Chapter 66
66
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“Aaaagh…!”
I screamed the rest of my unfinished scream and ran out of the room.
“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Gabriella rushed over, startled, but pointing at Yan was pointless.
Gabriella just stroked Yan affectionately and asked, “Yan, what prank did you play on Her Highness this time? You didn’t pick up a bug or something, did you?”
Would it be better if he picked up a bug?
‘Yan, that guy was a person, Gabi!’
Isn’t he a complete fraud?
Isn’t he a con bird…!
Oh my god, oh my god, Ea, Shamash…!
‘If you’re a Temple Page, is it okay to deceive and trick people like that?’
Huh?
Is it okay…!
* * *
It had been over ten days since I started avoiding Yan.
Even my father, who had returned from Nigel, noticed something strange about my behavior and asked about Yan.
But…
‘Yan asked me to keep it a secret that he could even talk in front of me, so there’s no way I can tell them he turned into a person…!’
Of course, I wondered if I should even cooperate with the con bird to that extent.
With the Divination less than a month away, I was amazed at my situation, running away from either a bird or a Temple Page.
‘Shouldn’t I be preparing for the Divination with reverence…!’
These days, Rosa was pretending to be good and going in and out of the prayer room so often.
‘At this point, she’ll probably do anything to get into the Divination…?’
I was busy keeping her in check, and now this con bird…!
A friend who’s human one moment and a bird the next…!
‘No, I’ve been bathing in front of that bird all this time…’
Thinking about it made me so upset that I was about to cry.
Before I knew it, Yan had chased after me again and said as if he had read my mind, “Princess, I was always turned away when you were bathing, don’t get the wrong idea, okay?”
Liar.
No, really…?
‘Does a Temple Page have at least a shred of conscience?’
I glanced at Yan and shook my head.
‘No, he doesn’t…’
If he had any conscience, would he have tricked me all this time…!
‘Ea, I’m so frustrated…!’
The con bird chattered again.
“Do you think I wanted to? I’ve seen all sorts of things following you around, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch you cut your own palm, could I?”
“My, my…!”
I was so excited that I couldn’t speak.
“My palm would have been a hundred, a thousand times better than this…! You, you tricked me!”
Yan was annoyingly nonchalant.
“Baby, you’re saying that because you haven’t felt the pain yourself.”
“Ugh…!”
‘Baby,’ he says.
Now he’s calling me ‘baby.’
I thought he was a ‘baby bird’ too… sob.
“And anyway, you’ll need me soon.”
“I, when did I say I didn’t need you? That’s not the point, the problem is that you tricked me…!”
Yan chuckled.
It was just a small bird laughing, but the handsome face I had seen only once came to mind, making me feel even worse.
‘He’s laughing like that with that face…’
He’s totally mocking me!
Anyway, Yan continued to appease me.
“Okay, I’m sorry for deceiving you unintentionally all this time. But if I could have come in a human body from the beginning, I would have.”
Such an old man’s way of speaking…!
I was getting more and more annoyed, but Yan just kept making excuses.
“You know I was badly injured at first, right? So I couldn’t transform for a while.”
“…Really?”
Honestly, he didn’t sound like he was joking.
If he was joking again now, I wouldn’t think he was a Temple Page.
“Of course, if you hadn’t healed me, I would have disappeared.”
“Really?”
“Well, even if it wasn’t a complete disappearance, it would have taken quite a while to get a body again.”
Would he tell me if I asked about the cat now?
I didn’t miss the opportunity and asked, “But why did the cat bite you back then?”
“You little thing has a good memory.”
Yan chuckled and replied, “Why does a small bird get bitten by a cat?”
“…That’s all?”
“Then what else would you like to have, baby?”
I glared at Yan.
“Don’t call me baby, it makes me feel bad.”
“…But you are a baby?”
“Still, don’t.”
He replied teasingly, “Yes, Your Highness.”
I gritted my teeth and added, “Don’t turn into a person unexpectedly at any time.”
“Can I transform if I give you a warning?”
“…Only when there’s a special reason.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
In the end, I burst out in anger.
“Ah, don’t call me Your Highness either! You didn’t used to do that…!”
“Ah, I see.”
Even though I was just facing a bird sitting still, the smiling face of the red-haired man flickered in my mind.
“Our little one is only kind to baby birds. You treat them so well.”
Don’t pretend it’s not you and say things like that…!
‘I never knew Yan would make me so angry.’
I was genuinely furious, but he just kept smiling and following me around.
‘Such bad taste…!’
However, it turned out to be true that he had been turned away while I was bathing.
No, how can this be…!
* * *
The next day, the prayer room in Hatin Palace’s chapel.
A small sob leaked out to the outside of the prayer room, but no one heard it in the empty chapel.
Only Joy knelt at Princess Rosa’s feet, looking up at her with pity.
“…Your Highness.”
After a long time, Rosa stopped crying and said, “I have to go see Mom. I’m going to tell her this is unfair, that I can’t stand it anymore. If Mom doesn’t listen to me, I’ll tell Dad… I’ll tell Dad.”
Joy asked quietly, “What can you possibly tell His Majesty? Are you going to reveal that you’re a twin?”
Rosa was so surprised that she forgot why she was crying.
“What? How did you know that…?”
“I ran into Your Highness in the plaza during the last Thanksgiving Festival. Our eyes definitely met, but you didn’t recognize me at all. Come to think of it, that’s happened in the palace before too.”
Rosa’s face turned pale, but Joy explained calmly, “I know Your Highness well. That person was definitely not Your Highness.”
Rosa tried to confirm with trembling lips, “You, you told that fact to….”
“No one.”
Joy quietly shook his head.
“I am Your Highness’s servant. Your Highness gave me everything when I lost my job and home after leaving the Temple. You allowed me to stay by Your Highness’s side.”
Rosa was so surprised that she could only open and close her lips without making a sound.
Joy continued persuasively, “I will not do anything that harms Your Highness. Although I myself am insignificant, I would give my life if it would ever help Your Highness. I now serve Your Highness instead of God. I am Your Highness’s servant.”
“Really… is that really true?”
When Joy nodded seriously, Rosa slapped him on the cheek.
“You should have told me sooner, how dare you deceive me…!”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I thought you wanted me not to know…”
“Never, never deceive me again!”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
He was the first person other than her mother, nanny, and bodyguard to recognize her existence.
Rosa burst into tears again with an unknown sense of relief, and Joy fidgeted, waiting for Rosa to stop crying.
And when the crying finally stopped, Joy said, “Don’t tell anyone, Your Highness.”
“…Tell what?”
“Your Highness’s worries, your concerns. Please tell only me.”
Rosa smiled wryly with teary eyes.
“What good will it do if I tell you? You can’t do anything for me…!”
“I was a Temple Page, Your Highness.”
As Joy said that, his golden eyes sparkled a bright yellow, like an animal’s.
Rosa stared at those eyes as if hypnotized.
“Before I lost my family and home in the earthquake, everyone said that I had latent Divinity, and that it was so great that I could aim for the position of High Priest of Earth in the future.”
“…Really?”
Joy, nodding, even looked pious.
“So I know. Your Highness also has Divinity.”
Rosa asked blankly, “…What?”
“If what I say is a lie, if Your Highness does not gain her ability before she turns ten, I can commit suicide on the spot.”
“Why are you saying such terrible things?”
Joy replied without the slightest hesitation, “Because that’s how sincere I am.”
Rosa sat there with a confused look and asked Joy, “If I trust only you and don’t seek help from anyone else, what will I do if what you say is a lie?”
“Your Highness.”
At that moment, Joy straightened his shoulders.
He had always been cowering and groveling, only supporting the Princess, but doing so made him look like a very different person.
“It’s bad to have a habit of doubting God’s messengers.”
A smile followed the end of his relaxed voice.
Then he lightly pressed the edge of the chair Rosa was sitting on with his finger.
Rosa watched in a daze as a strange light leaked from his fingertip.
When he took his finger away, a very small sprout had sprouted in the crack of the wooden chair.
“…But I have decided to become Your Highness’s servant, so God will not know anything. He does not know Your Highness’s doubts, anxieties, or anger. Only I know.”
Rosa blankly reached out and touched the sprout.
It was moist as if it were holding dew.
There was no way a sprout could suddenly sprout from a dry, dusty chair.
“…Then what should I do?”
When she finally asked, Joy smiled brightly with a satisfied face.
“Trust me and wait.”
One side of Joy’s dark hair was white, but Rosa, who was mesmerized by the sprout, did not see it.