Chapter 60

I shook my head in surprise.

"No, Damian. Why are you apologizing?"

"But…"

Damian's face contorted as if the self-reproach wouldn't subside.

It wasn't Damian's fault that he let go of my hand. If he hadn't, my injury would have been even worse.

He would never have let me go.

So there was no need for him to blame himself, but perhaps because he was often scolded, Damian often blamed himself.

He would always belittle himself and huddle up. It pained me to see this.

"Damian, I'll be more upset if you keep blaming yourself."

At the mention of being upset, Damian immediately lifted his head.

"You don't need to apologize. It was something that couldn't be avoided."

"But…"

"Then, what if I accidentally let go of your hand and you got hurt. Would that be my fault?"

"No, no…!"

Damian shook his head vigorously, his eyes pleading for me not to even think such a thing.

Then, seeing the look in my eyes that asked, "What do you think?" he closed his mouth tightly.

"See? I feel the same. It was just an accident. No one's fault."

"…"

"I wish you wouldn't blame yourself, Damian."

"…"

"Even the Duke will be upset. Of course, I'm more upset."

"…"

Damian fidgeted with his fingers.

Seeing his dejected look, I sighed deeply.

Actually, I was the one who should be sorry.

If things had gone as in the original story, this wouldn't have happened. But because of me, an outsider, such things kept happening, and it troubled me.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

I gently stroked Damian's curly hair.

"I…"

Damian's lips moved.

"If I can be with you, this is… nothing at all."

His bowed head and clasped hands made him look like a young devotee confessing before God.

I was truly grateful for his concern, but I couldn't keep burdening his heart.

"Hey, can you do one more thing for me?"

At my playful tone, Damian slowly lifted his head.

"I want some hot chocolate."

"Hot chocolate…?"

Surprised by the unexpected request, Damian blinked. I said it casually.

"I've been eating too much sweet stuff lately and got banned. Can you bring me some secretly? Make it really hot."

"Ah… Yes! I'll bring it right away."

Damian quickly left the room.

I had lied many times before, but lying to Damian made my heart ache.

"I'm sorry, Damian. But I had no choice."

I silently apologized and immediately picked up the quill pen.

I spread out a clean sheet of paper and started writing.

After writing the recipient's name perfectly, I stamped it.

It wasn't the lion crest of the Schuetz family but the crest of the Amandt family.

I had secretly taken it from Jerit's embrace earlier.

"I'm sorry, Sir Jerit."

But I couldn't send the letter in the Duke's name.

After a brief internal apology, I took out the needle I had secretly taken from the doctor's bag.

I gently rubbed the wax with the needle before it hardened, and the crest slowly changed.

Satisfied with the new noble crest, I hid the letter in a drawer.

I sat down as if nothing had happened. As soon as I did, Damian came in with a steaming cup.

"Ellie, I brought the hot chocolate."

"Did the other maids not notice?"

"Yes."

"Wow, thank you."

My praise made Damian blush. I stroked his black hair and drank the hot chocolate.

It was so hot it almost burned my tongue, but it was that much sweeter.

* * *

The letter arrived at the temple two days later in the evening.

The process for sorting letters sent in the temple's name was as follows:

First, they were categorized by who sent them, and second, by who they were addressed to.

'So, if it's addressed to me, it must be from a noble…'

The priest in charge of holy water management tilted his head.

Holy water was more expensive than gold.

A commoner couldn't afford it even if they worked their whole life.

Therefore, all the letters he received were from nobles.

Some of them contained content that went against the teachings of the gods, but…

The priest pretended not to know and hid the letter in his pocket.

After all, he was the only manager, and if he replied secretly, he could make a lot of money.

'Who sent this one?'

He casually flipped the letter to check the sender.

'Hmm?'

His eyes narrowed.

Judging by the wax and the crest, the recipient was definitely a noble.

'But I've never seen this crest before.'

Was it from a fallen noble?

The priest adjusted his glasses and opened the envelope.

Another piece of trash, he thought, as he began to read the content indifferently. But his eyes widened.

"Unbelievable."

Knowing about the black market for holy water! He jumped up from his seat.

So shocked that the letter fell to the floor.

His face turned pale.

How did they find out?

Is there another priest besides me?

Who sent this letter?!

Panicking, he suddenly paused.

He couldn't tell if the content of the letter was true or false.

Moreover, he didn't know who sent it. He couldn't just believe it blindly.

But he couldn't just sit idly either.

If this matter were to reach the High Priest, he would be dead.

"Ah…"

Sighing as if he had a headache, he headed to the holy water storage room.

'Just in case.'

Opening the door, the transparent bottles of holy water greeted him.

One, two, three, four…

After checking the count, he closed the door.

He didn't forget to lock it securely with a key.

'If I've done this much, it should be fine.'

He dusted off his hands and returned to his seat.

That evening, an unknown dark aura opened the storage room door.

* * *

The carriage carrying Oblie stopped in front of the Schuetz Duke's castle.

'How long has it been?'

I had to force myself to stop coming here because I was in the temple.

It felt like a new experience to be back here on foot.

Before getting out of the carriage, Oblie turned around.

"Hey."

"Yes."

The man quickly bowed.

He looked much neater than before, no longer resembling a vagrant from the slums.

'Of course, he's just trash.'

Among the vagrants, there were those who would kill their own family for money.

This man was one of them.

Oblie chose him personally because he claimed he could play the role of a father better than anyone.

'And he did a good job.'

"Act like before. I'll pay you whatever you want."

"Yes, of course. I'll do my best."

The man grinned, showing his yellow teeth.

Oblie clicked her tongue in disgust and got out of the carriage, smiling brightly.

"Welcome, Priestess."

The servants of the Duke's castle greeted her, having been informed in advance. Among them was Ellie.

"Ah…"

The man who got out of the carriage with Oblie sighed sadly, looking at Ellie with a face like a father who had lost his child.

The servants' expressions were filled with deep awkwardness, as if they had heard Ellie's story.

'She's really good at acting.'

Oblie, hiding her admiration, asked Ellie.

"Have you been well? How are your injuries?"

"Yes, I received proper treatment and am fine now."

"That's good. How is the young master?"

After the formal greeting, she looked at Damian.

Once the girl in front of her was gone, the second target to approach would be this boy.

'He doesn't even know who I am.'

Oblie smiled kindly and asked about his well-being, but Damian only turned his head away without a word.

"Y-Young master."

Roine, standing behind, was flustered, but Oblie smiled as if it was no big deal.

'Before, he would tremble just at the sight of me.'

Now he could even face her.

His behavior had worsened, probably due to a bad master.

But he was still young, so it wasn't too late to educate him properly once he was in her hands.

"I didn't expect you to come in person, Priestess."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, as you know, it's been a long time since a priestess has visited."

Roine laughed awkwardly.

Everyone knew that the relationship between the Schuetz family and the temple was not good.

So, the people of the Schuetz family would be very happy about Oblie's visit.

'Erhardt will welcome me too.'

Just as Oblie was smiling, covering her mouth,

"Besides, the Duke is also away."

"…What?"

Oblie's smile froze.

The Duke is away? What does that mean?