“She’s a little late today…… nothing’s happened, has it?”

A sudden unease sent his feet moving toward the forest on their own.

Walking forward little by little, he spotted a faint light filtering between the tall trees.

‘What is that……?’

Having never ventured out this far at night before, Haven kept his guard up and pressed himself behind a tree.

He stilled his presence and narrowed his eyes.

From somewhere thick with pale mist came the sound of water.

‘Water? A lake?’

While he was thinking, a killing intent that belonged to someone trained with a blade drifted from somewhere nearby.

Haven instinctively searched for something he could use as a weapon.

And in that moment.

Splash!

A hand shot out and grabbed him, pulling him into the water.

It happened in an instant, but Haven immediately realized the person behind him was a woman.

He had a rough idea of who it was.

Haven turned to face her. A familiar face, and one that made something in him lift.

“Priestess!”

“Shh!”

Ella pressed her hand urgently over his mouth. Her eyes were scanning someplace in the distance.

Their bodies drew naturally closer together. With every breath she took, her small frame rose and fell sharply.

The clothes she was wearing were soaked and clinging to her, tracing every curve of her body plainly.

Haven’s gaze followed the path of a water droplet downward.

Her long, slender neck. The soft swell of her chest and the narrow dip of her waist. The gentle curve of her hips…… breathtakingly beautiful.

Pressed flush against her like this, his heart was hammering so violently it could have burst from his chest.

The heat that rose like an *ssault overwhelmed his reason completely.

And this scent……

‘Dangerous.’

It was genuinely dizzying.

“……”

“Let’s just stay like this for a moment. Please.”

Ella’s plea was followed immediately by a sharp shout.

“Miss Mariella! Is something wrong!”

Haven’s reason snapped back at the sound.

Was that the killing intent from the knight he had sensed earlier?

Haven looked back and forth between Ella and the direction her gaze was fixed.

‘More than that…… just now, I think they said Mariella……’

Mariella was the name of this Becarto Empire’s saintess.

After the official announcement that this name belonged to the saintess, Mariella Tinsley was a name no one else was permitted to use. There was only one person who could carry it.

On top of that, this was the Hooly Forest.

‘Only those with holy power can enter……’

Perhaps it was the sacred healing he had received frequently as a child. He didn’t know why he was able to be here unaffected, but regardless, this was that forest, the one that required holy power to enter.

And in such a place, there was a woman being called Mariella.

“Miss Mariella!”

“No! I’m fine!”

The name rang out again, and Haven’s confusion deepened.

Then the person in front of him was……

‘The saintess?’

The small hand covering his mouth shifted. Sensing it, Ella looked at him for a moment.

The desperation in her eyes made Haven close his mouth again.

“I’ll stay in the vicinity, Miss Mariella.”

The man’s voice came again from a little further away.

“Go back down. I can’t concentrate on the purification rite.”

“However……”

“Go! It will take at least five hours, and I’ll signal you when I’m done.”

Ella’s firm call finally produced the answer she wanted.

“Understood. I’ll wait below, then.”

The footsteps grew gradually fainter, and the strength drained from her hand.

Ella let out a sigh of relief.

The moment she tried to pull away, her body swayed, perhaps from having been in the warm water too long.

“Ah……”

“Careful!”

Haven was faster.

Their bodies came together again. A pulse that belonged to neither of them alone bound them tightly.

Their gazes tilted and tangled slowly, each filling the other’s eyes completely.

The heat thickened. Whether it was the mist rising from the spring or the desire igniting between them, a silence fell over everything.

“How did you come out this far? Your body isn’t even fully……”

“Were you the saintess?”

Haven cut her off and asked.

Ella let out a small, resigned breath and gave a sorrowful smile. The kind that might draw out sympathy, or stir a protective instinct.

“I hadn’t planned to tell you like this.”

“Then how were you planning to tell me?”

“I wanted to explain properly, at least. After you had fully recovered……”

Ella slowly raised her hand and cupped his cheek.

The moment her fingertips made contact, she felt the muscles along Haven’s jaw go taut.

His throat moved in one deep, visible swallow, matching the heat that wavered in his eyes.

Ella noted each reaction in turn and began to speak.

A story seasoned with just the right amount of falsehood. A story designed to move his heart.

“My holy power has run dry. A saintess abandoned by the chief god. That’s where I stand right now. And in the middle of all that, I’m about to enter the palace as the crown princess designate. The only thing a saintess of common birth has to offer is strong holy power…… what is she supposed to do when that disappears?”

“……”

“And then I met you. Treating your injuries made me feel like even without holy power, I still had worth.”

Ella brushed her thumb gently across Haven’s cheek.

“Because of you, Haven.”

Haven said nothing and simply looked at her as she smiled and said thank you.

“I even started to feel like maybe I could manage, that things would work out. And somewhere along the way, coming to see you every night was healing something in me too. You were healing your body, but I was healing my heart.”

Ella kept talking, but Haven didn’t loosen the arms holding her.

The distance between them didn’t widen by a single inch.

When Ella finally finished, Haven asked with difficulty.

“……If the day comes when it’s discovered…… what happens……”

“You mean what happens if my depleted holy power comes to light?”

A nod.

At Haven’s gesture, Ella gave a quiet laugh.

“I’d probably be cast aside. Made a scapegoat amid all manner of false accusations…… and if I’m unlucky, the charge of deceiving the imperial family could be added, and I could be executed.”

She said it plainly, but Haven looked genuinely shaken.

Ella laughed softly.

“But I won’t die easily, so don’t worry. I wasn’t confident before, but thanks to you, I feel like I can manage now.”

She had decided to play her hand.

The timing was a little early, but with Capuasia back, she needed to move up her entry into the palace.

Hoping Haven would accept her proposal, Ella broached the subject carefully.

“I know you intend to leave. That it could be today or tomorrow.”

Ella tilted her head slightly.

“Before you go, I have a favor to ask.”

“……”

“You saved my life, so I thought it was all right to say this much.”

“Tell me what it is.”

Haven’s voice had dropped lower.

The corners of Ella’s mouth curved softly.

“Give me courage. Enough to hold on and get through what’s ahead.”

“……How do I do that?”

Ella wrapped both arms around his neck.

“Hold me. Tonight.”

“……!”

Haven’s eyes went wide.

Watching him startled, Ella added the rest.

“So I can live as someone who has worth.”

The moment the words ended, Ella’s lips moved toward his face.

Their lips met.

“Hah, Ella.”

If he refused here, Ella was prepared to step back.

But Haven didn’t push her away. Far from it. He pressed his lips over hers as though he meant to take her breath entirely.

Was his desire truly this fierce?

Ella couldn’t breathe.

“Haven…… mmph.”

In the brief moment they parted, she called his name, but the sound of it only drove Haven further past reason.

She wound her tongue around the one that pressed between her lips and welcomed him willingly.

Haven’s hand slipped beneath the wet fabric. The touch that found the soft mound was rough and urgent.

His fingertips caught a small peak, and he brushed against her n*pple. When he took it and gave it a slight twist, a shallow m*an slipped through Ella’s teeth.

“Hngh!”

The movement was clumsy and unrefined, but absurdly, Ella’s body only burned hotter for it.

After the soft warmth of her chest, Haven pressed his firm thigh between her legs.

The hard muscle against her p*ssy sent a dizzying sensation through her, and she clenched tight around it.

Haven spread her reflexively closing thighs wider and pulled her waist flush against him.

He released her tongue and moved down, pressing small kisses along the length of her pale neck.

His eyes, his heat, everything said he could devour her at any moment, but Haven was doing everything he could to suppress his raw instincts in order to open her body to him.

Haven’s lips finally closed around her br*ast. He bit down and sucked, and a dizzying rush of sensation swept through Ella.

His tongue traced circles around her *reola, openly seeking and teasing the peak.

It was a tingling that reached every cell. Pleasure vibrated down her spine.