Chapter 34
“The choice is yours. If you want to help, then help.”
“…Cassian, are you testing me again right now? Seeing how I’ll act?”
“That’s not it.”
The next day at lunchtime, in the Grand Temple.
The grapevines of the Grand Temple—famous for producing grapes of exceptional quality—grew inside a glass greenhouse that blocked outside view.
I stroked the head of Tofu, who had propped his chin on my knee while I sat on a bench.
Did you finally get a bath?
His fur was fluffy and smelled nice.
Cassian, leaning against the backrest of the bench I was sitting on, urged me, “Try petting him against the grain.”
I was sitting on the bench, and Cassian was standing, leaning against its back.
Which meant Cassian and I were facing opposite directions.
Since there was no one else in the greenhouse anyway, I briefly wondered why we had to talk like spies meeting in secret, but—
Well, I guess he’s still a priest. Sitting side by side with a woman on the same bench probably isn’t allowed.
Dating is forbidden, after all.
“This really isn’t a test. It’s not like that.”
Cassian, only his profile visible to me, swept his disheveled silver hair back and lowered his gaze.
Silver lashes, the same color as his hair, cast shadows over his vivid blue eyes. He looked like some kind of ice princess. Wearing a priest’s white robes today only amplified that impression.
But unlike his almost holy appearance, the words coming from his mouth were sharp.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t help. Why should I? They lived however they wanted and then faced the wrath of God.”
“The wrath of God…”
“In Eastern Empire terms, they’d call it karma.”
Cassian continued.
“There’s probably at least one person out there who lived far more kindly than that teacher and still needs help right now.”
“Even if there isn’t anyone like that, and even if I had time to spare, I wouldn’t help someone who humiliated me like that. I can’t.”
“……”
“Even if I saw them drowning, I’d walk past without hesitation.”
“……”
“And even if I helped them, they wouldn’t be grateful. Just like that woman’s mother.”
“Ah.”
Yeah. That really pissed me off.
I tilted my head slightly and looked up at Cassian.
Meeting my gaze, he emphasized,
“I mean it.”
“……”
“Seraphina, this is entirely your choice. If you want to help, help. If you don’t, don’t. No one will blame you for choosing not to.”
“I asked you to act as the Magic Saintess, not to endure a trial of forgiving your enemy.”
That was how Cassian finished.
“Hmmm…”
What should I do?
What’s the right choice?
If someone would just tell me, ‘This is justice,’ I’d do exactly that.
Why do I keep ending up with things like this to think about?
Lost in thought, I absentmindedly stroked Tofu’s fur backward.
“Grrr…”
Tofu bared his teeth like he was asking why I was ruining his fur, but sensing my turmoil, he simply looked up at me quietly.
“……”
No—wait.
I helped that old woman before, didn’t I?
And she ended up putting me in a difficult position.
This time, I help the teacher.
I take the risk of being caught, of my identity being exposed, of running into that red-eyed man again—countless dangers—and save the teacher from disaster.
And then, after surviving by a hair’s breadth, the teacher comes back to my tailor shop and causes a scene like before.
Insults me, mocks me, humiliates me.
Would I really be able to say I wouldn’t regret helping him?
Could I swear I wouldn’t slam the ground and scream,
“I should’ve just let him rot! Then he wouldn’t have had the time or money to come harass my shop! Why did I help him, aaaargh!”
Could I honestly promise that?
“……”
Ah…
“…I guess I—”
“You?”
“I’ll help the teacher.”
I stood up.
Tofu, who had been yawning with a runny nose after waiting too long, and Cassian, who had been turned away, both looked at me.
“I don’t know how to explain this, but…”
Looking into Cassian’s eyes, which clearly asked Why?, I said,
“I’m not the one bestowing justice on people.”
Like a noble handing out charity to a servant.
I’m not unilaterally granting justice to others as some kind of favor.
“If I help people I like and don’t help people I hate… the moment I do that, my justice becomes a favor I grant others.”
“That’s not justice. That’s charity.”
Just another form of ranking people.
I hate that.
Because I’ve been on the receiving end of it, and I don’t want to do the same.
Of course I really don’t want to help that man!
“But the teacher is someone who slapped my cheek when I was fourteen, and didn’t even recognize me when we met again nine years later—but in this case, he’s a victim.”
“……”
“My feelings toward him don’t matter. I’ll do what I have to do.”
As a Magic Saintess.
Having made my decision, I let out a refreshed breath. Cassian silently stared at me.
He was staring so intently without blinking that it got a little awkward.
“What?”
Did my saintly decision offend you? I joked, but he didn’t react.
“Cassian?”
Are you alive? I waved my hand in front of his face.
Only then did Cassian shake his head as if coming back to himself.
“…No. It’s just unexpected.”
He muttered to himself.
“Won’t you regret it?”
“Maybe. But if the teacher is to be punished, it should be for what he did to me.”
“That’s true.”
“And if I don’t help him, Baron Tram will get away without any punishment at all. I don’t like that either.”
Now that the decision was made, I felt lighter. Clapping my hands together, I said,
“Alright, then. Time to figure out how I can help my beloved perpetrator this time…”
Lunch break was almost over, so I should head back to the tailor shop.
“If you have any information to share about this case, send Tofu to my house! I’ll get going!”
I patted Tofu’s head once and left the greenhouse.
Cassian stood there blankly until I was gone.
Only Tofu, lying sideways on the bench, wagged his tail gently as I left.
“Cassian.”
“……”
“Cassian!”
Why are you spacing out, woof? Are you hungry, woof? Want to go eat sweet potatoes together, woof? Huff huff—
Beside Johann Whatshisname the Third, who was running around in circles, Cassian stood dazed.
Johann Flustered the Third didn’t even notice he was drooling onto his own hand.
Suddenly, Cassian spoke.
“…Johann Mendelssohn Handel Beethoven Bach Schubert Mozart Debussy Park Yeon Strauss the Third.”
“Huh?”
“Priests can only fall in love once in their lifetime, right?”
“That’s right, woof.”
“I think I need to be careful.”
If I slip up, I might fall in love.
“Really?! With who?!”
Who is it, woof?! Where are they, woof?!
Johann Flustered the Third opened his mouth wide and sniffed in every direction.
“Are they kind, woof?! Pretty, woof?! Do they like sweet potatoes, woof?!”
Are they even human, woof?!
Amid Johann’s chaos, Cassian stared blankly ahead. Then he suddenly looked up at the sky.
“…You said a Magic Saintess would appear and save the world.”
But—
“You never said I’d be put in danger because of that Magic Saintess…”
That just looking straight into her eyes as she declared she’d do her duty would make his heart drop.
“Why didn’t you mention something that important…”
Covering his eyes as he lamented, Cassian sighed.
His large hand covered his eyes, eyebrows, and nose bridge all at once.
Peeking out beside it, the tips of his ears were red.
Against his pale skin and silver hair, it looked like the only hint of red on his body.
And less than three days later, one morning—
The citizens of the Empire received a shocking letter.
“Yawn.”
“Ugh, I don’t want to go to work… What’s this?”
In the late-winter morning, just as the sun began to rise, citizens stepped outside to collect their milk or newspapers—
Only to find a small gift box suddenly falling from the sky.
Tied to a palm-sized lollipop, it read:
**“This coming weekend.
At Baron Tram’s estate,
I will be taking the replica of the late painter Hugovan’s masterpiece, The Dancing Boy.
I will take it no matter what,
so it would be better if you place it neatly in front of the door beforehand!
Have a wonderful day of keeping your belongings safe☆”**
