## Chapter 822 – Winter in the Capital

“How could I ever think of you that way, Your Holiness? I may be… a, well, an inhuman womanizer, but. Yes. I would never do that to Your Holiness!!!!”

I defended myself as if squeezing the words from my very heart.

Of course, it’s true that Your Holiness is beautiful, but that doesn’t mean I lack all sense of propriety. Besides, I’m not a real womanizer, just one by misunderstanding, no. I’m not a womanizer at all, damn it.

Anyway, I’m absolutely not a womanizer, so I’ve never even remotely thought of Your Holiness in that way.

Do you think I’m the kind of guy who just snatches up any pretty woman he sees?

I’m a man who knows the ways of fusion Confucianism. I only have seven women. But damn it, having seven women makes everything I say sound unconvincing. Of course, even so, I’m still walking the path of fusion Confucianism.

I’m not the kind of man who gets turned on by any woman. It’s just that I’ve been in a lot of special situations.

Your Holiness is misunderstanding me on a grand scale right now. She thinks I’m some kind of barbarian who just seduces every woman he sees and makes them his wife.

“Yes! Absolutely not!! How could I ever think of Your Holiness that way!!”

I’m not that kind of man…!

“Hmph.”

Hearing my answer, Your Holiness tilted her head slightly, wearing a provocative smile.

“Absolutely not, you say… How am I supposed to believe that? Isn’t this just a scheme to reassure me, like you did with your other wives? You serial harasser. I know everything.”

Serial harasser? What the hell is that, some kind of serial killer?

Why can’t she believe me!

“No! That’s not it! Please believe me!!!”
“No, this is very strange.”

Shaking her head, Your Holiness now grabbed the bottle and started chugging straight from it.

“Haa… When I, this beautiful Holy One, am standing right in front of you, it’s only natural to have such thoughts, but you saying that makes it even less believable. The Paladin is lying.”
“Lying? When have I ever lied to Your Holiness!!”

I may have hidden the truth, but I swear I’ve never told a direct lie. And even when I hid the truth, it was always for the public good…!

“Heh, lying, you say?”

Your Holiness looked into my eyes as she said this, laughing derisively, and then gently stroked her chest near her sternum with her slender, white fingers.

“Then what is that gaze fixed on my chest and lower body?”

ㅡSwish.

The finger stroking her sternum moved down towards her cleavage… Instinctively, my gaze was drawn there, but I immediately lifted my head and focused on Your Holiness’s face.

It’s true that she’s wearing a seductive outfit that shows off her voluptuous figure. But Kim Gatta might feel lust, but he would never regard Your Holiness as a sexual object!!! Who would think that way about their boss! In the first place, I don’t think that way about any woman except my own wives!!!

Why can’t she understand that!

“A very impious gaze. Very impure. You just did it again. Well, it’s my fault for trusting the Paladin and wearing this outfit. So, the Paladin has. Well, no fault. Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh, dear!”
“It’s only natural for a womanizer like the Paladin to have such feelings for me.”

ㅡGlug, glug.

She doesn’t listen to a word I say and just keeps spouting her own thoughts. Then she continues to chug from the bottle. There are already more than five empty bottles piled up next to her.

“Haa… Could he be thinking something like this? ‘I want to make that beautiful Holy One mine and have her bear my children’… Oh, dear. That would be a real problem. Maybe all the men in the kingdom are thinking that, but even the Paladin? Goodness.”

How did it come to this?

“Your Holiness!! Do you really not trust me!!! Why would I think that way, huh!”
“Raising your voice… You’re scaring me more and more. I trusted the Paladin and invited him to this private space…”

For a moment, Your Holiness made a gesture as if shrinking back.

“No, that’s not it…”

Ah, damn it. She’s reacting like this because I raised my voice.

“At this rate, I might have to… think a little more deeply about hiring the Paladin. I’m starting to feel that way.”
“Th, that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Startled, I had no choice but to jump up from my seat almost as if propelled by a spring.

ㅡWhoosh!

My body was actually rising as if half-ejected. At this rate, I would crash straight into the table laden with delicacies, so I immediately rotated my body, spun five times in the air, and landed safely on the floor.

ㅡThud!

Perfect.

ㅡThwack!

Having landed so perfectly, I spread my arms, crossed my legs, and lamented my inhuman unfairness in a tone as if screaming in anguish.

“Is my trustworthiness so lacking!!! Here!!

ㅡKaaa!

I spread my chest wide and pounded hard on my pectoral muscles.

ㅡBang! Bang!

“Here…! Right here!! My overflowing loyalty to Your Holiness!! Lives and breathes within this chest!!”

Tears seemed about to stream from my eyes…!

“I can’t even take out my heart and show it to you!!!”

If I could take out my heart, I would take it out and show it to her directly!

“Your Holiness! It’s true that I’m an inhuman womanizer with seven wives…! But that doesn’t mean I’m promiscuous or evil! Yes! I can’t deny that I like women! Because I need many women to bear my children!!!”
“Wh, what…”
“But that’s all there is to it!!!”

Perhaps surprised by my extreme overreaction, Your Holiness momentarily showed a flustered attitude.

“Just because I have many wives doesn’t mean that the just trust built between Your Holiness and me will ever be broken, I tell you!!!”
“C, can you prove that? Morality is very important for the position of Paladin. Even though the Paladin practiced polygamy because of the environment in which he grew up, increasing the number of wives to that extent without even having children right away is…”
“You’re saying it’s not moral?”
“…You could say that.”

Yes, this was what Your Holiness was thinking. Perhaps if I had children, it would have been an acceptable marriage life that was faithful to its original purpose. Having many children is generally a good thing, after all.

But I don’t have any children yet.

So Your Holiness thinks that I didn’t practice polygamy for the purpose of having children, but simply because I need a lot of women, and that I’m just a womanizer!

“If I were such an immoral womanizer who only likes women, do you think I would have been able to fight the heretics and demons so diligently!!! Absolutely not! Of course, I won’t deny that I have materialistic aspects! But does that mean I’m that kind of person!!”

ㅡGah!

Somewhere along the line, the roles had been reversed.
I was scolding Your Holiness.

“The loyalty and trust I’ve shown you all this time!!! Your Holiness is doubting that value because of a simple misunderstanding!! So I too am disappointed in Your Holiness! I think I might be disappointed!”
“W, wait! Wh, who said they doubted you…! No, I mean…”

Having come to her senses at my words, Your Holiness put down the seventh bottle she was holding and mumbled. Had she finally realized it? That there’s no one in this world as trustworthy as me?

“Th, that’s just what I meant… It’s not like I thought of the Paladin that way? Still, I apologize for saying things that might have… caused a little misunderstanding. I certainly didn’t intend to disparage the Paladin.”
“I know very well that you’re confused and disappointed in me. Of course, I think I can understand why. But Your Holiness.”

I approached the seated Your Holiness.

ㅡStep, step.

“Wh, what? Wait? P, Paladin…? St, stop…?”

Your Holiness seemed ashamed of her earlier self, her face flushed as she fidgeted and tried to retreat.

“H, heuh?”

I snatched the wrist of Your Holiness, who was about to cover her chest.

“Please believe me in this one thing.”

And I said, gazing into Your Holiness’s wavering eyes.

“I certainly do not harbor any disrespectful thoughts, and I am truly loyal to Your Holiness!”
“Th, that is… First, let go of my hand… Ju, just a moment, Paladin. Yo, you’re too close…”
“I’m a womanizer…! Well, not really, but anyway! I will never send such impure gazes to Your Holiness! So please believe me!!”
“…Wh, what?”
“I’m saying, please trust this proud Paladin of Your Holiness!!! Never! Absolutely! I will not send such gazes to Your Holiness! Because! I am a faithful Paladin!!!”

This is my resolution!!!!

“…”

As I conveyed that firm intention, Your Holiness’s flushed face returned to its original state. Only then did I release her hand.

“Okay… I understand.”

Had she been convinced?
Your Holiness nodded slowly.

“You mean, you don’t harbor `even a trace` of disrespectful thoughts towards me.”

Good.

It seems my intention has finally been properly conveyed.

Yes, if you talk like this, you can generally resolve misunderstandings. In the first place, there was a basic foundation that Your Holiness trusted me.

I feel like I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“Of course!! As a Paladin, how could I ever send such gazes to Your Holiness!!”
“You’re saying you can’t have such thoughts at all, even with me, this beautiful Holy One, in front of you?”
“Of course, it’s true that Your Holiness is truly beautiful!!!”

There are hardly any women in this world as beautiful as Your Holiness. Even if you were to rank them in order of beauty, she would be in the top ten.

“She’s also talented, and she’s always serving at the forefront for the sake of this world!! No one can deny that she’s truly a noble woman! I’m in that state of mind as well!”

So I said loudly.

“But before all that, she is Your Holiness!!! A being who can be praised for her beauty but can never be possessed…! That is the Holy One of Kadia!!”
“…”
“Above all, I never send such gazes to any women other than my wives!! I’m not the kind of man who immorally and unrestrainedly messes around with women!!”

ㅡHoo.

Having finished speaking, I naturally sat down in my seat. It seems this issue has been resolved. Now that I’ve said this, I won’t hear any strange noises in the future.

“I see… Good.”

Your Holiness, turning her head towards me, said.

“Hearing you say all this, I feel like I can sense the Paladin’s true heart. Yes, as you say, the Paladin is not a womanizer. I misunderstood a little. I’m ashamed to say.”
“There’s no need to be ashamed at all. It’s true that I have seven wives… So it’s only natural that you would think that way. I was just trying to show you my true heart.”
“That’s right. As expected, our Paladin is a truly good person. That’s why I can’t help but value the Paladin so deeply. You’re so trustworthy.”

I nodded in satisfaction.

The change occurred at that very moment.

“But… Isn’t it a little hot?”
“Huh?”
“I think it’s getting hotter because I was shouting so much… Haa… My body is heating up.”

ㅡRustle.

Suddenly, Your Holiness, who was stroking her shoulder with her hand, simply pulled down her pure white dress. ㅡJiggle. Her ample breasts, which had been barely covered by it, were liberated.

Her bra was black, in contrast to her pure white skin.

A strapless bra that was fixed without shoulder straps.

“Holy moly.”

It felt as if time had frozen.

“Just a moment. Your Holiness. No matter how hot you are, taking off that much is a bit…”

Why?

Taking off her dress?

“Hmm? Is the Paladin not used to seeing a woman’s skin? I’m just a little… hot. Besides, the Paladin just said all that, so it doesn’t matter.”

Saying that, Your Holiness stretched, exposing her clean armpits.

“You said you wouldn’t feel lust or have ulterior motives when looking at me. As expected. There’s no man as trustworthy as the Paladin. I can entrust and trust everything to you.”

ㅡThud.

As Your Holiness was stretching, she somehow moved and touched the bottle of alcohol that was on the table.

ㅡClang.

The fallen bottle shattered.

It was completely empty, so no alcohol splattered.

“Ah… I dropped it.”
“Your Holiness. You’re drunk.”

She seems really drunk right now.

It’s only natural since she was chugging straight from the bottle while talking. What, seven bottles? Just smelling it looks damn strong, but she managed to drink seven of them straight.

I think she was similarly drunk last time, but anyway, I should take her straight to the church now.

“Hmm… I don’t think I’m drunk… It’s just a simple mistake. I’ll clean it up myself. The Paladin should continue eating. Aren’t you tired from talking?”

Your Holiness got up from her seat and bent over, which caused the hem of her dress to rise.

“…”

Just by doing that simple action… Your Holiness’s large, completely defenseless buttocks filled my vision.

The underwear, which felt very sexy, was also black.