Chapter 32

“What?”

The unexpected shift in topic made me snap my head up. But Esadien, unfazed, simply repeated himself.

“Take off your gloves and show me your hand.”

“My hand? All of a sudden? Why…?”

“You said you’re not hiding anything from me.”

I couldn’t breathe.

‘No. Anything but this.’

The burn scar—stubborn even to divine healing—was the one and only flaw on Minuelle Karnian’s otherwise perfect body.

‘I don’t want to show it. Never.’

Especially not to someone like Esadien, who was so beautiful himself.

I was terrified that his gaze would twist the moment he saw it—that his eyes would turn cold, disgusted.

That fear swallowed even the heat running through my whole body. Only the tip of my nose still burned.

“Minuelle.”

I staggered back.

“I—it’s just too sudden. Maybe later… not now…”

As I stammered my way through the sentence, something warm ran across the skin beneath my nose.

“Minuelle!”

Esadien’s brow was furrowed deeply in a way I hadn’t seen before.

‘Is he… angry?’

I gasped for air, throat tight—but this time, it was Esadien who suddenly closed the distance I’d been trying to bridge.  

As his soft handkerchief touched my nose, I blinked, stunned.

“Huh…?”

“I understand. Calm down. You can show me another time.”

It was dark, but I could still see the deep green handkerchief soaking darker—nearly black.

‘Damn this body of mine…’

In the end, I bled again.

“You should go inside. Rest before heading home.”

“And what about you, Your Highness?”

Instead of answering, Esadien turned to look at the carriage where Lapheche was waiting.

…Ha.

“I see.”

After everything I just did.

My knees almost gave out.

“It’s getting late, so don’t wait for…”

I spun on my heel before he could finish that half-hearted sentence. What was I, some rejected housewife?

“No. Don’t bother.”

I pushed his hand aside, still holding the handkerchief—but the blood started running again immediately.

I thought I’d gotten used to coughing up blood, but this was a different kind of symptom. A new kind of dread stirred in my chest, but I forced it down. I just pressed the cloth to my nose.

“Should I wash and return this?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Right. Of course it doesn’t.  

You probably prefer not to see me again, even with a convenient excuse like a handkerchief.

“I appreciate Your Highness’ noble concern, but I’ll be returning now.”

Esadien’s brows pulled into a subtle frown, like he didn’t even understand why I was being sarcastic.

“If you collapse on the way—”

“Oh, no need to worry about that.”

I climbed the carriage steps without an escort and threw open the door.  

Esadien’s face hardened the moment he saw who was inside—Ramande, sitting there quietly.

“Plendena’s priest.”

“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”

I didn’t care whether the two exchanged pleasantries or not.  

I dropped into the seat opposite Ramande. He glanced between us nervously, then offered an explanation.

“I followed her out of concern—it was getting late. And seeing her condition, I’m glad I did.”

The moment his divine energy touched me, the nosebleed stopped and the fever calmed.

“Haa… thanks, Ramande.”

As I finally exhaled in relief, Esadien spoke again, this time in an accusatory tone.  

It was clear Ramande’s explanation hadn’t reached him at all.

“Minuelle. You had no right to be angry with me—there was someone else in your carriage, too.”

“…What?”

“Ramande and Lady Celeste—they’re both just friends, aren’t they?”

As if that justified everything, he added offhandedly,

“Both of them are the opposite sex, after all.”

“What are you saying? You’re seriously calling Lapheche Celeste your friend? Do you mean that?”

Even as I raised my voice again, Esadien only stared at me in silence.

Ramande, visibly flustered, tried to mediate, placing a gentle hand on my arm.

“Your Highness, Minuelle is acting emotionally right now. I’m sure she’ll regret this later and apologize. Please forgive her.”

Esadien and I both turned to him at the same time, eyes sharp.

“…Why are you the one apologizing?”

“You know it’s not your place to speak here, priest.”

To my surprise, Esadien was glaring at Ramande. The corners of Ramande’s mouth tightened ever so slightly.

“Hah.”

At that moment, I was truly angry.  

Not because I was disappointed.  

Not because I was anxious.  

But because Esadien, who couldn’t even tell that woman was trying to manipulate him, dared to lump her and Ramande—my savior—together.

Dared?

He’s the one who dared.

“Fine. Go then, Your Highness. Run along to your precious friend!”

I screamed, slamming the carriage door shut right in Esadien’s face.  

I didn’t care if he stepped off the carriage steps or not—I just pounded the wall toward the coachman’s seat.

“So damn annoying. So, so damn annoying…!”

The carriage began to roll forward slowly.  

I raked my fingers through my hair, completely wrecking it, and stomped my feet like a child.

‘I’ve become the textbook image of a petty, narrow-minded woman.’

That’s what people would whisper when they heard about this.  

The type who couldn’t even tolerate their fiancé having friends.  

Who’d dare get close to the Prince now?

“Minuelle, that’s enough.”

Ramande gently pulled my hands down from my hair and began smoothing it out for me.  

Then he said quietly, “I’m sorry, Minuelle.”

“What are you apologizing for? This isn’t your fault.”

That’s right. This was Esadien’s fault.  

He was the one proudly calling Lapheche his “friend.”

“That idiot! That utter fool, not even realizing Lapheche’s after him!”

I stomped my feet again, and Ramande gave me a pained, bitter smile.  

Seeing that expression only made me feel guiltier.

‘Ramande is the future High Priest of Plendena and I let him be insulted like that.’

Haa… another sigh escaped me, heavy and deep.

“Don’t do that again, Ramande.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t apologize in my place.”

That was something a beaten servant might do—not a friend.  

The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.  

Especially when Ramande’s expression at my words was like someone chewing on gall.

“Can’t I?”

“…What?”

“We’re friends, right? Aren’t we?”

Ramande sometimes became blindly selfless under the banner of friendship.  

Honestly, he was so dear to me that I often felt like I’d do anything for him too, but…

“No, I mean…”

I waved my hands a bit before gently placing one over his.

“It wasn’t our fault. Was it?”

Only then did his expression ease. He turned his hand to clasp mine, holding it tight, and leaned in close.

“Minuelle, I’m on your side, so I don’t want to say this, but…”

His warm breath brushed against my cheek.

“…If it’s too hard, maybe you should do as the Young Duchess or the Second Lady suggested.”

“…Break off the engagement?”

Ramande said nothing more. He simply reached out and stroked my hair.

That quiet comfort made my heart ache even more.

* * *

Since that day, there had been no word from Esadien.  

‘I was always the one to reach out first… this is really too much.’

I let out a dry laugh before I realized what I was thinking.  

It hadn’t been like this before.  

Whether I went to see him or not—it didn’t matter. Just seeing him had been enough to make me happy.

‘In the end, was Esadien right all along?’

Those feelings like love had an expiration date and couldn’t be trusted?

Growing gloomy, I stirred my tea absentmindedly without even adding sugar. That’s when Mother spoke to me, her voice light but pointed.

“Minuelle, I heard you decided to sponsor a student entering the Magic Academy.”

“Oh—yes.”

“It’s an important thing, discovering new talent. Well done.”

Has the invoice already gone out? I tilted my head in slight confusion, but then she added, “I happened to meet the Archmage yesterday.”

“The Archmage?”

Why would the Archmage suddenly appear?

In the original novel, the Archmage didn’t show up until the middle of the story—and he was supposed to become Lapheche’s mentor.

‘Which meant I had no connection to him whatsoever.’  

All the more reason I was puzzled.

“Brassidas has been in seclusion for a long time. Back when I was young, there wasn’t a soul who didn’t know his name.”

Brassidas.  

The moment I heard that name, I forgot my manners and gaped outright.

‘That mage… no, that man said he’d take Palos as his disciple?!’

Then what about Lapheche?

‘Wow, this story is getting twisted again.’

I hadn’t felt particularly guilty about veering from the original so far, but this time I did feel a little bad.

…Yeah, right.

Honestly, it was deliciously satisfying. Heh.

‘Sorry, Lapheche! I guess I’m just destined to be…the villainess!’

I wondered if she had any idea she was originally meant to become the Archmage’s disciple.

But this wasn’t the time to be worrying about someone else’s future.

“So then, Minuelle.”

“Yes, Mother?”

“There’s an incident you failed to mention to me, isn’t there?”

Right in front of me, Mother was smiling. A rare smile—cold as the snow piling up in the north.

‘Yikes.’

Startled, I quickly swallowed a mouthful of tea and sat up straight.

“I’m sorry. Since nothing happened thanks to the Archmage’s intervention, I thought it was fine.”

“Yes, nothing happened. But there were things you didn’t know.”

Mother’s tone tightened like she was delivering tactical orders. She relayed what Brassidas had told her.

Apparently, though I hadn’t boarded that hellish carriage, a powerful enchantment spell had been cast on me.

It didn’t show symptoms at first, but once it took root, I would begin experiencing hallucinations… and eventually, like someone possessed, I would seek out the caster.

“That’s even possible?”

“I’ve only heard of it myself, but apparently it’s not a favored method these days.”

A chill ran down my spine again.

No wonder the whole incident with the carriage disappearing had felt too sloppy to be truly over. There had been another scheme at work. If it hadn’t been for Brassidas, something terrible could’ve happened.

‘Wow… this is why they say you should always do good deeds.’

Ramande had to hear this. That guy gave me so much grief for helping Palos…

“But Mother, do you have any suspects in mind?”

“I’ll tell you once I’m sure.”

When Mother said “once I’m sure,” she meant after turning the culprit into dust. 

It already felt like black flames were swirling behind her.

“Even just your top suspects—please tell me.”

I pressed and pressed, though she insisted it wasn’t worth worrying about. Eventually, she gave me two names:

The Second Prince, and the Cult of Fire.

‘The Cult of Fire…’

Just a short while ago, the temple’s internal communique had only briefly mentioned caution. But they must’ve grown so much that Mother now considered them a serious threat.

“My dear.”

“Yes?”

“From now on, whenever you go out, I’ll assign the best knights and mages to accompany you. We didn’t bring you from the temple just to keep you locked away.”

Then, her voice trembled slightly as she continued.

“So please, just stay safe.”

The weight of her sincerity hit me hard. I couldn’t speak.

“Mother…”

Only after she gave me a firm hug and left the room was I able to mutter quietly to myself:

“You say things like that, and it only makes it harder for me to go outside…”

Even I had a conscience.