As I slowly opened my eyes, something touched my lips. The smell was unusual. Although I didn’t doubt Gined, I didn’t feel like drinking it either.

“It’s a painkiller. It will make you feel better.”

Only after hearing the explanation did I reluctantly take the cup and gulp down the liquid inside.

The thick, bitter liquid slid down my throat.

I gritted my teeth to suppress the rising nausea. It tasted awful, but the effect was remarkable.

After a short wait, the pain subsided, and my clarity returned considerably.

I slowly got up and thanked him.

“Thank you. You saved my life. I’ll make sure to treat you if you ever get hurt.”

“You’re not fully healed. The pain is just temporarily suppressed, so you should rest for today.”

His indifferent reply was almost embarrassing. An awkward silence followed.

Unable to bear the quiet, I blurted out anything to break the silence.

“Hoo, I didn’t want Leon to know… He must have been really shocked, right?”

Gined looked at me as if he couldn’t understand.

“Why did you do that?”

“Pardon?”

“You not only indulged Count Philip’s whims but also silently endured his pain. He is much stronger than you.”

“Leon is just a child.”

“You are quite young yourself.”

“But I’m an adult, and Leon is a minor. There’s a clear difference.”

Gined seemed about to say something, then closed his lips firmly.

“Anyway, I owe you again this time. And also for last time… Thank you for helping me that day. I heard you took me to the temple. If it weren’t for you, I might have died.”

“……”

He still didn’t respond.

I felt like a guilty person.

Did I make some mistake during the time I couldn’t remember? Is that why he left so coldly?

“I didn’t do anything wrong to you that day, did I?”

Maybe I forced physical contact while out of my senses… or confessed some lewd desires to him…

The worst scenarios kept crossing my mind.

Gined shook his head.

“The one who made a mistake was me.”

He made a mistake with me?

I looked at him blankly.

The moonlight streaming through the window cast deep shadows on his face, making him look so cold and flawless that it took my breath away.

Someone like him making a mistake.

Even if he did make a mistake, I had already been saved from trouble several times because of him.

“It’s okay. No matter what mistake you made, it can’t be that bad. Besides, I’ve always received too much help from you. The fact that I can face you like this is all thanks to you.”

“A priest helping a believer is only natural. Don’t worry too much about it. Now, please rest.”

He naturally offered me his room and stood up.

The moment I saw his back, a strong intuition struck me. If I let him go now, we would never return to how we were before.

“Wait, Sir Roengreen.”

I grabbed his sleeve.

If he had completely ignored me, I might have given up, but now that we met face-to-face, I couldn’t let it go.

I knew it was pathetic, but I had to hear from him why he suddenly decided to push me away.

Gined looked unsure whether to shake off my hand or not.

“Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad.”

“Then why are you suddenly acting so cold?”

I got up from the bed. My head throbbed for a moment, but I endured it.

“If you’re upset, tell me why. I thought we had grown quite close. At least close enough to be honest about what’s bothering us. Avoiding me like this is too cowardly.”

For a moment, Gined’s lips trembled. It was a clear sign of agitation that even I could feel.

After a long pause, he finally let out a deep sigh.

“I’ve been thinking for a while. It’s no coincidence that we keep meeting like this. When I saw you come to the Holy Kingdom last month, I was convinced.”

I hesitated at his sudden accusation.

“Did you approach me with an intention from the beginning?”

Even if the reason I went to the Holy Kingdom wasn’t that, the rest was true.

I was more flustered because he, who always subtly hid his true feelings, had asked so directly.

Seeing my shaken eyes, Gined didn’t scold me. That made it even more chilling.

“Yes.”

I admitted it honestly.

Fine, I prepared for a day like this ever since I decided to seduce him.

Anyway, the chances with Gined were slim.

— At least everything I say is the truth.

Above all, the foolish promise from the past clung to my mind.

“As you might have noticed, I approached you on purpose. My intentions are probably no different from other women. I’m sorry.”

He must be disappointed. Honestly, even I thought I was trash.

I glanced at him, but I still couldn’t read Gined’s thoughts.

“It doesn’t matter. There have always been people who thought of me as a mere pastime.”

“It wasn’t just for fun! I swear, not for a single moment did I think of you that way. It’s just… there were reasons. Very, very important reasons.”

I closed my eyes tightly.

Now that it had come to this, I decided to confess everything, even if he thought I was crazy.

“The truth is, I have a special mission. I have to seduce one of the predetermined men. If I don’t, the world will end. Those men are you, the Crown Prince, Leon, and Shahar… That’s why I approached you. For the record, the Crown Prince was excluded through an oracle because I hate him too much.”

“Do you expect me to believe that? Not only did you deceive me, but now you’re treating me like a fool.”

Gined shook off my hand.

Even when he heard that I harbored impure intentions towards him, he remained calm, but this time he was genuinely angry.

“You can think I’m crazy if you want. I wish it were all my delusion too! I sincerely tried to seduce you for the sake of the world! Whether it’s a delusion or not, it’s the truth to me.”

Gined’s face grew even colder.

It seemed such ambiguous truths wouldn’t work at all.

I glanced at him nervously and finally confessed everything.

“It’s not that I had no selfish motives… I swear I never had lewd thoughts about you… Hoo, actually, I had many. But I was ready to go all the way if necessary. However, I really intended to keep the harm to you minimal… just enough to cause a scandal…”

I couldn’t even lift my head when I confessed the last sentence.

“But there was never a time when I didn’t feel guilt. Because I knew how hard you worked to protect those things. The closer I got to you…”

I couldn’t continue and bit my lip.

The closer I got to Gined, the clearer my dirty intentions became. Thus, I could only be a sinner in front of him.

I revealed my honest feelings that even I hadn’t known.

“I wanted to be like you. Always strong, upright, and brave.”

Gined looked at me with a somewhat surprised expression. I hesitated but met his gaze, hoping he wouldn’t be hurt further. It felt like my humble sincerity was fully reflected in his serene eyes.

After a long pause, he finally responded.

“I can’t put all the blame on you. I pretended not to know your intentions, so I’m also an accomplice.”

I quickly looked up at those words.

“You knew everything?”

“I wanted to believe that you were different from others. Or even if you weren’t, it didn’t matter. Because I couldn’t see you as just another believer.”

I stared at him in astonishment.

“I’m not as great as you think.”

Gined looked at my wide eyes and gave a bitter smile.

“Though it’s hard to believe, since you’ve been honest with me, I’ll tell you my secret.”

His blue eyes darkened.

Somehow, I felt like I knew what secret he was about to reveal.

“There was a beautiful princess in a country. She had a gallant lover. Whether their relationship was a fleeting fling or deep love, I don’t know. But from that relationship, the princess conceived a child. However, their relationship soon ended. The princess married the king of a neighboring country while pregnant, and that’s how I was born.”

Even though I knew the story, hearing it from the person involved was shocking.

Gined’s voice, however, was monotonous as if he were talking about someone else.

“When I was young, I didn’t understand. Why my mother ignored me, why my father looked at me with such pity.”

“You can stop, Sir.”

But Gined continued to reveal everything.

“As the result of infidelity, I brought shame to my mother and pain to my father. So, you don’t have to feel guilty. If there’s a sin, I’ve already been committing it since the moment I was born.”