🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 7
Life Pawned
“Miss Cosat!”
Just as Irina lost her balance and nearly collapsed, Casey darted forward and caught her.
“Ah, thank you.”
“Are you alright? Should I take you to the hospital right away? Or would you rather return to the estate?”
Irina quickly waved her hand.
“No. This happens once in a while whenever my tinnitus gets really bad. Don’t worry about it—I’m used to it. Let’s leave now. We shouldn’t delay any longer.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
Casey’s worried expression didn’t fade.
Irina smiled reassuringly and nodded.
“Really. It’s happened plenty of times before.”
The road leading to the temple was surprisingly quiet.
It felt completely different from Voltier’s bustling central streets.
As Irina leaned slightly out the carriage window to enjoy the breeze, she felt as though the fashionable hat she’d bought from the clothing store would be blown away at any moment.
“I think a bonnet would’ve been much more practical.”
The hat certainly looked elegant and stylish, but since she wasn’t used to wearing that kind, it was rather uncomfortable.
In the end, she took it off and set it beside her before tucking her windblown hair behind her ear.
The carriage traveled along the peaceful road before climbing a hill for quite some time.
Soon, a brilliant white temple appeared in the distance.
Not long afterward, the carriage came to a stop.
“We’ve arrived.”
“So this is…”
Towering white columns stretched toward the sky, surrounded by lush green grass that embraced the sacred temple.
The atmosphere was so different from where she’d just been that she could almost feel a divine presence lingering in the air.
“Welcome. May the blessings of the gods always be with you.”
A young priest with hair the color of ripe barley greeted Irina warmly.
She entered the temple, offered a brief prayer, and placed a single gold coin into the donation box.
Then she explained why she’d come.
The priest let out a quiet sigh.
“Oh dear… What should we do?”
“Uh…”
She took it back.
Sacred, my foot.
It hadn’t felt holy at all.
It had simply felt… empty.
An awkward expression spread across Irina’s face.
As luck would have it, she’d arrived during the temple’s pilgrimage season.
Only a skeleton crew had remained behind to maintain the temple.
Even the one who had welcomed her was merely the youngest apprentice priest.
“I suppose it can’t be helped.”
The pilgrimage would last an entire month.
Waiting a little longer wouldn’t solve anything.
This was all Howard’s fault.
It was entirely Howard’s fault.
Sulking to herself, Irina absentmindedly rubbed the keepsake inside her small bag.
She’d worked up so much courage before coming here…
Still unwilling to give up, she continued fidgeting with it.
Then, just as she pulled her hand back, a silver coin tucked beside the keepsake slipped free.
Clink.
It rolled across the floor.
Straight toward the young priest.
“…Ah.”
“…Oh.”
“…Um…”
The first sound came from Irina.
The second from the young priest.
The third from Casey, who hurried after the rolling coin to pick it up.
“Haha… ha…”
Money was already tight enough.
Of all places, the silver coin came to a stop right at the priest’s feet.
Bathed in sunlight, it sparkled like a precious jewel.
Why there?
And why now?
This wasn’t some fairy tale where silver coins rolled dramatically!
This was all Howard’s fault.
Unfortunately, their eyes met.
The young priest beamed at her.
His smile was so radiant it looked as though he carried all the happiness in the world.
“Haha… hahaha… Priest, I just felt that my earlier donation was a little too small…”
The young priest picked up the silver coin faster than a flash of light.
Casey, who had already bent halfway down to retrieve it, straightened back up with a bewildered expression.
“Thank you very much. We’ll put it to good use.”
“…Y-Yes. Then… I suppose I should be the one thanking you.”
There had once been a time when an amount like that wouldn’t have made her bat an eye.
“Well then, we’ll be going, Father.”
“Please travel safely. May the gods always watch over you.”
The young priest folded his hands in prayer before lightly walking back into the temple.
Left standing alone, Irina stared blankly at the sunlight falling over her before finally turning away.
Aaaargh! This is all that bastard Howard’s fault!
Unable to shout it aloud, she screamed inwardly instead.
Sigh…
After letting out a long breath, she looked pleadingly at Casey.
“Is there another temple nearby?”
Seeing the look in her eyes, Casey flinched.
For a moment… I swear I saw killing intent in Miss Irina’s eyes.
She quickly regained her composure and bowed.
“There is another temple, but it’s outside the capital. If we leave immediately, we should arrive before sunset. However… if we happen to reach it during the afternoon prayer service…”
“Ah, I understand. It means this trip could end up being for nothing as well. Hmm…”
Irina looked up at the sky.
When they’d left the city center, it had been around noon.
Now the sun had already begun to descend.
“Then let’s hurry.”
With that, she climbed back into the carriage.
* * *
When she returned to the estate, Howard was waiting for her.
Irina had just stepped down from the carriage when she spotted him and froze.
She silently glared at him.
Howard remained where he was, as though he’d been waiting for her arrival all along.
Expressionless, Irina slowly climbed down.
Each step toward him felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton.
“You.”
Stopping in front of him, she spoke.
“For just a moment… become the Howard from back then.”
The instant those heartfelt words left her mouth, she threw herself into his arms—
—which was merely to gain momentum before punching him in the stomach!
“Ugh!”
She drove her fist into his abdomen with all her strength.
Then she proudly lifted her chin and glared at him.
Caught completely off guard, Howard frowned with one eyebrow before looking down at her.
“Do you have a death wish?”
Irina spat out coldly.
“That’s not something the person who just assaulted someone should be saying, Lady Irina.”
“Assaulted someone? Me? The attacker?”
Who was he calling the attacker?
Grinding her teeth, Irina recalled what had happened earlier.
Fortunately, she’d been able to resolve things at the second temple.
Or so she’d thought.
Following the priest’s instructions, she’d completed the vows and rituals required to transfer the magic stone.
In the process, she’d also let go of her lingering attachment to it.
Then, just as she was about to leave everything behind and walk away…
Everything went wrong.
The moment they confirmed her identity after checking her name, the priest smiled awkwardly.
He said they couldn’t accept the item.
Then he handed her mother’s keepsake back.
It was a high-grade magic stone.
Why?
When Irina asked why, all the priest did was smile awkwardly and offer blessings for her future.
At that moment, a certain name flashed through her mind.
Howard.
In the end, she’d simply returned to the estate.
“You want to laugh at me, don’t you?”
“I haven’t said a single word.”
At that, Irina shot him a murderous glare.
For just a split second, a smile flickered across Howard’s lips.
“Did your visit to the temple go well?”
I knew it.
That stalking bastard!
Irina slowly turned her head.
Behind Howard, the escort knights who had accompanied her were still standing respectfully nearby.
The instant she looked at them, every one of them suddenly became extremely interested in staring at some imaginary mountain in the distance.
“You said you were only eliminating dangers.”
“You running away is the greatest danger of all, Lady Irina.”
“Oh? Because you’ve had experience with that before?”
Howard cast a brief glance toward the coachman and the guards.
As though they’d been waiting for the signal, they vanished in an instant.
“Let’s continue this conversation inside.”
Irina turned back toward him.
“You’re changing the subject.”
Howard merely shrugged.
“Why are you stopping me from repaying my debt?”
She pouted as they walked side by side into the mansion.
“I believe I already explained this morning.”
“You told me to repay it while staying by your side. I already said no.”
“You’re rather heartless.”
“Hmph. I’m heartless? You’re the one who—”
Grrrrrrr…
A loud rumbling interrupted her.
It sounded almost like thunder—
Except it wasn’t coming from the sky.
Both of them stopped walking.
Irina’s face instantly turned scarlet.
She’d been so preoccupied all day that she’d forgotten she’d barely eaten breakfast.
At lunchtime, she’d even refused Casey’s suggestion to stop and eat so they wouldn’t lose time.
But why…
Why did her stomach have to growl now?
“It seems we should have dinner first.”
“I’m not having dinner with—”
Grrrrrrr…
Her stomach roared again before she could finish.
Damn it.
“F-Fine! We’ll eat first, then talk!”
* * *
The sound of cutlery echoed softly around the dining table.
She normally didn’t have much of an appetite, but after going hungry all day, her hands moved busily from plate to plate.
“I need your help, Lady Irina.”
“My help?”
Her original plan had been to fill her stomach and immediately disappear into her room.
But now that food had settled into her empty stomach, the sharp edge of her irritation had softened considerably.
“Yes.”
“What kind of help do you need?”
“Because of my humble origins, there are many difficulties I have to deal with.”
Howard, who had disappeared and then returned acting rather overbearing, was now asking her for a favor.
And he was doing so with surprising humility.
“You? Having difficulties? Who dares look down on you?”
The moment he mentioned his origins, Irina’s voice sharpened.
Not because she was angry at him—
But because she felt hostility toward the unseen people who looked down on him.
The only one allowed to be upset with Howard…
Was her.
No one else had that right.
“Oh… various things.”
His vague answer made Irina set down her fork.
“Are you going to keep dodging the question?”
“No. It’s simply not just one or two things.”
Even though his answer remained evasive, Irina understood.
Even in Arendor, commoners who rose into the ranks of nobility still faced discrimination.
So how much worse must it have been for someone from a foreign land who had climbed all the way to such a high position?
“Well… I understand that much. But you’re a Lingester now.”
To belong to a family that represented an entire nation…
That was no small thing.
Surely no one would dare treat him with contempt anymore.
Howard simply shrugged as though it were nothing.
“I once helped someone connected to the matter.”
“You saved their life or something?”
“Well… something like that.”
Another vague answer.
There was no point pressing further.
He was always strangely stubborn about subjects like this.
Irina let out a quiet sigh.
“Fine. Let’s leave it at that. So what exactly is this favor? I still have to repay my debt—”
She took another bite of salad while speaking.
Howard answered calmly.
“Please marry me.”
