SVMS 12

~Chapter 12~

While Floria’s expression instantly turned sour, like a rotten fish, Caspal’s bright golden eyes sparkled playfully.

Clearly, he was interested in something, though to Floria, it didn’t feel like “normal” interest.

Usually, whenever he looked like that, he was about to say something annoying.

“To think we’d meet here. Truly, fate must be tying us together, don’t you think, Floria?”

Yup. As expected.

With one side of his mouth curled into a grin, he was clearly joking.

“Ah, yes. Good to see you, Duke Fonhas.”

Not really, though. It’s really not nice seeing you here.

Floria nodded politely, letting his comment slide in one ear and out the other.

She caught a glimpse of a knight standing outside, keeping his distance, not drawing attention.

It seemed Caspal didn’t want people to know who he really was, so she simply gave a small, respectful nod.

But then, when she looked up at him again, something felt off.

There was… something different about him.

She slowly looked him over and froze.

‘Wait. What’s that scratch on his cheek?’

She wasn’t the type to touch someone else’s face—especially not Caspal’s. They weren’t even close enough for that.

But even with just a little bit of divine power as a priestess, she couldn’t ignore an injury like that.

…

Floria inched closer, stretching her neck forward like a turtle but keeping her body leaning back.

She didn’t want to get too close—if she did, he’d definitely say something weird again.

Not realizing how funny she looked, she squinted seriously at Caspal’s face.

There was a red scratch on his cheek, likely from something sharp.

And whoever had done it didn’t even clean it—a bit of blood was dried messily on the wound.

‘Well, I guess I’ll never understand this guy’s behavior anyway.’

But still—he was a duke. A noble.

Who in the world dared to scratch his face like that?

“Duke, what happened to your face?”

It was an innocent question.

But right after she asked, she realized how blunt it sounded and nervously glanced at his expression.

Did she just unintentionally insult him?

“Why, do I look too handsome today?”

“…N-No, I mean, you have a scratch on your cheek.”

She replied automatically—maybe she was even a little hypnotized by his teasing tone.

Seriously? Is now the time for jokes? You’re bleeding, man! You’re a Duke!

She quickly tried to look serious again, but it was already too late.

Caspal smiled like he’d heard exactly what he wanted to hear.

“So you do like how I look.”

“….”

Floria didn’t even want to waste a cold glare on that.

She simply raised her hand toward his cheek—careful not to touch him—and let her healing power do the work.

A soft glow appeared from her palm and gently flowed into the red wound.

Just like that, the scratch disappeared. His skin was perfectly smooth again.

Caspal blinked in surprise and awkwardly touched his cheek.

He hadn’t expected it to work so well.

In fact, he had never been healed by a priest before.

He’d never even used a healing potion or called for a personal doctor.

His body was always covered in small, hidden scars.

Truthfully, he had planned to use the scratch as an excuse to schedule a visit to Floria’s temple.

Something like, “It hurts so much… maybe I should stay in one of your healing rooms all day…”

“Amazing. You really are a Saintess…”

“Any priest with divine power could heal a scratch like this,” Floria quickly cut him off.

She immediately took a step back and held Rose’s hand—who had been quietly waiting beside her the whole time.

She’d been polite. She’d healed his cheek. That was enough.

Time to head out to the terrace—far away from Caspal.

But then she noticed something moving beside him.

Huh?

Only now did she realize that someone else had been standing next to Caspal this whole time.

A young boy.

The child was only as tall as Caspal’s waist.

When he noticed Floria looking at him, he pulled his hat down so far it almost touched the ground—clearly trying to hide his face.

He was dressed in neat, elegant noble-style clothes.

Though plain in design, the fabric was obviously expensive.

And even with just a glimpse, Floria could tell he was pouting—cheeks puffed out in annoyance.

She kept stealing glances.

‘Wait… is that blond hair? Golden blond?’

Some hair had slipped out from under the boy’s hat—and it was not an ordinary color.

No way.

There was no way it was gold.

It was probably just the light playing tricks on her… right?

‘Yeah… that must be it.’

After all, in the empire, only members of the royal family had golden hair.

So, of course—

“Oh, that’s His Highness the Prince.”

Caspal casually dropped a bomb of a sentence, like it was nothing.

And just like that, Floria’s heart dropped with it.

“He’s really a prince?”

Royal or not, that was the last thing Floria wanted to hear.

Because in the original story, the prince around that age was the male lead who would kill Floria later on!

That young face, probably the same age as Rose…

That familiar golden hair—it wasn’t just her imagination.

“Why is he here? And with that man?”

Now that she realized who he was, her body started to tremble.

Maybe it was the soul of the original villainess inside her reacting instinctively.

Her mind spun with endless questions.

“Priestess?”

Even Rose noticed something was off.

She gently tugged Floria’s hand.

That’s when Floria realized—her hands were sweaty and damp.

She quickly smiled to reassure Rose and forced herself to stay calm.

Right… it’s okay to panic a little.

She had only been startled for a moment.

It’s not like the story would play out exactly the same anymore.

She didn’t bully Rose. In fact, she had been treating her very well.

And she planned to keep doing that—at least until Rose officially became the Saintess.

After that, everything else would be the male lead’s job. Floria wouldn’t be involved.

Still, whether she truly had the villainess’s soul or not, she needed to calm herself down.

‘It’s okay, Miss Villainess. We’re not going to be killed by the male lead anymore.’

And for good measure—

‘If I die, it’ll be from overwork—not at the hands of the male lead.’

That harsh but honest thought made her feel strangely better.

Her hands stopped trembling.

Apparently, even the villainess inside her hated overwork more than death.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

Thanks to that, Floria was finally able to bow respectfully.

It had taken a moment due to the shock, but still—she’d recovered.

The problem, of course… was Caspal.

With a far too pleased look on his face, he gently pushed the prince forward, right in front of Floria and Rose.

“Don’t push me!”

The boy—Prince Aster — smacked Caspal’s hand away with a frustrated voice.

Aster was irritated.

His father, the Emperor, was too busy to spend time with him… so Caspal had been assigned to accompany him for his birthday.

Even though it was the Emperor’s order, Aster hated being followed around by this man.

Caspal, just like the rumors said—no, worse—was completely crazy.

Even after Aster complained all day, the man never got annoyed.

In fact, he’d said ridiculous things like “Why not try calling me big brother?”

Aster scowled deeply and looked up.

“You didn’t have to follow me all the way here…”

But then… he suddenly stopped speaking.

Because across from him, he locked eyes with a girl.

A girl with silver hair.

Aster hadn’t lived very long, but he was sure of one thing—he had never seen hair like that before.

Even inside this room, her silver hair shimmered softly, like it was blowing in the breeze.

Her silver eyes blinked once when they met his, and they sparkled even more than her hair.

She wore a pure white dress and looked to be about his age.

“A… fairy?”

He whispered the word without thinking.

“Pfft.”

“……”

Caspal let out a laugh, ruining the moment.

Aster suddenly realized what he’d just said—and his whole face turned red, from his chin to the top of his head.