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As expected of the famed former military noblewoman, the pressure she radiated was on an entirely different level than the so-called Pope.

“Well, well. Looks like it was wise we kept this little trip hidden from stuffy types like Father Lawrence, eh? If we’d let him tag along, he’d be shrieking already. And boy, what a mess we’ve walked into…”

Beside her stood a wiry man with a head of Afro curls, both hands fitted with some bizarre weapon that looked like twin tridents. He wore the vestments of a high-ranking clergyman, and I was certain I’d seen his face among the Council of Sages. No doubt he was a senior figure in the Church… but he radiated nothing but the air of a street thug.

“Lady Teressa…?”
“Cardinal Callisto…”

The unexpected turn of events made me loosen my grip around Eliza’s neck. She too seemed startled, staring in confusion at Lady Teressa and the wiry man—Cardinal Callisto—in turn.

““Why are you here?!””

Our voices overlapped in perfect unison.

“Waow! Why are there two Claras here?!”

Ignoring the senile old man—who was once again making an unnecessary fuss—Lady Teressa stepped forward with measured dignity to answer our question.

“…Algernon…?”

Colin, who had been crouched by Maria Lou’s side, looked up in a daze, staring at his best friend.

“It was quite a surprise. We’d been staying in the Sant’Angelo since yesterday, when this little one suddenly burst in, frantic and desperate.”
“Well, technically, it came bursting in from the hidden passage in my office…”
“Uh-huh. And I really don’t think stashing piles of indecent books in a secret passage whose password only the Pope should know is very appropriate for a man of the cloth. Also, seriously, what the heck is with that stupid password, ‘Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Being Pope is Hard’?”

Lady Teresa explained, only for the old man to butt in with a correction, and then Cardinal Callisto cheerfully exposed a bit of shady background knowledge nobody had asked to hear.

“And then, with frantic gestures, it tried to get our attention. We knew something was wrong. And sure enough—this is what it pulled out.”

As she spoke, Lady Teresa produced a cookie. If I remembered right, it was one of the tea biscuits we’d handed out on the way here.

“The moment I saw it, I recalled that you, Clara, had baked the very same sweets before. But you were nowhere to be found. That gave me a terrible feeling, so I asked Cardinal Callisto to accompany me, and with this little one as our guide, we followed the secret passage.”
“Quite the plucky little fellow. On the way, we ran into some weird frog-like monster, but I managed to strike a deal with its boss and got us through without a fuss.”

Cardinal Callisto gave a shrug, pointing his trident-like weapon toward little Algernon, looking altogether too amused.

That frog-like monster could only have been the Güllens.

In other words—

“…While we were wandering around down here, Algernon braved the danger and made it back to the surface to call for help.”
“Even a rat can show that kind of bold initiative… meanwhile, the apes I’m stuck with—”

Coppelia’s scornful gaze fell on the gathered young men—Cestlavie, Regulus, Sechs, and Colin—who all quickly looked away, sheepish and embarrassed.

I rose and approached Lady Teressa. Algernon immediately scampered toward me, hopped into my outstretched palm, and perched there neatly.

“…Thank you, Algernon.”

And with all my gratitude, I bestowed upon this day’s true hero—the valiant little Algernon—a gentle kiss.

““““GYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!””””

Coppelia, Cestlavie, Regulus, and Pope Theodoros all shrieked together like it was the end of the world, and it was deafeningly loud.

“…So, what brings you here now, Lady Teressa? Since Cardinal Callisto is with you as well, I can only assume you’ve come secretly to dispose of me?”

Eliza leveled a razor-sharp glare at Lady Teresa and Cardinal Callisto.

Callisto merely shrugged in silence, while Lady Teresa gave Eliza a pained, sorrowful look.

“Eliza…”

Unable to continue, she fell silent—so instead, the man who should have been the most important person present, yet had so far been practically invisible, Pope Theodoros, suddenly burst out:

“Eliza, you say!?”

He shouted in a shrill, incredulous tone.

“What in blazes is going on!? Why are you the spitting image of Clara?!”
“I have no obligation to explain anything to you.”

Eliza answered curtly, her tone as cold as a board of wood.

Yet Theodoros, surprisingly, pressed the issue with an earnest expression.

“I do have the right, Eliza! I’m your father!!”

“Eh—what!?”

The shocking revelation made me instinctively glance back at Eliza for confirmation.

“He’s not my father. Just one of the sperm donors.”
Eliza spat the words out with venom.

“Ahh, right. Dolly Kadmons were created through artificial insemination with carefully selected sperm and ova, after all.”
Coppelia added in explanation.

“…So, genetically speaking, that would make you father and daughter?” I asked.

“I said no! There’s no way this baldy is my father!!”
Eliza flatly and furiously rejected the idea of any parent-child relationship.

But still—if Eliza and Pope Theodoros really were related by blood, then doesn’t that mean…?

Almost unconsciously, I shifted my gaze toward Lady Teressa. She let out a deep, weary sigh.

“Hard as it may be to believe, His Holiness was actually a handsome man in his youth—quite resembling the former Eliza, in fact.”

Lady Teresa’s expression suggested she herself could hardly believe it, even having seen it with her own eyes.

“Um… don’t tell me—you’re not about to say you’re Eliza’s mother, are you, Lady Teressa?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, this isn’t a cheap theater drama. My late darling husband is the only man I ever had.”
“Right, of course~.”

Her swift and firm denial let me breathe a sigh of relief.

“The mouse whose spell was broken by the princess’s kiss turned out to be a prince of the ancient kingdom, cursed by an evil witch, and afterwards the two were married and lived happily ever after.”

“NOOOOOOO!!”

“Please don’t take it seriously, Sir Lucas. Almost everything that worthless maid says is a lie.”

“I’ve never lied in my life. I do, however, jest.”