The next day, Ratius moved busily.

He needed to find ways to build Selvia’s resistance.

He flipped through several books while pressing his throbbing head in his office.

“There’s definitely no information.”

Belrocan immediately responded to his muttered words.

“Wouldn’t the High Priest know?”

Working at his desk a short distance away, Belrocan seemed to know what Ratius was looking at.

“How do you know what you’re talking about?”

“The title is written on the cover. ‘Side Effects of Holy Power.'”

“You can see the title from that distance?”

“Though I wear glasses sometimes when working, I have good eyesight.”

“Then why do you wear glasses at all?”

Belrocan pushed up his glasses with his finger and said.

“I wear them because they help me concentrate.”

“……I see.”

Ratius nodded with a deflated expression.

He got up from his seat and approached Belrocan’s desk.

Ratius leaned forward with quite a serious face, narrowing the distance between him and Belrocan.

Belrocan showed discomfort at Ratius suddenly bringing his face close.

“Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“I thought you might know something. You’re well-informed about many things.”

“While it’s true I’m knowledgeable, I don’t know much about holy power.”

“Do you really want to say such things about yourself?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Belrocan shifted his indifferent gaze from Ratius.

“Just consult with the High Priest. Wouldn’t that be faster?”

“He’ll be coming soon anyway.”

Soon?

Belrocan raised his head again to look at Ratius with surprised eyes.

Ratius straightened up with a deflated expression. Then he walked back to his desk with dragging steps.

Watching his retreating figure, Belrocan asked.

“Soon?”

“Yes, soon. He’s coming the day after tomorrow.”

Belrocan doubted his ears.

It felt like his meetings with Amon had become more frequent lately.

Hadn’t he just seen him a few days ago?

He finally couldn’t contain his curiosity and spoke.

“You seem different lately, visiting the temple and all.”

He hadn’t known Selvia’s existence would change him this much.

Things had been strange since he brought her to the Empire.

Belrocan’s eyes narrowed further.

Ratius ignored the stare fixed on him. He paid no attention to the piercing gaze.

He plopped down in his chair, leaned back, and sighed.

Due to Belrocan’s persistent stare, Ratius finally explained the reason.

“Twice a week. The High Priest will come to the palace to train Selvia in building resistance.”

“……But Your Majesty could do that sufficiently, right?”

“She needs someone to compare with, so I had no choice but to agree.”

“To know the difference between one who wields the power of god and one who doesn’t?”

“Yes, it’s nice how you quickly catch on without needing long explanations.”

Ratius clicked his tongue at Belrocan’s quick wit.

“Yes, I’m well aware of my intelligence.”

Belrocan shrugged. Watching this, Ratius shook his head.

“Days used to feel tedious, but now they seem to pass too quickly.”

“Yes, I feel the same.”

“It would be nice if you put some soul into your words.”

“Please understand that my soul is focused on work.”

“So you’re telling me to stop chatting and focus on work.”

“How dare I mean it that way.”

While saying this, Belrocan stood up with organized reports in hand.

The neatly arranged documents landed one by one on Ratius’s desk with sharp taps.

Ratius began reviewing the documents with a short sigh.

Soon, only the sound of turning papers filled the office.

Ratius stretched. Glancing at the time, he saw the appointment time approaching.

“Already time……”

Belrocan organized the documents and looked at Ratius.

“All urgent matters are finished.”

“I was about to leave anyway. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“Yes, please go ahead. I won’t hold you back.”

“You should try holding me back sometimes.”

“No thank you. I’m going home too.”

Belrocan flatly refused. He also stood up and stared at Ratius.

“Aren’t you going?”

Ratius somehow felt like he was being driven out.

He had to leave the office with a bewildered expression he couldn’t hide.

* * *

Selvia waited for Ratius in the training ground. Glancing at the clock, she saw the appointed time approaching.

They had agreed to meet at 8 PM in case any power leaked out.

Selvia felt increasingly tense with each tick of the clock’s second hand.

“I can’t get a sense of how this will proceed.”

Moreover, Ratius was one who wielded the power of god.

Selvia didn’t know the magnitude of his power. Looking down at her feet, even her shadow was rippling anxiously.

“Why are you so anxious when holy water doesn’t affect you much?”

Holy water had no special effects besides preventing blood coughing.

It just somewhat eased the pain.

Selvia fingered the necklace around her neck.

Thinking about it, it was strange. Father probably didn’t know her mother’s voice was contained in the necklace.

He likely switched it just to sell it, seeing how expensive it looked.

Creak.

With the sound of the door opening, Ratius appeared.

Finding Selvia already there, he made an ‘oops’ expression.

He immediately checked the time, but it was still 10 minutes before 8.

“You came early. I should be the one waiting. 

Ratius strode over to where Selvia was waiting.

“Did you have a good day?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Before we start training, I’d like to check how much resistance you have to holy power.”

Selvia nodded.

“The training is simple. Since it’s the first day, let’s start lightly.”

As the clock struck 8, the training ground door opened.

A maid brought in a tray and withdrew.

Ratius pondered while looking at the items on the tray.

“Hmm, this seems appropriate to start with.”

Ratius handed Selvia a teacup.

“I don’t feel anything.”

Selvia shrugged while holding the teacup. He slowly channeled holy power into the cup she was holding.

“How about now?”

“……No, it’s the same.”

That shouldn’t be possible.

Ratius had definitely infused holy power into the teacup. Yet Selvia showed no reaction.

His head tilted to the side.

‘Is it because I’m not transferring it directly?’

He needed to check further.

He grabbed a book, infused it with holy power, and handed it to her again.

She took the book he handed her just as naturally this time.

“Did you infuse it with holy power?”

“Yes.”

“But I don’t feel anything.”

There was still no rejection reaction. The shadow remained quiet, and no other power was felt in her body.

“Strange.”

He infused other objects with power the same way, but the results remained unchanged.

As Ratius was about to take the object from her hand, Selvia stopped him.

“Wait…… Something feels different.”

Though faint, she could feel holy power flowing into her body through her hand holding the object.

“It’s not rejecting but accepting it.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes, I actually feel power building up in my body.”

It seemed Selvia’s body didn’t reject Ratius’s power.

The probability was high that it was because he was God’s proxy. He was someone who could save her. So his power must be similar.

“Could you channel holy power directly into me?”

“……I can.”

Ratius extended his hand toward Selvia.

“Then excuse me for a moment.”

He had never directly transferred his power before.

Therefore, this act felt awkward to him.

Ratius gently grasped Selvia’s hand placed on top of his.

He watched her expression while slowly channeling holy power.

“How is it?”

“……It’s fine. There’s no reaction at all. It seems my body doesn’t reject Your Majesty’s power.”

Selvia stared intently at her hand with an unbelieving expression. Their joined hands still only felt warm.

“Your Majesty, I think it would be fine to infuse stronger power.”

Selvia felt greedy.

If she could handle a bit more, much stronger power, maybe she could use the power of light?

Perhaps she could prevent the dark power from consuming her.

However, seeing her sparkling eyes, Ratius shook his head.

“We should stop here for today. Even if you feel fine now, there might be side effects.”

“But—”

“You have training with the High Priest tomorrow too. It’s not too late to try stronger power after confirming whether there’s any rejection to his power.”

Ratius spoke while releasing her hand.

“I understand. Training with the High Priest will surely show the difference.”

At his firm tone, Selvia took a step back.

Like Ratius said, it would be troublesome if overdoing it today prevented her from training tomorrow.

She ended the training while holding back her regret.

“This makes one more exception for you.”

Ratius smiled brightly at Selvia.

The fact that he had become an important existence to her kept making him happy.