ABSVW~08

Chapter 08

I stretched out my hands, asking for paper and a pen. The Grand Duke handed them over with a satisfied smile.

Gripping the pen tightly in my fist, I began to draw, my lines crooked and uneven.

“Long ago, long ago, the Lord God and the Goddess came here and bestowed their blessings~”

I hummed as I drew, using my identity as a priest to retell an old myth.

What I was actually drawing, however, was the route to the Undine Strait—the place rumored to contain the magic stones they were desperately searching for.

In truth, mana was useless to me as someone with divine power. And those mana stones were so massive that no one without proper infrastructure or skill could even excavate them.

If that was the case, then Sladeite—the one territory hostile to the church—was the perfect choice.

Because it’s not like Saint Limié would ever get her hands on it.

I set the pen down proudly.

“I don’t know everything. In class at the orphanage, we learned myths during divine power lessons. But I can’t go there anymore. Nana is useless… just a burden who was thrown away…”

I glanced at him briefly, then continued.

“But everyone knows about the Undine Strait.”

“….”

“Who else would know?”

There. I gave him enough hints.

The Grand Duke paused.

He understood. He caught on.

When I smiled brightly, he said in a slightly tense voice,

“Why would you give away such important information for something like this amount of money?”

“I haven’t told you everything yet.”

“…?”

“The next part… next time.”

I carefully stuffed the gold coins into my priest robe.

“If you give me more shiny ones like today, I’ll tell you more. And I have a request.”

“A request? What is it? A manor? Land? That ‘dispatch priest’ position you mentioned?”

I shook my head.

A mere dispatched priest wasn’t enough anymore. I needed to become a citizen of the duchy.

“I want to become a patron priest!”

“….”

A dispatched priest was still tied to the church and simply stationed at noble households.

But a patron priest is different.

A patron priest is directly supported and protected by the Grand Duke himself. Becoming a citizen of the duchy would also be much easier.

“I can eat only one meal a day.”

“….”

“I’ll just quietly do priest work. I won’t bother you at all.”

The Duke’s expression slowly darkened.

So I quickly delivered my final, decisive blow.

“If you make me a patron priest, I’ll give you all the information for free!”

“….”

That must have done it. I hopped down from the chair and bowed deeply.

“W-Well then, I’ll go now. Goodbye— I mean, take care!”

As I turned to leave, I glanced at the gold coins in my hands.

Then I remembered what the Grand Duke had said before.

“My lord is not a bad person.”

And then El’s words followed.

I placed the coins back on the desk and ran back, tapping over to the desk.

“Grand Duke is a good person… but…”

I picked up the paper and pen and drew a circle. Inside it, I drew a smiling face.

Then I held it up to my own face.

“If you smile like this, you look even better!”

I leaned to the side and gave a small, beaming smile.

For a moment, it felt like the Grand Duke was really smiling too.

Was that just my imagination?

Somehow, it looked like the warm expression I had drawn.

The small child left the office, rolling away with her gold coins.

What she left behind was a crooked drawing of a smiling face on the desk.

The Grand Duke silently picked it up. It still felt faintly warm, as if her hands had just been there.

“She really is quite an adorable little priest, isn’t she?”

“….”

“My lord?”

Instead of answering his aide, the Grand Duke opened a drawer, took something out, and stood abruptly.

He left the office.

Down the corridor, he saw her little figure waddling away—before she tripped and fell.

Gold coins spilled everywhere.

He walked over and quietly picked them up one by one.

The child, adjusting her oversized hat, looked up at him with star-like eyes.

“Grand Duuuke?”

“If I accept you as a patron priest, the information is free,” he said.

Her eyes blinked.

“We don’t have a church in Sladeite. Nor have we ever accepted a dispatched priest.”

“…Ah.”

“However, you will remain here until I confirm whether what you said is true. Only then will I decide how to proceed.”

Her eyes widened.

The Duke frowned slightly at her expression.

Why did she always look so blank like that?

“Didn’t you say you hated going back to the church?”

The child, who had been silently staring at him with wide eyes, suddenly broke into a radiant smile—as if the world itself had brightened.

And then—

“Grand Duke is also a good person!”

She leapt forward and hugged his leg.

Huh. What did I just do.

Realizing it, I quickly let go and brushed myself off.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!”

If he got angry for dirtying his clothes… what then? I had just been crawling on the floor picking up coins.

But the Grand Duke only stared at me for a moment.

“Follow me.”

I trotted after him.

Soon we arrived at a much larger, far more luxurious room than the guest room.

My mouth fell open as I looked around.

This is my room?!

The Grand Duke pulled a cord, and two neatly dressed maids soon arrived.

“You will stay here. These maids will be assigned to you. And—”

He dropped something into my palm.

A candy larger than anything I had ever seen.

“This is a gift.”

“Y-Yes!”

Whatever this was… I think I succeeded halfway! Yes!

I got money… and candy!

The corners of the Grand Duke’s lips twitched slightly—but I didn’t notice.

I didn’t know that this was his attempt to imitate the smile I had drawn earlier.

The Church, Afternoon

“Why hasn’t the child returned from Sladeite?”

The high priest glanced nervously at the time.

Sladeite was infamous, so even with reports, concern was unavoidable.

“Perhaps Sladeite did something to her…”

“That is unlikely,” the head nun Amelia said firmly. “She is probably simply enjoying herself outside.”

Her gaze turned cold.

Again making trouble for me…

Children with golden eyes were usually blessed with immense divine power.

At first, Amelia had treated Nana well for that very reason.

But—

She turned out to be useless.

Nana had never managed to use her divine power.

She had no control.

What good is a golden eye if she’s no different from a useless commoner?

In the end, Nana became nothing more than an empty vessel.

A source of embarrassment.

“If necessary, I will go retrieve her and correct her behavior.”

“No, that won’t be needed. It would be frightening for a child outside the church.”

After some thought, the high priest gathered the orphanage children.

“I will bring Nana back from Sladeite, and select someone to replace her. Is anyone willing?”

It was a chance to become a full priest.

Dangerous, yes—but…

Even Nana survived there.

Everyone swallowed hard as thoughts of Sladeite’s rewards surfaced.

“I will go!”

“Let me go!”

“I can do better than Nana!”

The high priest fell into thought as many hands rose.

“Then…” Amelia said, placing a hand on an older boy’s shoulder.

“He seems suitable.”

The boy, unlike the others, remained calm.

“Very well,” the high priest agreed.

“I was very close to Nana,” the boy said smoothly. “I used to take care of her like an older brother. I’m sure she’ll feel relieved if I go.”

He smiled politely.

But where no one could see—

A faint, mocking grin formed on his lips.

Morning

I woke up rubbing my eyes.

“Good morning, priest-nim. I’m maid Sophia.”

“I’m maid Judy.”

Both seemed kind.

Although they trembled slightly whenever they looked at me.

I changed clothes under their care.

Since I had fallen asleep in my priest robes, they were now wrinkled.

“Now, raise your arms~”

“Arms…”

As they began undressing me to change my clothes—

The two maids suddenly froze.