Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The temple sent a carriage.

“They couldn’t take any money and now go insane, it seems.”

Duke Icard murmured silently as he observed the procession of wagons on its way to the temple. Such a splendid service meant that they expected us to offer a splendid amount of donation.

The Duke’s expression was full of disapproval. I hastily lowered my head.

“I’m sorry, father… because of me…”

It was Evan who replied.

“Father, how much pressure do you put on Laria for her to say such things?”

Hearing that, I held Evan’s arm slightly as if not to say anything, though I didn’t actively try to stop him.

“It’s not even Laria’s fault that she’s sick.”

Duke Icard frowned for a moment and said.

“What are you talking about? It’s a good thing to see the temple acting like beggars.”

At that, Evan and I were both startled and speechless after hearing what he said.

“I was thinking of threatening… I mean, I was looking for a chance to talk to them. Thanks to Laria, I have a good opportunity now.”

“Didn’t you just say they went insane because they couldn’t take any money out of you?”

“That is true. That’s not an option.”

The conversation was going in a loop, but it didn’t last long. Duke Icard and I stepped into the carriage, but Evan wasn’t coming.

“Evan, aren’t you coming with me?”

“Ah.”

Duke Icard said indifferently.

“Evan can’t go to the temple.”

“What?”

I gazed back at Evan, wondering what Duke Icard was saying, and he replied with the same calm expression as his father.

“I’m not baptized.”

I opened my mouth wide.

No, even commoners are baptized by low-ranking officials when their children are born. Even children in orphanages are baptized in line by volunteer priests. Yet, the only heir to the Duke of Icard wasn’t baptized? If he had made up his mind, he could even have the ceremony held by the high priest himself!

Not being baptized was a kind of neglect that not even the poor would do in this world.

He didn’t get God’s first blessing. It meant not only that he couldn’t be blessed by any priest for the rest of his life, yet also that he couldn’t go inside the temple.

“It’s a fact that no one knows. So, you must keep the secret, too.”

Duke Icard spoke calmly.

‘Of course, no one knows… Does it make sense that the Duke’s successor has not been baptized?’

But, he felt ashamed, and that was why he asked me to keep it a secret?

“Evan…”

I didn’t know what to say.

Eventually, I rode the carriage to the temple alone with Duke Icard. It was the first time for the two of us to ride a carriage together since we went to the academy to see Evan.

I couldn’t bear the silence that had been flowing for a while, so I smiled and opened my mouth first.

“The temple’s carriage is gorgeous but not as good as yours. It’s a little more rattling.”

“It’s going to get better now when they get the money.”

Knowing that the money was being spent because of me, I felt guilty for no reason and laughed it off.

With that thought, I ogled my eyes quietly, and the Duke said.

“Your body certainly seems to be better.”

“Pardon?”

“You look better. Has your coughing decreased?”

“Uh, um…yes.”

Since I had been eating better these days, my skinny body was gaining a little weight.

“I’m telling you, father, I think Serena is the real deal!”

“…I see.”

Serena said the Duke was constantly being briefed on my condition.

‘Though he didn’t tell her not to treat me since I was going to die, anyway.’

“But, um, Serena says it’s not an easy treatment.”

I quickly added in case he planned to replace Serena with another doctor since she was too good.

“She told me just to focus on getting better.”

“…Is that so?”

“Um, father.” I sneaked out my words.

“You said you wanted to threaten… no, you wanted to talk to the temple. What’s the matter?”

“It’s no big deal.”

“I’m worried. It bothers me that Evan hasn’t been baptized… and when he grows up, he’ll feel even more deprived.”

“He’s already grown up.”

I was about to disagree with him when Duke Icard continued.

“Because there is a certain amount of iron in a person’s body.”

[ T/N: It’s a joke. Because Iron, and grown-up or ‘mature’ is written in a similar way. ]

“….”

I couldn’t force myself to laugh, so I answered with a soft sigh.

“It’s really really funny. Though I can’t laugh because I’m worried about Evan.”

About half of my words were sincere. The first sentence was obviously false, and the second sentence was true. Since I didn’t laugh, the Duke cleared his throat and opened his mouth again.

“It has nothing to do with Evan. So, you don’t have to pay any attention to it.”

“Then, is it something personal related to you?”

“…Yes.”

“It must be something difficult if father can’t do anything about it.”

I did my best to start the flattery.

“I think of Father as a man who can do anything.”

“Laria.” Duke Icard smirked, seemingly proud.

“Does it look that way to you?”

“Yes!”

I nodded my head eagerly.

“You work so hard till night every day that lights in your office never turn off. No matter what happens, no matter how tired you are, you even work until dawn…”

It was true.

Duke Icard’s office was always lit until late at night, no matter where he went or whatever his condition was. He continued to do so after Lady Matilda passed away. Even that night when he tortured Ludva, the lights never went off.

The fact was so famous that everyone in the Capital knew about it.

“As a result, you seem to be a person who does everything he wants to do and has everything he wants! I respect that a lot.”

“….”

Duke Icard didn’t answer back but just turned to face the window instead.

“A great man like you, father… Is there anything you want to have, but you can’t?”

“Of course, there’s no one in the world who could easily have everything they want. For example…”

He slowly blinked and murmured.

“Like a holy object, or something like that.”

Finally, the word ‘holy’ came out of his mouth.

‘From here on out, it will be a piece of cake.’

“Priests think of it as their own life, and they wouldn’t give it up easily. Well, there’s no way they would give up their divine power.”

“I see…”

I nodded, and from then on, I sat quietly and didn’t bother the Duke anymore. After arriving at the temple, I spit an admiration inwardly.

‘Wow…’

Duke Icard, who was beside me, also smirked slightly as if he was also dumbfounded.

‘This is a lot.’

To welcome us, the High Priest stood up front led by twenty priests. Silver hair, a symbol of their holy power, glistened under the sunlight.

“Good morning, Duke.”

The high priest, dressed in the fanciest clothes, stood in front of Duke Icard and greeted him gracefully.

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

“I heard that Icard’s only daughter-in-law has a disease, and of course, our temple should come forward.”

“You must have wanted to come up for sure.”

Duke Icard answered stiffly.

“By the way, the last time I asked the temple…”

“Oh, Duke.”

The High Priest shook his head and added his words, “You can’t buy it. It’s not something of that nature.”

The High Priest did not fully mention what ‘it’ was because it was a secret request, although I could tell that it was a sacred object.

A few more polite words came and went, and through the conversation, I sneakily looked at the procession of priests. The colors of their eyes were different. Still, everyone had the same silver hair due to their holy power.

Suddenly, one day, there would be people whose hair unexpectedly turned silver. It was an indication of their divine energy. Those who didn’t want to become priests would just ignore it until it was gone. Then, they could go back to their daily life with their original hair color.

On the other hand, those who wanted to become priests were able to do it after receiving a sacred object from the high priest.

The glittering silver hair, which only appeared when the holy power had awakened, had the effect of making one’s heart reverent just by looking at it.

And, with that reverent heart, I quickly looked through the priests.

‘A pure gold ring on the fourth finger…a pure gold ring… It must be that kid…!’

Eventually, I could easily find a priest my age in the third row.