“Rona?”

The butler seemed troubled at the mention.

“Where is Rona?”

“She has not returned yet.”

Ileon spoke in a matteroffact tone.

“She might be purposely killing time somewhere.”

He was catching on. Initially, when she was sent down to do housework, she went without any suspicion to do the work that her employer ordered. However, from some point, she started coming late and only came in after his fits had stopped.

“Send some people to Cafe Cardinal. Two, maybe three. If she’s not at the cafe, have them look around.”

“Yes. I will do that.”

Cafe Cardinal was only a fiveminute walk from the Grand Duke’s house. Sending escorts seemed a bit excessive, but there was no reason for the butler to resist the Duke’s command.

As Bernar disappeared to call the escort knights, Ileon let out a long sigh.

Lonely.

Lying on the cozy bed in the mansion, completely isolated from the world’s troubles, he was thrown alone into severe pain.

What an ironic solitude.

When he opened his eyes, he yearned for Rona, who had soothed such feelings.

He wanted to push her away because she might feel sad seeing him writhe in pain, but when the fit was over, he wanted to feel her compassionate touch. Truly, his feelings were contradictory.

What about his old self? Perhaps he would have felt insulted if someone pitied or sympathized with him.

Now it was different. Such feelings were based on understanding and empathy.

From some point, he was not satisfied with Rona providing perfect service as a maid. He wanted to get closer, to touch her. When he thought of Rona, he felt a hardtodefine lack, similar to mental hunger.

Unconsciously, Ileon licked his lips. A bitter taste of blood rose from his rough, cracked lips. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Nevertheless, he believed that Rona, she would gently wet a cloth with water and place it in his mouth.

Having sent her out so she wouldn’t have to see him suffer, he wished she could be by his side when he came to.

“Rona is not a pendulum.”

What did it mean to expect her to know whether he was conscious or having a fit?

And yet, it was true that he felt increasingly anxious in Rona’s absence.

Then it happened.

His eyeballs felt as if they were on fire.

“Ah!”

The pain he felt when he let his guard down, thinking the fit had ended, was more horrifying than a stab wound. Moreover, this was the first time he felt this kind of pain.

“Bernar! Bernar! Ah…”

At Ileon’s groaning, Bernar rushed in.

“Your Highness! Are you okay!”

“Is there… fire in my eyes?”

“That… that can’t be.”

Listening to the butler’s flustered voice, Ileon thought that couldn’t be.

He could clearly feel his eyeballs melting like candles and flowing out.

“That’s not possible. My eyeballs are melting and flowing out.”

“Your Highness. Your Highness. That’s not true.”

The butler was on the verge of tears.

“Tears are flowing.”

“Gasp.”

As Ileon groaned in pain, the butler swallowed his tears and wet a towel in his mouth. So began another long fit.

Moving into a more secluded room, Rona blinked her eyes.

Only the Duchess of Uter and Iris remained in the room with her. Using two large mirrors, Rona saw the back of her body. On the underwear that exposed her back and shoulders, there was a strange spot near her left shoulder blade that she didn’t realize she had until now.

Five circles were arranged in a circle like petals, and a small pentagon was drawn in red in the center.

“What is this? A tattoo?”

At Rona’s question, Iris took off her robe and showed her back.

“Ah!”

The exact same thing was on her back. Her skin tone was darker, so the pink symbol on Rona’s body was closer to red.

“It’s a stigma.”

Iris put her robe back on.

“It’s a sign of a priestess. It appears near the heart to signify that you’ve become a servant of the god. Most people have the mark on their back.”

“Appears?”

Iris nodded.

“Can’t you really remember anything?”

This time it was Rona’s turn to nod.

“When you complete your training and officially become a priestess, the god engraves it directly.”

“God engraves it?”

“Yes. It appears automatically after the ceremony.”

“Hmm.”

It was simply amazing. Now it feels like I’m in a novel. Until now, I had no opportunity to learn about these settings as I was always at home with Elleon. Of course, I didn’t have the occasion to scrutinize my naked body in the mirror while taking a bath. Even though a year had passed since I got reincarnated, I never knew I had something like this on my body.

However, Duchess Euter and Iris were distressed by the loss of their memories of Elishia, who they were sure they knew.

‘Did the original Elishia die then?’

That’s why I got reincarnated here?

And Elishia keeps mentioning that she’s a priestess, but I never heard the voice of God.

“Uh, Iris.”

When Lona called her name, Iris, who was sullen, brightened up. She seemed happy to hear her name from her, even though she knew she didn’t remember her.

“As a priestess, do you hear the voice of God too?”