Chapter 1.9

‘I must be crazy…’

Brienne, who had run to her room after leaving Herace behind, leaned against the closed door and panted.

She had run so fast she thought she might collapse at any moment. She had never been that physically close to a man before. Brienne bit her lip as she looked down at the white book she was still clutching to her chest.

‘…What a strange person.’

For someone who was supposedly just handing over a book, he had gotten far too close. Remembering that moment, she could still feel the ticklish sensation of his touch.

The slow movement of his fingers brushing over hers, the steady warmth from his body so close, the unfamiliar, subtle scent that lingered at the tip of her nose…

Her legs, which had barely held her up, gave out. Brienne sat down right there, covering her burning face with both hands.

That was too close, no matter how she thought about it.

She felt as if she’d been utterly captivated by those dark gray eyes that curved so gently. The moment she saw his face up close, she thought she could finally understand the women Shylo had spoken of—those who fell for Herace’s looks.

‘…Is he always this casual?’

Unlike Kaiden, who was always serious with women, Herace seemed to have no hesitation at all. Brienne clenched her still-tingling hand and fell deep into thought.

‘He didn’t attend the academy regularly, did he?’

What on earth was that man doing all that time?

Did he meet women, as the rumors said? Did he meet a lot?

…Ten? Or a hundred?

Brienne imagined Herace surrounded by beautiful women. With just one of those charming smiles, the women would blush and burst into laughter…

‘…No, what am I doing? I’ve only met him twice!’

Snapping out of her foolish thoughts, Brienne slapped her cheeks with her palms. It was rash to judge a person so easily. Thinking like this was no different from the way others had carelessly criticized her.

‘Why am I acting so out of character…’

Her eyelids trembled in her confusion. She wanted to quickly find something to distract herself, to calm these rude thoughts. Brienne sighed and stood up.

Tap.

But the first thing she saw was the white book that had fallen from her lap, which she had briefly forgotten.

‘…The Myth of Roeta.’

Herace’s face flickered over the pretty cover embroidered with purple letters. Brienne, her head pounding, bent down and froze in place.

She realized a new memory had been layered over the book she’d chosen while thinking of her memories with Kaiden.

After hesitating for a while, her hand finally picked up the book. As she wondered what to do with it, she thought it might not be a bad idea to read it.

After all, she could just cover up the face of that inscrutable man with the contents of a book.

Brienne immediately flopped onto her bed and opened the book with a determined look.

[This book was compiled and published as a story of Roeta’s goddess, Saint Riela. The author wishes to state one fact in advance for the readers’ clear understanding.

As you may have already noticed from the title, the word “myth” itself includes the meaning of “story.”

Nevertheless, the reason for attaching “story” after “myth” is because this book deals not with facts specified in the Holy Kingdom of Roeta’s scripture, but with oral traditions.]

Brienne scanned the letters and turned to the next page. From the introduction alone, the content didn’t seem all that interesting. The myths from the continent across the sea where the academy was located were, to her, just stories from another country.

[Unlike the other gods of Roeta, who were divine from birth, Saint Riela was the only one born through a human mother.

Up to this point, it’s a passage you can also find in the scripture, so there’s no need to verify its truth. But the story that follows is a little different.

Oral tradition and scripture.

Stories that have passed through the ages, yet have been omitted from the scripture.

In other words, I intend to tell the not-so-beautiful story of Saint Riela before she received the title of god.]

‘…Riela? I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before.’

The more she mulled it over, the more it seemed like a common name, yet something about it left her uneasy. Brienne narrowed her eyes and focused on the content.

[Riela, who was of half-divine blood, could freely travel between earth and the heavens. In the heavens, it was easy for her to be disregarded, as if she were the illegitimate child of nobility, but it was different on earth.

Everyone revered her as the daughter of Leosus, the god of love. They considered Riela sacred and worshipped her. They believed miracles occurred wherever her feet touched, and sometimes called her the agent of the gods.

Riela loved these humans. She admired their purity and strong hearts, yearned for their upright spirit, and cherished love in her own heart.

Then, one day, Riela met a boy named Arthur. The two fell into a passionate love, and believed without a doubt that their love would last forever.

But just as love arrives without warning, in the end, it led Riela to ruin in a single moment.

On the day of their wedding, which had been prepared more splendidly than any other, Arthur suddenly fell for another woman and crossed the unknown sea with her.]

‘A man who runs away with another woman on his wedding day… What a mess.’

How must Riela have felt?

Brienne clicked her tongue inwardly and frowned. Even she herself felt this much pain just hearing of Kaiden’s engagement, so she imagined Riela must have suffered terribly.

[Then, those who had already doubted her worth began to criticize Riela. Was she really the daughter of the god of love? If so, why couldn’t she win Arthur’s heart?

In the end, Riela fled the temple and ascended to the heavens to appeal to her father. Some days she begged for Arthur’s heart to return, and other days, she cursed him to suffer.

So Leosus took Arthur’s soul for Riela. Arthur, who had run away for love, instantly became a white bird trapped in a beautiful cage, decorating Riela’s bedroom.

From that day on, Leosus brought various men into Riela’s chamber.

He personally selected men of fine appearance and, not only their bodies, but even the size of their… ]

‘…Huh?’

Brienne instinctively shut the book in that moment.

What is this, why is the story going like this…?

Wondering if she’d misread, she peered at the next page with narrowed eyes, and her face instantly flushed bright red. Across two pages, there were illustrations graphically depicting the male body.

Brienne, flustered, quickly turned the page. She only wanted to get the embarrassing illustrations out of her sight. But the next page, and the next, even the afterword…

Truly, there was not a single page that was normal.

Smack!

Brienne slammed the book shut and pushed it far away with a horrified face. Just looking at the densely drawn illustrations was enough to make her feel her face burning, even without a mirror.

‘…What kind of book is this?’

Only then did she recall reading this book openly in front of Kaiden, even at the square bookstore. And now was no different. Of all things, she had received this book from Herace Belif.

She felt so wronged she could scream.

If I’d known what was inside, I would never have picked it up!

Did that man know what kind of book this was?

She resented the beautiful white cover embroidered with purple thread. Brienne was growling to herself, wondering how she could possibly explain this.

Knock, knock.

A hurried knock sounded at the door.