Chapter 35
“What are you talking about? Just move aside.”
Raven, it seems he really didn’t listen to a word I said.
What was he thinking, throwing such accusations at someone who hasn’t even heard a whisper about his so-called “plan”?
‘I’m already freezing to death as it is.’
Scowling, I walked past him toward the carriage ahead to avoid him.
But once again—thump.
He blocked my path and pressed further.
“Then why were you with High Priest Shine? And right in front of me, no less.”
“Raven, you weren’t the only one at the banquet hall…”
At this point, could I consider the sub-male lead to be suffering from severe delusions of grandeur?
“To begin with, High Priest Shine entered thinking the terrace was empty.”
“Ha, a mistake?”
“Yes, a mistake.”
When I nodded immediately in response to his repeated question, he twisted his lips into a crooked smile.
For some reason, his gaze grew even more menacing, as if angered by something.
Regardless.
‘What is this, in the middle of the garden?’
I don’t even know why I have to give Raven this half-hearted explanation in the first place.
“Haah, think whatever you want.”
Moreover, my body, which had been holding up until now, suddenly began ringing alarm bells in my head.
If this continued, I’d surely be bedridden for days.
I needed to get home as soon as possible, before the worst came, and take my medicine.
Unlike my agitation, Raven took another step closer to me.
Perhaps because his body was imbued with the divine power of the God of Light, Pride—whoosh—I felt a wave of heat.
For a moment, the spring breeze softened, and my shivering body calmed. Yet the pain remained.
No, rather, the agony that had been buried under the cold surged forth even more prominently.
“Huhk.”
My head spun momentarily, and my body swayed.
“Ciela!”
Startled, Raven grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. In that brief moment, it felt like the world had spun twice.
“You, your body…”
I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. The pain I had been suppressing until now exploded like a firework.
Just then—
“Meow!”
Though Raven’s voice, right by my shoulder, didn’t register at all, strangely, the sound of a cat’s cry pierced my ears.
I forced my blurry, fading eyes open. Then, I saw a black figure darting across the blue lawn.
“Uh, Tete…?”
That couldn’t be. Tete should be rolling around and playing in my room.
But there, with pretty red eyes sparkling as it ran toward me—that cat was definitely our Tete.
“Tete.”
“Tete?”
Raven repeated questioningly, but I had no energy to answer. I pushed him away lightly and stood up.
At the same time, Tete leaped toward me.
It wasn’t exactly a flying kitten, but I quickly caught its fairly airborne body.
“Oof.”
Even in pain, it didn’t feel particularly heavy.
Rather, as soon as I held Tete, the pain seemed to recede.
“Ah…”
A sigh of relief escaped involuntarily.
Only then did certainty settle into my confused mind.
‘Tete, you… you really are a divine beast.’
My mind, which had been foggy just moments before, cleared the instant I held Tete.
“Nyaaang~”
I wanted to push Tete away as it rubbed its face against my hand, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“Ah, Tete…”
My pain-ridden body instinctively sought refuge.
I hugged Tete tightly and relaxed my body.
Then, I felt Raven’s gaze.
“…!”
When our eyes met, he flinched and stiffened.
Perhaps feeling guilty for interrogating me while I was in pain, he quickly averted his gaze.
“Thanks for catching me. I’m fine now, so I’ll be going.”
I didn’t bother to listen to whatever followed. I turned and headed for the carriage.
In my sight, I saw Jenna waiting for me.
It seemed she had come to pick me up and brought Tete along.
“My Lady, you must be very cold. Please wear this.”
“Yes, thank you.”
I draped the evening cape she brought and boarded the carriage with her.
Clop, clop.
Soon after, the sound of hooves indicated we were about to depart.
Through the window, I could see Raven still standing there blankly, but I quickly ignored him.
‘If we make eye contact again, he’ll start talking about plans or something.’
Originally, it’s best to keep my distance from sub-male leads anyway.
Besides, right now—
“Meow.”
“…”
I couldn’t focus on anything other than Tete.
Squish, squish.
As if stamping approval on my expectations, each time Tete’s soft, jelly-like paw pads touched my hand, the prickling pain subsided.
***
Meanwhile, after Ciela left the banquet hall.
Raven Simona stubbornly stared at the carriage, now no more than a dot in the distance.
He knew perfectly well how unlike himself this behavior was. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to regain his composure, it was futile.
‘You… don’t like me anymore?’
You, really?
It was unbelievable. Yet, it was also something Raven Simona had desperately wished for.
Now that it had actually happened, he should be glad… but.
“I don’t care anymore if you meet Ijel or start a new love.”
When he first heard these words, irritation rose rather than joy. He even swallowed a scoff, convinced it was a lie.
Since childhood, she had always struggled to capture Raven’s attention.
He dismissed nine out of ten of her claims about having an incurable or serious illness.
He assumed it wasn’t entirely false, but surely it wasn’t as serious as she made it out to be. He even suspected rumors of a terminal illness were exaggerated or spread deliberately by Ciela.
It was only natural.
“Ciela Eisens, why are you here? You said you were sick.”
“That’s right. I am sick. When I’m sick, shouldn’t you come to me? But why are you with Ijel? And why again!”
The one who claimed to be sick always showed up looking perfectly fine, trying to interfere between Ijel and him.
At that time, Raven Simona thought:
‘To you, an incurable illness is just a tool to beg for attention.’
Perhaps that was the turning point.
Ciela, who had once been merely an inconvenience, became annoying and utterly tiresome.
He wished she would disappear forever from before his eyes.
And that wish returned not long after, with news of her death.
The news made his heart drop. But then, he had known Ciela since childhood.
‘But you…’
For the deceased to rise from her coffin the very next day? Raven Simona didn’t believe in her death at all.
He thought it was nothing more than a staged act she orchestrated for attention.
The subsequent rumors about her joining a religious order, the stories from the Grid Church about an elf and Ciela…
She acted as if testing how far she could push people’s contempt.
Yes. After going to such lengths to capture my attention…
‘You smiled so brightly when you saw me.’
“Then at least pretend to believe me. I’ve told you the truth, so think whatever you want.”
In an instant, her eyes turned cold as she said that.
It was the same even at the banquet hall. True to her words in the carriage, she paid no attention to whom he danced or spoke with.
No, she didn’t even look in his direction. She merely enjoyed the flowing melodies with her eyes gently closed.
Ironically, it was Raven who grew anxious. For the first time, he kept glancing at Ciela.
Naturally, another figure caught his eye.
‘Shine Adiel? Why is he here?’
A person Ciela Eisens would normally despise. Though they hadn’t interacted much, Raven knew well how much Shine detested Ciela.
Yet, that very person was watching her with a微妙 gaze. Clearly, it wasn’t disdain.
‘What’s their relationship?’
Amusingly, that was his first question.
‘What does it matter to me what their relationship is?’
Raven wore a self-deprecating smile. Thinking it better not to see her, he stepped out into the garden.
But then, oh, how indifferent the God of Pride could be.
Instead of cooling his head, his temper flared in the garden.
He witnessed Ciela and Shine Adiel embracing on the terrace.
“Ha…”
A hollow laugh escaped him. He resented not being able to hear their murmuring voices.
‘You fell for another man and now dislike me?’
Ciela Eisens, how could you?
It felt like his own toy had been taken by someone else.
He never liked it and even wished someone would take it away. But now that it belonged to someone else, anger surged unexpectedly.
So, he finally stopped her as she was leaving the banquet hall.
Convinced this was just another ploy for his attention, he interrogated her.
Yet, the response he received was…
“Haah, think whatever you want.”
A sigh full of weariness and an answer dripping with annoyance—that was all.
All his expectations mocked him as they effortlessly missed their mark.
In the few months he had ignored her, Ciela had become a completely unfamiliar being.
“Tete.”
“Tete?”
Now she was raising a cat he didn’t know. She had grown inexplicably close to people he didn’t know and could even smile a bright, unfamiliar smile.
The being he could once grasp with the slightest effort had now drifted so far he couldn’t even see her as a dot.
“Ha…”
Why was it? This was ‘Ciela Eisens,’ whom he had so desperately wanted gone. Instead of feeling relieved, his discomfort refused to fade.
It was an inexplicable feeling.
