The Duchesses

Chapter 32 : Can You Help Me?

She snapped out of her trance and proceeded to sneak around the Temple, leaving the prayer room. She wanders around the Grand Hall for a while, assuming it's close to the end of the Cardinal's day and works. Yet he's not there, prompting her to continue to explore the Temple.

It's a hectic day at the Temple. Probably because the nobles insisted on an explanation from the Temple after hearing about the exposed oracle. The nobility often bribes the oracle's priests with money to show that they are more powerful and well-connected than ordinary people. Understandably, they were furious about it, but the fact that regular people already knew about it didn't help.

As the crowd pushes around her, she passes over them, slipping through the gaps. One man runs into her out of nowhere, nearly knocking Medea down since Hera's body is extremely delicate. Fortunately, she is saved from falling by a pair of arms. The emerald eyes raise their sight, noticing other familiar red eyes. Although Isis, Natalie, and he all have red eyes, their shades are vastly different.

Isis has the lightest shades, followed by Eryx and Natalie. Natalie has the deepest colour, but she is the most mesmerising.

"Lady Hera? Wait, Medea? What are you doing here?" the Cardinal inquires as he assists Hera in standing up.

Medea looks around without saying anything, dragging the Cardinal to another location. The Cardinal allows himself to be carried around, but his mouth is full of questions about the blonde woman.

"Eryx," Medea said as they arrived somewhere else.

"Yes?" he responds, more to ask a question.

"Hera and I swapped bodies for a while. Duchess Natalie and Princess Isis have been found. Now I need to know your side information regarding public opinion and Temple action," the emerald eyes slightly darken while the aura around the body darkens; that's why Eryx can find out about it from his unique ability.

"Medea? Is that you?" he asks, still perplexed by the situation.

"Yes, it is me. But, would you tell me about it?" Medea cuts to the chase.

The Cardinal then begins to explain to her the general public's reaction to the oracle. Most people believe it and demand that the Imperial Palace take action against the Smiths. The Crassore royalty has also visited the Temple, inquiring further about the oracle. They can't believe they almost chose the Duchess as the Crassore Empire's future Empress. As a result, the royalty demands the same thing as the commoner to take action against the Smiths.

Meanwhile, the nobles who once supported the Smiths have turned against Natalie, supporting the Crassorean and commoners' demands against Duchess Smith. Thus, Natalie is currently in an unfavourable situation. Due to the pressure, The Imperial Family will issue a decree tomorrow imposing a bounty on the Duchess. Consequently, it is only a matter of time before they act to save the Duchess from the crisis.

"I have been pursuing the men. However, they disappeared. Hera and I believe that Ares killed them," he completes his explanation.

Medea sits there, attentively listening to his explanation. Her finger taps on the table as she digs through her brain for a solution. Ares has carefully planned this delicate situation as it seems impenetrable this time. After spending so much time with Cardinal Eryx, she takes her to leave and go to her carriages before her servants discover anything suspicious and report it to the Crown Prince.

"That woman really comes here with only one goal in her time," the Cardinal snickers when he sees the carriage go away.

The sun has set when Medea arrives at Nicoli's manor, and it is almost time for Hera to swap bodies.