CH 29

Nibble, nibble.

While slicing the meat for dinner, I paused for a moment.

After hearing this from Reihausd earlier, all of my mind had been absorbed in the new saintess.

After all, Ariel wasn’t a real saintess, and I was prepared to leave before Camilla, the main character of the original story, appeared.

But it should’ve been five years from now, yet she already showed up?

‘Was it the Thiago district?’

No, as I remember, the hometown of the original female lead, Camilla, is Ares. Looking at the map, Thiago and that place were at opposite ends.

Somehow it didn’t feel right.

Having lost my appetite, I asked Daisy to eat and then opened the shop function.

[Holy Relic]

Camilla, the original female lead, showed holy power only after she received the ‘Antonio’s Pendant’ from the God of Eternal, Raid.

[Antonio’s Pendant] [1/1]

[Not available for sale: This item is not supported.]

When I turned over the shop, the item was still there.

Perhaps the item would be removed from the sales list when Camilla awoke after.

Then, who is the girl who has manifested holy power in the Thiago district?

“Gods, do you know anything about the Saintess of the Thiago district?”

I asked the Gods, but they were silent.

There were two cases when they didn’t answer my questions.

Not even the slightest bit of interest. Or, because of some rules, they shouldn’t answer.

“Hmm.”

Anyway, even if it’s not Camilla, if there’s a girl who has manifested holy power, I will have to vacate my seat and leave the temple sooner than I thought.

The White Rotunia that had been broken by Reihausd came to my mind.

[It won’t make any difference if that girl comes. Because you’ll be here.]

I wondered what was in Reihausd’s head. As he delivered the news, he said that I would continue to be in the temple.

“Perhaps, I won’t be imprisoned in a dungeon or something, will I?”

I could imagine Reihausd looking at me and smiling happily outside the bars every day while holding a White Rotunia, and somehow my back felt cold.

“Ey. No way.”

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, says that your guess is correct.]

[The God of Art, Mond, tries to shut Hessed’s mouth.]

[The God of Love, Odyssey, blushes as he talks about the dangerous taste of love.]

They were so quiet when I asked questions.

Blurring the twinkling window who was making fun of me, I shook my head and erased my thoughts.

Still, Reihausd was the High Priest in name, so there is no way.

Anyway, it was getting late at night, so I thought it would be better to go to bed.

I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep well in the noisy atmosphere outside, but I can’t spend two days in the night market soaked in night dew.

It was when I slowly reached for the bedding to lie down on the bed.

Suddenly, a knock was heard from the window covered by the curtains.

“Hm? Did I hear it wrong?”

But when I heard the knock again, I got goosebumps.

The thought of being on the fourth floor reminded me of a ghost story I heard as a child.

I was looking out the window with a lot of tension, when I heard a creaking sound.

I was so startled that I was just about to scream, and the curtain opened, revealing a face I had seen before.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression and opened my mouth.

“Your Highness?”

Perhaps because it was dark, his hair and eyes also looked dark.

He had taken off his uniform jacket, and he was wearing only a dark red shirt on his solid upper body.

His foot, which came in through my window with ease, thumped and hit the floor.

He immediately stood up. His red hair that hadn’t been disturbed by the strong wind blowing on the balcony had slightly changed shape and it looked like he had bangs.

“How did you get here…”

Kyle, who strode toward the surprised me, stood looking at me.

I stared at him blankly and blinked.

He took one step closer to me with a stiff face. My heart was pounding and there was a sense of tension. Probably because it reminded me of Ariel’s proposal letter.

After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth with a confident expression without hesitation.

“I’m here to kidnap you.”

…Huh?

He opened his mouth again to me, who was staring blankly at the sudden words.

“You.”

His low voice reminded me of what happened earlier.

“Your eyes are shaking.”

When I prayed in front of people, I had a lot of thoughts. To be honest, I was also nervous.

“Last time, you begged me not to kill you.”

He uttered a harsh voice as if he was quite annoyed and concerned.

“That… It’s just in case.”

Besides, the blessings that the Gods gave to people kept coming up in front of my eyes, so I couldn’t help but tremble as I read them.

As I hesitated, Kyle continued.

“So I came to take you.”

“Yes? I beg your pardon?”

Suddenly, I heard someone walking in the hallway outside.

He grabbed my wrist, which wasn’t moving as I made a bewildered expression, and pulled me towards him.

“…!”

I felt my body rise up in an instant, and I was held in his arms in the position of hugging a princess.

The sound of footsteps approaching in tension passed my room door and gradually grew farther away.

I looked at him in bewilderment, then he started walking through the window he had come in.

“W-Wait a minute!”

This is the fourth floor!

Unconsciously, I grabbed his neck and hugged him, and the thick scent of musk lingered on the tip of my nose.

He put one of his feet on the window sill.

“No way!”

Is he crazy?

He flew out the window as he hugged me.

I could feel the fresh breeze on my skin, and I reflexively crouched close to him.

To jump off the fourth floor, how crazy is that.

I closed my eyes at the feeling of falling. Soon, the reaction and shock were transmitted to my body.

But this shock wasn’t what I had expected.

It was just a reaction to the extent that my body shook once.

After slowly raising my eyelids in a calming feeling, I saw his silver eyes and the black sky behind them.

In the deep silence, for a time that felt far too long, I met his gaze. It was only a few seconds that I realized we had landed safely.

I struggled and he put my feet on the ground.

“H… How did you do that?”

To my words, he responded with a calm attitude.

“It’s a piece of cake for a Sword Master.”

I knew a Sword Master was a monster, but how could he land so easily from the height of four floors?

His body seemed to deviate from the laws of physics I knew.

“Did you get hurt?”

“It’s not that, but… It could be a problem if anyone knows that we have gone out like this.”

I spoke hurriedly.

“I don’t care. If anyone takes this as a problem, I will kill them.”

There was a deep meaning in his firm words. It was probably a reminder of his previous feud with Reihausd.

I stood face to face without a word, and he grabbed my wrist as he stared at me. Then he started walking.

“Follow me.”

He grew up to be the Crown Prince with an overbearing attitude, and is a man who takes orders for granted.

I was dazed, then hurriedly drawn to him, and asked.

“Where are we going?”

But soon after, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

“I don’t know.”

His voice was cold.

“It’s awkward because it’s the first time I’ve kidnapped a living person.”

“Well. I’ll follow you.”

I felt a chill in my spine and followed him into the darkness.

About 10 minutes after walking on an unfamiliar road, we came out of the trees and my eyes were opened wide.

A vast rose garden was spread out.

It was the scenery I had seen from the balcony before, but seeing it up close like this gave me a new feeling.

The brightly colored roses of the day were beautiful, but the seductiveness of the roses at night made me speechless for a moment.

There may be tens of thousands, or even more. Against the dark night and moon, the buds of roses were covered with clear dew.

“There’s nothing like taking a walk when you have a headache.”

His low voice was heard from behind.

I turned to him, and his cool red eyes stared at the flower garden.

He released my wrist and started walking past me. Not at a fast pace.

I walked after him.

Unlike the daytime, a cool breeze blew, but it wasn’t cold.

“I heard that the real saintess appeared.”

I could see the long sword hanging around his waist waving softly to his pace.

“Yes. I heard so.”

I followed him without a word.

Not only Reihausd, but also he seemed to have been told the story of Thiago’s girl.

I am a fake saintess, so it was natural to believe that a real saintess appeared.

As soon as his steps stopped, I looked up at him.

His broad shoulders, superior physique, and his back somehow made my chest throb. Maybe it’s because this body belongs to Ariel.

“I put it together with Reihausd. Let’s say that your body is too weak to contain holy power, so the Gods have chosen a new saintess.”

It was a story from the original story.

The two male leads who had set up a fake saintess tried to do their job moderately and set up the female lead, Camilla, as a new saintess, and Ariel foolishly protested and became angry.

But I’m not the stupid Ariel. I wasn’t afraid to leave the temple either.

“Alright.” I answered quietly.

Then he turned to me.

Those dark red eyes were staring at me.

“And I.”

Confused for a moment, I belatedly focused on his voice.

When our eyes met again, he licked his lips.

“I want to offer you a new seat.”

A cool breeze brushed his forehead and ruffled his hair.

I stared blankly at him. I could hear the rustling and swaying of the roses.

“Come with me to the Imperial Palace.”