Chapter 14
“It’ll be a waste of time.”
This man keeps dismissing people with facts.
Rixion Luhanes brushed off my opinion in a tone that sounded almost regretful. It stung my pride a little, and honestly, it left me in a foul mood.
Of course, I couldn’t just say outright that the Holy Nation bastards had slipped the cure for the Red Rats into the holy water. So I was left stewing in frustration.
“It would be far better to take them to a physician—”
“Oh, look! We’re here already!”
Rixion looked like he was about to order the carriage turned around, and I was panicking—thankfully, just then, the temple appeared outside the carriage window.
The magnificent white temple, flaunting its past glory with imposing grandeur, loomed closer and closer.
I ignored the suspicious gaze burning into the side of my face and swung the window wide open.
Alright, I started this mess myself. Now it was on me to see it through to the end.
Taking a deep breath, I fixed my eyes on the towering temple before me.
Those damned bastards.
The reason I was dragged right into the middle of this story was all because of them. My stomach churned with rage.
What I really wanted was to charge in like a wild colt with its tail on fire and raise hell… but no. There was no need to clash head-on with them and risk getting further entangled in the original storyline.
What I needed to do was clean up after my own mess.
I just had to play the cards I had and do what I could.
“Look, I told you—it’s Jade! Jade!”
I shouted at the wall blocking my path. Well, not a wall exactly, but the three holy knights standing at the temple entrance like immovable slabs of stone.
“As I’ve already explained several times, there is no priest by the name of Jade here.”
The biggest of the three knights repeated himself in a flat, expressionless voice. I squinted up at him with suspicion.
“Did you really check properly? Or are you just lying because you don’t want to let me in?”
“It is true that, for the time being, no visitors are being accepted under any circumstances. But it is equally true that no one named Jade serves here.”
“Fine, then at least give me some holy water!”
“As I said earlier, holy water sales have been suspended.”
Neither of us budged an inch as we glared at one another.
That familiar look—I knew it well. It was the same exasperated, weary stare I got every time I showed up at Setra Guild. The look people gave to an obnoxious, persistent nuisance.
Right now, I was locked in a standoff with three holy knights at the temple gates.
It was bad enough that they’d refused to sell me holy water, but now they were outright blocking my way inside. Honestly, I was panicking.
I knew they were hoarding holy water during this period, but I hadn’t expected them to bar entry altogether.
I kept picturing the children waiting in the carriage—suffering from fevers so high even grown-ups would struggle to endure. My chest tightened with anxiety.
All I wanted was to get holy water into their mouths as soon as possible. But here I was, slamming into an unexpected wall, and my temper was flaring.
Inside this temple was one of the few acquaintances I had.
His name was Jade.
He was a low-ranking priest I’d met by chance in this temple as a child. Like me, he was nothing more than a background extra in the original novel, with no ties to the main story.
Because befriending him carried no risk of getting entangled with the plot, Jade was the only person I could truly call a friend.
But Jade had grown up in the temple, passing from novice to junior priest, so he was always busy.
In over ten years, I had barely seen him. Some years, only once or twice.
Still, we had kept in touch through letters, and not long ago I had received word that Jade had returned to the Kaiden Empire.
Which meant Jade should be here in this temple.
Even as a low-ranking priest, maybe he could sneak me one bottle of holy water. That was why I had come to find him. But the knights insisted there was no priest here named Jade.
Strange.
Back when Jade told me in his letters that he was in the capital, he had always been in this temple.
I just had to ask one of the nearby priests, and soon enough Jade would come out with a smile.
So why now were they saying there was no priest by that name at all?
The only difference was that today, I hadn’t sent him a letter beforehand.
Looking at the stubborn knight, he didn’t seem to be lying. He looked like the type to cling to rules, not invent things. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to trust anyone from the temple.
“Not selling holy water, not accepting visitors, huh.”
Flinch.
The holy knights, who had stood impassively like walls while I spoke, visibly tensed up.
For the first time, Rixion Luhanes, who had been silently watching our standoff from behind, finally opened his mouth.
As he stepped lazily to my side, one of the knights even flinched and stumbled back in spite of himself.
After all, this was a man whose name was known even in the Holy Nation—a monster capable of destroying not just this temple, but the entire theocracy itself, if he so chose.
I could understand their fear. But the difference in how they treated him compared to me still rubbed me the wrong way.
“Is there some amusing little scheme going on inside?”
The overwhelming weight of his power pressed down from his gaze alone as he looked down on the towering knights.
He swept his eyes over the temple once, then back to the knights. A faint smile played across his blue eyes.
“Such suspicious behavior—it’s impossible not to take an interest.”
“Please watch your words, Duke.”
Even terrified, they couldn’t just stand by while their temple was insulted.
The burly knight at the front scowled even more darkly, and the two behind him also looked fierce.
The tension was thick enough to make me uneasy, but Rixion dismissed them as if they were yapping dogs, then turned to me.
“Lady Christener.”
“Yes—yes?”
“This priest called Jade. You’re certain he’s here?”
“Yes. In the letters we exchanged, he clearly said he was staying in the capital temple.”
Hearing my answer, he turned back to the knights with that same faintly smiling face.
“Then check again. Properly this time.”
It felt as though he’d added, while I’m still asking nicely. He hadn’t said it, but the implication hung heavy in the air.
The knights exchanged troubled looks.
Truth was, they had already checked twice, sending novice priests to run inquiries. The answer had been the same: no priest named Jade.
But with Rixion Luhanes himself demanding it now, ignoring him wasn’t an option. One of the younger knights reluctantly turned back toward the temple to check yet again.
“Um, forgive me for interrupting, but—I overheard a name I recognized.”
A priest, robed differently than the novices from earlier, stepped forward.
With large, dark puppy-like eyes, he glanced nervously between me and Rixion before speaking cautiously.
“Are you here to see… Jade?”
I had been glaring at him suspiciously, but at the sound of that name, my face lit up.
“Oh, yes! You know him?”
“Ah, yes!”
The puppy-eyed priest nodded quickly, then rushed on, looking flustered.
“Um… You must be Lady Elizabeth Christener, right? Sir—no, Priest Jade told me to be sure to bring you to him if you ever came.”
He then glanced up at the holy knights blocking our way, his look clearly saying, This is her guest. Step aside already.
The knights glanced awkwardly at each other.
“If Priest Renan says so, then it must be true. You may enter.”
Though the puppy-eyed priest looked somewhat absent-minded, he was apparently of fairly high rank.
At his single word, the knights stepped aside and allowed us through without further checks.
However, Rachel, who had accompanied me as my guard, and Rixion’s escorts were denied entry and told to wait outside.
“Please follow me. This way.”
I hurried after Priest Renan, with Rixion Luhanes casually trailing alongside.
Wait. He was coming too?
I froze half a step too late.
I hadn’t thought much of it until now, but the idea of the male lead meeting my personal acquaintance left me uneasy.
As I turned to look at him, already walking at my side, Rixion met my gaze with his usual languid smile.
His eyes seemed to ask, What’s the problem?
Flustered, I quickly looked away.
