Nimue’s words, which came out of nowhere without any warning, were difficult to understand.
‘So suddenly…?’
It seemed Morgana wasn’t the only one who felt that way, as Gawain reacted similarly.
“Who’s doing what? The High Priest showed talent?”
Before his question could even be fully heard, Nimue passed by them just as quickly as she had first approached.
She walked straight ahead, as if she had merely been passing by from the start. The words she had secretly thrown at them lacked much context.
‘Of course Merlin would look for someone skilled, since he can’t speak the ancient tongue himself.’
Only a handful of people on the continent could speak the ancient language.
If the reason for compiling the scriptures and increasing the number of priests was to find more people who knew the ancient tongue, then it all made sense.
‘Before, High Priest Aeschene also said that priests who know the ancient language are managed separately by Merlin.’
No fool would kill such rare talent.
If it were revealed that the High Priest couldn’t speak the ancient tongue, the fallout would be immense—so much so that they’d go to extreme lengths to hide it.
Especially since Merlin could control minds with curses—it’d be far more convenient for him that way.
As Morgana silently watched Nimue’s retreating figure, Excalibur’s admiring voice reached her ears.
— Honestly, the more I look, the more handsome he is… Doesn’t he seem especially striking today?
It seemed that holy swords and those with divine energy had their own way of communicating.
Now she understood why Excalibur had shown no interest in Merlin before.
Gawain, whose question had been ignored, scratched the back of his head awkwardly and blinked.
“W-well, must be the temple. The people here sure are… unique.”
His gaze turned toward Kellive, who was conversing with the holy knights.
Morgana smiled faintly in agreement before asking him again.
“Ah, Sir Gawain. You mentioned Kellive entrusted you with something earlier. Do you happen to know what it is?”
“Oh, that? Was it something you asked for, Lady Morgana? No wonder—I was wondering why he’d bother bringing this along. Just wait a moment.”
As soon as the words ended, he casually raised his hand and headed toward the terrace.
Stepping out onto the wide-open terrace, he crouched in a corner—surprisingly nimble for his large frame—and began fumbling with something.
Soon, the faint whimpers of an animal could be heard.
It was so quiet that it would have been hard to hear in a slightly busier place.
Before long, a tiny ball of fluff, no bigger than Morgana’s hand, was cradled in his palm.
“Grr… grrr…”
The weak but defiant growl was promptly ignored by Gawain.
“Strange. It won’t eat even when I offer food. Do you not like bread? Should I put some cream on it or something?”
*”Grrr…”*
“Looking at its face, it seems happy.”
‘Isn’t that the opposite of happy…?’
Tilting his head, Gawain walked over, the tiny puppy dangling from one hand.
Its fur was so fluffy and tousled that its legs were barely visible, but its two eyes and one nose stood out clearly.
Striding forward, he dangled the puppy in front of Morgana.
“This little one was found in a mansion in the Caledon Forest. The priests tried desperately to hide it, but His Highness forcibly took it away.”
‘Are you telling me you just stole someone’s pet…?’
Morgana, fully prepared to scorn him, asked gravely, “Could this be someone’s pet?”
“If it is, it’s in terrible shape…”
He shrugged and all but dropped the puppy into Morgana’s arms.
Beneath the overgrown fur, she could feel its bony frame the moment she held it. It was so emaciated that if the fur were shaved off, only bones would likely remain.
Unsurprisingly, Gawain said the same thing.
“It was even worse when we first found it. Looked like they barely kept it alive—couldn’t even stand, just lay there. Seems a bit better now, though.”
“Wow, this is crossing a line.”
Even Morgana, who had caused chaos all over from Britain to Avalon, only teased the cat with a fish head, but never neglected it.
Pity welling up inside her, Morgana quietly let her healing energy flow.
‘At least this for now…’
As she placed a hand on its belly, bright, round eyes stared up at her, panting.
“Woof!”
“Oh, it even barks?”
Gawain’s eyes widened in amazement, as if hearing it for the first time.
Unlike the open hostility she had shown toward Gawain, Morgana now seemed to be in an excellent mood.
‘So… so… so cute…!’
Trying to suppress her widening grin, Morgana pursed her lips while the puppy wagged its tail furiously and wriggled about.
When she set it down on the floor, the puppy energetically circled around her.
“Woof! Woof!”
Especially upon seeing Excalibur, its tail wagged even more wildly as it barked loudly.
“Woof!”
— What’s this? She’s my master. Stop messing around, you pawless little thing.
“Whimper…”
The puppy reacted as if it had actually heard Excalibur’s words.
Morgana, who had been glancing between Excalibur and the puppy, tilted her head and asked,
“The puppy can hear you?”
— Seems so? Strange. I’m a high-class sword, not some barbaric blade that can talk to animals.
Excalibur sounded as if even it didn’t understand why.
Suddenly, the ancient document she had seen in the temple’s main hall came to mind.
‘The document Nimue wanted me to see…!’
The text about divine beasts mentioned that they could sense divine power and authority. She had imagined something grand and majestic from the grandiose description.
Only then did she realize why the puppy had been in the manor.
‘Given that Merlin deliberately left that document untranslated, he must know about the existence of divine beasts.’
That’s why he had been secretly raising it in the manor.
It was said that divine beasts could discern truth, but the problem was that the document didn’t specify whether it was divine power or something else they sensed.
But at the very least, the fact that Merlin had locked it away in a blood-stained manor under a curse meant it was necessary.
After all, she was the kind of person who would let even a priest who spoke in ancient tongues die in agony.
‘If it’s something Merlin hid, then I should take it with me.’
Though she had grown up without proper nourishment, Morgana was confident she could fatten the puppy up well.
Morgana beamed at the puppy and spoke in a slightly higher pitch than usual.
“From today on, you’ll be staying with me. Understood?”
“Woof!”
As the loud bark echoed through the temple lobby, hurried footsteps grew louder from the hallway, approaching rapidly.
Almost as soon as the running footsteps halted, the door burst open.
There stood Merlin, slightly drenched in sweat, panting heavily.
Even his usually neat high priest robes were slightly disheveled, a clear testament to how rushed he had been.
Behind him stood Nimue, poised as gracefully as if she had just stepped into the place for the first time.
‘So he rushed here at that speed because he was afraid of being found out.’
The moment her large eyes landed on the puppy, she walked over without hesitation.
“My apologies, Lady Morgana. This is an animal raised in the temple—it seems it somehow ended up here.”
The closer she got, the more ferocious the divine beast’s expression became.
Even the sound it made was different from when it had merely growled at Gawain. With an unknown surge of strength, the tiny fluffball stood imposingly in front of Morgana, baring its teeth.
“Grrrr… Grrrrr…”
“Why is it acting like this? Can’t you come here right away?”
It looked ready to bite at any moment.
Morgana, now standing right behind the divine beast, smiled brightly and replied.
“What are you talking about? I’ve decided to take in this half-dead puppy and raise it.”
“Lady Morgana. No matter what you say, this is an animal under our care.”
“Then you should have raised it properly. It’s nothing but skin and bones.”
“That’s…”
“Is there a problem with me raising a puppy whose owner practically abandoned in the woods? If anything, it seems happy about it.”
Merlin could only part his lips slightly, unable to refute.
If he revealed that the puppy was a divine beast, he might be able to forcibly take it back from Morgana—but she wouldn’t expose it.
‘If it’s revealed as a divine beast, her lack of divine power would also be exposed. After all, it wouldn’t make sense for a divine beast to disobey a high priest recognized by the gods.’
Even with Gawain, who had nothing to do with divine power, the puppy showed slight discomfort.
Unable to let go, Merlin persisted stubbornly.
“We were raising him with utmost care in a separate mansion. The priests are proof of that.”
“Ugh, you call that ‘utmost care’?”
Gawain, who had been blankly listening to the conversation, tactlessly chimed in like an interjection.
Kellive, who had been talking with the holy knight, was also approaching quickly.
Now there were two witnesses—and one of them was the King of Avalon.
No matter how powerful Merlin was, he couldn’t simply ignore their opinions.
Morgana, as if pleased with how the conversation was going, nodded emphatically and flicked her finger with a snap.
“Right. Shall we discuss that mansion in greater detail?”
“At least return our beast first…”
“There were quite a few priests in that mansion, weren’t there? How come no one knew about it? Sir Bedivere wasn’t even aware of the mansion’s existence.”
“…”
“High Priest, you clearly stated before that you didn’t know about the mansion’s existence. You said you’d only seen it in ancient records.”
The ancient records in the main temple didn’t contain a single mention of a mansion.
In truth, the mansion wasn’t a creation of the gods.
‘Merlin made it.’
If they dug deeper, the only one who’d be uncomfortable was Merlin.
Morgana triumphantly picked up the puppy.
“Whether it’s raised in the temple or by me, the authority is practically the same.”
Now that she had the ancient records, she also had the right to intervene in temple affairs.
As the two glared at each other in silence—Olivia rushed in urgently, sensing the tension, and from a distance, held up a white letter.
It was obvious Raon had sent it.
Shaking her head to signal the situation wasn’t favorable, Olivia pointed at the letter as if asking to open it herself.
With a nod of permission, she quickly read the letter, hid it in her robe, and ran over.
“I’m sorry, there’s urgent news to deliver…”
“…No, go ahead.”
Perhaps because he had no response, Merlin took a step back.
Seizing the moment, Olivia whispered into Morgana’s ear.
“Morgana, you’re needed right away. It’s extremely urgent—apparently, the child’s mother is on the verge of fainting.”
Comments (0)