The raging power was completely different from what I had absorbed from other priests.
Until now, the power of the priest seemed calm and quiet, as if it existed and did not exist.
When it rained, I would ‘use’ that power.
As if using muscles to wield the power, putting it into eloquent words.
It seemed impossible to say that such a thing was alive.
But this was alive. Bundled up with hatred, seemingly moving only with hatred, but still alive.
That was the only way to express it.
“Hate. I hate you so much…”
The child sobbed. It was hard to understand.
The power of the priest was Marta’s blessing.
Why would the blessing of a god hate humans…
“Hate. Hate…”
It would be good if I could hear an answer.
The voice in my head, as if it only knew that humans were hateful, repeated the words of hatred.
My vision blurred. Aris, who had wriggled like a bug, came to mind.
Would I end up like that too?
If the rain didn’t stop, would the kingdom really be submerged in water?
People who bowed and greeted with faces wet with tears and rain passed through my mind. Then strength entered my lips.
“Darn it. I can’t die like this.”
When I tried to get up with all my strength at that moment…
My forearm was hot. When I turned my dim eyes slightly, I saw a thick, large hand firmly attached to my arm.
“Wake up!”
His voice, which had been blurry as if my blocked ears were pierced, became clear.
All my nerves focused on him. More precisely, on his hand holding me.
‘Warm…’
I felt a thorn of coldness.
I stared at him with newly opened eyes.
A man from the desert.
Embracing the heat of the sun.
“Are you okay?”
Thud. I grabbed his hand like a lifeline.
‘I have to move when my body is okay.’
I forcibly shook my trembling lips.
“Let’s get out of this mansion for now. We have to leave. Quickly.”
When animals are in danger, they tend to go to what they instinctively consider the safest place. Humans are the same. They instinctively avoid danger zones.
My mind was full of thoughts of leaving this place.
The Lorenst Viscount’s mansion was where I grew up, but it was never a refuge.
“Where to?”
“Oh, anywhere. Just not here.”
Feeling anxious, I tightly grasped Giovanni’s sleeve.
He didn’t ask any more questions and moved his body.
Unlike before, it wasn’t embarrassing or awkward to be in his arms. Now, just him supporting me was difficult.
Giovanni, who had lifted me onto the horse tied to the stable earlier, climbed on behind me.
I held onto him, my body slipping due to exhaustion.
“We’re going to the palace.”
I closed my eyes.
The coldness lurking inside my body was like a monster waiting for an opportunity. If Giovanni disappeared, it would quickly appear and overturn me.
I tightened my grip on Giovanni’s wrist, wary of the coldness hidden within me.
I opened my blurry eyes. There was a slight movement under my buttocks. I was on a horse.
Soon, I realized that I was wrapped in Giovanni’s cloak.
Thud.
I saw the rain falling through the open cloak.
‘Has the rain weakened a bit?’
I checked my condition. It’s more stable than before.
‘Even if two more priests go berserk, the kingdom will be submerged in water. It’s strange that no one knows about this dangerous situation. People in the kingdom don’t seem to know much about this power. Why is that? According to the temple murals, there was a tribe that harmed the gods. Yes, the god died at that time. The records might have been lost due to the blasphemous event…’
Thud!
My heart swelled up and then sank.
Soon, immense pain surged in.
My waist broke.
“Heu…”
“Igraine?”
I couldn’t even groan; I just opened my mouth. My heart was beating so fast that it was frightening. My face twisted.
‘Why all of a sudden?’
We were so close to the palace.
“Just a moment…”
In the end, unable to endure any longer, I managed to say something. Giovanni turned my head to check my face.
“Can’t you hold on?”
I nodded.
“We need to find a doctor.”
Giovanni, who was holding me as I slumped, tightened his grip. Beyond his rigid shoulder, I saw a familiar sight.
A sharply pointed and high roof that seemed to touch the sky. A white wall so pale it was almost translucent.
A grand and silent presence that wouldn’t give any hint even if I hid.
I was instinctively drawn to it. That seemed like the way to survive.
“Let’s go there…!”
Turning my head to check the building, Giovanni furrowed his brows.
In the rain, a pointed and white building was boldly reaching out.
The central temple was located in the pouring rain.
The temple was quiet.
“It’s pouring outside, but it’s strangely quiet here.”
It was a torrential rain that flooded the river.
If it was a temple with water flowing underground, it would have overflowed by now, but the inside of the temple was clean, and the water on the floor didn’t overflow.
Although it was raining lightly, it only seeped in. As if it had escaped from this curse alone.
“Over there, they won’t notice, people.”
I pointed to the prayer room.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
