🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 30
Even though I told him I wasn’t Lady Flone, he still kept calling me Lady Flone.
Yeah. I figured he wouldn’t believe me. I picked up the harpoon and shrugged at him.
“I thought you were a wild animal. Who told you to sneak around spying like that?”
Rujef was still pure and pretty-looking. But his personality was extremely vicious, making him hard to get close to.
The female lead, Yuanna, had known Rujef since her days at the Holy See, yet even so, it had taken her quite a long time to grow close to him.
“Who says I was spying on you?!”
Rujef shouted as if screaming, then suddenly froze.
He briefly scanned me from head to toe with a startled expression, then looked over my shoulder.
There, the fish I had caught were scattered across the gravel.
“Did you really go fishing?”
I nodded with a puzzled expression. He stared blankly at the fish lying on the gravel. He swallowed dryly, looking very hungry.
Judging by that, it seemed he’d been watching me catch fish in the water, too.
“Lady Flone actually hunted… I can’t believe it even after seeing it. This makes no sense. Even a passing demon would laugh at this.”
Rujef muttered incoherently, completely dazed.
A passing demon would laugh? That’s a bit harsh.
But it wasn’t me who responded to Rujef’s words.
“Who was spying on what?”
It was Enoch.
His sharp, unpolished gaze turned toward Rujef. Enoch didn’t even try to hide his displeasure.
“It’s been a while, Bishop. But if you value your life, you’d better keep that mouth shut.”
His low voice sounded like a beast growling.
If a voice alone could tear someone apart, Enoch would have shredded Rujef long ago.
Enoch seemed to be wary of almost everyone except me.
Of course, given our special circumstances, it made sense not to trust anyone. Still, it was a side of him unfamiliar to me.
“Your Highness… the Crown Prince?”
Rujef stared at Enoch with eyes full of disbelief.
The two looked as if they were meeting for the first time on the island.
It seemed Diego hadn’t told his group that he’d been meeting Enoch regularly.
“Are there no others?”
“Well… I don’t know.”
It seemed Diego had hidden information about his own group from Enoch as well.
Considering Diego was one of those who wanted Saintess Yuanna all to himself, it wasn’t surprising.
“How did Your Highness come to be here…? No, more importantly, why are you with that witch-like young lady? Did that witch finally do something to you?”
Rujef glared at me with a twisted, hostile face. Even if it was self-inflicted, being called a witch when I hadn’t actually done anything was getting seriously old.
“From the moment she asked me to make a love potion, I knew something was off. Anyone who tries to win someone’s heart that easily can’t be normal. You witch! Explain yourself—what is going on?!”
“Ha…”
I pressed my temples with a tired expression. Making Rujef shut up wasn’t difficult. In the end, I loaded a flare round and cocked the hammer.
“Bishop. Are you going to keep picking fights like that?”
I aimed the barrel of the flare gun straight at Rujef’s face.
“You know what this is, right? Bang!”
When I mimed pulling the trigger, Rujef’s face turned pale.
“If you know, shut up and put your hands up. Before I shoot.”
It was a line I’d always wanted to say at least once before dying.
Rujef knelt down with a humiliated expression, raising both hands. His pristine white bishop’s robe was a mess, yet his water-colored hair still looked silky and beautiful.
With his drooping eyes, he looked gentle at first glance—but you really couldn’t judge a person by their face. To think someone who looked so pitiful could have such a foul temper.
“Just as expected of this witch—!”
Thud!
Rujef couldn’t finish his sentence. Kaiden had appeared out of nowhere and kicked him in the back.
“Ugh!”
Kaiden stepped on Rujef’s back and laughed.
“Got a death wish? I already hate priests with a passion.”
His words made me recall the historically deep rift between mages and clergy.
“What’s this? That’s even a bishop’s robe? An archbishop? Wow… did you crawl in here because you wanted to die by my hand?”
With every word Kaiden spoke, Rujef’s face, pressed into the ground, became more and more miserable.
“You filthy mage…!”
Come to think of it, the clergy treated mages as humans with corrupted souls.
Mages, in modern terms, were similar to scientists—they researched all sorts of things.
And when it came to research, mages didn’t shy away from human experimentation.
In truth, temples conducted experiments too, but only in secret, while outwardly condemning mages.
Naturally, mages found such clergy revolting.
Enoch, who had been quietly watching their exchange, let out a sigh.
Just then, Rujef cautiously got up and began tidying his clothes.
“Hey, lackey. Who said you could get up?”
When Kaiden lightly tapped his shoulder, Rujef’s face twisted viciously.
Clergy often referred to themselves as servants of God when humbling themselves. Because of that, mages mockingly called them “lackeys.”
“Shut your mouth, you loser.”
Rujef’s words made Kaiden burst out laughing.
“Seriously, lackeys don’t even know how to insult properly.”
“Don’t put us on the same level as you. It’s degrading.”
Rujef ground his teeth as he glared at Kaiden.
Kaiden casually picked his ear and nodded halfheartedly, clearly intending to provoke him further.
I stood arm-in-arm with Enoch, watching the two bicker, then asked Rujef,
“Are you alone?”
As far as I remembered, Rujef usually traveled with Yuanna’s group.
Still flushed from arguing with Kaiden, Rujef turned toward me.
“No, I have companions.”
So he was indeed with the female lead.
“Then why are you wandering around alone?”
This time, Rujef’s face reddened for a different reason. He glanced at Kaiden and Enoch, then looked over my shoulder.
His gaze landed on the fish I’d caught earlier.
It seemed he really was hungry.
“To find food…”
He hesitated.
“…To be honest, I haven’t eaten anything but fruit for days.”
Embarrassed, his face turned bright red as he faltered.
“We used to hunt small animals like rabbits, but lately there haven’t been any animals to hunt. And none of us know how to fish…”
No one knew how to fish.
Only then did I remember that the male leads on that side were a knight commander, a clergyman, and a crown prince. Of course they’d never gone fishing…
“Want some fish?”
At my question, Rujef’s face lit up brightly. But when he met my eyes, he quickly shifted back into a guarded posture.
“But are you really the Lady Flone I know?”
It must be a mandatory line for male leads meeting me for the first time. Was it on some kind of checklist they all had to follow?
“Whether she’s the Lady Flone you know or not, what does it matter? You won’t be seeing Margaret after today anyway.”
At Enoch’s chilling murmur, Rujef froze and tightly shut his mouth.
You won’t be seeing Margaret after today—it sounded exactly like a death threat.
What is he, Medusa? Anyone who sees Margaret even once dies?
I found the line so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but smile.
Grrrrrr—
In the brief silence, a loud, demanding growl came from Rujef’s stomach.
When we all looked at him at once, he panicked and lowered his head, his face turning crimson.
The sun was starting to set, so it was about time for us to eat dinner too.
In the end, we brought Rujef along and gathered around a campfire. I’m too kind for my own good—if nothing else, I can’t stand seeing someone go hungry.
I grilled the fish I’d caught over the fire, and when Rujef saw that, his eyes widened in amazement.
“So you grill fish like this.”
As he spoke, he smacked his lips, seemingly unaware that he was doing so.
He must have been starving.
Food is important—it’s all about eating well.
As he devoured the grilled fish, I handed him my share as well.
With a deeply moved expression, he repeatedly thanked me.
Looks like pride means nothing in the face of hunger—he was even grateful for kindness from someone he disliked.
Rujef didn’t look satisfied until he’d eaten even Enoch’s portion of fish, finally finishing his meal with a content expression.
