The Archbishop of the authority of Kiady the Eternal.
Roughly half a year after the events of the calamities, and thus a couple of months after the foundation of Ramia and Mael’s Ascending Nobility’s faction, Mael received an invitation to meet with the Archbishop, Loran Whiteley, an invitation which Mael accepted.
Mael was given the opportunity to meet the man who has long been a supporter of his parents' research, to which they have devoted years of their lives. At that meeting, Mael received a proposal, one to join the Archbishop's authority's rank or to accept his offer of accepting him as one of their faction's patrons, as it was a well-known fact that back then, Mael was looking for patrons for their newly founded grandfaction at the time. Overall, the archbishop's offer came out of nowhere with such a stretch of generosity, which Mael knew most likely concealed a lurking objective. It didn't take Mael long to discover what lay beneath that cloak of generosity.
The Rose Blanche was an establishment that, despite boasting such independence, still mostly relied on the backing of the powerful entity that is the Holy Paladin Gunther Freshet to remain afloat. But it wasn’t all; besides the holy paladin, there was a second entity that offered the Rose Blanche its back; that entity was the Authority of Kiady the Eternal, led by Archbishop Loran Whitely. While the Holy Paladin Freshet’s motive in backing the Rose Blanche came from the rather unique relationship he held with the one in charge of it, the motive behind the Archbishop’s backing lay, on the other hand, in a more transactional exchange. For years, he would offer them help and backing while, in exchange, they would hand over the very byproduct the establishment's activities were bound to produce. The Archbishops' men handled every aspect of that strange transaction; they were in charge of the medical care that was provided in order for them to abort and extract what they needed from the Rose Blanche.
As morbid as it sounded, this arrangement went on for years, as not only did this deal guarantee the safety of Rose Blanche's flowers while guaranteeing them powerful backing, it also freed them of a burden. The arrangement between the two parties lasted decades and was supposed to last much longer, but it didn't because, one day, out of nowhere, came something no one on the continent expected: the calamities.
The calamities have not only set the world on fire, but they have also managed to break apart all semblance of order across the continent. The Archbishop, who had previously only made one request of the Rose Blanche, changed his demands and asked for something else. The Rose Blanche, protective of its flowers, refused to comply, knowing that accepting the archbishop's proposition would put them in harm's way.
Following their refusal of that request, the Rose Blanche severed all ties with the Archbishop and began to rely solely on the Holy Paladin, Gunther Freshet. At least for a time.
***
Mael and Arte were at the Rose Blanche headquarters, which, seemingly still unaware of the abduction of four of its flowers, was proceeding lustily and crowdedly as per usual.
"And with your master now gone, there is none that can stand between the archbishop’s authority and his desire. Certainly not you," Mael explained.
"… I didn’t know… about all of this."
"And there is still so much you don’t know about. If you had known, I'm sure you would have thought twice before accepting your master's offer to take him over."
Standing in a corner of the room and glancing around, Mael saw nobles being escorted by flowers in and out of the room.
At this sight, Mael remembered the first interaction he ever had with the Rose Blanche: he came not alone, but instead with his cousin, Ramia, to accompany her, under her great-grandfather’s suggestion, to visit the Rose Blanche, not the brothel side of the establishment but rather its smithing side, which the establishment was also known for.
Mael clearly remembered thinking how amoral he thought the existence of the other side of the establishment's was, but now, despite still thinking so, he came to understand that beyond the visible layer that he deemed amoral lay something a noble like him couldn't understand unless confronted with it with his own eyes.
As an outsider, he saw young girls selling their bodies to nobles in exchange for a few coins, but after meeting someone who changed his perspective, he finally saw past the superficiality: these girls, each one of them, were doing this not for a dream, but for a goal, a dream that they had no other way to achieve other than through this sacrifice.
Mael had changed his mind about this establishment and about these girls, yet, in spite of all that, he was left to wonder what could’ve gone through his cousin’s mind to allow Ana to infiltrate this place.
"Say Mael, what are we doing here?"
Mael looked at his cousin's clueless and confused expression and came to a decision.
"You go tell the Matronne about the kidnapping of the four girls. And have them summon everyone working here, flowers and gardeners alike—to inform them of the abductions. From here on out, until this matter is settled, no one, especially gardeners, is allowed to leave the place."
"You make it sound like you won’t come with me."
"It’s because I won’t; you’re the one who took over this duty; stand by it, and stand by its consequences to the very end."
"I will… but you, what will you do."
"Do my part. You wanted an answer on why we were here; you go do your part, and I’ll do mine. In the end, you’ll get your answer."
Still obviously haunted by questions, Arte left for the matronne's room, leaving Mael on his own.
***
Arte went to the matronne and informed her of the situation, just as his cousin had requested.He took the opportunity to confront her with what Mael had revealed to him, only to have her not even deny a single bit of it, and in fact admit that she knew that the Archbishop was the one most likely behind the abductions.
"Yet you knew...Were you even seriously expecting me to put an end to it?" Arte inquired, recalling how the Matronne and Emma had asked him to do more to ensure that these abductions didn't happen again.
They did not utter an answer to his question, yet the silence remained, granting Arte his answer: They weren’t.
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"Then why even ask and make it seem as though you were expecting to solve these abductions if you knew it was something beyond my capabilities?"
"Although we knew that asking you to handle this matter was asking you to take on an impossible task, we believe that your presence and investment in the matter not only slowed the abductions but also reassured our friends."
Hearing these words, Arte clenched his fist. Somewhere within him, a part of him was still hoping for a different answer.
He felt just like Mael described: he knew so... little.
"You still did what you were expected to do, Anaka. You protected us. It's just that in this case, what you're supposed to protect us from is something out of your reach, so—"
"So you could not count on me."
The silence the Matronne sank into gave Arte his answer.
"So what were you planning to do besides just using me as a reassuring and ineffective dissuading tool?"
"That we are afraid, we cannot tell, but we did not simply wa–"
"Did you find someone better suited to handle the situation?" Arte asked, staring straight into their eyes and repeating his cousin’s earlier words.
Once again, their silence provided him with his answer.
***
As Mael instructed, Arte summoned all the flowers, gardeners, cooks, guards, and every other denizen of the Rose Blanche after confronting the matronne and Emma.
A crowd of over a thousand people gathered in front of Arte, waiting for his announcement.
"If you don’t want to do it. I can do it myself," Emma murmured to Arte, hesitant to make the announcement, "you don’t have to force yourself."
"No. I can do this."
"As he looked at the gazes of the clueless, whisperingly chattering flowers, Arte felt a strange mixture of guilt and shame. But when he saw Mael, standing in a diagonal corner of the room and separated from the crowd, he mustered up his courage and took a deep breath before saying, 'Good morning, everyone. I believe you all know me... I have gathered you here to inform you of something.'"
"I’m sure there are among you some, if not many, who are aware of the rumors of abduction going around regarding the case of flowers going missing. I'd like to let you know right now that those rumors are not merely rumors. It is the truth. All nine flowers you've heard missing are thought to have been abducted, and to these nine alledgedly abducted come four more, among whom was Uta, whom I had earlier this morning seen being abducted with my own two eyes."
To Arte’s words a loud commotion stirred amidst the crowd, a reaction which was to be expected yet for which he found himself unprepared, as he found it hard to come up with his next words, "The rumours... are true... which is why... I would—"
Before Arte could finish, Emma's hand reached for his shoulder, asking him to relinquish, and he quickly realized it wasn't to her but to the mattrone, for whom Arte was well aware that standing up was already a difficult task and who stood up to take speech.
The old lady silenced the room with a mere cough, allowing her to speak in a feeble yet audible voice.
"My children, my flowers, all that the young Arte earlier told you is the truth. Today four of your sisters have been abducted, and before them, nine others, we believe, by the same individuals."
"My flowers, I understand, you are afraid, after all, tomorrow, it might even be you or the girl beside you; you never know. But being afraid is no reason to give in to panic."
"The Rose Blanche will focus from this day forward on ensuring the safety of each of her flowers; thus, from this day forward until this matter is resolved, the Rose Blanche will not receive a single guest into its gardens."
During his part of the speech, Arte noticed that Mael had been surveying the room. However, at a particular moment of the Matronne's announcement, Mael's blue eyes, were now fixed intensely on a specific area of the crowd. Arte, Emma, and the Matronne all noticed Mael's plastered gaze. Though their gaze followed Mael's, they couldn't determine the specific person he was focusing on.
"No flower will be allowed out, until this matter is settled and the ones behind these abductions are punished. Yes, "punished," for they had come at us believing we were frail and vulnerable, as if we were helpless flowers to be plucked helplessly from their homes, but we will prove them wrong."
Eyes still fixed on where Mael’s gaze was, Arte finally realized at whom exactly his gaze was directed.
Within the crowds, there was one woman who appeared to be uneasy, with the eyes of the Matronne, Emma, and even Arte fixed upon her. The situation worsened when she realized that not only were Arte and the Matronne staring at her, but Mael's eyes were staring at her more intently than any other.
"I can promise, on my name and the principles that we have built this Rose Blanche on, that we will find the perpetrator and exact the rightful punishment that they and those they have allied with deserve."
It was then that Mael, who had been standing still in his corner, slowly strode his way, seemingly, to the woman, whom Arte, despite not recognizing her, knew was a gardener. When she noticed Mael approaching, the woman panicked and made her way to the exit.
Understanding that that person was the "who" Mael was referring to earlier, Arte wanted to approach them, but before he could, he was stopped by the Matronne's feeble arms, "Let it go, Anaka. Leave this matter to Mael. The boy will know what is to be done."
Despite the matronne's words tasting bitter, Arte followed them. Standing there, he saw Mael vanish beyond the room's exit after the girl.
***
Soon, a few hours had passed. Arte stood waiting for Mael to come back to the Rose Blanche, sitting on the stairs leading to the entrance, when he finally noticed, amidst the penumbra of the night approaching, Mael’s silhouette.
"I didn't expect you to not follow me, let alone leave me alone to deal with this."
"I did not expect you to come back at all, at least not for tonight." Glaring at each other, Mael went and took a seat beside Arte.
"Was the woman, Mercia," as Arte had discovered was the woman's name, "truly the "who" you were looking for?"
"Yes. She was."
"Was… Where is she?!"
"She’s alive if that’s what you’re worried about. And for where she is, consider her somewhere where she is meant to be. Don’t bother asking me where, I will not tell you."
"... I see." Arte sighed before asking, curious, "How did it turn out?"
"Well, I suppose. I got a "where" from her. "I believe that it is the location where the girls might be held captive."
"Then—"
"But that place is a church-owned property, a basilica, at least in appearance. I took time to get a look at the place. It’s guarded. There is no conventional means that will get us in or the girls out."
"You wish to leave them to their fates?"
"How come you always jump to these cretinous conclusions? I never said anything about leaving them to their fate. I only said that no conventional means will get us in."
"You mean…"
"That’s it. Unconventional ones will get us in. In other words, brute force alone is our only way in."
"You want to use brute force against the church?"
"As ridiculous as the circumstances surrounding the incident are, a member of the nobility has been abducted. It is our responsibility as members of the nobility to ensure the safety of our fellow noble who has been abducted. I, as a law-abiding noble, and you, as a Holy Paladin's substitute, have a duty to ensure that Miss Analise returns home safely."
Arte was both surprised and unprepared to hear such words from him.
"What is it?"
"I’d thought you would come at me, ordering me to remain away from this matter again."
"Trust me, I was planning to... But much to my own disarray, due to frustratingly unforeseen circumstances, I am left with no other choice but to take this matter into my own two hands, which sadly are nowhere near enough, so I’ll need your help too. You can still refuse if you want. I would not object to it; in fact, I would be greatly relieved if you were to."
Smiling, "I will not give you that pleasure," Arte announced.
"I am not even surprised."
"But say, Mael. What will the Red princess say of this? Does she know of this too?"
"She must not be involved... I will bring this matter to her attention tonight. Tomorrow we will act. Tomorrow, I need you awake, no longer as sleepy as you currently are. Go back home, take time to get a good rest; tomorrow is hopefully the day we will put an end to all of this."