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Chapter 4
It wasn’t only Irenne who was shocked.
“W-Who is that…?!”
“Ahhh! B-Blood!”
Everyone inside the banquet hall stepped back in horror when they saw Mikhail covered in blood from head to toe.
The others couldn’t recognize who the blood-soaked man was, but Irenne knew at a single glance.
Mikhail.
The moment she recognized him, her mind became even more confused.
This can’t be happening.
Ever since her new life had begun, all the major events from her previous life had happened exactly the same.
Only the small things directly connected to her had changed.
So today, Mikhail should have appeared just as he had in her previous life.
Irenne tried to remember when he had arrived that day.
He came near the end of the banquet.
She wasn’t mistaken.
He had deliberately arrived late.
Although he was always strict about time, he had a reason for doing so today.
Because he never intended to obey the Allied Kingdoms willingly.
The Allied Kingdoms were very wary of Mikhail.
While other knights ignored dungeons that weren’t profitable, Mikhail entered them alone and eliminated the monsters inside.
The common people whose homes were saved because of him wanted to thank him, but every time, Mikhail would say,
“God merely guided me here. Therefore, all glory belongs to Him alone.”
Because of that, people went to the Temple to offer donations and prayers.
Naturally, the more famous Mikhail became, the greater the Temple’s reputation grew as well.
The Temple used those donations and goods to help the people who suffered because of dungeons.
As a result, more people sincerely devoted themselves to God.
Some of those whose lives had been saved even donated their own land to the Temple.
The kingdoms viewed this with great concern.
“The Temple’s territory keeps growing. At this rate, they’ll be able to establish a country of their own!”
“The Temple was almost destroyed, yet a single Holy Knight brought it back to life. Isn’t there some way to deal with this?”
“Since one Holy Knight revived it, wouldn’t everything collapse if we simply brought him down?”
So the Allied Kingdoms began planning how to ruin Mikhail.
But assassinating the strongest man on the continent was impossible.
It would also be a waste to kill someone who could clear high-rank dungeons alone when ordinary knights couldn’t.
“In truth, we only need to destroy the people’s faith in him.”
So the Allied Kingdoms decided to disgrace him instead.
One incident wouldn’t be enough.
But if they kept spreading rumors that he was behaving in ways unworthy of a Holy Knight…
If people slowly lost their trust in him…
Then we’ll recruit him as a knight of our own kingdom.
Each kingdom had its own hidden motives.
Together, they informed Mikhail that they had passed a continental law stating that knights without a Pair could no longer enter dungeons.
Even a Holy Knight could not ignore this law.
If he wished to continue entering dungeons, he had to come to the fortress and find a Pair.
It was a deeply insulting demand.
A Holy Knight was a noble person, no different from a priest.
Naturally, Mikhail refused.
The Allied Kingdoms had expected that.
They immediately sent knights to stop him from entering any dungeon.
Meanwhile, the cries of the common people suffering because of low-rank dungeons that nobody would clear only grew louder.
In the end, unable to ignore their suffering any longer, Mikhail informed the Allied Kingdoms that he would attend the banquet to find a Pair.
That was today…
And he intentionally arrived late.
He planned to attend only after every purifier had already formed a Pair. Then he would claim there were no purifiers left to contract with him and ask for permission to continue working alone until the next banquet.
Irenne knew all of this because Mikhail had told her in her previous life.
Those were the words he had murmured while lying in bed, unable to think clearly.
“But you were still there…”
As he said those words, he had continued moving.
While crying out from the overwhelming pleasure and pain that struck every part of her body, Irenne had thought,
If only I hadn’t been there…
He could have protected his honor.
Remembering the regret that had tormented her countless times in her previous life made her throat tighten.
I don’t know why Mikhail is in a different condition this time…
But…
She would no longer become involved in his life.
So she would never ruin him again.
Biting her lip, Irenne reached out to take the knight’s hand and finalize their agreement.
At that moment—
Step.
Step.
Mikhail, who had been quietly looking around the banquet hall, suddenly fixed his eyes on Irenne.
Without the slightest hesitation, he walked straight toward her.
“W-What? Why is he coming here…?”
Seeing the blood-covered man who looked like a demon, the knight beside Irenne stepped back in fear.
Unlike him, Irenne stood still as she watched Mikhail approach.
Mikhail.
No matter how much blood covered him, his golden hair still shone wherever it was visible.
His deep blue eyes, which had never once been tainted by demonic miasma, remained just as clear.
That alone was enough for her to recognize him instantly.
The memories she shared with him made her chest ache.
In her previous life…
Irenne had respected him.
And she had loved him.
How could I not?
To him, she was the woman who had stained his honor.
If she had not desperately begged him that day…
He would have returned outside and continued living as the noble Holy Knight he had always been.
She had embraced him to save his life.
But in the end, that act led to his expulsion from the Temple and destroyed the life he had devoted to God.
Even so…
He had remained polite to her until the very end.
Anyone else would have cursed her or blamed her.
Instead, he simply bowed his head, showed her the respect due from one knight to another, and quietly walked away.
How could she not love someone like that?
Lost in those old emotions, she barely noticed that he had already stopped in front of her.
The overwhelming smell of monster blood suddenly filled the air, bringing her back to reality.
“W-Why…”
Why had he come here like this instead of following the events of her previous life?
Before she could ask, Mikhail slowly knelt on one knee before her.
“Please…”
“…Grant me the blessing of your purification.”
The entire banquet hall gasped.
That was the phrase knights normally spoke before forming a contract with a purifier.
“W-What? Why… are you saying that to me…?”
Even Irenne was stunned.
It made no sense.
There were still many purifiers inside the banquet hall.
So why had he come directly to her?
At her question, Mikhail slowly raised his head.
“…!”
Irenne’s body trembled.
In her previous life, his eyes had always been calm like a peaceful lake.
But now…
A fierce light flashed within them like a stormy sky.
It was almost like madness.
She had seen similar eyes before…
People who had become deeply corrupted by demonic miasma often looked like this.
Startled, Irenne tried to step back.
Before she could move, Mikhail’s blood-covered hand grabbed hers.
His body trembled as he gently pressed her hand against his own face.
“I… need you.”
Those words made Irenne remember the past.
Back then, in this very banquet hall, he had told her,
“I do not need you.”
He had definitely said those words.
So why…
Why was the same man saying something completely different now?
Nothing had happened between them in this life yet.
Then why?
Irenne looked down at the blood-covered hand holding hers.
The thick smell of monster blood filled her senses.
I have to let go.
I can’t become the reason for his disgrace again.
Just as she tried to pull her hand away—
“Please…”
Mikhail clung to her hand as if it were the only thing left in the world for him.
He rubbed his face against her trembling hand and pleaded.
“Please purify me.”
His desperate voice left Irenne completely frozen.
She couldn’t move at all.
Why did he come straight to me?
Could it be…
Does Mikhail remember the previous life too?
But she quickly shook the thought away.
If he remembered everything…
He would have stayed even farther away from her.
He would never have approached her like this.
Out of all these purifiers… why me?
Suppressing the countless questions filling her heart, Irenne finally asked,
“Why…”
“…are you asking me?”
Mikhail smiled gently.
Then he answered,
“Because you’re the closest purifier to me.”
…
It was such an unexpectedly simple answer.
