I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Though I said that, the fact Violet sent an emergency contact meant something serious had happened.
Of course, even after receiving the emergency call, I couldn’t teleport from the Kingdom of Leon all the way to the Holy Kingdom to help.
So I could only provide whatever support I was able to offer.

"Commander, it seems there’s been an incident in the Holy Kingdom."
"How did you find out?"
"Our Boradol sent word she’s struggling terribly alongside the saint."
"...It’s a bit early, but looks like a salary adjustment is in order."
I was able to acknowledge the informant’s merits and help with a salary raise.
This was truly the best I could do.
Even in Dale, a group of magical novices, when help is requested they can’t immediately do anything.
What could the sword-wielding nation Leon possibly do?
"But you said there’s no money?"
"My senior hasn’t had much work lately. We’ll have to take a bit from there."

Though I felt sorry about the seniors’ pay being cut, for Boradol—the most hardworking agent currently in Leon—the seniors would gladly share their wages.
"So will you chip in too?"
"Don’t be ridiculous."
The seniors were still relaxing, and I was just on vacation but struggling terribly.
Though I couldn’t openly tell the commander, I planned to struggle even more in the second semester.

"Alright, then you should contact the agents in the Holy Kingdom first."
Because of the nature of Leon, where more people trust swords than goddesses, but except for Leon and Dale most citizens believe in the goddess, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ every country had to pay attention to the Holy Kingdom’s movements.
They didn’t move often due to lack of reason, but once they did, the religious upheaval could ripple through the continent.
The Holy Kingdom’s masterminds surely knew this and used it politically.
Violet said they would only do groundwork this time, but...
If they were calling for help, things must have progressed further than expected.
Just warning us was enough for Boradol to earn merit.
The problem was...

"It seems something happened, but it hasn’t been confirmed."
Apparently, the Holy Kingdom’s security was surprisingly tight.
The commander had been demanding reports after several half-hearted ones, but when he returned, he just frowned with a frustrated look.
"We’re not incompetent like the Empire, right?"

It was a genuine worry.
If the entire romance fantasy world was incompetent, that would be a disaster.
"You're probably the only one treated like that by the Empire. Fortunately, we’re not incompetent. The Holy Kingdom just has tight control."
"Is it really that bad?"
"That bad. The closer you are inside the Holy Kingdom, the harder it is to use proper magical tools. Even the info we got was relayed by people outside the Holy Kingdom to those inside."
That explained why Boradol’s plea for help was the only contact.
I thought maybe she was fine and didn’t send more.
Turns out, she sent just that one message and then couldn’t reach us due to jamming.

"Can Boradol be met by another agent?"
"That’d be hard. I asked, and the paladins currently control major Holy Kingdom institutions, including the Papal Palace. Pilgrims and tourists, even bishop-level people, are half-imprisoned..."
There was nothing we could do from our side.
"We need to prepare for what comes next."

If there’s nothing to do now, preparing for what follows is enough.
So it was beneficial to decode the incident Violet heard about in advance.
"Actually, Boradol predicted some things."
"More than just a plea for help?"
"It wasn’t exact, and we were waiting for more certain info."
The commander nodded at my words.
Half-baked info is worse than none, but when info is completely blocked, even that half-baked info is precious.
So I summarized the original Holy Kingdom arc Violet had heard about and reported it to the commander.
"This is the report Boradol made from the field, including predictions."
"The Holy Kingdom’s corrupt... everyone who knows about it is aware."
"You knew?"
"They openly send letters to the royal family demanding donations for church construction. The royal family supports reasonable constructions willingly, but they also demand money to build huge churches in absurd places..."
"What did you do?"
"We approved it and had the knights watch over it. As expected, they built poorly and embezzled, so we caught, punished, and detained them for re-education."
"Didn’t the Holy Kingdom object?"
"We did it secretly and caught over a dozen people at once. The Holy Kingdom was too embarrassed to say anything."

This was only possible in Leon.
A country where even commoners’ children argued over practicing swordsmanship with sticks.
National power was second only to the Empire along with Dale, and belief in the goddess was comparatively low, so the Holy Kingdom’s influence was relatively weak.
If another country did this, the corrupt Holy Kingdom officials wouldn’t stand for it.
But if you look at it another way...
"The Holy Kingdom is going to be reformed. What benefits will we get from that..."
"Any?"
"Not much..."
Since we weren’t influenced much by the Holy Kingdom, we wouldn’t gain much from its reforms.
Then...

"Sell it?"
"What?"
"The information we got. We may be less influenced, but some neighboring places are swayed by the Holy Kingdom."
Without searching far, a small neighboring kingdom next to us required papal approval for succession.
It was just formal, but papal influence was often felt during succession.
"Not a bad idea."

This was a nation-to-nation deal.
Not just material things, but information useless to us could help foster slightly friendlier relations.
"Can we sell it free to the Empire?"
"Didn’t you say you hated the Empire?"
"I said they’re incompetent, not hated."
I considered telling a certain guy who’s probably struggling badly today, but—

Sir Aerin went on a business trip to the Holy Kingdom...
"Ah..."
I’d heard he was struggling badly like Boradol because of bad luck.
I relayed what little I knew to the junior working for him and got thanks about a week ago.
"What?"
"They said there’s a revolution in the Holy Kingdom. And..."

Looks like the original story was messed up again.
#4 Holy Kingdom Correspondent, Codename Boradol.
I desperately sent out distress calls, but nothing happened.
This damn black company—I’ll quit someday, but they pay so well, I’ll protest for a raise at the end of the year.
Because I’m really good at my job!

"Pope, don’t be fooled by them!"
It wasn’t like a 0.2-second domain activation, but I managed to divide the pope’s delivery to Daisy into 3 or 5-second segments.
It was a long two-day journey.
If it had been written as a novel, it would have been about 10 episodes, but unfortunately, I wasn’t the protagonist of this world, so it was skipped.
Thanks to my efforts, the real protagonist Daisy could pressure the final boss, Cardinal Sergio, with the little pope.
"..."
"..."

...But why isn’t she doing it?
When I looked away in confusion,
"..."
"..."
I naturally heard “No matter how much I think about it, I’m yours~” playing in my ears.
The two were awkward.
Very awkward!

"Ah..."
Of course, it was natural.
They just met, so it was weird to see them trusting and relying on each other.
Damn, I barely recreated the original.
Two years got skipped and their story disappeared!
"Pope!"

Maybe sensing the awkwardness.
Or because she saw the still trembling pope,
Cardinal Sergio called the pope with a sly smile.
"Ugh!"
Just that action threw the pope into a panic.

"Daisy!"
He urgently called for Daisy, but she was rarely confused.
Her expression said she didn’t know what to do.
Originally, they didn’t know each other’s identities and met and parted by chance.
Then learned about each other by chance, and after uncovering the Holy Kingdom’s secrets, Daisy learned what happened to the pope.
They met again, promised to save each other, and actually did.
Through trust, the pope took Daisy’s side in front of everyone, exposing the other side’s lowest depths.
"..."

But what if that didn’t happen?
It was an emergency, a super emergency.
Daisy and the pope had no mental connection, which was problematic, but the bigger problem was the pope’s lack of mental growth.
What remained was a kid exposed continuously to mental and physical abuse and gaslighting at an age too young to understand the world.
At the cardinal gang’s shout, you could see the pope hesitating whether to go or not.
"Pope."
So I acted.
In the original, the pope chose Daisy and won, but what if it was the other way?
The revolution Daisy started with her fists had no support base.
If the pope’s support shifted, the revolution could turn into a coup.
The male leads with backing and Saint Daisy might survive somehow.
But I, with nothing, could become the coup leader who disappears at the guillotine.
...Come to think of it, I was the one who kidnapped the pope!

"There’s nothing to be afraid of."
I kept my poker face and grabbed the pope’s hand.
Maybe she noticed the slight tremble.
The pope’s startled eyes met mine.
Damn, that doesn’t inspire much trust...
"I’ll believe you."
"…?"
"I remember what Violet said."
"Pope..."
"I believe Violet!"

Uh... maybe our pope trusted the more unstable person over a reliable one?
Anyway, if the pope supported Daisy like this, things could proceed as in the original.
Condemning the cardinals and bringing their crimes before the entire Holy Kingdom...
"As pope, I order you: punish those damn old men who sold their souls to the devil, in the name of the goddess!"
"…?"
Pope, pope... what are you saying?
You weren’t that kind of character...
Sis is struggling just from Daisy’s character change...
But seeing the pope looking up at me as if wanting praise, I couldn’t help but frown.

"Well, well done."
For some reason, I had to praise the pope who had somehow become combative.