The priest who had previously tried to extract answers about the assignment now grabbed Hameres’ arm again.

Being large and strong enough to be rough, the contact itself felt unpleasant.

Feeling his body forcibly turned, Hameres irritably twisted his shoulder.

Though he tried not to show emotional fluctuation, he couldn’t help his expression from crumpling.

Sharp glares from other priests flew toward the one who touched him despite knowing he hated physical contact.

They seemed worried that everyone would fall out of Hameres’ favor due to one person’s mistake.

The atmosphere rapidly cooled, and the priest scratched the back of his head with thick fingers.

Hameres stepped aside with a cold expression, lest any debris falling from the hair might scatter.

“Priest Hiya. D-did you enjoy your vacation? I wonder if your journey was pleasant.”

“It was alright.”

“I hear the outstanding priest has a private meeting with the High Priest?”

“Yes.”

So what?

After firing back with short answers, he stared fiercely, causing another peer priest to laugh awkwardly.

“Haha! Haha. We were just curious……”

The chubby priest who had grabbed Hameres’ arm also forced a stiff smile.

“I apologize if I offended you. But please don’t keep too much distance. We’re all family in the temple, aren’t we?”

Family……

He hadn’t accepted anyone as family since leaving his home. Even psychologically, there was no one who made him feel comfortable enough to consider them within the same fence.

And these people were family?

He couldn’t relate at all.

But denying it in this situation would only make the conversation endlessly longer.

They would try to persuade him with all sorts of words: though it may be uncomfortable now, let’s try to get along harmoniously; together we can achieve anything; and so on.

Imagining these useless topics, Hameres inwardly sighed and deliberately softened his tone.

“I suppose so.”

With that single phrase, his peers’ faces instantly brightened.

On the way back to his quarters.

Complicated thoughts stretched out like footprints imprinted in snow.

His muttering escaped with white breath and distorted into the air.

“Family, beside, contact……”

The combination of words he unconsciously uttered eventually found commonality in one person who appeared in his mind.

Beni Numora.

With her, he might be willing.

She might be fine to become family, it might not feel awkward to have her by his side, and contact…

At the last musing, Hameres awkwardly chewed his lip.

“Contact was fine too.”

He had grabbed her waist to put her on the horse.

They rode together, bodies pressed close as they galloped.

He placed his hand on her to heal where she had been beaten.

He held her hand when she sat down in shock after seeing the wolves.

Far from hating it, hadn’t he wanted to touch her more?

He knew his body could feel heat, and he realized that a trembling different from reverence toward God could be engraved in his heart.

Why was that?

Why did he become so gentle with her?

He traced his thoughts, wondering why physical contact with Beni felt acceptable, why he even felt excited, why his heart raced, making him breathe heavily.

By the time he reached his quarters through the winter air, a sense of gloom permeated Hameres’ handsome face.

“I’ve harbored something I shouldn’t have.”

He had to acknowledge the feeling he had absolutely pushed away.

He liked her.

Perhaps it was even love.

* * *

“You ungrateful wretch!”

“Just try to lay a hand on me. I’ll officially report you to the family, Baron!”

“Who would believe an orphan with no connections?”

“The fact that you’re embezzling all the sponsorship money to fill your own pockets would come out with just a little investigation!”

Beni thought she might have gone mad.

She couldn’t believe she was shouting at the Baron like someone with nothing to lose.

More than the fear of getting hit, she dreaded how Hameres would look down on her if she submitted to the Baron. The thought alone made her shudder.

“This won’t do. I’ll have to lock you up in the barn or somewhere!”

“Go ahead and try! Do you think I came here without taking any precautions?”

“W-what?”

In reality, she had prepared nothing.

She just recalled what people had whispered about merchants fighting in the marketplace.

The one with the louder voice wins, and seizing the initiative gives you control.

The people who had commented while watching others’ quarrels were right.

When she raised her voice, the Baron’s momentum diminished.

“You’re not my only relative, Baron. I spent days asking around and met a relative from my mother’s side. I told them about my situation and asked them to be a witness to the head of the Numora family if they don’t hear from me within a month.”

“Nonsense! They ignored you when your parents died, and now they’ll suddenly defend you? Who would believe such a story?”

“Next time I’ll go to the head of the Numora family. Consider yourself lucky that I first approached my mother’s family out of consideration for letting me live in the same house all this time.”

“Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Yes! After receiving such unfair treatment, I realized I have nowhere else to retreat. You yourself abandoned the family name long ago, so who would listen to you? They’d take my side out of spite for a baron who clings to his wife for petty money!”

Beni looked straight up with her eyes.

The Baron’s eyes trembled. He noticed that Beni’s face, which should have been covered in bruises, had returned to normal.

Fearing Hameres might get involved, Beni quickly provided a different reason.

“Look at this. Someone felt sorry for abandoning me and gave me precious medicine after seeing my face. How could I, penniless, have afforded treatment?”

The Baron’s throat visibly bobbed.

He clearly believed she had sought help from her mother’s family.

A strange elation rose like wildfire, warming her chest. She almost laughed from the satisfaction of standing up to the Baron.

This was all thanks to Hameres. She felt his confidence had infected her.

Emboldened by this spirited energy, she believed she could overcome this.

In reality, though she had boldly told Hameres she had a way to handle the aftermath, she had nothing.

“I told you before, I want independence.”

“You said you wouldn’t become independent!”

“I only said that to figure out how to survive. Now that I have allies, I won’t be pushed around by you anymore.”

“Y-you! What an ungrateful girl.”

“In exchange, take all the sponsorship money that comes in my name. You can receive it for about another year. Go ahead and swallow it all.”

Hameres might scold her for readily giving up her share if he knew.

But she couldn’t think of another way to escape using her own strength.

She thought the Baron’s attitude might change after she conceded so much. However, he seemed unsatisfied, consumed by greed.

He pushed Beni into a corner with shamelessness below common sense.

“Fine, if that’s what you want, do as you please. But I can’t immediately return the property your parents left.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s deposited in the bank earning interest. There’s an agreed period with the bank, so I’ll return it to you in two years.”

“Then how am I supposed to become independent?”

“Do menial work in someone’s house or sell your body, figure it out yourself. If you don’t want to, become independent in two years! Tsk, that should be enough, how long do you plan to have your way!”

The Baron pushed Beni’s shoulder hard as he passed by. Her light body was shoved, causing her to fall on her b*tt.

Far from feeling guilty, he looked down at her with contempt and dismissed her.

“I clearly told you you can be independent. The decision is yours.”

Her jaw trembled with indignation. Beni chased after him and turned the Baron around.

“Go to the bank right now and ask for it!”

“Breaking the term would actually cause a loss. Are you okay with it being cut in half?”

“I don’t care! That’s why I’m telling you to return it right now!”

When she screamed like a madwoman, the Baron glared at her with murderous intent and spat.

“Ptui! So filthy…… Fine, I’ll return it!”

“When? Tell me exactly, right here.”

“I need to go to the bank and check, don’t I? Just wait for now.”

“How long do I have to wait?”

“If you’re going to act like a leech, go to your room and sleep! Even when I say I’ll return it, you’re being a pain, a pain!”

The Baron roughly shook off Beni’s hand. He raised his hand high to slap her cheek but stopped, calculating the consequences of being reported.

He clenched his fist, spewed a string of curses, and left the house.

Beni covered her face and sobbed.

She had thought it would be too easy.

It seemed he would make all kinds of excuses not to return the money. Even if she reported him to the family, the Baron would surely profess his good conscience.

He would claim the sponsorship money went to Beni’s living expenses, and he deposited the inheritance because it would be a waste to leave it idle.