Chapter 41
“But Arden, what are you going to do after you arrest the Magic Saintess?”
The banquet hall on the outskirts of the imperial palace.
A hall where, if you crossed just one wall, you could look straight down at the city.
Blending in with the crowd as we entered the building, I asked Arden.
“For now—”
Arden hesitated briefly at my question, then answered.
“We’ll put the Magic Saintess in a holding cell.”
“And then?”
“And then I’ll make her wear long pants.”
“Oh.”
“It’ll be the ultimate punishment for a pervert.”
“Oh….”
This bastard?
“To do that, I’ll need your help, senior.”
“My help?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of help could I possibly give you?”
Other than turning myself in.
“The Magic Saintess must have some channel through which she gathers information about the nobles’ corruption. So today, I’m planning to keep an eye on the nobles attending the ball.”
“So you want me to help with questioning them?”
“To endure strangers’ saliva spraying while engaging them in conversation.”
“…….”
I think I finally understand why Arden doesn’t like talking to people he doesn’t know.
“But Arden.”
“Yes?”
“Then you and I have already endured each other’s saliva hundreds of times, haven’t we?”
“Cough!”
“Hey, why are you like that?!”
Did saliva splash on you?!
I was patting Arden’s back as he bent over coughing—
“Arden!”
A pure, gentle voice suddenly cut between us.
What? I turned around.
And my eyes nearly popped out.
“Long time no see!”
Cassian, dressed so extravagantly it made my head spin, was pushing through the crowd toward us from across the hall.
Calling Arden’s name.
“…….”
I looked back and forth between Arden and Cassian.
The two of them… know each other?
What?
‘Why do those two know each other?’
I asked Cassian with my eyes.
“Who is that?”
And asked Arden out loud.
‘What the hell!’
As if he’d perfectly understood my silent shouting, Cassian chuckled.
Approaching us, he bowed gracefully to me.
“Nice to meet you, my lady.”
“Arden!”
I ignored him and only called Arden’s name.
From the moment Cassian appeared, Arden—who had stopped coughing and was clearly displeased—introduced Cassian to me with obvious reluctance.
“Senior. Say hello. This is Cassian. The High Priest.”
“…….”
That’s it?
‘Who introduces the High Priest like that?’
Not to mention, basic etiquette would be to introduce me first to someone of Cassian’s status—but he skipped that entirely.
Still, just because Arden was acting like trash didn’t mean I should too.
“The High Priest?”
I pretended to be politely surprised.
“How do you know the High Priest, Arden?”
You already knew him? Is that why you went to the temple back then? Through what connection did you meet the High Priest and maintain a relationship? I fired off questions.
Arden’s expression remained indifferent.
“What’s so special about a High Priest?”
“What do you mean, ‘not special’?!”
If a High Priest isn’t special, then what is?! Are you the Crown Prince or something?!
Just as I was about to continue—
“Oh.”
I suddenly realized.
‘So that’s why Cassian ran off every time Arden showed up.’
Because he couldn’t get caught hanging around me!
Now it all made sense.
“Arden and I have known each other since childhood,” Cassian said instead, smiling warmly, as if he were a friendly, harmless man.
“I’d love to say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but Arden doesn’t seem inclined to introduce us.”
As if we were really meeting for the first time.
“May I have the honor of knowing your name, my lady?”
“…I’m Seraphina, High Priest.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Seraphina.”
Cassian naturally took my hand and made a light gesture of kissing the back of it.
“I don’t usually enjoy going out, and I rarely attend balls, but meeting Miss Seraphina today has made me quite happy.”
“Y-yes….”
“If you’re a friend of Arden’s, then you’re a friend of mine as well. I look forward to getting along.”
“Y-yes….”
Ugh, how greasy. I pulled my hand away.
Cassian met the insults I shot him with my eyes using a smiling gaze of his own, then suddenly acted as if he’d just remembered something.
“Arden. On the way here, I saw the knight commander looking for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes. It seemed urgent.”
“Then I’ll—”
“Go ahead. I’ll stay with Miss Seraphina.”
He said it so shamelessly.
Arden glanced at Cassian with clear distrust, then spoke to me.
“I’ll be right back.”
The moment Arden disappeared, I stepped on Cassian’s foot.
“What the hell?! Why didn’t you tell me you knew Arden?!”
“You didn’t ask.”
“I mean—!”
I didn’t ask because I didn’t know!
“How do you two know each other?”
“I told you. We’ve been connected since childhood.”
“…….”
“Our parents were acquainted. That’s all. We just saw each other often.”
“Oh.”
Weren’t Cassian’s parents some kind of duke?
Knowing people like that…
Wasn’t Arden a commoner?
“So, how does it feel to attend a ball with the investigator chasing you, Magic Saintess?”
“Terrible.”
I felt guilty, like I’d become a con artist tricking an innocent younger man. At my answer, Cassian burst out laughing.
“You don’t need to feel that guilty. Arden might be hiding things from you too.”
“…….”
Such divisive talk—completely unbecoming of a priest—so I didn’t reply.
“Anyway, since we’re here, we might as well do our job.”
Cassian leaned down and whispered into my ear.
“If you leave the hall and head down the side corridor, there’s a side room where people gather to play poker. Go take a look and see which bastard looks like a criminal.”
“Now?”
“Now. While Arden’s gone.”
“Oh.”
“When Arden comes back, I’ll cover for you.”
He said it with a smile.
I really didn’t trust him.
After glaring at him once, I turned away.
“Surprised?”
“…….”
“Say something, Arden. You’re embarrassing your older brother.”
“…You didn’t say you were coming.”
“It’s your appointment ceremony. Of course I’d come.”
“…….”
“So why did you suddenly decide to capture the Magic Saintess?”
On top of appointing yourself as her investigator. Cassian asked, never wiping the smile from his face.
“Can’t you just tell me privately?”
“…….”
“Is it because you don’t trust me? I told you, the temple and the Magic Saintess really have nothing to do with each other. I promise.”
“…….”
“Hm? Hm? Arden?”
“…Before the coronation, I need at least one achievement.”
“Oh, so you’re going to arrest the Magic Saintess to prove your abilities?”
“…….”
“No matter how I look at it, that doesn’t seem like the real reason.”
Feels like there’s another reason, doesn’t it? Cassian dragged out his words.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a child.”
Arden snapped.
A cold expression he never showed in front of Seraphina.
Ignoring the grinning Cassian beside him, Arden scanned the surroundings.
Still, Cassian stubbornly kept talking.
“Miss Seraphina went to the restroom.”
“…….”
“She’s interesting. You two must be pretty close?”
“…….”
“Is she the reason you’re postponing the coronation?”
“You barely just met her—”
“Hm?”
“Why are you calling her by name so casually?”
“Well.”
Cassian winked irritatingly.
“I got quite close with Miss Seraphina today. While you were gone.”
“…….”
That was obviously a lie.
Arden thought.
‘It’s not like I was gone for a hundred years. There’s no way they got that close with a total stranger in that short time.’
…Or is there?
Maybe for others.
Unlike Arden, who had no social skills.
His mood plummeted, and Arden bit his lip.
“I found that Miss Seraphina and I have a lot in common.”
As Arden glared at the grinning man in front of him, irritation bubbled over and he blurted out,
“So that’s why you kissed her hand?”
“Hm?”
“Is it okay for a priest to do that to a woman he doesn’t know?”
“She’s not a woman I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I was just introduced to her. You introduced us. That means she’s someone I know.”
“…….”
Honestly.
Since first meeting Cassian at age five, this was the first time he’d ever found him this infuriating.
“You’re old, so….”
“Hm?”
“You must be used to dealing with women, since you’re older.”
“Arden, I’m only three years older than you.”
Three whole years older—why don’t you just die already? Why are you even attending balls?
Arden swallowed the retort and stayed silent.
‘If only he’d go home.’
Clueless to Arden’s thoughts, Cassian kept smiling—until he suddenly tilted his head.
“But Miss Seraphina is taking a long time, isn’t she?”
