“Stephen, how’s the priest doing?”

As Diego entered the room, Stephen was already up to greet him.

“He’s gradually improving. The doctor says by tomorrow he should be able to walk around.”

Stephen kept fanning Kai while adding his concerns.

“I thought he wouldn’t get seasick since he spent his whole life on an island… At least he should be fine with the carriage, right?”

Tomorrow they’d have to take a merchant carriage toward Leicus territory, and he worried whether such a frail person could endure that long journey.

“Either way, he’s coming with us.”

Whether sitting properly or tied up by force, the fact that they’d be heading to their destination wouldn’t change.

Diego’s sharp eyes turned toward the priest Kai, who lay half-conscious on the bed, as he answered Stephen’s question indifferently.

“Diego, come here for a moment.”

Stephen called Diego out to the terrace attached to the room.

“What is it, Captain?”

Sensing something serious in the captain’s expression, Stephen lowered his voice to ask, and Diego glanced inside before speaking.

“There’s a strange rumor going around the village.”

“What rumor?”

“About a divine prophecy…”

“A prophecy?”

At Stephen’s raised voice, Diego checked the room again, but fortunately Kai didn’t seem to wake. Relieved, Diego began sharing what he’d investigated with Stephen.

“It’s not just Regenda where we are. Just from what the village guards were chattering about, it seems to have spread throughout the entire empire, starting from the southern port town of Kuner.”

“What’s the content?”

“They’re talking about the end times.”

“What? Did I hear that right? The end times?”

To Stephen, who found the content even harder to believe, Diego added more explanation.

“Unless the most wicked person in the world is punished, a great disaster will befall this continent. And if the prophecy is defied, what happened to Kuner will happen again. They say it won’t end with just one village that time.”

“You mean that Kuner where everyone died in an earthquake?”

As Stephen kept nodding, Diego shook his head.

“People believe that rumor?”

“They do.”

“So who is this wicked person?”

Diego answered with hand signals. But before Stephen could be surprised by reading Diego’s signals, another answer came from behind them.

“That’s a lie…”

“Ahhh!”

“Oh? You’re awake, priest?”

Stephen jumped in surprise, and Diego turned around, concerned about how much Kai had heard.

There stood Kai, who had been sleeping like the dead after taking the strong sleeping pills the doctor prescribed, right behind them.

Kai, who had nearly fully recovered, turned pale as a sheet and cried out.

“Th-that’s a lie.”

“Priest?”

Kai was trembling behind them. Diego quickly supported him and Stephen joined in, helping him sit on the bed as Kai kept muttering.

“That can’t be. That can’t be…”

“What… can’t be?”

Diego subtly sat beside the panicking Kai, and the interrogation began.

Kai seemed to fall for it completely, starting to spill everything. No persuasion was even necessary.

“The prophecy! The prophecy, I mean. No such prophecy was ever given.”

“No such prophecy…”

Diego’s hawk-like sharp eyes gleamed as though he’d caught something. But Diego skillfully hid his smile and continued questioning.

“But priest, if no such prophecy was given, does that mean a different prophecy was given?”

“A different prophecy?”

“Yes, that’s what you seemed to mean just now…”

“N-no, that’s not it. I just meant that the prophecy Diego heard is fake.”

Could something this transparently obvious even be called a lie?

Under Diego’s persistent gaze, the pale priest’s face flushed completely red with embarrassment.

Diego struggled not to let out a chuckle when Stephen chimed in, genuinely curious.

“But priest, how do you know the prophecy going around the village is fake?”

“Because the one who hears God’s revelations never heard such words.”

“Do you happen to know the person who hears God’s revelations?”

“…No?”

At Kai’s wide silver eyes and the excessively high-pitched negative response, Diego and Stephen had to suppress their emerging laughter.

While the village rumors were concerning, the two men’s mission was to bring this priest who couldn’t tell a lie to the Grand Duke.

Diego gave Kai a gentle smile.

“Then priest, would you tell us more about this fake prophecy?”

* * *

“Kai, will you be alright?”

“I have to endure it. I came all this way to the empire.”

Kai barely answered while repeatedly wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

“Just endure a little longer. We’ll soon arrive at the village at the entrance to Leicus territory.”

At Stephen’s explanation, Kai only nodded and leaned back against the carriage wall.

It had already been a week since they left the port city of Regenda, and this time Kai was suffering from carriage sickness. Having been confined to the island, he’d never taken such a long journey and didn’t know that riding ships or carriages could be this difficult.

But he couldn’t let this ordeal be in vain. He would definitely witness that fateful moment.

That was the reason he had survived until now.

From the moment the prophecy came down, he had felt with his entire body that he absolutely had to be there at that moment.

As Kai fell asleep in a half-dying state, the eyes of Diego and Stephen, who had been caring for him, narrowed.

Hand signals about how to drag this problematic priest to Pave Castle as soon as they reached the village passed between the two.

If Kai refused until the end despite their persuasion, they’d have no choice but to take him by somewhat rough means. They finished their meeting, hoping this gentle priest would follow their wishes until the end.

The operation would begin in the village they’d soon reach.

The first village where the Hevan Knights were stationed—Dedok.

* * *

With Claven’s birthday banquet just three days away, the people of Bondrake mansion were spending incredibly busy days without a moment to spare.

Eisha also had to do a final check of the banquet and carefully review the guest list, but she decided to go out one last time.

Among the jewels sent from Baton’s, all the rings were larger than Eisha’s fingers. She had lost even more weight than when she first married, making them too loose for her fingers—there wasn’t a single one she could wear.

“Oh my, it’s true. All these rings were made to Lady Chatré‘s finger size, weren’t they?”

“That’s what I’m saying! I’m really confused now. Who does His Grace truly love?”

“Right, which side is real?”

With the evidence of the rings appearing, the voices of those supporting Iris grew louder. 

The opinion was that even while choosing rings for the Grand Duchess, he must have unconsciously picked rings for his destined love.

But those supporting Eisha were no less formidable. Having directly witnessed how dearly Claven cherished Eisha, they believed Iris was now just a woman of the past, and he would settle down with Eisha.

Since she’d already heard from Silly that there was friction among the maids, there was no emotional shock. But it completely erased her intention to just wear any random ring.

Eisha passed by the maids’ conversation pretending not to hear, then immediately sought out Fino. And she demanded to have the rings refitted, saying there wasn’t a single one she liked.

Fino didn’t ask for any reason and immediately granted her request, scheduling an appointment at Baton’s jewelry store.

Even while riding in the carriage, Eisha had no other thoughts. It was simply about getting new rings made.

Even at Baton’s jewelry store where they arrived, she could be guided immediately to the VIP room.

However, due to the suddenly scheduled appointment, a young noble couple who had been pre-booked had already barged in. There had definitely been Fino’s instruction to clear out the entire store, but the young noble couple’s bravado ultimately caused trouble.

A young noble was showing off his power in front of his fiancée, bullying a Baton’s employee.

“We made the reservation first, so we’re first. Right?”

“Customer, I’m truly sorry. As we contacted you in advance, an urgent matter came up today, so we’ll serve you next time. The owner said he would definitely compensate you for today’s inconvenience then.”

“Forget it, what do you take me for, a beggar? I’m offended. I just won’t come to Baton’s again. Instead, today’s incident will become gossip throughout all of high society, so be prepa— Huh!?”

“What, honey?”

“Oh my, I know who that person is.”

The blonde lady standing beside the young noble who had been arguing with the employee at the entrance recognized Eisha’s face.

She had been one of the crowd at Anne’s welcome ball five years ago when Eisha made her debut, watching Iris with envious eyes and Eisha with pitying eyes.

“Who is it?”

“Look. I’ll explain later. Let’s just go.”

She clearly seemed itching to talk about today’s sighting, seemingly having seen something very curious.

In the midst of this, Baton appeared.

“What on earth is this commotion?!”

Has his dignified store ever been this noisy? 

With thoughts of dismissing the manager, he came out directly to quickly settle the disturbance. The VIP who would soon arrive was someone who would determine the future of his business.

But Baton was truly aghast at the scene before his eyes.

‘Will I really have to close the store today?’

The day the Grand Duke visited last time, he thought his store was finished due to his own loose tongue when the ‘Tears of Aishika’ was treated poorly. But surprisingly, it was recorded as the day with the largest sales in several years.

That night, Baton toasted, saying the ground hardens after rain and his store would prosper even more.

But that was just a dream lasting a few days.

He had made another huge mistake that would never happen again. Naturally assuming the Grand Duke had purchased accessories for Lady Chatré, whom he would soon remarry, he had sent all the accessories the Grand Duke ordered fitted to her measurements.

But they were all for the current wife, Eisha, and the Grand Duke’s aide demanded a full refund.

Who else would buy items that had already been sold once? 

Not only that, but Baton’s credibility plummeted after the mistake with Hebrandt. 

At the crisis of having to close his business entirely, Baton begged Fino, and agreed not only to exchange everything for Eisha’s measurements but also to provide the finest rings needed immediately.

He had been relieved that this would be enough to reverse his mistake, but at the situation before his eyes, Baton squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Hebrandt won’t do business with Baton anymore, will they?’

And that guess was mostly accurate.

There had been instructions to pay for a full day’s sales separately so they could secretly fit rings as the Grand Duchess wanted. But she’d been exposed to other customers.

Apart from Eisha being recognized as the Grand Duchess, the trust Baton would lose from other nobles for neglecting a VIP couldn’t be stopped by anything.

His store would become the center of all kinds of rumors.

To Baton, who was assuming the worst, the worst was something else entirely.

Eisha moved.

“Shopkeeper, I don’t have much time…”

She meant exactly that. Eisha didn’t care about the young lovers’ agitation or the owner’s panic. 

She simply wanted to stand properly beside Claven at the celebration for his birthday, not in just any appearance but with real effort.