SIDE STORY 3.

The Holy Knight, the Curse

A few days after that sticky night of jealousy, Bellota sent an invitation to Hestina. While the official reason for the invitation was to apologize for leaving the recent banquet drunk without properly greeting her, it contained circumstances that even Hestina didn’t know about.

Bellota wanted to apologize for misunderstanding Hestina all this time. Additionally, she wanted to convey her feelings of atonement for making Hestina the subject of gossip due to her long relationship with Seiden. Though she couldn’t express all of this openly, Bellota firmly believed that if she approached slowly like this first, her sincerity would eventually be conveyed.

The Blackwood mansion was bustling with the news that none other than the imperial princess would visit. Bellota personally entered the kitchen to prepare excellent dishes to serve Hestina.

“Saintess! Thank you so much for inviting me. You don’t know how excited I was when I received the invitation.”

Carrying an armful of a bouquet she had personally made with rare flowers, Hestina conveyed her thanks to Bellota with a genuinely delighted smile.

The three of them — Bellota, Seiden, and Hestina — sat around a table laden with modest dishes and enjoyed the feast.

“I’ve never tasted such a stew before. My goodness, how can it taste like this?”

“It’s a stew I learned in Selento. You just need to mix in a few spices.”

“Oh my, I see. So Selento has such dishes. I think I’ll crave it again.”

“Please come anytime. We can serve Your Highness whenever you visit.”

Hestina’s eyes filled with emotion at Bellota’s kind words. Looking at this lovely woman, Bellota felt joy unmixed with even a grain of impurity.

Bellota felt truly happy that the heavy emotions that had lingered in her heart were now completely gone. Her heart melted with gratitude that she could feel such pure joy.

“I’ve been wanting to visit Selento anyway. Selento is such a precious city. There was a time when it prospered through trade.”

“That’s true. With just a little support, Selento could quickly regain its former glory. The people of Selento are hardworking and strong-willed.”

“You two visited Selento too, right? During your year-long continental journey. Please tell me about it. I’m so curious.”

Since Hestina pleaded with passionate eyes, Bellota briefly shared stories about the places they had visited during their continental journey and what had happened there. With each story, Hestina’s gaze grew more serious. She listened attentively to Bellota’s stories, sometimes laughing joyfully, sometimes growing serious at tales of the empire’s poor citizens.

Afterward, Hestina also shared some of her plans for diplomacy and charity work. Since her plans were far more excellent than expected, Seiden and Bellota also listened seriously to her stories, offering advice and praise freely.

Finally, when the meal ended and dessert arrived, Hestina grew somewhat anxious. Though she had come to the Blackwood mansion because of Bellota’s invitation, she also had something she absolutely needed to obtain.

The hunting festival was just two days away. Hestina still hadn’t received an answer about what she had asked of Seiden at the banquet. However, since she couldn’t mention it in front of Bellota, Hestina fidgeted with the plum tart served as dessert while watching Seiden’s reaction.

Seeing this pitiful attempt, Seiden finally stood up from his seat and turned to Hestina.

“I forgot I had something to give to Your Highness.”

Hmm? So openly?

When Hestina looked nervously at Bellota, surprisingly, she saw her smiling.

“That’s right. We were going to give Your Highness wine from Mount Lebron.”

“W-wine?”

When Hestina asked in confusion, Seiden nodded.

“Ah, why don’t we show Your Highness the wine cellar while we’re at it?”

At those words, Hestina realized what Seiden was trying to do and her eyes widened. Since they couldn’t discuss the hunting festival or the throne in front of Bellota, it seemed he wanted to call her to the cellar to speak privately.

Understanding this, Hestina immediately rose with a cheerful smile.

“A wine cellar, I’d love to see it.”

“I’ll stay here and tidy up, so please go ahead.”

Though Bellota knew all about the plan, she couldn’t reveal in front of Hestina that Seiden had shared everything with her, so she pretended not to know.

With Bellota’s permission, Seiden and Hestina headed straight for the wine cellar.

“To have someone like the Saintess, I envy you, Sir.”

Seiden nodded at Hestina’s admiration.

“Sometimes I can’t believe it myself.”

Hestina’s expression turned bewildered at this uncharacteristic sentimentality.

“I didn’t know you could say such things.”

Seiden pretended not to hear as he threw open the cellar door. Unlike her expectations that a secret space disguised as a wine cellar might appear when the door opened, the place they entered was truly a cellar full of wine.

When the door closed, Hestina burst out in an urgent voice.

“Sir, you’ve thought about what I said, right? The hunting festival is almost here.”

Seiden turned to her with a serious face, his smile gone.

“So what Your Highness means is that we must prevent Prince Derent’s victory?”

This was something he hadn’t even told Bellota.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“If Derent wins this hunting festival, His Majesty will surely consider him as a successor candidate. So even if we can’t prevent his victory completely, we need to ensure fair competition. You remember I came in second at the last hunting festival, right? Fair and square.”

Those words made Seiden recall the hunting festival from three years ago. Back then, only the monsters hunted by a few nobles, including himself and Hestina, had remained unaffected by Yevar’s potion. Among them, only the woman before him had brought back the most impressive monster. Everything started to make sense. Moreover, as she had said, it was about time for the Emperor to decide on a successor. But why?

“I still don’t understand. Is there a reason why Prince Derent shouldn’t become the successor?”

At this, Hestina’s neck turned red. Nevertheless, she didn’t shrink back at all and answered with her head held high.

“Of course. Because I will become Emperor.”

Surprised by such a blunt answer, Seiden looked at her. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Hestina added.

“Besides, Derent has bad luck, right? You don’t want to live in a world where Derent is Emperor, do you?”

More than anything else, that statement struck a chord with Seiden, so he decided to take this bold princess’s side. Seiden nodded with satisfaction.

“Very well. I’ll help you this time.”

Hestina’s anxious eyes lit up at Seiden’s answer.

“Really?”

“However, if Prince Derent wins fair and square, I won’t be able to prevent that.”

“That won’t happen. Derent has been the king of tricks since childhood. When we were young, he tripped me when no one was looking. I still have the scar from that fall, you know? This time too, he volunteered to monitor the source point on behalf of the Grand Temple, right? He must have made up lies to tell His Majesty.”

Seiden’s eyebrows twisted as Hestina thoroughly exposed Derent’s intentions.

“That’s why you should be on my side. I’m not stupid enough to think about antagonizing the Grand Temple.”

These were embarrassingly honest and blunt words. Seiden briefly imagined Hestina as Emperor before quickly erasing it from his mind. Whatever happened, it would be better than someone like Derent becoming Emperor.

“He’ll definitely try something strange this time too. We need to stop even one attempt. Everything else is prepared, but this potion has been so hard to obtain that even His Majesty couldn’t get it. Derent knows this clearly, so he might try something instead. Besides, you’re not participating in this hunting festival.”

Hearing Hestina’s exasperated voice, Seiden was convinced his instincts were right. Derent was indeed a slippery, pathetic, and unlucky fellow, just like Geril. Highly satisfied that his instincts were correct, Seiden quietly exhaled and pulled out a box he had hidden among the wine bottles.

It was a gift that had arrived from Yevar just this morning. Inside was what Hestina so desperately wanted. It was the potion imbued with the ability to detect magic stones that had been used in the last hunting festival. Though this couldn’t prevent all tricks, if they announced they would use this potion, no one would think of switching magic stones in the first place.

As Seiden was about to take out the potion bottle from the box, he noticed a pink bottle placed next to it and frowned.

What’s this?

Seiden pulled out the note tucked beside it.

[As you wished, Sir, I have developed a potion with remarkable capabilities. With this, you won’t even need oil anymore. You’ll be quite surprised. However, if you want to use this potion, you must use it at home when your beloved wife is by your side. It would be better to use it when you can clear your schedule until the next day. Then, may you be satisfied with my genius talent.

—Yevar]

Immediately crumpling the unpleasant note that somehow seemed to carry Yevar’s voice, Seiden picked up the pink bottle. This is better than oil?

While Seiden might not trust other things, he firmly trusted the underground products developed at Hellers Tower. Though he might not want to admit it, this was exactly where Yevar’s aptitude lay. Just as Seiden was considering whether to use this tonight—

“Is that it? The color looks strange. Can I see it?”

As an anxious Hestina reached out to grab the bottle, she stumbled and staggered. Startled, Seiden tried to grab her arm, but the pink bottle in his hand slipped and fell.

With the sound of shattering glass, the clear pink liquid inside instantly vaporized and rose up. As if predetermined, the pink vapor seeped under Seiden’s nose.

“Ugh……”

Despite grimacing at the overwhelmingly sweet scent that made his head spin, Seiden reached out to help the awkwardly fallen Hestina up.

“Are you alright?”

“Uh……”

At that moment, Hestina’s shadow at her feet rippled strangely. Seiden’s eyes hardened at the sight. Before he could dodge it, an enormous aura rose up and swallowed them both at once.

As their bodies floated up and became trapped in the aura in mid-air, Seiden’s breath stopped. He knew the nature of this curse.

“Hah……”

The startled Hestina held her breath and looked at the black walls surrounding them.