Chapter 50. I’ll Get You Back

The important thing now was that his small, white, and soft crow-tit wife had called him her husband.

“Thank you for your generosity.”

Asarim spoke to Theo with a respectful attitude.

That’s when it happened.

“Your Highness!!”

The door burst open with an urgent voice.

It was Ulysse.

He stood before Theo, panting, not even fixing his crooked glasses.

“Se-Secretary! Please!”

Following behind Ulysse was Lambros.

Lambros desperately clutched at Ulysse’s trouser leg, looking extremely anxious.

“Let go of me!”

“N-No! Please! Please have mercy–!”

“Mercy, you say!”

Ulysse vigorously shook his leg trying to detach Lambros who was clinging to his calf.

Theo frowned watching the two of them.

“What kind of show are you putting on?”

“This is no show! No, this fellow here was the one putting on a show!”

“Ah, no, Your Highness the Grand Duke-! I really wasn’t trying to hide anything!”

“Hide?”

One of Theo’s eyebrows shot up. Lambros dropped to the floor with a gasp.

“Th-That…”

“There’s no holy water.”

At Ulysse’s words, Lambros’s face crumpled.

“What do you mean there’s no holy water?”

All five Daphne temples had different exterior designs and spaces according to their regions.

The placement of priests and their tendencies were also different.

That’s why they weren’t all simply called Daphne temples, but had their territory names attached.

However, the space containing the holy water was identical in all of them.

Holy water was the symbol of Daphne temples, brought from the ‘Eye of the Storm’.

The fact that Goddess Daphne protected the world was like a miraculous blessing.

That uniqueness must never be compromised.

Lambros got up, dusting off his knees with an expression of having lost everything.

“Yes. Exactly as stated, Your Highness. About three months ago, the holy water started decreasing… until it all dried up.”

Theo frowned as he listened to Lambros’s story.

Three months ago… That roughly coincided with when Yuelina came to Phaenyx Principality.

* * *

Theo sat on the sofa in Lambros’s office.

Lambros watched Theo nervously as he poured warm tea into a cup.

His hands trembled as he held the teapot, causing tea to overflow.

However, neither of them mentioned or apologized for the overflowing tea.

They hadn’t moved to the office separately just to boringly drink tea.

The holy water had vanished without a trace.

And Lambros had hidden this fact from Theo.

“Three months ago, you say.”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

After the holy water dried up, the first thing Lambros did was keep silent about it.

The fact that the holy water, which should be an eternal symbol in the temple, had dried up could be interpreted as the northern temple being abandoned by Goddess Daphne.

The temple was maintained by people’s prayers and faith.

If people knew about this, they would even question the continued existence of the Phaenyx temple.

That’s why Lambros thoroughly kept it under wraps.

Every morning, he filled the holy water font with a mixture of holy power and magic stone powder to mimic holy water.

But it wasn’t enough.

The fake holy water in the font under the outdoor bell tower would overflow when the wind blew and decrease when the sun was hot.

Secondly, Lambros strictly restricted access to the temple.

He screened even noble visitors and didn’t accept any entry lists from commoners.

During all this, the north’s master, Theo, wasn’t actually a concern.

After his mother Karenrose passed away, Theo had neglected the temple.

He only visited the temple when he was severely injured with excruciating pain.

Even then, he would quickly leave after getting medicine.

But suddenly, this same Theo visited the temple.

Moreover, his reason wasn’t medicine but wanting to look around the temple.

Lambros was anxious.

There was no way to block his entry, nor any means to stop him.

Eventually, this situation occurred.

It started when Theo’s secretary Ulysse left his side saying he would look around the temple alone.

At that time, the high priests were gathered at the bell tower pouring in fake holy water.

Ulysse found this suspicious and questioned them.

The priests, who feared Theo, opened their mouths in an instant.

Theo stroked his chin while looking at Ulysse.

“What about the other places?”

“Ah, don’t you know? Although we’re under the Bios Empire, we’re practically independent. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had any exchange with other temples.”

“I see.”

“We’ll procure more holy water again. Don’t, don’t worry.”

Lambros said while watching his reaction.

Theo maintained an expressionless face, making it impossible for Lambros to know what he was thinking.

In truth, Theo didn’t care much whether the temple had holy water or not.

More precisely, he wasn’t interested in whatever happened at the temple.

He had stopped caring about the divine after his mother died.

However, separate from that, problems at the temple were troublesome matters.

The north was already struggling with not just citizens but also refugees and barbarian attacks.

If the citizens learned about problems at the temple, they would be consumed by anxiety.

Moreover, Yuelina was now by Theo’s side.

The one who matched the prophesied saintess.

He had to protect his wife who they said must become a sacrifice.

Theo raised his head and stared at Lambros.

Lambros’s body tensed up completely.

“Do you think the Grand Duchess is the saintess?”

“Wh-What?!”

“You’re a high priest, so you must have access to the forbidden books. Is that why you were surprised when you saw the Grand Duchess?”

Lambros slowly nodded at Theo’s words.

“We-Well, while her appearance matches that of the saintess, as you know, the saintess is meant to be a messenger for Goddess Daphne to take root in the world.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“But now that Goddess Daphne has established herself in the world, a saintess cannot exist.”

Lambros was quite firm.

As Theo said, he had been startled when he saw Yuelina.

The description of the saintess’s appearance in the forbidden books was remarkably similar to Yuelina.

But Lambros was a priest who served Goddess Daphne.

Since Goddess Daphne existed in the world, naturally there should be no saintess who had fulfilled her role.

“How will you procure the holy water?”

“…We’ve sent priests to the ‘Eye of the Storm’. We should receive an answer soon.”

“I see.”

“Your Highness, we will definitely retrieve the holy water. So could you possibly overlook today’s incident?”

Lambros pleaded with Theo anxiously.

Theo quietly nodded.

“In return, I’d like you to do something for me as well.”

“Yes! Please tell me! If you keep today’s events secret, I’ll do anything!”

“When you receive any communication from the Bios temple, relay it to me immediately.”

“…Pardon?”

Theo stared at Lambros.

“Even if it’s just routine correspondence, anything at all.”

At his firm tone, Lambros nodded repeatedly.

* * *

After the commotion at the temple ended, Yuelina, Theo, and Asarim got back in the carriage.

Yuelina sat next to Theo, with Asarim sitting across from them.

Asarim tilted his head and looked out the window.

The forest path full of greenery ended, and the rough road lined with dry branches began again.

There was no holy water.

Asarim gritted his teeth. The reason he wanted to come to the temple was for the holy water.

But with no holy water, there was no way to confirm if Yuelina was a Snow Person.

Above all, the sudden disappearance of the holy water was suspicious.

Surely Theo and the priest must have exchanged some conversation, but he had no way of knowing what was said, which was also irritating.

Moreover, when they learned there was no holy water, Yuelina remained too calm, unlike the anxious Asarim.

As if she never cared from the start whether she was a ‘Snow Person’ or not.

It seemed like she had no intention of leaving this principality even if she was a ‘Snow Person’.

“Look at this.”

Just then, Theo extended his hand toward Yuelina.

The medicine had turned yellow.

Yuelina’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Really? That’s so fascinating!”

“Didn’t I tell you? The temple’s medicine is special.”

“But that doesn’t mean you should keep hitting walls?”

“Heheh. Of course not.”

Theo and Yuelina looked at each other and smiled.

They were an affectionate pair.

Asarim clenched his fist.

“But why did the holy water disappear?”

Asarim asked Theo while trying hard to control his expression.