CHAPTER 51…………………………………………
“I’m not in that kind of relationship with Kichev.”
“…What?”
When I answered a beat late, he lifted his head and looked down at me. That familiar, exasperated gaze. My thoughts became tangled in an instant.
The assumption that Giovanni liked men wavered.
‘I thought it was strange, but still.’
I couldn’t be certain it was wrong either.
After all, he had never shown interest in any woman. Of course, not in men either…
‘Does that mean I’ve been mistaken this whole time?’
The moment I realized the flaw in my premise, what I had just said came back to me.
[What are you going to do if I end up liking you, Your Highness?]
…My head started to hurt.
I quietly avoided Giovanni’s eyes, which seemed to say repeat that if you dare.
“I should go in before it gets any later.”
Before he could reply, I slipped into the room.
Click.
As the door shut, a sigh escaped me.
‘No, no. This won’t do.’
It would be a disaster if things with Giovanni got complicated too. I already had too much to think about.
“I’m already more than confused just dealing with you.”
I muttered toward the lump under the blanket on the bed.
“You look out of your mind too.”
“……”
“Aris.”
No answer came back. I sighed and peeled the damp hair clinging to my cheek away. The humid rain had soaked into everything—my hair, clothes, underwear, even my shoes.
In a low mood, I stepped closer.
When I bent down and looked under the covers, Aris was curled up, muttering unintelligibly without pause.
Her sweat-soaked face was pale as paper, trembling as if she were freezing, yet her cheeks were flushed red.
The grotesque sight made the hairs on my body stand on end.
A madwoman.
Right now, Aris was no different from one.
‘Since when has she been like this?’
No one had come near her room since the rain ritual, so there was no way to know. Hubert had strictly forbidden it—but more than that, everyone was afraid.
A rampaging priest who had incurred divine wrath. Fear that getting close might bring a curse had spread through the entire household.
I straightened and looked around.
The room was a wreck, like a storm had torn through it. The bed was no exception.
Aris usually nagged Georgiana if even the canopy was slightly out of place.
Now the splendid scene from a week ago felt like a dream.
‘To think it’d look like this.’
This was the first time I’d seen Aris since the ritual.
‘No wonder Madam Emern looked uncomfortable whenever Aris was mentioned.’
I thought she simply disliked that Aris had caused trouble, but…
‘Maybe even she couldn’t accept seeing her like this.’
A hollow laugh slipped out. It was ridiculous that I had once envied and longed for such shallow relationships.
I looked down at the trembling Aris.
“When this is over, you’ll be punished. There are already rumors that the royal family’s anger is no joke.”
“……”
“If the rain doesn’t stop, it’ll be even worse. You’ll be executed. Your head will roll on the guillotine. Just like mine did in the past.”
I felt like laughing out loud. Not that I truly wanted to—but it felt like I should.
But seeing Aris, who didn’t even know who stood before her, quickly drained that urge away.
She kept muttering the same incomprehensible words over and over.
“…Hey.”
“……”
I flipped the blanket back.
“Uuuh!”
Startled, Aris tried to crawl back under it.
When I pulled it away again, she clutched her head and wailed like an animal, slamming her forehead into the bedsheets.
Her scabbed lips twitched nonstop, producing faint sounds.
I leaned closer and listened.
She was repeating the same words.
“I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared.”
“What are you scared of?”
“I’m sorry, I was wrong. I’m scared. Please don’t. I’m scared. It hurts. I was wrong…”
Who was she apologizing to?
As I lowered my head, goosebumps rose along my arm.
‘What is this?’
A chill crept over me. I rubbed my arms. The feeling of my wet clothes slowly drying felt unpleasant.
Maybe the unease came from my lowered body temperature. To shake it off, I spoke again.
“You won’t die from this, at least. I’m going to try to stop this terrible rain.”
“……”
“Not for you, of course. There’s no need for innocent people to drown too.”
And surviving wouldn’t be the end for her.
Aris would keep her life—but lose her priestly power.
“That’ll be even harder for you.”
I smiled faintly and brushed aside her long hair.
Her white nape was revealed.
I almost stumbled back in shock but forced my legs to hold.
‘When did that get so big?’
The tattoo covering her neck—once only the size of half a palm in the shape of a droplet—had grown far beyond that.
I pulled down her loose chemise to expose her back. The tattoo had spread there too.
I stared, frozen.
The grotesquely warped mark shimmered with a blue glow.
It was huge, and blue lines writhed along its edges like snakes.
Even as I watched, the blue lines squirmed outward, as if trying to devour her whole body.
A shiver ran through me.
It was disturbing just to touch.
‘And I’m supposed to absorb that?’
My confidence dropped sharply.
The rain roared outside.
I opened my hand. If I lowered it now, it would touch her back.
If things went like before, I should be able to absorb the mark—more precisely, Aris’s power.
‘And then what happens?’
If the rampaging power of water moves into me, will it calm down?
Will the rain really stop like I think it will?
The worst case—I lose control too.
‘But I can’t not try.’
I cast aside my hesitation and lowered my hand. Her sweat-damp skin felt sticky under my palm.
It was terribly cold. Strange—the heated room wasn’t that cold.
Even with my hand on it, the tattoo writhed like a living creature. My legs trembled with tension.
Several seconds passed.
“…?”
Nothing happened.
There was none of the familiar refreshing, clear sensation I’d felt before when touching a priest’s mark.
‘Did it fail?’
At that moment, the tattoo’s movement stopped.
Like it had frozen.
Startled, I tried to pull my hand away—but it wouldn’t come off. Instead, it pulled me in.
“Ah!”
As if it had been waiting, the tattoo convulsed violently. The previous writhing had been nothing—it now spasmed in terror, erupting from Aris’s back like a cluster of blades.
Then it burrowed into my palm.
The first sensation was freezing cold.
Through my hand, stuck fast like it had been glued there, the mark forced its way inside.
The power rampaging within Aris was transferring into me.
So it is possible to absorb a priest’s power even in rampage!
I had no time to be glad my guess was right.
This was completely different from before—beyond comparison.
It felt like being forced to embrace an enormous block of ice.
‘Where on earth does this power come from? This is supposed to be a divine blessing?’
It was far too sharp and cold for that.
I could only endure under the crushing weight of the indescribable force.
Then the last remaining mark on Aris’s neck pierced me.
Thud!
A blade-like energy stabbed into my heart.
Cold—an unspeakable chill flooded in.
Goosebumps spread from head to toe.
“Ugh!”
My legs buckled and I fell to my knees.
Grabbing my convulsing hand, I looked up. Aris, who had been shaking violently, now lay collapsed on the bed, breathing softly.
I looked back down at my hand. It shook uncontrollably—the tremor growing stronger.
The cold energy flowed through my veins.
My brief awe at the power vanished as a horrific chill unlike anything I’d ever felt consumed me.
It felt like my heart itself had frozen.
I clutched my chest with my free hand.
‘I’m not going to die like this… am I?’
Just as I bit down on my trembling lips, noise spread through my head.
And then—
“I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Human! I hate you!”
A scream rang beside my ears—like a child shrieking. I covered my ears with both hands.
It didn’t help. The voice was coming directly into my mind.
Violent emotions overflowed like filthy water.
Rage.
Hatred.
Directed at—
“I hate you! Human! I hate you!”
Humans.
“I hate youuu! I despise youuu!”
“Blegh—!”
My stomach lurched violently. My insides felt churned apart.
Just as I wished I might as well die, the pain vanished like a lie.
“……”
A silent room.
The distant roar of pouring rain.
Slowly, I raised my head.
“Mm…”
Aris turned over in her sleep, murmuring.
Watching her peaceful face, I barely managed to stand.
The pain was gone, but the aftermath remained—my joints ached deep in the bone.
Staggering backward, I glanced at my trembling arm.
The grotesque tattoo that had covered Aris’s neck and back now marked me instead.
It coiled around my hand and arm, writhing like a snake.
The rampage wasn’t over yet.
Click.
“What on earth are you doing in there that it took so lo—”
Giovanni’s eyes widened when he saw me.
“Your hair—?”
Perhaps it was relief. The strength drained from my whole body.
As I collapsed, he caught me in his arms.
The warmth was overwhelmingly sweet. Like a child seeking its mother, I burrowed into his embrace.
“Your body’s like ice.”
“……”
“What happened in here?”
His voice circled my ears, but didn’t fully register.
Inside me, the power was beginning to rage again. I focused all my attention on controlling it.
