Chapter 143

Knock, knock, knock.  

“Minuelle, it’s me.”  

But again, there was only silence. As if no one was inside.  

A cold chill ran down the spine that had just been sweating.  

“I’m coming in.”  

True to her usual habit of never locking her door, Minuelle’s bedroom entrance opened without resistance.  

“…Minuelle?”  

Ramande cautiously pulled back the curtains around the bed.  

There was no one there.  

Without exaggeration, Ramande searched the entire mansion, but Minuelle was nowhere to be found. When even the butlers shook their heads, saying they didn’t know, he finally went to see Juela.  

“So, I guess you’ve become the seeker now.”  

Juela, busy signing papers without even lifting her gaze, pinpointed the situation instantly.  

“…Did Minuelle go out?”  

“She’s free to go out, you know that.”  

“But at a time like this, it’s too dangerous.”  

Before Austin rose up, Minuelle had stayed inside the mansion.  

Which meant, if she had gone out, Ramande had no idea what could happen.  

But Juela reassured him without concern.  

“Don’t worry. Minuelle isn’t a child anymore. Not that you don’t know that better than anyone.”  

Ramande unconsciously stepped back a few paces.  

“…Sorry? What do you mean by that…?”  

“Who told you to make out in the hallway? Maybe I should report you for public indecency.”  

Ah. So one of the servants must have seen them kissing.  

‘Well, even if my sisters-in-law are favorable to me, if they had caught me doing what I did yesterday, they’d have strung me up from the roof.’  

While Ramande breathed a sigh of relief, Juela rolled her eyes toward him.  

“Ramande Plendena.”  

“…Yes, sister.”  

“If you ever make Minuelle cry like the prince did, you’d be better off dead.”  

Like true sisters, the warning glare in her eyes was identical. Ramande turned pale and nodded.  

But in the end, Ramande didn’t get to see Minuelle that day. She never returned home.  

So he spent another sleepless night.  

“……”  

His eyes stung with accumulated fatigue. After squeezing them shut and opening them again, Ramande left the Karnian mansion.  

Juela’s calmness about Minuelle’s absence could only mean one thing: Minuelle must have told her beforehand.  

She just wasn’t telling him because he was the “seeker.”  

So he had to go look for her himself. If something like the abduction at Karnian castle happened again, he would never forgive himself.  

‘It won’t be the palace… so, the Plendena temple? Or maybe the city marketplace.’  

Since he had wronged the Plendena god, he put off the temple for now and went to the market first.  

But effort didn’t always mean results.  

He even skipped meals while searching, yet not a trace of Minuelle—not even a strand of hair—could be found.  

At least there was no rumor of any noble’s carriage being attacked, which gave him some comfort.  

“…I’ll have to check the temple after all.”  

Dragging his unwilling feet, Ramande suddenly stopped in front of a certain shop, as if drawn there.  

‘Isn’t this ring pretty?’  

He remembered Minuelle smiling with a wince, holding up a ring entwined with two leaf-shaped gemstones under the sunlight.  

Ramande glanced at the shop sign, then checked his clothes. Thankfully, he wasn’t in priest’s robes, just ordinary attire.  

“This time, you’ll smile at me.”  

Muttering briefly, he opened the shop door without hesitation. A polite greeting floated out from inside.  

After spending quite a bit of money there, he headed to the temple. The apostle there looked at him with eyes that seemed to already know everything, just like Juela.  

“Minuelle isn’t here.”  

“You specifically said ‘here’… does that mean she just left?”  

“Correct. You missed her.”  

The apostle smiled gently, and Ramande felt like he could say anything to her.  

“…Holy One.”  

“Yes?”  

But even after opening his mouth, he couldn’t continue.  

He feared that confessing might make Plendena strip him of his strength right there and then.  

“…Never mind.”  

His exhaustion muddled his thoughts.  

‘Find Minuelle first.’  

He closed his eyes hard out of habit, then opened them again to say goodbye. But before he could, the apostle spoke first.  

“Everything will be fine. Don’t worry too much.”  

Her eyes, deep with the weight of years, carried conviction. And her divine power bolstered his spirit.  

Thanks to that, Ramande remembered the things he needed to request.  

‘If I leave it too late, it’ll be useless.’  

He would never again let Minuelle cross the desert with only a handful of escorts, or face being blocked at a city gate.  

With his mind settled, Ramande began carefully.  

“Holy One, may I ask for your help?”  

“Of course. If it’s something I can do, I’ll help.”  

“First, I need to seek cooperation from High Priest Asha of Chitrum.”  

The unexpected topic made her eyes widen briefly.  

But as she discerned the truth in his words, her expression grew serious, and their conversation deepened.  

So it was after sundown that Ramande finally returned to the Karnian mansion.  

“Has Minuelle returned?”  

It wasn’t a strange question, yet the reactions were.  

“I’m not sure?”  

“Sir priest, I can’t tell you.”  

Every servant who replied wore a knowing smile. Clearly, Minuelle or Juela had put them up to it.  

“To think everyone would tease me so earnestly…”  

Resigned, he went to his room to change. But as he lit the lamp, Ramande froze.  

“…A bouquet?”  

On his bed lay a bouquet so large one could barely wrap both arms around it.  

Amidst countless purple flowers, a white envelope stood out.  

Inside, in very familiar handwriting, was a short note:  

[Third floor, central balcony. Bring the bouquet.]  

The chest that had been weighed down with worry now began to flutter with anticipation.  

Ramande finally understood why lovers gave each other flowers: it was the clearest way to show you’d been thinking of them while choosing the gift.  

“Minuelle thought of me.”  

The purple flowers, the color of his own eyes, were undeniable proof.  

“…I want to give you flowers every day too, Minuelle.”  

Kissing the card softly, he hugged the bouquet and nearly flew toward the balcony.  

On days with good weather, Minuelle often went there. Standing before the glass door, he took a short breath, cast off hesitation, and stepped outside.  

As expected, Minuelle was already there, waiting. But when he saw her, Ramande didn’t kneel, nor even smile.  

Because Minuelle was perched precariously on the balcony railing.  

“Minuelle. That’s dangerous—”  

He reached toward her when—  

Fweeeee.  

A long, loud whistle-like sound cut the air.  

Startled, he turned to check the direction—  

Bang! Boom!  

Behind Minuelle, the sky exploded into bursts of dazzling colors.  

Like buds instantly blooming into giant chrysanthemums, it was a breathtaking sight.  

“Fireworks… on an ordinary day…”  

So extravagant were fireworks that some people lived their whole lives without ever seeing them. Each one was like burning up a mountain of gold coins.  

Ramande, entranced, still didn’t forget to pull Minuelle into his arms.  

“You could’ve fallen.”  

He scolded her gently, concern plain in his voice.  

In his embrace, Minuelle stifled a laugh.  

‘You never change, Ramande.’  

Since childhood, he had always been the one following her around, fussing and protecting her.  

At first she bared her teeth like a wounded animal, then grew polite and guarded as she adjusted to temple life, and eventually, he became inseparable from her—like a part of herself.  

Finally, Minuelle admitted it to herself. She was truly hopeless at reading signs.  

‘Today, you look even more beautiful. The most beautiful in the world.’  

‘How could I ever win against you.’  

His words, recalled one by one, now took on new meaning.  

As the fireworks ended and silence briefly settled, Minuelle lifted her head. Ramande’s eyes were already fixed on her.  

The moment she saw his violet eyes, a strong certainty struck her.  

‘With Ramande… I could live happily forever.’  

Not a love of painful longing and desperate tears—  

But one of sweet companionship, leaning on each other, sometimes like friends. That was the conviction she felt.  

So Minuelle spoke without hesitation.  

“Marry me, Ramande.”  

The last firework burst just as her words ended.  

And Minuelle saw it clearly—the way Ramande’s face was instantly overtaken by pure joy.  

He was so happy that he didn’t even notice the gold coin in his pocket heating up.  

“…Weren’t you angry at me?”  

Instead of nodding eagerly, he asked such a worried question.  

Pouting, Minuelle complained.  

“You could at least wipe that grin off before asking.”  

“…Did I?”  

Embarrassed, Ramande rubbed his mouth. His fingers touched the corners of his lips, which had curled far higher than he realized.  

“Sorry. For this, and also for not saying things properly last time…”  

“It’s fine.”  

“Even if your anger’s gone, I should apologize properly.”  

It was such a Ramande thing to say. Minuelle stared at his face, then suddenly said,  

“I like that about you too.”  

Ramande’s face flushed red. The fireworks had ended, but the candles placed around still burned brightly, making it plain to see.  

“Yes, I was angry. But—you said you’ve loved me for so long, didn’t you?”  

Minuelle let out a soft sigh.  

“Thinking about it, I guess I understand how you felt. I’ve had a short-lived crush before too. It’s hard to believe, you feel happy but also worry if it’ll work out.”  

Ramande stayed silent, only listening. She had misunderstood a bit, but it wasn’t as if he’d never thought those very things.  

He was just starting to regain his composure when her next words struck him like a blow.  

“And you know what? I think I’ve loved you too.”  

“…!”  

If he’d been drinking something, he would’ve choked for sure.  

Ramande almost swallowed wrong but barely managed to hold it back. He couldn’t interrupt her now.  

“It’s just that the feeling was so familiar, it blended into everyday life. Otherwise, there’s no way I could’ve lived beside you for so long.”  

Minuelle wrapped her arms around his waist. The embrace was natural, comfortable.