CH 93

“How did you know that name…” 

When Breiman murmured in surprise, Balinos tapped Rupert’s temple with his finger. “A strong afterimage remains in this guy’s head.”

“Does the memory of the body remain?”

Balinos looked in the direction of the capital in amusement. “Yes. It’s interesting. Tell me, who is Erin Spilet?”

“Just a human woman. She was married to the body’s owner, but I know they weren’t very close,” Breiman said, trying to cut off his interest in case the Demon King acted capriciously.

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Demon King Balinos didn’t really respond to that. The corners of his mouth were already raised and telling him that his attention was focused on her.

“Get ready. We have somewhere to go.”

“Are you going on horseback?” Breiman asked, knowing he could teleport with magic equivalent to that of the Demon King.

“That’s right. If I want to move other humans, I’d have to pretend quite a bit, don’t you think? I won’t take it lightly this time.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare then.”

Breiman immediately bowed his head. Then a dreary voice, never heard before, resounded through the forest.

「Rikephoros and his empire will kneel under my feet.」

It wasn’t Rupert’s but the devil’s true voice. He did not forget the humiliation he had suffered from the first emperor, Rikephorus.

Breiman calmed his trembling limbs and hurriedly prepared.

“Really, are you okay?” 

Enoch stood in front of the temple as if he couldn’t bear to leave.

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One could say it’s affection, but it’s already been an hour. My legs were starting to hurt.

“Of course. I’ll train hard.”

After I agreed to go through the final ceremony to become a priestess, I decided to stay at the temple and do the necessary training for the Demon King battle.

Enoch had been at a loss between his position as the Crown Prince and as a man who cared for me the whole time.

“It could be dangerous.”

I smiled as I saw his perplexed eyes staring at me gently. “You will protect me.”

As the Crown Prince, he had to take me to the battlefield to reduce sacrifices and safely wage war.

However, it was my fate to live as a priestess for the rest of my life. Even if I could escape it through the Crown Prince’s proposal, I couldn’t escape the threat of war with the Demon King.

In fact, I hadn’t been as worried as I probably should be because I didn’t know what the war was really like.

Enoch sighed, grabbed my hands, and lightly placed his lips on my forehead. Then the priests who came out to meet me cleared their throats and looked into the air.

“Ah, that… That…”

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I couldn’t come to my senses at the sudden public display of affection. The corner of Enoch’s lips tilted upwards.

“Isn’t it okay to do this much to your lover?”

“Lover…?” 

“Hasn’t the Count proposed to me? Could it be that wasn’t your intention, and you were just making fun of me?”

With a slight glance, I answered quickly, “No, not at all.”

Even so, I never thought he would change so suddenly. I averted my gaze, feeling the heat on my cheeks.

“Anyway, you should go now.”

“It’s a pity there are too many eyes watching.”

Enoch looked very sorry. He barely left after graciously bowing and kissing the back of my hand one last time.

After Enoch left, I was free for a while. They said that the final ceremony to become a priestess would take place three days later.

I thought about what to do and decided to practice my bow while I figured it out.

“Can I practice with the Bow of Chaos?” When I asked the High Priest, he hurriedly shook his head.

“Since that bow consumes divine power with each shot, if you want to practice, I will provide you with a practice bow.”

“Oh, I see.”

I took the wooden bow I received and went to the gym. Paladins usually trained there, but now it was empty.

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Damon decided to teach me how to practice my bow. Since he had an audience with the Emperor, Damon left later than I did, arriving just before Enoch had left. 

“Lady, brace your legs. Spread your arms…”

“Like this?”

“No, please give it to me.”

Seeing Damon holding the bow, I suddenly remembered the hunting competition. Even then, he briefly taught me how to shoot an arrow.

Come to think of it, he was still young then, but now he had become pretty manly. Seeing how drastically he changed in just a few months was amazing.

As I watched him, I asked what came to mind, “But really, why did you agree to become my escort knight?”

“I’m thinking about it now.”

“Yes?”

Damon put down the bow and stared at my face.

Embarrassed by his persistent gaze, I rubbed my cheek. “What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face?”

“Just before… With His Highness, the Crown Prince…”

I stared at Damon, who had trailed off. “Damon?”

“What you said.”

Damon sighed, rubbed his face, and suddenly raised his bow to the target.

Ping–. The arrow flew and hit the center of the target. After that, he stuttered, “No, Lady. I must have been crazy for a while.”

“Sorry?”

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Damon muttered something incomprehensible to himself before abruptly going down on one knee in front of me.

Then, he suddenly cried out, “Don’t worry! No matter who the lady likes or where you are, even if you become a priestess, I will protect you unconditionally.”

I looked down at him in surprise, wondering why he was doing this.

‘Perhaps…?’

“Damon, please stand.”

“Yes, Lady.” He stood up gallantly, but I looked up at him with a little pity.

“Perhaps… If you find it difficult to do this…”

“No, no, absolutely not.” Before I could finish speaking, Damon repeatedly denied it, then hurriedly handed me the bow again. “Come on, take your position. I will make sure you can use it against the Demon King.”

He was avoiding the subject, so there was nothing I could do. In fact, one was unlikely to find an escort knight like Damon again.

“Please take care of me, teacher.”

This was how I got used to life in the temple for a while– I woke up at 5AM, took a bath, and after breakfast, I did physical training at the field outside and learned how to shoot an arrow.

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After lunch, I had to pray in the prayer room. Since I was initially basically an atheist, I really couldn’t believe that god existed. So at first, I didn’t know what to pray for, so I just sat there to pass the time.

But as I thought about it, if there were a demon king in this world, naturally, there would also be a god. So, as I understood and squeezed out my lack of faith, a thought naturally came to my mind.

Because of this, I kept repeating the phrase, “Please protect this world from the Demon King.” 

That was really all I could ask god for in prayer.

In any case, I could see that the divine power that had been dormant in me gradually activated due to my clumsy priestess life.

Originally, priestesses heard the goddess’s voice during this process, but that hasn’t happened to me yet. 

Before falling asleep, I practiced purifying by receiving the magic of the black magician I had intentionally invited.

In the meantime, I didn’t recognize that it was happening without my knowledge, but when I concentrated on practicing, this also consumed more stamina than I thought.

Until now, morning training had always been with Damon, but I had to do it alone since Damon was away today.

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I dressed in comfortable, loose-fitting athletic clothes and held my head high. As I went out, I caught a glimpse of myself through the window, and the sight brought a hearty smile to my face.

After all, a natural look couldn’t be this pretty. It would be a national loss for me to live as a priestess.

The final ceremony to ordinate me as a priestess had been decided for tomorrow. It had been exactly two weeks since I had been here.

It was now the season when the wind was blowing quite coldly, but the noon sun was warm.

I tried to block the light with my hand and looked at the sky, but I frowned. Certainly, as the divine power within my body became stronger, it became more clear– I could see the demonic spirit shimmering somewhere in the east.

‘Rupert really…’

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried at all. I’d been turning a blind eye all along, but I didn’t think the last sincerity he showed me was just obsession.

Without taking my eyes off the dark-clouded eastern sky, I thought for a moment about the last part of this novel.

Rupert proposed to Chloe despite his father’s objections after Erin Spilet’s own demise. There were minor incidents in between, but most were developments in which Chloe was in danger and Rupert rescued her.

Due to their strong love, Enoch, the second male lead, had completely given up on Chloe. Then, the story ended with Rupert and Chloe happily married amid Enoch and many others’ blessings.

What happened after that didn’t appear in the novel.

If, in the world now, I had died and Rupert and Chloe had gotten married, what would have happened after that? And could Enoch have safely become emperor?

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And if, just in case, if Enoch and I couldn’t stop the Demon Ding, what would happen to this world?

The new sense of responsibility made me nervous. I suddenly thought that the wooden bow, which was light until now, was too heavy.

“What are you looking at?”

While I was lost in my thoughts, someone approached me and started talking to me. When I looked back in surprise, I saw Enoch had come to the temple without prior notice.