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Chapter : 33
Dayron Rutas wondered what someone who possessed the power of a god would actually look like.
Isn’t he far more handsome than the portrait?
Even the portrait he’d stared up at for a long time on the way to the Holy Tower hadn’t captured even half of the real thing.
He doesn’t look older than his mid-twenties at most…
It was a face that somehow made two hundred years feel both present and absent at the same time.
Jet‑black hair reminiscent of moonlight, pale skin, long eyelashes, and neat, well‑defined features looked as though they had slipped past time itself—but…
“Thank you, High Priest.”
Only those ash‑gray eyes seemed deep enough to remember every passing era.
“Thanks to you, I was spared the trouble of moving myself.”
I accepted the letter and offered a greeting.
I’d tried to hide it, but it seemed the High Priest had spotted me while returning to the temple.
How did he find me?
Even for someone as familiar with the temple’s layout as the High Priest, it shouldn’t have been easy to notice someone hidden inside an unlit lamp…
I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the situation at hand.
“As you can see, I came to the temple after receiving Madam Leita’s letter.”
“……”
The saintess looked down at the letter, her smile gentle.
“Would you say this is a convincing enough explanation?”
“Yes. It really does say to come to the temple library.”
But she couldn’t quite hide the awkwardness tugging at her lips.
“However, Madam Leita herself never appeared, and I ended up experiencing something quite bizarre on my own…”
I murmured while tracing the red seal of the count’s family stamped on the letter.
“It seems everything was forged. This letter paper used by the count’s family, the seal, and even Madam’s handwriting—every last bit of it.”
“My goodness! Who could have done such a thing…!”
“That would mean the culprit is someone who knows that Countess Leita frequently sends letters to the young lady—and even knows her handwriting.”
“If it were one of the maids who deliver the letters, they’d naturally know.”
“Oh my, then does that mean that maid really tried to insult the young lady?”
The sharp gazes that had been directed at me moments ago now turned toward Lina.
Human hearts could flip so easily, in an instant.
“I really don’t remember anything like that! I didn’t do it! Another maid could’ve brought the letter—why are you blaming me?!”
Lina screamed desperately as she denied it.
“Oh, right. I guess I never told you. Lina.”
As if I’d just remembered, I folded the letter and replied to her.
“I sent all the maids of my palace to the plaza. It’s the eve of the festival, after all. They’ve probably been out enjoying themselves for a while now.”
“W‑What are you saying…!”
“Except for you, who didn’t hear the news because you were cleaning the outer grounds.”
Realizing things were turning against her, Lina’s eyes flew wide open as she glared at me.
“Do you still not understand?”
Even the smile I’d been forcing hardened into something cold.
“Today, at that time, you were the only one who could have entered my room.”
“……!”
Her shameless expression crumpled in an instant.
“Miss—no, Saintess! I’m being framed! You know that, Saintess!”
Lina crawled desperately to the saintess’s feet.
“High Priest, it’s just that—”
But the saintess seemed too busy gauging the High Priest’s reaction to spare Lina any attention.
“…Tsk.”
The High Priest’s gaze as he looked down on the scene was chillingly calm.
“Lina insists she knows nothing to the very end. Then shall Sir Karl Bate answer instead?”
I turned to Karl, who had been standing silently the whole time.
“How did you know I’d come to the temple library, and why were you waiting for me?”
“……That’s—”
“Sir Karl Bate. Are you involved in this incident?”
At that moment, the High Priest stepped in, cutting off my questioning. I shot him an irritated glance.
What the hell? If I’d pressed him just a little more, he would’ve cracked!
“High Priest! I—”
“Pull yourself together and answer.”
A cold reprimand fell.
“No—no, that’s not it!”
Karl shook his head frantically.
“I also received an anonymous letter. I came here only to warn you, worried something might happen to you, my lady.”
His eyes cleared as he smoothly continued lying.
“I had no other intentions.”
Wow. The nerve on this bastard.
Forging the countess’s letter to lure me here, the fire spectacle at the Holy Tower, exposing me like this in front of everyone—
He was a full accomplice, yet he planned to dump all the blame on one person?
“Then are you saying all of this was done by that maid alone?”
“Could a mere maid really pull this off by herself? Wouldn’t someone have ordered her?”
“And who would dare to do that?”
“Well, that would be…”
The murmuring crowd trailed off.
Everyone seemed to think of the saintess—yet none dared to actually imagine it was her.
“I’ll tell the truth. Please forgive me, my lady! The truth is… the saintess—the saintess was the one who—!”
“So fearless.”
Lina’s desperate outburst was crushed by the High Priest’s low voice.
“Framing your master and forging a noble family’s seal wasn’t enough…”
He frowned deeply between his brows in displeasure.
“To cause a disturbance in the temple, no less.”
“High Priest! I was only running an errand! The one who ordered me was the saintess—!”
“Take her to the temple prison.”
“Yes.”
“High Priest! Please spare me! Saintess!”
At the High Priest’s decisive gesture, the knights bound Lina and dragged her away.
“What a pity. Even the names of the saintess and the captain of the holy knights were dragged into this.”
He clicked his tongue softly, as though genuinely regretful.
“I offer my apologies on behalf of the temple to the young lady as well.”
The High Priest erased his expression and gave me a slight bow.
“Since this occurred within the temple, I will see to its conclusion.”
In the end, not a single stain would remain on the temple’s reputation.
So this was how they had preserved their authority for all those years—by covering eyes and sealing mouths.
“I’m glad the misunderstanding about me has been cleared. I’m quite tired, so I’ll be heading back now.”
I smiled faintly to hide my bitterness.
I’ve already achieved everything I needed to.
There was no benefit in clashing with the High Priest any further.
Especially since those ash‑gray eyes that seemed to see through everything made me uneasy.
“…Kaella.”
Just as I turned away, Karl’s voice stopped me.
“I didn’t know it would turn out like this. I just wanted to talk to you once—”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put my name in that mouth of yours.”
“…….”
“I saw it clearly today—just how cowardly you really are.”
The image of Karl letting Lina take all the blame for something he had orchestrated was something I would never forget.
That I’d spent three years calling a man like this my fiancé…
“You’re the worst. To the point that I want to cut the last three years out of my life entirely.”
“……!”
Karl froze, staring at me without breathing.
Watching him grimace as though wounded, I made a silent vow.
I need to be more careful from now on.
“Allow me to escort you to the temple plaza, my lady.”
“…What?”
I turned at the High Priest’s sudden words. Breaking the silence, he looked up at the darkening sky.
“It’s dangerous to go alone now that night has fallen.”
A strange curiosity lingered in his eyes—hard to believe he was the same man who had just issued such cold commands.
“Would you grant me the opportunity to escort you?”
“……”
The surrounding people—including Karl and the saintess—fell quiet, as though this was an unfamiliar sight to them as well.
What should I do? I couldn’t exactly refuse the High Priest’s courtesy in front of everyone.
“Then… please escort me just to the entrance of the plaza.”
I nodded, hiding my reluctance.
* * *
“Do you ever feel stifled, living in the imperial palace?”
“If I said no, I’d be lying.”
Perhaps my honesty amused him—the High Priest chuckled softly.
“It feels like you can’t hear or see anything there.”
“Well. If you open your heart, you might find there’s quite a lot to see and hear.”
…What was that supposed to mean?
He occasionally said things that were hard to understand.
Then again, having lived for two hundred years, perhaps he couldn’t help but speak in riddles.
“It really feels like summer has arrived. Even the night breeze is warm now.”
I changed the subject naturally.
Seasonal small talk was always the safest option.
“Hmm… is that so?”
The High Priest stopped and looked up at the sky. His black hair fluttered gently in the summer wind.
“I can no longer remember what summer felt like.”
His eyes beneath long, dark lashes were indifferent—bored with everything.
“Well, I suppose after centuries of repeating seasons, it must get tiresome.”
“Not just the seasons. Everything does.”
He smiled faintly, brows knit.
“Everything that remembers me disappears, while everything I remember keeps repeating.”
“Ah…”
I murmured softly, understanding. Even with just one reincarnation, I had countless moments of weariness—how much more so for him.
“They say everything sparkling up there in the sky is a moment from the past.”
I pointed toward the star‑filled sky.
“The sun is from eight minutes ago, the moon from 1.3 seconds ago… and the stars far beyond that are from a much more distant past.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say I’ve reincarnated too, but our situations felt strangely similar.
My life reborn after death, and his life unable to die.
Perhaps I could offer him some comfort about endless time.
“That means there are still quite a few stars up there that remember your time, High Priest.”
Following my hand, his gaze eventually settled on me.
“And today’s version of you—I’ll keep remembering it too.”
“…….”
“Not everything has disappeared.”
He stared at me for a long while with an unreadable expression, as I shrugged lightly.
