Chapter 16
Jade lifted his gaze first and looked toward the back, and I followed his eyes and turned around as well.
“I wonder if the noble priests would truly bestow divine power upon the children of the slums.”
Rixion Luhanes, wearing an endlessly relaxed smile, muttered in a tone that clearly mocked the temple. Anyone paying attention would have known that he disliked the temple, just as he had shown earlier when dealing with the paladins.
The temple pretends to treat everyone equally, yet in reality, it withholds divine power from anyone below commoner status. I myself find that duality and hypocrisy disgusting.
But right now, it was a bit problematic for Jade to be faced with that attitude.
‘What if Jade gets angry and refuses to give the holy water!’
I couldn’t speak directly and tried to give him hints with my eyes, but Rixion Luhanes didn’t seem to care at all. My anxiety made me grit my teeth. Maybe I should have done something earlier to prevent him from coming.
“And I do need a priest right now, actually.”
At that moment, Rixion Luhanes, unlike when he had addressed the paladins and the priest Lennen, spoke politely, which struck me as odd, and I showed a puzzled expression.
Without warning, his hand shot out and lifted my left hand, which I had been hiding, revealing my mangled nails.
“What happened to your hand? Did you bite it again?”
“No, this was just an accident…”
Jade immediately scolded me, and I looked sheepish. At times like this, he wasn’t much different from Michael.
Jade furrowed his handsome brows and held my left hand. Because of that, it looked as if Rixion’s hand had been forcefully pushed away, and I glanced nervously at him—but fortunately, he didn’t seem very angry.
Still, his slightly sulky expression made him look like a child whose favorite toy had been taken away. I couldn’t help but think that maybe he didn’t like how Jade had taken my hand from him—but of course, that was unlikely.
I quickly shook off the unnecessary thoughts from my mind.
A brilliant light burst from Jade’s hand, and the glowing energy flowed into my left hand. The wounds at the tips of my nails, crusted with dried blood, healed instantly.
It was always astonishing to see such divine power. I looked at my fully healed hand with fresh eyes.
“Lower-ranking priest.”
Rixion Luhanes, who had stepped back to observe us, muttered almost casually.
“…Was that so?”
Jade, who had been inspecting my hand multiple times to see if the healing was complete, turned his gaze back to him.
“Amazing. Even among the highest-ranking priests, few can heal wounds this quickly.”
Rixion’s expression, difficult to read, smiled faintly, and Jade’s unflinching, almost terrifyingly blank gaze met his in midair.
Uh, why is the atmosphere like this again? Didn’t he just praise Jade’s holy power as comparable to that of a top priest? Could this also be a remark mocking the temple?
The tense mood kept building, and I felt flustered again.
“Liz, I’ve been meaning to ask—who is this person?”
Jade asked me without taking his eyes off Rixion.
“Ah, um… This is Duke Rixion Luhanes.”
“……”
“Duke… This is my acquaintance, Jade.”
“……”
After all that effort to introduce them, neither of them reacted at all. Feeling awkward, I awkwardly touched the back of my neck.
“I thought I’d just be meeting Liz as usual.”
The uninvited guest clearly wasn’t welcome. Rixion Luhanes, who would normally grind his teeth at the temple, was being openly disrespectful, which was expected. But seeing Jade—who was always kind and gentle to everyone—show obvious dislike was surprising.
Even I could understand feeling upset if someone criticized a place you belonged to.
“Well, there’s a bit of a situation here…”
“Recently, the temple’s behavior has been suspicious, so I was worried about letting Miss Christener in alone. I’m sorry for interfering with a reunion between friends.”
I hesitated, feeling guilty for bringing someone without notice, but Rixion Luhanes cut in.
Even from what I had seen in the original story, I already knew he was someone with zero consideration for others. Seeing him behave this way in person still left me dumbfounded. The way he stressed the word friend especially caught my attention.
“The temple blocks visitors entirely, then what disgusting scheme are they planning…”
“Wait, wait, Duke!”
Rixion Luhanes had been mocking the temple and provoking conflict unilaterally. Jade’s expression was tense, and it seemed likely a fight could break out.
If they fought, only our beautiful Jade would get hurt! I had to stop that. I raised my hand to prevent them from glaring at each other.
First, I decided to calmly soothe the troublemaker. Calmly, using the best words I could…
“You’re being really rude to my friend right now.”
Hmm. I meant to soothe things, but the words came out far more aggressive than intended. I deliberately emphasized my friend to stress the point.
I immediately regretted it, but the words were already out. Anxiety flashed across my mind—what if Rixion Luhanes exploded in rage and ruined everything? Still, I squared my eyes and glared at him, even if it probably posed no real threat.
“Ah.”
But Rixion Luhanes’s reaction was odd.
Instead of responding with his usual relaxed smile or a cold glare, his blue eyes stared at me blankly, slightly dazed.
“I see.”
Even when muttering to himself, acknowledging his fault, his voice lacked force. He slowly lifted a hand to touch near his eye and stepped back hesitantly.
“This is… not right…”
I stared in confusion, and then, as if being chased by something, he suddenly spun around.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
And he walked straight out of the greenhouse.
…What? Why is he acting like that?
The reaction was completely unexpected. I stared at the direction he disappeared with a bewildered expression.
Why now? He had been provoking Jade earlier with full force!
It was as if he hadn’t realized what he was doing until I pointed it out, and then panicked and left.
‘Nah, no way.’
Yeah, no way. That man—Rixion Luhanes. No matter what, he’s the kind of person who could draw a sword if offended.
I clicked my tongue and dismissed the thought. He probably had an urgent matter, like needing the bathroom or forgetting to turn off the heater at the mansion. That was far more plausible.
“Liz.”
Jade’s calm voice snapped me back to reality. I quickly turned to him, sending a look of apology.
“Sorry, Jade. You must have been surprised with a stranger suddenly showing up. He’s always had a bit of a problem with his behavior…”
“Did you know him before?”
I was about to apologize for the awkward situation Rixion Luhanes had caused, but Jade cut me off. I avoided his gaze and scratched my cheek.
“Well, there’s a bit of a situation…”
I didn’t want to talk about my relationship with Rixion Luhanes, so I wanted to pass it over. But Jade’s determined eyes insisted on asking what the situation was. Usually, he would have let it slide if I was uncomfortable.
Today, though, people I thought I knew were showing unfamiliar sides of themselves. It felt uncomfortable—Rixion Luhanes and Jade both.
I moved my hand from my cheek to the back of my neck out of habit and began speaking.
“Actually, not long ago, my brother made me have a matchmaking meeting with him.”
“…A matchmaking meeting?”
“Yeah. He got tired of seeing me lazing around at home, so he wanted me to at least get married. Isn’t that too much?”
I pouted, feeling a bit upset. I could understand Michael’s point of view, but if I hadn’t gone to the matchmaking meeting, none of this would have happened.
Starting with meeting Rixion Luhanes for the matchmaking, everything up to now…
“I met him at that matchmaking meeting. Somehow, he ended up helping me a little today, so he came along. I’ll apologize for his rudeness—really, I’m sorry.”
I clasped my hands in apology, but Jade’s expression remained displeased.
“I see… so that’s what it was.”
His voice, heavy with displeasure, flowed slowly. His darkened eyes and tone felt almost like a stranger. I watched him nervously, trying to gauge his reaction.
