Chapter 20
Chapter 020.
Even though I found out the type of curse, questions still remained.
"No matter how much I think about it, there's no reason for them to target me specifically."
There were plenty of people with better grades than me.
I remembered running into Trevor the day I submitted my application to the professor.
At that time, he was surprisingly interested in my topic.
The priestess asked.
"What is your research topic?"
"Creatures living in the Land of Death and methods of purifying them."
"Unique."
She smiled.
An upperclassman's research topic was often linked to employment after graduation.
So, the Land of Death was not a common topic for students to choose.
"I wish it was just for the sake of exam scores."
If the sole purpose was to target the data or answers I had collected, it would have been easier.
The person who initiated it would have been unintentionally punished, and I would be fine.
The problem was, if his intentions were elsewhere, and if there was another helper within the Academy, it didn't seem like things would end simply.
"I think it's better to wait and see a little longer. We have too little to risk escalating things rashly."
Vertein turned his gaze towards the priestess, and she nodded as if agreeing with me.
"The priests who come to investigate the incident will only go through the formal procedures. If it's nothing serious, they'll just let it pass."
"Aren't there professors who suspect the curse? If someone raises suspicions..."
"That would mean investigating all the students in the Academy, which would require inviting a high-ranking priest to search for 'Curse type' magic on a large scale. Can you persuade the Academy to do that? Or would they test each suspected student separately?"
"Do you think those arrogant nobles would tolerate such humiliation? The Academy won't even try."
Her extremely realistic words made my worries even greater.
"One more thing, it's also a crime to take Holy water out and use it privately."
I, who had unexpectedly become a criminal, stared intently at Vertein, and Lenny, who had conspired with me, avoided my gaze.
She opened the door and left as if she had said all she had to say, and Vertein bowed politely.
I didn't know much, but she must have been a fairly high-ranking figure in the temple.
Didn't she say it herself?
It would have been difficult for a lower-ranking priest to even detect traces of the curse.
"I need to talk to Jen too. Even if I don't know anything else, it's dangerous if Trevor has an accomplice."
"That's right. I think we need to prepare new protective gear."
Reinia's agreement finally brought me back to my senses.
New protective gear meant she was going to burden me with another luxury item.
Reinia, receiving my protesting gaze, pouted as if she felt wronged.
"You would have been in big trouble if you didn't have that."
"That's true, but..."
"It saved you, how can you say you don't need it?"
When I fell silent because I had nothing to say, Reinia began to seriously consider.
"If one isn't enough, we can use two or three. There are plenty of accessories you can carry on your body."
I shuddered, imagining myself covered in flashy accessories.
"Let's get out of here for now."
Looking at Reinia, who was examining every nook and cranny of the temple, I was afraid that she would really target a sacred object if things went wrong.
And Vertein, who was smiling gently next to her, was the kind of person who could guide her to steal a sacred object and erase all traces neatly.
"Wouldn't the temple investigate thoroughly if things got out of hand?"
"Things absolutely can't get out of hand."
Reinia, who was walking with her arms linked with mine, asked at my firm words.
"Why?"
"Because my guardian will be summoned."
That was more worrying than the curse.
I was worried about Orion, who would come with the suspicious Macha and knights, and I was worried about Mom, who would appear in a fancy dress, arm in arm with the Duke.
If it was revealed that I was a member of the Dukedom, not only the Academy but the entire empire would be shaken.
It was obvious that it would be a huge stain on my future career plans and life design.
"That would be a bit of a problem."
Lenny nodded as if she understood.
We were leaving the temple while talking.
A figure standing at the end of the hallway saw me and hurriedly bowed his head.
"Greetings!"
Although he was dressed simply, he was wearing a sword at his waist and chain mail, so I could tell that he was a knight.
"Do you know him?"
I shook my head at Lenny's bewildered words, but I felt a sense of déjà vu when I saw the knight frozen stiff at the sight of me.
I've seen that kind of greeting somewhere before.
Where did I see it?
That strange greeting of bending over and bowing his head to the floor as soon as our eyes met in the hallway...
"Ah."
I saw it occasionally when I went in and out of The Duke's Residence.
I was about to pass by without much thought, but I stopped for a moment at the rattling sound he made as he disappeared.
That sound was definitely similar to the one I heard in the confessional earlier.
My mind, which had been empty, began to spin rapidly.
A knight who came to confession.
A knight whose lord had a new younger sister.
A lord whose way of thinking was very unique...
"What's wrong, Merian?"
Even at Lenny's touch shaking my arm, I replayed the advice I had given earlier without answering.
'I said the problem would be solved if I made the two siblings get along.'
The knight's answer to my words was 'I will try.'
I experienced a feeling of dizziness for a moment.
"Are you sick again?"
Listening to my friends' worried voices, I briefly closed my eyes in resentment at myself for tripping over my own feet.
"Orion..."
First, I need to make him read the novels in the study.
* *
On the way home, Lenny and Vertein were both very worried about me, who had suddenly gone blank.
I shook my head repeatedly at the two people who were worried that it was an aftereffect of the curse.
"It's really nothing. I'm just a little tired."
I was just feeling a sense of self-doubt for having brought disaster upon myself.
As I got out of the Macha listlessly, Dana was waiting for me.
"A lot of things have arrived in the backyard of the mansion. What did you order again?"
When she made a stern expression with her hands on her hips, I stopped changing my clothes and looked up.
"Ah."
At the news that the item I had forgotten about had been delivered, I rolled up my sleeves and headed to the backyard.
I could see boxes of various sizes piled up.
"Wow..."
When I grabbed one side to open the box and gave it strength, the tightly glued part came off and my body fell backward.
Just before my body rolled to the floor, a gentle breeze supported my body from behind.
When I turned around, I saw Jen in a corner of the garden with a dissatisfied expression.
Unlike usual, he was not wearing a hood, and his face was clearly visible.
It seemed he had been waiting to hear about what happened at the temple.
"There's no particular clue. You could have just heard it from Vertein."
As I approached him and said that, he waved his hand without answering.
The boxes that were still being unpacked were easily dismantled in the air.
"I'm fine. Thanks to certain people."
I was a little shocked by the value of that luxurious item.
I picked up one of the items that had poured out of the box.
The handle felt comfortable in my hand, and the oiled blade gleamed.
"As expected. This place seems to have the best products."
Jen looked at me with satisfaction and asked.
"What are you going to do now?"
"I'm thinking about it. I'm going to stay quiet for a while."
His eyebrows twitched as if he was dissatisfied.
"Why?"
"The bigger things get, the more it'll hurt me. I'll let it pass if I can."
If it was an item from the black market, it might be an individual or a family's deviation.
Even if the Beryl family found out that Trevor had tried to curse someone, they would not want it to be revealed.
Because they could be deprived of their noble status if they did wrong.
If they cover it up, I'll be grateful.
Jen grumbled quietly.
"Are you going to keep your mouth shut even when someone threatened your life?"
I put down what I was holding and seriously pointed out the situation.
"Now that I've become Duke Orion's stepdaughter, I have to be incorporated into high society if my identity is revealed."
The reason why I'm concentrating on my studies at the Academy instead of socializing with noble young ladies is because I haven't revealed my face.
No one in the Academy thinks that the ordinary 'Merian' is Madam Tetiana's daughter.
"The curse was dangerous, but my identity being exposed is also dangerous enough."
"Then you should have stopped this crazy remarriage from the beginning."
"I don't want to stop Mom from doing what she wants just to make myself comfortable."
"You're so stubborn when I need you."
I flicked his forehead, who was getting emotional, and said something that would end this conversation.
"The one I'm considerate of."
The person who would be in trouble if something went wrong is,
"You. Not Mom."
To raise a problem with the Academy, I would naturally have to explain why I was able to be fine even after being cursed.
The person who overlapped even the rocket, whose constituent materials were illegal, would have to be revealed.
"Then who told you to do such a thing?"
Thanks to that, I was able to avoid the curse, but its power was too much.
It was close to luck that Trevor was able to focus his attention on the curse backlash, which was more powerful than I thought, and not get caught.
It would have been difficult if someone had recognized the item.
'Even I, who possessed it, didn't know the true nature of the item, so it's true that I was subtly deceived.'
I looked at his green eyes, which had become darker, as I usually did when I was angry or emotional.
As I fiddled with his swollen cheeks, he lowered his eyes.
Even though he was full of anger, he never shook off my hand.
"It's still too early. Vertein has been confirmed for the title, but we have to wait a little longer for him to take a seat in the central temple. And you're not yet an adult..." I trailed off.
He was silent and threw a word.
"Nice excuse."
I didn't say anything to his words full of annoyance.
I just turned around and picked up what I had put down again.
While I was looking at the item, which had nothing but excellent from the handle to the blade, his presence had already disappeared.
"What a temper."
Is it puberty after all?
I just sighed as I looked at the place where he had disappeared.
