“If I tell, it might harm you, Head Priest. I thought it might cause you trouble.”

“……”

Raviel was momentarily speechless.

Not because he expected something in return, but because he could feel her genuine consideration for him.

The persuasive words he had prepared briefly flew out of his head.

Shailyn, who glanced at him as he closed his mouth, smiled awkwardly.

“Ah, is that not right?”

“……No, you’re right. That’s also why I came today.”

“Then it’s my turn again?”

Seeing Raviel nod, Shailyn brought up the question she was truly curious about.

“What was the power you used that day, Head Priest?”

Shailyn muttered while recalling the purple energy that had wrapped around his body.

“It looked exactly like you were being tainted by demonic power, similar to Theo……”

Even hearing those words, Raviel only flinched slightly and didn’t think he needed to eliminate Shailyn like before.

Perhaps it was because he had developed a strange trust toward her, who had tried to escape without abandoning him until the end.

Raviel, who had been gauging how much to tell her, impulsively opened his mouth.

“I won’t deny that it’s similar. That dark holy power is indeed corrupted power.”

“……!”

Shailyn’s eyes widened. She instinctively reached out, grasped Raviel’s shoulder, and examined his body.

“But you’re alright, Head Priest? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I’m fine. More than that, Miss, I think it’s my turn to ask now.”

Raviel, who grabbed her wrist as thin as her ankle, pulled her toward him.

Shailyn’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had occurred as she ended up in a position half-mounted on top of Raviel.

“Miss Sharofe.”

“Y-yes?”

“If I ask, can you keep everything you’ve seen and heard from that day until now as a secret for life without any compensation?”

Eyes like amethyst, transparent but not entirely clear, gazed up at Shailyn intently.

From that gaze, Shailyn noticed that he was conducting a kind of test on her right now.

‘If I pass here, can I raise this mysterious head priest’s favorability a bit?’

Just as Raviel couldn’t give complete trust, Shailyn also had to use her head.

After pondering, she slowly moved her lips.

“I can’t do that without any compensation.”

“……”

So that’s how it is after all.

Just as Raviel, slightly disappointed, was about to release her wrist—

“Instead of taking the secret to my grave, let me touch your cheek.”

Shailyn suddenly demanded.

They weren’t acquaintances who had known each other for long, and how deeply could one trust favor without compensation?

Shailyn knew that Raviel’s heart would also be more comfortable if she demanded something and he granted the request.

“……My cheek?”

“Yes, it looks like it would be incredibly soft and squishy.”

Raviel, who blinked in bewilderment, nodded his head.

Without any hesitation, Shailyn immediately grabbed his cheeks with both hands and kneaded them like dough.

Wow, it’s so soft.

It was smooth and moist like baby skin, so she found herself truly absorbed before she knew it.

“Miss, how long are you going to do this?”

Raviel, who had been offering his cheeks for quite a while, asked as if surrendering.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll stop now. That’s enough.”

Shailyn, who finally came to her senses, quickly removed her hands.

“Did it hurt?”

“It’s a bit tingly, but thinking of it as compensation for the secret makes it feel better.”

Raviel smiled brightly while rubbing his reddened cheeks.

Shailyn, who had been quietly watching his cheerful face, said.

“But why did you come to possess corrupted power—”

“Sorry, but question time is over now. I have nothing more to ask you.”

Raviel, who cut off Shailyn’s words like a knife, began to tidy up his seat.

What, where does that kind of behavior exist!

Only Shailyn, who still had more curiosities remaining, made a regretful expression.

‘……Ah! Should I check the character information?’

Come to think of it, she had never browsed Raviel’s information.

She immediately called up the system window.

【Name: Raviel

Gender: Male

Age: 21

Height: 185cm

Occupation: Head Priestaffiliated with the Central Temple

Special Notes: Possesses dark holy power

※Currently, detailed viewing of some information is restricted.

Related information will be automatically unlocked when updated.】

‘What, so I can’t find out more than what I heard from the head priest.’

Disappointed and lost in thought, Shailyn didn’t hear Raviel’s voice calling her.

Raviel, who had been calling her ‘Miss Sharofe’ several times, suddenly showed a mischievous smile and said.

“Shailyn.”

“Yes…… Huh?”

Shailyn’s eyes widened at the sweet call she heard for the first time.

“D-did you just call my name……?”

“We’re in a relationship where we share secrets. Shailyn, you call me Raviel too.”

No, are you advancing this fast?

The moment Shailyn hesitated whether to accept this……

— Ding!

【Head Priest Raviel’s favorability has increased by 10 points.

(※Current favorability 50)】

After confirming the number that rose to half, she quickly changed her attitude.

“Yes, Raviel. Please take care of me from now on.”

“Alright.”

Thus, the meeting with Raviel ended without her curiosity being completely resolved.

***

Finally, her physical condition was good enough to deal with Janice.

She personally visited House Roben, where Gwen and her daughter were currently staying.

But perhaps knowing her own crimes well, Janice refused to meet with her.

When was it that she sent letters day and night saying she wanted to meet so badly?

‘So this is how you’re going to play it?’

She, who withdrew obediently, prepared a special gift and sent it to Janice.

If she received it, she would probably want to meet her so badly that she would walk directly to her on her own feet.

About two days passed like that.

“Miss, Miss Janice and Count Sharofe have come to visit.”

Mandy approached and reported to her as she leisurely drank tea on the terrace.

She, who had already seen the count and her daughter’s carriage arrive at the mansion entrance beyond the railing, answered leisurely.

“I’m busy, so tell them to wait a moment. Outside the mansion, of course.”

“Yes.”

After taking her time for about two hours, she let them in when their patience was about to run out.

As she expected, the count and her daughter greeted her with extremely anxious faces.

“Shailyn, what were you doing that made you so late? Do you know how worried we were when we came to find you?”

“That’s why you came late, isn’t it?”

Worry more.

When she smiled freshly, Gwen’s face went blank for a moment.

Soon coming to her senses, she held out her gift with trembling hands.

“Wh-what is this? What were you thinking when you sent this? You’re not serious, are you?”

“The mother who read it knows well what it is, and if not, ask Janice. Since it’s something she did herself, she’ll explain it so well.”

At her words, Janice, who had been hiding behind Gwen, was startled.

Her face looked a bit gaunt, as if she had suffered mentally for a while.

Yeah, but I don’t feel sorry for her at all.

I also lost weight from suffering thanks to her.

“I almost got sold because of Janice, so did you think I sent the accusation as a joke?”

What she had sent to Janice was none other than an accusation detailing her crimes point by point.

However, she hadn’t formally submitted it to the Central Court yet.

“Shailyn Sharofe!”

Gwen threw the documents at her feet with a sharp voice.

Oh, this won’t be good for her.

“Janice is your sister! You’re going to accuse your blood-related sister? Are you really in your right mind?”

“No, I’ve gone completely crazy because of that half-blood sister.”

She looked up coldly and stared at Janice beyond Gwen.

“Let’s see how long you hide like that, Janice.”

When she sent a cold warning, Gwen reached out her hand to hastily protect her.

Anyone watching would think I was about to hit her.

I just told the guilty person to come out directly before the victim.

“Why did Janice do such a thing in the first place! Because you falsely accused us unjustly, Janice had no choice but to—”

“What’s so unjust about it?”

She firmly cut off Gwen’s words and asked expressionlessly.

Because she really couldn’t understand what was so unjust.

“Mother abusing me? That’s true. Janice bullying me? That’s also true. You trying to sell me to a fallen noble because of debt? It’s all the same.”

“……L-letters! We never asked you to steal money or information from the ducal house of Diart!”

Gwen, who had been chewing her lips, finally retorted. She let out a hollow laugh and swept back her hair.

“Think about what you and Janice did when you came to the capital. I returned as much as I received.”

“Th-that……!”

“If you had behaved quietly after that, I wouldn’t have touched you anymore either.”

Anyway, the most important thing for her was finding the male leads.

If they really hadn’t bothered her anymore, she wouldn’t have cared what they did.

“Who caused the current situation, me or the both of you?”

“……”

“If you still think it’s me, just go to court and make that claim there too.”

It was the moment she picked up the accusation, threw it back at Gwen, and turned around.

“That’s not the only thing that’s unjust!”

Finally, Janice, who crawled out from behind her mother, shouted with a face full of tears.