“High Priest Verdus.”

Snow said with a trembling voice.

She had been caught. She had been caught sneaking out of the temple. And of all people, it had to be one of only thirty High Priests. Elios would be in serious trouble.

She couldn’t have imagined that High Priest Verdus would be at Oblivion at the same time as Snow. Originally, almost all priests live by a regular schedule. They consider it important to sleep and wake at set times. The older the priest, the more this is true. That’s why she hadn’t even thought about encountering another priest at this hour, in a place like this.

‘I shouldn’t have involved Elios.’

Snow thought as she bit her chapped lips. As she grew anxious, a weak whirlwind formed and circled around her. Dry dust swirled in the wind. Feeling that the girl she was embracing was also becoming anxious, Snow hugged her tighter. They were all now in a secluded alley where people rarely passed by. It was a place that didn’t suit the saint who had just performed a sacred miracle.

“Your Holiness. El is not at fault. El is my friend. I begged him to take me outside, and he reluctantly brought me along.”

Snow tried to defend El. The priest, with particularly deep wrinkles around his eyes, smiled, though it wasn’t clear how he had taken Snow’s words.

“Do you think I would cause trouble for your friend, my Saint? That’s a little hurtful.”

His wrinkled eyes drooped in a way that genuinely made him look hurt, causing Snow to make an awkward expression. High Priest Verdus is a cheerful person who often teases Snow despite his advanced age. That’s why he was one of the priests Snow particularly liked, but the situation they were in now was not good at all. Nevertheless, the wind circling around Snow gradually subsided at his seemingly benevolent attitude toward Elios.

Elios swept a cold gaze over the two men standing guard in front of him. Though they couldn’t see him as they had their backs turned, their shoulders twitched slightly as they felt the prince’s cold aura. When the High Priest looked at Elios, Elios smiled elegantly, gracefully curving his deep eyes as if nothing had happened.

Elios knew High Priest Verdus. He had certainly visited the temple as a prince and received his blessing. However, Verdus was pretending not to know him with the cunning of someone who had swallowed dozens of snakes. It was hard to tell whether this aged priest truly didn’t remember Elios’s face.

“We were at a loss for how to escape from the crowd. Thank you very much for your help.”

Elios chose to be polite for now. After performing the miracle, Snow had seemed more mature, as if half-merged with a different personality. But at some point, she had returned to her original self. And she had begun to get increasingly flustered seeing so many people prostrating themselves before her.

At that very moment, as if by some miracle, one of the prostrated people had raised his head and stood up—it was High Priest Verdus. With quick thinking, he had instantly convinced the people and smoothly escorted Snow, Elios, and the two mysterious men who seemed acquainted with Elios out through the back door of Oblivion.

“Ho ho, not at all. As one who serves the divine, I merely helped to ensure the Saint would not be in difficulty. So you’re the Saint’s friend? Indeed, I can see the intelligence and strength in your eyes.”

“No, I still have much to learn.”

“I will do my best to handle this matter smoothly at my level so that no harm comes to your friend. The Saint can also put her mind at ease.”

The wrinkles around High Priest Verdus’s eyes deepened as he smiled. The priest started with an “Ah,” as if he had almost forgotten something. He bent slightly and turned his gaze to the young girl in Snow’s arms.

“You may enter the temple as a novice priest if you wish. Of course, if you don’t want to, I will find another way for you to live.”

“I-I want to enter! I want to enter the temple! I want to become a priest!”

The girl cried out as if she would lose the position if she didn’t answer quickly. Verdus extended his hand. Snow hesitated for a moment before releasing her arms that had been holding the girl.

The girl looked up at Snow with clear brownish-gray eyes. Snow nodded. The girl walked slowly, step by step, and took High Priest Verdus’s hand. The priest turned his gaze back to Snow.

“My Saint. I would prefer if you returned with me. It would be easier to resolve this matter that way.”

At those words, both Elios and Snow looked at each other. Their time together had been too short. They had finally met after counting ten nights, only to part after just a few hours. They couldn’t part like this.

Reason said that separating here would be the best for their next meeting, but emotions couldn’t accept that. Elios had fallen in love again after seeing Snow perform the miracle just moments ago.

“Some time…”

Elios urgently began to speak.

“Please give us a little more time to talk. …As friends, we don’t get to meet often…”

The two men who had been standing protectively in front of Elios turned around and looked at him with surprised eyes. They had never seen the prince lower himself like this and ask for something from anyone other than the Emperor. He was the prince who would become emperor, and while he could give orders to those beneath him, he couldn’t make requests.

High Priest Verdus briefly lowered his eyes as if thinking about something. Then he smiled broadly and readily accepted Elios’s request.

“I see. You are the Saint’s first friend of similar age. Very well. I will step aside for a moment to allow you to say your goodbyes.”

Verdus took the hand of the girl who would soon become a novice priest and led her out of the alley. The two men looked at the first prince of the imperial family with barely concealed bewilderment.

“Wait outside the alley for a moment.”

Elios commanded. They had no choice but to follow the prince’s order.

Elios was now alone with her in the alley. It was dark, so he couldn’t fully see Snow’s face. However, the fragrance that had been vibrating since earlier seemed to have grown a bit stronger.

“El, I’m sorry.”

Snow mumbled in a small, thin voice, sounding dejected. She now truly realized how dangerous it was for El to help her like this. If it hadn’t been for someone as flexible as High Priest Verdus, she couldn’t even imagine how much trouble El would have been in.

“For what?”

Elios asked, tilting his head slightly. His expression showed that he genuinely didn’t understand why she was apologizing, which made Snow feel even more grateful and sorry.

“You almost got into trouble because of me. I shouldn’t have asked you to take me outside in the first place.”

The corners of her eyes, containing gentle silver pupils, drooped. Elios had a vision of Snow with something like limp rabbit ears bent downward.

“It’s okay. I’m the one who volunteered to help you, knowing that something like this might happen.”

“Still…”

Snow looked up at Elios with an expression of not knowing what to do with her guilt.

The otherworldly fragrance was still emanating from Snow. Elios felt dizzy, as if he had drunk several bottles of wine. It seemed to be because of the scent coming from her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t suddenly feel this way.

Elios wanted to comfort the dejected Snow. He spoke sincerely.

“Snow, don’t regret leaving the temple. You saw how many people regained their smiles thanks to you today.”

“Yes…”

Snow drawled the end of her word. In truth, it didn’t feel real to her. Had she really performed a miracle?

While performing the miracle, Snow had been in a dreamy, hazy state. Even now, occasionally her vision would blur as if she were very sleepy, then quickly return to normal.

Apart from it not feeling real, Snow was grateful to El for speaking to her like that. Even if Snow had made a huge mistake and put him in a difficult position, El would always say it was okay. Just as Ceres and Arianne did for Snow. That’s why she always felt sorry and grateful.

Snow smiled at El so he wouldn’t worry anymore.

“Thank you, El.”

When Snow smiled, the smile disappeared from El’s face. Elios stared at Snow with a dazed expression for a moment, then, realizing what state his face was in, smiled awkwardly. He lightly hit his chest a few times with his fist. Snow looked at Elios’s behavior with puzzlement.

“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

“No. I just felt a bit tight suddenly. Why am I like this?”

“El?”

As Elios kept hitting his chest, Snow began to worry.

“It’s nothing. Really, I’m fine.”

Elios said that and quickly smiled as usual. Snow was relieved to see it. She asked something she had been curious about for a while.

“By the way, El, who were those two people? They seemed to be trying to protect us.”

El responded with a questioning “Huh?” It seemed he hadn’t heard properly, so Snow repeated the same question once more. Only then did El say “Ah” and explain.

“That’s right. I thought it might be dangerous for just the two of us to go around, so I arranged for guards. I told them to follow us while concealing their presence as much as possible, in case you might be concerned. I’m sorry for hiding it.”

“No, it’s okay. Without the priest and your guards, we might have been in trouble because of the people rushing to the temple.”

Snow said, nodding as if she understood El. After that, the conversation stopped. Neither of them spoke first.

Elios was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to think of what to say, and Snow was extremely tired after performing the miracle.

Once again, Snow’s vision blurred. Eventually, she staggered and collapsed. Elios quickly caught Snow as she was about to fall.

“Snow, are you okay?”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”

Snow said. She stood up properly again, placing her feet firmly on the ground, but Elios didn’t release the arm supporting her. El bit his lip.