Chapter 19

19. Things to be Done

“Zatia?”

“I’ll do anything, please let me stay here.”

Tears streamed down Zatia’s cheeks as she wiped at the hem of her skirt. When a loud noise erupted among the silent crowd, all eyes turned towards them.

“Get up. Let’s go outside and talk.”

Adelaide took Zatia by the hand and led her out of the hall. Zatia followed, sobbing and clutching the hem of Adelaide’s dress like a child who has found her lost mother.

When they reached a secluded garden bench, Adelaide handed her a handkerchief.

“Wipe your tears.”

“T-thank you.”

The woman, her nose reddened by crying, dabbed her tears with the handkerchief. Her mysterious and ethereal appearance drew attention.

“Are you done crying?”

“Yes. …….”

Zatia fiddled with her handkerchief for a while. Adelaide waited for her to speak, not impatiently but earnestly.

“You’re the one who bought me earlier, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I bid five hundred cels for you.”

“Then you are now my owner?”

Zatia asked, watching Adelaide’s eyes.

“For now, yes.”

“Then allow me to serve you.”

“Serve me?”

“Yes. You can ask me to do anything, and I’ll do my best. Cleaning, laundry, dishes. I can do it all. You don’t have to pay me a salary, and if you don’t have a place to sleep for me, the stables are fine.”

Adelaide patted Zatia, who clung desperately.

“Calm down and explain your situation.”

Sobbing, Zatia struggled to speak.

“I… I was a Caucasian shaman.”

“A shaman?”

“An apprentice shaman, to be exact, because I haven’t undergone the initiation yet.”

Adelaide’s eyes widened.

Caucasian shamans were shrouded in mystery; they were known to borrow the power of the gods to create surreal phenomena.

They called down rain and thunderbolts, cursed people to death, and so on.

They were so special that it was said that the Caucasians were not absorbed by empires or kingdoms because of their shamans.

Even Adelaide, who had once scoffed at the notion, now believes in the power of witchcraft.

The pocket watch that the Caucasian shaman had made was the reason she was here now.

“So you know how to witchcraft, then?”

“I cannot perform witchcraft because I do not worship the gods, but I can read people’s energy.”

“What does that mean?”

“Each person emits energy. I’m not sure how to explain it, but…”

Zatia trailed off, looking at Adelaide.

An apprentice shaman who isn’t even a full-fledged shaman probably doesn’t have any abilities that would help.

She was about to say that if she couldn’t explain it, she didn’t have to.

“I sense the energy of witchcraft from you, madam.”

“What?”

“I don’t know why… but I sense the faint, no, vivid presence of divine energy. It started from the auction house earlier.”

“…….”

Her heart sank.

She hadn’t thought that everything would return to square one if time were reversed.

But if there were traces of the spell on her, what would happen to the time she had so painstakingly reversed?

Zatia’s voice echoed faintly in her distant ears.

“Have you ever met a shaman before?”

“……No, I haven’t. This is strange.”

“Uh, then I must be mistaken.”

Zatia, noticing the change in Adelaide’s complexion, quickly waved her hand. Fearing she had offended him, Adelaide changed the subject.

“But if you’re an apprentice shaman, you’re not allowed to leave the Holy Land, are you?”

“……I ran away.”

“You ran away? Why?”

“…I didn’t want to undergo the initiation ceremony to become a shaman.”

“Why would you run away from the ceremony?”

Zatia hesitated, then spoke with difficulty.

“Circumcision.”

“Circumcision?”

“They say that female shamans must remain pure for life because their bodies honor the gods…….”

Another tear rolls down Zatia’s cheek as she explains that a year ago, her best friend died during the ceremony.

“I ran away before the ceremony, so if I go back to my hometown, the shaman will kill me.  Please, save me.”

Adelaide stared at Zatia with a confused gaze.

If she doesn’t take her back, this child will meet the same fate as her previous life.

The same end as the last time she was found unaware beneath the walls of Tiflis and troubled Callion.

Zatia’s death wasn’t just a personal tragedy, as rumors spread that it was Callion’s doing, and a sordid scandal surrounded him.

Needless to say, his reputation suffered.

Adelaide made up her mind.

“Well, it’s a good thing I needed a maid.”

“My Lady……?”

“I’ll take good care of you.”

“Thank you!”

Zatia burst into tears.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜

The turmoil in the castle finally quieted down after nightfall.

Adelaide, who had been sitting on the balcony, watching the knight’s hall, came into the room only after the lights were extinguished.

Apparently, Callion wasn’t coming by today.

Perhaps not just today. Maybe he wouldn’t come by in the future either.

Her heart sank at the thought.

It was something necessary for Callion and for the future, but she couldn’t ignore the light of disappointment that crossed his face.

Though her body was tired, sleep eluded her. Adelaide tossed and turned in bed for a while before finally throwing off the covers and getting up.

“Where are the ledgers?

Her mind raced with the whereabouts of the ledgers confiscated from the temple.

There was nothing she could do about Callion’s disappointment, so she might as well do what she could.

Adelaide left the room, her footsteps muffled.

 It would likely be kept in the study or at the Knights’ Hall.

If it were in the knights’ hall, there was nothing she could do, but if it were in his study, she could quickly check and leave.

Deciding on her destination, Adelaide headed toward Callion’s office.

It was late at night, so there were no passersby. Arriving safely at the office, Adelaide pressed her face against the door and listened.

The room was silent.

No one was there.

Thinking she would just go in to check the ledger and leave, Adelaide relaxed and opened the door.

“What’s going on?”

There was Callion.

Sitting alone in the dimly lit study without even turning on the lights, he looked up as Adelaide entered.

“Come in.”

Although he could have asked what she was doing here at this hour, he greeted her as if he had expected her.

“Why haven’t you turned on the lights or anything?”

“I’ve been thinking about something.”

Callion lit a candle. Bottles of liquor littered the desk.

“Come here and sit down instead of standing.”

He slurred, unsure how long he’d been drinking.

His complexion was red from the alcohol, but his eyes were clear. She averted her eyes as his gaze seemed to pierce through her body.

“Are you going to stand like that forever?”

Callion nudged Adelaide once more, and when she struggled to her feet, he offered her his chair and took the spare.

“How much have you had?”

“Well, three bottles… no, maybe four. I’m not sure. I didn’t count.”

Every time he opened his mouth, he reeked of alcohol. There is only one reason why someone who doesn’t enjoy drinking would binge drink to the point of intoxication.

‘It must be because of me.’

Adelaide had anticipated that the events of the day would trouble him for a while. Callion was that kind of person.

Feeling sorry, she bowed her head, and at that moment, she noticed the ledger on the desk. Though she wanted to see it, she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“Rest assured, there is no Earl of Cornwall’s name on it.”

Once again, she felt a pang of guilt.

“I know……”

“Then you have no reason to come here at this late hour.”

“I’m …… sorry.”

“What do you have to apologize to me for?”

Callion laughed softly. There was sadness in his dry eyes. She couldn’t ask for forgiveness, but she knew he needed an explanation.

Adelaide hesitated, then opened her mouth.

“I know what I’m doing isn’t what you want.”

“…….”

“You wouldn’t have turned a blind eye to the nobles at the auction joining hands with High Priest Samuel……. if it weren’t for me.”

Callion slowly eyelids slowly closed and opened.

To be honest, it was.

When Adelaide promised to cover Samuel Dorfman’s sins and watch over him until he became a cardinal, Callion doubted her sanity.

When he questioned her intentions on the way back, her answer was reasonable.

“The temple has more influence with the commoners than the imperial court, and if you wish to win their favor, you must enlist their help.”

“Does that have to be High Priest Dorfman?”

Adelaide shook her head. Surely there were better people to find?

“Cardinal Orland, who now controls the Central Temple, is the Emperor’s people, and he and High Priest Dorfman have a very bad relationship. So High Priest Dorfman will be a good ally to keep him in check.”

“He might not cooperate as you expect.”

“He knows that this is the only way to stand up to Cardinal Orland.

“He might even bow down to Cardinal Orland?

“Then we’ll have to expose this matter.”

Adelaide added with a wry smile.

“Don’t worry. He’s a wise man. He won’t do anything foolish.”

It was a flawless response. It was politically astute enough that one couldn’t be angry at its lack of morality.

But he was not at ease.

‘How far is this woman thinking? ’

Callion wanted to get inside her head.

“Everything happened because of me, so how can I blame you? ”

He drained the bottle bitterly.

He had forgotten what his duties were and what his rights were. Without forgetting, he couldn’t endure it.

So Callion lost sight of himself and his surroundings. He didn’t realize the country was festering.

“But thanks to you, I know exactly what I need to do.”

Callion held out his ledger. On a pre-folded page was a list of those who had bid on the auction.

Adelaide’s eyes scanned the list carefully, her gaze settling on the bottom row.

“……Chadwick Owens?”