The western entrance checkpoint of the castle.

Gabriel was the only one showing irritation at the never-ending line of people.

Whether they found their service in the volunteer group satisfying or unbearable, most priests kept their feelings hidden from their expressions.

As those who had read scriptures and learned the will of God since childhood, they couldn’t complain about caring for others, whether strong or weak.

“Damn it! Infuriating! Absolutely infuriating!!”

Even Gabriel, who had briefly managed to control his expression when knights passed by, eventually stopped making the effort.

The people closest to power in this territory were probably the senior knights or the Border Count’s aide, but none of them appeared at the checkpoint.

At first, a few vassals showed their faces occasionally, but now they seemed completely uninterested.

It was almost like, “Is that thing still there?”

Literally having to perform services that no one appreciated, Gabriel absolutely detested unrecognized service, so he threw tantrums without caring even when children were watching.

Every random person pushed their way in asking to reattach broken arms or save those barely clinging to life. They should seek physicians for such matters; divine power wasn’t some miracle cure.

“Priest! Priest! My child hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday and keeps vomiting. Please look at him just once.”

“Ugh! You should see a physician first for that! Ah! Don’t vomit here, get out. Get out!”

“But Priest, everyone who comes here…”

“I’ll take a look. Please lay him down here.”

Behind the mother startled by Gabriel’s dismissal, a junior priest rushed over to soothe the child. With a brief scan of divine power over the child’s body, she could sense where the problem was causing the child’s suffering.

“Look carefully here. There’s inflammation or some other issue in this area. You’ll need medicine, so please go to a physician and explain exactly what I’ve told you. I’ve calmed the child with divine power and purified the bad energy remaining in his body. The pain will subside temporarily, but the root cause won’t disappear completely, so you must go to a physician for an explanation and medicine.”

“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much, Priest.”

The child, who had been weakly vomiting, quickly fell into a peaceful sleep in his mother’s arms. Color returned to his pale face, and he looked completely healed to anyone watching. 

The mother repeatedly bowed before leaving the checkpoint, glaring at Gabriel who was watching with disgust.

“How dare a commoner! I ought to…!”

The junior priest, no longer willing to humor his mood, turned away to attend to the next patient. Rather than listening to his squawking, it was better to disappear for the day like before. 

She had always been dissatisfied with how he, despite being an intermediate priest, never worked properly. Now she finally understood why Evelyn had said it was a hundred times better to work alone than with him.

“If it weren’t for Evelyn, that girl! No, treating the Border Count should have been the end of it! Instead of thinking about returning promptly after finishing the job, she only thinks about playing around! Just wait and see. Listen carefully, all of you! Don’t even think about wasting time hanging around nobles. Remember who writes your duty reports!”

The junior priests frowned as they watched Gabriel storm out of the checkpoint, fuming. Who actually wanted to serve in the volunteer group anyway?

“But seriously, why isn’t Evelyn coming back?”

“She probably changed her fate by catching a nobleman.”

“She seemed so well-behaved, tsk. Even as a priestess, if you catch the right man…”

The priest who had helped the child instead of Gabriel shouted at the whispering priests.

“Catch the right man what! Let’s not talk like that among priests. She’s staying at the castle to continue healing the Border Count, isn’t she?”

“Hey, Uriel. You believe that? If she’s really just healing him, why doesn’t she come here? Haven’t you heard what the maids are saying? She’s taken over the Border Count’s bedroom. She’s properly caught herself an old man.”

Seeing them exchange knowing smirks, the junior priest Uriel exploded like they had insulted her personally.

“For heaven’s sake, what priestess has ever changed her fate by meeting a good man? So what if she’s taken over his bedroom? Does that make her the mistress of the castle? Will she become the Border Count’s wife? Even if she meets a good man, she’ll only end up returning to the temple after bearing an illegitimate child! Is that really changing one’s fate? If that’s the case, why don’t you priests catch a noble lady? It’s even easier when all you have to do is plant your seed!”

“Well, that’s… that’s not what I meant.”

As Uriel, who had been defending Evelyn, approached with glaring eyes, the whispering priests scattered, mumbling that it was a slip of the tongue.

She wasn’t immune to jealousy toward Evelyn either. Having been assigned to heal the Border Count, Evelyn might now be able to leave the volunteer group and perhaps even be assigned to the Central Temple.

Then she wouldn’t have to stand all day until her legs felt like bursting, or wander from region to region every month, or be treated like a fountain of divine power rather than a proper priestess.

But Uriel knew the life of a priestess. Even if she received some compensation from the Border Count, it would be temporary.

A priestess without backing doesn’t last long. The best she could hope for was to leave the volunteer group and be assigned somewhere. Even a shabby temple in some province would be better than this wandering life.

Uriel thought of the invisible veteran of the volunteer group who had been missing since they arrived in Norton’s territory, wondering whether things had truly turned out well for her or if her life had become complicated.

With Gabriel gone and another worker lost, plus the fact that Evelyn had handled so many responsibilities within the volunteer group, it was inevitable that complaints would pile up among the priests.

Perhaps because Evelyn had seemed destined to never escape the volunteer group, she had been responsible for everything from start to finish. Now that she was gone, they realized how much she had struggled alone, making them feel somewhat guilty.

Uriel silently continued her duties, praying that Evelyn wouldn’t get pregnant.

Already, numerous rumors circulated through the lord’s castle. With the lady’s position vacant, a young priestess parading around like the mistress naturally provoked anger in the vassals’ eyes.

If only she weren’t a priestess.

Then marriage would be possible, and how fortunate it would be to place even a young woman in the lady’s position.

But as long as Evelyn possessed divine power, she remained the property of the empire.

While it was appreciated that she was warming the bed of an aging lord with no interest in marriage, now that he had become a man who knew how to cherish a woman, it was also his duty to take an official wife and secure an heir.

When the Border Count was Evelyn’s age, his fiancée, who had traveled from the capital to this distant land for their wedding, fell ill with an endemic disease due to loneliness and inability to adapt to the strange land. 

She passed away before the wedding could take place. A few years later, marriage talks began with a family rooted in the north, but the prospective fiancée also gradually fell ill and closed her eyes forever. After that, the Border Count refused to keep anyone by his side.

He felt that the dense, unpurified demonic energy accumulating within him had caused their early deaths.

Even among the territory’s priests, negative criticism poured out. Many claimed that Evelyn was unqualified to be a priest.

However, the Border Count, who was ignoring all these situations, refused to release her from his bedroom. He only gave her quality dresses and fattened her with abundant food.

Council meetings were held almost daily at the castle. This was unusual for Norton’s territory, and even the Border Count seemed troubled, sometimes fleeing during meetings. Thus, these noisy and chaotic affairs reached Evelyn’s ears as well.

“I’ve never seen His Excellency run away before. I thought monsters had appeared and something terrible had happened. But when I heard the story, it wasn’t a military expedition but an escape.”

Jile, carrying some books Evelyn had selected, shared gossip by her side. Worried that the priestess might be bored with only the Border Count to talk to and nothing to do except read books or take walks, she occasionally shared interesting happenings around the castle, which now extended to council meeting gossip.

She didn’t realize she was pushing threads of anxiety toward Evelyn.

“Can you believe it? Even Lord Idif, who last attended a council meeting twenty years ago, came. He could barely walk and had to be supported by his grandson. With such people gathered and nagging, His Excellency supposedly whimpered that he’d rather hunt monsters. I don’t know if that’s true though. Would His Excellency really cry?”

“But why was the meeting held? I heard the vassals have been gathering continuously lately. Is there a major problem?”

“Why else? Obviously because they need to bring in a lady. The position has been vacant for too long, and now that you’re here, they’re pushing for it.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes. Before, they couldn’t even mention the word ‘woman.’ But now that he’s meeting you, they see this as their opportunity. Not only noble families in the territory but even those from the capital are pushing for marriage.”

Jile whispered to Evelyn, like she was sharing a secret. Evelyn forced a smile to hide the chill spreading through one side of her chest. Jile’s whispering continued.