“Yes, it seems fine for now, but we can’t leave it untreated indefinitely. The problem is that Princess Kesera is a mage with no holy power whatsoever. We must find a solution no matter what.”

The pair headed to the imperial palace. Naturally, the princess was furious when she heard the situation.

“How on earth did you get poisoned by a demon beast? Where were you wandering around last night?”

Rictusa also wanted to question Shasha about the unidentified high-level demon beast that had appeared in her room, but seeing her reluctance to answer, he hadn’t pressed the matter. 

Shasha lowered her eyes, avoiding both pairs of concerned and angry gazes fixed upon her.

“Come to think of it, that puppy Shasha brought home. I haven’t seen it since last night,” Rictusa remarked casually, having sensed something suspicious despite his typically oblivious nature.

“Puppy? What puppy? We’ll discuss that later. First, let me see your hand,” Princess Kesera demanded.

A heavy silence fell over the room while the angry princess carefully examined Shasha’s hand. 

Her brilliant green eyes scanned the small shell-like hand and slender wrist before fixing back on Shasha’s face.

“I cannot heal this wound with my magical power. Only holy power can purify it, but I’m not sure how many holy power wielders specialize in healing. Rictusa is useless in this regard, and even Shahan specializes in offensive abilities. I’ll send word to the temple to prepare a capable healing priest.”

Rictusa’s expression hardened as he detected the blatant mockery in the princess’s words. 

Before he could object, Kesera mercilessly turned away, pulled out a quill pen from her desk, and rapidly scrawled characters across a piece of paper.

* * *

“You want me to remove this mark?”

The person they visited with Shahan’s recommendation was Elpida, an apprentice priestess at the High Temple.

Princess Kesera had not explained the details to Shahan, merely requesting “someone with healing-oriented holy power,” so neither the recipient of the letter nor Elpida who came to meet them understood the situation fully.

However, Elpida knew one thing for certain: the pretty girl standing before her now was “that very girl” who had been invited to Shahan’s private bedroom and had even visited the High Temple during the recent festival.

“Hmm.”

Elpida regarded the woman who had sought her help with indifference, her mood turning sour. 

She had secretly investigated this girl named “Momo”, one year older than herself, an insignificant orphan with no parents or background to speak of.

She had caught Princess Kesera’s eye, improving her fortune somewhat, and recently became the adopted daughter of the Commander-in-Chief’s household, dramatically elevating her social status.

Yet she still carried the humble title of palace attendant, seemingly unaware of her improved position.

“Give me your hand,” Elpida said.

She wanted to know what kind of intimate relationship this girl had with Shahan. This impudent woman who had slapped Shahan’s face with a door and run away when she should have been on her knees thanking him for his favor.

And why, despite such treatment, Shahan couldn’t let go of his obsession with her.

“I’m sorry for the trouble and thank you,” Momo said.

What could be so appealing about this stupid girl who only knew how to instinctively humble herself?

Elpida snorted inwardly as she roughly examined the wound on the outstretched arm. Though she couldn’t cure it completely at once, this level of healing wasn’t difficult for her.

Meanwhile, someone was staring intently at Elpida, who sat cross-legged by the sunlit window with her honey-gold hair tied back regally. It was Momo herself.

She had thought from their first meeting that Elpida looked exactly like a princess from a fairy tale. The white priestly garments certainly enhanced the image, but Elpida truly possessed a beauty that could make one’s eyes spin.

Momo, always weak for beautiful women, clutched her fluttering heart and carefully extended her hand, folded like a dumpling.

“Please take good care of me, Priestess.”

A fleeting, devilishly petty and malicious smile crossed Elpida’s face as she looked down at Momo.

“Yes, well…”

It seemed not such a bad idea to play a little prank on this presumptuous human who didn’t know her place. Healing-oriented holy power could, conversely, worsen ailments.

Elpida’s plan was to pretend to heal Momo while subtly disrupting the flow of yin and yang energy in her body, ultimately making her condition worse.

Though Momo had never directly harmed her, the special attention she received from Shahan was enough to generate resentment in Elpida.

She laughed aloud as she wrapped Momo’s arm with white cloth.

“I’ll concentrate and infuse holy power, so please keep your eyes tightly closed. This can’t be removed quickly and requires significant focus, so don’t disturb me. Understood?”

Despite Elpida’s haughty voice, Momo simply nodded silently with a smile as pretty as a peach blossom.

‘Why is she smiling so foolishly like an idiot?’

Facing such an innocent smile, Elpida felt a slight twinge of guilt she had never experienced before.

But this momentary discomfort quickly passed as she turned her head away sharply to avoid Momo’s gaze.

The next moment, however, Elpida’s hands froze around Momo’s arm as words seeped into her ears.

“Priestess Elpida, you’re truly beautiful.”

“…”

“I thought Princess Kesera was the most beautiful person in the world, but you’re just as lovely and charming.”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“It’s true. Anyone who sees you would surely fall in love. Even as another woman, I can see how beautiful you are.”

Her clear voice sounded just like a lark’s song. In the midst of quietly executing her plan, Elpida suddenly found herself enveloped in strange feelings.

“Th-thank you,” she stammered, temporarily withdrawing the holy power she had been injecting into Momo’s arm. Unconsciously, she raised her gaze to examine Momo’s still-smiling face.

It seemed like pure praise without flattery or sycophancy. Having spent ten years surrounded by fox-like characters who put on all kinds of pretenses before Shahan and the Second High Priest, constantly encountering fellow apprentice priests who offered sugary words more often than truthful speech, everything felt strangely novel.

‘How odd,’ Elpida thought, finding herself experiencing that uncomfortable feeling once again.

“It’s done,” she announced, hastily releasing Momo’s hand and rising from her seat, feeling pushed by some invisible force. Though she hadn’t carried out her initial “mischievous plan,” her ill feelings toward Momo hadn’t completely dissipated either.

“That’s the best I can do,” she said. The hand wrapped in cloth showed no improvement whatsoever, but Momo, firmly believing that Elpida had treated her, nodded happily and expressed her gratitude.

“I’m grateful just for the time you’ve given me.”

After repeatedly thanking Elpida, Momo left the temple with her hands clasped together, still wrapped in white cloth.

Without realizing it, Elpida found herself staring after Momo with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

“W-wait a moment!”

Belatedly recognizing her own malicious intentions, she rushed out with a clattering noise.

“Miss Momo? Momo!”

But the person who might have heard Elpida’s urgent call had already disappeared beyond the temple grounds.

“Oh no, what have I done?”

The rippling golden waves of her hair tangled chaotically around her snow-white fingers. She felt like a villain who had given candy to a child asking for directions, only to lead them astray.

But that child had countered with a spring-flower smile, leaving Elpida burdened with nothing but guilt.

Standing foolishly for a long while, staring at the space where Momo had vanished, Elpida suddenly remembered what had bothered her earlier. Though it was a subtly different kind of feeling than before.

‘How can she move around so normally? That poison was definitely a highly concentrated deadly toxin that only high-level demon beasts could spread.’

As far as Elpida knew, Momo was just a mixed-blood with ordinary human and ordinary beastkin ancestry, nothing special.

The poison had such tremendous potency that even priests with holy power or mages with magical power could barely dilute it.

How could Momo, a mere half-beastkin with human blood, withstand it?

Elpida’s elegant face creased slightly with a frown. But her ability to speculate was limited by her lack of information.

In the end, she had no choice but to turn back with a heavy heart, unable to make any reasonable guesses.