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Chapter 13
Shaking off my thoughts about alcohol, I turned my gaze back toward the window—and froze at an unexpected sight.
“Gasp.”
At some point, Blanche had already started walking toward the city gate. I couldn’t believe she’d shaken me off in the brief moment I’d looked away.
Where is she going?
I hurried back to the VIP room, wrapped a scarf around my head, and went back out. I’d seen enough dramas from my previous world to know this trick—covering conspicuous hair to disguise myself.
Leaving behind a bewildered-looking Hella, I dashed down the stairs. Just as I was about to slip out through the gate while chasing Blanche—
“Cielina. Where are you going?”
Eckhart appeared from nowhere and stopped me. He must have seen Blanche leave too—yet he’d let her go without even greeting her!
“I’m going after Blanche.”
“That woman? Then I’ll come with you.”
I wondered if the Empire’s guardian really had that much free time.
Of course, I wasn’t someone who would obediently turn back just because I was told to stop, so I had no choice but to allow him to accompany me. Besides, tailing someone wasn’t exactly my specialty—going with him might actually reduce the chance of being noticed.
“…But no barging in without warning.”
“If your safety is threatened, I won’t have a choice.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
And so, Eckhart and I set out to follow Blanche.
Blanche boarded a carriage midway, and after hastily securing one ourselves to follow her, we soon found ourselves in the heart of the capital.
Since it was only a temporarily rented carriage, it was narrower and more uncomfortable than the ducal one. Eckhart glanced at me—my head wrapped tightly in a scarf—and smiled faintly.
“Do I really look that strange?”
“No. Cielina is beautiful no matter what she does.”
He said it as if it were an obvious truth, like one plus one equaling two.
He says things like that so easily, even though he doesn’t love me.
If he truly loved me, I’d already be cut off from all outside contact. There’s no way he’d let me wander around like this.
His way of loving was to eliminate everything around his partner and leave only himself. The only reason he left Blanche alone was probably because his obsession lay with my white magic.
Even though he tried to kill her whenever he got the chance, he still kept her alive, after all. It bothered me, but I decided not to attach any special meaning to his compliment.
“So, where do you think Blanche is going?”
“This direction leads to the temple.”
“The temple…”
The Temple of Light and an ordinary temple—similar names, but many differences.
The Temple of Light focused mainly on magical research, while the temple served a religious role. It presided over rituals, used donations to help the poor, handled marriage and divorce procedures, and even conducted paternity tests.
Blanche was raised at a temple too.
The priests believed she’d been abandoned by her parents and raised her accordingly.
Perhaps the author never fully developed the setting, because her secret of birth was never revealed in the end—and Blanche herself showed no desire to search for her parents.
Then why come back to a temple that’s already been introduced?
As Eckhart predicted, Blanche stopped her carriage and entered the temple.
Two security knights were stationed at the entrance. Without any questioning, they let Blanche inside.
After a short delay, we got down from our carriage and followed.
“What business brings you to the temple?”
A knight blocked our way, but when Eckhart lifted his robe, everything was instantly resolved.
“G-gasp, Duke Croden.”
The two knights quickly stepped aside, bowing respectfully.
The temple was old, with cracks running through some of the walls, but overall it was clean and quiet.
The priests moved so neatly that even the sound of their footsteps was barely audible. I lowered my voice and spoke to Eckhart.
“They let us in right away just from seeing your face.”
“Yes. The Croden family donates a considerable amount.”
“How much are we talking?”
“More than half of the temple’s total donations.”
“That much?!”
“My mother used to visit this place often as well.”
His mother—Abigail Croden, the previous duchess.
We’d never really talked about our families, but the story of his parents was widely known throughout the Empire.
The former duke and duchess were assassinated when Eckhart was seven. The assassins even set the place on fire—the house burned to the ground, and young Eckhart witnessed it all.
The culprits were a marquis family with a hastily invented name, mere extras in the story. The motive? Supposedly jealousy over the ducal family’s power.
It feels like a broken setting for a mere extra marquis to kill a ducal couple, but still.
His mother, the duchess, had been the owner of the demonic sword, and his father, her husband, a white mage of the Temple of Light—a completely overpowered couple.
Eckhart had been far too young to seek revenge, so the imperial family executed the entire marquis household. Not long after, Eckhart inherited the demonic sword, awakened his powers, and became duke.
And he suffered, believing that if only he’d been stronger, he could have protected his parents.
When I’d read it in a book, I’d thought, So that happened.
But the novel I’d read was now a real, living world. Even the “setting” of a tragic childhood had been an actual tragedy that happened to him.
“What do you think my mother prayed for here?”
Eckhart spoke in a voice tinged with resentment. He wasn’t asking for an answer, but I took his hand as if to give him one.
Whatever the former duchess had prayed for must have felt meaningless now—she’d left the world far too early.
“Eckhart. Should we just turn back here?”
If we kept following Blanche, we might learn something. But I didn’t want to stir up his painful memories right now.
He blinked slowly, then smiled faintly.
“It’s all right. I’m with you right now.”
Does my mana affect not just physical pain, but mental pain as well?
“I’m glad. Still, don’t push yourself. I don’t want you to suffer.”
He nodded calmly, and we continued after Blanche.
She headed to the bishop’s office. A middle-aged bishop in white priestly robes with a green sash greeted Blanche warmly. Since the space was open, we could hear everything.
“Welcome, Blanche. I’m glad you come to the temple so often.”
“You’ve been well too, Bishop?”
“Of course. What brings you here today?”
“Well… I wanted to prepare marriage documents in advance.”
“Marriage?!”
I felt a chill of foreboding. The bishop, unaware of anything, beamed as he took documents out of a drawer and placed them on the desk, then held out a pen.
“He must surely be a virtuous and upright young man.”
“Of course. And he’s beautiful, too.”
“What is his name?”
“Cieli—”
Blanche couldn’t finish. Before she even touched the pen to the paper, Eckhart had drawn the demonic sword and rushed forward.
In an instant, the demonic sword split the desk in two. Papers that looked very much like a marriage registration form were cleanly sliced in half, and the desk collapsed just as neatly.
Eckhart didn’t stop there—he swung the sword several more times. The documents were shredded as if fed into a paper shredder.
The bishop, who’d looked frail to begin with, turned pale and clutched his chest. Eckhart took out gold coins and tossed them at him.
“Use the rest as donations.”
I couldn’t stand by any longer. No matter if he was Duke Croden, causing any more trouble could become a serious issue.
I entered the office, grabbed Blanche’s wrist with my left hand and Eckhart’s with my right, and dragged them both outside.
Blanche, who had been holding back laughter the whole time, burst out laughing once we were outside the temple, clutching her stomach.
“Haha, Ciel. To think you’d be this possessive. You’re so earnest!”
“…You knew I was following you, didn’t you?”
“Of course. How could I not sense someone’s creepy aura?”
She didn’t say the subject, but it was obvious who she meant.
“I wanted to see how far you’d follow me.”
“Blanche, you really—!”
Just as I was about to start scolding her, she linked her arm through mine.
“Well, since you followed me all the way here, I’ll buy you something delicious. Of course, let’s leave the duke behind and go by ourselves.”
“Who decided you could take a noble lady with you?”
“I don’t have money to treat the duke too.”
“I’ll pay, so you’d better sit at a table far away from Cielina. Or perhaps another restaurant would be better.”
Stopping their argument came first, so I grabbed both of their hands again and said,
“Let’s go. All of us.”
And so, after having a meal at a nearby restaurant, we returned to the ducal castle in the same carriage.
Late at night, Blanche came to my room and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Ciel.”
“…Blanche?”
Half-asleep, I rubbed my eyes as I replied.
“Ciel. Will you be possessive again next time?”
“…Again?”
“I liked the way you were possessive.”
After whispering, “I’ll come again,” she vanished out the window.
After leaving the ducal castle, Blanche quietly infiltrated the temple. It was an especially dark night, the moon hidden behind clouds.
Passing through a secret path, she descended a staircase leading underground, guided only by dim light.
After walking for a long time, she reached what looked like an ordinary storage room. She knelt on one knee, placed her hand on the floor, found a hidden gap, and pushed it aside.
Beneath the floor stretched a long staircase leading to an unknown destination.
After staring at it for a moment, Blanche went down, closed the gap behind her, and continued deeper.
At the end of the stairs stood a statue of an angel with massive wings. Familiar with it, Blanche interlaced her fingers with the statue’s hands. A mysterious power flowed through it, revealing a hidden door.
The door was sealed, but beyond it she could sense a transcendent, unknown power.
A powerful force…
Painful memories surfaced.
A collapsed house and a burning village. Screaming people. A sky covered by demonic beasts, and blood scattered across the ground.
“Please save us!”
“…Sir! Please, come to your senses!”
And then—silence.
An event that, by now, no one remembered.
