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Chapter 32
Don’t throw it away? That didn’t sound like Blake at all.
He’d been the one avoiding me this whole time!
I grumbled inside, then cautiously lifted my head to sneak a glance at him.
Ever since that strange condition he’d added to our promise, Blake had been acting oddly during our shared dinner as well.
I diligently cut up the portion of food on my plate and slid it toward him.
“Won’t you eat? Did I cut it too finely?”
Blake glanced between the plate and me, and the only thing he said in that detached voice was:
“Just eat it yourself, Master. You worked hard cutting the meat. Want me to put a carrot on top for you?”
Then, as if nothing was unusual, he continued eating. …Wait a second, then why are we even eating together?
Wasn’t the whole point that he couldn’t taste anything, so he needed me?
Just being in the same room shouldn’t be enough.
What would it feel like to eat when you couldn’t taste anything at all?
Meat made of water, eggs made of water, tomatoes made of water…
Wow, that would make anyone lose their appetite.
Now I understood why Blake, ever since coming back to life, had only picked at his meals.
“So, nothing happened at the salon?”
“Uh, yes.”
“You don’t have anything you want to tell me?”
“…I get scared when Your Highness asks me that.”
Hadn’t he asked me the same kind of question once before over a meal?
That time I had so much to hide that I’d felt completely cornered.
“I think it’s scarier wondering what kind of answer you’ll give me.”
Come to think of it, I remembered Blake’s face twisting in disgust when I’d just blurted out random things.
The way he’d looked at me like I was unbelievably ridiculous.
Anyway, the strongest memory I had from the salon was only one.
“Actually, I met Saintess Seira.”
“At the salon?”
I slowly nodded. Blake even set down his utensils at that.
But the conversation I’d had with Seira had been so shocking…
I couldn’t share all of it with him.
For example—
That she had been the one who murdered him.
Or that she had asked me to kill him again.
Even I, who wasn’t the victim, had been shaken. How devastating would it be for Blake himself?
“So then, what does Your Highness think… of the Saintess?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
Blake gave me a puzzled look.
Well, up until now, he’d probably only thought of her as a like-minded comrade.
“No reason. It was the first time I talked with her up close… she didn’t seem like someone of this world, almost divine.”
“I don’t know about that…”
Blake smiled faintly as if I’d said something amusing, lifting his glass.
As he swirled it lightly, his words came out strange.
“Seira is too conscious of others.”
“Huh? The Saintess? Conscious of who?”
I had never thought that about her.
In the original story, she was confident and kind… soft on the outside, but firm inside.
Blake only shrugged at my question, then slyly changed the topic.
“So, what did you talk about with her?”
“Well… from what I gathered, it seems the Saintess joined hands with the man who looks like Your Highness.”
“I see.”
Blake responded flatly.
Of course, he must’ve already expected that much.
He’d overheard the young priests whispering about him and Seira disappearing from the temple together in the middle of the night.
Watching his calm face, I carefully began recounting what had happened.
“The Saintess’s holy power can revive the dead. She brought a butterfly back to life right in front of me…”
“Like you did?”
“She’s much greater. I didn’t even revive Your Highness completely…”
“Do you think holy power is perfect?”
Wasn’t it? Or… wasn’t it?
In the original, Seira never seemed sick or weakened after using her power.
Or maybe there was a penalty I didn’t know about?
I tilted my head in confusion, and Blake chuckled softly.
“If it were truly limitless, why wouldn’t anyone else have known about it until now?”
“Because… it’s too powerful and dangerous?”
“That’s not wrong. But more precisely, holy power comes with a heavy price.”
But Seira had looked perfectly fine after reviving the butterfly.
Yet Blake’s words suggested the cost was grave.
“In other words, it’s not something you can use recklessly. Maybe it’s even better for you that I came back imperfect.”
“What, are you saying as long as I’m intact, Your Highness’s body can be in ruins?”
“Exactly.”
Blake said it in a tone that implied that was fortunate.
As if his own body didn’t matter at all. The thought made my chest tighten.
“The Saintess told me… that Your Highness and that man who looks like you are connected.”
“…”
“So if one dies… the other dies as well.”
Of course, I still wasn’t sure.
If they were allies, why hadn’t the man simply killed himself, letting Seira revive him?
Or maybe her power couldn’t revive someone a second time?
Why, then, had Seira killed Blake with her own hands before?
Clearly Blake knew something too.
Right after reviving, he’d called his own death ‘pathetic.’
He wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t know why he had died.
“And?”
I hadn’t expected him to respond so casually.
Here I was carefully censoring things so he wouldn’t be hurt.
I frowned and snapped:
“When Your Highness died, I think the Saintess revived that man instead.”
“Really? Then I won. You revived me, didn’t you?”
How was that winning? What part of that was satisfying?
I couldn’t begin to understand Blake’s feelings.
“You were always discontent with your incomplete body.”
“If there are bad things, there are also good things.”
“…I don’t understand what you mean at all.”
“That’s fine. I wasn’t asking you to understand.”
But there’s no one else here at the table but me! Who else was that for?
He must just be teasing me again.
I pouted and muttered:
“Anyway, while we were talking, the Saintess’s body started turning transparent. Like that man who looks like you, she began disappearing.”
But Blake only curved his lips into a curious smile.
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting. She didn’t seek you out just to tell you something that trivial.”
“…”
“Strange. Why did Seira suddenly appear before you…? She wouldn’t have shown up only to hand you useless tidbits.”
So sharp, sometimes.
He knew I was holding something back.
Yet he didn’t seem like he actually wanted to pry it out of me.
Like a cat that taps something just to see, then turns its head and pretends indifference.
“I suppose you have your reasons for not telling me.”
His pale face somehow looked cheerful.
What I thought was lifeless actually looked relaxed.
“But if it’s something that could put you in danger, don’t hide it.”
“If it’s about me being in danger…?”
That surprised me, but when I thought about it, it made sense.
Blake always said his body was half-dead anyway, so he didn’t care.
In a way, he was nearly immortal.
I recalled his smug face when he’d swallowed poison and hadn’t felt a thing.
For him, my danger was more serious than his own.
Because if I died, how could his body ever be restored completely?
Your body is my body!
No wonder he kept calling me “Master.”
I nodded vigorously in agreement, only for him to mutter with a displeased look:
“You’re probably twisting that into whatever you want to believe… but fine.”
Why else would he worry about me?
Ah, well, I should consider that he did have a small amount of human concern… and technically, I was his wife, even if just in name.
“Oh, and. You’ll probably forget, so let me say this.”
“Yes?”
“Next week we’ll be leaving for an inspection of Orion Territory.”
Orion Territory…
Ah! That was the destination for the blue-spotted butterfly I’d bought today!
The schedule had come up much sooner than I expected, and I fumbled in a panic.
Instead of the calm, composed attitude I’d planned, my words tumbled out clumsily.
“Y-yes! I, um, I’ll also…”
“You seemed to be preparing something.”
My husband and his uncanny perceptiveness.
What excuse should I give to tag along?
I bit my lip and forced a smile. Blake offhandedly tossed out:
“We’re leaving early in the morning, so get ready for the trip.”
Which meant…
He was taking me with him, right?
