Chapter 8
‘So, the person standing in front of me right now is the female lead’s older brother?’
I stared at him blankly.
Calm brown hair, eyes as green as a summer forest, and a warm smile that could make even angels fall for him at first glance. There was also the gentle presence that made you feel at ease just by being near him.
All of it—the brown hair and green eyes—was such a common character setting that I hadn’t thought much of it until now.
But now that I looked back on it, he looked just like the description of the female lead in the original story. Sure, Olivia was a common name, but there couldn’t be two people who looked exactly the same.
‘At this point, isn’t it practically a conspiracy theory that the world is trying to trip me up?’
If I looked at it positively, it wasn’t the female lead I had met, but her older brother.
He wasn’t even a character that appeared in the original novel. At most, there had been a line like, “Olivia has an older brother~.”
Still, continuing this connection meant I had a much higher chance of meeting the female lead herself.
But even so, giving up on Lake was out of the question. He was a Holy Knight, a noble, my escort! This was a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck.
“Are you all right?”
Lake asked with a worried tone.
“I’m just tired,”
I answered vaguely with an ordinary excuse.
“Then shall we head back now?”
He stood up and offered his hand to me. I tried to grab it and stand up—
“Ahh!”
But my legs gave out from under me, and I let out a sharp cry. I would’ve collapsed to the ground if Lake hadn’t quickly caught me.
“I’m so sorry.”
“No, it’s my fault for not checking your condition more carefully.”
I used his arm as support and carefully sat back on the rock.
“Let’s rest a little longer…”
I didn’t want to be a burden, but there was no way I could walk in this condition. I could already tell what tomorrow would look like—I probably wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed.
We stayed there for a bit, chatting, before I finally managed to return to the orphanage. As we arrived, I spotted a familiar carriage and figure in the courtyard.
“Thank you for today.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Lake smiled kindly, and all my accumulated fatigue seemed to melt away.
Ah, he was really wonderful. If only he weren’t Olivia’s older brother, he’d be perfect.
After parting with Lake, I returned the cleaning supplies to the office and went to find Ally.
“Ally, why are you back so early? Didn’t you enjoy walking around the city?”
“Oh, my lady!”
Ally, who had been anxiously pacing near the carriage, rushed over to me at my call.
“Y-you’re not hurt, are you?!”
She checked me over with exaggerated gestures and asked with concern.
“I’m fine. The temple even assigned me an escort.”
“R-really?! Oh, thank goodness.”
Only then did Ally seem to relax, her shoulders slumping with relief.
“Did something happen?”
This wasn’t just any temple—it was the Grand Temple. The safest place in the empire. There had been no sign of trouble, so something must’ve happened in town.
“I heard there’s been bad stuff going on at the temple lately. What if something had happened to you…”
Ally must’ve been nervous the whole half-day we were apart.
Now that I thought about it, the priest I met earlier had said something similar. What exactly was this “bad stuff” going on?
“Can you tell me what happened?”
I asked after getting into the carriage. Ally nodded vigorously and sat across from me.
“They said… there’s been another murder in Ponz.”
As the carriage started to move slowly, Ally spoke. Her face had gone pale.
“In Ponz?”
“Yes. There have already been f-four deaths this month alone!”
“Four people?”
Not just a murder, but a serial murder case? That was serious, but I tilted my head.
I had seen the name Ponz while researching Pallium. It was technically a temple, but so small it only had a prayer altar. Plus, it was far from Pallium.
“Isn’t that a bit far from Pallium?”
“The newspapers said other temples could be targeted next. Seriously!”
She wasn’t wrong. Criminals, when uncaught, tend to target similar victims again and again.
“But still, this is the Grand Temple. It should be fine, right?”
Ponz and Pallium were different even in scale. More priests, more knights, better security.
Besides the temple’s knight order, there was also the Holy Knight Order of the High Priest. It was virtually impossible for an individual to break into Pallium.
“Still, no harm in being careful!”
Ally leaned forward and shouted, then shrank back nervously as if afraid I’d be offended.
Realizing I might’ve seemed indifferent, I quickly added,
“Have they caught the culprit yet?”
“No… they haven’t found a single clue.”
Since it didn’t happen near me, it felt like hearing foreign news on TV. But from the temple’s perspective, it must’ve been a major concern. That probably explained the escort they had assigned me for just a volunteer task.
“It’s not just some minor incident, huh.”
“No! That’s why you must be extra careful, my lady!”
Ally emphasized firmly. I turned to look out the window, then paused and looked back at her.
“Thanks for worrying about me, Ally.”
And I made sure to smile warmly.
“N-no, not at all! I-it’s only natural that I… I mean…”
“Yeah, I know. Thanks.”
I laughed softly as I watched her stammer with a red face.
Suddenly, the smoothly moving carriage came to a halt. I thought it’d be just for a moment, but even after waiting, we didn’t move. Ally opened the carriage door and stepped outside.
After talking briefly with the coachman, she returned.
“Looks like the road ahead is blocked.”
Since the temple was in a forest, the nearby village that served as the main route was small. The roads were just wide enough for a single carriage.
Peeking out, I saw that we weren’t the only ones stopped—there was a line of carriages ahead.
“An accident?”
“Seems like a checkpoint.”
A checkpoint? That murder in Ponz must have affected this village too.
I was about to just wait idly when a signboard with a book drawn on it caught my eye from across the street. The lights were on—it was still open.
‘I was planning to visit the library tomorrow or the day after anyway.’
I knew too little about this world. I couldn’t ask anyone easily, and there was no internet. Books were my only option.
But Lilith wasn’t the reading type, so there weren’t any books in the mansion.
‘Might as well save time and go now.’
I opened the carriage door and told Ally,
“I’m going to visit the bookstore while we wait.”
“Oh! Then I’ll come with you!”
“No, can you stay here? Just in case something else happens with the carriage.”
“But…”
“It’s not far—it’s right there.”
“O-okay… I understand.”
At my insistence, Ally nodded reluctantly.
I could have taken her with me, but if she asked why I was buying books even a three-year-old would read, I wouldn’t have an excuse. If she found out her mistress was this ignorant, she might start looking down on me. And if this got around to the other maids, that’d be even worse.
‘It’s not my fault my brain has zero knowledge in it, right?’
Thinking that, I walked into the alley and opened the bookstore’s wooden door. The shopkeeper must’ve stepped out—no one was at the counter.
The shop was a bit dark for reading, but yellow lamps on the walls gave it a cozy ambiance.
I browsed through the towering shelves until I found books on imperial history, culture, Estella, and magic.
Flipping through them, I saw dense lines of text on thick pages. The content seemed deep enough to give me a headache just from looking at it.
“You must really like history?”
Startled, I turned toward the sudden voice. A well-built man in a robe was leaning against a shelf, looking at me.
He didn’t seem to be carrying a weapon, but the black uniform barely visible under his robe sent a chill down my spine. His face was mostly hidden under a hood.
‘…A mercenary?’
That’s all I could guess from his appearance.
“O-oh, no. It’s for my younger sibling.”
I blurted an excuse like I’d been caught doing something wrong. He was a stranger, not Ally, so there was no need to lie, but it just came out instinctively.
I just… felt like I had to say something. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might jump out of my chest. And maybe it was just me, but the smell of blood—something I hadn’t noticed when I entered—seemed to fill the entire shop.
Noticing my trembling gaze, the man pulled down his hood.
Under the lantern light, his naturally white hair glowed golden. His sharp, cold features framed pale sky-blue eyes that held no life. With broad shoulders and tall stature, he radiated a chilling pressure that made it hard to breathe.
At that moment, Ally’s story from earlier flashed through my mind.
