IBTPEOTMLC 11

Chapter 11

Today, I briefly stopped by to see Venus in the morning before heading to the plaza to meet Bay. Bay had arrived first and was waiting for me by the fountain.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all. How is Lady Venus doing?”

“She seems fine again after being sick that day.”

Her condition seemed to fluctuate, but fortunately she hadn’t shown any unusual symptoms since then.

It worried me a little, but I hadn’t forgotten what I needed to do.

Find that child.

And build enough wealth to do so.

“I know they’re a bit far away, but I’ve been looking at plots of land whenever I had spare time. I found a few promising ones.”

Even though visits to Venus had become part of my schedule lately, I couldn’t afford to neglect scouting land.

Bay stared at me for a moment before tapping beneath his own eyes.

“You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“Ah.”

I absentmindedly touched the skin beneath my eyes.

To be honest, the count had already scolded me quite a bit over this. He claimed I wasn’t taking proper care of myself and nearly locked me up again. The only reason I’d escaped that fate was because I’d promised to come home early and get plenty of sleep today.

“I have to return a little early today. Let me show you the land I found first.”

I had selected only the abandoned plots that I believed had real value. After explaining them, I handed Bay a notebook where I had written everything down just in case.

“Should I purchase all of them?”

“Yes, if possible.”

The locations didn’t look particularly impressive, but Oried had strongly recommended them. Perhaps there was a thriving business nearby generating attention and traffic.

For now, we’d start with those plots.

Buying expensive land was still beyond our means, but fortunately these were reasonably priced.

The plan was to start with cheaper purchases, gradually increase our wealth, and eventually move on to higher-quality properties.

“I noticed there aren’t many dessert shops or cafés in the commercial district…”

“Oh my, you pay attention to things like that too?”

“Simply buying land doesn’t guarantee success in business. Alternatively, buying a prime location and becoming a landlord sounds appealing too.”

Just collecting rent while living a peaceful, lazy life with that child…

That sounded wonderful.

“If that’s the case, I’ll investigate it myself. For today, you should go get some rest.”

Did I really look that pitiful?

“Do I look like a panda?”

“My, Lady Coco, you always surprise me. You know what a panda is? They’re not exactly a commonly known animal.”

For a moment I realized I’d slipped up, but I hid it smoothly behind a joke.

“Pandas are cute. I just look like someone you’d want to punch.”

Bay laughed softly at my nonsense.

Then, before I could leave, he grabbed my arm and dragged me into a restaurant.

“Lady Coco, you need to eat. You’re all skin and bones.”

“I just don’t have much appetite.”

I didn’t know how that child was living.

Nothing tasted right.

Besides, the count and countess considered even the food that went into my mouth a waste, so I had long grown accustomed to eating as little as possible.

Life at the temple had improved things somewhat, but the food there wasn’t particularly delicious either, so my appetite never really returned.

Bay ended up forcefully stuffing meat into my mouth.

He patiently waited until I chewed and swallowed every bite.

Only after I had eaten a decent amount did he finally let me go.

The moment we left the restaurant, Bay tried to call for a carriage.

I quickly stopped him.

“At this time of day, I’d get caught.”

The countess would surely demand to know where I’d gotten the money to ride in a carriage.

Leaving behind Bay’s worried gaze, I headed back toward the count’s estate.

Exhaustion washed over me all at once.

Even walking around the temple every day as a form of exercise hadn’t helped.

There was no way my stamina would improve when I barely ate.

I needed to become independent as soon as possible.

Then I’d eat three proper meals a day like today’s, exercise regularly, and build up my strength.

Enough strength to carry that child on my back if necessary.

* * *

Ah, the purple-haired…

No, not purple head—purple hair.

Seeing Hedwin spewing sharp insults almost made me curse out loud myself.

I could understand running into him often since we were in the same temple, no matter how large it was.

But the timing was strange.

Before our first encounter, I’d only heard rumors about him.

After that one accidental meeting, however, we kept crossing paths endlessly.

Why?!

Maybe I should have kicked him in the shin and run away that first time instead of staying silent.

Thinking such ridiculous thoughts, I grabbed at my hair.

I’d already spent an entire week taking the long route around the temple just to avoid Hedwin while visiting Venus.

It’s annoying, but the biggest problem is that my stamina is reaching its limit…

The temple was enormous.

Even taking a detour was exhausting.

Especially because Hedwin picked a fight with me every single time he saw me.

If he disliked me that much, couldn’t he just ignore me?

Still, was something going on?

The temple seemed unusually chaotic today.

Priests who never ran inside the temple were rushing around.

Even the high priests, who were rarely seen, had appeared.

Their expressions looked serious enough to make me tilt my head in curiosity.

But I quickly lost interest.

My priority wasn’t monitoring priests’ moods.

It was getting to Venus’s room without encountering Hedwin.

Just as I was about to take another detour, a voice came from above me.

“You didn’t think I would notice, did you?”

Hedwin’s lips, usually curved into a pleasant smile around others, were pressed into a straight line.

Looking down at me, he spoke with obvious irritation.

When had he even gotten here?

“Could you stop avoiding me? It’s becoming more annoying than simply meeting.”

“Wouldn’t meeting you be even more annoying?”

“You answered that awfully quickly.”

“Next time I’ll make sure not to look so eager when I answer.”

“…”

For some reason, his gaze seemed to say,

“Should I kill you or let you live?”

Surely that was just my imagination.

“Whatever. It’s not as though I’m going to say anything.”

Was that permission to leave?

As I twitched slightly, preparing to escape, Hedwin looked at me with disgust and delivered a cheerful warning.

“Stop avoiding me. At this rate, I’m worried you’ll collapse while wandering around with that frail body.”

He smiled saintly and spoke in a gentle tone.

The words coming out of his mouth, however, were anything but gentle.

“Or is your plan to make me feel guilty when that happens?”

Did someone dub his voice incorrectly?

His words matched his face so poorly it was unbelievable.

I nodded, intending to suggest that we simply stop acknowledging each other’s existence.

But before I could speak, Hedwin pointed at my lips.

“Don’t answer. I’m already annoyed.”

I almost replied automatically.

Instead, I hurriedly shut my mouth.

Unfortunately, a small sound still escaped.

“Mmph.”

“…”

Pretending nothing had happened, I stared into empty space.

Hedwin looked at me as though I were absurd.

“Hedwin! What are you doing here? We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Didn’t you hear that High Priest Ser is searching for you?”

“I heard. I was just on my way.”

Answering calmly, Hedwin glanced at me before running off with the priest.

Was something about to happen?

Well, regardless.

I had tried to avoid him, only to reveal my presence even more obviously.

Someone with such immense divine power probably noticed things like that effortlessly.

Sneaking around and irritating him further clearly wasn’t a good strategy.

Then again, it would be better not to meet him at all.

Unfortunately, avoiding the temple entirely wasn’t an option.

Of all places in this enormous temple, why did I keep running into a male lead candidate?

There’s no helping it. If he bothers me again next time, I’ll just tell him to stop talking to me.

Neither of us seemed particularly happy to see the other, so I doubted he’d object.

Comforting myself with the fact that I hadn’t met any of the other male lead candidates, I headed toward Venus’s room.

* * *

Venus sat on a sofa with a cardigan draped over her shoulders.

Concerned, I asked carefully,

“Is it okay for you to be sitting up?”

“I’m fine. That day was unusual. As you can see, I’m perfectly alright now.”

To prove her point, Venus stood up, spun around once, and sat back down.

Then she handed me a book.

“I was too sick to think clearly before. This is a book about spirits. You haven’t received proper instruction yet, so study from this until then. It’s essentially a condensed summary of all the materials I’ve gathered over the years.”

“Thank you. You really didn’t have to go this far. You could have simply told me the title and I would have found it myself.”

Venus smiled mischievously.

“What if the child who knows my weakness decides to blackmail me?”

“I’ll read it carefully!”

Her frightening joke made me thank her quickly before stuffing the book into my bag.

As usual, we began chatting.

This time the topic was the temple.

“By the way, have you looked outside? The priests seem awfully busy.”

“Oh? Haven’t you heard? A crack appeared in the barrier around the Cursed Forest.”

“The barrier around the Cursed Forest?”

“Yes. Every day the temple sends skilled priests there to purify the area and inspect the barrier. Apparently they discovered a faint crack during today’s patrol.”

As she explained how serious the situation was, Venus’s hands trembled noticeably.

Then she slowly opened her mouth.

“That place is…”

Her words trailed off.

She pressed her lips tightly together.

For a brief moment, she looked pained.

As though she were holding back unbearable sorrow.

I quietly turned my back to her.

Sometimes it was better not to pretend you understood.

Sometimes simply being there was enough.

* * *

The Cursed Forest.

Despite its ominous name, very little was known about it.

Even the temple, which monitored it daily, supposedly knew few details.

They merely followed the instructions left by the First Saint generations ago:

Watch over the barrier.

Purify the area.

Nothing more.

The region was saturated with demonic energy, making purification difficult and dangerous.

Only exceptionally skilled priests were assigned there.

Working alongside a High Priest, they would circle the perimeter, inspect the barrier, perform purification, and finish their duties for the day.

As usual, two temple teams were carrying out their patrol when it happened.

Rumble…

A faint tremor shook the ground.

Then the earth began to quake violently.

For several long seconds, every priest struggled to remain standing.

When the shaking finally stopped, an ominous feeling swept over them.

They looked up.

The barrier, normally hidden from sight, had revealed itself.

Perhaps due to the earthquake.

A faint crack stretched across the translucent surface.

The priests turned pale.

Nothing like this had ever happened before.

It was an emergency.

As several priests hurried back to the temple to report what they had found, a black shadow quietly concealed itself nearby.

When the area finally grew silent, the shadow slipped out of the forest.

Present Day

“No abnormalities here!”

“Everything’s normal on this side as well!”

Priests continued calling out their reports.

After inspecting the area thoroughly, none had found anything unusual.

Hedwin looked toward High Priest Ser.

“What if we find nothing? Isn’t it more dangerous if the crack appeared for no reason?”

“Indeed. That’s why those with exceptional divine power will be recruited to reinforce the barrier. Normally that task falls to High Priests and senior priests, but you’ll be included this time, Hedwin.”

“Because your divine power is extraordinary.”

He added that today’s objective was purification rather than barrier repair.

“Repairing the barrier will require more people than just us. Be careful not to cross inside the boundary of the Cursed Forest.”

Then Ser smiled.

It was a crooked smile.

One that looked entirely inappropriate for a priest.

Almost like someone plotting something unpleasant.

“If you go in, confirming whether you’re alive or dead may become impossible.”

Ignoring the warning, Hedwin continued purifying the sinister energy flowing from the forest.

Then Ser suddenly pressed a hand against his arm.

“Are you afraid?”

Afraid?

Hedwin tilted his head slightly.

“I don’t know.”

His divine power instantly erased the dark aura around them.

“I’m still young. There are many things I don’t know.”

“Perhaps I simply don’t know enough to be afraid.”

A gentle smile remained on his face.

Yet there was unmistakable weight behind his words.

Then he walked away toward another area requiring purification.

Ser watched his broad back silently.

Hedwin was still a minor.

Yet the divine power within him was so overwhelming that it extinguished even jealousy.

It was a level of strength Ser could never hope to attain.

He knew Hedwin would rise to a far higher position one day.

Which meant that before then…

Should I suppress him? Or join hands with him?

After a moment’s thought, Ser made his decision.

I’ll join hands with him.

After all, Ser was a child of the god who loved peace.

Having reached that conclusion, Ser hurried after Hedwin.

Placing a hand over his chest, he spoke solemnly.

“I will accompany you, Hedwin.”

What he truly meant was:

I want to align myself with you.

But it was a rather sudden declaration, especially under the current circumstances.

As if used to such things, Hedwin simply smiled and replied firmly,

“All priests walk the path toward God together.”

Though indirect, it was an unmistakable rejection.

A crack appeared in Ser’s smiling expression.

Watching Ser droop like an abandoned puppy, Hedwin quietly continued his purification work.

Despite his villainous appearance and the misunderstandings it often caused, Ser was actually a surprisingly soft-hearted man.

To Be Continued…