<Chapter 6>

*  *  *

The reason Alice suggested a walk to Inosensia was due to instructions from above. Similarly, the reason she quietly disappeared after following Inosensia was because of Temenos’ signal.

Realizing a bit too late that she was alone, Inosensia started looking around, and Temenos, seeing this, waited for the right moment to reveal himself.

‘They say she lost her memory. Now she’s a saintess who can receive prophecies?’

Judging by how easily the knights he had intentionally placed were deceived, it seemed her acting skills were quite impressive. However, Temenos was confident that he could instantly see through Inosensia’s lies. Acting or not, Inosensia wouldn’t be able to meet his gaze.

“S-sorry, I… I just want to be… alone…”

When Temenos first met Inosensia, he was wearing a mask. Even then, she trembled and couldn’t lift her head. It was natural for prey to fear the predator. No matter how skilled an actor one was, that instinct couldn’t be suppressed.

In fact, Temenos had deliberately taken off his mask to provoke her. The sensation of wind brushing against the left side of his face felt unfamiliar, so he absentmindedly touched it.

The golden scales that covered parts of his cheek, chin, and forehead, along with the vertically slit pupil of his left eye, contrasted with his normal right eye, making him look even more monstrous. 

‘I wonder if she’s going to climb to the top of the tower again, saying she’s going to die.’

Just as a self-satisfied smile formed on Temenos’ lips, Inosensia ran toward him.

“What’s this? Why are you hiding he…re?” 

Did she mistake me for a servant?

Her friendly words stopped abruptly, and the hand that had grabbed his sleeve went limp.

Seeing Inosensia’s expected reaction, a sneer appeared on Temenos’ lips.

‘Should I confirm it now?’

He had remained still, knowing the hood would be blown away by the wind, but when it was removed, Inosensia’s eyes met his.

‘She’ll probably scream.’

Although Temenos had long since become numb to the fear of others, Inosensia’s reaction defied all expectations.

“Uh, um, huh?”

Inosensia did not scream. She didn’t tremble, nor did she show the fear she had when she first saw him. Instead, she blinked in surprise, then pointed to his left face with her right hand, squinting one eye and inspecting his right side.

“……”

Temenos was speechless. He had never been looked at so openly, as if being observed or appraised. No one had ever dared to examine his abnormal appearance like that. 

Anyone who stood before him would either lower their head in fear or be too scared to lift it — one or the other. If their eyes met by accident, the emotions they projected were fear or disgust.

But there was no trace of such emotions in Inosensia’s gaze. With eyes sparkling with curiosity, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking, she observed his face as if she were a gem appraiser inspecting a jewel up for auction.

“You’re… my fiancé, right?”

She asked such questions casually, smiling brightly like a clear sky, as if nothing was amiss.

Temenos was left speechless.  

Her reaction was nothing like what he had anticipated, and it left him stunned. 

‘Is this an act?’

If that were the case, then this woman had the potential to become a legendary con artist, capable of betraying anyone—even him.

On the other hand, if her memory loss was real, it seemed she had lost both her memory and her survival instincts. Temenos couldn’t decide which was true. It was the first time anyone had looked at him without fear.

He stared into Inosensia’s transparent eyes, as if trying to probe her thoughts.

“Didn’t you once try to throw yourself off a tower? And now you’re calling me your fiancé?”

Temenos spoke in a mocking tone, but Inosensia seemed unfazed.

“Ah, wait a moment. I have something to say about that. I was actually hoping for a chance to talk about it, and now here we are. Was it divine intervention?” 

Inosensia clasped her hands together, bowing her head as she muttered, ‘Thank you, thank you, God.’ Then, she grabbed his left forearm—not the sleeve, but the area just below.

The warmth of her touch made Temenos instinctively swat her hand away with a loud slap. 

Inosensia looked at him in surprise, her hand still hovering in midair, eyes wide.

Temenos was just as shocked. He had grown up surrounded by hostility and fear. He had only known the touch of others through his parents’ abuse.

Realizing he had roughly pushed Inosensia’s hand away, Temenos almost tried to explain it wasn’t intentional—that he was just sensitive to physical contact. But then a wave of resignation washed over him, and he shut his mouth.

‘…Does it even matter?’

After all, to her, I’m just a monster—likely acting out in my usual violent manner, no more, no less.

“Uh…”

But Temenos had missed something important.

Inosensia was already walking a path that completely deviated from his expectations.

“Ah, medieval.”

Inosensia looked back and forth between his hand and hers, then nodded as if she understood something.

“I really wasn’t being proper earlier. I apologize for that. But my main goal is to talk, okay? Please, just sit down for a moment.”

“See, I won’t touch you,” she seemed to say, spreading her hands wide as if calming a wild animal.

Then, keeping her eyes fixed on Temenos, she slowly moved her thumb and forefinger to gently grasp the edge of his sleeve, pulling it downward.

‘What… is going on?’

Had she forgotten what had happened just ten seconds ago? Was her memory loss progressing in real time?

Temenos, still in disbelief, obediently bent down to sit. He did it just to avoid having her grab his arm again.

Knowing full well that Temenos was wary of her, Inosensia, in a secretive gesture, offered something.

“Take a look at this. Someone left it in my room last night.”

I believe you wish to return to the temple.
I will help you escape from the Monster Duke.

“What is this?”

Temenos’ face tightened sharply as he absorbed the letter’s contents.

“Who left this?”

“I don’t know. I only heard a knock on the window. Didn’t you get any reports, my dear fiancé? After all, you’ve been keeping an eye on me.” 

Temenos flinched at the mention of her being under surveillance and unintentionally retorted.

“It’s not surveillance, it’s protection. I don’t know when you might try to harm yourself again.”

“I know. Anyway, did you see or hear anything while you were keeping an eye on me?”

Does she really think I’ll answer her truthfully just because she asks like that?

To begin with, the fact that she showed me the letter that blatantly referred to me as the ‘Monster Duke’ already put me in the realm of the incomprehensible.

‘What is she thinking?’

He had hoped that meeting her would lead to uncovering her true intentions, but the more he conversed with her, the more confused he became.

So, has she really lost her memory? Or not? Is it true that she received a prophecy, or not?

It seemed she had misunderstood the way he was staring at her in silence—he was just trying to assess the situation. Inosensia suddenly let the corners of her eyes droop, as if expecting sympathy—a distinctly human emotion—from him, the one they called a monster.

“I’m really asking for serious help. You heard I received a prophecy yesterday, right? Do you know what it said?”

At those words, Temenos’ left eye narrowed sharply.

“What did it say?”

Inosensia answered without hesitation.

“The person who sent this is a spy of the Emperor. If I follow them, I’ll die.”

“…A spy of the Emperor?”

“Yes. But God didn’t tell me who the spy was. Do you know what that means?”

Temenos knew exactly what it meant. He was certain of it.

‘…A scammer, for sure.’

The shock in his mind and heart froze over. No matter how beloved a Saintess might be, no deity would give such a trivial and personal prophecy.

The prophecies given had always been about natural disasters, plagues, or civil wars.

‘Does she really not know this is a scam?’

Temenos’ gaze darkened, but Inosensia seemed unaware of the shift. She whispered softly as her gaze met his, looking directly into his reptilian eyes.

“What that means is…”

Looking directly into his red, slit pupils, she spoke calmly:

“I have no one else to rely on but you.”

That statement—without a doubt—was something he had never expected to hear in his life. From the moment he was born with this monstrous appearance to the abuse he suffered at the hands of his own parents, he had never once imagined hearing such words.
 

<To be continued>

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