CH 21

All he could do was stare at me with a cold stare at my words. No, it might be more accurate to say that it is burning rather than cold.

‘Should I say it’s a flame that seems to burn after I’ve been looking at it for a while?’

After a while, his lips twitched.

“As long as you don’t become my enemy, I won’t put your blood on my hands. I guarantee it in the name of Kyle Alexis Illide.”

“…Thank you.”

Although I felt a sense of relief, my heart throbbed for nothing.

“It’s a promise not worth making.”

Then he frowned slightly and licked his lips again.

“Then, did you write such a proposal letter to the man you thought might kill you?”

“….”

“….”

The wind blew between us again.

Well. Yeah, there was a story that I hadn’t finished that day.

“Why the hell are you…”

For a moment, I couldn’t hear him well because of the wind.

“Yes? What did you say…”

Then a familiar voice was heard.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, have you come?”

I looked back and saw Reihausd’s face as he was standing with Dwayne behind him.

His bright blonde hair and shiny gold eyes were warm enough to dispel the cold.

“…May the High Priest be blessed by the Nine Gods.”

I turned to greet him.

“May the Saintess be blessed too.”

Reihausd approached us with a bright smile. Then he stood before Kyle and said to him.

“I remember you had an appointment with me, but I wonder why you are with the Saintess.”

There was a faint smile on his lips, but I could fully sense the subtle twists hidden in his tone of voice.

“Well.”

Kyle answered with cold eyes.

“There was something I couldn’t tell her at the last banquet.”

“That’s right. His Highness and I had a little chat about this and that. It’s about the banquet’s food.”

I shrugged my shoulders quickly, hiding the contents of the letter just in case. Because the disgrace is enough for Kyle alone.

If Reihausd discovered the contents of that absurd letter…

“… It was a food with a lot to say. The vegetables weren’t fresh.”

At my next words, Kyle stared at me with a subtle gaze, then looked away again without saying a word.

“Then now, I…”

I was reconsidering the timing to say goodbye right away.

“No matter even if it’s Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

But for a moment, Reihausd opened his mouth with a chilling voice and cut off my words.

“The Saintess is a person of the temple, so I would like you to refrain from meeting her privately.”

I looked at him, startled by his words.

I could see Kyle’s complexion becoming even colder.

No, Reihausd. As it is now, it seems that he knows Kyle is in a good mood.

Somehow I felt restless, and stamped my feet.

“I also ask the Saintess.”

As soon as Reihausd finished speaking, Kyle spoke to Reihausd in a displeased voice.

“Since when did the High Priest have the authority to oversee the Saintess?”

It is said that in the temple, the Saintess was the superior of the High Priest.

“It’s off topic.”

Reihausd stared intently at Kyle, then opened his mouth.

“Your Highness, don’t you know that I’m always prepared for emergencies?”

It was a polite but hostile voice.

“During the defense of the strange phenomenon that occurred at the banquet for Your Highness’ birthday, some nobles of the Imperial Family were paying attention to the Saintess and the temple.”

Kyle stood silently at Reihausd’s words, and suddenly he grinned. Then he drew his sword, raised it, and pointed the tip of the sword at Reihausd’s neck.

“…!”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise at the sudden occurrence.

The tip of his sword was close to reaching Reihausd’s neck by a few centimeters.

If Kyle, the Sword Master, injected even a sword, he would be able to pierce his neck right away.

The two men’s eyes met fiercely in the air.

I was startled and trembled at the nerves that suddenly flowed so thickly.

“If you’re prepared, you should have considered this situation as well.”

Kyle, who pointed his sword at Reihausd and licked his lips in a low voice, looked like a dangerous beast.

“It’s because I’m the type of person that can’t let go of a cheeky human being.”

Even though the sharp tip of the sword was within walking distance, Reihausd, who stood calmly without showing any sign of fear, was also amazing.

“Whether or not we’re close to each other is not for the High Priest to decide. I have come to give the Saintess a warning about the problems that still exist at the banquet.”

He opened his lips and let out in a calm tone of dryness.

“I understand what Your Highness means.”

After a while, Kyle slowly took his sword and shoved it into his sheath.

The sound of a sharp blade going into the scabbard made my spine even more chill.

‘As expected, the temple isn’t a place for people to live…’

All I could think of was that I had to get out of here with Mond’s help.

“The Saintess…”

I stood blankly for a moment, then I shuddered at Reihausd’s voice and met his gaze.

It was hard to believe that a knife had just touched his neck, and he had a calm expression on his face.

“You must be tired, so go in and rest.”

It’s nice to hear that.

There was even a relaxed smile on his lips, who had just almost been stabbed with a knife, as if it had never happened.

I barely hid my nervousness and nodded my head.

***

“At the banquet, the Saintess came forward and defended His Highness the Crown Prince. She said that the God of Destruction had blessed His Highness.”

When he heard this from Dwayne, Reihausd couldn’t help but frown.

Why on earth would she do such a useless thing?

He conspired with Kyle and set up Ariel as a fake saintess, but Ariel’s role was over just by sitting in the empty seat of the saintess.

There was no need for her to protect Kyle, or to intervene in the perilous situation associated with him.

‘Ariel, towards Prince Kyle…’

As he reached the thought, his chest fell heavily and he felt an unpleasant pain.

The word ‘love’ on Ariel’s first congratulatory speech to Kyle caught his eye.

It felt uncomfortable, and as if he was seething with fire.

‘Though I had guessed, but still.’

Her blue eyes, which were looking at him emotionless yet frighteningly at first glance, were good in front of him.

And at some point, his sinful body reacted without any countermeasures. As if a vicious curse had been cast, the fever didn’t subside from that day.

“Unless you’re testing me.”

Reihausd stared at the statue of Mond on the table and closed his eyes.

He couldn’t be swayed by an unknown wave of radical emotions.

“Does this mean that she’s a really special existence, I wonder.”

And just then, Dwayne’s voice was heard from behind him.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has come to visit the Saintess. Those two are together right now.”

At that moment, even though there wasn’t a single wind blown, the statue of Mond collapsed.

He could hear the sound of rationality and self-control, which had been protected by prayer, being cut off.

A deep light began to flicker in Reihausd’s gold eyes. He quickly got up from his seat and left the room with a cold expression on his face.

“Where is the Saintess?”

***

Daisy asked me, who was just back, with a smile.

“Did you have a good chat with His Highness the Crown Prince?”

I shook my head, placed my hand on my forehead and sat down on the chair. I felt a few years older in a short time

“Ah, I think I’m going to die. Why are those two like that?”

As I sighed, she looked puzzled.

“Did anything happen? I thought you would be happy to meet His Highness the Crown Prince. The Saintess likes His Highness the Crown Prince, don’t you?”

At those words, I opened my eyes and asked Daisy.

“Where in the world did you hear that?”

“Uh… There’s no one in the temple who doesn’t know that.”

“There’s no one in the temple who doesn’t know?”

“Whenever His Highness the Crown Prince comes, the Saintess follows him, sings a song about him, and talks about him wherever you go…”

My head was throbbing. I could imagine how helpless Ariel was.

She’d even written a letter to Kyle, so she must have talked a lot about Kyle here and there.

And, of course, that story would have reached Reihausd’s ears as well.

“About how much you love Prince Kyle.”

In an instant, his dark golden eyes came to my mind.

He must have known the rumors of me floating around in the temple even back then, didn’t he?

Suddenly my mind is disturbed with shame.

“Phew…”

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked me with a worried look.

Since a saintess can marry and have children, the Crown Prince would be the most prestigious and worthy partner for the Saintess to marry.

“Daisy. Do you know a lot of apprentice bridesmaids?”

Daisy looked blankly at my question and then nodded his head.

“Yes. I’m the 76th representative of the apprentice priestess of Elium.”

With that said, I looked into her eyes and asked her.

“Then you can spread the word, can’t you?”

“Yes. Of course. But what…”

“The rumor that the Saintess is a single person who has no intention of dating or getting married.”

Daisy’s eyes widened at my words.

“But… If you lose your marriage position!”

Most of the past saintesses left the temple and got married when the next saintess showed her holy power.

Naturally, their husbands were mostly from high-ranking nobles, and they lived with them until their death.

Priests were also allowed to marry, but most of the high-ranking priests were single, as they were given preferential treatment for dedicating more to the Gods.

Unmarried saintesses usually had more achievements than married saintesses.

But Ariel was by no means a plausible saint, and they were all expecting her to get married. The word that the Saintess likes the Crown Prince has also spread widely.

“It’s okay. It can be cut off.”

I spoke firmly and Daisy nodded her head with a puzzled expression on her face.

“I understand. Saintess.”

“Please spread it as widely as possible. The word about the Saintess being celibate.”

Again, my goal was to save a lot of money here, go out, and make a living.

“I never plan on dating or getting married here.”

I’m saying that I have no intention of riding the bad route in the original story by swearing at Kyle and clinging to Reihausd.

“I understand.”

After a while, Daisy came out.

Then I lay down on the bed.

‘Ha, I’m tired…’

I had a lot of work today, so I fell asleep. Eventually, my eyelids closed and deep darkness came over me.