Chapter 91: |
Diech tried to improve Rosaline’s mood, but he didn’t ask why she felt down in the first place. He smiled when their eyes occasionally met, and when the wind caused the tree’s shadow to move away, he kept his eyes closed.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Oh, what are you thankful for?”
“You brought me out of there. Thank you.”
This garden also belonged to the Temple, but it didn’t matter much to Rosaline. The priests had neatly arranged each area and had it shining white. However, the space where people looked at her with disgust and this garden were wholly different, even if it was in the same Temple.
A tree that grows on its own, a broken fountain wrapped in ivy, fruits dotting the greenery here and there, and a cool breeze. How did Diech know about this place? Did he need to escape here too?
Diech held his breath and opened his eyes wide at Rosaline’s words of gratitude. He tugged at his earlobe and looked away.
“… I’m glad I was helpful.”
After a while, Diech rubbed his face with both hands and smiled.
“Rosaline is truly… like Epa.”
“What is… Epa?”
Diech hesitated.
“Listen, don’t get me wrong. It’s a bit weird, but when I was a kid, I had a dog named Epa…”
As Diech spoke, he hastily changed his words. He seemed aware that calling someone a certain animal sounded like an insult.
“… She was a puppy.”
“Oh, so I’m like a dog.”
“… A puppy.”
Diech was sullen. He seemed to be looking for a cuter and more decent word.
“I mean a puppy,” he emphasized once more.
Rosaline nodded her head and answered quickly, “Okay. Sure. A puppy.”
“She would tear apart days worth of homework and destroy the snow houses I made painstakingly during winter.”
‘This is an insult!’ Rosaline realized he wasn’t talking about a ‘puppy’, but a dog that eats somebody’s homework and destroys somebody’s snow house: a pet that interferes with others’ work. ‘Did I ever do something so blatantly rude…’ Rosaline was shocked.
“Ah.. the snow houses I made with a lot of hard work over the course of a week.”
‘Bad Epa.’ Rosaline’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Epa had a cold the night after, so she had a runny nose and was panting. She couldn’t even eat properly. As annoyed as I was whenever the puppy demolished my snow house when I saw her in pain, I still prayed to Idelavhim she wouldn’t get sick anymore.”
‘So, did you end up liking it?’ Seeing Rosaline’s confused look, Diech burst into laughter. Soon he reached out to Rosaline, pinching her cheeks gently. Rosaline didn’t expect him to be so playful, and her eyes widened. Diech made a mischievous expression.
“I hated it.”
Diech stopped pinching her and covered her cheeks with his palms. With a squeeze, Rosaline’s mouth popped out like a bird’s beak. Diech’s eyes crinkled at the corners, looking delighted. Rosaline felt like she was being made fun of out of nowhere. And somehow, she felt like she was in a bit of trouble.
***
“Sit down, Brother.”
“Where?”
“Where you’re standing. If you lift the teddy bear, won’t you have a seat? I’m sorry, is it a bit messy?”
“I’m surprised your head still knows how dirty this place is.”
Isserion quickly went to the spot Laheansi had pointed out and excavated the chair. His skill of taking out a handkerchief and wiping the chair was excellent. The knights had left, and the door was closed. Laheansi brushed away the crumbs stuck on the pages of the Scripture. Ricardis looked at Laheasi, still in bed, with a disgusted expression.
“I enjoyed your sermon on the Blessed Night. You ended it very quickly.”
Laheansi broadly smiled as he narrowed his languid eyes.
“Ooh? Did you see it? Ah, if you were there, you should’ve greeted me. What a shame…”
He let out a silly laugh and twisted his body.
“I thought it was an educational sermon. When I heard it, I thought…”
‘… that you must be crazy.’ Ricardis swallowed the last half of his words. He didn’t want to be the villain who wounds the heart of a happy child.
“So, why did you preach… like that?”
“This sermon was my debut. I changed it slightly to sound a little more dignified, and boy! It was awesome.”
‘It sounded like it could’ve ended your high priest career.’
“I didn’t know the lectures those grandpas gave me about being young would be useful when preaching. ‘How much longer do we have left to live? You, little one, should understand now.’”
Laheansi continued and cracked up for a while.
“Ah, in the end, they said one can’t live long… Hehehe!”
It made Ricardis feel awkward.
Ricardis had many unpleasant half-brothers and half-sisters. There were six princes and seven princesses: thirteen in total. However, only a handful of them interacted with Ricardis. Unbeknownst to the other siblings, Ricardis was from a different seed, and, along with many other issues, his holy power played a part in limiting communication with his siblings.
Among the thirteen, Laheansi was the only one with whom he shared brief interactions where they occasionally met to drink tea and say hello. Despite this, there was no talk of deep friendship between the 2nd Prince Ricardis and Laheansi because Laheansi no longer had the title ‘Laurel of the Snowfield’. Those who assumed the role of servants under Idelavhim bore only their names. Therefore, he’s not Laheansi of some family or someone’s great son, Laheansi. He’s just a humble human. As a result, he naturally distanced himself from the Imperial power struggle, which may be why Ricardis was more comfortable around Laheansi.
Laheansi brewed his tea by himself and served refreshments on a cluttered surface that looked like a table. No one had touched them except himself, but Laheansi didn’t care.
“You ignored the grandpas when they asked you to meet them once. So, which wind has blown you this way now?”
“Today, four out of seven high priests are absent. Therefore, today is the right time to come because there are fewer of them.”
“Is it okay to carefreely insinuate that you have people planted in the Temple in front of a high priest?”
Ricardis smiled as he crossed his legs. His narrowed eyes stared at Laheansi.
“I don’t know anything about those old priests.”
“Indeed. But so what if you have people planted? Are they a result of decisions Brother has made? The consequences are a long way off.”
“That’s up to you to think. I have something I want to ask you today, and it’s not about that.”
Laheansi watched his half-brother while enjoying the refreshments he had prepared. Ricardis glowed from head to toe in the sunlight coming through his window. ‘Ah, so handsome.’
“Lahey. What is…?”
Laheansi was speechless for a moment. ‘You’re not asking me to re-evaluate the tenets I’ve been learning since I was a child, right? Magic is magic. A product of Crean Tidanion. An ominous power from the Black Moon. The opposite of holy power. It’s rival. Incompatible…’
“My smart brother…”
Laheansi grinned as he stroked his hair. Even though Laheansi had a pretty face, Ricardis didn’t like how he smiled.
“Did you go to Balta and find a clue about the Blessed Night?”
“…You knew it too.”
“I’m still a high priest.”
Laheansi stretched out on the chaise and maintained a strange posture as if half-lying or half-sitting.
“I’m a new high priest, so I can’t tell you much. Some things I studied and found out. Some things my master taught me.”
Ricardis’s eyes widened at the word that came out of Laheansi’s mouth: ‘Master’.
There was only one person Laheansi called a teacher: High Priest Windit, who taught him theology when he was still called Laheansi, Laurel of the Snowfield. Laheansi did not use Windit’s title at the Temple and kept calling him his ‘Master’. Windit let him, probably because he grew accustomed to Laheansi’s stubbornness as a child.
Ricardis looked around the room quietly. Fortunately, there were only the members of the Knights of the White Night and Isserion around. He became a bit wary because High Priest Windit, executed a few years ago, was problematic.
Behind the face of a good priest who gave food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, and looked after all people, was a very different image of a heretic. He was charged with preaching doctrines contrary to the teachings of the Great Temple and confusing the people: crimes the Holy Empire did not take lightly.
Illavenia was shocked, and the authorities executed High Priest Windit. Laheansi filled his vacancy. Because of their relationship, many were reluctant to have Laheansi become a high priest. High Priest Windit taught Laheansi the doctrines, laws, and various disciplines. They had a lot of contact, so it was natural to worry that he had corrupted Laheansi.
However, Laheansi proved his innocence with tears and a runny nose. Furthermore, no one could find evidence that he had learned strange things from Windit, so it only remained a suspicion. Of course, Laheansi’s bloodline played a significant role in the decision. No matter how much he abandoned his surname, the emperor did not want to watch his blood wear such a stigma.