The venue for Seigi Mitsunaga and Cattleya’s wedding was already bustling with activity. Although there was still plenty of time before the ceremony was scheduled to begin, the hall was filled with guests.
Among them were monarchs from various nations, including Cattleya’s father, King Ryze of Sinfonia, as well as Chris and Laguna. Each of them wore a similarly bewildered expression.
Ordinarily, exclusive waiting rooms were provided for those of royal rank, and they would have remained there until the start of the ceremony. However, no one showed any sign of moving toward their private quarters. Instead, their eyes were fixed on the altar at the back of the hall.
At the center of everyone’s attention stood Pope Olivia, deep in conversation with Archbishop Gloria as they confirmed the final details of the proceedings. The sheer absurdity of the sight had left the guests rooted to the spot in a daze.
Amalie, the Crown Princess of Sinfonia, was one of the first to recover from the initial shock. She leaned in toward Ryze and whispered.
"Father... I mean, Your Majesty... that really is the Pope-sama, isn't it?"
"Y-Yeah. There’s no mistake."
Amalie usually conducted herself as the perfect Crown Princess, strictly addressing Ryze as "Your Majesty" in public. However, the sight was so overwhelming that she had reflexively called him "Father." Ryze, being just as flustered, didn't even think to rebuke her.
"...Judging by the look of things, the Pope-sama intends to officiate the ceremony herself. This is completely unprecedented. What do you make of this?"
"Miyama-kun. I can’t think of any other possibility."
"But what on earth could have happened for her to agree to conduct the ceremony...?"
"I haven't the slightest idea. Regardless, we should slip out of the hall now. If we stay here, we’ll be bombarded with questions from the other nobles."
"True. This is a royal wedding for our house, after all... and yet even we don't have a grasp on the situation. Let us hurry to Katy’s waiting room and find out what is going on. It would affect our prestige if we were asked for an explanation and had nothing to say."
"...This is truly a bizarre turn of events. What’s most frustrating is that the cause is so painfully obvious..."
"...Indeed. There isn't even a shadow of a doubt as to who is responsible."
Though the process of how it happened remained a total mystery, both were certain of who had triggered the situation. They made a quick, quiet exit from the hall before the other guests could snap out of their confusion and corner them.
In another part of the hall, Chris and Laguna stood together, sharing their own quiet observations.
"I’m astonished," Chris remarked. "To think the Pope-sama would actually step foot outside the Holy City."
"As far as I know, she occasionally visits the God Realm, but this has to be the first time she’s appeared anywhere in the Human Realm other than her own city. Hmph... as usual, that lad is truly something else."
"...Honestly, I am constantly amazed by Miyama-sama. I cannot begin to fathom how he befriended the Pope-sama, much less deepened their relationship to the point where he could ask her to officiate a wedding."
While both were stunned, they shared the absolute conviction that Kaito was behind it. Then, as if a thought had just occurred to her, Chris spoke up again.
"Come to think of it, I’ve heard a rumor that the Leader of the Winged Race recently found a close friend—one she even refers to as a 'Sworn Friend.' What do you think of that, His Majesty Laguna?"
"It has to be Kaito. But the Leader of the Winged Race... that’s Lady Amel, isn't it? How did he manage that?"
"The Winged Race rarely interacts with other species. Merely making their acquaintance is supposed to be difficult. To think he won enough trust to be called a Sworn Friend by that 'Difficult Amel-dono'..."
"Lady Amel, eh? I’ve met her a few times, but her speech is always so roundabout and her words so hard to interpret that I don't recall our conversations ever being particularly lively."
"I’ve had a similar experience. I haven't been able to establish much of a friendly relationship with her either. Lady Amel is reportedly incredibly sharp, so she likely uses complex phrasing intentionally to test the wits of those she speaks with."
In truth, Amel, the Leader of the Winged Race, was widely perceived as having an incredibly difficult personality. The root cause was her abstruse way of speaking. Ordinarily, such behavior would have just labeled her a "weirdo," but unfortunately, Amel was one of only four humans with power at the Peerage-class level and was hailed as the Greatest Genius of the Winged Race.
Because of her status, people assumed her behavior was a result of a unique, genius-level perspective—or that she was deliberately using complex language to evaluate the reading comprehension of her peers.
In reality, of course, she was simply a "Chuunibyou" doing it because she thought it sounded cool. It was all a Great Misunderstanding.
"...Well, setting that aside, I would like to get more information regarding the Pope-sama. If she attends the reception, we might have a chance to speak with her."
"True. Asking Kaito would be the fastest way, but I don't see him anywhere. For now, let’s go find Ryze-boy. This is his relative’s ceremony; surely he’s gathered some intel."
"Agreed. There will likely be many others with the same idea. Since we are fellow monarchs, shall we secure a private room and discuss it there?"
Being well-acquainted with Kaito’s antics, the two recovered from their shock relatively quickly. After coordinating their next moves, they followed Ryze out of the hall.
[ A Pope who almost never leaves her city is currently discussing wedding proceedings. This is an abnormal emergency. ]
The Kings of Three Nations: "Kaito definitely did something."
Serious-senpai: "What’s hilarious is how they’ve reached the point where they hear 'unprecedented abnormal situation' and immediately conclude it's Kaito’s fault. Their intuition is spot on, too."
???: "Well, anyone who knows Kaito-san would be able to guess the cause instantly."