“Ugh, urk…”

A faint groan escaped from the fallen Yupheon.

Yupheon Arne. Why on earth is the Pope of the Holy Kingdom hiding here?

He’s pretending not to be, but he clearly tried to assassinate Niel. Although Niel was concealing his identity with a magic stone bracelet, someone of the Holy Kingdom Pope’s caliber couldn’t have failed to notice it. Moreover, judging by that elaborate priest robe he’s wearing, it doesn’t seem like he’s trying to hide his identity like Niel…

‘Is the Holy Kingdom trying to wage war against the Empire?’

Meanwhile, Yupheon fumbled around my feet with trembling hands.

“P-please save…”

That grotesquely fallen posture didn’t look particularly good, so I thought it would be better to help him up first.

As I bent down and reached out my hand, he grabbed it firmly.

Then, lifting his head at the most perfectly beautiful angle in the world, he smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Lady. I almost died, but thanks to you, my life was saved. You are the savior of my life.”

“…I just reached out my hand though?”

When I asked back dubiously, he smiled even more deeply.

“My, how modest you are. That small gesture of yours was a great salvation to me…”

“What are you doing, Yupheon Arne?”

At this moment, Niel, who had been silent, stepped forward, cutting off his words.

“You must have received an invitation, yet you sneak into the imperial palace and even attempt assassination.”

Immediately, Yupheon wiped the smile off his face and looked at Niel.

“Attempt assassination? I was just being chased by an assassin myself. Are you trying to frame me now?”

Then he started arguing in an utterly shameless tone.

“I’m a victim too. The security of Alpenhayer Palace is terrible, tsk.”

“Um… the weapon on the ground has the Holy Kingdom’s emblem on it…”

Clang!

Before I could finish speaking, Yupheon kicked the weapon rolling on the ground, sending it flying beyond the bushes.

“Weapon? How terrible that such a frightening object was there! I feel like I’m going to faint from fear…”

Yupheon shuddered once again and tried to lean slightly towards me.

‘What is he saying? I feel like I’m going to faint instead!’

However, Niel’s hand grabbing his shoulder was faster than him leaning on my body.

Thud!

As Niel’s hand touched his shoulder, Yupheon distorted his beautiful face unpleasantly and asked coldly.

“How dare you lay your hands on me?”

It was quite a clear voice for someone who had just claimed to be feeling faint.

“How dare I?”

Niel asked back, furrowing one eyebrow somewhat displeased.

“Yes, how dare you.”

Yupheon smirked and nodded towards his wrist. More precisely, at the magic stone bracelet that was concealing his identity.

“I don’t recognize your face. You must be working at the palace?”

Niel seemed to have just remembered that he was in the middle of pretending to be an ordinary client ‘El’ in front of me, not the emperor.

“…I apologize for laying hands on your esteemed person, Your Holiness.”

He gritted his teeth as he removed his hand from Yupheon’s shoulder.

‘Oh my. Niel Alpenhayer just gritted his teeth.’

Niel was not the type to show his emotions easily.

I opened my eyes wide as if I had witnessed a very rare sight.

Yupheon brushed off his shoulder as if something dirty had touched it and nodded with an extremely arrogant expression.

Then he turned back to me and smiled gently.

“As you just heard, my name is Yupheon Arne, the Pope of the Holy Kingdom. If you would grant me the opportunity to repay the kindness I received from you, Lady…”

“No. Not repaying the kindness is the way to repay it.”

I answered with a serious face.

I got caught up in the sudden situation without thinking, but this man in front of me now was someone I thought I didn’t want to encounter even more than Niel Alpenhayer.

“Lord Arne said, “Eliminate Jella Shunaibel. Then spring will return to you.”‘

The ‘spring’ mentioned in the oracle was Yuria, the Saint of Spring.

I don’t resent him for advocating to kill me to revive the Saint, as my death was part of my own plan.

But when he turned a blind eye to me to protect Yuria…

“It’s okay, Yuria. I’ll protect you so that the witch of Shunaibel won’t devour you. “

I felt a little… just a little sad and upset.

Unlike Niel, who was my formal fiancé, Yupheon was the only friend and family-like figure to whom I had given my sincere heart.

In my previous life, I was sent to the Holy Kingdom as if exiled from the Empire right after birth, and I had to grow up learning how to control the runaway of magical power under Pope Johannes.

I met Yupheon there.

I remember the time when he used to speak with a very clumsy accent, scurrying around every corner of the temple.

He was the illegitimate child of Pope Johannes, a dirty yet pretty boy who grew up in the punishment room, being abused.

That boy was Yuphe, now Yupheon Arne.

I used my status as an imperial princess to teach a lesson to all the priests who bullied Yuphe and reported it to Johannes.

Johannes, who didn’t know that his son, whom he had to give birth to in secret, was growing up being abused by the priests, was furious.

After that, Yuphe and I grew up together like siblings under Johannes’s protection.

To me, who had lost my parents from birth, Yuphe was my only family and friend. Until I returned to the Empire and regained my memories of my previous life.

Right after returning to the Empire, along with the realization that I had been possessed into a book, I realized that Yuphe was ‘Yupheon Arne’, one of the male protagonists in the original story.

‘Oh no, it’s ruined.’

Only then did I realize that I had unknowingly twisted the original story.

In the original story, Yupheon Arne had both the ‘#promiscuous man’ and ‘#clergyman’ keywords attached to him.

However, an even more important keyword was none other than #karma-reaping mouth.

He grew up twisted, being neglected by his father and abused by priests in the past, and because of that, he didn’t hesitate to say and do hurtful things to the female protagonist, Yuria.

One of those things was engaging in romantic acts with Jella in front of Yuria, but let’s put that aside…

Anyway, it was Yuria’s role to heal and correct his twisted wounds.

But because I had unknowingly interfered with the original story, Yupheon had become a very devout and innocent child, far from being twisted.

‘Then what about Yuria and Yuphe’s narrative now?’

I became frightened at the fact that I had meddled with the original story.

‘Should I distance myself even now?’

But Yuphe was too precious to me. To the point where it felt unfair to distance myself because of the suddenly remembered original story.

I couldn’t bring myself to distance myself from him, who had been my only family and friend.

Even after returning to the Empire, I maintained our relationship by exchanging letters, and once or twice a year, I would go to meet him or he would come to meet me.

The change in our relationship occurred right after Cail discovered Saint Yuria and brought her to the imperial palace.

Upon hearing the news of the Saint’s appearance, Yuphe, who was being mentioned as the next Pope, personally visited the Shunaibel Empire.

I, who was the imperial princess at the time, forgot about my confusion and ran out to greet my friend.

And I discovered it.

Yuphe, with an unfamiliar face, smiled gently towards Yuria in the imperial garden.

“Yu…!”

I stopped mid-call.

Yuphe was bowing his head towards Yuria, gently brushing her hair.

Was it because it was the first time I had seen him with a woman?

It felt strange.

My worry about twisting the original story had been unfounded.

This world was somehow progressing according to the flow of the original story, and Yupheon, one of the male protagonists, and Yuria, the female protagonist, were building a new narrative.

A much sweeter and gentler relationship than the original narrative of inflicting wounds and accumulating karma.

This was clearly a good thing. My friend Yuphe was sprouting a happy and stable love, different from the original story.

‘But why do I feel lonely?’

I remember turning back with an inexplicably damp heart.

Anyway, although he wouldn’t recognize me now, I didn’t welcome this situation of encountering him at all.

I had already cut off my relationship with Yupheon the moment I planned my own death.

Moreover, the current him seemed a bit mentally unstable.

‘Well, it must have been difficult to live a normal life without Yuria.’

I took a step back from him.

“Not repaying the kindness is the way to repay it…?”

Yupheon looked at me with slightly hurt eyes.

With that pure and pretty face making such a tearful expression, it made me feel like I had done something wrong, but…

“Yes, and if possible, I’d prefer not to encounter each other again. I think that would be the most certain repayment.”

“But…!”

Just as Yupheon was about to say something more in agitation.

“Isn’t it time for you to return, Your Holiness, the Pope of the Holy Kingdom?”

Niel elegantly blocked his way and put on a sardonic smile.

“Let’s say the kindness has been repaid, and we have some very private matters to discuss.”

“What? Private conversation?”

Yupheon frowned.

“There’s no such thing…”

“Isn’t that right, Miss Jella?”

At this moment, Niel subtly showed me three fingers.

‘3 million gold!’

My eyes lit up as I understood the meaning.