Chapter 28
In an instant, something was fastened around William’s neck.
It was the defensive necklace Raphaella had put on earlier.
Startled, William spun around and whispered urgently.
“Your Highness?”
Raphaella grinned and murmured back to the duke,
“You’ll need it more than I do. Because—”
Thump—
She shoved the bewildered William squarely on the shoulder. Caught completely off guard, he lost his balance and staggered out into the middle of the road.
At that moment, Raphaella raised her voice, imitating a man.
“An intruder! There’s an intruder inside the barrier gate!”
With that, she quickly turned invisible using the spirit dust Ferry scattered by scraping his wings.
William’s pupils shook violently at the unexpected betrayal. Unable to grasp what was happening, he could only stare blankly as Raphaella gradually vanished.
Just before she became completely invisible, Raphaella winked and said,
“Duke, that sword at your side isn’t just for decoration, right? Draw some attention for me. Good luck.”
“!”
For the first time in his life, William nearly cursed out loud.
But he didn’t even have time for that.
“Who are you?!”
“How did you get in?!”
“Get him!”
Bandits rushed in from all directions, quickly surrounding the duke.
Shing—
Left with no choice, William swiftly lowered his stance and drew his sword.
In the imperial palace of the Henten Empire, there was a garden only the empress was permitted to enter.
Even among the attendants, only a carefully selected few were allowed inside this secretive space. Yet despite its seclusion, warm, radiant sunlight poured down upon it.
Deep within the garden, beneath a pergola where flowers bloomed in full splendor, two people were enjoying tea.
The empress—who was dressed with unusual elegance that day—set her teacup down gracefully and spoke.
“Thank you for procuring the magic stones. Thanks to you, things have become much easier.”
“It was nothing.”
The man seated across from her replied gently, as if it were no great matter.
He wore a priest’s robe so white it almost seemed to glow. The large golden emblem embroidered on his chest marked him as a high-ranking cleric. His entire face was covered with a white mesh veil, yet the refined outline of his features could not be hidden.
The empress looked at the priest with a curious gaze and continued.
“You were right. To think… that deficient thing is a spirit contractor. I still can’t believe it.”
“Haha. That’s understandable. Spirits have been absent from the human world for nearly a hundred years.”
“Then how did she manage to form a contract with one?”
“Well. That is something only the gods would know.”
“And you were also right that Raphaella would step in personally this time.”
“I’m glad I could be of help. Haha.”
As the priest laughed leisurely in a friendly tone, the empress cautiously asked again,
“But how did you know, Priest, that I would need magic stones at this very moment?”
The priest set down his teacup beneath the veil and looked directly at her.
She relied on him and used him, yet still had not let go of her suspicions. Seeing through the empress’s obvious greed and foolishness, the priest smiled faintly to himself.
Then, in a refined and dignified voice, he replied,
“Your Majesty, I am one who has devoted himself to the Chief God Taratius. What I must know, what I come to know, and even what I convey to Your Majesty—all of it is the will of the Chief God.”
“Then that means…”
“Yes. The Chief God regards Your Majesty as the noble mother of the empire. That is why He grants me oracles and commands me to assist you.”
“Ah… I apologize, Priest. I did not ask out of impure suspicion. I merely wondered if knowing the method might help Setrin as well.”
“Haha. It’s quite all right.”
Unable to see the priest’s expression, the empress felt both unease and discomfort.
In conversation, one could glean far more information than expected from another’s gaze, expression, and gestures. But the priest always concealed his face under the pretext of ascetic discipline. Her own cards were fully exposed, while his remained tightly hidden. Even knowing that this imbalance was the source of her anxiety, she could do nothing about it.
She needed his help too badly.
The empress carefully slid a small box toward the priest, wearing the soft, elegant smile she often used as a shield.
“This is a small token of my appreciation for your trouble in coming all this way. Please don’t refuse my sincerity.”
The priest looked at the box she offered.
It was a luxurious case engraved with ornate patterns and studded with small gemstones. The box alone was valuable enough to support a common family for years. Given such packaging, the contents inside were obviously priceless.
Yet the priest pushed the box back toward the empress. As her surprise showed plainly on her face, he rose from his seat and spoke coldly.
“One who serves the gods does not cling to material things. Instead, use this to build a free clinic or an orphanage. If it is built in Your Majesty’s name, it will become a virtue for you, for the Henten Empire, and for your daughter, Crown Princess Setrin.”
“I truly… still have so much to learn.”
The empress replied as if embarrassed, covering her flushed cheeks with her hand.
Had the priest accepted the box without hesitation, the empress would have felt relieved instead. What was easier than moving people with money? But such people inevitably caused problems later—betrayal, leaks, and the like.
In that case, she could simply use them as needed and then send them somewhere they could never speak again.
But this priest was different.
Someone who could not be controlled by money, yet possessed power and information she absolutely needed—he was a most troublesome existence for the empress.
And so, words of entreaty slipped out naturally.
“Priest. Someone as lacking as I still needs the continued grace of the Chief God.”
She stood and followed the priest as he moved to leave, clasping her hands before her chest and speaking earnestly as she approached.
“Please, continue to visit me. I won’t make such a mistake again.”
“…Very well. I will grant you one more chance.”
After a brief silence, the priest bent down and whispered softly into the empress’s ear, behaving with extreme caution despite the absence of anyone nearby.
From between the folds of his veil, a few strands of hair spilled out—hair as red as blazing flames.
When the priest finally finished speaking, the empress’s face stiffened completely.
“!”
Raphaella and Ferry, having thrown William out as bait, were moving quickly through an empty stretch of road. Everyone had rushed toward William instead.
“Wow. Master, that was really cruel. Did you see the duke’s face just now? He looked like he’d lost the world.”
“He asked me to use him flexibly. I just did as requested.”
“Still… you could’ve warned him.”
“With that rigid personality of his, do you think he’d let me go alone?”
“Ah… that’s true.”
The amount of spirit dust Ferry could scrape from his small wings was extremely limited. Even for one person, it lasted at most about a minute. And since they needed to use it again when entering the burrow later, what Raphaella had used while shoving William and escaping amounted to no more than twenty seconds.
Because of that, sacrificing William was unavoidable if they wanted to find Rosalie quickly.
That duke isn’t someone who’ll die that easily.
From behind them came a flurry of clashing weapons and curses—he was doing a fine job drawing attention. Raphaella ran toward the burrow Ferry had spotted earlier from above.
Soon, the entrance came into view. On either side of the stairs descending underground, bandits stood guard with torches and axes.
“Tch. I was hoping they’d all swarm the duke, but they’re more organized than I expected.”
Hiding behind a pile of stacked firewood near the burrow, Raphaella paused to catch her breath.
She just couldn’t get used to this body. As Annie had said, she’d lost some weight, but since she’d been round to begin with, it didn’t show much.
It still felt dull and heavy, as if she were hanging lumps of iron all over herself and coated in layers of mud.
Seeing the beads of sweat forming on Raphaella’s forehead, Ferry asked worriedly,
“Master, are you okay?”
“Of course. I’m fine.”
She answered lightly, wiping the sweat from her brow with her sleeve.
Just then, the voices of the bandits standing at the entrance drifted over.
“Hey. Shouldn’t we go check that out too? The noise sounds pretty serious.”
“No. The boss said we’re to guard this place no matter what.”
“What’s there to guard from a little girl anyway? They locked her in some ridiculously expensive prison—shouldn’t that be enough?”
“Oh. Right, did you hear about that prison? Apparently…”
Worried someone might overhear, the bandits moved closer together and began whispering. But every word reached Raphaella’s ears without fail.
