Chapter 52

"I stumbled because I was dazzled by the sunlight."

Rathil tilted his head and frowned. Stumbled? It was hard to believe. Even monkeys fall from trees, and just because someone is a high priest doesn't mean they can never stumble on stairs. However, it was hard to believe that someone as well-trained as a high priest could stumble and get so badly hurt. Jumping from a second or third-story window after preparation wouldn't cause serious injury, but if someone was pushed, even from a low height, they could get badly hurt. That was the logic. Rathil was certain that the high priest had been pushed to get this badly hurt. But since the high priest said it himself, he couldn't press the issue.

"Are you sure?"

He asked once more, just to be sure.

"Yes."

When the high priest didn't change his story, Rathil had no choice but to nod.

"Alright. Be more careful in the future. You gave us quite a scare."

Of course, he didn't really believe the high priest. * * * It wasn't just Rathil who didn't believe the high priest. On the way back after confirming the high priest was awake, Tahir deliberately approached Gestah from behind and asked,

"Mr. Innocent. Was this your doing?"

When Gestah frowned and looked at him, Tahir pointed to the youngest concubine's room with his finger, essentially asking if he had pushed Zayshin.

"No way."

It was a question that could be considered provocative, but Gestah answered calmly without being swayed.

"But if someone pushes you next time, Tahir, just assume it was me."

However, the honest irritation in his follow-up comment made Tahir grin and drape his arm over Gestah's shoulder.

"Mr. Innocent, you don't need to be so prickly to be cute."

It seemed Tahir was deliberately trying to annoy Gestah.

"Who asked you to find me cute?"

Gestah, taken aback, asked, and Tahir even laughed with his eyes.

"Are you worried you'll lose your charm if you're too innocent?"

Just as Gestah was about to respond to this ridiculous statement, a sound nearby made him stop. Klein appeared.

"You two look good together."

Tahir, expecting a fight between Klein and Gestah, gleamed with anticipation, but Klein only smirked. Before Gestah could retort, Klein delivered a sincere insult in a sweet voice.

"Maybe you two should hold hands and leave the harem. Next time someone gets pushed and breaks their neck, it might be you two."

But then Klein frowned, looking at Tahir. Thanks to a rumor spread by Tahir's subordinates, he had just remembered that Tahir had spoken in Klein's favor to Rathil. After hesitating, he lifted his chin and changed his tone.

"Come here, Tahir. Then you won't break your neck. Let's go together."

Initially, Tahir had just followed Gestah and chattered, and they weren't actually a group. But when Klein spoke as if he was taking sides, Gestah felt annoyed and frowned. If Tahir left, he felt like he would be left behind and betrayed. Gestah looked at Tahir, eyes wide like a rabbit, and muttered,

"Mr. Tahir, weren't you talking to me just now...?"

To Tahir, this situation was just amusing. He grinned, looked back and forth between Gestah and Klein, and suggested,

"Then why don't we all hang out together?"

He then put one arm around Klein and the other around Gestah, causing both of their expressions to sour almost simultaneously. Gestah managed to control his expression, but Klein's looked like an angry Persian cat. However, since his expression wasn't visible from behind, Rathil, who had just come out of the high priest's room, was impressed.

"Sir Rathil, I didn't know they were such good friends."

Indeed? Rathil tilted his head, but since he didn't really care whether they fought or were friends, he just went along with it.

"Klein and Gestah have been fighting all the time. Maybe they've grown fond of each other."

"Seems so."

After a moment's thought, Rathil subtly turned his body to suggest they go in a different direction.

"Since they're just starting to get along, it's better not to interfere. Let's go this way, Your Majesty."

* * * Late at night, after finishing his delayed work, Rathil quietly went to the harem to check on the high priest.

"Your Majesty."

The guard in front of the high priest's room was surprised to see Rathil come silently and tried to announce his arrival inside.

"It's fine."

But Rathil, thinking the high priest was sleeping, shook his head to stop the guard. He quietly opened the door and went inside, where the sound of crickets and birds filled the room. The sound of the door opening and his footsteps echoed quietly. The high priest's attendant, dozing in the middle corridor between the bedroom and the hallway, was startled awake and jumped up when Rathil entered.

"Your Majesty!"

"Zayshin?"

"He's probably sleeping right now..."

"How is he?"

"He should be much better."

"Good."

Thinking he was sleeping, Rathil turned to leave. But then the high priest's voice came from inside.

"I'm awake, Your Majesty."

"You can come in."

The high priest's voice, as the attendant had said, sounded much better than it did during the day. Moreover, it didn't sound hoarse, suggesting he hadn't just woken up. Rathil entered the bedroom.

"Hey!"

But when he went in, the high priest wasn't just better; he was doing strength training.

"What are you doing?!"

Surprised, Rathil ran over, and the high priest, who was doing push-ups while in a handstand, easily stood up and explained innocently.

"I was exercising."

"Who doesn't know that? I'm asking why someone who fell down the stairs and was battered all over is doing this?"

Rathil, bewildered, looked at the muscles in the high priest's arms and legs, and the high priest smiled proudly.

"I'm already fully recovered!"

"What?"

Is that possible? Rathil looked skeptically, and the high priest showed him the light he had once used to prove his identity to Rathil.

"As long as it's not fatal, I can recover on my own."

"Ah. Can you heal broken bones with that?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you do it sooner?"

"People gathered right after I rolled down the stairs. After that, everyone stayed by my side, so I didn't have a chance to heal. Then the palace doctor came immediately after that..."

Indeed. That makes sense. Rathil nodded in agreement, and the high priest flexed his arm, showing off his firm muscles.

"But if I recover too quickly, people will be suspicious, so I plan to pretend to be injured for a while."

"Alright."

It was surprising, but better than suffering with broken limbs, so Rathil shook his head and pointed to the bed.

"Still, don't overdo the exercise. Lie down a bit."

But then the high priest levitated.

"Hey!"

To prove he was fully recovered, the high priest picked up Rathil and spun her around in the air.

"Stop it!"

-Our princess is flying higher than a bird!

Beyond Rathil's shouts, a memory of her father lifting her high and shouting came to mind.

-Whoosh! Rathil is flying!

But since no one had lifted her like this since she was a child, Rathil struggled and shouted, "Put me down!"

Fortunately, the high priest gently placed Rathil on the bed and boasted,

"See, I'm fully recovered, right?"

Instead of praising him, Rathil grumbled and scolded him.

"You! Really! You have no sense of romance at all? I'm this old, and you're doing this? Rathil is doing this? Do I have to?"

He didn't even hold her in his arms or carry her on his back; who lifts their lover like a chopping axe? Of course, they were fake lovers, but still. Disliking the lack of romance, Rathil's scolding made the high priest quickly tear open his shirt and shout,

"My romance is in here!"

-At the sight of the chiseled chest muscles that appeared in an instant, Rathil covered her head with one hand.

"Put that romance back."

"Isn't it cool?"

When Rathil pointed to the wardrobe with her finger instead of answering, the high priest slumped his shoulders and walked to the wardrobe. Watching him change his shirt, Rathil sighed. The high priest was a unique person. Though a priest, he was worldly enough to be a VIP dealer in a casino, yet in some ways, he showed the innocence of someone who had lived apart from the world. Not like Gestah, who was shy and embarrassed, but the kind of innocence that comes from being unfamiliar with the world.

"I'm done."

In the meantime, the high priest had finished dressing and sat next to Rathil.

"Aren't you going to clean that up?"

Rathil pointed to the shirt he had torn with her eyes, and the high priest answered calmly.

"Gubel will clean it later."

Was Gubel the attendant who had been dozing in the middle corridor? Rathil nodded and then asked the question that had been on her mind before coming here.

"Right. About what you said earlier. You said you fell on your own. Is that true?"

"Can't you believe me?"

"Well, no matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem right."

Rathil looked at the high priest's bulging arm muscles, and the high priest grinned and said something different from before.

"Actually, someone did push me."

"See?"

"Yes."

Rathil clicked her tongue, knowing he would say that. Indeed, with a body as agile and strong as his, it was hard to believe he could get so badly hurt from a simple stumble. The stairs weren't even that long or steep.

"Who pushed you?"

"But why did you lie earlier?"

"I didn't see who pushed me clearly."

Rathil was taken aback by the high priest's unexpected answer.

"If I told this story without knowing who the culprit was, an innocent person might be suspected. That wouldn't be right. They would be wronged."

Rathil pursed her lips. What a surprisingly kind statement.

"You... are really the high priest, aren't you?"

"Didn't you believe me again?"

"No, I did believe you, but I'm still surprised."

The high priest laughed lightly. Rathil, amazed by his refreshing smile, smiled back. He was a unique man, honest and cute in a different way from the arrogant and annoying but honest and cute Klein. But when the high priest's expression suddenly darkened like a candle being blown out, Rathil's expression also hardened.

"What? Are you in pain again?"

"No, it's not that. It's about the person who pushed me."

"Do you have an idea who it was?"

"No, but it wasn't an ordinary person."

"Of course. To push you, they must be very strong."

If an ordinary person tried to push the high priest, they would likely be the one to bounce back. But the high priest shook his head.

"Not in that sense."

"Then what?"

"The person who pushed me... for a moment, they emitted a very evil aura."

"Evil?"

"Yes. Moreover, that aura was too dark to be human."

Rathil's expression turned serious.

'I thought there might be enemies hiding inside, but could they be non-human? Or a black magician?'

* * * The high priest and Rathil concluded that whoever emitted that evil aura was likely not a ghoul or a vampire. Zombies can move in the sunlight but clearly look non-human, and while ghouls and vampires look human, they can't move in the sunlight. However, no one in the palace worked only at night. The high priest was attacked when the sun was shining brightly.

"If it's an evil person, it's likely a black magician."

After reaching this conclusion, the next day, Rathil personally pushed the high priest in a wheelchair around the harem garden, looking for anyone who emitted that evil aura or something similar.

"The birdsong is quite pleasant, isn't it, Your Majesty? It feels like we're a real couple."

"Find the suspicious person first."

How long did they walk like this?

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the high priest looked at something and pointed.

"Your Majesty, that person!"

Is it the culprit? Rathil, surprised, looked in the direction the high priest pointed and was even more surprised. The person in that direction was... Lana.