APIBAGS Chapter 25

"Then if she weren't here, you'd leave?"

"Yes."

"And if she told you to leave, you'd go?"

"Yes."

The priest's skin crawled at the answers coming back so smoothly. That damn painting finally gone, and he'd breathed easy—only to find the object of devotion had simply changed targets. Small comfort, maybe, that at least this time the object of devotion could hold a conversation—unlike a scrap of paper. Right?

Besides, there was a holy knight posted with her. She was clearly someone attached to Sir Gabriel's side. And Sir Gabriel was the sort of man who folded when the Bishop said fold.

The priest went to Bishop Jabaniya immediately and delivered his report. Jabaniya listened, then praised the priest's powers of observation with remarkable warmth.

"It seems the God Rahel has rewarded your faith."

"Not at all, Your Excellency."

How satisfying—the Bishop's eye, just for this.

Jabaniya dismissed the grateful priest with thanks and moved toward Evangeline, setting up his opening.

"Come to think of it, I'm told the young lady here extinguished the fire—I haven't yet had the chance to offer my gratitude."

"I'll handle the rest, Your Excellency."

The quick-witted priest stepped in at once. Jabaniya left him to it and walked toward Evangeline. Just as the priest had described—every eye in the room was on her. It was almost strange that no one had noticed sooner.

But looking at her now, Jabaniya understood. Her presence had a weight that made looking at her feel inevitable. Of course people looked at her. Of course it seemed right to look. The noticing had only come late because the looking felt like breathing.

He smiled with pastoral warmth and inclined his head. A bishop rarely bowed to anyone, but Jabaniya had always been willing to bow his head when the occasion served.

Beneath his composed expression, his mind was already moving. What was the name again? Raphaela had mentioned—yes. Rohanson.

"Lady Rohanson, my sincere thanks for saving one of our temple's knights. Whatever holy water you used in the suppression—we will see to its replacement."

"With pleasure."

The Rohanson family. A name he'd had no occasion to know until the Donau affair—wasn't Donau the one who'd kidnapped a woman in their employ? And now here was the same household connected to Donau's painting again. A fire at the same location, the same faces. Not nothing.

He gave no sign of what he suspected and moved to the main matter.

"The other worshippers seem shaken," he said, raising his voice just enough to carry. "I intend to have them brought somewhere to rest."

Inside the hall, people were still watching—all of them, and all of them watching her. Evangeline received his announcement with the mild indifference of someone who found it wholly unremarkable and gave a single, unhurried nod.

The moment her head moved, so did their feet. People who hadn't stirred for a bishop's earnest persuasion became docile sheep at one gesture from a count's daughter.

Jabaniya observed this with considerable interest. He was the only one in the room who found it troubling—except for Raphaela, who was running rapid calculations behind that carefully neutral face.

How much does he know?

When Raphaela filed his last report—the one on Donau's death—he'd mentioned Evangeline Rohanson in it, in passing. Thank the gods he hadn't included everything. The ownership of the summoning circle, the note found on Donau's remains, the rumors that Evangeline had come back from the dead—those were facts only the Commander and Raphaela knew. Jabaniya had almost nothing. But anyone who spent thirty seconds looking at Evangeline Rohanson would know, without needing anything else, that she was not ordinary. The Bishop had clearly noticed the same.

Jabaniya moved quietly to Raphaela's side.

"Was the painting entirely destroyed?"

"Yes. Completely."

"Do you know why it burned?"

There it is. Two fire incidents. Same faces. He was already assembling the coincidence.

"Not a clue. And surely none of them set it." He gave a small shrug. "Lady Rohanson was with me."

"If you say so, then I'm happy to believe it."

He thinks we arranged it. He knew the statement was false but was letting it go for now. He believed Evangeline Rohanson was involved somehow.

"There were worshippers present too—you could simply ask them."

"So I shall. I look forward to hearing what useful things they have to say. Though whether they'll tell the truth is another matter."

Given that the fervent worshippers of an hour ago were now Evangeline's docile flock, that was a fair point. Even if they told the truth, it would be impossible to tell whether they were lying to protect her. But Evangeline genuinely hadn't done anything—not that this would help.

"Michel arrived after I did, incidentally."

Leave him out of the interrogation. He didn't want to put Michel through unnecessary strain, and given the state he'd been in before losing consciousness, sitting him down across from Jabaniya struck him as a poor idea. He and those people weren't so different right now.

"Your Excellency, would you excuse me? I think I should get Michel lying down as soon as possible. Uriel will be exhausted as well."

A sharp gaze landed on him. Raphaela cleared his throat hurriedly and cut the sentence short.

Evangeline Rohanson was looking at him.

Raphaela, have you lost your mind? Evangeline Rohanson widens her eyes once and you're this flustered?

"Of course. Go on, then." Jabaniya gave his blessing with equal warmth. "As for Lady Rohanson—she'll need to collect her holy water. I'll have it arranged."

"Lady Rohanson will be accompanying me, I'm afraid—there's a matter to discuss with the Commander. As for the holy water, I'll see it's collected before we leave. There's no need for Your Excellency to trouble himself—if you'd simply pass word ahead, we'd be grateful."

That viper of an old man—scheming to pull Evangeline Rohanson aside and whisper god knows what into her ear!

He was reasonably confident Evangeline wouldn't fall for whatever it was. But how many people had let their guard down at that pious face and walked straight into his gullet—

Fortunately, Evangeline's escort elected to follow the Bishop.

"Then shall we go, my lady?"

Uriel slung Michel across her back. Raphaela watched her go, then addressed Evangeline carefully.

"...Forgive the delay. Thank you for saving Michel. He lost consciousness, but thanks to the holy water there's not a mark on him. I mean it—truly, thank you."

"Thank you, my lady."

It was a fact, whatever else was true. And the water alone—how many bottles had she gone through? What does that even cost?

Evangeline looked briefly puzzled, as though being thanked hadn't occurred to her as a possibility—and seeing that unexpected reaction left him a little giddy.

That was all it took.

Raphaela, have you lost your mind? Evangeline Rohanson widens her eyes once and you're this flustered?

He cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"Will it be all right, sending Jelly ahead alone?"

"Jelly is fine."

"My lady—your escort did well to go in your place. I'd advise against keeping too close to the Bishop. He looks the way he looks, but his character is somewhat—unpleasant."

Raphaela steadied himself.

The walk to the knights' building didn't take long. Uriel could carry a grown man at a light jog without effort; there was no need to slow down for her sake.

Inside the entrance, Uriel stopped at the foot of the stairs. The reception room was up; the infirmary was on the ground floor.

"I'll go drop Sir Michel off at the infirmary."

"Uriel—can you please treat Michel like a person instead of baggage, just this once?"

"Ah. I'll deliver him there."

What am I supposed to do with her? Raphaela watched her disappear and pressed a hand to his temple.

The reception room door was finally in front of me. Behind it, Gabriel.

One measured breath.

I'm hypnotizing myself. Okay. From this moment on—you are a woman running a fishing ground.

The plan: hook Gabriel, run my fishing ground operation on him with everything I've got, and completely undo the villainess image Daisy put in his head. I only ever planned for the villain exit—I never planned to be running a fishing ground. But think about it positively. Can just anyone run a fishing ground? No. That’s strictly heroine territory. Which means—I’m finally sidestepping the villainess's fate.

Obviously I am. This is a villainess-possession story—what else am I supposed to do?

"Commander. I've brought Lady Rohanson."

A knock. The door opened. Inside: Gabriel, two knights, Kanna, and Henna.

"Lady Rohanson."

"Miss!"

Gabriel rose and inclined his head. Kanna shot up immediately and threw herself against my chest. Wh—

"That's dangerous."

"I'm sorry..."

We'd almost gone over backwards. I patted Kanna's head once after the mild scolding.

But Henna, who would normally have intervened, was silent. Both hands balled into fists on her knees, head bowed.

"Henna?"

"Yes, my lady."

She answered the moment I called, so she wasn't lost in thought. Did you two argue? I glanced at Kanna, who leaned in and whispered.

"Someone named Daisy said something, and Sis's been like that ever since."

Daisy. The Daisy I'd just met? What had she said to Henna that could leave a woman that composed—

I moved my gaze. Gabriel had also heard from Daisy. He looked undisturbed. He'd certainly been told about the villainess Evangeline. He was simply not showing it—or not showing that it mattered.

Wait. Let me think.

Which meant—Ugh! Seriously, my escape plan from the villainess route wasn't perfect, but it was rolling along just fine in its own way. I never expected an obstacle like Daisy to just pop up out of nowhere.

Wait. Wait. An obstacle? A character who just suddenly appears out of nowhere? Then this is—