Chapter 08
After hearing his next words, I came back to my senses, turned around, rummaged through the papers, and handed him the congratulatory address.
Even in the original story, he had been a mysterious and secretive person, but in reality, he was even harder to deal with.
I could never tell what he was thinking from his eyes, and the atmosphere radiating from him constantly made me feel tense.
A cool breeze blew in through the slightly open window. I could see his long eyelashes flutter slightly.
“……”
After a brief silence, Rayhas lifted his head from the congratulatory address and looked at me. Somehow, I felt a cold chill in his eyes.
Just as I hesitated, wondering if I had done something wrong, that chill disappeared as if it had never existed. It was such a fleeting feeling that I wondered if I had simply imagined it.
He parted his red lips.
“……Excellent.”
It was clearly a compliment, but there was something strangely subdued about his voice that made me uneasy.
“Was something wrong?”
“No. It’s just…… you have grown considerably. Your writing style is so different that I would believe it if someone told me you were a completely different person.”
I answered without showing my surprise.
“I only slightly altered sentences I saw in books.”
I had my own reasons for acting this way. I needed to avoid making him suspicious. In truth, I could have written something much better, but that was exactly why I copied passages from books.
Rayhas glanced at the book my fingertip was pointing toward, 『Collection of Imperial Banquet Addresses』, and spoke.
“I see. In any case, this is much better than the love letter you wrote last time.”
Of course. Even if I had written it with my feet, it should have been better than that.
A moment later, he gave a faint smile.
“However, it seems there was a small disturbance at the library some time ago.”
I felt a subtle tension as I looked at him.
I had perhaps overreacted a little because of Hans’s shameless attitude, and it seemed the matter had reached Rayhas’s ears.
“Yes. I went there to borrow books for writing the address, and I saw the son of Baron Lazyfield harassing a trainee priestess. As the Saintess, I simply gave him a warning.”
In situations like this, it was better to be honest rather than stumble around in confusion.
“It seems I may have gone a little too far.”
At the end, I added a foolish smile that suited Ariel.
“He has been expelled.”
But I inhaled sharply at Rayhas’s words that immediately followed.
“Not only Hans Lazyfield, but every believer of the Lazyfield family.”
His eyes were cold, without even the slightest trace of a smile.
“Ah……”
I tried my best to control my expression, but his voice continued.
“If something disrespectful like this happens again, tell me immediately. I will take appropriate action.”
[The God of Knowledge, Hesed, carefully analyzes Rayhas.]
A moment later, another sentence appeared.
[The God of Knowledge, Hesed, becomes wary of Rayhas.]
He expelled all the believers of the Lazyfield family?
The memory of his merciless actions, cutting down Annie without even moving an eyebrow, sent another chill down my spine.
“……”
[The God of Knowledge, Hesed, determines that Rayhas possesses impure intentions.]
And while I stared at him amidst the tension, another absurd sentence appeared.
[The God of Art, Monde, argues that Rayhas’s external nobility can compensate for his internal impurity.]
I blinked at the ridiculous sentence appearing in the middle of such a tense atmosphere.
‘Seriously? What is this out of nowhere?’
Then the conversations continued appearing.
[The God of Knowledge, Hesed, criticizes Monde’s obsession with appearance.]
The gods’ conversation window had suddenly turned into a debate hall.
I narrowed my eyes as much as possible and made the dialogue window transparent. Looking at Rayhas’s cold expression while reading these messages made it difficult to keep my expression under control.
“Are you feeling dizzy?”
Rayhas’s voice suddenly reached me through my blurred vision.
“No. It’s just……”
I searched for something to say before blurting out:
“I was thinking that your decisiveness as the High Priest is impressive.”
For someone I needed to maintain a good relationship with, a favorable conversation was necessary.
“……”
At my words, he stared at me.
“Removing rotten parts is not something easy, after all. There must be various interests tangled together, and benefits involved as well.”
“……The priests seem to consider me a dictator, but it appears the Saintess has a different opinion.”
At Rayhas’s testing words, I looked at him and answered.
“I believe that you are a fair and righteous person, High Priest.”
Because I had read the original story, I could say it confidently.
“I have always thought so.”
Rayhas’s eyes darkened slightly.
To the villainess Ariel, he was no different from a grim reaper.
But to Camilla, he would become a reliable shadow and a pillar of support.
Although he had plotted with the Crown Prince, who had political motives, to place a fake Saintess in power, Rayhas had not done so for personal gain.
He had done it to stabilize the confused public sentiment caused by the absence of a true Saintess.
“I just didn’t expect you would expel the entire Lazyfield family.”
If only I were not Ariel, the villain.
And if only he were not one of the three men who would kill Ariel.
Perhaps I might have admired him a little.
I looked at him and smiled softly.
He stared at me silently for a long time.
His gaze lingered for too long, and just as I began wondering if I had said something wrong, his lips moved slightly before he turned away.
“It seems I have taken too much of your time.”
I did not deny it, since a part of me wanted him to leave.
“Haha.”
“I shall take my leave. Please enjoy your meal comfortably.”
With those stiff words, Rayhas left the room.
Only then did I relax my eyes again.
The gods’ discussion about Rayhas was still going on.
[The God of Art, Monde, shares his personal opinion on the golden ratio of the human body.]
[The God of Love, Odyssey, listens seriously to Monde’s opinion.]
I placed a hand on my forehead.
[The God of Knowledge, Hesed, explains that inner qualities are more important than appearance.]
[The God of Art, Monde, scoffs at Hesed’s words and says appearance is the most important thing.]
[The God of Love, Odyssey, insists that there must be a man more handsome than Rayhas, so they should wait longer.]
“Could you please have a slightly more constructive conversation?”
But my words were nothing more than an empty echo.
The gods’ conversation continued for a long time afterward.
She no longer blushed or avoided his gaze.
She even looked directly at him with clearer eyes.
Rayhas frowned and irritably removed his jacket.
‘What changed?’
Nothing had changed.
“Rayhas de El.”
For the first time, he heard his full name from her lips.
Strangely, it made him feel unusually sensitive.
Were her eyes blue?
He had only realized it at that moment.
And those blue eyes had recently begun following him around, irritating his thoughts.
“I believe that you are a fair and righteous person, High Priest.”
The faint smile forming on her red lips.
Was Ariel truly capable of smiling like that?
The woman who always whined and spoke with exaggerated expressions.
Her words, for the first time, entered his ears clearly.
And they lingered.
“……”
Rayhas shook his head.
The reason he brought Ariel here was because she was innocent and foolish enough to play along with this fake Saintess act.
‘No matter how much a person changes……’
At that moment, the door to his office suddenly burst open.
“Without discussing it with me at all, how could you expel the believers of an entire family?!”
It was Chief Priest Haines.
The light from the holy stone on the wall reflected off his bald head.
He breathed roughly as he stood before Rayhas.
“I heard what happened to the Saintess. Even if it was the Saintess herself, I was shocked that she directly mentioned expulsion. But High Priest, how could you do such a thing as well?!”
Rayhas stared at Haines with an emotionless gaze.
“To expel an entire family through collective punishment? I—! The priests cannot possibly accept this.”
His furious expression looked almost ridiculous.
“You are greatly mistaken.”
Rayhas sat leisurely in his chair while looking elsewhere.
Haines trembled his fists at the arrogant attitude of the young High Priest, who was much younger than him.
“The decisive reason behind the expulsion of the Lazyfield family is……”
His gaze slowly shifted toward Haines.
When their eyes met, Haines felt the anger boiling inside him disappear.
A terrifying murderous intent radiated from Rayhas’s golden eyes.
It felt as if he were standing before a beast.
“Because they have been conducting filthy dealings with some corrupt high-ranking priests.”
Haines felt his throat tighten.
“Inside the Elium Temple.”
For insignificant noble families like the Lazyfields, it was common to bribe priests of Elium.
They needed connections with Elium priests in order to gain attention from central aristocratic society.
And the Lazyfield family was part of Haines’s faction within Elium.
“Cutting away rotten parts is difficult, but someone told me it was impressive.”
It was clear that he saw through everything.
Looking at Haines, whose momentum had suddenly weakened and who now stood awkwardly, Rayhas raised the corner of his lips.
“Rather than merely cutting them away, I am considering pulling out the roots as well.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“What is your opinion, Chief Priest?”
