Chapter 12 (Part 3)

Holding Grace’s hand, Hara led her to a chair in the cozy reception room and told her to sit. As she rummaged through her pockets, she added,  

“This place is filled with stagnant energy. And the worst of it is this shelter.”  

The mention of the shelter made Grace flinch involuntarily.  

Still searching for something, Hara didn’t notice Grace’s reaction. Frustrated by her inability to find what she was looking for, she muttered,  

“Damn it, where did it go? It would’ve helped make the Goddess feel better.”  

After searching for a while, Hara finally gave up and sat in the chair next to Grace.  

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Grace asked,  

“How can you stay so calm?”  

“About what, Goddess?”  

Grace frowned at the repeated use of “Goddess.”  

She wanted to tell Hara to stop calling her that, but she feared the conversation would veer off-topic before she got the answers she wanted.  

Grace hesitated for a moment before giving up on addressing the title and asked what she was curious about.  

“Our bodies are switched.”  

“So what?”  

Hara looked at Grace as if she were saying something strange.  

It was Grace who ended up flustered by her reaction.  

Just then, Hymen and Leonardo entered through the door. Pointing at them, Hara said,  

“I even know how many moles that man has on his butt.”  

The bombshell comment made Hymen let out a deep sigh.  

After seating Leonardo, Hymen walked over and gave Hara a flick on the forehead, then turned to Grace to explain.  

“In the Eastern Continent, it’s, uh, quite common.”  

“Be clear, Hymen. That makes it sound like looking at someone’s butt is a common thing.”  

Hara retorted with a smirk, making Hymen’s face scrunch up in frustration.  

Despite his grimace, Hara laughed and added,  

“Possession, spiritual forms, reincarnation, ghosts—these are all concepts we discuss casually in the Eastern Continent, but they’re not common here in the empire.”  

“S-she likes those, uh, strange things.”  

Before Hymen could finish, Hara smacked him on the back with a loud slap.  

“Strange? I just like exploring things.”  

Brushing off his comment, Hara turned to Leonardo, who still seemed skeptical, and said,  

“I’m the daughter of a shaman, so I can see these things. And when it comes to related sorcery, I’m basically the top in the Eastern Continent.”  

Hymen sighed and added,  

“She’s strange, but she’s skilled.”  

“I only found out about the moles on his butt because our bodies switched during a possession sorcery experiment.”  

Hara shrugged as she spoke, while Hymen’s face turned pale at the memory.  

Smiling at him, Hara turned to Grace and said,  

“Goddess, I can fix this. It’s a bit older and more tangled than usual, but Hymen knows this stuff well.”  

Hara approached Hymen and drew something on his palm.  

Hymen nodded, then drew something back on Hara’s hand, tilting his head slightly. After repeating this process a few times, as if they were having a private conversation, Hymen finally spoke.  

“W-we’ll head back first. We need to find a solution.”  

“I’ve drawn a few circles here to disperse the accumulated energy in this area. It might get noisy tonight… Hmm, Pretty Wizard, you should protect the Goddess well.”  

At Hara’s words, Leonardo reluctantly nodded.  

Hymen, standing nearby, began drawing something on the wall at Hara’s signal. At a glance, it looked quite intricate.  

Leonardo, recognizing it as a sorcery circle, pointed at Hymen and asked Hara,  

“What exactly is he drawing?”  

“This is the center of the sorcery. You wouldn’t know, but I think there’s something underneath this place.”  

“Just trying to set up some defenses,” Hara added, smiling brightly at Grace, whose face was filled with worry.  

“Don’t worry, Goddess! Even though he looks like that, Hymen’s sorcery skills are better than mine!”  

Leonardo, listening to Hara, frowned as if something felt off.  

Pointing at himself and Grace, he asked,  

“Why do you speak formally to Sir Grace but use informal speech with me?”  

Hara, looking incredulous, replied,  

“Did you expect to be treated the same as the Goddess? Wow… That’s ridiculous.”  

Her expression, showing she genuinely believed what she said, left Leonardo at a loss for words. He sighed deeply and walked over to where he had placed the items earlier.  

Taking something out, he handed it firmly to Hara and said,  

“Enough. Please leave now.”  

Hara, seeing Leonardo’s expression clearly saying, “Please go home,” burst into laughter that sounded like a crow’s caw.  

“I’m leaving even if you tell me to stay. Hymen, are you done?”  

At Hara’s question, Hymen nodded.  

Hara approached Hymen, handed him a return stone, and crossed her arms.  

“Then, we’ll be off, Goddess.”  

Grace stood up to see her off, and Leonardo followed her outside.  

Seeing the two standing side by side, Hara laughed and said,  

“Pretty wizard, hang in there. You’re not bad, even if you’re far below the Goddess.”  

Her words made Leonardo’s face twist into a scowl.  

Hara, noticing his expression, nudged Hymen’s side and urged him.  

“Hurry up, hurry up. That guy looks like he’s going to kill me.”  

“Alright, alright.”  

As Grace watched the two break the return stone, she waved her hand.  

Hara, smiling brightly, waved back until she disappeared beyond the space.  

“… She was really something else.”  

“Indeed.”  

As the two exchanged smiles,  

“…!”  

A strong floral scent filled the air, and something poured down on them from above.  

Grace, stunned by the dazzling display of yellow and green before her, shouted,  

“It’s Golden Day Primrose!”  

As she spoke, a few flowers entered her mouth, and she spat out the remnants onto the ground, coughing violently.  

Leonardo, realizing what had happened, stiffened.  

Pulling Grace toward him, he tried to escape the rain of flowers, but the petals followed them wherever they went.  

“Ahh! This is insane!”  

Flailing her arms, Grace tried to shake off the flowers, but the rain of Golden Day Primrose continued. The two, overwhelmed, could only circle around in confusion.  

Amid their panic, laughter echoed around them.  

“It’s the Pla! Those Pla from earlier did this!”  

At Grace’s shout, Leonardo instinctively turned his head, spotting the two Pla flying around and laughing.  

Grinding his teeth, Leonardo grabbed Grace’s hand and ran into the shelter.  

Even after the door slammed shut, the laughter continued to echo through the forest.  

“Wh-what do we do? I… I ate some of it.”  

Grace’s face turned pale with fear at the thought of having eaten the Golden Day Primrose.  

Leonardo, seeing her trembling hands and her pale face, clenched his jaw.  

He quickly fetched some water from the kitchen and handed her a cup.  

“Sir Grace, drink some water for now.”  

Grace, looking at Leonardo’s calm face, nodded and drank the water in one gulp.  

“What should we do now?”

She asked in a gloomy voice.  

“It will be fine.”  

Leonardo’s voice was steady, but both of them knew it wouldn’t be fine.  

Grace, fiddling with the cup in her hands, looked up at Leonardo and said,  

“… Should we wash up?”  

“—Pardon?”  

“Together.”  

Even though he had heard her clearly, Leonardo had to think for a moment to make sure he wasn’t mistaken.  

Grace, waiting for his response, simply sat quietly, looking at him.  

Leonardo, removing his glasses and rubbing his face, asked again,  

“Did you say we should wash up together?”  

Grace nodded and, with a completely serious face, replied,  

“We’ll both be drenched in sweat after organizing the luggage outside, so we should wash up.”  

“… Let’s finish organizing as quickly as possible.”  

Realizing the luggage was still outside and that Grace might be affected by the flower’s poison at any moment, Leonardo nodded.  

“Nothing will happen immediately, so it should be fine.” 

Grace muttered, taking a deep breath before standing up.  

Though she wobbled slightly, she regained her balance and began bringing the luggage inside.  

Leonardo followed her, focusing on moving everything into the shelter for now.  

Once they had moved the remaining items, Grace collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.  

“Glad we finished quickly.”  

“We’ve already sorted out the essentials earlier, so it would be best to just take out some clothes for now.”  

Grace nodded at his suggestion, rummaging through her belongings to pull out some clothes.  

Turning slightly, she said,  

“Then, let’s go wash up.”  

Leonardo, knowing the person before him was Grace, still saw his own body.  

But the moment he noticed her gaze and gestures, all those thoughts vanished.  

And once again, he realized how much he liked her.  

“—Are you sure it’s okay for us to bathe together?”  

Grace smirked at his question.  

She rummaged through her belongings and pulled out an eye mask, waving it in her hand.  

“Ah, I see.”  

Leonardo chuckled lightly, recalling the first time their bodies had switched and how they had blindfolded themselves to wash each other.  

Seeing Grace’s similar expression, he said,  

“I’ll grab my clothes.”  

Nodding politely, Leonardo hurriedly searched through his belongings.  

Hearing the commotion as he searched, Grace smiled.  

Entering the bathroom first, she filled the tub with warm water and added bath salts.  

As she stirred the water with her hand, she closed her eyes.  

‘I feel nauseous.’  

Grace couldn’t tell whether it was due to the Golden Day Primrose she had eaten or the anticipation of what might happen next.  

She only knew she wanted to turn this crisis into an opportunity.  

‘Given the circumstances, when else would I have the chance to be close to him again?’  

She was tired of yearning for him only in dreams.  

Thinking of the strange emptiness she felt every time she woke from those dreams, Grace bit her lip.  

The more she tried not to think about the dreams, the more nauseous and restless she felt. But she forced herself to focus on the water.