CH 9

Viola’s care was more effective than I thought.

When the meal that she hand-fed me was over, she came up to the bed and gently relaxed my tight muscles and massaged them, and even took care of the snacks and did her part well.

To my surprise, the next day, I could walk around without a hitch.

It would have been a perfect healing time if it wasn’t for her quiet presence.

For a while, I was happy to get a healthy body in return for having an uncomfortable day.

When I heard Viola take a vacation again, I was surprised and tiredly tried to dissuade her.

“I’m worried that people will lose trust in Sister just because of me.”

As she put her hands together and looked up eagerly, she unexpectedly nodded her head and went to work.

Then Liliana, who noticed Viola was away, approached me to go out together.

I could see her wish to go to the salon, but fortunately, she had to be away for a while because of Mother’s call.

I didn’t intend to miss this opportunity.

“Isabel! Help me get ready to go out!”

“Yes, miss!”

When she heard I was going out, Isabel excitedly started to help me dress up without knowing where I was going.

It wasn’t until I wore my favorite light dress and tied a hat’s ribbon under my chin that she asked for my destination.

“Huh? Where I am going? Of course, it’s the temple.”

“Yes? It-it’s not the salon?”

“Then I’ll be back.”

“M-miss! At least take a knight with you!”

“I’ll be right back, so don’t worry. There’s no way my safety could be threatened in the first place.”

No matter how corrupt the temple is, it is also a place where faithful believers still visit.

It goes without saying that there are no stupid people who would do nonsense in broad daylight like this.

I left the mansion in a carriage, leaving Isabel with her worried farewell behind.

✲ ✲ ✲

There’s only one reason I like the temple.

The temple on weekdays is quiet because there aren’t many visitors, so it’s a good place to spend time alone.

It’s nice to be able to organize my complicated head, and true to the name of the temple, it’s filled with holy energy, so I find peace of mind whenever I come here.

Rumors that it’s a corrupt temple and that there are no right priests left can’t stop me.

The temple is so beautiful, and it’s a place of peace for me.

It used to be like that until a little while ago.

‘I should have brought a knight, as Isabel said.’

I didn’t want to stand out for no reason, so I didn’t have knights to accompany me.

If I had known that I would be caught up in such a troublesome thing, I would have brought out a knight.

Yeah, when does the world ever go the way I want it to?

“I’ve never seen anyone as faithful as Lady. How happy God must be if He watched this.”

“Yes. Of course.”

He was one of the priests I encountered whenever I stopped by the temple, and he was famous for persistently flirting with female believers.

It was said that there were reports of him seducing and molesting people by saying that they should pray together, but even though they investigated it, he wasn’t kicked out.

So when I was alone, I always avoided him carefully, but in the end, I was forced to continue the conversation because it was difficult to overcome the man’s fast steps.

“If you’re done praying, why don’t you go to my room and share a sincere story with me?”

“I have to go back home.”

“It won’t take too long.”

I tried to leave my seat naturally, but the priest grabbed my wrist to prevent me from running away, adding a ridiculous reason.

‘Are you crazy?’

Even though I didn’t reveal that I was a Liviatan, I would be above middle-class just by looking at my outfit.

‘How corrupt are these people that going around the temple?’

“It will be a pretty good time for Lady, too”

The hand that grabbed my wrist stroked my arm gently.

When my expression hardened at the goosebumps that felt like crawling insects, the priest just looked happier.

“It will be over soon. God is waiting for Lady, would my devoted Lady dare to disappoint God?”

“No! Let me go! This is a real travesty! If you don’t let go, I’ll let the temple know!”

“You should try. I don’t know if it will be useful, though.”

Eventually, the anger I had been holding back exploded when the man uttered outrageous sophistry.

I had been angry these days because of my complicated sisters, but this guy poured oil on the small fire.

The moment I picked up a pot in the hallway and tried to hit his head.

Suddenly, someone appeared in the empty hallway.

Running from the side of the garden, he leaped over the wall of the hallway without hesitation and roughly knocked off the person who was threatening me.

The priest was thrown helplessly to the floor and the man who suddenly appeared asked without even looking at me.

“Are you all right, Lady?”

He had a nice voice to listen to.

His gentle voice echoed in my ears as if riding in the gentle breeze of early summer.

As soon as I heard the man’s voice, my heart suddenly shook and began to beat fast.

‘What is this?’

In case the beating sound could reach him, I put my hand on my chest to calm myself down, and then his voice was heard again.

“Are you hurt?”

Even though I knew it wasn’t polite, I couldn’t raise my head.

‘W-why is my heart doing this?’

If I had been taken by the priest, it would have been difficult to get out.

It was a dangerous situation, and it made sense to feel grateful for his help.

But the more the man’s gaze touched me, and the more his worried voice turned toward me, strangely, the more I felt like tearing up.

“Lady?”

I hurriedly bit my lower lip at the man’s voice again.

‘I-I must have been scared.’

I must have been so scared that the worries of a man I had never seen before made me feel relieved.

‘Let’s not cry. It’s okay now.’

If I burst into tears here, the man would feel embarrassed.

I held out desperately, strengthening my eyes that seemed to burst into tears at any moment.

The man didn’t say anything, as if waiting for me to calm down.

After a while, the rushing emotions subsided a little.

I thought it would be okay to raise my head now that I barely had tears in my eyes.

‘Don’t be nervous and say thank you.’

I organized my thoughts and slowly raised my head to face the man who helped me.

“Ah.”

I was speechless as soon as I saw the man.

I had never seen him before.

I raised my head a little more because there was a difference in height between me and the man.

His calm black hair was slightly tangled as if to show that he had rushed here.

The blue eyes filled with worry were clear as if they contained a clear lake, and just looking at them made me feel deeply immersed.

‘Handsome.’

I grew up with Liliana, the representative beauty of the Empire, so I wasn’t impressed by the appearance of most beauties, but this man was different.

The round eyes under the straight eyebrows, the angular and sleek nose, and the vibrant bright red lips were beautifully harmonized in his small face.

The man’s face was unfamiliar, but the clothes he was wearing were familiar.

The blue uniform covering the wide shoulders and chest was definitely the uniform of the Holy Knights.

‘But I’ve never seen him before…’

If there was a handsome man who looked good in the uniform of the Holy Knights, the temple couldn’t have been as quiet as it was now.

‘This place wouldn’t have been my resting place.’

Perhaps I was staring too closely, the man slightly lowered his head and made a puzzled expression with worried eyes.

It was as if God had made him Himself, I felt like my heart was pounding again at his beautiful holy appearance.

‘T-this isn’t the time.’

I hurriedly grabbed the hem of my skirt and bowed my head slightly.

“Thank you for your help.”

“No, I just did what I had to do.”

The man smiled as if he was going to ignore the rudeness I had committed.

With the corners of his lips raised softly, he didn’t say anything, but I felt comforted by what happened a while ago.

While I was relieved by the friendly smile, I could immediately feel something strange.

‘Come to think of it, why do I feel familiar with this person?’

This was the first time we met, but it was strange that I felt like I definitely knew him before.

‘When I first heard his voice…’

Above all, I was so embarrassed at the blooming happy emotions as if I just met someone I missed.

‘I don’t think it was just because I was relieved…’

“Nice to meet you, my Lady. My name is Adelio Gwenus.”

“Thank you for your help, Gwenus. My name is Daisy Liviatan.”

It was the first time I properly introduced myself in the temple.

The reason why high-ranking aristocrats deliberately wore plain clothes they usually wouldn’t wear was to avoid the eyes around them as much as possible.

I knew that revealing the name of Liviatan would attract annoying attention, so I had been hiding it.

However, I didn’t want to hide it from this good man who had helped me.

It was impulsive, but when I saw Adelio smiling as if he was happy to be introduced, I thought I wouldn’t regret it.

“Please call me Adelio comfortably, Lady Liviatan.”

Adelio’s voice was warm enough to melt cold ice, but the title that popped out of his mouth was not pleasant.

“There are three Lady Liviatan in my family. Could you please call me Daisy?”

“Is that really okay?”

I was a little surprised, but I was able to nod happily as he opened his eyes wide.

“Thank you for allowing me to call your name, Daisy.”

‘Huh?’

After committing it, I realized that I had spoken out on impulse again.

‘Am I too careless?’