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Chapter – 02
“Lady, what on earth was that…?”
Looking at the lady smiling brightly, I barely managed to force the words out. The sensation of our lips touching was still vividly lingering.
The murmurs of the crowd, the pale faces of the surrounding priests. I had no idea how I was supposed to react. From the front row, I could see Duke Kruger and his son pressing their hands to their foreheads.
Yet unlike everyone else, the lady’s expression remained serene. As if nothing at all had happened, she opened her mouth with an innocent look.
“Priest, you should hurry and apply the holy oil to my face.”
At her words, my hands moved unconsciously. In any case, the coming-of-age ceremony had to be completed. I poured a small amount of the fragrant oil into my palm and gently applied it around her eyes and across her cheeks.
That concluded the essential rites.
Under the name of God, the lady was now officially recognized as an adult.
She rose from her seat and smiled once more. It was a smile reminiscent of an angel—yet at the same time, alluring enough to be called demonic.
I could do nothing but stare blankly as she withdrew slowly, in perfect accordance with ritual etiquette.
So… I had just kissed that lady?
“I truly feel like I might faint. To suddenly commit such a—such an irreverent act against a priest! I have no idea what that lady was thinking. Did she even think at all before doing something like that?!”
“……”
“Say something, Priest Johan! The rumors about that lady being insane were true after all. No sane woman would suddenly do something like that to the High Priest!”
“Calm down, Anton. You’re giving me a headache.”
“How am I supposed to calm down?! How can you be so composed?!”
The coming-of-age ceremony ended safely, as though nothing had happened. Since neither the lady nor I made any further unusual moves, no one openly raised an objection.
Of course, the whispering among themselves was intense.
Until I exited the chapel, I could feel the burning stares directed at me.
Anton was practically screaming as he tugged at his own hair, his voice echoing throughout the temple.
I was certainly flustered as well, yet for some reason, I was able to maintain an unusually calm demeanor.
As Anton and I walked through the interior of the temple, I spotted Duke Kruger and the lady approaching from a distance.
The duke came up to me and bowed his head. It was rare for a noble of such high standing to bow so deeply. I could understand why Duke Kruger enjoyed such a good reputation.
“I sincerely apologize, Priest. On behalf of my daughter, I offer my deepest apologies. If there is any compensation you desire, please contact House Kruger. We will make sure you are repaid.”
“There is no need for compensation. I only ask that this incident… not be spread further. If it is, both the temple’s and the lady’s honor would fall into disgrace.”
“Yes, I give you my word. Salome, you should apologize to the priest as well.”
Lady Salome stared at me blankly for a moment before bowing her head. Her manners were proper, but there was no sincerity behind them.
I chose not to point it out. I didn’t want to make the matter any larger than it already was. My thoughts were in turmoil.
Why had she done something like that in the first place?
After calming myself and thinking it through, a possibility occurred to me—perhaps the lady had been forced into that situation. If she were being threatened by someone, I could not simply ignore it as a priest.
I motioned Anton to step away. He looked at me with clear dissatisfaction but obeyed my order.
When I asked the duke for a moment alone with his daughter, he looked puzzled at first. But when I said there was something I absolutely had to tell her for her sake, he readily agreed. It was the behavior of a father who truly loved his child.
This spot was conveniently one where people rarely passed through. If anyone were to see the lady and me alone together, who knew what kinds of rumors would spread. In that sense, the location was perfect.
As soon as the duke stepped aside, I carefully asked her,
“I have one question, my lady. Why did you do that earlier? If someone is threatening you—”
If that were truly the case, I intended to help her with everything I had. As a priest, I could not turn a blind eye to someone in distress.
I waited for her answer.
She remained silent.
Her eyes wavered slightly. Had my words shocked her? Was she truly in a situation she couldn’t speak about? She looked as though she hadn’t expected me to say such a thing. Perhaps she thought I would be angry.
“No one passes through here. And whatever you tell me will not be shared with anyone. I swear it upon the name of God. Please, speak freely.”
At that, the lady let out a small laugh. I couldn’t understand the meaning behind it.
For a brief moment, the thought crossed my mind—Has she lost her mind?—but it was quickly dismissed by the shocking words that followed.
“It’s because your face is my type.”
“…Pardon?”
“I like men who look like you, Priest. Black hair, golden eyes—truly beautiful. Haven’t you ever been told you’re handsome?”
“……”
“If you’re done asking questions, I’ll be going now. Until next time, Priest Johan.”
Her laughter pierced my ears. I stood there, staring for a long while at her retreating figure.
Ah. Perhaps the rumors about Lady Salome of House Kruger being insane were true after all.
Whether the duke silenced the witnesses or not, the rumor that I had kissed the lady did not spread very far.
However, everyone within the temple who mattered knew.
I might have been oblivious to noble gossip, but I was certain this incident made for quite an entertaining tale among them.
As a priest sworn to purity, this was deeply disgraceful. If word reached the Central Temple, I might even be punished.
Of course, it had ended with nothing more than a kiss, and it was something the lady had forced upon me, so the punishment would not be severe. Still, no one wishes to be punished at all.
After that day, the lady continued to attend worship every Sunday.
It didn’t seem to be out of deep faith.
She showed little concentration during services. While others fervently recited prayers, she merely watched. During prayer time, she didn’t even close her eyes. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking when she came to the temple each week.
At first, I assumed it was because she had spent a long time studying abroad and was unfamiliar with our customs. The religion of the Relhelin Empire, where she had studied, differed greatly from that of the Terium Empire.
But as time passed, I became certain that wasn’t the reason.
When I watched her closely during prayers, I noticed she was quietly murmuring the next lines before I spoke them.
After several weeks, I realized the truth.
She wasn’t coming to the temple to worship.
She was coming to see me.
Throughout the service, her gaze never left my face. It was enough to make me uncomfortable.
Still, since she wasn’t disrupting the worship, I had no grounds to reprimand her. And with so many eyes around, it was difficult to speak to Lady Salome directly.
Then one day, after finishing worship, I happened to run into her in the temple’s rear garden.
“…My lady?”
The garden behind the temple was a place few people knew about. Many priests working at the Salute Temple didn’t even realize it existed.
How did she know about this place?
I had come out to clear my head, but running into her made me uneasy.
“Oh my, Priest Johan. What a lovely afternoon.”
“How do you know about this place?”
“Is that really what matters? What’s important is that you and I met here as if by fate.”
She smoothly dodged the question. I decided not to press her further. She might have simply discovered it while wandering around.
I nodded lightly and continued walking through the garden. She matched her steps to mine.
“You don’t avoid me, Priest. Everyone else is so busy running away, calling me the mad lady. Was it Priest Anton? He turns pale every time he sees me.”
I could understand Anton’s feelings. In some ways, he was even more conservative than I was. Already uneasy because of the rumors about her, witnessing that incident firsthand would naturally make him want to avoid her.
“I don’t intend to speak to you first, but I also see no reason to deliberately avoid you. And I’ve never been one to put much stock in rumors.”
“I’m a bit disappointed about the ‘not speaking first’ part. After all, we’ve even shared a kiss.”
I frowned at her words. The audacity of saying such things when she was the one who forced it was astonishing.
Seeing my expression darken, she burst into laughter and added that it was a joke.
At that moment, something came to mind, and I stopped walking.
“I heard you threw tea in the face of Lady Anthea, the Crown Prince’s fiancée.”
It was a rumor Anton had told me.
Now that I thought about it, ever since Lady Salome began attending worship regularly, Lady Anthea had stopped coming altogether. She was known to be extremely devout, never missing a service even when ill.
Without thinking, I asked,
“…Is the rumor about throwing tea in Lady Anthea’s face true?”
She slowed her steps, then stopped and turned to face me. She walked toward me slowly and shook her head. Her expression looked strangely… sad.
“It’s not true.”
My eyes widened slightly.
People called her this: the mad lady of House Kruger, the villainess who would bring ruin to the Terium Empire.
Perhaps it was all a slander.
People are always searching for someone to persecute. One cannot say that witch hunts, supposedly extinct centuries ago, no longer exist. I had seen more than enough cases where words turned into blades that wounded the innocent.
I knew that better than anyone—from personal experience.
“Then…?”
“I swear upon the name of Ataras, I’ve never thrown tea in Lady Anthea’s face. I only ever poisoned her tea.”
I was certain of one thing.
This woman was not sane.
