirmation. Who did you go with when you investigated Angel’s Rest?"
"I went with Brother Ian."
"Did you go alone, just the two of you?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Brother Ian, do you acknowledge that you went alone with Sister Reina?"
"That is correct. Is there a problem?"
At my question, Claudia gripped the triangular holy relic around her neck, symbolizing the Trinity, for a moment before quietly revealing something shocking.
"There was an internal report casting doubt on Reina’s chastity. It also stated that Brother Ian was her partner."
"What are you talking about?"
Vanessa, the head nun, was the most shocked by Claudia’s bombshell statement.
Reina and I, the people directly involved, dealt with it calmly.
"That cannot be true. Reina is outstanding enough to pass her regular examinations with high scores, and Brother Ian is a devout believer. Furthermore, Seraphim has acknowledged him. This must clearly be a misunderstanding."
"It may be a misunderstanding. But that does not erase the suspicion."
Though Vanessa defended us, Claudia barely seemed to listen to her.
"Sister Reina, please cooperate for the sake of proving your innocence."
"I am innocent. You cannot interrogate me based on mere suspicion."
"Sister Reina, should I take those words to mean that you wish to hold a religious trial?"
"If the nun who accused me is willing, I will."
"Understood. I will summon her here."
At Reina’s confident retort, Claudia called in the nun waiting outside the chapel.
Brown hair and striking freckles.
The plainly ordinary-looking woman was the nun who had accused Reina.
"I am Junior Nun Kate."
I smiled as she greeted everyone.
Kate, you took the bait.
Everything was going according to plan.
Just one final thing.
If only that succeeded, this Ceremony of Light could end successfully.
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