I took a deep breath and ran my hand roughly through my hair.

“Come to think of it, Shahar is in the same boat. Honestly, Shahar, you must feel wronged too, right? You’re the lord of the underworld, yet here you are in the human world, being treated like a talking stone. It must hurt your pride.”

“No.”

“It’s okay to be honest. I won’t tell anyone.”

“How could I harbor such feelings? I am grateful just to have met you, and I am prepared to endure anything to become your true mate.”

Shahar’s response was both touching and heartbreaking. He loves me so much, yet I can’t accept him. And to be so useless…

I silently tied a pretty ribbon around Shahar.

***

The one fortunate thing was that no one knew my plan had failed from the start. The Crown Prince didn’t seem to have high expectations of me either…

‘Still, if a woman draws her sword, she should at least cut something.’

I decided to request an oracle. Several conditions needed to be met for an oracle to be granted.

First, there must be someone who can hear the voice of the gods.

Second, it must be a time and place where the god’s power is strong.

Third, the person requesting the oracle must be pure.

If any of these three conditions were not met, the oracle would not be granted. Fortunately, all conditions were met. The Crown Prince, who had the strongest bloodline of our ancestors, was nearby, it was summer, and I was living a celibate life. Everything was perfectly aligned.

‘I’m not sure if the last one is good or bad.’

However, it wasn’t as simple as just receiving the oracle. The Sun God was a particularly high-ranking deity among the many gods. This meant he was not a random deity that could be summoned anywhere.

Officially, he only granted oracles twice a year, during the summer solstice and the winter solstice ceremonies.

But I couldn’t afford to wait until the winter solstice.

The Sun God must have felt the same way. Given that he broke the taboo to contact me directly, he must have understood the gravity of the situation.

“Do you think it will work?”

I asked Shahar one last time. After all, he was the only transcendent being I knew.

“He cherishes his descendants, so he will surely respond.”

As soon as I heard his answer, I sent a message to the Crown Prince. It took less than a day for a reply to arrive.

After confirming the letter, I quickly and discreetly entered the palace.

A waiting attendant immediately led me to the Crown Prince’s office.

“Is it necessary to dress so warmly?”

“We’re no longer engaged, so I can’t meet you openly.”

I replied curtly and threw off the cloak I had been wearing. Despite walking only a short distance, sweat had already formed on my forehead.

Pinion smiled meaningfully as he watched me wipe my forehead with a handkerchief.

“Ah, so we’re having a secret rendezvous?”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“Just joking.”

Seeing him shrug nonchalantly made my already hot temper flare up even more. I downed the iced tea in front of me in one go and got straight to the point.

“You’ve prepared the materials, right?”

The Crown Prince handed me a sheet of paper, a pen, and red ink, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“I’ve blessed everything as you asked, but honestly, I’m not sure it will work. Even after searching the ancient texts, there’s no record of the Sun God granting an oracle outside the summer and winter solstice ceremonies. And with such trivial items…”

“Please be quiet. I’ve prayed earnestly for this for days. If anything goes wrong, it will be Your Highness’s fault.”

The Crown Prince fell silent.

I solemnly dipped the pen in the ink and drew a large O and X on the paper.

This was a very traditional method of summoning a spiritual entity and the only summoning technique I knew.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a kind of summoning circle.”

“It’s surprising enough that you’ve become a healer, but you know summoning techniques too? I didn’t realize you were so versatile.”

“Do you regret it now? You should have treated me better while you had the chance.”

I said it without much thought, but the Crown Prince’s face hardened slightly. However, he soon returned to his usual cynical expression.

“You’ve become quite the sharp-tongued one.”

“Let’s stop the small talk. We’re both busy. Now, let’s begin.”

“Wait, is this all there is to the summoning circle…?”

The Crown Prince looked incredulous, unable to hide his astonishment at the paper with just a large circle and a cross on it. His violet eyes were filled with doubt.

Honestly, I was embarrassed to present such a thing as a summoning circle.

But I didn’t want to admit that in front of the Crown Prince, so I answered even more solemnly.

“A master never blames their tools. What’s important isn’t the summoning circle, but a sincere heart. If you truly care about Arcadia, please take this seriously, Your Highness.”

“Huh. I don’t know what’s what, but fine. Let’s give it a try.”

I took the pen first and gently placed Pinion’s right hand, which was resting on the table, on top of it. He flinched when our hands touched.

“Don’t let go of the pen until we’re done.”

“I’ll remember.”

“Now, repeat after me. Sun God, Sun God, please come to this place.”

“What? That’s the incantation?”

“Stop interrupting and just follow along. You need to be the medium.”

Already feeling skeptical, the Crown Prince’s constant questioning was getting on my nerves.

Reluctantly, Pinion followed my lead.

“Su…Sun God, Sun God, please come to this place.”

“Now ask if the god is here.”

“Oh great lord of light, are you here?”

“……”

A cold silence filled the office.

“Of course, a god wouldn’t respond to such childish…”

Just as the Crown Prince was about to mockingly taunt, the pen moved.

[O]

“He really came!”

I forgot to maintain my composure and exclaimed excitedly.

Pinion looked at the paper and then at me with suspicion.

“Did you move it by yourself?”

“Absolutely not!”

I clutched my chest and hurriedly calmed my breathing.

It was too early to declare success. It could have been a passing spirit.

“Ask if it’s really the Sun God. If it is, it will mark O, if it’s a spirit, X… Ah!”

Before I could finish speaking, the pen spun wildly in place.

A gust of wind blew through the closed room, shaking the table.

And that wasn’t all.

Suddenly, lightning struck from the clear sky.

Startled by the deafening thunder, I almost let go of the pen.

“Don’t let go, Your Highness!”

Regaining his senses, the Crown Prince urgently held the table steady and gripped my hand tightly.

“I’m sorry! Forget I said it was a spirit, I take it back!”

Instantly, everything calmed down as if nothing had happened.

“What on earth…”

Pinion looked at me and the paper in astonishment.

But I had no time to explain.

With a trembling voice, I asked the first question.

“I believe you are aware that Mount Acheron is without a master. For the safety of the capital, we need a new master. Do you have someone in mind?”

Pinion repeated my question.

The pen remained fixed over the O, indicating yes.

‘Hooray!’

I wanted to ask for the name of the chosen one, but since the options were only O and X, I couldn’t find out. I had to ask questions that could be answered with yes or no.

“Are they strong?”

Hesitation.

‘What’s this?’

Was the pen hesitating?

Puzzled, I rephrased the question.

“Do they have powerful abilities?”

This time, the pen circled lightly over the O.

I finally relaxed and moved on to the next question.

“Do they have a favorable view of humans?”

[O]

Oh ho.

In that case, it was time to ask about the species.

“Are they a dragon?”

[X]

“Then an elf? A demon? A mermaid? A spirit?”

But every question was answered with X.

When I ran out of ideas, I asked half-heartedly,

“Can you just appear in my dream tonight and give me a hint?”

Surprisingly, the pen moved towards O.

I was moved by the Sun God’s mercy. As expected, the most popular god was incredibly benevolent.

We had spent so much time guessing the species that it was already well past noon.

Seeing the lengthening shadows, I realized we didn’t have much time left for questions.

I hesitated for a moment before asking one last question filled with personal desire.

It was something I had wanted to ask for a long time.

‘Shahar isn’t here anyway, so…’

“Could you perhaps send me one more male lead? Honestly, Shahar is too much.”

[X]

Damn. I expected it, but it still deflated me.

“…Then we’ll end the questions here.”

[O]

And with that, the summoning ended.