CHAPTER 43……………………………………………
“Alright, then… I suppose we can return to the ducal house now.”
As I said this while heading toward the shop, Allen stopped in his tracks.
“Return…?”
He repeated my words, sensing something odd.
Of course. What I should have said in this situation was “go back,” not “return.”
Saying “return” implied that I was already living in the ducal house.
I smiled faintly at Allen, who stared at me with wide eyes, neither confirming nor denying anything.
He blinked several times, and I let out a small, amused laugh.
“No news about the ducal house reaches the villa, right?”
“No. If anything, only occasional newsletters about the capital come in, and only because the princess requested them. …But why do you ask?”
“Because soon, the princess will probably make a big fuss about going to the capital.”
Even at my words, his expression didn’t fully register.
As her body recovered, her sensitivity had decreased, but April would return to her original self soon enough.
The thought of April coming back to the ducal house and running into me made a small, sly smile creep onto my face.
“Go on ahead into the shop.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need to meet someone briefly in the square.”
“Who are you meeting…?”
When I met someone while wearing Bernice’s appearance, it was usually someone requiring my sexual energy. In such cases, Allen would always check the person’s condition first.
There was no reason to lie or hide the truth, so I answered honestly.
“A priest of the temple.”
“Eh?”
Allen, who I thought would brush it off calmly, reacted far more intensely than expected.
In the quiet, small village, his voice rang out.
At first, I thought he might be worried because I was using my energy on a priest, but his reaction was different. He looked anxious, even fearful. His pale face drew me closer.
“What’s wrong?”
This was the first time I had seen Allen like this. His breathing grew rough, beads of cold sweat forming.
His pupils dilated, trembling all over, like a tense cat with wide eyes. I softly called his name.
“Allen.”
His panting grew heavier, and it seemed as if his legs had lost all strength. He slumped to the ground.
“Allen!”
I held his shoulders, looking down at his face.
Sexual energy could heal wounds and illnesses. It could repair external injuries like April’s, or internal illnesses invisible to the eye.
It was a nearly omnipotent power—but not absolute. I had learned that two years ago through Allen.
“Allen, calm down.”
I held him tightly, shivering as if it were winter.
“There’s no one here. It’s just me.”
Sexual energy could not heal mental trauma.
His breaths came in short, choking gasps. The dark night sky felt like the prison in the temple orphanage.
Even though he had escaped the temple almost two years ago, his past continued to haunt him.
The more he tried to suppress it, the more sticky and entangling it became. Even seeing others in the temple’s white robes reminded him of it.
He remembered the countless experiments on his restrained body, his hands and feet bound.
Years had passed in a sunless cell. From a very young age, he belonged to the temple.
“Allen!”
When his limbs began to feel cold, the warmth against his wrists and the gentle pulling of my hands made him feel his body being guided and supported.
“Allen, calm down. Calm down. It’s alright.”
As I gently patted his back, his trembling slowly subsided.
The subtle scent of soap, and my presence, helped him breathe steadily.
Though it was dark, just seeing me made the night feel as bright as the noon sun.
“…Irina….”
“Feeling calmer?”
He nodded at my concerned gaze, lit like the sunset.
As Irina slowly released him, he felt a pang of regret. He didn’t want to let go.
“Your condition isn’t good at all.”
Irina wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and examined Allen.
The flow of sexual energy reminded her of the first time she had received it two years ago.
At that time, people had assumed she was affiliated with the temple because of her energy.
“Can you manage to get to the shop?”
Irina stood and extended her hand to help him up. Though her hand was smaller, he always leaned on it.
“Irina… don’t meet the priest.”
“What?”
I gripped her hand firmly as she looked down at me with wide eyes.
“You already have sexual energy. If the priest finds out by mistake—”
“What are you saying now?”
Irina, previously tense, suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
“It’s fine. He already knows I have energy.”
“Then you shouldn’t meet him again!”
Startled by his unexpected outburst, Allen’s voice rose, echoing through the quiet village. Irina slightly furrowed her brows.
The temple priests were ruthless. They appeared as devoted servants of the divine but were, in reality, like demons.
“You’re saying this because you don’t know what the temple is like.”
“I don’t know what you’re worried about, but there’s nothing to fear.”
“….”
“I just need to see him briefly, to confirm something. I don’t know why you’re afraid of the temple.”
Irina’s voice was firm.
“I’m not asking you to come with me. Go back to the shop and rest.”
Her hand slipped from his like grains of sand.
Allen stared blankly at her back as she walked away.
From the moment she first helped him, to all the time he had spent by her side, he had wanted to do anything for her, to repay her for saving him, to stay close and help her.
But it seemed to be all his own desire. Irina appeared as someone who could leave anytime without consequence.
Someone he couldn’t stop, even if he wanted to.
“…Hah.”
He felt miserable, but also helpless.
Irina’s kindness two years ago may have been a whim—but to Allen, it had been everything.
“The reason you don’t understand the temple is because you’ve never known it…”
Allen quietly muttered his own words. If he reacted this strongly to talk of the temple and its priests, something must have happened there.
Was it connected to his near-death state two years ago?
He also had unusually detailed knowledge of herbalism and pathology, which made sense if he came from the temple.
What remained unclear was why Allen had run so desperately from it.
His pale face lingered in my mind, and I looked back, assuming he had entered safely on his own.
If it weren’t for the meeting with Tamitarte, I would have gone with him…
When Irina clicked her tongue lightly, we stopped in front of the village square.
The villagers called it a fountain, but my eyes fell on Tamitarte standing by a small pond with an angel statue.
He wore ordinary clothing, not revealing himself as a priest, with his long hair neatly tied back. I stepped closer.
“I heard you were looking for me, Princess?”
His small voice echoed across the quiet square as he slowly turned to face me.
His aquamarine eyes studied me carefully before responding.
“I am Tamitarte of the Main Temple. Thank you for your time.”
“Why were you looking for me?”
“Just briefly, to talk while seeing your face.”
He had lowered his body slightly to see me, his face hidden under a robe.
I slowly pulled my hair back, remembering that Tamitarte had said my origins didn’t matter to him or the temple.
My loose hair fell down, sunset-colored and incongruous against the dark blue sky.
When I lifted my head and met his gaze, his composed face twisted in a way that could not be called beautiful.
It was completely different from his reaction when he first saw me in the capital.
Then, he had been just surprised and flustered. Now, there was faint displeasure and anxiety.
“Is this enough?”
