Chapter 16: CH 16

Reihausd’s expression looked different from usual.

If he was characterized by a slightly masculine beauty, today he had unstable and cloudy eyes like an adolescent boy.

Maybe I’m mistaken, but he seemed to be a little drunk.

‘I don’t smell any alcohol, though.’

“I can’t do that.” I hesitated and told him. “How can I speak informally to the High Priest?”

It’s nonsense, there’s no way I could speak informally to this man.

Thereupon, Reihausd licked his lips.

“Then call me by name.”

I stopped at the look of his somewhat distressed expression and nodded.

“I understand. Sir Reihausd.”

“Get rid of the ‘sir’.”

“…Yes?”

I was bewildered at his words.

‘Just call him by name like a friend?’

Why is he making such a request when he knows better than anyone that Ariel is the fake saintess he has established?

In the original story, Ariel always called him ‘High Priest’, and, of course, she used it with honorifics.

But this situation right now…

“No matter how much I think about it, that a bitㅡ”

At my words, for a moment, I could see his forehead narrowing. Then his expression changed drastically and hardened again.

“No, it’s nothing.” He suddenly touched his forehead with his hand. A small voice seemed to come from his mouth.

“I made a mistake all of a sudden. Hoo.”

His cheeks were still red, and I could hear rough breathing from his slightly open lips.

I asked him with a worried look.

“Are you feeling sick?”

Taking his hand off his forehead, he said with a strange frown. The disheveled blonde bangs made his troubled eyes look strangely decadent.

“It’s not like that. It’s just weird today… I can’t stand it when I see you…”

His golden eyes shook as he met my eyes. After looking into my eyes for a while, he suddenly looked away.

“…”

I couldn’t help but be nervous because his face looked very distressed.

Does he have to kill someone every few days?

He trembled uncontrollably and spoke to me as if he was in pain with his shining eyes.

“Because I miss you… No, I’m just here to greet you. As soon as I see you today… No, it’s the feeling of discomfort inside my head.”

A voice that became more husky than usual was heard in my ears. There was strength in his clenched fists.

After touching his forehead again, he was a man who seemed to be in agony, but today I felt that the reason that had bound him tightly had loosened to a serious extent.

As the High Priest, it seems unlikely that he would drink that much alcohol.

“I’m sure he’s feeling sick somewhere.”

After he left, I muttered as I looked at the closed door.

“Will he be okay?”

Maybe he has a high fever.

Still, there are a lot of priests, so if he’s sick, he will be able to receive medical treatment soon.

And then the chat window flashed.

[The God of Love, Odyssey, is admiring Reihausd’s spirit, who overcame the ‘blessing’.]

I raised my eyebrows.

‘What is he talking about?’

Reihausd overcame the blessing?

And the chat window continued to flash.

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, believes that Reihausd’s old and clogged soul can’t reach you.]

[The God of Art, Mond, still evaluates that Reihausd’s aesthetic value is not bad for him to be your husband.]

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, has proposed a vote to ban the blessing of the Odyssey.]

[The God of Love, Odyssey, rejected Hessed’s initiative, claiming that all Gods have the right to bless.]

“…”

Watching the Gods’ reactions carefully, I frowned.

They… What are they doing now?

Although it’s difficult to express them accurately, they were like fathers choosing their son-in-law.

Or it seemed like a conversation between three aunts or three uncles.

“Excuse me? What are you talking about?”

I was dumbfounded to see the three Gods choosing Reihausd as if they were looking for my husband.

Then new windows popped up.

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, insists that the Crown Prince before is better than Reihausd.]

[The God of Art, Mond, appreciates Reihausd’s muscles and chastity.]

W-Wait. What did I just see?

[The God of Love, Odyssey, agrees with Mond’s words that the more ▉▉▉ human beings are, the more they ▉▉▉ at night.]

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, is displeased with these ungodly conversations.]

They didn’t seem to hear me anymore.

As I was breathing out in vain, the knocking sound was heard again.

The door opened and the person who entered was Daisy with a tray. With her short hair behind her ears, she spoke in a bright voice with a bright smile.

“Saintess, I brought you some tea. Freshly baked cookies are also sweet.”

There was a cute plate with apple tea and cookies.

“Phew.”

I sighed in relief that it wasn’t Reihausd.

Daisy, who had put the trays on the table, stopped and looked at me, then she said,

“By the way, Saintess.”

“Hm?”

“I think you have become more beautiful than when I saw you before. Ah, that’s a stupid thing to say. That can’t be true.” Daisy shook her head as if she felt it was absurd to say it herself. “I apologize. I said something useless… The Saintess was always this beautiful.”

As she said, people couldn’t become prettier in just 10 minutes.

“It’s a special feeling that anyone who sees Saintess today won’t be able to resist you without loving you.”

Could it be that the blessing of the Odyssey has something to do with beauty?

Even so, Reihausd’s reaction was too strange.

Without responding to her pointless words, I said, pointing to the tea with my eyes.

“Thanks. Anyway, I’ll eat well.”

“Thank you. Saintess.”

Although I didn’t know what she was thankful for, Daisy bowed her head. She seemed very happy to have done this.

“I’m going to read a book while drinking tea, so go ahead.”

“Yes. I understand. Call me anytime if you need anything.” Daisy said a word overflowing with her will and left my room.

I sip my tea and start rummaging through the encyclopedia again.

Fortunately, the aftermath of Hessed’s blessing remained, and my mind was clear.

The cookies she brought were sweet and I gradually focused.

***

At that time.

Reihausd strode into the office with a tired, hot look and sat down on an empty chair.

Ariel’s face, who was looking at him with her tense expression, was dazzling.

And even his own soul, which has reached its limit like water that boils in an instant.

His confidence in his own integrity, which he had never denied, was shattered and scattered.

“…”

The boiling heat had subsided a little, but the realization he felt as he crossed the limit remained strong in his mind.

When did it start?

He didn’t even know himself.

She was just a lazy, naive kid playing the role of the fake saintess. From what moment did he have an impure lust for the kid?

“…”

In his cloudy gold eyes, Mond’s image was visible. Reihausd’s eyelids, who were gazing at the statue with restrained eyes, fell. His thick, closed eyebrows created a dizzying shade under his eyes.

“Is this the ordeal you sent me? Or is it the price of my… ugly sin?”

A harsh voice flowed through them, as if he was confessing.

“Lead an unclean soul to your spirit…”

There was a deep silence in the empty office where he was alone. Soon he opened his mouth again.

“Please rule the sinful flesh with the blessing of purity.”

His eyelids lifted up, revealing his golden eyes that radiated a stylized light. It was dark and empty, and his eyes were burning like longing.

The lips, which had paused for a while, twisted in an immoral yet pitiful way.

“Otherwise I…”

His eyes shone brightly in the dark.