Chapter 2.2

Chapter 2.2

“This place is close to my private quarters, so hardly anyone comes here unless I’m using it. Even if they say they’re going to the Prayer Room today, they’ll use the main hall, so no one will come here.”

Amelia opened the heavy door and, without preamble, pushed Ivan into the room.

“Priestess! Where are you?!”

The voice calling Amelia grew closer and closer.

“The guards will be back soon. I’ll take Louis and go straight back to my room, so slip out quietly and return to your quarters. Understood?”

“……”

“Did you understand what I said?”

Ivan nodded silently. Amelia smiled as if to reassure him, then closed the door to the Prayer Room.

“Oh, but.”

However, the door soon opened just a crack, and Amelia’s black eyes reappeared.

“Next time, tell me stories about the outside world that I didn’t hear today. I have a lot of questions. There’s a moment around midnight when the guards change shifts and are briefly distracted, so that would be a good time.”

Her eyes softened with a hint of laughter. Her expectant face was innocent and lovely. Ivan looked at her and nodded. Seemingly satisfied with his unspoken answer, Amelia closed the door and turned away.

“Priestess!”

“I’m here.”

Amelia answered the call.

“Can’t you leave me alone for even a moment?”

“You left your spot without a word. The High Priest told me to look for you in case anything happened.”

“I just came out for a walk. I felt stifled.”

Before long, the footsteps outside the door gradually began to fade.

And when not even the slightest presence could be felt, Ivan quietly opened the door to the Prayer Room. The empty garden held no one, as if his conversation with Amelia had been a dream.

I should leave before the guards come back. Before exiting the Prayer Room, Ivan quietly surveyed the interior. He saw a stone statue of the Priestess, hands clasped, eyes closed.

“……”

According to his plan, he should have plunged a dagger into her heart as a greeting, but he hadn’t. Merely because her black eyes, which he had seen for the first time in his life, were intriguing.

“Ha…”

Suddenly, an ill-timed laugh escaped Ivan.

“……”

Of course, it vanished in an instant. Ivan turned his head straight ahead and took leisurely steps. And, seizing the moment before the Holy Knights returned, he scaled the City Wall.

“Your Majesty.”

“I told you not to follow me.”

“It’s my duty.”

“So rigid.”

Rodan, who had been waiting for Ivan, bowed respectfully. Ivan clicked his tongue, then removed the robe he was wearing and handed it to Rodan.

“You climbed over the temple wall, of all places. How could I not wait?”

As Rodan draped the robe over his arm, he added that his actions weren’t born of rigidity.

He was right. Ivan’s antipathy towards the temple was not a light matter. Moreover, after overhearing the conversation at the tavern earlier, he had wanted to cut off the Priestess’s neck immediately. Ivan knew that Rodan had no other choice.

“I didn’t kill her.”

A faint flicker of unease crossed Rodan’s face at Ivan’s leisurely reply. Did that mean he had harmed her, even if he hadn’t killed her?

“We merely had a… gentle conversation.”

Rodan slightly furrowed his brow, as if he had heard something absurd.

“But you set the fire, didn’t you?”

“……”

“And you beat the novice priest to within an inch of his life to take his identification tag.”

And he meticulously pointed out Ivan’s misdeeds. One might call it impudent, yet Ivan didn’t reprimand him. Although there was an obvious difference in their status, Rodan was the son of his wet nurse, so they were quite informal with each other.

“Did I?”

Ivan shamelessly turned his head and continued walking calmly.

“Still, there were gains.”

He hadn’t confirmed whether the Priestess was truly immortal by harming her, but it didn’t feel like a loss. It was a ridiculous opportunity for Amelia to be alone, and for the guards to be lax in their defenses at night. He knew such an opportunity would be hard to come by again, yet he felt this way.

“Next time, tell me stories about the outside world that I didn’t hear today. I have a lot of questions.”

Her eyes, sharply upturned at the corners. Yet, hidden curiosity for the intruder who appeared late at night. And her interest in the world outside the temple. All of it clearly signified something.

Purity, innocence, and guilelessness.

“By ‘gains,’ do you mean…”

“There’s a child who’s very interested in the outside world. I made a friend.”

A child craving attention and affection.

‘Ivan. You, you must become a strong Emperor.’

Such things are generally easy to exploit.