Chapter 117 – Contact
#117.
Dalgrak-
“Ha…”
A lethargic sigh is mixed with the sound of the teacup being set down.
Spring has arrived and the garden of the count’s residence is in full bloom with flowers that show off their individuality. But the woman’s face as she gazed down at the scene from her balcony was full of worry.
Her dark hair was twisted up and braided at the back of her head, leaving her graceful long hair. Darkly sunken purple eyes evoked regret, and the white jade-like skin gave it a dangerous but unapproachable charm that seemed to break if touched.
Her afternoon tea time was her usual routine. She didn’t have anything to do at this time of day, she was always idly drinking her tea and looking at her garden.
She had just picked up the teacup again as the woman quenched her dry throat.
Smart.
A thick voice rang out.
“Ma’am. Butler Rahman has arrived. Shall I take it?”
It was her escort knight, Sergio Lebruman. She has been followed since her birth family, Viscount Uzuren, and is deeply loyal.
The woman quietly opened her mouth.
“… Take it in.”
Kiik-
Upon permission to visit, the door opened and an elderly butler entered. The white-haired butler, wearing glasses, approached at a pace that was not in a hurry or slow, and opened his mouth.
“Priscilla. We have news.”
Despite the butler’s words, Priscilla did not look at him. He looked down at the garden and turned to the clear, cloudless sky and smiled faintly.
“The weather is nice today.”
“… Yes. The temperature is rising, probably because it is spring.”
“A lot of time has passed.”
“…”
Despite Prisilang’s words, the butler didn’t say anything. It was because he had some idea of the hidden meaning of her words.
Priscilla Barrymore was pointing to the time that had passed since the day her own son died.
He was well aware of the sadness that was deeply embedded in his heart, and he could not open his mouth.
Priscilla looked up at the sky for a while and saw her butler only after about 30 seconds had passed.
“Deacon Rahman. But where is His Excellency the Count?”
“… He is watching the lady with Calidora-sama who returned yesterday.”
She says she’s watching my child with Calidora, but in reality, she’ll just leave the child with her nanny, and the two of them will stick together and share affection.
Calidora Barrymore.
She was the woman who had appeared a year ago, right after the death of her heir, Priscilla’s son. She sat down in her mansion with the Count, who had left for another manor on business, and within two months she embraced the seed and conceived.
Thanks to that, Priscilla’s position was very precarious. This is because she was diagnosed with infertility 10 years ago, right after giving birth to her child, making mass production of her heir impossible.
Priscilla recalled the conversation she had with Calidora the day before on the central staircase.
-Oh. Priscilla. Long time no see. How have you been doing?
-… You’re back. Looks like you took good care of yourself.
– Of course. It’s because His Excellency Count took care of me. What about you, Priscilla? Is it still the same?
-…
-I’m sorry… That’s a problem. Because there is no heir to succeed the county. Since I gave birth to my daughter… Ah! Look at my mind Then I’ll go. Because His Excellency the Count is calling.
She pretended to be genuinely worried, but she was already fed up with the nasty provoking remarks. She just ignored it because she knew it would hurt her to fight there anyway.
Priscilla couldn’t understand why the Count was so easily fooled by his obvious arrogance.
When she saw the two of them together, Priscilla even felt her sadness. She felt empty as if a corner of her heart had been pierced when she saw the count doing something she hadn’t shown or done to her.
She too was a woman, if not her marriage for her affection. It was hard indeed to endure the pain of being neglected by her husband.
‘Is it because I’m not attractive?’
Priscilla laughed bitterly as she looked back at the words she had heard since she got married 12 years ago, then sensed her butler’s gaze and said,
“What’s the news? Hasn’t there been any talk about the request for a while?”
Priscilla did everything she could to uncover the truth about the overturning carriage that took her son’s life a year earlier.
Her request to her mercenary guild was similar. The possibility wasn’t very high, but she hadn’t made a request yet, thinking that she might be able to discover even a very trivial thing.
“Yes. However, the person who received the request this time is said to be a free knight who was ordained by Viscount Kielun.
“A free knight… How amazing. Anyway, Kielun is a family that has a lot of ties to the main family. If it’s a free article there, I can trust it. Let’s meet. Please make an appointment.”
“Yes, I will go to the place I always go.”
“Please.”
The butler looked at Priscilla, who revived her little bit, and she smiled faintly at her, then bowed her head and left her balcony.
During the year, numerous mercenaries received requests and quickly gave up. Even after going through dozens of such incidents, she couldn’t let go of her hopes.
Priscilla drank a cup of tea, pushing the thoughts that kept flooding into her head.
***
A sunny morning with the scent of flowers. Gaon led the party to the temple.
“Master, you said you were going to see the countess in the evening, right?”
“Yeah, fortunately, it seems that people are interested in it as well. It’s a good thing.”
“I am nervous. You won’t get angry at me for why you just dressed like that, right?”
“Don’t worry. Not all aristocrats are cheap. That is prejudice.”
I know you are anxious about the image of nobles you have seen through various media, but it is very strange. Hadn’t Ha-yeon already met Viscount Kielun? Even though she knew that nobles were not necessarily sensitive and arrogant people, she was not relieved.
Gaon soothed her Hayeon and then turned her head to see her Chorin. She had been staring at the temple in the distance with complicated eyes.
I thought about whether or not to bring him, but I came with him when he said it was okay, but I wonder if I made a mistake. Perhaps noticing Gaon’s gaze, Chorin turned her head to meet her eyes and smiled.
“Do not worry too much. I was just curious. How was I in the temple in my previous life? I do. It’s not particularly scary or frightening. Because Gaon is by my side. Go ahead. I want to take a quick look around.”
“… All right.”
The reason why the Healing Church coveted Chorin was after learning the mechanism of that ability. It was impossible to notice it just by looking at the temple. There was no reason to be anxious anywhere.
After about 10 minutes, they were finally able to stand in front of the temple.
The temple consisted of a white stone building, in front of which was a beautiful fountain. The image of water pouring from the palm of the hand held out by the statue of the goddess standing in the center seemed to be giving grace.
Chorin stared up at the statue. She blames something unknown sensations running through her body. She beats madly, as if her heart resonates, causing unknown emotions.
As she stared blankly at her statue, Gaon hurriedly shook her shoulder.
“Chorin, why are you like this? Are you sick?”
“Ah! Yes? What did you say?”
“I asked what happened.”
In response to Gaon’s question, Chorin looked up at her statue again, felt that she was fine unlike before, and tilted her head before replying.
“Ah… , No. It’s nothing. It’s just weird I feel like I’m just getting used to it. It’s nothing.”
“Is that so? I’m glad then. … Let’s go in.”
“Yes!”
Gaon was a bit worried, but when he saw Chorin who was now fine, he moved along with her. Nothing special happened, she just stared blankly at her statue.
Familiar and strange feelings are only in the realm of personal appreciation. Anyway, the appearance of the statue is mostly there, so it may be familiar.
Gaon continued to look at Chorin’s face as he headed towards the temple.
After a while, they entered the temple and saw a large crowd. Believers in neat clothes made of white cloth and people in ordinary clothes come and go busily.
Even so, the interior was unbearably quiet. Even the rough-looking mercenaries were moving quietly with a calm expression, as if they were overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the temple.
Gaon looked at the atmosphere of the temple for a while and then headed to the worship room. Worship was in full swing there. Following the progress of the senior archbishop, the believers were solemnly praying.
Gaon and his party quietly watched the worship process while quietly sticking their butts in the empty seats.
Actually, it wasn’t fun to watch. What does this mean to those who don’t even have faith? Ha-yeon, who had been curious to see if there was something different about the church in another world, soon lost her enthusiasm and drooped.
I leaned my head on Gaon’s shoulder and whined that he was bored, so I gently stroked his head and waited for the whole process to end.
And time passed, and it wasn’t until 11 o’clock that the prayer came to an end. Gaon stretched out his body, awakened his drowsiness, and then hurriedly got up and approached Archbishop Antonio.
He was just about to leave the worship room with his daughter, but flinched when he saw Gaon approaching.
Looking at the good eyes staring straight at him, Gaon greeted him in the manner of the church.
“May Martina’s grace be with you.”
“May Martina’s grace be with you.”
Goddess of Healing, Martina. She has been involved in all the regenerations of the world, she says. According to their doctrine, she is Martina, but she is currently unable to appear as she is defending this world from other invaders.
Of course, Gaon knows that there is no such thing. In his previous life, until the end of the world, he didn’t even see Martina’s tail.
I don’t know if it actually existed, but even if it did, it would have already been eaten by the Dimension Eaters and destroyed.
However, there was no need to incur resentment by telling the senior archbishop about it. Gaon looked at Antonio, who was smiling benevolently, as if asking what was going on, and opened his mouth.
“What does Archbishop Antonio Superior think about the demons?”
“Are you talking about demons?”
“Yes. Doesn’t it often come over to Union through cracks and do no harm? Do you think the Superior Archbishop should embrace them too?”
Even the healing church, which is not like any religion, considers Martina to be the creator. That said, it meant that the demons were also born by Martina, so I wondered what kind of answer they would give.
And Archbishop Antonio Senior returned the answer he expected.
“They are also the children Martina created. So you should have it. However, for them to harm this world is tantamount to treason against Martina. I can’t just let it go.”
I can’t see the words Looking at his fanatical eyes, he was full of momentum to smash his head with a mace.
Also, I wondered why he would ask such a thing. Gaon shrugged his shoulders and answered indifferently, worried that he would suspect him of being a demon and call the Heretic Inquisitor.
“It’s nothing. Isn’t it just that rumors are a bit nasty these days? A year ago, the son of the Count family also passed away in an unexpected accident. I was just worried that maybe this was also a sign of something.”
“Ah— that’s right. You are grieving the life of Martina, who passed away at such a young age. I also feel sorry for him. It should be avoided as much as possible.”
“You’re right. You seem to have the same thoughts as me. … Anyway, the time is already like this. Enjoy your lunch. I’ll just go for it.”
“Yes. Then see you next time.”
Gaon watched the senior archbishop leave and nodded his head in satisfaction. If he had such an idea, he could expect active cooperation when he told the truth about his doppelganger.
The plan is proceeding as expected.
