Chapter 7
The small, delicate hands packed quite a sting. Every time a sharp smack echoed through the room, Artiella flinched and twisted her shoulders.
“Ow! No, Yusiel, listen to me—ah! Who hits someone with divine power? That’s cheating!”
She was more than capable of escaping.
But Artiella simply stood there and took the punishment.
“So much for ‘the soul is more important than appearances.’ And then you go and create a situation where you have to take responsibility? And not just anyone—but that man? Did you forget everything I told you? Or have you completely lost your mind?”
“You said it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. That’s why I went to check.”
“Do you have ten lives?”
“Of course not. Just one.”
“Then why in the world would you walk right up to him on your own?!”
Yusiel’s large blue eyes shimmered with tears.
That was why Artiella had willingly endured the beating.
Yusiel was the one person in the world who loved and cherished her more than anyone else.
Artiella smiled brightly.
“But the Duke’s soul was spotless.”
“Spotless?”
“Mm-hmm. It shone just like yours.”
She spoke while dodging her sister’s next slap.
Fortunately, Yusiel’s hand paused.
Only for a moment.
Soon her brows furrowed even deeper, her expression growing even more troubled.
“Then yesterday’s request… from His Majesty…”
She meant the Emperor.
“Yeah. It was a false accusation. I think he was just trying to use us.”
Yusiel’s eyes trembled.
Relief and anxiety crossed her face at the same time.
She grabbed her younger sister’s hand and led her farther away from Kirien before lowering her voice.
“Still, it’s too soon to relax. You never know how a person might change.”
Artiella nodded in agreement.
“That’s true. It could happen.”
“Then why would you still tie your fate to his?”
“What? Should I just sit around waiting for the day I die?”
Artiella smiled innocently.
Yusiel let out a long sigh.
“Sigh… I shouldn’t have told you.”
Who would’ve guessed her sister would act on it so quickly?
“We had to confirm it eventually. The Emperor himself made the request. Besides, if he really was destined to kill me, I was planning to deal with him in advance.”
She wasn’t wrong.
The sooner you prepared, the better.
But Yusiel wasn’t thinking as a Saint.
She was thinking as an older sister.
She couldn’t bear to lose the other half of her soul.
“And there’s another problem.”
“Another problem? Don’t tell me you caused trouble. Wait… did you already pounce on him?”
“W-What are you talking about?!”
Artiella’s face instantly turned scarlet.
Out of sheer indignation.
Unfortunately, Yusiel seemed even more convinced.
“I knew it. You kept talking about taking responsibility… Was he so beautiful inside and out that you couldn’t resist?”
“I said that’s not it!”
Artiella jumped in protest, pounding her own chest in frustration.
“The Duke has terrible bad luck attached to him!”
“Bad luck?”
“The worst kind! It’s stuck to his shadow!”
Yusiel immediately turned toward the Duke.
Standing a respectful distance away, quietly waiting for their conversation to end, Kirien offered them an awkward smile.
His handsome face had felt strangely unsettling from the very beginning.
Yusiel walked back toward him.
“Please excuse me for a moment.”
She slowly circled around him.
Then she stopped in front of his shadow.
“You feel it too, don’t you? Something’s wrong.”
Yusiel silently nodded.
It was faint.
Very faint.
But there was definitely a malicious, unpleasant aura.
“…Although I think your face changed a little.”
After staring for quite some time, she tilted her head.
“Oh, that happens sometimes. I think he sparkles more whenever he’s nervous. He attacks people with his aura through his face.”
“Pfft.”
“I’m serious! He only uses aura to make himself look even more handsome!”
Artiella lightly patted Kirien’s shoulder.
“I only learned this was aura because Sir Knight explained it to me.”
Kirien blushed with embarrassment.
“I never really had the opportunity to learn swordsmanship.”
“Why not?”
Yusiel tilted her head.
The heirs of high-ranking noble families almost always learned at least the basics of the sword.
Protecting yourself meant protecting your family.
“Because swords are dangerous. And His Grace is practically misfortune given human form.”
Was she planning to become the Duke’s spokesperson?
“Hm.”
At her sister’s dissatisfied hum, Artiella simply shrugged.
“The temple sometimes helps people who’ve been afflicted with curses or bad luck, doesn’t it?”
“It does. If it’s a form of dark magic, divine power can purify it.”
“Then please help him.”
Yusiel stared at her younger sister for a moment.
As a child, Artiella had loved people.
But after becoming the wielder of the Holy Sword, she’d become disgusted by humanity’s hypocrisy and no longer trusted anyone outside the temple.
And yet…
She was pleading this earnestly for someone.
Has she really fallen for him?
If so…
Then she’d have to give it everything she had.
After all, it was her little sister’s first love.
“All right. Let’s do it.”
That ominous shadow might even be connected to Artiella’s future.
“Thank you, Yusiel.”
“Your Grace, we’ll move somewhere else to perform the purification.”
“Thank you, Saintess.”
Relief washed over Kirien’s face.
As some of the tension left him, the aura shimmering around his face settled down as well.
“While we’re walking… I’d like to hear about everything you’ve experienced up until now.”
At Yusiel’s request, Kirien once again began recounting his life story.
Since Artiella had already heard it all, she slowed her pace and followed behind them.
Huh?
A moment later she knelt down and examined the ground.
It sank…?
The spot where the Duke had been standing…
More than anywhere else.
Whoa… that was close.
“So, Duke Rupel has entered Edelion?”
After hearing Purcell’s report, Peter narrowed his eyes.
“Yes. And the Commander of the Holy Knights personally escorted him.”
“Artiella?”
The Emperor’s quill froze in midair before signing the report.
A drop of ink nearly fell from its tip before he barely managed to return it to the inkwell.
“Yes. And according to the man watching the Duke’s residence yesterday…”
Purcell cautiously observed his master’s expression.
When Peter raised an eyebrow as if telling him to continue, Purcell stiffened and spoke.
“He says the Commander of the Holy Knights infiltrated the Duke’s estate during the night… and only returned this morning.”
“So she spent the night at Duke Rupel’s residence?”
“Yes.”
“And we still don’t know what happened between them?”
“My apologies. We haven’t managed to place another spy inside yet.”
Peter’s fingers twitched irritably.
“And the Duke? Was he unharmed?”
“Yes. He appeared perfectly fine.”
“Perhaps the Divine Judgment hasn’t been carried out yet?”
“Or perhaps the Duke wasn’t behind that incident after all.”
“Impossible. You and I both saw it with our own eyes. At the exact moment the Divine Judgment was taking place, he was destroying the evidence.”
The illegal slave auction house had gone up in flames.
Just before that happened, both Peter and Purcell had seen Duke Rupel leaving the premises.
They’d chosen to rescue the captives inside first instead of arresting him on the spot.
That decision had come back to haunt them.
By the time they finished, everyone inside was already dead.
They’d chased after the Duke afterward.
Just in time to see him vault over the wall of his own estate.
Instead of using the front gate.
He’d moved with astonishing speed.
“Your Majesty, what brings you here so early?”
“Rupel, where have you just returned from?”
“Pardon? I’ve been in my residence the entire time.”
He had already changed clothes.
He was calmly eating breakfast.
There was no other evidence.
The Holy Knights had questioned the rescued victims.
None of them had ever seen the Duke.
No money trail led back to the Rupel family.
The criminal they’d already judged turned out to be nothing more than a puppet who didn’t even know who his true master was.
That was why Peter had requested a Divine Judgment.
“This won’t do. I’ll have to go to Edelion myself.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
“No. Before that, there’s somewhere you need to stop first. Bring them with you.”
Peter’s eyes flashed.
The three of them arrived at the heart of Edelion, before the Sacred Tree.
“Place your hand on the tree and close your eyes. We’ll trace the source of the curse. Once the cause becomes clear, the Sacred Tree will tell us how to remove it.”
“You really think we can find the cause?”
“If Arti is right, and Your Grace is truly a good person, then the Sacred Tree will certainly help.”
Kirien took a deep breath before standing beneath the enormous tree.
Its broad branches and tender leaves spread wide, providing him with cool shade.
Yusiel placed one hand on the Duke’s shoulder and the other against the Sacred Tree.
Closing her eyes, she quietly poured divine power into it.
Watching from a short distance away, Artiella’s eyes widened.
What…?
This is the first time I’ve ever seen the Sacred Tree react like this.
The Sacred Tree moved its branches.
It deliberately withdrew the shade covering the Duke.
Almost as though it found him utterly offensive.
The branches whipped away with a sharp rush of wind.
