Chapter 12

The Monster’s Men (1.1)

Lily frantically ran over the frozen lake. She didn’t feel pain even when the skin on her bare feet tore and blood splashed on the ice.

All she could think of was to just grab that armored man who was quickly moving away.

She slipped and fell, so she crawled desperately, gripping the ice with her fingertips. “Please wait! Duke! Don’t go that way…”

But he still disappeared… And the whole lake turned red.

A long shadow loomed over her. Her father was looking down at her.

“The duke died because you didn’t catch him! You failed again! Pathetic. Just because of you, your mother died too!”

When she hurriedly turned around, Lily saw an old wooden bed over the lake.

Her younger brothers were in shabby clothes beside the bed, crying. The youngest, a newborn baby, was lying on the floor and scribbling.

“Mom! Don’t die! Mom!”

Among the crying brothers, Lily could see a hand sticking out of the bed.

Its color was dark, the fingers gnarled like a dead tree.

She panted, heart hammering in her chest.

Her father grabbed Lily’s hair mercilessly. “If you didn’t say no, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s because of you that your mother died without being able to get medicine. It’s because of you, Lily!”

Lily’s heart shattered into a million pieces like glass.

Grabbing her father’s trousers, Lily tried to ask for forgiveness, but she couldn’t say anything.

Something was in her mouth.

Lily’s face turned blue when she spit it out.

It was a human finger.

“Argh!” Her mouth was filled with a disgustingly bitter taste.

An unfamiliar voice rang in her ears. “…dam. Calm down, Madam!”

Lily’s eyes widened as the voice became clearer.

Not realising that she had woken up from a dream for a long time, she looked around. The surroundings were wildly unfamiliar.

The bed she was laying on wasn’t hers.

Only then did Lily realise where she was.

A sigh of relief escaped as her whole body relaxed at the fact that what she had just experienced was a dream.

Lily saw someone sitting next to the bed and nearly leapt. “Who are you…?”

It was a man with a unique shade of dusty blonde hair mixed with rough gray. His features were sharp, but his lethargic expression was anything but.

He had a relaxed, vaguely annoyed aura around him. It was an appearance that did not match his priest’s robes with rolled-up sleeves.

“This is Ivan Kirchen, a competent and loyal priest who treated Madam day and night with all his zeal and sincerity,” he said, referring to himself. He fixed his sleeves and looked to the back of the room. “You tell the lord that the madam has woken up safely. Don’t forget to tell him that she had a terrible nightmare.”

“No, leave it out!” Lily shouted urgently.

Priest Ivan turned around.

She looked cautiously at him and the healers before speaking. “The nightmare part. Please leave that out.”

“Sure.”

The doctors waiting at the door bowed their heads and left the room.

Ivan rose up from his chair, poured water in a cup after the door was shut.

Lily took the cup in a hurry.

“You’ve been ill for about three days, but thank you for waking up. Still, it was difficult for the three precious doctors whose necks were cut off. Even I’d have a hard time reviving them if I could.”

Lily almost sprayed her water on him and his calm tone. She managed to hold it in, but a few errant drops made her cough painfully.

Ivan handed her a handkerchief.

She took it absent-mindedly, but couldn’t bring herself to wipe her lips. “Are you saying that three doctors died because I had a fever?”

“Yes. After the maid who wounded Madam was also whipped, she was driven out of the castle.  Because she was a pretty capable maid, she barely escaped execution.”

Lily froze and stopped breathing.  Her green eyes flickered with grief. She could almost see Buttercup trembling with fear in front of the duke. She covered her mouth with her trembling hands, unwilling to believe it.

“How can that…”

“I’m just kidding.”

“…Yes?”

“I didn’t expect you to believe my words. Haha!”

Ivan was genuinely amused.

Lily stared blankly at him. She could not understand what he just did.

Is he telling me he just made a joke about someone’s life?

A throbbing sensation began from her nape. It was so unfair that Lily’s heart was still pounding, that she had the irreverent desire to pull out a handful of the priest’s hair.

She threw Ivan’s handkerchief on the bed and wiped her wet lips with her sleeve, turning away coldly. “It’s not a joke a priest would say.”

“I hear that a lot.”

“…I heard the duke hates priests.”

“The Lord hates the priests from the Conde Sect, who insist on wearing shiny crowns over their heads. I’m from the Haxter Sect. Besides, I can say I’m a poor Servant Priest who was dragged around by the harsh lord and went to war all of my life.”

Lily licked her lips, trying to hide her displeasure by avoiding eye contact. “I know that the Servant Priests have to volunteer. So I don’t think it’s fair to say you were dragged around.”

“It’s nice to be married, isn’t it? Apparently there are people who listen to our lord. Then, would you like to live in shame as a Servant Priest as well?

“Doesn’t the fact that you’re not giving up your priesthood mean that you’re satisfied with it?”

He narrowed his eyes and looked at Lily.

“…Madam…”

Lily withdrew slightly at his strange gaze. The boldness she had to be insolent to a priest was fading, quickly being replaced by anxiety.

“You’re different from what I expected.”