The most luxurious room in the Alteon Temple.
A man sequentially removed the lavishly decorated robes of a High Priest. Long silver hair flowed down, glittering over his pale, smooth muscles.
The man, Doha, hummed a tune as he began changing into the simpler style of priest robes.
“You look quite accustomed to the attire of a low-ranking priest, Lord Mihail.”
“Well, it’s clothing you and I both once wore, is it not?”
Every priest, at some point. Doha added with a smile in his eyes.
“But Lord Mihail, you wore it for less than a month, did you not?”
Joshua, the high-ranking priest exclusively attending to Mihail Dohavellion—the next Pope—narrowed his eyes at him and pointed this out.
Doha replied cheekily, asking what mattered when he had worn it nonetheless.
Of course, every priest had once been a low-ranking priest. Most spent over five years as one, and only a handful recognized for their ability rose to become ordinary priests.
But Mihail was one who had soared to the position of High Priest at breakneck speed, his outstanding divine power acknowledged.
He had claimed the seat of a high-ranking priest in less than a year after entering the temple, and soon after, became a High Priest at a young age.
The youngest High Priest and the most promising candidate for Pope was going around pretending to be a low-ranking priest. It was something no one would believe.
Joshua didn’t want to believe it even as he watched the sight before his eyes. Had he known what kind of man this was, he never would have agreed to serve him; but such regrets came too late.
“Are you going to meet that healing mage again?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Did you not say it was Duke Candel’s residence? If you run into the Duke and your identity is exposed, the disgrace would be beyond compare!”
“If I’m not caught, it’s no problem, is it?”
Doha said this, roughly tying up his long silver hair. The hanging locks annoyed him, but he couldn’t cut them due to the nonsensical assertion that an authoritative Pope must have long hair.
Still, it was somewhat satisfying because Lariette seemed to rather like his hair.
“Why not simply bring her here, to the Alteon Temple? If you offered her a position serving the next Pope, who would refuse?”
“I’d like to bring her here too.”
But it didn’t seem like she would come. Doha muttered, recalling the image of the woman fussing over the affairs of the monster duke.
Lariette. The pink-haired woman with a lovely appearance to match her adorable name was the most interesting person he had met recently.
According to what he had found out later, she was the eldest daughter of the Blanche Ducal family and the fiancée of Count Segrev. Why such a woman was staying at Duke Candel’s residence was anyone’s guess.
Judging by the outstanding healing ability and massive mana reserves Lariette possessed, she was most likely a purification mage.
If so, it was possible to infer her connection to Duke Candel as well.
She would be purifying his curse.
Even if she were doing it merely for money, she wouldn’t be easy to entice. Duke Candel would spare no expense to purify his curse, and he possessed astronomical resources.
But compounding matters, Lariette had taken a liking to the Duke. Doha couldn’t understand why she liked that gloomy fellow, but she did nonetheless.
Fortunately, the monster duke seemed to have no interest in her. For that reason, Doha was confident that Lariette would soon grow tired of his indifference and come over to him before long.
‘It would have been nice if she had accepted the jealousy operation.’
Doha smiled wryly and muttered inwardly. He had intended to steal her heart through dates under the name of a jealousy operation, but Lariette had refused quite firmly.
Having finished preparing before he knew it, he climbed into the carriage after leaving the temple, resolving to propose it once more. Judging by her reaction, she seemed to fancy his looks, so if he kept pressing, it would be possible.
However, that afternoon, Doha failed to ask Lariette out on another date.
It was absolutely not because he had given up. It was simply that Lariette’s proposal had come a little faster.
“Doha! Do you have time today?!”
“Yeah, why……”
“Then let’s go hang out in the city! Let’s eat! And let’s shop!”
The moment the temple carriage arrived at the duke’s residence, Lariette flung the door open and asked.
When a bewildered Doha nodded, she climbed into the carriage as if she had been waiting.
“The jealousy operation starts now!”
Sitting across from Doha, she continued with a fiery, determined gleam in her eyes. It was just yesterday that she had said she would try persuading Asrahan without such an operation; her attitude had flipped like the turn of a hand.
When her leg brushed against his long ones, Doha subtly shifted his body to the side.
In any case, it was a proposal with no downsides for Doha. Thus, he answered, his eyes curving playfully.
“Of course, my lady.”
***
The carriage soon arrived in the city and let them off. Lariette said they should do everything she wanted and eagerly led him along.
But what Lariette hadn’t considered was that doing what she wanted required money.
Having gotten ahead of herself, she had not brought the magic pouch containing her money, and she sank onto a bench with a face full of despair.
“What’s wrong, Rie? Do you need money?”
As if there wasn’t plenty lying around. Doha bent his upper body to meet her eyes and spoke.
“No, this is an operation I’m doing for my sake, so you can’t spend money, Doha.”
Why didn’t I bring it! Why! Lariette cursed her past self from thirty minutes ago, who had rushed out of the mansion the moment she spotted the white carriage approaching in the distance.
“This isn’t an operation just for my lady.”
Doha continued with a relaxed smile.
It was the truth. It was simply a date he wanted to go on.
He pulled a luxurious cloth pouch from his white outer garment and opened it toward her.
Inside the pouch, glittering jewels and coins sparkled with light. It was an amount large enough to make one’s jaw drop.
“So, what do you want to do?”
“…I want to eat cake. I want to look around the market too! What about you, Doha?”
“For me, simply watching my lady do such things is enough.”
So sly! Lariette burst into a laugh with a scoff. She obviously seemed to believe it was a joke.
They soon headed to a luxurious dessert shop in the city center.
Lariette had worried that Doha might not like sweets, but contrary to her expectations, he ordered dessert skillfully. He even knew all the names.
She sat down and asked with wide eyes.
“Do you like dessert?”
“Anything sweet.”
Doha answered, elegantly cutting a mille-feuille topped with pink cream. His knife work was so natural that not a bit of cream scattered.
“I see… But Doha, why exactly do you make house calls for treatments? You have so much money.”
Lariette promptly asked what she had been curious about all along.
At first, she had thought of him as a poor low-ranking priest. It was a natural deduction. He made house calls for treatments, and despite being a priest—albeit a low-ranking one—he bore a wound on his forehead.
But a man with that much money had no need to make house calls, nor any need to earnestly beg her for healing.
“Ah, I don’t usually go. This time…… someone forced me to.”
“Forced?”
“Yes, priests often force low-ranking priests to make house calls.”
Of course, there was no priest who would dare force him to make house calls.
Not knowing this, Lariette looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
‘He did say before that he was being bullied, didn’t he.’
It was information she had forgotten for a moment, since he was such a perpetually positive person.
How could a senior force someone to work and even bully them! Especially someone as kind and frail as Doha! Lariette clenched her fist and suppressed her boiling anger.
It was something Joshua, who had spent a long time with Doha, would have gasped to hear.
Kind and frail Doha? It was absurd.
The rumor that Mihail Dohavellion, the next Pope, possessed a cold disposition was known to all who knew of him. There was no one unaware of the tremendous divine power he held.
On the surface, Doha was smiling and charming, but the difference in his behavior before those he found interesting and those he didn’t was severe. He wouldn’t spare even a glance for the latter.
Yet the reason Doha continually smiled and acted kindly before Lariette was because he held such great interest in her.
It was impossible to know when his interest might wane and he might snub her, but at least until then, he intended to maintain his pretense.
Unaware of all these circumstances, Lariette pitied him. Though he had broad shoulders and a solid body, his brilliant priest robes made him look peculiarly frail.
“Don’t worry, Doha. If a senior bullies you from now on, tell me. I’ll get revenge for you.”
“…Revenge? How?”
“I’ll burn all their clothes in front of everyone. Or shall I hang them upside down from a tree? Just say the word.”
“I’m grateful just to hear you say that.”
So she can use elemental magic too. It seems she’s properly inherited the Blanche blood. Doha analyzed her inwardly but answered with a bright smile outwardly.
Attacking a priest in any way was an act of turning the Temple into an enemy. Her words of revenge for his sake were rather cute, but merely absurd.
Of course, Lariette, who believed she would soon die, was speaking in earnest.
She couldn’t completely ruin her family, so she would hide her name, but having already smacked Duke Candel on the back, such a mad act was not impossible.
Lariette and Doha chatted for a while longer and only got up from their seats after finishing every dessert they had ordered.
Now it was time to look around the market.
All kinds of goods were displayed here and there throughout the market. Lariette walked ahead through the narrow pathways and soon turned back to look at Doha following her.
“Is there anything you want?”
“Me? Why, are you planning to buy me something?”
“Yeah, when I bring money out later!”
She nodded, telling him to just say it. She didn’t have much money, but it was enough to buy him a gift.
“Well.”
If he had to say, he wanted her. Doha smiled subtly and swallowed the words he wanted to say.
Lariette’s gaze, which had been diligently looking around, soon fixed on one spot. A cravat brooch studded with a black gem caught her eye.
‘I think it would suit Asrahan well.’
She had been thinking blankly before startled awake. On an outing meant to provoke his jealousy, she couldn’t buy a gift for him.
Lariette pointlessly looked at other items. It was to shake off the thought.
And then she discovered a bracelet that seemed to suit Doha well. It was a thin silver strap adorned with golden beads. For something sold in a market, it looked rather splendid and luxurious.
“Doha, how about that?”
“Can you afford it?”
Doha giggled, teasing her about her penniless state. Lariette groaned with a hiss and furrowed her brow.
“Wait here a moment, I’ll go ask how much it costs.”
I’ll buy it for you when I bring money out later! She muttered as an afterthought.
Lariette soon wove through the crowd and began speaking with the shopkeeper. Doha watched her back with a faint smile.
But that fresh smile vanished in an instant. Someone had approached and bumped into him.
Thud!
“Ah!”
Since it was a narrow market alley, bumping into people was unavoidable.
However, in this case, there had been sufficient space, yet the man deliberately approached and struck Doha’s shoulder.
The man who had been the one to strike let out a pained groan and glared at Doha with a savage gaze. Upon confirming his attire, Doha quickly understood the situation.
“A low-ranking priest…… dares bump into a senior and doesn’t even apologize?”
The disheveled-haired man was wearing long priest robes. White fabric with blue embroidery. The garb of an ordinary priest.
Ordinary priests were busy needlessly throwing their weight around when they saw low-ranking priests. This was especially true of those who had just become ordinary priests.
“Hoo……”
Doha let out a small sigh and looked at him with a cold gaze.
Among the high-ranking priests, there were often those who knew Doha’s face, but mere ordinary priests had no chance to meet him.
Thus, the ordinary priest before him clearly had no idea who Doha was.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret. Leave.”
For once, Doha offered a kind word of advice. Judging by his divine power, the man had likely only just scraped his way out of the lower ranks to become an ordinary priest; surely he wouldn’t want to be expelled from the temple in an instant.
But to the man, Doha looked like nothing more than a low-ranking priest who knew nothing of hierarchy and was acting insolently.
And so he kicked away the kindness of a lifetime and promptly seized Doha by the collar.
“You wretch, you don’t even know to fear your superiors, yet you dare act so arrogantly!”
With a cold expression, Doha looked at the face of the man gripping his collar. The hand in his pocket twitched, as though it might come out at any moment.
‘Should I just kill him?’
Paradoxically, when used with great force, divine power was quite suitable for burning someone to death. It was an ability only someone with as much divine power as a High Priest could use.
But Lariette was on his mind. He did not want his identity exposed already.
The people in the market watched the fight between priests with fascinated eyes. The dignity of the Alteon Temple was falling by the second.
Doha was someone who could lower himself appropriately to achieve what he wanted. And so he suppressed his anger and decided to play the part of a low-ranking priest once more.
A mere ordinary priest like that could simply be killed after he returned to the temple.
“……I made a mistake, senior.”
“Looks like you’ve finally come to your senses.”
Doha lowered his white lashes slowly and fell silent. He was staring, utterly dumbfounded, at the hem of the ordinary priest’s robe embroidered in blue.
And then, at that moment, the white priestly robe he was looking at burst into flames in an instant.
“A-aaargh! Aaargh! Fire, fire!!”
The man jumped up and down, trying to put out the flames clinging to his clothes.
But the artificially created fire did not disappear; it blazed on, swiftly turning his clothes to ash.
“Do something! Do something about this!”
The man, forced to expose his pale belly, shouted with his face flushed bright red, but no one helped him. The people retreated as far as they could and watched the man slowly become naked.
“Doha, let’s go!”
Lariette, who had appeared at some point, grabbed Doha’s clothes and tugged. With a dazed expression, he let himself be dragged along by her will.
Lariette pushed through the crowd and hurried away. She had done it in a fit of anger, but if they were caught, the problem would grow quite serious.
Only after leaving the market did she let go of the collar she had been holding. Then she looked at Doha’s face, thinking he must have been dragged along without knowing what was going on.
“Was that your doing, miss?”
Unlike usual, he was staring fixedly at Lariette with a face devoid of any smile. She took it as confusion and answered confidently.
“I told you I’d get revenge for you!”
Don’t worry, if Doha gets in trouble, I’ll confess that I did it! Lariette chattered, winking one eye.
“Kkh…….”
And Doha laughed despite himself.
“Kkkh, khahaha!”
“Doha, your laugh sounds completely like a villain’s.”
Despite Lariette’s honest remark, he did not stop laughing.
It was the first time in recent days that he had felt this amused.
“Ah—what are you going to do, Rie?”
“About what?”
“You’re far too interesting.”
Interesting enough that I truly want to have you. Doha’s golden eyes gleamed sinisterly as he murmured in a whisper.
***
The deepest room in the Candel ducal residence.
Asrahan, his black hair neatly swept back, opened his mouth while undoing the buttons of his white shirt.
“The mage.”
“She returned in the evening and is in her room.”
Halstein answered as he took the shirt Asrahan removed and handed over. His voice was especially blunt.
“They say she spent the entire day today wandering around town with the priest.”
“……I did not ask.”
“They also ate cake together and looked around the market together.”
Asrahan cut him off coldly, but Halstein paid it no mind and continued his explanation.
Asrahan furrowed one brow in displeasure and began changing his bandages.
“Are you not worried, Master?”
Halstein asked, as if he was too frustrated to endure it any longer.
“What is there to worry about?”
“Miss Lariette and the priest are getting far too close! You and the young lady don’t even eat together anymore!”
The butler, who had hoped to see Asrahan’s heir before he died, raised his voice and vented his indignation. Asrahan tied his bandage in silence for a long while, then slowly parted his lips.
“What kind of person do you think that woman is?”
“Pardon? Whom do you mean?”
Miss Lariette? Halstein asked back in a doubtful voice.
Asrahan did not want to interfere in her friendships, but since this was someone coming and going from his estate, he thought he ought to know at least roughly.
“The priest. The one with silver hair.”
“……Pardon? The silver hair is correct, but…….”
Halstein continued, feeling extremely bewildered.
“The priest, the young lady’s friend, is not a woman but a man.”