Chapter 74……………..
Kyle’s voice was calm, but his gaze was as sharp as a blade.
Just meeting his eyes made the healer’s hair stand on end and goosebumps prickle his skin.
“I’ll do my very best.”
He asked Daisy to bring hot water and began preparing for treatment.
Normally, he could work just fine even with others watching. But the oppressive presence of Kyle—expression cold, eyes burning—was a heavy burden.
“Your Excellency, if you keep standing there, it’ll be difficult for me to treat her.”
The healer spoke up bravely.
“…Very well.”
Kyle stopped at the door, then turned back.
“Healer, I leave her in your hands.”
At those last words, the healer blinked in surprise, staring at Kyle’s retreating back.
Daisy entered the room carrying a basin of steaming water to assist with the treatment.
But before the door closed, she caught sight of Everett’s wounds—unable to hold back anymore, she broke into sobs.
The sound pierced Kyle’s heart like a dagger.
After the High Priest’s visit, Yankeller was in a frenzy preparing for the banquet.
He planned to arrive early at the hall to greet Everett as she stepped down from her carriage.
Just imagining Everett staring at him with her wide black eyes made him smile.
That was when, from far away, an explosion echoed.
Opening his door, he saw black smoke rising thickly from one corner of the plaza.
His chambers, set on the top floor of the hilltop temple, commanded a view of nearly the entire square.
“That’s… where Everett’s shop is. Did a fire break out?”
The smoke grew denser by the minute. Then, another blast rang out.
Startled, Yankeller stumbled backward.
“What the…?”
The second plume of smoke erupted from the complete opposite side of the plaza.
This time the explosion was stronger, flames shooting into the air.
The two separate fires spread rapidly, devouring the square.
Yankeller forgot all about changing into his banquet clothes and rushed out of the temple.
But on the ground, the scene was nothing like the view from above.
Dense smoke blanketed the square like fog. People ran with buckets, frantically trying to put out the flames.
Thanks to the banquet, most shops were closed—thankfully there were no casualties.
But the number of people whose livelihoods had just gone up in smoke was countless.
“Everett…”
Seeing a merchant collapsed on the ground, weeping, Yankeller suddenly pictured Everett in their place.
He sprinted madly toward the tarot shop—but the alley was blocked.
The shop had already burned to nothing. Even the Kuna tavern was half-destroyed.
The heat of the flames made it impossible to look directly.
Among the bustling crowd fighting the fire, Yankeller searched desperately for Everett.
“She’s not here. She must be at home. She has to be at home.”
Even if she had gone early to the palace, he told himself he wouldn’t be upset. As long as she hadn’t been at the shop—anywhere but there.
Leaving the plaza that had become hell itself, Yankeller prayed to the gods for the first time in earnest.
Near Everett’s home, he spotted Daisy with a man who looked like a healer.
“Dilute the herbs in water and have her sip it slowly. It’ll help the wounds heal faster.”
“Yes, thank you. Oh?”
As Daisy listened, Yankeller approached.
“Is Everett at home?”
Her eyes were swollen from crying so much. Just hearing Everett’s name made her lips tremble, as if tears might burst forth again.
A sudden dread rose inside Yankeller. Without hesitation, he rushed into the mansion.
Normally, he would never have entered someone’s home uninvited.
Everett will be fine. If the healer is here, that means she’ll recover.
But all he could think was that he had to see her with his own eyes.
Panting, Yankeller burst into her room.
“Everett!”
But the sight that met him was not Everett—
“Kyle? Why are you…?”
His eyes darted quickly from Kyle’s face to Everett’s hand clasped in his.
In an instant, he felt like an intruder barging into a private space that belonged only to them.
He almost apologized out of sheer habit.
Kyle too was startled by Yankeller’s sudden appearance.
“Yan, what are you doing here?”
Kyle remembered that Yankeller had been with him the day he first met Everett.
But he had never imagined they were close enough for him to come to her house—let alone enter her room without hesitation.
“You… you’ve been seeing Everett all this time?”
Kyle asked again, but Yankeller gave no answer.
Instead, he hurried to Everett’s side, staring down at her intently.
“Why is Everett like this? Is she badly hurt?”
“…Everett?”
He called her name again and again, his voice raw with worry.
Kyle’s brows knit ever so slightly.
“Yan, I’ll ask again. How do you know Everett?”
“Were you there when the tarot shop caught fire?”
But Yankeller spoke over him, not listening, only repeating his own questions.
Kyle fell silent, his eyes cold as he watched.
Yankeller drew closer to the bed and sat opposite Kyle.
To Kyle, Yankeller was more than family—his dearest friend, someone he thought he knew better than anyone.
Someone he would have given everything for. Yet now, Kyle felt the strongest hostility from him.
What unsettled him most was not Yankeller’s actions, but the way he looked at Everett.
“Yan…”
Kyle spoke his name in a low, resonant voice.
As his friend of many years, Yankeller understood the meaning clearly.
A warning to stop.
But instead of backing down, he felt a strange thrill, his chest swelling.
A smile even spread across his lips—so unlike him that Kyle was thrown off balance.
Most of all, Kyle couldn’t understand why Yankeller was inserting himself between Everett and him.
“I made a promise with Everett.”
“A promise?”
“About tonight’s banquet. She agreed to go with me.”
Kyle’s brow furrowed sharply.
“You’re saying Everett… agreed to enter the hall with you?”
“That’s right. Why else would I be wearing these clothes?”
He jerked his chin toward his banquet attire.
Aside from rare occasions in casual wear, Yankeller was never seen out of his priest’s robes.
“You… wore banquet clothes.”
A sly smile tugged at Yankeller’s lips as he lied through his teeth.
“You can’t exactly wear priest robes when escorting Everett to a banquet, can you?”
Kyle was speechless. He could only stare at Yankeller as though he were a stranger.
“And what about you? What’s the Saintess going to think, with you here?”
“The… Saintess?”
Kyle’s eyes flashed dangerously.
Yankeller flinched but felt a grim satisfaction, pleased his jab had landed.
“I heard from the High Priest. Congratulations, Kyle—you’re marrying the Saintess, aren’t you?”
Yankeller wanted Kyle to know.
That the one who truly belonged at Everett’s side was not him—but Yankeller himself.
“With the plaza fire, maybe the banquet will be canceled. But the marriage announcement doesn’t have to wait for a banquet.”
He nearly burst into triumphant laughter, struggling to suppress it.
Kyle only stared at him quietly, unreadable.
The tense atmosphere broke when Daisy entered with a tray of tea.
“Daisy, why is Everett so badly injured?”
“Well… the tarot shop caught fire, and she was there….”
“But the plaza was closed today. Who saved her?”
“I did.”
Kyle finally spoke, his voice steady.
Yankeller, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard and pressed Daisy again.
“Why was Everett at the shop at that time? Shouldn’t she have been preparing for the banquet?”
Daisy tilted her head.
“I think you’re mistaken. My lady isn’t attending the banquet tonight.”
Caught in his lie, Yankeller’s eyes flickered with panic.
Kyle let out a derisive snort, louder than necessary.
“Who knows why she was there.”
He wasn’t about to tell Yankeller someone had tried to harm her.
“She’s lucky she wasn’t burned. But why all these bruises…?”
Yankeller leaned closer to examine her face—
But suddenly, Kyle’s large hand thrust between them, blocking him.
“Yan, what do you think you’re doing?”
Kyle’s displeasure was plain.
“What do you mean? Kyle, I don’t like your tone. I’m only worried about Everett.”
“Yan, I appreciate your concern for her, but—”
“Appreciate it? Why are you the one thanking me?”
At his cutting question, Kyle sighed faintly.
This was a pointless emotional clash, one that would lead nowhere.
And with Everett unconscious before them, he had no desire to continue it.
“Yan, you should leave for now. As you said, the banquet might be canceled—so you’ve no reason to stay here.”
“And what about you? You’re the guest of honor. Should you really be here instead of at the banquet?”
