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It sounded like a dog had barked from somewhere. Rachel felt faint.
She turned her head to look at Priest Peace. She looked like she was also at a loss for words.
“You thought sister was cheating just because of that?”
She, an advocate of peace, asked him in a way as if she thought his excuse was outrageous. Then he answered.
“It’s not just that. There was never a teenage daughter in our family tree.”
A teenage daughter. Considering that it took about 20 years for a person to become a young man, that would have been at least 200 years. During all those years, no daughters were born in the family, and for this reason Henry believed that no daughters could ever be born within the Emporuses.
‘Is that possible?’
Rachel tilted her head in bewilderment.
‘Ancestors, the Y chromosome worked hard.’
The male chromosome determined the se* of the offspring.
Females have XX chromosomes and males have XY chromosomes, where females unconditionally provide an X chromosome, males provide either an X or Y.
‘If only sons were born for more than 200 years, wouldn’t there be something wrong with this family’s genes?’
Rachel tilted her head to the side once more.
“It has become the norm for so long until father’s generation.”
Rachel said to herself. Priest Peace and Henry looked at her.
“But this is a world where divine power, magic, and black magic existed. It wouldn’t be strange if there was magic that could make it so only boys would be born.”
“Miss Rachel?”
Rachel did not hear Priest Peace calling her.
As she organized her thoughts, she came to a conclusion.
“Then father must have doubted mother since I was born?”
Rachel stared fiercely at her father. He quietly avoided his daughter’s eyes as she stared at him with eyes of the same color as his wife’s.
Then he turned his head towards Rachel again and approached.
“Please don’t tell your mother!”
He asked in a desperate voice. Rachel crossed her arms.
It was the first time Henry had looked like this. This man, who could express his feelings like this, thought Rachel was not his daughter and always treated her cold-heartedly.
‘Were you always in the capital because you didn’t want to see me?’
Rachel contorted her lips at seeing this new side of Henry. Tch. A sound leaked from her lips.
“I have a condition.”
Their relationship was already broken anyway. Rachel had no intention of being a good daughter in front of him.
Then she should use him. She will use Henry as a stepping stone towards her future.
“What condition?”
“I mentioned uncle earlier, right?”
“I wanted to ask about that too.”
As they were speaking in front of the bedroom door, she could hear the conversation between the father and daughter. Priest Peace did not hide her curiosity.
“I couldn’t tell my parents because it’s a shocking story. Among the futures I have seen, there is a future where my uncle kills me. But I don’t know why. Does father know why?”
“There’s no way! My brother cares about you.”
“That’s how acting works.”
You even fooled us, didn’t you? Henry bit his lip tightly at Rachel’s cold eyes. She soon opened her mouth again.
“I don’t know. I don’t know why he’s going to kill you.”
‘Does father really not know anything?’
“But didn’t father realize it too? The curse mediums we saw today. Who else can hide it in the mansion?”
“Even servants and maids can do that!”
“Well let’s see? Wouldn’t it be noticeable if they, who were just employees, did something like that? Father, let’s be honest with each other. I’m not doing this for nothing, if this continues, mother will die.”
His black pupils shook. He doubted his wife, but nevertheless, he loved her terribly.
Though he thought she wasn’t his daughter, he couldn’t hate Rachel, who looked like Evelyn. But every time he saw his daughter, suspicions arose, and he became distressed, so he stayed longer in the capital than in the mansion.
A good way to quell his doubts about his wife was to devote himself to his work.
If Rachel knew what he felt, she would dismiss it as the sound of a dog barking, but he loved his wife that much. Even though he distanced himself from her, he could never have imagined her death.
In the midst of his silence, Priest Peace touched the holy relic hanging around her neck.
“It’s something we can’t overlook.”
“Sister Evelyn had been so lovely. Who would want to kill her?”
Slender fingers crept up behind Rachel and brushed her neck and collarbones.
Rachel felt goosebumps.
The Priest Peace she had seen up until now was the epitome of kindness and gentleness. But now, she felt like a sharpened blade.
“Sister Evelyn gave up a lot for love. I want her to live happily ever after.”
Priest Peace was standing behind Rachel, so she couldn’t see the priest’s face. But she felt the sincerity in her voice.
‘It’s real! This is true love.’
Regardless of Rachel’s inner feelings, her words continued.
“But she’s going to die? Why?”
‘If I knew that, I wouldn’t be doing this, would I?’
Rachel responded by shaking her head from side to side to the question coming from behind her.
“I don’t know. Mother’s death is unclear, so all I know is that she will die in two years.”
Rachel turned around to face Priest Peace. She then spewed the truth mixed in with her lies.
“So we need a high priest who can use divine powers.”
Not everyone who believed in God could use divine powers.
She needed a high priest to treat wounds and use purification techniques.
“I need money to make them stay for about three years, but my father’s salary is not enough.”
Rachel didn’t care how Henry took what she meant.
“So I want to make a lot of money by trading with merchants with my ability to see ominous futures.”
Rachel had knowledge of the future. Information such as an upcoming famine or what will happen to the future king.
In her 13th round, she tried to work at Paris Emporus’ merchant guild and wanted to use that knowledge to make money, but she failed.
So, shouldn’t she work for the rival merchant of Paris Emporus this time and give him information to make money?
While she fed Paris Emporus big lies.
“You don’t have to.”
Priest Peace said in a firm voice. She was smiling. Rachel tilted her head to the side, not understanding the meaning of her smile and asked.
“Pardon?”
“As a priest, I can’t stand idly by as someone goes after sister’s life.”
“How are you going to help? Our donations will not be enough.”
“Why are we talking about donations to help sister?”
She asked casually.
The temple receives donations from those who seek priests and dispatches them. The higher the priest’s rank, the higher the donation.
Of course, Rachel thought rightly so.
“The priest has to help a lot of people. I didn’t think you would act just for my mother.”
“I never said I would stay here, did I?”
She wanted to ask what she was thinking, but then she heard a knock.
Priest Peace opened the door and saw a maid.
“Guest, dinner is…… Master and the lady were here too. Dinner is ready.”
She had originally gone to the study and to Rachel’s room before stopping by Priest Peace’s room, so she was relieved to see the two here and told them what she came for.
“We’ll be down in a minute. I will take the guest. You can go first.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The maid slowly stepped back and closed the door. The sound of her footsteps moved to the guest room next to them.
Priest Peace walked over to the door and said,
“Then let’s go have dinner first.”
The conversation wasn’t over, but Rachel and Henry couldn’t stop her. They couldn’t possibly make the guest late for dinner.
“Let’s talk again later. Father.”
“As you wish.”
***
“We need to catch the black magician.”
As they were asked if the meal was to their taste, Priest Peace suddenly brought it up.
“An evil being is targeting you.”
A curse is a type of black magic. In other words, if a curse was directed at Evelyn, it meant that a black magician was targeting her.
“Sister, what is she saying?”
“Just shut up.”
Her ignorant brother, Deino, pulled the hem of Rachel’s dress and asked what she was talking about, but Rachel motioned for him to be quiet.
“The opponent will not stop with just this. You are strong, but you cannot sense evil energy.”
“Right. I have no talent for that.”
“So I want Enoch to stay in this mansion. Because this kid will know right away when something evil lurks around.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to the silver-haired boy who was eating next to Priest Peace.
His skills were confirmed by everyone except Deino. They saw the brilliance that he emanated whilst he prayed to God. They had no doubts about his skills.
If he stays there, he will immediately notice curse incidents when they happen. Catching the culprit would be a bonus.
Regardless of Rachel’s concerns, Priest Peace gave an answer.
“Black magicians are those who wield power that God prohibits. We must catch them.”
The temple has a duty to punish the black magicians who made contracts with the devil.
“I agree.”
Henry muttered sternly.
“Therefore, sister. You must already be aware that he uses a sword anyway. May I ask that you guide Enoch’s swordsmanship?”
The table shook slightly. Rachel saw Enoch clenching his fork and knife looking at Evelyn. He looked happy at the moment.
At this point, she wondered about Evelyn’s identity.
‘How the hell are you so good at swordsmanship?’
When Enoch first came here, he didn’t care when he saw Evelyn, but his attitude changed after her name was revealed. It sounded like Evelyn’s name was known throughout the temple.
“He already has the basics down, and he’s walking his own path.”
“I would like to request for sparring, please!”
Enoch raised his voice for the first time at the table. Evelyn looked at Enoch’s face and then her husband’s.
After repeatedly tapping the table with her index finger without a word, Evelyn finally nodded her head.
“I see. Then I will be your sparring partner while you stay in the mansion and serve.”
The boy’s face was dyed with a broad smile.
The intended purpose of allowing the priest to stay has been achieved.
‘I have to meet Abyss next.’
She initially wanted to raise money to cover the cost of inviting a priest.
However, since she learned that her enemy was Paris Emporus, she had to meet Abyss.
She didn’t know why, but Paris Emporus was after her.
If left as is, he will become a count after a year and it will be easier for him to target her.
‘He was the one who hid the cursed objects in the mansion. Did he curse mother because she would prevent him from taking me?’
Henry spent more days away from home. If he was aiming for her, then Evelyn would be the one getting in his way.
‘That’s why!’
Her gaming brain came up with a plausible hypothesis.
“Rachel, we have guests but you’re showing terrible dining manners.”
Rachel then looked at herself. She unwittingly pulled the tablecloth to her excitement.
The food was pulled in front of her and the plates were about to fall.
“I’m sorry.”
Deino giggled beside her when he saw his sister being scolded.
“Deino, help your sister.”
Soon he heard Evelyn’s nagging and pushed the plates that were about to fall off the table.
Enoch, sitting opposite her, pulled the tablecloth towards him, and the food that had been directed toward Rachel moved to the center.
“Thank you.”
Enoch nodded his head in response to Rachel’s gratitude.
“By the way, mother, I decided to go to the capital with father this time!”