CHAPTER 23
Raphael, who had been avoiding eye contact, finally looked at Andy.
“Actually, there were quite a few bad rumors about the young lady, weren’t there? Especially the ones about her chasing after you unilaterally. I heard those rumors intensified because of that. But the lady I saw yesterday seemed very calm—like a completely different person.”
“Calm? Her?”
“Yes. It was hard to even imagine her ever having pursued you so passionately. I only met her once, but if the rumors were true, she would’ve tried to cling to you somehow during that sudden situation. But instead, she didn’t even show a hint of attachment or desperation.”
“…”
“So I started to wonder—maybe her real personality was being hidden under all those false rumors. But! I know you wouldn’t dislike someone without a reason, Commander. So I thought about it a bit…”
Andy trailed off and glanced at Raphael.
Just a little while ago he had insisted she wasn’t the issue, but now he was listening seriously, his eyes shining with focus. That alone told Andy he was on the right track.
Of course, Andy was careful not to point out this obvious weakness in his superior. Instead, he maintained a serious expression, pretending not to notice as he continued with his thoughts.
“The first possibility is that the young lady has incredible acting skills and is managing her image. The second is that she really has changed. People do go through personality shifts due to various events in life—feelings can change too. But personally, I think the first one is more likely.”
“She’s managing her image? For what purpose?”
“Well—maybe to make a good impression on you, sir?”
Andy’s voice rose slightly at the end, uncertain even as he spoke.
Even when he recalled yesterday’s meeting, Louisa didn’t seem interested in Raphael at all. Saying she was trying to impress him felt like a stretch.
“I’m sorry. I honestly don’t know much beyond that.”
Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Andy continued, clearly feeling sheepish. He had encouraged his commander to open up, but it didn’t seem like he was being much help now.
Raphael’s face hardened in frustration.
Andy, seeing this, quickly added something to salvage the moment with a show of sympathy and understanding.
“I know I’ve only met her once and can’t really offer any solid insight, but what matters is this: whether it’s the first or second option, either one could make someone suddenly seem like a different person, right?”
“…”
“So I think it’s perfectly understandable for you to be confused. Maybe it’d be good to have a proper conversation with her sometime.”
“I never said I was confused.”
So he just wanted to deny it?
Now it was Andy who was confused, scratching his head in frustration.
Despite the warm sunlight pouring in through the windows, the air in the commander’s office felt sharp and cold.
Raphael’s face was so stern, it felt like the temperature might drop below freezing at any moment. A stormy pressure hung in the air.
‘She’s changed? That Louisa Blake?’
Long after Andy had left, Raphael continued to stare at the spot where he had stood, as if he could burn a hole through it.
“If you keep watching the young lady carefully, the answer will come to you.”
Andy’s last words echoed in his ears.
‘He’s telling me to observe someone I’ve been deliberately ignoring… Why should I bother? Is she even worth that trouble?’
If he truly wasn’t interested, there was no reason to waste time over this. He’d be better off clearing out his backlog of reports.
But despite all his efforts to rationalize, Louisa’s face kept surfacing in his mind, making it impossible to focus on anything.
Raphael’s expression kept shifting—cold and hard one moment, knit with concern the next, and finally glaring as if to reject a painful truth.
If anyone had seen him, they might’ve wondered if he needed an exorcism.
‘Image management? That woman?’
Raphael, oblivious to how unsettling his own behavior was becoming, thrashed about in the quicksand of doubt.
If Louisa was capable of such skilled acting, the nasty rumors about her would never have spread in the first place—so he argued to himself.
‘But if it’s not acting… then the only explanation is that her personality has really changed.’
Thinking back, Louisa had definitely seemed different lately. It was like the image of her as a child—long forgotten—had flickered back for a moment, only to be replaced by someone entirely new.
What confused him most was how genuinely happy she’d looked when receiving the holy water—not even bothering to hide her joy. That didn’t feel like someone putting on a show.
‘How did I not notice before? She looked more thrilled about the holy water than about seeing me…’
A deep sigh escaped him at his own obliviousness. Only today had he come to truly understand the look in her eyes—that pure, sincere expression couldn’t possibly be fake.
Just months ago, her eyes had looked like a pit of mud—dark and impenetrable. Now, those same eyes gleamed with unfamiliar clarity. This wasn’t the Louisa he knew.
The more he thought about her, the more distant she felt. Her violet eyes, once fixed on him, seemed empty now—devoid of any affection. That gaze haunted him.
Raphael shut his eyes tightly and pressed his fingers to his forehead.
“…How did I not realize until now?”
Indeed, thinking back, Louisa had been behaving very differently since their engagement.
She never initiated contact. She never complained when he came and went quickly. She never clung to him.
It was his own prejudice that had kept him from seeing the truth.
She was far from meek. And yet, she’d been quietly accepting his rejections without a word. Somewhere along the way, that had started to feel normal to him.
‘But why the sudden change…?’
Either her personality had changed, or her feelings had. Damien’s words floated through his head, adding to the storm clouding his face.
‘Could it be… she doesn’t like me anymore?’
As soon as the thought hit, a heavy weight settled on his chest.
Was it the uncertainty that made him feel this way? Even earlier, when he had thought the same thing in front of Louisa, it had felt like a strange pressure squeezing his chest—and now it was back.
His face twisted in frustration. He pressed his hand to his sternum, as if trying to push away the discomfort, and clenched his teeth.
‘It’s just disgust. She annoyed me for so long, chased me around, and now she dares to lose interest? Ha, it’s not like she hasn’t irritated me before, so why does it bother me now?’
The confusion was endless. The more he thought, the more tangled everything became.
‘Why am I even wasting my time on this?’
The emotional whiplash was starting to grate on him.
‘If she really doesn’t like me anymore, isn’t that good? I’ve always wanted her to back off, and now she’s doing it on her own. So why am I so bothered?’
It was better this way. She wasn’t in good health either, so this was a perfect excuse to avoid any talk of marriage.
In two weeks, he’d be dispatched to the west and wouldn’t see her for a while anyway. With the current demon situation, he’d be too busy to think about her.
“This is good. Really good.”
But what exactly was good about it? Even Raphael looked unsure as he mumbled to himself like a man possessed.
“We should just drift apart like this.”
But his fingers, drumming anxiously on the desk, didn’t seem to agree.
He didn’t even realize what expression he was making or what his body was doing. Oblivious, Raphael forced himself to stare at a report, pretending to be calm and collected.
‘…Maybe I should’ve given her the holy water. I could’ve used it as an excuse to check in on her treatment…’
Unfortunately, all the self-brainwashing in the world didn’t help. The crease on his brow deepened with worry.
‘Come to think of it, I think the imperial palace still has some holy water left…’
He was truly hopeless.
Meanwhile…
“A healing priest?”
Louisa widened her eyes in surprise, clearly not expecting that.
“Yes. He has the highest healing ability I know of. I’d like you to meet him. If you don’t want to go to the north, I can arrange for him to come to the capital.”
The Duke spoke casually, fiddling with a small box on the table.
“Louisa, just do whatever you want. I have to return to the north to deal with the monster outbreak, but I’ll follow your lead for now.”
“Oh… the north.”
She had briefly considered going up north for a while, but she hadn’t expected the opportunity to come so soon. Louisa frowned in thought, murmuring quietly.
‘The northern priest… Wasn’t he the one in the original novel who told Louisa to drink holy water? If he has the best healing powers, maybe that’s how he figured out her unusual constitution.’
If it was that priest, she might be okay with it.
The rumors about Louisa’s body purifying demonic energy had spread only after she visited the temple and met several priests—so this northern priest likely had nothing to do with that.
