20 - Chapter 20
“Please don’t tell anyone that I have Divine Power, and make me Ashil-nim’s handmaiden.”
“……Bbit?”
Ashil reacted a beat late to the unexpected remark. Everyone else in the room was the same.
A Priest who could use Divine Power, especially one born on the God’s birthday, was more precious than rare, a talent who would later become a Saintess.
For such a person to ask for their Divine Power to be kept a secret, and even volunteer to be someone’s handmaiden?
“Wouldn’t it be better to become a formal Priest than a, a handmaiden?”
The physician stammered.
But Selena shook her head firmly.
He only knew one thing and not the other.
“No, I like being Ashil-nim’s handmaiden.”
She thought she would have to stay here for a while, so she decided to change her plans.
Everyone would look at her suspiciously, but there was nothing she could do.
‘I shouldn’t underestimate the original work’s power.’
The original story was about falling in love with the male lead after saving Elkai.
If she left this situation alone, she would become a Saintess like in the original story and be stuck with the male lead all the time.
Selena, who had decided to get off the original work, was not happy at all.
If she had money, she would buy a fake identity and run away, but Selena didn’t have a penny to her name.
‘There are only a few things a young girl can do in this world.’
So, what came to mind was becoming a handmaiden of the Duke’s family.
However, if she became a handmaiden of Edenber or Elkai, it could flow according to the original story, so she specifically mentioned Ashil.
Ashil, who didn’t know these inner circumstances, blinked with a bewildered expression.
‘Mom said that Yeoju is a human you have to be careful of.’
So, as soon as she met her, she told her that she was the best, and even said that she was violent.
‘Why does she want to be Ashil’s handmaiden?’
Edenber asked, speaking for the suspicious Ashil.
“Why a handmaiden in particular? There are much better positions than that.”
“That’s… because Ashil-nim recognized my value.”
The time had come to show off the acting skills that a possessor should have.
Selena, with one hand on her chest, made an expression that aroused pity in those who saw her.
“I am from the slums. After losing my parents, I was lucky enough to enter the Temple, but no one treated me well. They always teased and pointed fingers at me because I was an orphan.”
“Hmm.”
“But only Ashil-nim was different. Ashil-nim, with her brilliant mind, recognized that I had Divine Power and gave me a precious opportunity.”
At that, everyone’s gaze turned to Ashil.
They were wondering how she knew that Selena, a Novice priest, had Divine Power.
Selena, with her hands clasped tightly, wore a pitiful expression.
“If Ashil-nim hadn’t given me the opportunity, my Divine Power would have been used to fatten someone in the Temple. I want to repay this favor even a little, so I want to serve Ashil-nim. Will you please accept me, Ashil-nim?”
“Bbi…….”
Ashil, with a dazed face, blinked. She was out of her mind with the storm of proposals.
Edenber, who also had a flustered expression, sorted out the situation.
“It doesn’t seem like a problem to decide now, so it would be good to go and rest first. Let’s talk again later.”
“I understand.”
Selena, who bowed politely, let out a sigh of relief inside.
She didn’t expect to be accepted right away. It was enough if she wasn’t kicked out.
‘I have to earn money somehow and run away to a foreign country before the Temple notices.’
With that thought, Selena followed the handmaiden who came to pick her up.
Only after Selena left did the room finally become quiet.
The remaining people all sighed at the feeling that a storm had passed.
Edenber, who was the first to regain his composure, turned to Ashil.
Then, without warning, he knelt on one knee.
“Bbit?!”
“I don’t know how you found the Priest, but what does it all mean? If you didn’t tell me first, there must be a reason why you couldn’t tell me.”
Edenber lowered his head.
“I won’t ask anything. Thank you, thanks to you, we were able to save Elkai-nim.”
Dylan and the physician followed his actions.
“Thank you for going to a distant place until late.”
“Thanks to Ashil-nim, he seems to be able to recover without any major aftereffects.”
“Bbiya…….”
Ashil, who was completely out of her mind from the successive praise, froze stiffly with her mouth slightly open. It was a bonus that her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.
Elkai, who was looking at the scene with a satisfied expression, suddenly remembered someone who was not in this place and hardened his expression.
“Where is Biante?”
A heavy silence fell.
Everyone’s gaze turned to Elkai and then fell to the floor.
Elkai, who cleared his throat a few times, asked again.
“Where is Biante?”
But they only looked at each other and no one could answer.
Elkai, feeling uneasy, raised his voice.
“Don’t tell me that he also drank the poison!”
“No, he is fine.”
Edenber answered.
Following him, the physician, who was looking at the situation, said in a barely audible voice.
“Biante-nim… went hunting.”
“What?”
What was that? Hunting?
The physician hurriedly added the last words to calm Elkai’s excitement.
“He said he would catch a great prey to wish for Elkai-nim’s recovery-”
“Is that what a person who wishes for recovery does? Furthermore, breaking the confinement order I gave?!”
However, it only made him more angry.
Elkai, who was properly angry, raised his voice.
“A sane person would never do that! What? Hunting after recommending alcohol first? Don’t tell me that he put the poison in the alcohol I drank?”
Dylan and the physician, who were embarrassed by the words mentioning patricide, closed their mouths.
Only Edenber received it indifferently with a expressionless face.
“We are investigating with all possibilities open.”
He didn’t say it because he was afraid that Elkai would get more excited, but Edenber thought that Biante was the culprit in this case.
He planned the dinner, strongly recommended alcohol, and didn’t drink alcohol alone.
Lastly, the most likely suspect who put poison in the alcohol was the wife of the Family Deity who opened the Bear Holy Beast cage.
She disappeared after being last seen near the shed on the outskirts of the castle.
‘She shouldn’t be dead yet.’
If it was his uncle he knew, he would try to secretly dispose of the Family Deity’s wife so as not to be caught.
However, since he had people attached to Biante to monitor him after Elkai-nim collapsed, Edenber was guessing that he hadn’t killed her yet.
‘While he is out hunting, the surveillance will be dispersed, so he intends to deal with it then.’
So, he had to find her somehow before he returned from hunting.
Now that he was driven to the corner enough to commit even patricide, he would rush in without looking back.
In fact, Edenber had gone to the shed on the outskirts of the castle where she was last seen.
However, it was difficult to find the traces because the place, which had been abandoned a long time ago, was used as a base by wild animals.
The frustrating feeling grew as he couldn’t find the suspect.
He even had such absurd thoughts.
‘If only I could communicate with animals, I would have asked them if they had ever seen him.’
He had to say something that made sense, talking to animals.
Even the Divine Beasts could not communicate with animals of different species. The reason was that the language system was different.
“Bring Biante here right now! I won’t just leave him alone!”
“Please calm down. The poison will spread more if you get excited.”
While Edenber was lost in his own thoughts, he heard Dylan and the physician soothing the angry Elkai.
He sighed deeply inside.
Now that she had succeeded in saving her grandfather, it was time to find the human who had harassed her grandfather and punish him.
Ashil recalled the words she had heard from Dylan.
“The person presumed to be the culprit is currently missing. He disappeared after being briefly seen at a shed on the outskirts of the castle.”
He was confident that he would be able to find him soon because all the manpower who had been looking for the Priest had been put in.
Would Ashil miss this kind of thing?
‘Ashil will also look for the culprit!’
She was going to find him and punish him. That way, humans would be afraid and wouldn’t touch her grandfather.
With two strawberries from the lunch box she would eat while going on her back, Ashil confidently set off with her front paws tightly clenched.
It was a bonus that she was holding the front paw of the baby rabbit tightly because she was afraid to go alone.
“Bbiya!” (Let’s go, Rabbit!)
“Kkyu!”
