Chapter 09
Without being bothered by his sharp gaze, I answered calmly.
“I was just trying to wake myself up.”
“Is that really true?”
“Would I really bring cold water and cloths because I wanted to play in the water with Boss or something?”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because it seems like something you might actually do.”
Titia!
Why couldn’t you deny it?!
“Anyway, no. I didn’t.”
After denying it several times in a row, he unexpectedly thanked me.
“Thank you.”
I was bewildered by the sudden gratitude, when Joshua suddenly poked his head out from behind him.
“See? I was right. You can trust Titia!”
I looked back and forth between Joshua and Mr. Veilt.
Mr. Veilt adjusted his glasses and raised his chin indifferently—or rather, arrogantly.
“Keeping secrets is important. More importantly, as Boss’s close friend and right-hand man, there’s no way I wouldn’t know about something like that. It was obvious from the start. Did you really think I didn’t know?”
I pressed my lips together to avoid answering, while Mr. Veilt and Joshua stared at me so intensely that I felt pressured.
Unable to withstand their gazes, I eventually confessed.
“Yes, I really didn’t know.”
I had simply thought, ‘Joshua must be doing an amazing job of keeping his secret from Mr. Veilt.’
Besides, with Boss being sick, I hadn’t had the time to question everything one by one.
‘Come to think of it, Mr. Veilt manages the entire mansion. It would be strange if he didn’t know Boss was sick.’
I rambled on with excuses, saying that I had only been doing the work assigned to me and hadn’t thought too deeply about it.
“Your mouth is sealed, so you pass. I’d appreciate it if you continued to keep quiet about Boss’s health from now on.”
“Yes.”
Joshua tugged on my skirt and examined my face.
“Why?”
“Aren’t you upset? They did deceive you, after all.”
“I become happy the moment I think about my contract payment before I have time to get upset.”
Everyone nodded as though they completely understood that happiness.
* * *
The day of the Saintess’s visit to the Duke’s residence quickly approached.
Everyone had finished preparing to welcome the Saintess and was waiting in front of the entrance.
I joined the very end of the line as well.
Soon, a white carriage escorted by holy knights arrived in front of the mansion.
The carriage door opened, and a woman stepped out with the assistance of a holy knight.
She had deep pink hair, golden eyes, pale pink lips, and a lively face blooming with a smile.
‘She’s cute.’
Maybe it was just my imagination, but perhaps because she was the Saintess, it even seemed as though a faint glow surrounded her.
Was this the protagonist buff?
She was dazzling.
Mr. Veilt formally greeted her.
“Did you enjoy your engagement trip?”
Perhaps because she was happy to meet an old friend, Yubellin’s face brightened with a broad smile.
“Thanks to you. But aren’t you being too formal? Talk to me comfortably like before. Are we strangers?”
Just like in the novel, she was bubbly. Informal, kind to everyone, and lively enough to spread her smile to those around her.
However, Mr. Veilt’s expression became even colder as he adjusted his glasses.
“We are strangers. Are you going to see Boss and leave immediately?”
“I might stay the night.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince would be jealous.”
“Oh, please. There has to be something worth being jealous about first.”
Unlike the Saintess, who chuckled softly, a trace of displeasure crossed Mr. Veilt’s face before quickly disappearing.
“You know Boss’s situation well. It would be better to meet him and then return.”
“The more you keep telling me to leave, the less I want to.”
Yubellin Morte lightly shot back before smoothly walking inside.
Only then did everyone who had been bowing straighten up.
“I fucking hate her.”
I flinched at the voice coming from below.
“You startled me, Joshua.”
Don’t suddenly say something like that! It made it sound like I was the one who said it. His voice was so soft, too, that anyone who didn’t know my voice might think it was me.
“I fucking hate the Saintess. She’s fucking annoying.”
You didn’t have to repeat it like you were stamping a mark on her.
“Aren’t angels and demons naturally opposites?”
He glared at me with a sulky expression.
* * *
Click, click.
Yubellin’s lively footsteps echoed through the wide hallway.
She walked almost as if she were skipping, constantly looking around.
It seemed the place felt new to her after such a long time away, and she made no effort to hide how happy she was.
“It has changed quite a bit. It seems more elaborate now.”
“It’s been a year since the Saintess last came here.”
“Has it really been that long?”
Yubellin covered both cheeks with her hands and sighed apologetically.
“I’m sorry. You know how busy things are at the temple, right? And then my engagement ceremony happened on top of that, so I couldn’t make any more time.”
It had been the engagement ceremony of the Saintess and the Crown Prince.
Naturally, since it had been such a grand occasion, Yubellin had had countless things to prepare and had been so busy she barely had time to breathe.
She had even been disappointed that she couldn’t properly enjoy her engagement trip because she was so busy.
Though Terence had comforted her plenty.
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
Lost in a sweet dream for a moment, she suddenly came to her senses, glanced at Veilt, then cleared her throat and added,
“Jervant must have bothered you, saying he wanted to see me.”
“He never said anything.”
“You can hide it all you want, but I know.”
“I have neither anything to hide nor any intention of hiding anything.”
Veilt firmly drew the line, but Yubellin continued as though it didn’t matter.
“Liar. Jervant was really disappointed, wasn’t he? It’s obvious even without seeing him. You don’t like the relationship between Jervant and me, so you want to hide it.”
Haa.
Veilt pressed down on his increasingly furrowed brow.
How many times was he going to have to repeat himself?
From the very beginning, he had never liked this Saintess.
He disliked the unnecessary influence she had exerted over Jervant when he had been living perfectly well.
He disliked how she had shaken him up as though she were going to give him everything, only to end up engaged to another man.
Jervant had been abandoned by Yubellin.
Other people simply said that Jervant had lost to the Crown Prince.
But Jervant’s close associates knew the truth.
Yubellin had abandoned Jervant.
And now she had the nerve to come here and…
Veilt felt anger rise within him.
‘I should have rejected her request to visit.’
He had accepted for Jervant’s sake, but after talking to her, he was beginning to regret it.
She was getting older, yet Yubellin’s attitude remained immature and irritating.
“Yes, that is also true, but I don’t make up things that aren’t true. As I’ve said repeatedly, Boss has never once mentioned the Saintess.”
“Idiot. That’s because Jervant is sick right now.”
At that moment, Veilt’s expression turned icy.
“Boss is not sick.”
The cold voice reached her, and the Saintess apologized with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m sorry. I was just joking…”
“Do you think Boss’s condition is something you can joke about?”
“……”
As the atmosphere became tense, Yubellin tapped her chin and sighed deeply while looking at Veilt.
‘He’s still so prickly.’
She wondered what would be a good topic to change the subject, then remembered a woman she had seen before entering.
She had been standing at the very end, in a corner, yet she had still caught Yubellin’s attention.
Jet-black hair, thick eyelashes, a perfectly shaped nose, and rosy cheeks.
Lips that looked as though they had been stained with rose petals, with a mole just beneath them.
Her beautiful face looked as though it should have had a fragrance, and she was exactly Yubellin’s type.
“Did you hire someone new? You never take in new people. Especially not people who work inside the mansion.”
Veilt calmly answered.
“We hired someone this time.”
“Why?”
“It concerns the Eclipse Guild. No matter how trivial the matter, we cannot casually disclose it to outsiders.”
Watching Veilt continue to firmly keep his distance, Yubellin smiled with a slight frown.
Ever since Jervant had shut himself away in his room, Veilt had treated her even more coldly than before.
She could understand that he might act that way because the two of them were close friends, but he was noticeably colder toward her than he was toward ordinary people.
“Not accepting Jervant was because I love Terence. That’s why you, Veilt…”
“There is no reason for me to get involved. I know that. I have no intention of interfering, either. So please, Saintess, draw a clear line with Boss as well.”
Yubellin avoided answering.
“Do you really need that maid I just mentioned?”
Of course.
Veilt nodded indifferently.
“Yes.”
“Can you give her to me?”
“What did you just say?”
Despite Veilt’s incredulous voice, Yubellin was lost in her own thoughts.
“She’s really pretty. She’s exactly my type. If you can’t give me Ella, then give me that girl.”
“People aren’t objects, Saintess.”
Yubellin shrugged at Veilt’s admonishment.
“Yet you treat them like objects when it suits you.”
“Are you talking about me?”
“The people of this world. Ah, it’s still so dark here.”
Yubellin naturally changed the subject and stopped in front of Jervant’s room.
She waved at Veilt with a smile.
“You can go. I’ll go back on my own when I’m done talking.”
“I’ll wait here.”
Veilt remained firm, and Yubellin placed her hands on her waist and frowned slightly in annoyance.
“Even if I order you as the Saintess?”
“Yes. Because I’m Boss’s subordinate.”
“Honestly, the people in the Eclipse Guild have no flexibility at all. You’re all so rigid and frustrating.”
“Can the temple really be any better?”
“You have a point.”
As though she’d never been annoyed, Yubellin giggled and called out,
“Jervant, I’m coming in!”
At the same time, Yubellin opened the door and strode inside.
Jervant was visible in the darkness.
Jervant, who fit that place far too perfectly.
His body, which had always been large and strong, had become utterly miserable.
The confident and arrogant man was nowhere to be seen.
Yubellin approached him at neither a fast nor slow pace, wearing the smile that everyone always loved.
She greeted him in a sweet whisper, as though her voice were coated in candy.
“It’s been a long time, Jerv.”
Their gazes met in midair.
The corners of Yubellin’s eyes curved softly.
Jervant’s clenched fist tightened.
Seeing his trembling fist, Yubellin’s smile deepened even further.
“How have you been?”
Even though she knew perfectly well that he had not been doing well.
That simple question only made Jervant look even more miserable.
