Damian waited for Yuphe near the portal connecting the imperial palace and the Great Temple.

“Why isn’t he coming yet?”

Even though the time he should have returned had long passed, Yuphe hadn’t come back.

Although Damian usually thought it was better to worry about a stray dog than to worry about Yupheon Arne, today he was somewhat concerned about his superior whom he served.

Because from the moment he set out after receiving the message from the imperial palace, his condition had been quite poor.

He had stared at the letter silently for a long time with a face as pale as someone ill, then suddenly stood up and said,

“Get ready, Damian. We’re going to the imperial palace.”

“What? So suddenly?”

When Damian asked in confusion, Yuphe left first with his priest’s robe fluttering, without answering.

When Damian checked the emperor’s letter that he had left behind, there were only very good words written there.

That Miss Jella Irene had discovered a way to release the curse of the ancient dragon, and she needed help, so please come to the imperial palace to assist.

Releasing a curse. It sounded like a very good thing just from hearing it.

And who was Jella Irene? She was the lady whom their Holiness had been desperately clinging to and following for the past few months.

Although there were rumors that she was a formidable sister from the underworld, she was beautiful, had a good personality, and above all, she was someone their Holiness really liked.

With such a person waiting for help at the imperial palace, why had he made that expression?

It looked like the expression of someone who had sensed something, or the expression of someone facing something very frightening.

‘No way, frightened? Our Holiness couldn’t possibly have such a thing.’

Just as Damian was shaking his head and correcting his earlier thought,

Yupheon came trudging alone from far away.

“Holiness! I’ve been waiting… gasp!”

Damian, who had been waving his hand with a welcoming voice, discovered red bloodstains on Yuphe’s white robes and rushed over in shock.

“Holiness, are you alright! This blood…!”

Damian asked, grabbing Yuphe’s robe with trembling hands.

“Who were you trying to kill again…”

“It’s my blood.”

“Yes, I know. Of course it wouldn’t be your blood… What?”

Damian looked at Yuphe, startled even more than before.

But Yuphe, who would normally have said something to him, passed by without saying a word.

There was moisture in his golden eyes that had briefly sparkled.

‘Could it be that Holiness was crying…? No, that’s impossible.’

While Damian was blinking in disbelief, Yuphe had already gone far away by himself.

“Holiness, let’s go together!”

Yuphe ignored Damian’s voice calling from behind and crossed the portal.

In an instant, his body moved to the inside of the Great Temple.

Walking with an indifferent face, Yuphe suddenly stopped, covered his eyes with one hand, and burst into laughter.

“Ha… This is really driving me crazy.”

He muttered, roughly rubbing his face.

“I already miss you. What should I do, Jella?”

It had been barely an hour since he heard her words of rejection and watched her back as she turned away from him.

Nevertheless, he already missed her.

Was it because of the memories with her embedded everywhere?

Yuphe walked around the inner courtyard of the Great Temple with a wry smile.

Afterimages of his childhood days flashed before his eyes.

Young her and him holding hands tightly and running.

Young her sitting on a flower bed making flower rings with spotted hands, and young him looking at them with curious eyes.

Young her and him jumping around on the grass with the puppy Beatrice…

At that moment, the sound of humming came from the direction of the fountain.

There was also an afterimage of Jella there.

If there was one difference from what had been flashing before his eyes until just now, it was that she, who was playing in the fountain with her hands in the water, had the appearance of a complete adult.

Yuphe remembered where this afterimage was from.

It was when she had just opened her eyes in the new body brought from another dimension.

It was a memory from that time, which she no longer remembered.

***

Yuphe succeeded in combining Jella’s soul with Ga-eul’s physical body using the breath of god.

Vitality began to bloom in her resurrected body, and color returned to her complexion. But a problem arose.

“Hey, dragon. Jella isn’t opening her eyes.”

Yuphe looked at Helasio with bleak eyes.

[Th-that… It seems some error has occurred. Why, why is this happening? Haha…]

Swoosh.

A cold blade touched Helasio’s neck as he let out an awkward laugh.

“Find a way for her to open her eyes.”

Cail threatened coldly while holding the sword.

[Ah, no, I, I don’t know what to do…]

Snicker.

Niel let out a short laugh at the crude excuse.

“Do you know something?”

Niel said, looking at Helasio with eyes devoid of laughter despite his smiling lips.

“Ancient dragon Helasio, your right corner of the mouth trembles when you lie. Just like her.”

“What? This dragon bastard, are you lying that you don’t know what to do when you actually have a way?”

At Niel’s observation, Yuphe menacingly rippled the still unrefined power of god.

[Wa-wa-wa-wait! I, I forgot to explain! There are tremendous side effects to maintaining life with the breath of god! It, it would be better to let Jella go according to the natural order…!]

“Natural order.”

Cail growled lowly, glaring at Helasio.

“I’ll send you according to the natural order first.”

[Kyaak! Put that sword away!]

If Jella’s eyes didn’t open immediately, he was about to be slaughtered right there by the three men.

Under the threat of the three men, Helasio suggested a method with tears in his eyes.

[It must be because that priest’s body is half human, so there are imperfect parts.]

Helasio explained that one drop of his blood could complement that part. However, as a result, her physical body would be influenced by his blood.

He also explained about the price of saving a life with the breath of god. He said that if she practiced medicine, patients would die; if she made medicine, it would become poison; if she made food, it would cause illness—but none of that mattered to the three men.

“…That doesn’t matter at all.”

They intended to keep nothing stained on her hands when she was resurrected. As for food, couldn’t they make it for her for the rest of her life? She would now live under complete protection.

[Kuaaaaaaaaah!]

Helasio made an enormous fuss just to extract one drop of blood.

[It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!]

The dragon screamed as if the whole world was ending and rolled around saying it hurt.

But the three men didn’t give a glance to the pathetic dragon and continued their intense discussion about where to protect her until she woke up.

In the end, the place decided was Yuphe’s Great Temple.

The imperial palace had too many watching eyes, and the north was an unfamiliar place for Jella.

The three men who protected her in the deepest room of the Great Temple took turns looking after Jella with great care.

However, Niel was extremely busy with various issues at the imperial palace, and Cail often had unstable conditions as he had not accepted the dragon into his body for long.

So the one who guarded her side for most of the time was none other than Yuphe.

Click.

The door opened, and a man with pink hair wearing white priestly robes entered the room.

Step, step.

The man’s footsteps stopped in front of the bed.

A woman with hair as black and long as ebony lay motionless on the bed.

Yuphe looked at the woman’s face for a long time, then knelt at her bedside.

“I’m here, Jella.”

He called her in a gentle, tender voice that would have surprised the other priests of the Great Temple if they had heard it, and carefully held her wrist.

He could feel a faint but definite pulse beating.

Every time he confirmed that she was alive and not dead, Yuphe felt a painful lump in his throat.

Trying to compose his breaking voice, Yuphe spoke to her softly.

“Today, the flowers you like bloomed on the hill behind.”

Telling her about his day like this was one of his daily routines, even though he knew the sleeping woman couldn’t hear him.