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Chapter: 13
“Silver hair…”
Since everyone who possessed divine power had silver hair from the start, Shieta asked the boy casually without giving it much thought.
“Hey… do you happen to know the way around here?”
To avoid looking easy to intimidate, she asked the question calmly while the boy puffed up his chest like an animal ready to defend itself.
Even with Shieta’s nonchalant tone, the boy didn’t lower his guard. When he finally lifted his head and met her gaze directly, Shieta noticed something.
“Silver-gray… eyes?”
She realized something was off.
Though there were many silver-haired people in the temple, almost no one had silver-gray eyes.
No…
At least among the characters in the original story—the abused saint, who was the male protagonist of this novel—apart from “Rashita,” no one had them.
And someone with such striking silver hair and blessed silver-gray eyes?
It was truly only the original male protagonist.
Shieta’s large violet eyes widened as she quickly deduced the boy’s identity using her knowledge of the original story.
“No, no…”
It was one thing for a saint to be in the temple, but to encounter the male protagonist, who supposedly lived in the far outskirts…
“How far out have I wandered?”
Knowing how far on the outskirts Rashita lived in the original story, she muttered to herself in disbelief.
“What’s your intention?”
Even though the boy remained on guard against her, Shieta busied herself with pressing her throbbing head.
In other words…
“What even is this?”
Half of the super-golden spoons she held had been taken from the heroine, and the other half…
“Judging by your appearance, you seem to be a noble lady. What brings you here?”
It was the “original” male protagonist standing before her—Rashita—whose belongings she had taken.
Despite being on guard, she stared directly into his gentle silver-gray eyes and let out a silent scream.
“Uwaaaah!”
Of course, only internally.
“The final boss is mom.”
If her father, Vicente, hadn’t been killed by Rociate, he might have been the temple’s final boss!
That much.
Despite possessing immense divine power, Rashita had endured unimaginable mistreatment and injustice simply because he was a “commoner.”
“I know he was bullied at the temple! But!”
He should have appeared offering help immediately, but meeting him like this, unprepared…
How would Rashita perceive Shieta in this flustered state?
“Uwaaaah!”
Until just before the events of the original story, Shieta had assumed there was no way they could meet because Rashita’s residence was so far on the outskirts of the temple. Her judgment had been too short-sighted.
If she had met him fully prepared, maybe it would have been different.
Her visit to the temple hadn’t even been by her own will, and now her eyes spun in confusion.
“Is this really right?”
Yes, she was a diamond spoon.
But soaked in blood, a stinking diamond spoon—the thought made her head spin.
“Look at this combination.”
Thinking that, Shieta calmly grabbed Rashita’s hand.
“What is this—”
“Wait. I need to check something first.”
He glanced around where he was staying.
Perhaps because Shieta was inspecting his personal space without permission, Rashita’s normally gentle eyes sharpened slightly.
“Huh…”
Shieta, oblivious to his reaction, thought:
“What? The state of this kid’s room is a disaster.”
She was shocked by the state of Rashita’s small home, even if she didn’t fully understand children.
“I can’t leave it like this.”
A cramped room with no proper heating or cooling,
A floor smeared with dirt,
A room left in chaos, as if it had been dug up.
Even without full knowledge, she knew leaving a child in such an environment was unacceptable.
Moreover, Rashita’s bedding was shabby.
Clatter…
“What… why the wardrobe…”
As expected, the clothes Shieta checked in his wardrobe were all worn-out.
“None of these fit you anyway.”
Even by her rough estimation, the clothes looked far too big for him.
It seemed they weren’t even Rashita’s own.
It was as if, having nothing else to wear, he had secretly collected discarded clothes from the temple.
The state of the clothes was pitiful. Honestly, they were more like rags.
“This is just… patchwork.”
She pressed her throbbing head with her plump hands, thinking.
No matter that the pope in the original story had been a victim of Rociate,
“This…”
“Yes?”
Rashita looked puzzled at Shieta’s trembling voice, but she was sure.
“This… is wrong.”
“Yes?”
Even his question sounded clear and crisp, unfairly precise for someone only a year older than her.
Shieta continued carefully.
“Where are you from?”
“I am—”
She’d only asked about his hometown, but the boy—Rashita—darkened his fair face.
“He’s had long hair since he was little.”
Yet, it was clearly different from the description in the latter part of the original story.
He had been left neglected without anyone’s care, wearing ragged clothing,
And without knowing even basic grooming, his long hair spread wildly.
For a moment, his expression hardened when asked where he came from, then shifted to disbelief.
“I think that’s a question for you to answer, actually.”
Shieta thought quickly.
“What if I say the royal family? That’ll create distance, right?”
She knew only those who lived in the royal family or held equivalent power.
Recalling her previous life’s memory, she remembered how ordinary people thought of royalty.
“Yeah. I’m from a rich family.”
She answered a bit superficially.
The boy looked astonished.
“A rich family?”
Despite Rashita’s incredulous tone, Shieta was confident.
“Royal family = richest in the Shikan Empire, right?”
Thinking that to herself, she asked again.
“So, where are you from?”
Rashita seemed to find it strange that she was so fixated on his origins.
“I’m from a remote mountain village on the border of the Romancia Kingdom.”
Even after answering, Shieta kept her violet eyes shining, and Rashita sighed, adding a clarification.
“So… basically, a commoner.”
Normally, the temple wasn’t a place open to commoners, so it made sense.
Thus, the girl with dazzling silver hair before him was likely noble.
Now that he knew he was a commoner, he expected to be ridiculed.
Other nobles had reacted the same way upon learning his background.
Still, even after revealing his hometown and identity, the boy didn’t let his guard down.
“Well, he must’ve been bullied terribly before. Makes sense.”
Shieta thought, and with her usual nonchalant attitude, asked:
“So what if you’re a commoner?”
“But…”
Rashita hesitated, unsure how to explain.
Shieta dismissed it casually.
“You’ve got talent, right? If a commoner like you is here, that means your abilities are amazing, isn’t it?”
At that meritocratic statement, Rashita was stunned.
From appearing suddenly in a rarely traveled outskirts,
To barging into Rashita’s home so abruptly,
Nothing about her seemed normal—but he could tell this child had no ill will.
“Even so…”
Rashita tried to object, but she silenced him with her sparkling gaze, speaking sharply.
“To treat a talented person like this… pigs!”
“Huh?”
Rashita was flustered by her clear, vivid insult.
He probably wanted to dismiss her words as hallucination.
“Just the curse was pronounced clearly…”
“Anyway, that’s not the important part.”
Shieta tried to speak as clearly as possible, reaffirming that the boy before her was the male protagonist.
“Then I need to make him favor me here.”
So that later, when she stages a coup against Rociate, he’d hesitate because of her presence.
Of course, now that she knew his identity, she had to correct the lies she’d told.
“Also… sorry for lying. I’m a princess.”
Better to be honest first than have her lies discovered later.
“You might’ve tried to kidnap me. That’s why I asked where you were from—and I’m taking back my lie!”
Her flustered, self-serving words made it clear that a question mark hovered over the boy’s head.
