Chapter 44

The more time we spent together, the worse it was for both of us.  

People have a conscience, after all. It was hard to keep treating him coldly while constantly accepting his help. The more I did, the more familiar Esadien would feel.  

Besides—  

‘The High Priest is missing.’

She was the type who would lead the clergy, not flee alone.  

The priests were starting to murmur among themselves, realizing her absence. A few had taken charge, waking those still unconscious and checking the state of the building.  

“Sniffle…”  

A child in a novice’s robe, probably newly ordained, was crouched in the corner, quietly sobbing.  

“Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”  

They were just about the same age I’d been when I first met Ramande, so I couldn’t just pass by without saying something.  

But the reply that came surprised me.  

“Th-The High Priest…”  

“You saw her? You saw where she went?”  

“She… went… sniff… that way…”  

The child pointed toward the garden.  

But there were no buildings past the garden.  

“That can’t be…”  

“She said to bring the pink-haired lady. That she needed your help.”  

“Me?”  

Then I understood why the child had been sitting there crying alone.  

‘They couldn’t find me and didn’t know what to do.’  

“Do you know where to go?”  

“Yes.”  

The child grabbed my hand and tugged gently. I let myself be led by that tiny grip.  

The High Priest is someone blessed by Plendena. She wouldn’t be in any real danger…’

I tried to reassure myself, but a creeping sense of dread squirmed in my gut.  

That dread peaked when we reached the center of the garden—where the ground beneath the gazebo had been blown open.  

“Here.”  

‘There was a hidden passage here?!’ 

Judging by how no one else had come this way, it seemed even the other priests didn’t know.  

“Hey, are you sure she really went—?”  

I bit my tongue mid-question when something sharp pressed against my waist.  

“Quietly go down.”  

“……”  

“Hurry. The High Priest will be okay as long as we bring you.”  

The voice was as cold as ice—nothing like the tearful child I’d followed. I couldn’t see their expression, but I could guess it matched the tone.  

Come to think of it… they never showed their face clearly. 

It hit me. They’d been pretending to cry from the beginning.  

The sharp thing jabbed my side again, hard enough to pierce through the fabric. There was no mistaking the feeling—it was a blade.  

A clearer threat than any words.  

Thank goodness Esadien left earlier.’

If he’d still been with me, I might’ve put him in danger again.  

‘Not that I’m worried or anything. I just don’t want to owe him more than I already do.’  

With that thought, I stepped down into the underground passage—only to be enveloped by a strong wave of holy energy, similar to Ramande’s.  

It meant the High Priest was somewhere down here.  

“Walk faster.”  

The tone dropped into full-on rudeness, and the blade jabbed me again. This time it went in deeper—I could feel the blood trickling down.  

“That hurts. Didn’t they say to bring me here unharmed?”  

“Shut up and keep walking. You just need to be alive.”  

They weren’t bluffing. I could feel the intent to stab again, and quickly quickened my pace.  

Behind me, I heard the hiss of bitter laughter.  

Of course, the underground corridor didn’t have any carpet.  

My bare feet stung from stepping on loose stones, but slowing down just made the blade dig in deeper. I had no choice but to clench my teeth and endure.  

Like a beast being whipped.  

Apparently, the attacker thought the same.  

“Feels like I’m breaking in a pony. Well, getting poked hurts the same whether you’re a noble or a—urk.”  

The sneering stopped. There was a clatter of metal hitting stone.  

‘No way—’  

An all-too-familiar face flashed through my mind, but I forced it away.  

‘Esadien went back. He left.’

But when I slowly turned around, what I saw was…  

The child, pierced through the chest, collapsed.  

Behind them, breathing heavily—was Esadien.

“Esadien!”  

The scene overlapped with what happened in Caduren, and my legs gave out beneath me.  

“Why are you here…?”  

“What do you mean why? Were you expecting me to just sit back and watch while you wandered alone into someplace suspicious?”  

He approached where I had sunk to the floor. Esadien was clearly angry.  

“Excuse me.”  

His entire being radiated worry.  

Through the torn fabric of my dress, I felt his careful touch applying a potion to my wound. My face burned hot, like it might explode. I couldn’t bear it and dropped my gaze.  

In an instant, the atmosphere turned painfully awkward.  

“……”  

“……”  

What shattered the silence was the crack, crack of bone and joints twisting unnaturally.  

Before our eyes, the child’s corpse transformed into the body of an adult in the blink of an eye. I covered my mouth in horror.  

“My god. What did I just witness?”  

“It’s transformation magic used by assassins—techniques to alter bone structure.”  

I almost said, Wow, you sure know a lot, but I bit my tongue just in time.  

It would’ve sounded way too much like: “Guess that’s what happens when you’re harassed by assassins from childhood.”  

‘Ugh. What is wrong with me?’

Unaware of my turmoil, Esadien held out his hand.  

“Minuelle, let me see your feet.”  

“What?”  

“The floor’s like this, and you weren’t even wearing shoes.”  

“Well…”  

Showing your feet was practically taboo here—like something out of the Joseon era.  

Not to mention my stockings had to be filthy by now.  

‘No, wait. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about in front of Esadien.’  

He’s not someone I like anymore. He’s just… a beautiful statue.  

I pulled myself together and gingerly stuck both feet out from under my skirt.  

“Here. Just pour it quickly.”  

“……”  

“What? Should I take the stockings off too?”  

“No, it’s just… they’re so small.”  

‘Wow. Must be nice, having big feet.’

The potion stung as it touched my skin. My toes curled at the pain, and Esadien smiled again.  

“I really owe you a lot today. Thank you. But you should go back now.”  

I spoke sulkily, and Esadien’s brows twitched.  

“Shouldn’t we be rescuing the High Priest?”  

“I can’t trouble you any more than I already have.”  

“I can sense a lot of presences further inside. You need me—this is a knight speaking.”  

“I can call my own knights.”  

“The High Priest might not last that long.”  

“……”  

He was probably better at sensing things than I was. I couldn’t argue that.  

Then, with finality, he said—  

“A Prince is one who serves the Emperor. I can’t just stand by while the High Priest of Roquate suffers, Minuelle.”  

‘Was he always this good with words?’

“Fine. But don’t you dare get hurt.”  

“Thank you for your concern.”  

Esadien’s fingers brushed my cheek lightly. I swatted them away with a sharp glare.  

“It’s not concern. I just don’t want His Majesty’s wrath to fall on House Karnian. Don’t misunderstand.”  

“Of course.”  

Esadien smiled like none of that bothered him in the least.  

What happened next shocked me even more.  

“To ensure I can fight without getting hurt, will you lend me your strength?”  

“My… strength?”  

What was he even talking about?  

Before I could ask, I nodded reflexively—and in the next moment, Esadien hugged me tight, hard enough to crush me.  

“Hrk!”  

‘You’re going to crumple my paper-thin body!’  

Apparently not satisfied with that, he then pressed a kiss on my lips—loudly—and smiled like he was pleased with himself.  

‘What the hell.’  

Rather than me giving him strength, he’d just robbed me of all composure.  

I was so dumbfounded I just blinked at him in stunned silence—before my face twisted in fury.  

“Hey, you bas—!”  

“Minuelle.”  

‘Wow. What timing to cut me off.’

“I’m sorry for trying to force your gloves off when you clearly didn’t want that. I didn’t know you had such scars.”  

“…….”  

I’d discovered yet another side of Esadien I didn’t know.  

He was a master of ambushes—in more ways than one.  

“Don’t move from here. No matter what.”  

Leaving me with that last instruction, Esadien turned the corner and vanished from sight.  

“Ambush!”  

“Damn it, press harder on the High Priest!”  

I could faintly hear the shouts of his enemies as they met him, and I clasped my hands tightly together.  

Something that had been clenched tight beneath my throat began to melt a little.  

‘He saw my hands… didn’t he’  

Esadien didn’t so much as glance at them oddly or show even the slightest look of disgust.  

For a while, I’d even wondered if he simply hadn’t seen them that day during the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.  

But he had seen them—and rather than being revolted, he had offered a sincere apology.  

‘If I’d known it would be like this, maybe I should’ve told him from the beginning.’  

Of all the things I’d hidden out of fear, I regretted that one the most.  

KWA-A-AANG!

A deafening explosion shattered even the softness that had started to grow inside me.  

I snapped back to reality, pushed myself up from where I’d been crouching, and cautiously moved toward the sound.  

Esadien had told me not to move under any circumstances, but I couldn’t just sit there. I was too anxious.  

‘This is all for my family’s sake—not for the pretty prince statue. Definitely not.’  

Muttering excuses to myself, I crept closer and peeked out to spy on the battlefield.  

“Arthritis!”  

It was the first time I’d ever seen the High Priest’s face devoid of a smile.  

Eyes narrowed to razor slits, she raised a hand and shouted.  

Everyone in the direction she pointed immediately dropped to their knees, as if gravity itself had turned against them.  

“Ugh—!”  

‘Arthritis?’

No way. I must have misheard.  

Meanwhile, from her other hand, divine energy flowed like mist, turning into a hazy membrane that clung to a flaming ring.  

Even though it only half-covered the ring, sunlight—sunlight that had no business being in an underground corridor—poured through it.  

It wasn’t just a ring. It was a portal.  

‘That’s how they got in.’

Judging by the direction of the underground tunnel, this spot had to be directly beneath the temple.  

Also judging by the torn scrolls scattered everywhere, the attackers had used magic to knock out everyone above.  

‘Maybe their reach just didn’t extend to the third floor?’  

Thank goodness the High Priest’s reception room had been up there.  

That might’ve been the only stroke of luck we had.  

Meanwhile, Esadien was cutting through enemies like a max-level game character.  

Every time he swung his sword, multiple people dropped—like fragile toothpicks snapping one after another.  

“I’ll leave the rest to you!”  

“Understood.”  

Once Esadien had taken out more than half the intruders, the High Priest turned her full focus to closing the portal of fire.  

‘It’s really a good thing Esadien is here…’

Wait.  

‘What am I even thinking?’  

Ahem.  

I shook my head to snap out of it.  

But while I’d been distracted for that brief moment, Esadien had already dealt with most of the remaining enemies and was now facing off against the fire-wielders.