Episode 23…………………………………………………….
The original story is an express train straight to hell.
I kept praying that Lancelot would pick up on things and naturally distance himself from the prince, but the reply letter that arrived was…
“To my blood relation.
The outside gaze is the issue.
It’s fine if we meet privately, just the two of us.
His Highness the Prince also prefers that.”
It seemed the prince had noticed Lancelot’s “pheromone scent” and wanted time alone with him.
While I was agonizing over how to deal with my utterly oblivious little brother, another letter from Lancelot arrived.
“Sister, His Highness the Prince is not the calculating type.
He didn’t mind even when I spoke with someone whose intentions differ from his.
And…
I have not yet offered my sword to Her Highness the Princess.”
Someone whose intentions differ from the prince?
That must mean the princess.
Of course the prince can’t outright tell him to stop hanging around the princess.
And the possibility that the one he would offer his sword to might be the prince…?
I’m losing my mind.
What on earth happened while I wasn’t looking for him to think like this?
There’s no way the prince approached Lancelot without ulterior motives.
Prince of the Empire, first in line to the throne—
Shane Trillite Reintvia.
He was one of the obsessive Yandere-types appearing in Realm of the Predators.
Right now he’s a prince, but he would soon become crown prince.
And I hated him the most.
At least the other two obsessive types pretended it was love when they charged at Lancelot.
But the prince was… off.
He outright admits in the original that he never loved Lancelot.
And yet he wanted Lancelot to look only at him.
My reed-like, easily swayed little brother chose no one by the story’s ending.
The prince, furious that Lancelot didn’t pick him, even tried to kill him.
And my clueless brother, driven into a life-or-death situation, awakened superhuman instincts.
He managed to escape from the obsessive men through sheer ingenuity,
but the prince retaliated by taking our parents hostage.
My pitiful brother abandoned his midnight escape and returned to the capital.
What awaited him was our parents’ severed heads.
Just when I thought we had escaped the original and secured peaceful lives,
my brother decides to sabotage it all.
I cannot let the story proceed as in the original!
Before my whole family gets dragged into it, I must stop my brother from heading toward that nightmare.
✦ ✦ ✦
Capital of the Reintvia Empire.
The old woman, who had performed the confession with Sonia, stepped into a grand mansion in the capital.
Once inside, the old woman tossed aside the cane and straightened her spine.
“Agh, my back.”
Pretending to be a bent-backed old crone for so long had made her back ache.
This is why he hated taking old-person roles. His shoulders hurt too.
Grumbling, he stretched and peeled off the elderly face-skin mask—revealing an impressively handsome man underneath.
His voice had been raspy enough to fool anyone into believing he was a genuine old woman.
It was thanks to a special medicine that altered his voice.
“Ah—ahh—.”
The effect was fading, and soon his original voice returned.
Shedding scarf and clothes like a snake dropping its skin, he returned to his usual form—
the Black Wraith.
He knelt before Schwarz.
“My lord, I have completed the mission you assigned.”
“You did not touch her, I trust.”
The mission was to gather private information about Sonia—
but with the explicit command never to touch her.
A very lethal-sounding command.
“She tried to help me stand—saying she would support an old lady like me—
and reached for my hand, so…”
Schwarz’s eyes grew murderous.
If he had disobeyed, he would surely have died.
“I desperately avoided her hand and sat down by myself.”
The lethal aura receded.
“Good. Report.”
The Black Wraith listed every detail about Sonia—what she liked, what she treasured.
“She values family highly,” Schwarz murmured.
“Yes—and she has no fiancé. Apparently she turned down all proposals.
And she doesn’t seem to have anyone she favors.”
Schwarz already knew she had no fiancé.
But he had wondered if she might secretly fancy someone, so he’d sent the Black Wraith.
It seemed there was no romantic interest at all.
For some reason, that pleased him.
His lips even curved—just a tiny bit—making the Black Wraith panic.
The lord… smiled?
At first, he had thought the order to investigate Sonia was part of the prince faction’s political maneuvering.
Sonia, with her rare healing attribute, was a major variable.
The Holy Nation was even sending holy knights to find the Sanctuary of Healing.
If, by any chance, she could undergo an awakening like the other attributes,
she would become the world’s only healing priest—an enormous influence.
If she and the Theodore County family sided with the prince—who was wary of Schwarz—
they could pose a serious problem.
But now, it looked like the interest was purely personal.
But… isn’t the lord overlooking something?
She is a priest of the Holy Nation.
Priests cannot marry or date.
To spend a lifetime with someone they love, they must renounce priesthood—
and that requires explicit permission from the Holy Pope.
Judging by the conversation, Sonia had absolutely no intention of renouncing her vows.
If His Grace the Archduke falls for a priest, it’ll spark a war between the Empire and the Holy Nation!
…Then again, perhaps he wanted war.
Unlike the incompetent prince, Schwarz had the ability to command a battlefield.
Perhaps that was his goal.
The Black Wraith concluded that whatever Schwarz wished, he would obey.
✦ ✦ ✦
A few days passed after I sent away that suspicious first visitor.
After the old woman, many others came to me with their troubles.
I listened to them, praying their burdens would be lifted quickly.
But even I—a confessor priest who listens to others’ troubles—had worries of my own.
The issue was how to deal with Lancelot, who was heading straight toward the original plot on his own.
After days of thinking, I realized I had no choice but to return to the capital and persuade him.
I needed to drill it into his head that
the rope he must grab is the princess—because grabbing the prince means instant doom.
But I alone won’t be enough.
If I told him, “In the future, obsessive men will ruin you and destroy the family—avoid the prince,”
he’d think I was insane.
Gods, what am I supposed to do?
Even staying in the Empire too long as a priest of the Holy Nation was risky.
I sighed, heading to Cassius’s office.
Today was one of the days I helped him with paperwork.
The thick stack of documents was already half finished.
I wanted to focus, but my anxiety surfaced again—
What if Lancelot becomes the prince’s sword…?
“Sonia.”
“Yes, Your Holiness?”
“Is something troubling you?”
In order to maintain perfect pheromone control, I needed a “favorite person” to stabilize around.
Since I currently liked no one, my control was unstable.
So when my emotions swayed strongly, pheromones leaked.
I must have accidentally loosened my control while worrying about Lancelot.
“Can you smell my pheromones?”
Had the anxious, uneasy scent that reflected my emotions leaked out?
“No. Your control is stable.”
He tapped the spot between his brows.
“You’re frowning.”
Apparently my face showed everything I’d been thinking deeply about.
“If you’re troubled, you may tell me.”
It was a family matter—
and one far away, in the Empire.
It wasn’t easy to speak. My lips tightened.
Seeing this, he straightened his posture.
“Despite my appearance, I am an expensive priest whose schedule usually requires reservations.
But since I’m in a good mood today, I’ll listen for free.”
Cassius only did counseling when he was a trainee.
These days, even offering a whole nation wouldn’t get a session.
His playful tone made me laugh.
“Then… please.”
Cassius was the only person who knew I was an omega.
So I could confide in him to some extent.
“I’m actually worried about my little brother.”
“You mean the young count.”
“Yes. I think he has omega pheromones like me. I need to see him to confirm….”
I also confessed my fears—
that the alpha prince might take interest in Lancelot,
and that Lancelot’s progress on the omega-perfume research had stalled.
Just being able to tell someone eased my heart.
After listening, Cassius finally spoke.
“You’ve read the reports, correct? Would you like to visit the investigation site?”
“The investigation site?”
Cassius was searching for the Sanctuary of Healing, hoping to cure omega fever.
The documents I was reviewing concerned that investigation.
There were two possible sites—one in the Holy Nation, one in the Empire.
“Yes. If we find the cure for omega fever, you won’t need to worry alone anymore.”
True—if omegas increased again, I wouldn’t need to worry about the obsessive men.
Other omegas would break their cursed abilities.
“I’m barely a newly appointed priest. Will I be of any help?”
“You may be the only one who can help. That newly discovered holy stone—
every priest of every attribute has tried it, but none of them got a reaction.”
“Oh, I read about that in the report.”
Holy stones could be used in two ways:
—Like when meeting the Viscount, by breaking the stone, which even non–holy-power users could use.
—Or the fixed type—embedded in pillars or statues—which only activate when priests with the matching attribute pour power into them.
The one found at the investigation site was a fixed-type holy stone,
yet none of the priests from the four attributes could get it to react.
“If the new holy stone doesn’t respond to any of the four attributes…
then perhaps only healing remains.”
