The High Priest left the room and walked along the corridor, with Rukna Golden following behind him.

“I see.”

“Why does your expression look like that?”

How did he see my expression without even turning around? Rukna pouted her lips.

“I’m tired from having to do the rites on top of all the work I have to do.”

“Do you want to quit?”

The High Priest asked, turning around as they reached the front of the office.

“What?”

“Actually, I want to retire too. This position isn’t easy. Shall we quickly promote Jerome to High Priest and go down to the countryside together to farm?”

“Together? Even if I quit being a priestess, I want to live comfortably in the capital.”

“You haven’t been able to let go of worldly desires.”

“Yes, I’m completely immersed in them. So please give me a raise. The donations have increased a lot thanks to me.”

Especially the offensive from the Wiegratz Grand Ducal House was tremendous.

Whenever the Grand Duke and Duchess visited the temple, I heard that a new temple building was built each time.

“If your ancestors heard this, they would lament.”

“What do you mean? They would praise me for being precise with the numbers.”

“Oh, God.”

The High Priest made the sign of the cross. Whenever he runs out of things to say, he always does that, Rukna grumbled.

“Would you really quit if the salary remains the same?”

“Who said I’m really quitting? I’ll stick around until you send me back, Your Eminence.”

“Send you back? You don’t mean… to Ertha?”

“It was a joke.”

Rukna smiled brightly, bowed to say goodbye, and left.

The High Priest’s gaze on her back was hotter than expected, but she didn’t look back.

And she walked along the east corridor. Only the lonely sound of footsteps echoed in the silent hallway. Rukna closed her eyes. The rites.

‘You must have grown up too.’

The heartbeat she once heard against Matian’s back echoed in her ears instead of footsteps.

Her flushed cheeks must be because of the warmth she felt leaning against that back.

‘If the feeling I have for you wasn’t guilt.’

She probably would have wanted to bury her face in his embrace forever.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Please stop with the fasting prayers. Your Eminence gets sensitive and it’s hard on Jerome too.”

Rukna combed the High Priest’s silver hair and placed the long crown on top of his head.

It gave her a headache that the High Priest would go on a fasting prayer whenever there was a group event. It was like having a sensitive person on a diet by your side.

“Are you provoking me now?”

“Eat this first.”

Rukna grabbed a handful of almonds and put them directly into the High Priest’s mouth.

The High Priest chewed and ate the almonds she gave him. His soft lips touched her fingers each time, but it wasn’t unpleasant, like feeding a pet.

“You just treated me like a pet, didn’t you?”

“Pardon?”

Rukna widened her eyes, inwardly feeling guilty.

“Anyways. You should know I let it slide because you’re pretty. A grown man should know to be careful.”

The High Priest looked straight at Rukna, lightly bit her finger with his lips, then let go.

The bitten finger didn’t hurt, but it strangely became hot.

Rukna quickly pulled her finger out and shook her hand, startled. That’s when a sharp gaze poured this way.

‘An attack?’

Surprised, Rukna grabbed the club leaning against the wall and quickly turned around.

Her neatly draped platinum blonde hair and the hem of her white dress followed the owner a beat late.

There was no one there. Only the fishy smell of blood lingered very faintly.

‘What on earth was that.’

“Probably some kid drowning in jealousy.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. Shall we go in then?”

The High Priest held out his hand to Rukna, requesting an escort.

She couldn’t even slap that pretty face. Rukna sighed, took his hand, and guided him to the ritual room.

[This is the timeline separator]

Numerous young ladies and gentlemen came out one by one to receive the rites.

A total of 240, I think. There were unusually many people because last year’s coming-of-age ceremony was postponed.

Rukna was wearing a pure white dress and holding a silver tray containing holy water.

Bolton, who had his hair heavily greased, was sitting in the back, but when he spotted Rukna, he ran over and took the front seat. His naive eyes welled up with tears.

“You look so much like the rascal. Less pretty than the rascal though…”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Then, when the other young gentlemen complained that they couldn’t see the front, he scratched his head and was pushed back to the rear seat.

Aaron was nowhere to be seen. The nomads would hold their own coming-of-age ceremony on the Golden Plains.

In addition, piercing gazes poured onto Rukna’s face. In a way, they were grateful gazes, meaning they hadn’t forgotten her.

However, to prevent the situation from getting complicated, Rukna lowered her lace veil to cover her face.

The rites were nearing the end. But Matian had not come yet.

‘Why isn’t he coming? At this rate, the ceremony will end.’

Rukna carefully examined the congregation. Someone with Matian’s height and appearance should stand out at a glance, but he was nowhere to be seen.

He wasn’t the type to break a promise. Especially not for such a big event.

Rukna briefly left the altar and began searching the temple.

Could it be that the demon’s fragment went out of control and he collapsed somewhere? She felt uneasy inside.

At that moment, Jodro was walking from the opposite direction, carrying a basket full of towels.

As soon as his eyes met Rukna’s, he turned his head sharply.

Perhaps because he owed her a big favor during the pilgrimage, he didn’t bother Rukna, but he didn’t acknowledge her either.

“Jodro.”

“Wh-what.”

Jodro stammered and avoided Rukna’s gaze. Why was he acting like that?

“Have you seen Matian Wiegratz by any chance?”

“S-seen him. He told me to bring these towels…”

“Towels? Where on earth is he?”

“In the waiting room.”

The waiting room was a place set up for believers to groom themselves neatly or wash briefly before entering the temple.

It was strange for him to be in the waiting room when the rites were almost over.

“Give me that. I’ll go see him.”

Rukna pulled the basket Jodro was holding. But he wouldn’t let go of the basket.

“Wh-what are you going to do, entering the waiting room alone where a man is by himself? He’s a knight who can beat monsters with his bare hands.”

“So what?”

“Since when does a priestess go alone to a place where a man is? You should keep your body and behavior in check. Huh?”

Suddenly, Jodro staggered. He lost the tug-of-war with Rukna and had the basket snatched away.

“You should keep your own body and behavior in check first.”

Rukna pointed her chin at Jodro’s disheveled priestly robes from staggering greatly, then headed to the waiting room.

What a ridiculously strong woman! I was worried about you and this is what I get! Criticism flew at the back of her head, but Rukna neatly ignored it.

[This is the timeline separator]

At that moment.

Matian, wearing only pants, was sitting on a chair in the waiting room, wiping his body with a wet cloth.

Every time he moved his arms, his densely woven muscles wriggled.

Perhaps because of the bloodstains from his wounds, his appearance looked even more crude.

On the makeshift table lay his blood-soaked shirt and ceremonial robe, thrown carelessly.

He was always the type to neatly fold his clothes, but he had thrown them in irritation as complicated emotions rose to the top of his head.

“Damn it.”

Everything was a mess. He couldn’t even finish the battle he had started in order to arrive here on time.

The voice of the knight commander, who was excited to say he would take credit this time, grated on his nerves.

And look at this filthy body. If he had known, he should have hurried a bit more.

Greedily leading the battle as he pleased and ending up standing in front of Rukna looking like a beggar was an outcome he hadn’t calculated.

When he finally arrived at the temple wearing a new shirt after many twists and turns, he saw Rukna being friendly with the High Priest.

They were pure white and shining without a single dirty corner. Rukna was smiling happily even at the High Priest’s mischievous teasing.

The devout scent lingering in the temple overlapped with her smile. Meanwhile, the stench of rot vibrated from him who had come through piles of corpses.

So he ran straight to the waiting room and scrubbed his body. He was anxious.

He, who had lived a life handling everything according to plan without deviating much from expectations, now couldn’t even properly carry out a single rites ceremony.

[If you had heeded my advice, you wouldn’t have been late.]

The holy sword babbled to Matian. Veins bulged on the arm of Matian, who was silently wiping his body.

[No matter how much merit you accumulate, Rukna Closet isn’t interested. You’d be better off buying her some rabbit-shaped bread. She’d like that more, no?]

“Shut up before I break your body.”

Matian grumbled, throwing the wet towel to the floor.

At that moment, he sensed a presence outside the door.

Was it the priest who had asked him to bring more towels? But the footsteps treading the floor were lighter than his.

Damn it. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

Matian sighed with his back turned to her.

The sound of water sloshing in the basin on the waiting room floor was heard, and a wet towel touched his back.

Rukna began wiping his back.

“Matian Wiegratz, you’ve been hurt a lot.”

She muttered, looking at the wounds inflicted by the monsters. Her small hands moved along the torn flesh, infusing divine power.

Usually, being attacked by monsters would leave contamination, but Matian’s prognosis was good.

It was possible because of the holy relics that protected him, hanging around his neck.

“What kind of man wears so many accessories? Isn’t your neck heavy?”

All three silver necklaces were holy relics that Rukna had made by infusing divine power.

“You should have worn the holy relics made by the High Priest. The ones I made are clumsy and can’t even block a single attack. How can someone called a hero be so careless?”

Rukna nagged and fiddled with the silver chains around his neck.

“Enough. Stop it.”

Matian avoided her touch as if afraid she would take them away, and picked up his shirt.

Then Rukna slapped his back.

“You know very well that leaving wounds inflicted by monsters alone is bad, and yet you’re doing something like this!”

“Ha, making a fuss over nothing.”

“There’s reason to make a fuss. You don’t usually get hurt.”

He was someone who could face dozens of monsters without a single scratch. Just how terrible were the monsters to inflict such wounds?

“I was careless for a moment.”

In fact, he had been injured trying to protect the holy relics from the monsters, but he couldn’t be honest, thinking Rukna would immediately confiscate the relics if she knew.

He had no intention of letting the relics be taken away. Even if the other party was the one who made them.

“Careless, my foot. You must have been thinking about something else.”

Rukna grumbled that it was obvious without even looking, and finished wiping his back with the towel.

The body that had grown even more stalwart since she last saw him belonged not to a youth, but to a full-fledged man.

‘Anyways, what a hateful guy. What does he eat to make his back so broad?’