“Lucia was not attacked by monsters.”

Margarita spoke firmly and clearly.

“I think the same. How can they blame it on monsters? No matter how often monsters appear in this city, does it make sense that they came inside the palace? Besides, we are priestesses. If monsters had come that close, we would have known.”

“Then why aren’t they starting an investigation quickly?”

“High Priest Emmanuel wants to use this opportunity to win the favor of the Grand Duke of Pontos and strengthen his position. He doesn’t want to cause trouble over a low-ranking priestess like us. Although Sir Roengreen said he would help, it would be difficult for him to act independently without the support of the High Priest.”

“What? How can that be? To a priestess who came all this way and endured so much!”

I was outraged, but I knew well that this wasn’t just Emmanuel’s problem. The entire leadership had likely decided to cover up this matter.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll help as much as I can.”

After parting with the priestesses, I immediately asked Janet to track down Lucia’s whereabouts. I also began to inquire about her whereabouts myself.

Seren offered to help too. With her sociable nature, she busily gathered rumors from Pontos and reported them to me.

But we couldn’t find any particularly helpful information.

One thing that provided some comfort was the fact that Lucia was alive.

If Lucia had died, the King of the Underworld, the coal, would have known. According to him, there had been no deaths near the palace in recent days.

Did she ascend to the sky or sink into the ground? How could she disappear without a trace like this?

Meanwhile, I noticed that Seren occasionally disappeared under the pretext of looking for Lucia.

Where on earth was she wandering off to?

Suspicious, I secretly followed her.

Seren arrived at a small garden that was rarely visited.

She looked around and then greeted someone hiding behind a tree. Then she began to whisper softly.

It was suspicious no matter who looked at it.

I moved closer to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Don’t worry too much. Your friend will definitely come back.”

A man’s voice gently reassured her.

“Dave…”

“And Seren, I will protect you with my life. There’s no need to be afraid.”

‘Hmm?’

No more words were exchanged after that. But judging by how their figures were completely hidden by the tree, I could guess they were passionately embracing each other.

I let out a chuckle as the tension eased.

It seemed her relationship with the man she danced with on the first day in Pontos had progressed quite a bit.

Rather than being angry that she kept her romance a secret, I was just pleased to see them relying on each other.

A few hours later, I spoke curtly to her when she returned with a red face.

“His name is Dave, right? He’s not bad. He has a decent personality, and he’s quite handsome.”

Seren didn’t deny it and just smiled shyly. It was a very different reaction from when she mentioned the men she had met before.

“But isn’t Arcadia too far from Pontos? Will it be okay?”

“If you permit, Dave wants to come to Arcadia.”

“Really? But wouldn’t it be nearly impossible for someone from Pontos to get a proper job in Arcadia? Well, if it doesn’t work out, he can work at the mansion.”

Seren brightened at my suggestion.

“Thank you so much, lady. I knew serving you was the right choice. How have you been lately? You were alone with Count Philip throughout the banquet. Was everything okay?”

“Well…”

My face turned red before I could answer. My inner wrist suddenly felt itchy.

“What? Did something really happen?”

Seren leaned in close.

As I stammered and recounted the events, Seren let out a scream.

“What? A kiss?”

“Quiet down.”

Seren hurriedly covered her mouth. But her eyes sparkled more than ever. She seemed almost obsessed, despite her own romance going well, still fixated on stories about handsome men.

Still, the heavy atmosphere since Lucia’s disappearance lightened for the first time in a while.

Honestly, I wanted to forget my gloom for a moment and immerse myself in this conversation.

“So, you kissed both Leon and His Highness the Crown Prince, but your dating senses are dead, so you don’t know what to do… And you rejected both of them?”

“That’s… roughly it.”

“You’re really spoiled.”

“I know that too. Help me figure out what to do.”

“What do you mean what to do? You have to see it through to the end now that it’s come to this.”

“The end?”

Seren smirked slyly. Despite being my age, she was more cunning than Michalis.

“You’re an adult, lady. How long will you keep having childish romances?”

With that, she pulled out something and placed it in front of me. It was an adult novel that looked quite explicit at first glance.

“Do you think mere words can move my heart when even handsome men couldn’t?”

“Ha, you’re so frustrating. You need to learn the theory first to apply it in practice. This is just… a textbook.”

Hearing her words, I opened the novel slightly.

“A Hot Secret Game with the Prince…?”

The title alone was intense.

From the first chapter, there was a high-intensity display of content that I could hardly read with a clear mind.

The provocative content made me gulp unconsciously.

“Typically, once you experience it, even men who didn’t catch your eye before will start to look different.”

“R-really?”

But considering how awkward I was even with a kiss, I wasn’t confident I could handle something more intense.

I decided to keep turning the pages. The protagonist in the novel was busy seducing the prince and had already been playing(?) for several pages.

“But is this position even possible?”

“There’s an illustrated version too, do you want to see it?”

“What? If you had that, you should have mentioned it earlier. Don’t you know good things are meant to be shared? Don’t be so selfish…”

Seren extended her hand. I glared at her hand and handed over a gold coin. It was the one I won from the male leads’ duel at the last banquet.

She bit into the gold coin, leaving teeth marks, and smiled contentedly.

“Wait here.”

Seren dashed off at lightning speed.

However, no matter how long I waited, there was no sign of her.

‘Did she go to meet Dave again?’

If it were Seren, it was very possible.

Frustrated from waiting, I set out to find her myself.

Today, the corridors were eerily empty, with no guards in sight.

I suppressed my fear and wandered for a long time, eventually finding myself in a remote area.

Even with the coal, wandering in a dark and unfamiliar place without a lamp was terrifying.

I turned to head back to the bedroom when something caught my foot.

Looking down, I saw a book lying there. It was a book I had never seen before, but judging by the unusual cover, it was definitely Seren’s. I cautiously picked it up.

Suppressing my anxiety, I decided to wait for Seren.

But even after the sun rose the next day, she did not return.

* * *

Every time night falls, the Pontos Castle feels eerily ghostly, as if a ghost might appear at any moment.

Seren hurried her steps back to Lou.

At that moment, a whistle sounded from the bushes. Seren stopped abruptly.

The whistle grew louder. The simple melody was very familiar. Seren’s lips loosened into a smile.

After a brief apology to Lou in her heart, Seren ran straight to where the sound came from.

As expected, Dave was waiting for her.

Though their time together was short, the hearts of lovers who had just begun their romance burned passionately.

The one who interrupted the couple whispering sweet nothings, forgetting their fears, was High Priest Emmanuel.

Having seen him bother Lou countless times, Seren frowned without realizing it.

The two hid in a darker spot to avoid the High Priest’s eyes.

Though their meeting wasn’t shameful, it wouldn’t do any good to be caught by the twisted High Priest Emmanuel.

“Is he gone?”

“Not yet.”

As they giggled and watched the High Priest, they witnessed a strange scene.

A man suddenly appeared in front of the High Priest. Despite seeing the High Priest, he didn’t greet him and instead blocked his path.

The High Priest seemed angry and scolded the man.

Tsk, Seren clicked her tongue. It was a good thing they hid.

The two lovers froze at what happened next.

The man blocking the High Priest suddenly grabbed him by the neck.

Emmanuel, not just any High Priest, fiercely resisted using holy power.

The man seemed momentarily flustered by Emmanuel’s strong resistance.

Just when the tide seemed to turn in Emmanuel’s favor,

Leon appeared behind the man.

Recognizing the familiar figure, Seren’s face lit up. She had no doubt Leon would deal with the suspicious man.

However, it was not the stranger but the High Priest who collapsed at Leon’s gesture.

Emmanuel screamed.

“Wh-what! Aaargh!”

Before the echo of his scream faded in the hallway, Emmanuel disappeared.

Seren couldn’t believe what she was seeing.