Chapter 46

Ever since the day he broke Iris’ trust, Frey had spent every single day watching Iris from afar without a moment of rest.

It was because the guilt he felt toward Iris, alongside the lingering regret of wondering what it would be like if he approached her even now, followed him daily.

To some extent, it was also because the pressure he received from the shrine was growing harsher due to the increasingly delayed timeline.

Then, having noticed Grace’s presence, Frey was soon able to figure out her identity as well.

Children restricted to the interior of the orphanage wouldn’t know, but Frey was able to catch sight of the carriage Grace rode in.

Even a Frey confined within the shrine could recognize the crest of Duke Miller’s family engraved upon the carriage.

Duke Miller’s family was a household that constantly stood in opposition to the shrine.

While the fact that Duke Miller family secretly worshipped demons was basically a secret, it was impossible for even the shrine, which served the goddess, to be unaware of it.

They had to keep a close watch because troublesome things would happen if Duke Miller’s family found a demon—a presence that ought to be extinguished—ahead of them.

‘Seeing the priests moving around, they must have figured out there’s a demon here.’

Grace was certainly a clueless child, but her intentions were by no means something that could be viewed as cute.

Having grasped Grace’s intentions in an instant, Frey quietly kept a watch on her.

Grace’s actions in trying to pry Theo away from Iris didn’t strike Frey as entirely bad.

At least, until Iris found out what Grace’s true intentions were.

“You’ve had him for a long time now. I want to have him now.”

“Have him? Why would you say something like that? Theo isn’t an object.”

“Who said he was an object?”

Eavesdropping secretly on the two of them arguing, Frey could easily anticipate that now that Iris knew Grace’s intentions, some form of trouble—big or small—would break out between them.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, he knew all too well just how much Iris treasured Theo.

Therefore, Iris would undoubtedly step up for Theo’s sake.

If so, the side that would inevitably lose out was Iris.

Iris was not yet known to the world as a living goddess.

This meant she still did not receive the proper protection of the shrine and the nation.

To the Duke, threatening someone like her was on par with stepping on a single ant.

Because of that, Frey decided to put a stop to Grace’s actions, even if it meant risking the leak of Iris’ secret.

Wearing a deceptively gentle smile, Frey looked down at Grace.

And in a voice so chillingly devoid of anything at all, he asked, “Got it?”

***

“Haa….”

It was a deep sigh that ill-suited a refreshing morning.

In the end, I had failed to get a good night’s sleep once again.

It was because I kept dreaming about being dragged off to a noble mansion and tortured.

‘Looking at it like this, my mental fortitude really is weak.’

As if having awkwardly sacred dreams wasn’t enough, the fact that I was now having nightmares made it completely certain.

Dragging my exhausted body toward the dining hall for breakfast, the moment I laid eyes on Theo, all traces of sleepiness vanished and my nerves went straight on high alert.

It was to quickly dodge out of the way if Grace happened to show her face.

“Iris, is something wrong?”

Finding me like this strange, Theo asked.

“No? Not at all.”

I spoke while frantically darting my eyes around and continuing to scan my surroundings.

I knew very well that it was an unconvincing answer.

“It feels like I’ve been asking why you’re acting like this a lot lately.”

“Really? I guess puberty is hitting me.”

Even at Theo’s serious words, I couldn’t focus.

Displeased by my brushed-off response, Theo stopped the hand he was using to eat.

Whether he minded or not, I was still cramming down my morning food ration without even knowing whether it was going up my nose or into my mouth.

When and where Grace might pop out was a mystery—where on earth did I have the leisure to let down my guard?

If Grace happened to spot me and got angry, blurting out rashly to Theo that he was a demon or that she was going to have him, it would be the absolute end.

‘If we run into her right now, I have no idea what she might say!’

I hardened my resolve once more.

It was true that Grace was elusive, but after all, she wasn’t capable of teleporting; she had to approach from afar.

So the moment Grace entered my field of vision, I was fully prepared to grab Theo and make a run for it.

“What on earth are you looking for?”

Having no way of knowing what was going on inside my head, Theo poked his head out in front of me and scanned our surroundings back and forth.

It was right then.

Grace’s figure, walking slowly toward the dining hall, caught in my field of vision.

“…!”

Flustered, I hurriedly packed up my cutlery and grabbed Theo by the hand.

“What’s suddenly—?”

“Hurry up and come! It’s urgent!”

Seeing me frantically urging him, Theo had no choice but to quicken his pace.

With that, me and Theo bolted in a single breath all the way to a spot far removed from the dining hall.

Even though it was the dead of winter, my cheeks were flushed bright red from the heat of the run.

“Iris, are you really not going to tell me why you’re acting like this?”

Theo said, looking at me as I bent over at the waist to catch my breath.

“That is….”

I straightened my posture and tried to start.

Or rather, I tried to.

“…….”

That was, of course, until I saw Theo’s face and the words immediately sucked right back in.

‘Well, you see, Grace actually thinks you’re a demon and even wants to use you however she likes.’

Words that I simply could not utter were rolling around inside my mouth.

‘Should I spit it out, or keep it in?’

I wasn’t afraid of the situation where I would have to apologize to Theo by revealing this fact.

Rather, I was agonizing because I felt I needed to apologize to Theo as quickly as possible.

Yet, I couldn’t find the courage to reveal the truth.

How could I possibly tell him that a friend who he had grown so naturally accustomed to staying by his side actually harbored thoughts like that….

In the end, my mouth blurted out something completely unrelated.

“Well, you see, I’ve been practicing to improve my reflexes lately!”

“Reflexes?”

“Yeah, you never know what kind of thing might happen where, right? So I’m always staying tense. This is one of my bodyguard training sessions, too.”

It was nonsense no matter who heard it.

Blabbing whatever came to mind at random, I turned my head away to avoid Theo’s eyes.

“Ah, it’s cold. Let’s hurry inside.”

Though it was something I brought up just to change the subject, it wasn’t a lie.

Since it was even snowing, the weather was cold enough to catch a cold if you weren’t careful.

“Are you cold?”

Following closely behind me as I hurried my steps, Theo wrapped a scarf around my neck.

Having barely made it indoors, me and Theo warmed our bodies by the fireplace for a moment before beginning our studies just like any other day.

Usually, Theo focused quite well, but with the exams drawing near, his mind seemed restless, and out of character, he spoke up to me.

“There really isn’t much time left now.”

“Yeah. Once this winter passes, the exams are right after.”

“…….”

Theo stared fixedly at the stove with a face full of complicated thoughts.

“Why?”

“I was just thinking that a moment might really come where we have to make a choice.”

“A choice?”

When I asked back, Theo’s gaze shifted toward my eyes.

“You remember when I asked you back then, what we would do if only one of us was given the qualifications to enter the academy.”

“Ah….”

Come to think of it, back when we had just set our sights on the academy, Theo had asked me something like that.

Whether I could really abandon him.

“Back then, you didn’t give me an answer.”

“That’s right.”

At that time, I was going through confusion over the obsessive attachment Theo directed toward me.

‘Constantly doubting, guarding against him, and then trusting him all over again….’

While I could nonchalantly brush off Theo’s emotions nowadays, back then I was heavily swayed by literally every single moment.

And so, when Theo asked if I could abandon him, I hadn’t been able to give any answer at all.

Of course, even now there were times when Theo looked unfamiliar to me.

However, I thought that back then and right now were fundamentally different.

Before I knew it, I had come to understand Theo’s heart, and Theo himself was undergoing noticeable changes.

So I could give him an answer now.

Even if it couldn’t be a completely perfect one.

“When we really have to leave the orphanage—meaning, until we turn fourteen—let’s keep trying together.”

“…….”

“If you end up passing alone, I suppose I’ll let you go, but you wouldn’t listen to me anyway, right?”

Theo’s unstable expression gradually began to smooth out into a comfortable one.

“What if we turn fourteen and only one person passes?”

“Then….”

I paused in thought.

By around that time, wouldn’t Theo be able to move forward on his own?

Then what about me….

“…Then, well, I guess we can think about it when we get there.”

For some reason, I intentionally cut off my train of thought.

An intuition told me I shouldn’t try to figure out anything beyond this.

With just an ambiguous smile, I let my words trail off.

“Yeah….”

Whatever he was thinking, Theo seemed to be in a good mood.

Unmistakable delight peeked out from behind the hand he was using to cover his mouth.

“What’s so great about that? Hurry up and study…”

Just as I was trying to let our daily routine flow by peacefully like that,

“Iris?”

Catching sight of Grace trying to step into the lounge, I scrambled to tidy up my books and clutched them to my chest.

“Theo! Let’s go, quickly!”

“Why?”

“There’s no, no time to explain! I’m just really in a rush.”

Cold sweat was pouring down as if I were being chased by a loan shark.

The moment Theo roughly gathered his belongings, I bolted out of the seat again as if fleeing for my life.

Running through the biting cold wind, I felt a burning agony tear through my lungs.

“Ugh…. I’m dying here.”

I was barely managing to keep my legs from giving out under me.

“Iris, did you do something wrong to Grace?”