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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: A Sweet, Addictive Sensation
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“You think I'd spend three thousand gold on something that doesn't even work? Even if I were drowning in money, I wouldn't do something so foolish.”
Lute, leaning back deeply into a seat far plusher than those in other carriages, curved his eyes into a smile.
Hearing that a single flower had finally bloomed amidst despair, Yuri's eyes welled with tears as he covered his mouth.
“The ancient texts were true! *Sob*. It feels like all my hardships have been washed away. I was so worried this would be another dead end… Huh? But three thousand gold? I only gave her a thousand.”
“I gave her two thousand more.”
“When?!”
“More like I was fleeced.”
Lute let out a light laugh as he said it.
Saintess Ordel, who had looked him straight in the eye and so brazenly demanded another two thousand gold.
And that wasn't even the end of it. Every month, he had to travel to this remote place and keep paying her.
A donation and a recharging fee, paid separately.
When she said the recharging fee would be less than the donation, he was so grateful he could have cried.
Had he ever been swindled out of thousands of gold in his life?
Never, he swore. In the long history of the Ciel family, no head had ever been fleeced like this.
And by a saintess, no less.
“*Pfft!*”
Ah, just thinking about it made him laugh.
“…For my lord, who has the worst temper in the empire, to be fleeced of two thousand gold and still burst out laughing. Is there something wrong with the holy relic? Are you all right, my lord? Let me see it. I must check!”
Yuri was horrified by the sight of Lute chuckling uncontrollably.
It wasn't his usual sneer, but a laugh of genuine amusement, which made it all the more shocking.
“No. I'm not showing it to anyone. The Saintess said that if something happens to this relic, I really will die.”
“What do you mean…?”
“She noticed everything—that I'm suffering from an illness, that I'm in constant pain.”
“What?! But how…? Even the saintess and saint of the Great Sea God failed to notice anything…”
The Great Sea God, one of the three principal gods of the continent, was currently the most influential deity.
That was why Lute had once visited the saintess and saint of the Great Sea God's Grand Temple, seeking a cure for his illness.
The result, however, had been utterly disappointing.
Far from diagnosing his condition, they had acted haughty, assuming he had finally bowed to the Great Sea God's authority.
The saintess there had even examined his body with her divine power, yet she hadn't detected the slightest anomaly.
What was it she’d said? That he was perfectly healthy and would live a long, long life?
That she had blessed him, so only good things would come his way?
Bullshit.
The day he returned to his duchy, Lute had been struck by such excruciating pain for the first time in a long while that he had even coughed up blood.
He hadn't given the followers of the Great Sea God a second glance since.
Yuri knew all of this as well.
“The Saintess said that the Sun God's divine power has strong healing properties, so she was able to see it.”
Lute recalled the moment he first met Ordel at the entrance of the Grand Temple.
A woman with fluffy, pink hair, dressed in the modest robes of a saintess.
But unlike her soft-colored hair, her eyes, which shone gold in the sunlight, looked anything but meek.
She looked young enough to have just turned twenty, yet she possessed a depth that far surpassed the saintess and saint of the Great Sea God.
And he had seen it clearly.
Her golden eyes had swept over the empty space around him.
Even when they met in the reception room, her gaze had often seemed slightly off, and he had wondered why.
To think there had been a reason.
“If the relic hadn't worked, I would have doubted her words, but it works far too well.”
The terrible pain had started one day, out of the blue.
No doctor could diagnose the illness, nor could they alleviate the pain in the slightest.
Nearly twenty years had passed, and while he had grown somewhat accustomed to the minor aches, the agony that felt like a nail being driven into his heart or head was something he could never get used to.
But the moment he held the holy relic Ordel had brought, he felt a different kind of pain.
It was an intense agony, as if scorching flames were devouring his head, his heart, his entire body.
Had he not lived his entire life in pain, he would have done more than just scream—he would have torn at his own flesh.
After what felt like an eternity, as the pain gradually subsided, he felt it.
A light drizzle in a drought, a single flower blooming from parched earth, a gust of wind in the scorching heat.
It seemed small and insignificant, but it was the beginning of a change.
Soon, a downpour soaked his entire body, thousands of soft flowers enveloped him, and a gentle breeze brought him the coolest, purest air in the world.
The sensation of a body free from pain, for the first time in twenty years, was so sweet, so addictive.
“…So much so that I could believe anything she said. No, I was compelled to believe her.”
Ordel had delivered her end of the bargain, just as she’d promised. She was a person of integrity, quite a decent one at that.
But separate from that, his suspicion of her still remained.
He had seen more than a few people in his life who showed faith only to turn their backs on you one day.
She, too, could use this as leverage to make excessive demands of him at any moment.
Lute clenched his fists, determined not to lose his judgment to the intoxicating sensation of being pain-free.
“You said the Saintess of the Sun God's Grand Temple is a daughter of the Kiris family, didn't you?”
“I'll have to investigate to be sure. I know the faces of all of Count Kiris's biological children, but this saintess is an adopted daughter and has never officially appeared in high society, so nothing is known about her. Not her appearance, nor even her name.”
“That's strange. He boasts that his daughter is a saintess, yet he doesn't show her off? Is it because the Grand Temple is poor?”
It wasn't just some ordinary temple under the Grand Temple's jurisdiction; for a Grand Temple that served a god so closely, it did seem to be in quite poor condition.
Perhaps they're hiding her because it isn't a prestigious place.
“Well, I'm sure we'll find out if we look into it.”
“So you want me to find all that out?”
“Who else is there but you? Now that my pain is gone, you don't have to worry about this matter anymore, so dig deep. Find out everything there is to know about the Saintess.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Just as Lute said, with his condition improved, Yuri had fewer things to worry about, so he readily agreed.
My, that holy relic is truly miraculous. Thanks to it, my workload has decreased. Maybe I should register as a follower out of gratitude.
“Ah, but to properly investigate the Saintess, shouldn't I also dig into the Grand Temple?”
“There's no need for that.”
“Why not?”
“You're quite talkative today. Have I been too lenient with you?”
Lute smiled sweetly as he looked directly at Yuri.
It was a smile that didn't reach his eyes—the one Yuri feared most in the world.
“*Ahem!* I will focus solely on digging into the Kiris family!”
At Yuri's booming reply, Lute turned his gaze out the window.
The roof of the now-distant Grand Temple was faintly visible through the dense trees.
There was one reason he hadn't tasked Yuri with investigating the Grand Temple.
‘Because I want to find out for myself.’
The High Priest and the Captain of the Holy Knights should be the people the Saintess trusts most in the Grand Temple, so why is she keeping her dealings with me a secret? What is their relationship?
Ah, he was already looking forward to next month.
* * *
“My lord Count. It is William Gail.”
Gail knocked on the massive door before him and took a slow, deep breath.
The sight of the two delicate dahlia flowers carved into the door made his heart tighten.
It was an elegant and beautiful flower loved by many, but for him, the sight of it only ever inspired fear.
“Enter.”
Hearing the cold voice from within, Gail swallowed hard and opened the door.
Sitting at the sturdy wooden desk was his master, the master of the beautiful dahlias, Count Joseph Kiris.
His sharp green eyes and stern face only added to the weight of Gail's fear.
Unable to bear the pressure, Gail bowed deeply, his head lowered.
“After checking the Grand Temple, it has been confirmed that all eight spies, including Kento, have been imprisoned.”
Count Kiris's hand, which had been signing a document, froze.
Even without looking up, he could feel the Count's gaze fixed on the crown of his head.
“…And?”
“Ah, it seems it will be difficult to get them all out.”
“I highly doubt I sent you all that way just to hear such a report.”
The remark was even colder than he had anticipated, and Gail swallowed nervously.
“But, uh, there is good news!”
“Good news?”
“Yes! The one who exposed the spies was none other than Ordel Kiris. She claims she did it to gain the High Priest's trust so that she could become your spy herself.”
“That thing said that?”
The Count's voice, as he asked, was laced with ridicule.
He clearly didn't believe a word of Ordel's claim.
Of course, under normal circumstances, Gail too would have mocked Ordel to her face and, on the Count's behalf, thoroughly re-educated her.
But the Ordel from that day was… different. Strangely, he couldn't bring himself to strike her as he usually would.
There was a power in her words that made one believe.
“That idiot couldn't possibly do anything right, no matter how hard it tries to think. And you bring its words straight to me?”
“I will tell you everything that happened at the Grand Temple. Please listen and then make your judgment.”
Gail said urgently.
After a long silence, the Count finally clicked his tongue and gave his permission.
Relieved, Gail began to explain in detail everything that had transpired there.
