The precarious peace did not last long. People approached the place of prayer.
“Hehe, drinking secretly while on patrol is the best.”
“That’s right.”
At the voice outside the door, Dietrian straightened his back against the wall. The arm holding Leticia was still tight.
Dietrian quickly glanced around the chapel.
There was no place to hide in the narrow prayer hall. There was a podium, but it was too small for both of them to hide.
Dietrian had to make a decision. There are three choices. Either he hides, hide her or.
‘Kill them all and get rid of the witnesses.’
Dietrian’s eyes softened. He knew it was crazy to kill the guards of the temple. But with his current mood, it seemed that he could do worse than this to protect her.
“What are we drinking today?”
“Cheers! Sacred wine to be served at the festival the day after tomorrow!”
“Crazy bastard. Did you steal it?”
“Hehe, I scratched the chef’s back a bit.”
The giggles came closer to the door.
Dietrian decided to choose the first method for now. It was because if he hid Leticia, she could be in danger.
Unlike her, who is a priest, it’s more problematic for Dietrian, the Prince, to be in the prayer hall.
If they sense something suspicious and search the prayer hall, things will escalate.
She’ll be in big trouble just because she’s with Dietrian.
Creak.
The wooden door opened slowly, revealing the patrols.
Dietrian, hiding behind a podium, grabbed the handle of his sword. If even one of them did some nonsense to her, he could cut them down right away.
“Huh? There’s someone?”
The hesitant patrolmen were startled when they recognized Leticia’s clothes.
“P-Priest?”
Since they were talking about stealing the alcohol for the ancestral ritual, they reflexively flinched, then tilted their head.
“Looks like she’s asleep? Why is she sleeping in a place like this?”
“Wait a minute, this woman…”
The patrolman’s eyes narrowed. Suddenly, he took a step back in surprise.
“She’s the girl from the western villa, the west villa!”
“What? Really?”
Dietrian’s eyes narrowed.
‘West Villa?’
“She’s not sleeping, she’s unconscious!”
“Hey, pick her up! If anything happens to this woman, we’ll be in trouble!”
“But right now, we can’t even come near the west villa!”
After breaking up with Leticia, Noel gathered the paladins in charge of the area and threatened them.
This was to fulfill Leticia’s request to escape from the Saintess’ surveillance.
[Taking care of the owner of the west villa is the mission the Saintess entrusted to me. I can’t tolerate lesser people like you interfering with my mission again.]
She gave a strong warning, even giving off the intimidating feeling of a wing, which she didn’t normally use.
She didn’t use it because she wasn’t good at controlling her strength yet, but she didn’t have to put up with it today. Thanks to that, several of the lined up paladins passed out with bubbles on their mouths.
Like it or not, Noel called out the water whip and said.
[Never go to the west villa without my permission. Any human who gets caught wandering around needlessly, I’ll let them drink water through their nose.]
Recalling the memory of that time, the patrolman trembled.
“Then should we pretend we didn’t see her?”
“What if we get caught doing that!”
“Then, should we drop her in front of the west villa and come back?”
“Then what if this woman freezes to death there?”
“Then what should we do!”
A scuffle between the patrolmen ensued. Inevitably, the hiding Dietrian behind the podium had his patience slowly reaching the bottom.
‘As expected, it might be better to kill them.’
The white dagger contained the owner’s uncomfortable feelings and silently emerged from the scabbard. At that time, the shortest of the patrolmen spoke.
“You go and explain the situation to Lady Noel and bring her to the west villa. I will take this woman with me.”
“No! You go! I’m afraid of her!”
“Move quickly! Before it’s too late!”
While saying that, the man hugged Leticia. Even while embarrassed, it could be seen that he was very cautious.
“Be careful! If she gets hurt, we’ll be in big trouble!”
“I know that!”
The dagger that had been pulled out halfway went back into the scabbard.
“Damn it! Why did you bring me here!”
“Noisy, just move quickly!”
Dietrian immediately got up as soon as they left.
The two patrols headed in opposite directions. Dietrian followed the patrolmen holding her.
Soon after, a very old brown building appeared.
Some of the bricks were missing and some windows were broken. The grass in the garden came up to his waist, and some of the walls were even collapsed.
It was so desolate that it was hard to believe that it was inhabited. There was no light at all, so it gave off a gloomy atmosphere.
‘Is that the west villa?’
He had heard of the west villa before.
‘For generations, it has been said that this place was where sinners are imprisoned.’
Those who offended the Saintess or committed serious sins stayed in the west villa.
In other words, it was a kind of exile.
A long time ago, when the Saintess’ daughter killed her nanny, the Saintess shed tears and imprisoned her daughter in the west villa for a while.
He never imagined that her daughter would still be there.
‘The daughter of the Saintess.’
Dietrian was a little surprised by the name that suddenly came to mind.
In a few days, she was to become his wife, but at some point, he completely forgot.
He completely forgot about the national marriage because he was absorbed in another woman.
Maybe that’s why. He had an unbelievable thought. He wondered if his benefactor was Leticia, the daughter of the Saintess.
If her place was naturally taken by another woman. Like the one who had just been cradled in his arms.
If she were to be his wife, if only she could…
‘Am I crazy?’
Dietrian blinked in embarrassment. He was dumbfounded at the thought that flowed naturally like water.
For the man she was going to marry to dream of another woman, it was something she would never accept.
[Your Majesty, when you return to the Principality, please bring in a mistress. It is an unavoidable situation. No one will criticize Your Majesty.]
After his marriage was finalized, the chancellor told him so. He said that he would not be able to find one because of the Empire, so he had to find a woman whom he could share his heart to.
Dietrian flatly refused. It wouldn’t make sense to break the sacred marriage vows like that.
[It’ll be bad for both of us to have another woman over the wife I’m supposed to be with for the rest of my life. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what the Chancellor just said.]
A vow was a vow, no matter how his wife was the daughter of the enemy or a villain of the era. So he had to be faithful to his wife as much as he could in this life.
Banessa beat his chest, saying that he was frustrated, but it was natural for Dietrian.
Principles must be followed. Just as the king accepted the national marriage for the principle of protecting the people. That uprightness was the pillar that supported him all his life. It should be.
“Haa.”
Dietrian stroked his parched cheek. It was to calm down. All the while, the image of her face stuck in his mind, making him even more dazed.
It was the same with his ridiculous imagination of wanting her to be his partner.
No matter how much he tried to shake it off, he didn”t know it would scatter as if a nail had been driven in. It seemed to get stronger as time went on. Because the hand that held her was trembling slightly.
“I’m going crazy.”
A laugh came out.
“Lady Noel, this way.”
The sudden voice woke Dietrian from his thoughts. As he reflexively hid himself behind a wall, he saw a figure approaching the west villa with the patrolman.
She was a gentle woman with short brown hair and black eyes. As soon as she saw Leticia being held by another patrolman, she screamed and ran.
“Why are you still standing outside!”
“That, that’s because Lady Noel told us not to go near the west villa…”
“So what if I said that? You’re sick! The weather is so cold! You should have brought her inside right away! Do you guys really want to die?”
Harsh words that did not match the gentle impression came out.
“Come inside, come on!”
“Ah, understood.”
Dietrian hesitated. Should he follow them inside or not?
If it wasn’t for Noel, he would have followed suit.
Noel Armos. It must be ‘that Noel’ who became the wing of the goddess half a year ago.
‘They said she uses the power of water.’
Unlike the patrolmen, it won’t be easy to avoid the eyes of Noel, a wing.
In the end, Dietrian decided to wait for them to come out. Looking at the dark entrance, each minute seemed painfully long.
On the verge of reaching the limit of his patience, Noel and the patrolmen came out again.
“The treatment went well, but it doesn’t mean that you guys aren’t at fault.”
“W-we are aware.”
They were guilty of choosing the wrong place to drink, but they stooped down.
“If you know, you know what to do, right?”
“I will risk my life and watch my mouth!”
“Today, I will shut up until I die!”
“What if you say it?”
The patrolmen trembled and said. No matter what happened inside, they were white with fear.
“I, I will drink water through the nose…”
“Very good. You know very well.”
Noel nodded in satisfaction.
“Then go.”
“T-thank you!”
The patrolmen ran as if their butts were on fire.
Noel, who was watching their backs with satisfaction, hesitated. Then looked in the direction where Dietrian was.
“Huh?”
Dietrian naturally hid himself in the darkness.
“Is it because of the mood?”
Noel tilted her head and moved on.
After confirming that she was gone, Dietrian stepped out of the shadows.
After hesitating for a moment, he strode inside the west villa.
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