Chapter 34

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: One Month Later
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“Jenric? Are you all right?”

I asked cautiously, and Jenric slowly rose from his seat.

“...No, I’m not. I think I have to go right now. I feel like my problem is about to be solved.”

Divine power, yes, it was divine power. If I use that…

He muttered something to himself before abruptly standing up and running off without so much as a goodbye. He was headed in the direction of the potion-crafting room.

“...It seems I’ve given him a major clue to solving his problem.”

“I suppose rest was the answer after all.”

Instead of pointing out his rudeness, we cheered him on.

Now, all that’s left is my own problem…

Wait a minute. What did Jenric say earlier?

A flower imbued with divine power… and he said he would ‘use’ it, didn’t he?

“That’s right. Why didn’t I think of that?”

If I had solved Jenric’s problem, then he had just solved mine.

Yes, there was that method!

A way to imbue the potions with a blessing without revealing my abilities to Airic!

* * *

In the office of the Ciel ducal estate.

Lute Ciel was alone, having dismissed even his aide, Yuri Polten.

Yuri had whined loudly that there was still much work to be done, but there was something more urgent at the moment, so Lute had booted him out.

“I wonder how it will be.”

Lute toyed with the holy relic he hadn’t taken off for a single moment in the past month.

That’s right. Today was exactly one month since he had received the holy relic from Saintess Ordel, the day the blessing was set to expire.

Though he knew he needed to receive the blessing again, he didn’t go to the Grand Temple.

There was something he had to check first.

‘Is it time?’

Lute waited without removing the holy relic.

A few minutes later, at the precise moment he had estimated.

“...Ha!”

A dry laugh escaped him. An emotion—be it rage or ecstasy—seeped through his clenched jaw and balled fist.

The pain, like his heart was withering to dust; this excruciating torment, like needles piercing his lungs with every breath!

The familiar agony that had plagued him for twenty years began to constrict him once more.

“...Dammit.”

Perhaps because he still wore the holy relic, the pain itself was somewhat more bearable than before, even though the blessing had vanished.

But he knew now.

A body completely free of pain, an ordinary life without suffering.

Having tasted that sweetness, how could he ever go back?

“At least she didn’t lie to me, is that it?”

The pain that started in his heart seemed to shoot up the back of his neck and strike his head.

Lute let out a low groan and leaned back in his chair.

“...Ah.”

And then he felt it.

The warm sunlight pouring in from the window right beside him.

Perhaps because he was wearing the Sun God’s holy relic, just basking in the sunlight seemed to soothe the pain a little more than before.

Ordel, who didn’t seem to fit the title of the Sun God’s Saintess very well.

Her words—that the Saintess’s blessing would be more effective than the holy relic—had been true.

This proved that not a single thing Ordel had said was a lie.

‘...In that case, does this mean a cure for this damnable illness might one day be found?’

He had thought he would be grateful if only the pain disappeared.

But now that hope had bloomed for the first time—the hope of completely curing his illness—greed began to stir.

It was something he had truly never considered before…

It was the first time in his life he’d ever wanted to trust someone other than himself.

“She’s really got me by the throat.”

Not only did he need her blessing every month, but she was also the one who held the key to curing his illness.

It was more than just a weakness; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she held his very heart in her hand.

But how strange.

Any other time, he would have been incredibly irritated and annoyed at being so completely at someone else’s mercy…

Instead, this moment didn’t feel so bad.

In fact, he thought he might even be enjoying it.

To the point where he was curious about what unpredictable move Ordel would make next.

So, he had to go right now.

And he had a good reason to.

“Yuri!”

Having made up his mind, Lute shot up from his seat and raised his voice.

As if he hadn’t heard a word of being told to get lost, Yuri opened the door at once, as if he had been waiting.

Knew it.

“Get ready. We’re going to the Grand Temple of the Sun God.”

“What? Again?”

Yuri, who had entered triumphantly with a stack of documents, stared with wide eyes at Lute’s command.

“The Saintess didn’t even send a letter saying she wanted to see you this time. Why so suddenly?”

“What do you mean, why? Because I’ve missed her. The one who feels the need should be the one to make the visit, don’t you think?”

*Rustle…*

Stunned by Lute’s words, Yuri dropped the entire stack of documents he was holding.

The office floor was covered in a sea of white paper, but Lute paid it no mind and put on his overcoat.

“Y-Y-You don’t mean you’re going right now?!”

“If you don’t want to go, I’ll leave you behind. It’s not like you’re very useful anyway, so you can stay. You can just do my work for me.”

Roughly trampling the scattered documents on the floor, Lute pushed past the dazed Yuri and exited the office.

Yuri, finally snapping back to his senses, scrambled to follow.

“Gasp! Useless? I’ll come with you, Your Grace!”

Ignoring him completely, Lute told a passing servant to prepare the carriage at once for an outing.

It was a sudden command, but the servant, accustomed to his master’s eccentricities, carried out the order without any visible surprise.

Thanks to that, the preparations were finished in an instant.

Lute leaned back leisurely in the carriage seat, which had been modified to be far more plush than a standard one due to his illness, and hummed a cheerful tune.

He paid no attention to the increasingly bewildered look on Yuri’s face, who sat across from him.

It was truly strange.

Just a moment ago, he had been utterly sick of the pain that had returned the instant the blessing vanished.

Yet right now, it didn’t feel so bad.

No, to be precise, his sense of amusement and excitement was overriding the pain.

Lute smiled pleasantly and closed his eyes.

The soft sunlight on his face felt good.

* * *

I thought time wouldn’t pass so quickly in my second life.

But if anything, time in this life seems to fly by faster than in my last.

Seeing the man sitting before me again, now that a month had passed, made it feel even more so.

“You’re a little late.”

Lute Ciel.

At his appearance, I did a quick mental calculation of the date.

It was indeed exactly one month since he had received the holy relic, but the time was a bit off.

Unlike last time, when he had visited in the morning, it was now late afternoon, with the sun beginning to set.

“I suppose you waited on purpose to confirm the effect of my blessing.”

It was obvious.

“Yes, that’s right.”

As expected, Lute admitted it readily.

“I have to be certain about these things, don’t you agree? Above all, I needed to see what would happen when the blessing disappeared.”

He had a point, but something felt… off.

Why has he been beaming like that this whole time…?

He smiled often in the original story, but usually only when he was mocking, belittling, scorning, or looking down on someone…

But he was smiling so readily now, even though none of that was happening.

It’s really making me uncomfortable.

“Are you, um, in a bad mood now that it’s certain you need to receive the blessing every month?”

I couldn’t imagine he was smiling out of happiness, so I explained carefully.

“As I said before, the duration of the blessing will increase as my abilities grow. It’s not possible right now, but I’ll definitely extend it for you soon, so please don’t worry.”

I’d been delaying my offerings because I was investing in the potion business, but once it took off, my divine power would grow by leaps and bounds.

So I should be able to solve this in about three months…

But for some reason, Lute’s mood didn’t improve; instead, his smile vanished completely.

His smile wasn’t great, but this stern expression wasn’t much better.

“I was so looking forward to seeing you, Saintess, but it seems you did not feel the same.”

“…”

What in the world was he talking about?

His comment was so absurd I nearly said it out loud.

“Ah, right. The Saintess only wants to see my money.”

“…”

“She’s not denying it… Am I really useless for anything other than being rich?”

*Ahem.* Did he figure it out?

Since Lute was our top client, I quickly shook my head before his mood could worsen.

“Of course not. That’s not it at all.”

At that, Lute’s face brightened as he said…

“Ah, that’s right. Our Saintess also quite likes my face.”

…was what he said.

This is driving me crazy. I couldn’t handle this unpredictability at all.