/
‘I’m sure the Saint asked to meet after sunset, right?’
Fortunately, after rushing to get ready, there was still some time left. So Damia decided to go out a little earlier, as was the custom of Northerns, and wait.
The meeting place was the ‘Hall of Faith.’ It was a prayer chamber in the royal palace, constructed at the suggestion of the ‘devout’ nobility faction who followed the High Temple.
‘It’s proof that the neoclassical aristocrats are gaining power.’
Conceivably Crown Prince Heinrich wanted to get rid of this ‘Hall of Faith’ somehow. And it was the same for Damia.
To implement this, she hastened her steps even further. A long shadow suddenly blocked her as she was heading to her meeting place.
“Damia.”
“… … It’s a surprise to see you here.”
Damia, startled, patted her heart in an attempt to calm down. Then, she retorted to the tall young man standing in her way.
“You surprised me, Kael. What’s going on?”
Was it because she was thinking of Akkard before leaving the mansion? For a moment, she thought it was him, and her heart leaped.
Damia felt lucky that it wasn’t him but Kael, but was puzzled.
‘Why are you here anyway? Did the Saint send you to meet me?’
Damia now thoroughly regarded him as an appendage of the Saint. In fact, Kael acted like that too.
However, it seems he had come to Damia for another purpose.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?”
Kael asked in a low voice while looking around nervously. She would have gladly accepted the proposition before, but now was not the time.
“A minute.”
Damia took out her pocket watch with a formal attitude. And quietly shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to meet the Saint soon. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”
She thought that Kael would back down if she said this. It would be outrageous to dare to make his Saint wait.
“It really only takes a moment.”
But instead of retreating, Kael took her hand and pulled her along a little off the path.
“What are you doing, Kael?”
Damia frowned and twisted the hand he held. She felt offended that Kael’s manner indicated that he thought she was still conscious of him.
He released her hand and raised an unexpected question:
“What are you doing with Callistea today?”
“Didn’t she tell you?”
Damia asked, puzzled. Instead of answering, he shut his mouth and blushed. Seeing this, Damia was even more surprised.
“You really haven’t heard anything from the Saint?”
Then, he bit his lips hard.
Far from giving him even a hint, Callistea dismissed him from his position of being her guard this morning. And she even drove him away, telling him to return to the North.
‘From today on, others will take over your duties, Sir Kael. I’m sorry, but please return to the High Temple.’
‘What? Callistea-nim, what… … .’
Her words were like a bolt from the blue. He turned white. He had literally sacrificed everything for Callistea.
Leaving behind all the pleasures of the world, he joined the Holy Paladin Order, and at her command, he risked his life to rescue Cesare.
‘But now, she tells me to go back to the High Temple!’
Kael protested vehemently, but Callistea avoided his gaze and ordered him firmly.
‘Sorry. But if you are truly devoted to me, do as I say.’
Of course, Kael, who was only a paladin, dared not refuse her orders.
Moreover, next to Callistea, other holy knights of the High Temple arrived at dawn yesterday. Therefore, if Kael did not leave, she could very well use force to banish him.
So Kael was pushed to go back to his room and pack his things. But when he was about to leave, he couldn’t bear to go.
So, he held onto Damia, hoping she would tell him what was happening. Fortunately, quick-witted Damia noticed the peculiar air in his silence.
‘It seems that there is something wrong with the Saint.’
She had noticed that although Kael was wholly devoted and displayed overflowing loyalty, it seemed that he was not trusted. So he tried to exaggerate his dedication and demonstrate it to the Saint.
‘He used me in the process.’
It seemed that he really only had Callistea in his head. Damia realized it in her bones and smiled bitterly.
Apparently, the boy she had loved, as sweet as sunshine, had disappeared entirely. So she didn’t feel guilty about lying to Kael’s face.
“Sorry, the Saint told me not to tell anyone else.”
She shrugged, mumbling, ‘Wasn’t he close to her?’ It was a statement that sealed his lips even further, and he could not give an answer.
But he couldn’t step down like this. So he asked about the issue that troubled him the most and had been on his mind all along.
“Then tell me just one thing, Damia. What is Cesare… … What’s his relationship with Callistea-nim?”
Maybe Damia, his step-sister, would know. He had hoped for an answer, but she calmly denied it with a smile.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know either.”
She had guesses, but it was still an unconfirmed conjecture. So she couldn’t tell Kael.
‘I still have to watch my tongue.’
Pretending to be clueless and innocent, she lowered her gaze and checked her pocket watch. Now it was really time to meet Callistea.
“Kael, I really have to go now.”
“… … .”
“Kael?”
Something felt odd. Damia looked up at him and was about to scrutinize his expression. But suddenly, strong hands grabbed her shoulders and shook her back and forth, shouting:
“You liar!! Tell me—tell me now!!”
“Wh—what? Have you gone insane?!”
“Do you think I don’t know what you’re up to? Damia, you—You’re doing this on purpose to hijack the relationship between me and Callistea-nim!!