Chapter: 86
After some time had passed.
I stepped into the Grand Temple with the desperate hope of grasping at straws.
‘They said the marriage registration certificate was kept separately in the main building.’
I headed straight for the main building.
A priest waiting at the entrance stopped me with a bright smile.
“Pleased to meet you. May I ask what brings you here?”
“Hello, I’m Larit Ansi. I’m the heir to House Ansi.”
I was in no mood to bother with formalities, so I immediately got to the point.
“I’d like to check my marriage registration certificate.”
“Ah… You mean you’d like to check the marriage registration certificate submitted under Lady Ansi’s name?”
The priest subtly stepped back.
“Would you mind waiting in the waiting room for a moment? We need to check it ourselves first.”
Up until that point, I thought there wouldn’t be any major difficulty in checking the document.
I was one of the parties involved, so why on earth would they have any reason not to show it to me?
But contrary to what I had expected, the situation took a strange turn…
A little while later.
A handsome man with a neat appearance entered the waiting room.
‘Huh? That person is…?’
Light brown hair, neatly arranged, and pale blue eyes so light that they seemed almost translucent.
He was dressed in a spotless white priestly robe that had clearly been carefully pressed.
He looked exactly as he had been described in the original novel.
“High Priest Evans?”
I called out to the man in a doubtful voice.
The man, Isaac, gently narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.
“Pleased to meet you, Lady Ansi.”
…Why had the second male lead of this world suddenly appeared here?
Of course, the matter concerning the marriage registration certificate was important, but still, there were only two High Priests among all the priests in the entire temple.
‘Someone way too important showed up for this…’
At the same time, Isaac spoke in a soft voice.
“I heard that you came here to check the marriage registration certificate kept by the temple.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I nodded.
His pale blue gaze turned toward me.
After staring at me intently for a moment, Isaac suddenly asked a question.
“Come to think of it, Lady Ansi, you are acquainted not only with Lady Claudius but also with the Duke, are you not?”
Why was he suddenly bringing up some random lady and duke?
Confused, I answered.
“Yes? Yes, I am, but…”
“Did the two of them happen to give you some indication, which is how you came to know that the document had also been submitted to the temple?”
What?
For a moment, I felt a faint sense of discomfort.
His voice itself was gentle, but there was something strangely interrogative about his tone.
Besides…
‘Isn’t he subtly blaming the House of Claudius for leaking confidential information?’
From my perspective, it was simply absurd.
They refused to show me the marriage registration certificate I had asked to see, and now they were suddenly dragging Claudius into this?
“High Priest Evans, I am also the heir to House Ansi.”
Because the situation was so ridiculous, my voice came out somewhat sharply as I asked,
“There’s no way I wouldn’t know about that confidential information, is there?”
“Ah, my apologies.”
Isaac smoothly smiled, without looking the least bit apologetic.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to the main subject.
“In any case, regarding the marriage registration certificate you mentioned, I can confirm that it was safely submitted to our Grand Temple.”
“…”
Ah, damn it.
I sighed inwardly.
I had thought that, just maybe, the document might not have been submitted to the temple!
That tiny thread of hope had been completely shattered…
Unable to hide my dejected expression, I asked,
“Then could I take a look at the document?”
Isaac lightly shook his head.
“I’m afraid that will be difficult.”
What?
For a moment, I wondered if I had heard him correctly.
No, why couldn’t I?!
“Recently, the Grand Temple decided to tighten security concerning marriage registration certificates.”
Isaac continued in a calm voice.
“There have been far too many disputes between nobles regarding marriage vows, have there not? We determined that it would be best to eliminate any possibility of disputes altogether.”
His neat eyes curved pleasantly into crescent moons.
“So from now on, the Grand Temple has decided that we will only confirm whether a document has been submitted.”
“Even though I’m one of the parties involved?”
“Yes. It is difficult for only one of the parties involved to inspect it.”
Isaac drew a gentle but firm line.
“If you truly wish to inspect the document, you should come accompanied by Young Master Gusto, your marriage partner.”
“But…”
“That is the only way you can inspect the document.”
Having declared that, Isaac lightly rose to his feet.
The pale blue eyes looking down at me remained gentle throughout…
“It was truly a pleasure to see you today, Lady Ansi.”
“…”
“In the future, I hope we can spend some more meaningful time together rather than meeting over matters of business like this.”
What came from his mouth was nothing less than an elegant dismissal.
With me still bewildered before him, Isaac gave a small, courteous bow.
“Then, I shall be going.”
And without leaving behind even the slightest trace of reluctance, he walked out of the waiting room.
Left alone, I was seized by the urge to scream at the top of my lungs.
‘No, what the hell was that?!’
In the end, Larit had no choice but to leave with nothing to show for her visit.
‘…High Priest Evans.’
Larit narrowed her eyes.
‘What on earth is that man plotting?’
Although his manner had been gentle and his smile kind,
the way he treated her had been strangely hostile.
There was the way he had firmly refused to let her inspect the document despite her being one of the people named in the marriage.
And then there was his strangely accusatory tone, as if he were blaming House Claudius.
On top of that, the outcome of everything was subtly turning out in House Gusto’s favor…
But then.
“Larit!”
A sharp female shout rang out.
It was a familiar voice.
When she turned around, Seraphina was glaring at her with a viciously distorted expression.
‘Ugh, my head is already killing me over this marriage registration mess. Why is she making a scene again?’
Larit’s face grew weary.
Seraphina strode toward her as though she were about to hit Larit at any moment.
“What on earth is going on?”
Gone was the usual sweet way she called her “Lari.”
Seraphina raised her voice fiercely.
“Did Gregor really propose to you?”
“Why are you asking me that? Why don’t you ask Young Master Gusto, who can’t live without you?”
At that sarcastic reply, Seraphina’s face flushed bright red.
It was because that Gregory had abandoned me and proposed to you!
But the anger that had surged all the way to the top of her head left her tongue numb.
“You, you…!”
Unable to contain her fury, Seraphina’s shoulders trembled.
Just then, a voice called out to stop her.
“Sera!”
A thunderous shout rang out.
Gregor strode over and immediately stepped between the two women.
He looked almost as though he were protecting Larit.
‘H-He’s protecting Larit instead of me right now?!’
Seraphina’s eyes widened.
But the shocking events were not over yet.
Gregor glared fiercely and raised his voice.
“What the hell are you doing to Lari right now?!”
“…”
Meanwhile, Larit’s expression darkened slightly.
Every time Gregor called her Lari, she felt as though the steak she had eaten yesterday was about to come back up her throat…
Seraphina looked at Gregor with tears welling up in her eyes.
“G-Gregor.”
Her trembling voice clearly could not accept the reality unfolding before her.
“Are you taking Larit’s side instead of mine right now?”
Seraphina hesitantly approached Gregor.
Then she pressed him in a shrill voice.
“Did you really propose to Larit? You didn’t, did you?!”
“Ha, Seraphina.”
But Gregor merely irritably brushed back the bangs covering his forehead.
Then he immediately snapped back in a crooked tone.
“Whether I propose to someone or not, what business is it of yours?”
“H-How could you say something like that!”
Seraphina hunched her shoulders miserably like a young bird caught on a harpoon.
Yet the situation continued to turn against Seraphina…
“Seraphina.”
Count Gusto had appeared.
