“Grand Priest!”

The priests listening from behind were surprised by Dietrich’s sudden confession and tried to stop him.

The embarrassment was left to the other priests.

Of course, it was true that the maid sitting on the bed possessed striking beauty.

But there’s such a thing as a priest’s dignity!

“I, I’ve seen many women, but… sh-she’s like an angel sent by the gods…”

The somewhat oblivious Grand Priest was completely unaware of Sched’s expression behind him.

But at that clumsy reaction, Riana’s tension suddenly dissolved.

‘So he didn’t notice the black magic…?’

What shone on his face was pure and honest admiration, so candid it was almost embarrassing.

Dietrich’s eyes didn’t contain the thick, sticky emotions like Baron Godwin’s had.

“The, the master keeps such a be-beautiful woman as a maid…”

“Grand Priest Dietrich Lester.”

At that moment, a cold voice cut off the conversation.

At the icy voice calling his full name, Dietrich jerked his head up and turned to look at Sched.

“I asked you for treatment.”

Sched’s face bore a more murderous look than usual.

At the chilling gaze, the smile that had bloomed on Dietrich’s lips withered.

“Ah, aah. Y-yes…!”

Dietrich hurriedly pushed up his glasses that had slid down his nose bridge and reached out his hand to Riana.

“Ma-may I hold your hand?”

At Dietrich’s request, Riana raised her eyes in startled surprise.

“It’s, it’s for an accurate examination. There’s absolutely no other intention…”

As Riana hesitated, Dietrich added one more thing.

“I’m really fine. My body has recovered a lot…”

Riana tried to force a smile as she drew back, though there was nowhere further to retreat.

But.

“Didn’t you have a high fever just yesterday dawn?”

Sched looked down at her with his arms crossed.

He knew Riana’s condition.

Sched’s cold gaze pulled her onto the judgment seat.

Riana felt as if she were trapped in a perfect iron cage created by the people surrounding her.

There was nowhere left to escape.

Finally, she quietly placed her trembling hand on top of Dietrich’s, like a beast being led to slaughter.

‘Please…’

The Grand Priest’s hand felt as hot as a flame that would burn her.

Strong holy power flowed into her body.

For an instant, the holy power twisted as it collided with the black magic.

A nausea that made her feel like she would vomit at any moment welled up.

Pain spread along the path the holy power traveled, as if her flesh was being scraped with a sharp plow.

The clash of black magic and holy power felt like it would explode inside her at any moment.

Riana endured, biting her lip.

“Hmm, this is strange…”

Dietrich’s eyebrows twisted ungracefully as he examined Riana.

Sched, who had been watching him, stepped forward and asked.

“What’s strange?”

“I, I sense black magic…”

Thud. Her heart sank.

A cold sweat she couldn’t hold back dripped onto the back of her hand.

Of course there was no way to deceive him.

There was no way to hide black magic from a priest…

“Didn’t they say that heretic attacked with black magic? Could it be the effects of that?”

Just then, one of the priests interjected.

Dietrich’s eyes rolled around in the air before settling back on Riana.

Riana tried to compose her pale face.

It felt like her consciousness would snap if she relaxed her tension even a little.

Then Dietrich slowly released her hand.

The pain that had engulfed her retreated in an instant, and she could breathe again.

Riana took measured breaths, trying to calm her burning insides.

“Hmm, that, that could be it.”

Dietrich nodded with a rather serious expression, stroking his chin.

“Your, your name was… Riana, wasn’t it?”

At Dietrich’s question, Riana raised her hazy eyes.

Afraid her trembling voice would give her away if she parted her lips, she nodded.

Dietrich turned his gaze towards Sched.

“I, I don’t think I can heal the wounds caused by black magic with my holy power.”

“You can’t heal it?”

At the Grand Priest’s bold declaration, Sched slowly uncrossed his arms as he watched from behind.

At that languid movement, a nearby priest flinched and took a step back.

The atmosphere was not good.

“Wo-wounds caused by black magic don’t have good compatibility with holy power, so it might actually make things worse.”

Dietrich stammered even more severely, intimidated by Sched’s aura.

“It seems all these priests are just shiny on the outside with nothing inside.”

Sched muttered quietly through gritted teeth.

Though his voice was low, it was clearly meant to be heard.

Unable to stand it any longer, one of the priests stepped forward.

“Duke Lester. Please mind your words.”

No matter how great the ducal family’s authority was, the Grand Priest was not in a position to be treated this way.

Moreover, wasn’t House Ideana in desperate need of the priests’ help right now?

The Duke glanced at the priest with cold eyes.

As if pushed back by that chilling gaze, the priest involuntarily retreated half a step.

“I’m already choosing my words carefully, but should I be even more polite to those who can’t even help?”

The priest seemed to realize he had acted rashly and closed his mouth. He felt that if he added anything more, his head might fly off.

“You all seem quite incompetent here, so I hope you’ll show your competence elsewhere.”

Sched threw a glance towards the door, as if telling the priests to leave.

Dietrich looked at Sched nervously before turning his eyes back to Riana.

Riana maintained a calm face while enduring the internal injuries left by the strong holy power.

“Um, I, I heard that the heretic came looking for Miss Riana… wh-what did the heretic say when they came?”

As if worried Sched might chase them out, Dietrich spoke faster than usual while adjusting his glasses.

Riana swallowed dryly past her sore throat before parting her lips.

“I don’t remember…”

It was a clumsy excuse. But there were no other excuses available.

“You, you don’t remember?”

“That day, I was feeling so unwell… I knew someone was there, but I wasn’t in a state to have a conversation.”

Riana barely managed to speak, suppressing the pain building inside her.

Then the doctor who had accompanied them nodded.

“That’s to be expected. She probably couldn’t even accurately identify who the other person was.”

Indeed, her condition had been so poor that it was miraculous she had even woken up.

Moreover, when the heretic visited, hadn’t she just regained consciousness after being in a coma for days?

It would have been impossible to have a normal conversation with a body suffering from high fever and severe injuries.

“I, I see…”

“Grand Priest Dietrich.”

At that moment, Sched called the Grand Priest’s name as if urging him.

Dietrich sighed deeply at Sched’s threatening call and nodded.

“Ah, I understand… Let’s, let’s look into other matters. Then, may God be with you.”

Dietrich hunched his shoulders and scurried out of the room with the other priests.

Sched watched them leave, then turned his eyes to Riana.

Riana lowered her eyes, feeling guilty towards him, and kept her mouth tightly shut.

“…”

After staring at her for a moment, he promptly turned and left the room.

When everyone following the Duke had left, Riana was left alone in the room.

“Cough, cough…!”

Only then did Riana hurriedly grab a handkerchief nearby, covering her mouth as she coughed.

Bright red blood splattered with the cough, soaking the handkerchief.

She curled up her trembling body and wheezed out shallow breaths.

Her lungs, scraped by the holy power, felt as if they were torn to shreds.

With each breath, it felt like swallowing knives and needles.

She coughed up blood several times, covering her mouth with the handkerchief to prevent the sound from being heard outside.

Until the white handkerchief was soaked red, she was alone.

As she had always been.

She was moved to a small room next to Sched’s bedroom.

Even after that, nights continued where forgotten nightmares came to torment her.

It felt as if her father might open the door at any moment and plunge a knife into her chest.

From the floor, it seemed the hands of the dead might reach out to grab her and drag her down to hell.

But she didn’t cry.

There weren’t enough tears to cry over nightmares or old memories.

Riana just spent sleepless nights, waiting to adapt to the scent of home filling her body.

The funny thing was, she didn’t entirely dislike the painfully familiar scent of home.

Despite experiencing such horrific things, she felt a deep nostalgia for the scenery here.

Even to herself, it was a strange thing.

The warm sunlight of her homeland streaming through the window, the lemon tree buds that had suddenly appeared, the birdsongs familiar from childhood, the unique soft breeze of this place felt on her skin.

Even the orange roofs visible beyond the crumbled white walls were achingly beautiful.

Perhaps the curse placed on her wasn’t just black magic.

She hated the things she loved, and loved the things she hated.

She feared Ideana while pitying it, wanted to run away and stay at the same time.

It was a terrible irony.

“Riana! Are you feeling a bit better today?”

Just then, an overly excited voice woke her.

Turning her head, she saw a maid entering with her meal.

Janette, the red-haired maid, had been in charge of Riana’s meals and small errands since she arrived here.

“It must be so hard and uncomfortable. To be bedridden like this, unable to even get up!”

Janette said in an affected voice as she set the tray down on the bed table.

The excessively loud voice made her throbbing headache worse.

Riana looked at the maid who was making a fuss and smiling with her eyes.

An exaggerated and blatant gaze. An attitude colder than her tone.

Riana knew this type of person well.

‘You mean it’s hard and uncomfortable for us because of you. You must be comfortable just lying in bed… right?’

Riana was clearly disliked.