Only Obedient to Me! Sir Knight Chapter 45

“Master, Rowy!”

It was dawn, with the sun only just beginning to rise. Van searched every corner of the temple looking for Rowy. Surely he couldn’t have gone far. But Rowy was nowhere to be found—not in the office where Seilan usually handled his work, nor in the backyard where Rowy had spent his time reading scriptures.

‘Where on earth could he have gone… He doesn’t know any other places.’

What if he had left the temple entirely… and hidden himself away in a place where he could never be found? Van’s expression gradually stiffened.

‘I’m going to lose Rowy like this? …No, that absolutely cannot happen.’

With a terrifyingly grim face, Van ran toward yet another location. The last place he checked was the prayer room—the very place where Rowy had wanted to see the painting of Mamon. Fortunately, he found Rowy sitting there, huddled tightly in a corner.

“…Rowy.”

Van, who let out a sigh of relief in his heart, walked slowly toward Rowy, who had his face buried in his knees.

“Master.”

“…”

There was still no response from Rowy. However, Van keenly noticed that the tension in Rowy’s body had lessened, if only slightly.

Van strode forward and pulled Rowy into a tight embrace. Even as he held him, Van was tense, worried Rowy might push him away, but fortunately, he let out a great sigh of relief as Rowy hugged him back.

“…Why did you come now?”

“I apologize.”

Rowy buried his face deeper into Van’s chest. Van stroked Rowy’s back with careful, gentle movements. The two stayed like that for a long time, holding onto each other.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“Mm-hmm, I want to leave now.”

After being held and comforted, Rowy, now calmed down, pushed Van away with an embarrassed look on his face. Van offered his back to him.

“Please, get on.”

“It’s alright, really….”

Even as he said that, Rowy gave in and clung to Van’s back.

“…I don’t want to go back to that place earlier.”

“Don’t worry.”

Van moved slowly, carrying Rowy on his back. The place they arrived at was the guest reception room. Van carefully lowered Rowy into the softest seat and poured him some water.

“Here, please try drinking some water first.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Although he had calmed down a while ago, Rowy didn’t mind being doted on like this, so he took small, careful sips of the water while still wearing a tearful expression.

“Drink slowly.”

Since it was still early, the room was empty, and only the sound of Rowy swallowing the water could be heard. Van watched over his side with an affectionate gaze.

“…Did something happen?”

“…”

Once Rowy seemed a bit more settled, Van asked cautiously. But Rowy remained silent. Waiting for an answer, Van pulled Rowy’s shoulder into an embrace.

“…You don’t want to talk about it?”

“…No, it’s just….”

Rowy mumbled in a small voice and buried his face in Van’s chest. After some time had passed, Van suddenly apologized in a depressed tone.

“…I am sorry.”

“Mm-hmm?”

“I was the one who brought you all this way, only for you to suffer for nothing… and in the end, nothing has been solved.”

“…What?”

“Perhaps it’s my fault that you are cursed, Master. Because I couldn’t deal with the demon properly….”

“Hey, why is that your fault?”

Startled to see Van suddenly beginning to blame himself, Rowy patted Van’s back in return to comfort him.

“No… in the end, we couldn’t even perform the cleansing, and I only succeeded in hurting your feelings. I’m here by your side, yet I’m of no help and only cause you harm… nothing has changed from before. I’m just a failure. In the past, too, I was only busy running away and turning a blind eye to the temple just because things were hard for me… and after all that….”

Is he crazy… Rowy was taken aback by Van’s world-class ability to dig his own grave.

“Hey, stop it! Fine, I’ll tell you!”

“No, I’m not saying this to get a reaction, I really am hopeless and….”

“Mom! Mom appeared!”

“…Pardon?”

“That cleansing ritual thing! I saw Mom while I was doing it!”

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

Born into the Irad family, where daughters were rare, Lady Estellia grew up receiving special affection from a young age. …Or so he had been told. Rowy began to unravel the story of Lady Estellia in an unsure voice.

“Um, I don’t know much about it either. She didn’t talk to me much….”

“Pardon? Even though she was your mother?”

“Well… she did say that she died while giving birth to me, right?”

“Yes.”

“This… is the first time I’ve said this to anyone out loud.”

Rowy stopped for a moment, let out a deep sigh, and began his story. One day, Lady Estellia was kidnapped. It was the day before her coming-of-age ceremony.

“Find her immediately!”

“Deploy the entire Knight Order!”

The furious Irad family turned the entire Empire upside down to find her. But it wasn’t as if she had vanished into thin air; even after more than twenty years, not a single strand of Lady Estellia’s hair had been found.

Then, one day, Lady Estellia suddenly returned. She was pregnant. Naturally, the family was thrown into an uproar. But in the end, they could never find out who the culprit was, because Lady Estellia’s mind had already collapsed by then. Wasting away, the Lady eventually died giving birth to the child. And….

“That child is me.”

“…”

Struck speechless by the heartbreaking story, Van just hugged Rowy quietly. Rowy, leaning his body into that embrace, continued.

“It’s a tragedy, isn’t it? A beloved lady suffers such a terrible thing at the hands of a thug, and the ‘great’ Irad family couldn’t even reveal who the culprit was. In the end, rumors started to spread that it was the work of a demon.”

And that rumor spread far and wide… and quickly solidified into fact.

“…That might be why I was so curious about demons.”

Because I might really be the child of a demon….

“How, how could that be? That is absolutely not true. I have spent my whole life hunting demons according to God’s will. I can recognize a demon the moment I see one! And I have never heard of a pretty demon like you!”

Surprised by Rowy’s words, Van poured out his reply. Rowy let out a small laugh.

“I know. I’ve met quite a few demons myself. I’m a human.”

But….

“Then why did my mom look like a demon during the cleansing ritual? Her eyes were like a demon’s. Just like that Mamon painting in the prayer room.”

At Rowy’s words, Van’s expression froze coldly.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“What is the meaning of this!”

Bang! Van slammed the table in a fit of rage. His eyes were burning with such intensity it was as if he could see nothing else. It was so terrifying that Rowy flinched and looked away nervously. The reason Van was this angry was…

“Calm down.”

“How can I be calm right now? You conducted a cleansing ritual without a holy artifact!”

It was because he had only now learned that the temple lacked a holy artifact.

‘So what exactly is that holy artifact anyway….’

Honestly, even after experiencing the ritual himself, he didn’t fully understand the principles behind it. And now, on top of that, a holy artifact? Rowy couldn’t even dare to intervene in this conversation, having no idea why a holy artifact was so important. Which meant… he had no way to soothe the enraged Van. Rowy shook his head at the High Priest, who was looking at him desperately.

‘I can’t stop him….’

The High Priest’s shoulders slumped, having pinned his hopes on Rowy. Even then, Van continued to vent his fury.

“To interfere with a cleansing ritual! This is undoubtedly the work of a high-ranking demon! Where on earth is the holy artifact? If we had only had the artifact, the demon would never have been able to interfere with the Master’s mind!”

Van’s shouting reached its peak. The High Priest was sweating buckets trying to calm the fuming Van down. Rowy, watching from the side, felt like tugging on his sleeve, whispering, “Hey, stop it…”

“Even though there was no artifact, the cleansing ritual proceeded perfectly, so….”

“What does that matter? It failed! Don’t we need to quickly find the holy artifact again? I already told you about the demon summoner who came for The Holy Sword! What happens if it falls into the hands of a demon? Wouldn’t that be a disaster!”

“Ahem, there is no need for such worries. The holy artifact is in a safe place.”

“Do you even know where the holy artifact is right now?”

“Of course. The holy artifact is currently….”

Whew. The High Priest wiped away the sweat that kept flowing even though it wasn’t hot, and opened his mouth.

“The holy artifact was borrowed by the Empire’s Solanis Order.”

“…Pardon?”

…Solanis? At the sudden mention of another order, Van’s fever subsided in confusion. The Solanis Order? Why would the Solanis Order need the holy artifact of the God Elion? No, above all, lending a holy artifact to another order—why on earth would they do that?

“…Are you allowed to lend out a holy artifact like that?”

Van asked, truly unable to understand. The High Priest turned red in the face and whispered in a small voice.

“…They paid a lot of money.”

“…”