Chapter 04
He had smooth, pale skināsomeone who was naturally fair-complexioned. With blazing red hair tied up, a suitably
high nose bridge, and a long neck, he was a handsome man who, despite appearing fragile, did not lose his masculine
appeal. An unrealistic aura emanated from him, as if he had looked this way since birth.
He looked at me.
“You really do resemble Adel.”
I blinked stupidly like a fool. I thought I’d identified the three father candidates through the diary, but seeing the real person in front of me was on a whole different level.
“I’m Keith. What’s your name?”
I stared at him blankly before finally managing to speak.
“Da…phne.”
Daphne Faye Thessalus.
A name that inherited ‘Daphne,’ the name of a fairy from ancient mythology, and ‘Faye,’ my grandmother’s
nickname. Yet my own name felt unfamiliar to me.
Idiot, fool, useless thing.
For sixteen years, those were the words used to call me.
“So you’re Daphne. A cute name taken from a fairy.”
It was the first time someone recognized the origin of my name and called it cute.
“How on earth did you get in here?”
Juliana’s piercing interrogation brought me back to my senses. Keith adjusted his hold on me more comfortably and answered the question.
“I got lucky.”
At his nonchalant reply, Juliana snorted.
“You bastard! Give me back my money!”
Ćtienne shouted, and Keith shot back without backing down.
“I won it fair and square, so why should I give it back? I even let it slide that you cheated, old man.”
At a loss for words, Ćtienne’s mouth flapped open and closed like a goldfish. Keith asked with a more serious expression.
“Where is Adel?”
He pulled something out of his pocket to show us. It was a trump card engraved with ‘L&A.’
So Marilynn had delivered it properly!
“A white-haired eagle with a blue ribbon brought me this card. I thought Adel had called for me.”
“Hmph, my sister is dead.”
Juliana gave a bitter smile.
Those eyes, as blue as an autumn sky, wavered for a moment before turning toward me. I couldn’t tell what expression I was wearing as I faced him.
“I see.”
His answer was straightforward.
No more words followed. Instead, a large hand slowly stroked my head. As if touching the most precious thing in the world.
A chill crept into Keith’s warm expression as he looked at me. He smiled in a way that was hard to read.
“Let’s make a bet.”
“A bet?”
Keith loosened the pouch hanging from his waist and plopped it onto the table with a thud. It was a bulging pouch crudely sewn from cloth.
Several gold coins, packed tightly inside, spilled out through the opening and rolled across the table.
“What are you planning to do with this?”
At the sight of the gold coins, the couple’s eyes gleamed with greed. Keith spoke with an air of complete composure.
“If I win, I’ll stay here as Daphne’s father.”
“What?”
“If I lose, I’ll give up not only this gold but also the child.”
Keith opened the pouch’s mouth wide, revealing the gold coins packed inside. The couple’s expressions shifted subtly at the glittering sight.
“This is what I won yesterday. It’s probably several times what you lost. Doesn’t it tempt you?”
“D-Don’t talk nonsense!”
“You just have to win.”
Just have to win.
It sounded logical, but it was a choice no one could guarantee. Keith made one more concession.
“You can choose the game.”
At his condescending offer, the Patelier couple swallowed hard. If it was a game they could steer to their advantage, it was worth a try.
“Fine. We accept the bet.”
Juliana lifted her chin and spoke with her characteristic arrogance.
“The game will be a treasure hunt.”
She then called for Alfred.
Alfred, who had been watching the situation with bated breath, came over to us at Juliana’s summons.
“Bring the ‘Golden Egg.'”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After a moment, Alfred returned with a jewelry box. Juliana took the box and opened it to show its contents.
“This is the ‘Golden Egg,’ a treasure passed down through our family for generations. The one who finds it first wins.”
The Golden Egg was an ornament shaped like a white-tailed eagle’s egg, a treasure made of gold adorned with rubies and sapphires.
It was clearly an object of immense value, but Keith showed little reaction.
“Alright, sounds good.”
The unique ability of Keith, as written in my mother’s diary, was ‘luck.’ It said that even bad things would turn good for his sake.
So he probably had confidence that he would win this bet too.
But I couldn’t be completely at ease. After all, how could one believe that luck follows a person? My life had been nothing but misfortune.
Still, Keith’s appearance had shaken the board.
That alone was enough.
“By the way, who will be the judge?”
At Keith’s question, the Patelier couple raised their heads arrogantly.
“Let’s have the priest of the temple officiate, fair and square.”
I found their transparent scheme disgusting.
The Patelier couple immediately brought in Jeremias Wyndham, the newly appointed priest of the Valencia Temple, which served the god Cornu.
Jeremias, with his plain face and benevolent smile, was a young man who seemed indifferent to worldly affairs, radiating a pious aura.
“As a priest, I should not partake in worldly matters, but since the fate of Elmeras’s residents is at stake, I will do my utmost.”
Despite being the judge brought by the Patelier couple, he even had a pure air about him.
Juliana handed the jewelry box to Jeremias. He opened it and lifted out the Golden Egg.
“So this is the noble Thessalus family’s treasure… Seeing it in person, it’s truly magnificent.”
Jeremias stared intently at the Golden Egg in his hands. His gaze grew dazed, as if mesmerized.
“Father?”
At Alfred’s cautious call, Jeremias snapped back to his senses, returning to his pious priestly demeanor.
“Then I will hide it well before the treasure hunt begins tomorrow. May the crescent moon’s light fill the remainder of your day.”
Jeremias hurriedly departed with the jewelry box, looking almost like a fugitive.
I looked at Keith, who had been listening quietly the whole time. His eyes were fixed on Jeremias’s retreating back.
The one person who was currently my only hope.
‘Keith… no, I have to win.’
—
**\*\*\***
The next day, the treasure hunt began early in the morning.
Before us, gathered in the hall at the castle’s entrance, Jeremias explained the rules.
“You must find the hidden Golden Egg by noon. The search area ranges from Thessalus Castle to the Elude Forest.”
With those words, the game began.
The Patelier couple set off without hesitation.
“Should we go look too?”
Keith extended his hand to me. I took it. His large hand covered my tiny one, like a maple leaf.
“A treasure hunt is a psychological battle, you see. If you figure out what kind of person that priest is, you can find it right away.”
At Keith’s words, I thought about ‘Jeremias Wyndham.’ By chance, I already knew his name.
—
[The immoral truth of the respected High Priest! Since his days as a newly appointed priest, Wyndham has embezzled offerings and converted them into jewels. (omitted) He kept them in his office, which was instrumental in his rapid rise to High Priest at a young age.]
—
The incident had turned the entire Cornu temple system upside down, so it was impossible not to remember.
The current, young Jeremias appeared to be an untarnished youth, but human nature is not so easily changed.
I tugged insistently on Keith’s sleeve.
“Daph, what is it?”
‘Daph.’ No one had ever called me that before. Being called by a nickname felt awkward, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.
I tugged on Keith’s sleeve again and said,
“Pweest!”
“Huh?”
“Tempul! We gotta go to the tempul!”
His eyes widened as he looked at me. Then, as if realizing something, he grinned.
“As expected of my daughter, so smart. Let’s go!”
He scooped me up and ran excitedly.
—
It didn’t take long to reach the Valencia Temple.
The Valencia Temple, the largest Cornu temple in Elmeras, was also used as a burial ground for the Thessalus family.
The quiet morning temple wasn’t crowded.
A bishop spotted us and approached.
“It’s been a while since the funeral, young Count. Have you come to see your mother?”
I cut straight to the chase and blurted out,
“Pweest!”
With a baby’s clumsy pronunciation, that was all I could manage. But the bishop answered calmly.
“Ah, I’ve heard about the treasure hunt. I understand Father Wyndham is the judge?”
“That’s right. So, could you show us Father Wyndham’s office?”
At Keith’s request, the gray-haired bishop widened his eyes slightly, looking taken aback.
“A priest’s office is not a space we can readily show to outsiders.”
Keith nodded as if he understood the bishop’s point.
“But the search area set by the priest is from Thessalus Castle to the Elude Forest. That means this temple is included too, right?”
The bishop looked at me with a troubled expression. I just replied with a bright, innocent look.
The bishop let out a small sigh.
“I suppose there’s no helping it. Please, come in.”
We followed the bishop into the deeper parts of the temple.
Passing through a small door behind the main hall, we entered a building where the priests trained. In principle, it was an area off-limits to ordinary worshippers.
True to a temple dedicated to Cornu, the moon goddess, it was dark and quiet.
“Here we are.”
Finally, we arrived at Jeremias Wyndham’s office. The bishop turned the doorknob. But the door was locked.
“Huh? Why is this… A priest’s office is a personal space, but it should always be open…”
“Step aside.”
Keith motioned the bishop aside and took hold of the knob.
*Crack.*
The latch of the doorknob Keith grabbed made a strange noise and came right off.
Keith, holding the now-broken doorknob in his hand, said cheerfully,
“Looks like it was already broken.”
“No, I’m sure it was firmly locked…”
Was this also Keith’s ‘luck’?
My face must have held the same look of disbelief as the bishop’s as I pushed the door open.
And what was revealed as Jeremias Wyndham’s office swung open was a brilliant light.
