The Holy Lady, The Curse - Chapter 8 Part 9
When Seiden added slowly, Bellota, her ears reddening as she hesitated, had no choice but to take his hand. He grasped her small, delicate hand as if he would never let it go, and pulled her close.
* * *
As the sun began to set and the time for the competition to end approached, the base of the mountain became busy. Since Mount Tatenia was an extremely dangerous place after sunset, already half of the participants had returned, and the remaining participants were also appearing one after another in a hurry.
Among them, Geril, who had arrived with the advance party, was watching the returning participants with a relaxed and leisurely face. His mood became even more satisfied when Seiden’s figure was not seen even until almost all participants had returned.
And finally, when Hestina returned mixed with the late arrivals, the Emperor’s face, who had been stomping his feet impatiently even after secretly attaching escorts, brightened.
“What about Sir Seiden?”
As soon as Hestina returned, her hair and clothes in disarray unlike when she departed, she first asked about Seiden, to which the Emperor shook his head.
“He hasn’t returned yet.”
Surprised, Hestina hurriedly looked back towards the mountain, but a meaningful smile appeared on Geril’s lips. In Geril’s mind, he vividly imagined the brooch that would now be mercilessly pierced, having become an avatar of its owner. Following that, it wasn’t difficult to imagine Seiden lying in an even more miserable state.
“Here, it’s the brooch he wore. You’ll handle the matter clearly, right?”
Of course, it was Geril himself who had stolen Seiden’s brooch and handed it over to the dark mages. It wasn’t at all difficult for him to sneak into an unoccupied room during the hunting festival he was overseeing.
“We’ll begin the ritual as soon as the hunting festival starts. Don’t worry, we’ll conduct the ritual at the foot of Mount Tatenia for accuracy.”
Geril recalled the shadows of those who had appeared silently in his room, swallowed the brooch he had handed over in one gulp, and disappeared without a trace. The dark mages he was in collusion with rarely revealed their true identities, instead sending unpleasant shadows to communicate, and this time was no exception.
Recalling the words that unpleasant shadow had uttered, Geril frowned momentarily at a sudden question that arose. Wait, they conducted the ritual at the foot of Mount Tatenia? The only thing at the foot of the mountain was the castle built by the imperial family, and it was surrounded by ancient magic.
No matter how powerful the dark mages were, they couldn’t penetrate those in their true form, only as shadows. Moreover, if such suspicious figures were loitering near the castle, they would surely be noticed. What if someone were to discover them…
Frowning for a moment at this belated unease, Geril soon erased his faint worry, remembering that even he had never confirmed the true form of these dark mages. Although they were unpleasant beings whose true form was not clearly confirmed, Geril desperately needed their power. Especially at times like this, when there was someone he wanted to get rid of without a trace right before his eyes.
“Nothing has happened to Sir Seiden, has it?”
Hestina muttered anxiously, and the surrounding participants burst into laughter and each added their own comments.
“Haha, to Sir Seiden Blackwood? The places he’s been on subjugation missions far exceed what we can count on our fingers.”
“This kind of hunting festival must be child’s play for Sir Seiden.”
“He’ll be back soon. I’m looking forward to seeing how much he’s caught.”
Listening to these foolish remarks from people, Geril smiled lightly.
He probably won’t return, and even if a search party is sent and luckily finds him alive, there will be no way to wake him from his deep sleep. Swallowing this obvious fact down his throat, Geril finally looked around for Bellota.
“But where has the Saintess gone?”
Everything was proceeding satisfactorily, but for some reason, Bellota was nowhere to be seen. Geril’s mood, which had been happy all along, cracked when Bellota, who he thought would be waiting for him at the foot of the mountain, still hadn’t appeared.
When Geril finally grabbed a servant and asked, the servant answered nervously.
“Well, that… I’m not sure… She hasn’t been seen for quite a while.”
At that moment, a noblewoman who had been eavesdropping quickly interjected with an answer.
“The Saintess has gone into the castle to rest. It seems she’s not feeling well. She hasn’t come out for quite some time.”
Not feeling well? At those words, Geril’s unpleasantly furrowed expression quickly smoothed out, and a faint worry settled over it. How unwell could she be? But even so, to the extent that she didn’t even come out to greet…
Frowning at his emotions that were changing by the second, Geril soon smiled brightly at the noblewoman who had provided him with information about Bellota.
“I see. Thank you for letting me know, Lady Lea.”
“It’s nothing.”
The noblewoman responded with an elegant smile, then glanced back and signaled to other noblewomen waiting for her in the distance. The story of Geril and Bellota was as interesting to the ladies as the story of Seiden and Hestina. They were all very curious about how this rumor, which is widespread in the capital, would progress.
A man showing such a worried face at the news that the Saintess might not be feeling well. Moreover, hadn’t Geril followed Bellota all the way to that treacherous Selento? But Bellota was the Saintess, and the Saintess couldn’t marry without God’s permission.
Lady Lea, while finding this quite regrettable, secretly hoped for their beautiful love to come true. After all, there was a way for them to be together. Although it was now a forbidden oracle, didn’t the Rockdragon oracle exists?
Lady Lea and numerous other noblewomen were discussing, whenever they had the chance, whether this perfect man would indeed fulfill that legendary oracle. A forbidden romance between a handsome, wealthy duke and the holy saintess — wasn’t it too romantic?
As the lady was glancing at Geril, imagining the two overcoming all adversities and finally coming together, Geril’s face, which had been looking towards the mountain in the distance, began to coldly harden. Surprised by this sudden change, the lady wondered and turned her gaze in the direction Geril was looking.
“Oh my?”
Not long after, the lady unconsciously let out an undignified sound and covered her mouth with both hands. Seiden was approaching in the distance. But that wasn’t all that surprised the lady. There was one more person riding on Seiden’s horse.
“Saintess…?”
Geril murmured in disbelief.
It was astounding enough that Seiden, who should have been lying miserably somewhere on the mountainside or in the belly of hungry monsters by now, was returning. But Bellota was riding on his horse. Both of them were covered in dirt from head to toe, their clothes stained with blood and in a mess, just like Hestina. But contrary to appearances, they didn’t seem to be seriously injured.
The two stopped their horse in front of everyone. Seiden swiftly dismounted and extended his hand to Bellota. Bellota glanced at the eyes of those focused entirely on them, but had no choice but to take Seiden’s hand and dismount.
“Why are the two of them together?”
“Did the Saintess go to the hunting grounds?”
“What on earth is going on?”
As excited whispers began to spread, Geril gritted his teeth. He couldn’t make any sense of this unbelievable situation. Geril barely swallowed the anger rising in his throat and approached Bellota.
“Saintess, what happened? How did you end up with the Commander…”
Geril quickly changed his expression and asked in a worried and confused voice. Bellota looked up. In Bellota’s view, she could see not only Geril, but also the Emperor with a somewhat displeased face, Hestina with a mix of relief and disappointment, and many others waiting for her answer with curious faces.
Surrounded by this suffocating silence, Bellota took a small deep breath and slowly opened her mouth.
“I… wanted to contribute by catching a small monster, so I entered the mountain and got lost.”
Hearing those words, everyone exchanged surprised glances. How could the calm and wise Saintess do such a reckless thing?
“I could have been in big trouble, but fortunately, I ran into Sir Seiden and was able to return safely.”
Bellota calmly finished speaking and lowered her gaze as if that was all there was to it.
On the way back to the finish line, Bellota had told Seiden what she had witnessed, and after some deliberation, they decided not to share this information with others. If they revealed everything, it would raise suspicions about how Bellota found Seiden, and why these curses were repeatedly targeting the two of them, so it was dangerous to tell others right away.
Seiden had encountered Geril before facing Bellota’s illusion, so he suspected that Geril was naturally the one who had cursed him, but he didn’t bother to tell Bellota this. Not only was there no evidence, but he didn’t want to be a petty man as there was an unpleasant impurity mixed in his feelings towards Geril. There were plenty of ways to pressure Geril without resorting to such methods right now.
“To do such a reckless thing, I’m disappointed in you, Saintess.”
As the Emperor clicked his tongue in disbelief, Bellota bowed her head deeply, apologetic.
