Chapter 7
Eched, while walking down the street, stopped in his tracks upon noticing Shaterian entering a shop.
She walked confidently into the store, which had large glass windows that made the inside fully visible, and sat across from a man.
‘Wasn’t she supposed to be on a marriage meeting?’
The chatter of the knights came to his mind.
The meeting of two nobles naturally drew curious glances from passersby.
Shaterian always had a knack for drawing attention wherever she went.
Eched found such a trait of hers exhausting.
‘Exhausting…’
Words that described emotions felt foreign to him.
Occasionally, Shaterian managed to draw out human emotions from within him.
After briefly observing the man and woman chatting warmly, Eched resumed walking and eventually arrived at a temple located on the outskirts of the city.
The temple, dedicated to the Goddess of Compassion, had seen a decline in visitors over time as the influence of the Pope, who worshiped the Goddess of Equality, had risen.
A priest stood in front of the temple.
As soon as the priest saw Eched, he naturally guided him inside.
“He is waiting for you inside.”
Following the priest, Eched entered the temple and arrived at the chapel.
At the center of the chapel, in front of the statue of the Goddess of Compassion, a priest was deep in prayer.
“Priest, I’ve brought the guest.”
Only after a long prayer did the priest acknowledge their presence.
“Thank you for your effort.”
The priest who had guided Eched bowed politely before leaving the chapel.
“You’re here earlier than expected.”
“You knew I would come?”
“The Goddess told me.”
“The Goddess of Compassion has no power to deliver an oracle.”
Eched’s firm statement made the priest smile faintly.
“You never know. Perhaps she’s gained that power now.”
“Well, that remains to be seen.”
Eched knelt on one knee before the priest.
The priest placed a hand on Eched’s head and began to pray. A soft light enveloped Eched and soon seeped into his body.
The priest was transferring divine power into Eched.
The divine power flowing through the priest felt like a gentle breeze to Eched.
It purified every cell in his body, which had been tainted with poison, and infused it with vitality, but that was all.
No matter how much divine power he received, the pain in his heart that had persisted for 500 years remained unchanged.
Filling Eched’s body with divine power was no different from pouring water into a bottomless vessel.
His body, which craved only the purest divine power, was insatiable.
However, in this world, the purest divine power could only be found in “God” itself.
This was why Eched, despite regularly visiting the temple and replenishing his divine power, always felt an unquenchable thirst.
If he failed to receive sufficient divine power during the full moon, when the soul grew stronger, his human body would be plunged into even greater agony.
It was all a punishment from God.
The priest poured nearly 80% of his divine power into Eched before finally lifting his hand from Eched’s head.
Even so, Eched’s complexion remained almost the same as before the divine power was transferred. His body, in many ways, made the priest’s efforts seem futile.
“By the way, rumors about the lady you’ve been meeting recently are quite rampant.”
Eched, who was preparing to leave, paused at the priest’s words.
“The lady and I are not in that kind of relationship.”
The image of Shaterian sitting by the fountain earlier came to his mind.
He didn’t know much about her companion, Bruf, but the aura surrounding him was kind.
“Is that so? I thought the lady might be the one you’ve been searching for.”
The one.
The person he had been waiting for all this time.
Eched could not recognize the reincarnation of “her.”
This too was a punishment from God.
In the past, he had always been able to discern the reincarnation after careful observation, but… this time was different.
The moment he saw Anella, he was convinced.
That she was the reincarnation of the soul.
“No, the lady is…”
But Eched couldn’t finish his sentence with certainty. Doubts suddenly crept in.
Could I really trust that conviction? Without a shred of doubt?
In truth, his certainty had been wavering for some time.
It had all started on the spring hill where Shaterian had inexplicably declared an end to the war.
***
Eched left the temple and retraced his steps back.
But his steps came to a halt once more when he saw Shaterian sitting by the fountain in the central square.
She sat there alone, eyes closed, seemingly basking in nature.
It was an utterly ordinary scene, yet…
For some reason, Eched couldn’t take his eyes off her.
He didn’t know why.
He had long been staring at her without realizing time was passing.
“Look at the jewels that woman’s wearing.”
“Her clothes look like they’re made of expensive fabric too. How much do you think they’d fetch if we sold them?”
Such a conversation drifted over from an alleyway.
The voices belonged to people who appeared to be impoverished, eyeing Shaterian with plans of kidnapping and exchanging crude remarks.
Though it was still broad daylight, the sun would soon set.
Eched, who had briefly glanced toward the alley, turned his gaze back to Shaterian.
She appeared utterly defenseless, with not even a proper weapon on her.
Her high-heeled shoes looked like they could serve as decent weapons, but…
Narrowing his eyes, Eched noticed Shaterian’s escort knight standing a fair distance away.
The knight seemed competent, but there were at least five individuals in the alley.
With a small sigh, Eched eventually headed toward the alley.
It took him less than a minute to subdue the startled group of impoverished men.
After handing the unconscious men over to passing soldiers, Eched approached Shaterian.
There was no guarantee that such an incident wouldn’t happen again.
As he stood before her, Shaterian, sensing his presence, opened her eyes.
When she saw Eched, her brows furrowed deeply.
Ignoring her reaction, Eched spoke.
“My lady, what are you doing here?”
“Photosynthesizing.”
Eched often wondered about Shaterian’s thought process.
What kind of mind came up with such remarks?
“Photosynthesizing? You’re not a plant. You can’t photosynthesize.”
When he refuted her, Shaterian’s face scrunched up even more. Her expressive face, which always revealed her emotions, never failed to fascinate him.
When Eched suggested she return home, Shaterian shook her head.
“What’s the reason you don’t want to go home?”
It was a question he had been pondering since that day in the garden.
Back then, even while drunk and unable to stand on her own, Shaterian had stubbornly refused to go home.
Shaterian dodged his question with a casual response, avoiding giving a clear reason.
At times like this, her face betrayed no thoughts.
“Let’s go.”
Feigning sternness, he instinctively extended his hand.
Shaterian glanced at his gloved hand for a moment before standing up on her own.
She looked thoroughly annoyed as she did so.
Eched watched her retreating back before lowering his gaze to his own hand.
He clenched and unclenched it for no reason.
Shaterian particularly disliked physical contact with him.
Unlike others, she didn’t pry into his personal life.
Her interest in him was solely about studies and swordsmanship.
She constantly oscillated between indifference and anger, alternating between cold and hot.
Eched followed behind Shaterian.
He stood in place until her carriage became nothing more than a dot in the distance, ensuring she didn’t stray elsewhere.
***
“Making someone kneel in front of others—are you out of your mind?!”
The Emperor bellowed, his voice echoing through the room.
It had already been three hours of scolding.
It was the same nagging she had endured all weekend from her elder sister.
If only Eched hadn’t been there that day, she might have avoided at least some of the reprimands.
In any case, he was of no help.
“You’ve disgraced Earl Robberalter! Do you realize that other families, upon hearing this, are now lining up to reject marriage meetings?”
“That’s… fortunate… I mean, I’m sorry.”
“Shaterian!”
She quickly apologized, but it was no use.
The nagging resumed.
Resolving to not utter another word, she repeatedly responded with, “Yes, yes, it’s my fault.”
The chastisement dragged on for another hour before the Emperor’s secretary intervened, reminding him of an upcoming meeting, allowing her to finally escape.
“A new marriage meeting will be arranged soon!”
“Yes, Your Majesty…”
Her relief at being freed was short-lived. The Emperor’s ominous warning left her feeling dejected as she exited the office.
At least there was a meeting to attend.
Otherwise, she might have been stuck listening to his scolding all day.
Weary, she trudged to the Grievance Counseling Office.
Upon opening the door, she found Bruf lounging on the sofa, sipping tea. Pell was absent.
‘Some of us are out here suffering, and others are just relaxing like that.’
The sight of him made her blood boil.
“You’re here?”
“You little—!”
She lunged at him, unable to bear his composed demeanor.
“Kneeling there, were you holding a grudge? Be honest!”
Grabbing his collar, she shook him vigorously.
This sly man had dared to humiliate me!
“Well… maybe just a little.”
“You brat! How dare you repay kindness with betrayal?!”
“Hahaha.”
While she was fuming, he seemed to be enjoying himself, laughing heartily.
After shaking him for a while, she eventually grew tired and let go.
Standing for four hours straight to endure scolding, then walking all the way from the palace to here, had left her feet feeling like they were about to split open.
She needed to sit down.
Dragging herself to the sofa opposite Bruf, she flopped onto it, kicking off her shoes.
“Well, thanks to the rumors, everyone’s declining the marriage proposals without hesitation. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“You’re surprisingly infuriating.”
“Haha. Still, I do apologize for the rumors spreading about you.”
At that moment, the door burst open, and Pell entered the office.
Spotting her, Pell spoke in a flat tone.
“Chief… You’ve become the laughingstock of the century.”
“Me?”
“Yes. And you’re also now known as the woman rejected by the Knight Commander.”
“What? Rejected? Me? By whom, the Knight Commander?”
What sort of absurd nonsense was this?
Pell continued.
“After it became known that you were attending marriage meetings, people who thought you and the Knight Commander were in a relationship started questioning it.”
Bruf added.
“Then the rumors began. They said the Knight Commander would never be the type to bring a woman to the Ducal estate first, so all of this must be part of your scheme to seduce him, Chief.”
Pell chimed back in.
“They’re saying the reason for the marriage meetings is that you’re trying to get married before it becomes public knowledge that you were rejected by the Knight Commander.”
“And then you caused a scene at the meeting. These days, Chief, you’re the center of palace gossip.”
“That’s not true, Bruf. The Chief’s reputation has been infamous long before this incident…”
“Indeed. The Chief’s character has been well-known for some time…”
“Enough.”
Had these two been practicing their back-and-forth routine somewhere?
Their conversation seemed endless.
When she glared at them to stop, both feigned innocence as if they hadn’t said a word.
Rubbing her throbbing temples, she waved them off.
“Ugh, whatever. Stop chatting and get to work.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Pell shrugged and returned to his desk without further comment.
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