Chapter 3

BOOM!

At that very moment, a tremendous explosion echoed from the entrance of the Grand Temple.

Rumble! Craaash!

The deafening roar sounded as though the world itself were being torn apart.

The ground trembled violently, and alarms rang throughout the temple.

“Is it a demonic beast invasion?!”

“No… this is different. The protective barrier hasn’t been breached.”

“Then are you saying someone attacked from inside? With His Holiness present, who would dare…?”

It was strange.

A thunderous noise had split the heavens, yet no buildings had collapsed.

There were no signs of an intruder.

Then… underground?

No.

That wasn’t it either.

As confusion spread through the Grand Temple…

The three elders of the High Council suddenly opened their eyes wide.

“It has happened.”

“At last… Lord Ulysses!”

Ordinary priests couldn’t have sensed it.

But the elders knew.

The explosion had not been a mere blast.

It had been the sound of two immense powers colliding.

The sound of two overwhelming forces rejecting one another…

Before finally becoming one.

The resonance of a bond being forged.

“It was undoubtedly His Holiness’s power!”

“And the other force was extraordinary as well. Even though it lasted only an instant, I could clearly sense it.”

“Then… the other person must also be a priest?”

The middle-aged priests trembled with excitement.

They were the High Council.

The High Priests.

And, unofficially…

The committee devoted to arranging Ulysses’s marriage.

Ulysses wasn’t merely a high-ranking clergyman.

He was the ruler of the Holy Kingdom of Palladium.

The last descendant of the divine race.

As one who carried divine blood, he bore the responsibility of leaving behind an heir.

Granted…

Every time they submitted such petitions, he simply smiled and burned them.

But now…

The time had finally come.

“Lord Ulysses has finally found the companion who will spend his life beside him!”

“My heavens…!”

So this was what people meant when they said everything happened in accordance with fate.

For years, he’d ignored every list of prospective brides they presented.

Yet now…

He had found someone on his own.

“If we’d known he’d walk right into fate himself, we wouldn’t have pushed him so hard.”

“Still… this is wonderful!”

“So that’s why he’d always kept his distance from women. He was simply waiting for the right one!”

The three elders chuckled, barely able to hide the ridiculous grins spreading across their faces.

“A joyous occasion.”

“A truly joyous occasion.”

“I’ve already chosen names for his future child.”

“I thought they’d gather dust forever…”

“But perhaps the day has finally come.”

One elder lovingly dusted off an old diary.

None of them looked remotely like dignified priests anymore.

The white-haired elder clutching the notebook wore the happiest expression of them all.

Then…

All three tilted their heads at the same time.

“But… who could it be?”

“Has Lord Ulysses ever kept anyone close to him?”

“Hmm…”

“Well, I’m sure he handled it himself. Hahaha!”

The elders burst into laughter.

Who cared how they’d met?

As long as he’d finally found his destined partner, that was enough.

“So long as it’s someone capable of leaving descendants, what does anything else matter?”

After waiting for nearly half a lifetime…

Their hearts overflowed with joy.

A blessing that had finally arrived after wrinkles had begun to line their faces.

May he finally find peace.

From the bottom of their hearts…

They prayed for Ulysses’s happiness.

Unfortunately for them…

Ulysses was currently experiencing the greatest crisis of his life.

His lips had turned red.

Not because of lipstick…

But because Yoidel had practically bitten him when she kissed him, splitting the skin.

Yoidel slowly lowered the hand clutching his collar.

I actually did it…

Knowing exactly what she’d just done, she quietly lowered her head.

Ulysses remained perfectly still.

He didn’t move at all.

That only made him more terrifying.

“…What…”

His deep voice finally shattered the silence.

“Blood.”

He stared at the blood staining his hand with unfamiliar eyes.

He had been covered in other people’s blood countless times.

But it had been a very long time since he’d seen his own.

No attack had ever managed to wound him.

Yet…

This tiny boy—

Barely reaching his chest—

Had succeeded.

Ulysses looked down at the mad young priest who had assaulted his lips.

His eyes held unmistakable contempt.

“…Have you lost your mind?”

His voice was frighteningly low.

“I-I… I think I probably have…”

Yoidel admitted it.

The instant their lips met…

A tremendous surge of radiant energy had erupted.

For Yoidel, that kiss had been a gamble with her life.

And somehow…

It had worked.

The joy of surviving finally brought her mind back to reality.

The reason his lips were his fatal weakness was actually quite simple.

Because they’re the medium for forming a contract.

Yoidel knew that.

She knew why the novel’s protagonist had obsessively protected his purity.

Why he avoided physical contact with others almost to the point of paranoia.

Everyone believed it was because he was a sacred being.

But…

That wasn’t the truth.

It wasn’t because he was a priest.

It was because the moment someone kissed him… they would become bound together by an unbreakable bond of fate.

A bond that permanently tied two people together.

A Pairing.

It wasn’t something just anyone could accomplish.

Even those with divine blood like Ulysses rarely formed such bonds.

Because the stronger person always lost more.

A Pairing existed for situations where one partner possessed overwhelming power while the other was weak.

When someone powerful loved someone fragile.

When someone with an extraordinarily long lifespan loved someone whose life was fleeting.

The stronger one shared their power…

To ensure they would never lose the other.

If the bond became deep enough…

They could even read each other’s emotions.

Communicate through their thoughts.

A relationship built upon absolute trust.

Which was exactly why the protagonist never allowed it to happen.

For the stronger party…

Pairing offered almost no benefit.

Its only purpose was to grant power and lifespan to the weaker partner.

In other words…

It was entirely disadvantageous for Ulysses.

Even the fact that a kiss served as the catalyst for Pairing…

Was a secret known only to him.

Not even the elders knew.

“…What exactly have you done?”

“…”

“Do you know something?”

“I’m asking whether this was intentional.”

Should I tell him I read it in a novel?

Who would believe that?

Now that he’d realized she knew his greatest secret…

Any lie she invented would be meaningless.

Then I’ll just be honest.

He hated excuses more than anything.

“I’m truly sorry.”

Taking a deep breath, Yoidel bowed deeply.

Right now…

There was nothing else she could say.

She’d saved her life.

But what came afterward…

That was another matter entirely.

Ulysses quietly looked down at the sword he’d lowered.

Its razor-sharp edge had ended the lives of countless intruders.

His cold reflection shimmered across the blade.

He had never wanted to kill one of the priests who served him.

But…

Circumstances left him little choice.

He looked at the trembling Yoidel.

Then advanced.

One slow step at a time.

Like a predator stalking helpless prey.

How could someone who trembles at something as trivial as this…

…have dared attempt something so reckless?

A spy?

If so… sent by whom?

The thought disgusted him.

More than anything else.

Ulysses smiled more brightly than ever before.

Yet behind that smile burned the most human hatred he’d ever felt.

With every step he took…

Yoidel’s face grew paler.

“If I kill you…”

“This contract will disappear as well.”

The tip of his sword brushed past her hair.

Several strands of pink hair fluttered to the floor.

They landed beneath his feet…

Only to be crushed beneath his boot.

“You’ve gone through all this trouble for nothing.”

“If you’d simply accepted your execution…”

“It would have ended in an instant.”

Yoidel steadied her trembling body.

Then she met his gaze head-on.

“…No.”

Shing—

As his blade came to rest against her throat…

A tiny drop of blood trickled down her neck.

The cut was as thin as a paper slice.

But…

There were two trails of blood.

One belonged to Yoidel.

The other…

Belonged to Ulysses.

The exact same wound.

In the exact same place.

Both of them bled together.

Because a Pair shared everything.

Even death.

Ulysses silently wiped away the thin line of blood running down his own neck.

His sky-blue eyes fixed themselves upon the crimson stain on his fingertips.

Then…

He looked back at Yoidel.

For the first time…

The calm, unwavering blue of his eyes trembled with genuine shock.

What… is this?

He didn’t know.

This was something only Yoidel knew from reading the novel.

He had yet to learn the truth himself.

“I’m sorry…”

“But Your Holiness cannot kill me with your sword.”

Though her voice shook…

Her conviction did not.

“If you kill me…”

“…your heart will stop as well.”

That…

Was exactly what Yoidel had been aiming for.