<Chapter 21>

Wait, how could you say that in front of everyone!

I jumped up, glancing nervously at the people standing behind me.

“You shouldn’t have put it that way! It was an emergency, wasn’t it? Do you even know how fast Sir Kei was riding? I was just holding on for dear life—”

“Holding on for dear life? To a strange man?”

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

As I struggled to figure out how to diffuse the situation, I gave up with an ‘Oh, forget it!’ and grabbed Temenos by the arm, pulling him toward the nearest carriage.

“There was something I wanted to talk about anyway. Since we’re already here, let’s have a deep and meaningful conversation inside, shall we?”

“Wait a moment……”

“Excuse me, can we borrow this carriage?”

The man, who looked utterly dazed, quickly nodded.

“Oh, yes, of course. Please, go ahead……”

“Alright, get in, hurry.”

I shoved Temenos into the carriage, climbed in after him, and slammed the door shut behind us. Knocking on the wall separating us from the driver, I called out, “Move out, now!”

Soon, the carriage began to roll. In the small, enclosed space, I looked at Temenos and said, “Finally, we’re alone.”

The moment I’d been waiting for—our long-overdue conversation—had come.

*  *  *

The people left behind stared blankly at the retreating carriage.

‘What on earth did I just witness?’

The events of the day already felt surreal, but the most unbelievable sight was the Prospective Duchess grabbing the Duke’s arm and shoving him into a carriage.

And not just any arm—the left one, covered in golden scales.

If that wasn’t enough, she climbed into the carriage with the Monster Duke herself, willingly entering the moving, inescapable enclosure.

“I’ve heard the Prospective Duchess is a Saintess candidate, but……”

Was she not afraid of the Monster Duke? How could she act like that?

While some trembled or turned pale at the thought, not everyone had the same reaction.

“That’s strange…….”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, earlier, I’m pretty sure I made eye contact with the Duke……”

Kei kept his gaze fixed on the distant carriage, recalling Temenos’ crimson eyes.

In the past, locking eyes with him would send shivers down his spine and make his body tremble uncontrollably—a primal, involuntary reaction.

But today, it hadn’t felt as terrifying as it used to.

In fact, seeing him unleash his monstrous strength to save people, even while bearing the scornful title of ‘monster,’ had been almost… admirable.

“Why does anyone even call him a monster?”

“Why? Isn’t it obvious? That kind of strength is unnatural. Did you see him lift that enormous boulder with one hand?”

“Hey.”

“I mean…… It’s just a saying, you know?”

Under Kei’s sharp glare, Max shrank back, awkwardly shifting the topic by directing his attention to Klein, who was surrounded by other knights.

“Still, the Prospective Duchess is incredible, don’t you think? I’d heard she was a Saintess candidate, but to heal someone’s blind eye……”

“She’s not a candidate.”

“What?”

Kei watched as Klein repeatedly covered and uncovered his left eye, a look of awe and disbelief on his face. Around him, the knights cheered in celebration.

It wasn’t just Klein. When Kei first surveyed the area, several people had been seriously injured—enough to render them unfit for battle, even if they survived.

And hadn’t the doctor dispatched to assist also been badly hurt?

If it weren’t for Inosensia, the casualties would have been staggering.

Respected senior knights, close comrades, even troublesome juniors—all might have lost their lives or been left unable to wield a sword again.

During winter, when magical beasts ran rampant, such tragedies were all too common. Kei himself had always carried the resolve to die in the line of duty.

‘Dying doesn’t scare me. If anything, a knight’s honorable death is a blessing.’

What he feared more than death was losing the ability to wield a sword.

Like those senior knights who, after injuries even the best doctors couldn’t treat, were reassigned to desk jobs or forced into early retirement.

But now……

“Do you think… if she can heal a blind eye, maybe—just maybe—she could restore the arms or legs of injured knights?”

“Oh, come on, that’s a bit far-fetched.”

“But who knows? It might actually be possible!”

“It’s definitely possible.”

Amid the knights speculating with cautious hope, Klein spoke with unwavering conviction.

“I didn’t just lose my eyesight. My eye was poisoned, and the entire eyeball had to be removed. But look at me now. What do you see in my eye?”

“T-t-then, does that mean your eye actually regenerated?”

“Yeah.”

Klein, his gaze fixed on the now-vanished path where the carriage had disappeared, spoke in an awestruck tone.

“The Prospective Duchess possesses divine power strong enough to regenerate damaged body parts.”

“O-ohhh!”

“H-hooray! Long live the Prospective Duchess!”

The knights cheered with genuine enthusiasm. A spark of hope ignited in their hearts: no matter what injuries they sustained, they could recover. Even if they lost an eye or a limb, they might one day return to their original form.

“Of course! She’s not just a Saintess candidate—she’s the Saintess herself!”

“B-but, senior… If she really is the Saintess, shouldn’t she be confined within the Great Temple?”

“It must be the will of God.”

Kei believed this wholeheartedly.

He didn’t know the content of the first divine oracle Inosensia received. But if the second oracle had predicted this landslide, and if saving the knights, who would have otherwise lost their lives or their will to fight, was part of God’s plan…

Then, surely, in the next instance, and in the ones that followed, the Saintess would continue to deliver oracles for the sake of the North.

“There’s no doubt about it. The Saintess… She has come to spread the divine presence throughout the North again!”

“Eeeehh?”

Max wanted to refute this, thinking it was absurd. But Kei’s eyes gleamed with unwavering faith.

“Just wait and see. One day, the North will see a new temple erected.”

*  *  *

The carriage they were riding in was an ordinary one—not the personal carriage of the Winstein Duke or Duchess—and therefore, it was small.

As a result, the space was so cramped that there was hardly any room left when Temenos and Inosensia sat side by side.

Despite the tight quarters, Inosensia leaned closer toward Temenos as if desperate to have a private conversation.

“I have something I’d like to ask you.”

Temenos hesitated, unable to even tell her to just ask. He instinctively shrank back until his back hit the wall of the carriage. That’s when he belatedly noticed the state of his left arm.

The bulging muscles had subsided, so it didn’t look much different from his right arm in shape. But the outer skin, from the back of his hand to his shoulder, was densely covered in golden scales.

Noticing Inosensia’s gaze, Temenos hastily wrapped his left arm with his cloak in a flustered manner.

“W-what is it?”

His voice wavered uncharacteristically, reflecting his bewilderment.

Seemingly oblivious to the tight space between them, Inosensia asked in a casual tone: “It’s nothing much. I was just wondering… among the people injured at the accident site today, do you have someone you’re close to?”

…What?

The question made no sense to him. Why was she bringing that up now, of all times? Frowning, Temenos tried to decipher her intent. Meanwhile, Inosensia continued speaking as if her question were entirely natural.

“Not just someone close to you, but someone really close. Someone whose death would devastate you to the point of losing your sanity.”

“……”

“So, for example, a loyal subordinate who wouldn’t betray you even with a knife to their throat. A trusted mentor. A childhood friend as dear as family. Or maybe… a first love you’ve never been able to forget since you first fell for them as a kid…”

“—None of the above.”

“That can’t be true. There has to be someone.”

Finally, Inosensia backed off, letting out a quiet hiss as she crossed her arms and seemed to sink into deep thought.

Having suddenly been pushed out of her focus, Temenos let out a dry, disbelieving laugh.

Why in the world was she pondering someone else’s first love? And why was she so fixated on finding someone whose death would supposedly drive me mad?  

‘…This woman truly has no idea why I came all the way here.’

And yet, as he thought about it, even he wasn’t entirely sure.

Why did I rush here so desperately? Why was I so worried about a woman like her, who keeps spewing ridiculous nonsense?
 

<To be continued>

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