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“Why is your hair blue? As far as I know, if it’s this bright blue, you should be dead. You’re alive, right? There’s no way a dead mermaid is breathing outside.”
I hardened for a moment, and let go of his hand that touched my body. Phileal was behind my back, his chin almost touching my shoulder.
“Was I right?”
“How, how do you know that?”
“Because I’m also a bishop. I don’t know about ordinary priests, but when you become a second-class bishop, there are many things that God teaches you.”
I was at a loss for words as Phileal speaks shyly. I lifted my hand for a moment and looked back, and he didn’t even step back without noticing. He kept staring at my hair curiously, but no matter how I looked at it, it felt terrifying, like a curious white snake.
Because he was looking as if there was no malice in it. It was such a creepy feeling, as if an innocent little child who knew nothing and wouldn’t do anything bad.
“I want to touch your hair.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“No matter what you ask, I will tell you the truth.”
No matter how, it was clear that this person was different from the normal priests of death. Many of the priests of death that I have seen, heard and experienced had a lack of sociability. As if the part of their brain where they used to communicate with others was completely broken.
Like a collection of sociopaths, not caring of others’ losses if it’s for one’s own gain.
That was basically the usual priests of death that I knew. Such a friendly way of trying to exchange something or requesting a transaction was impossible.
Besides, I thought I now understood why Lewarren had been refusing to tell me anything properly. So I had no options left.
I blew my chance last time, so I’d rather ask now. Obviously, if I used up all my energy on my body, there was a high chance I would faint again.
And today, if possible, I don’t want to faint. Lewarren is sick, so I have to take care of him. Even though Lewarren won’t tell me anything, he’s like family to me.
“Alright.”
At that, he slowly reached out. And then.
“Kyaah! Why are you pulling my hair out!”
“You said you’d let me touch it.”
“I let you touch it, not pull it out!”
“But I don’t want to touch anything that’s sticking to your face.”
“Are you really crazy?”
“Mmh.”
Whenever this happened, I felt especially frustrated that I wasn’t in my original body. Priest of death or whatever, my original body would have broken his wrist the moment he tried to pluck my hair.
I tried to glare at him with anger, but it was to no avail. He was so excited, he flicked his hand and turned on the lights around him. Then he was staring at my hair that was shining below the chandelier.
My hair got pulled out, so my scalp was in a throbbing pain. Then it quickly got better, it was clear that this body received the love of the Goddess of Life.
“Phileal.”
“Hmm?”
“If Kylian brings Lady Anais back to life and kills her again, the priests of death will be abandoned, so are you cooperating?”
“Why do you think so?”
“Of course I think so. The business is over, is there any reason to have a dangerous group of people like you around?”
He still couldn’t take his eyes off my hair. He glanced at this side, smiling innocently, as if holding the holy grail.
“I didn’t put any conditions on which question to answer.”
“

.”
“Still, I want to get close to you, so I’ll tell you.”
“Fine.”
I was about to say something, but I held back. He lowered the hand holding my hair, put my blue hair in the handkerchief in his arms, folded it up, and put it back into his clothes. As I looked at that bizarre act, my eyes met his as he smiled mischievously.
“We will never be abandoned even if Lady Anais comes back to life.”
“Why?”
“I answered once, I won’t answer the second question.”
“Merciless.”
“Yes.”
Phileal was standing behind my back again, so it was obvious that he wouldn’t answer, so I stretched out my hand to my lying original body. His grip on the back of my hand weakened, so it made me feel better. Accustomed to gathering my divine power to my fingertips, he slowly transferred it.
“Lilith.”
“Hmm.”
“Thank you for helping the high priest yesterday.”
He said so and didn’t say anything further.
* * *
Fortunately, I was able to walk out without draining all my energy. The problem was that Kylian came back just as I was about to leave.
“Out of the way, Your Majesty.”
He blocked the door, and when I went to the right, he moved to the left, and when I was to the left, he moved to the right, so we unintentionally continued to stand in each other’s way.
Thanks to that, even though the door was wide, I couldn’t get out of it for a while. Neither was I very happy with this situation, but Kylian was already putting all his displeasure on his face.
“Ack!”
Lilith’s necklace fell from my neck as I squirmed in. Watching the necklace roll at his feet, he bent down to pick it up.
“Don’t!”
Then he kicked it away.
“Are you crazy?”
“

.”
“What the hell are you doing!”
He started ignoring me again. I got angry, but I knew that I wasn’t in any position to be angry. The three of them are no longer on good terms in the same way that they used to be, and the original story got twisted. And Kylian would return to normal only after he revived me and then killed me again.
I walked over to pick up the necklace, which flew away in a flash, and reached out my hand.
“Your Majesty!”
What the heck, Kylian chased after me and trampled on it.
“Are you crazy? You’re not going to remove your feet?”
“You have no shame. You know what this is.”
“Your Majesty is the one who has no shame! How can Your Majesty do this to other people’s things?”
“Other people’s things?”
“Yes!”
He smiled absurdly and gave even more strength to his feet. Along with the popping sound, there was also a squeaking sound as if the necklace had been smashed. The necklace Lilith had was made of citrine.
“It wasn’t yours after all.”
“What do you mean? If I wear it around my neck, it is mine.”
“Somehow your head turned blue and then became a birdbrain altogether. Even the way you speak has become so offensive.”
“What?”
I grabbed his leg to forcibly remove it, but his muscular legs were so heavy that I couldn’t even lift them with my own strength. After he rubbed his foot on what was underneath, he took his foot off, and beneath it were the remains of a horribly broken citrine necklace.
“It’s not enough that you dare to steal the gift that was meant for my wife, yet now you’re so proudly claiming that it’s yours. A birdbrain would be wiser than this.”
“
What?”
“Get her out.”
“
Yes.”
Phileal, who was looking around up until that point, slipped his arm between mine, clamped my shoulders and dragged me out. As I was being dragged out, I looked at Kylian, and he didn’t even look this way, and was covering his face with his big hands as if he was frustrated and was facing the ceiling.
I was dazed as I was dragged down the hallway. I couldn’t believe this was what Kylian originally intended to give me. It couldn’t be. It’s clear that this was just part of his plan to get under my skin. It didn’t make sense that Lilith had a gift that Kylian would give me. Because that good Lilith wasn’t the kind of person to take other people’s things like that.
“Are you okay?”
“Will I be okay?”
I reacted harshly to the question Phileal asked without notice. I woke up properly as he slowly lifted me up. Whenever I looked at the closed door, the anger from before seemed to rise again.
“I don’t know anymore.”
“Lilith?”
“I’m going to my room. Please open the door.”
“Huh? Can’t you open it?”
“I can’t open it.”
The door of the Empress’s Palace is opened only by pressing and releasing divine power after collecting it in the palm of the hand. I can transfer the divine power anywhere in my body, but I couldn’t release it by myself. That means whenever Lewarren was asleep now, I couldn’t go in.
“Ugh
”
“Lilith?”
After staggering for a moment in dizziness, Phileal grabbed my back and stood me up. I didn’t know if I should be thankful or annoyed.
“Thank you. If you intend to pull out all my hair, you have succeeded.”
“Hehehe.”
The hair on the back of my neck was pulled up, and my scalp was sore again. It was fine again soon though. Going back to my room, I took a closer look at Phileal, and he seemed a bit young.
“Why did you become a priest of death?”
“Why are you curious about that?”
“You said you wanted to be close with me.”
“Right. So are you curious?”
“Yes.”
Of course, I thought I could get more accurate information by using him. I thought it would be difficult to ask it from the sick Lewarren.
“I wished to kill my father.”
“What?”
“The god of death gives you different powers depending on what you offer. You know that.”
“Yes
”
I stopped walking in surprise, looked at him, and he was smiling. I don’t think it’s a conversation to be had with a smile.
He was bigger than me, so even though he looked like an adult, the expression on his face was like a child, so I felt strange.
“I hated my father. He had beat my mother every day.”
“

.”
“I got hit every day, but it was tolerable for me to get hit. I am very strong.”
I had to say something because I seemed to have asked something I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t open my mouth. The sun was shining around the Empress’ Palace, so the surroundings were not dark. I felt strange because I could clearly see him smiling like the sun.
“Then I came back from an errand sent by my mother, and found out that my father had killed my mother. So I ran to the god of death that way and offered my soul. My father was the price for my strength.”
“You
.”
“Of course, I did the final thing myself. I had to follow the procedure to bring my father and offer him as a sacrifice.”
“

.”
“Thanks to that, back then, I just came of age, but I became the second bishop.”
“

.”
“I have no regrets. Now I know that my mother sent me an errand because she was afraid I might get hit. My only regret is that I didn’t become a priest of death any sooner. If I had sacrificed my father right away, my mother would still be alive.”
What he said was baffling to hear, but I couldn’t tell whether these words were true or false because he just kept smiling. But considering the weight of the power the god of death gave Phileal, it didn’t seem like he was lying.
“By the way, how are you feeling? Anais Percival?”
“What?”
“How does it feel to be in someone else’s body?”