Cedric was taken to the underground prison of the temple.
The underground prisons of the temple and the imperial palace had different creators of their barriers, but both had anti-magic barriers in place, preventing most mages from using magic.
However, since he was of royal blood and a high-level mage himself, Rashiel accompanied him to the prison as a precaution.
As the person in charge of the case, Astaire had left to inform the imperial palace of the situation, while Tezette, Cassian, and Elsez gathered in a lounge within the temple.
Cassian clicked his tongue as he looked at Tezette, who had two arrows lodged in his back.
“A so-called hero lost his mind and went on a rampage, only to end up getting shot with arrows.”
Tezette remained silent, his brows furrowed as if merely enduring the pain was already difficult enough.
Elsez had also been frustrated with Tezette, but now that she saw him injured, she felt more sympathy than anger.
‘If he’s going to get beaten up, it should be by me. Seeing him return wounded from outside just makes my heart ache.’
She subtly moved closer to Tezette.
“Guild Master, you sure have a prickly way of saying you’re worried.”
“What worry…”
Cassian scoffed but subtly checked Tezette’s complexion.
“Well, at least you’re not dying, huh? You even let Astaire go first and refuse to take a healing potion.”
Healing potions were convenient items that allowed recovery even without a healer, but they were rarely used.
Frequent use led to resistance, making them less effective, and unlike divine healing magic, which relied on holy power, potions drastically accelerated the body’s natural recovery, essentially consuming one’s lifespan.
Because of that, they were usually only used in life-threatening situations when no healer was available.
On rare occasions, they were used on monsters, but that was extremely uncommon—since monsters and beasts were not creations of the gods but rather beings formed from the mana of another world, they could not be healed with holy power.
‘Though, in Tezette’s case, he just hates the taste of healing potions…’
At that moment, a knock was heard, and the door opened.
“I heard there’s an injured person.”
A priest, dressed in sleepwear, entered the lounge and flinched at the sight of the arrows embedded in Tezette’s back.
“Oh dear, that’s quite a serious wound. I’ll treat you right away. But first, I’ll need to remove the arrows…”
“…No, treat my fiancée first.”
Tezette, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
Only then did Elsez recall the wounds on her own hand, sustained while grabbing the arrows.
It was her right hand, and during the battle with Cedric, the wounds had reopened. But with everything happening so fast, she had completely forgotten about it.
“Oh, this? It’ll heal in no time. It’s not serious at all. Treat His Excellency first.”
She clenched and released her hand as if to show it was no big deal.
However, Tezette remained unmoving, his gaze fixed on her injury.
The priest, caught in the awkward tension between them, hesitated, and in the end, Elsez relented and extended her hand.
The priest lightly placed his palm over her wounded hand and cast a healing spell.
But unlike usual, the wound did not heal instantly—it was noticeably slow.
‘Huh?’
Elsez stared in confusion at her still-unhealed hand.
“Oh dear, I must still be half-asleep.”
The priest chuckled awkwardly and cast the healing spell again. Only then did the wound fully heal, leaving behind only dried bloodstains.
“Well then, let’s remove the arrows first.”
The priest took out a clean dagger and approached a candle to sterilize it.
Since pulling out an embedded arrow could be excruciating, it was common practice to cut the surrounding skin slightly before removing it.
Elsez gulped nervously as she watched the blade being heated in the candlelight, her worried gaze shifting to Tezette.
Even though healing magic would be used immediately after, cutting into his flesh would still be incredibly painful.
Noticing her expression, Cassian spoke.
“Let’s step outside. If that guy cries from the pain, it’d be embarrassing for him.”
Elsez followed him out of the lounge.
Inside, they could hear the priest moving and speaking, but Tezette himself remained silent.
Cassian leaned against the wall, arms crossed, staring at the closed door as he muttered.
“That stubborn bastard… Not even a groan while they’re cutting into his flesh.”
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he turned to Elsez.
“By the way, newbie, didn’t you say you were staying out of this mess?”
Elsez flinched and averted her eyes.
“Haha, did I?”
“I told you to stay out of dangerous business and focus on making money. But you just had to jump into the danger—”
“Oh, Your Holiness!”
Elsez, who had been pretending not to hear the endless scolding, brightened at the sight of Astaire approaching and quickly moved toward him.
Astaire was puzzled by her warm welcome, but he still greeted her with a smile.
Elsez asked him,
“What did the imperial side say?”
“I first met with Her Highness, the princess, and explained the situation. I can’t say for certain, but she seemed completely unaware of what had happened.”
With the emperor too ill to handle state affairs and the empress having passed away years ago, the only one to report to was Cedric’s younger sister, Princess Rinael, the second in line to the throne.
“They’ll need time to process the situation as well, so we agreed to discuss the details tomorrow.”
“You worked hard.”
“As a cardinal, I only did what was expected of me. But more importantly—didn’t you say you wouldn’t get involved in this matter?”
“Yeah! Stop trying to change the subject! Why were you even there? Do you have any idea what could’ve happened?”
Now that Astaire had brought it up, Cassian seized the opportunity to interrogate Elsez again.
“Is this about that Rashiel guy?”
“How do you two know each other?”
Astaire’s question carried an undertone of suspicion, as if he couldn’t believe Rashiel would form close relationships with anyone.
“Well, that’s…”
Elsez hesitated, unsure of what to say, when suddenly, the door to the lounge opened, and the priest stepped out.
Upon seeing Astaire, he gave a polite bow.
Astaire smiled and expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you, Priest Verden. I know it’s late.”
“It’s nothing. I was only fulfilling my duty as a priest. I’m glad I could be of help to Your Grace’s companions.”
The priest bowed once more before walking away.
Shortly after, Tezette emerged, buttoning the cuffs of his shirt. His front buttons remained undone, revealing his toned chest and well-defined abs.
‘He used to walk around shirtless all the time, but seeing it after so long somehow feels awkward…’
Elsez instinctively pulled her gaze upward, choosing instead to check Tezette’s condition.
Even with divine power, accumulated mental fatigue from pain couldn’t be healed.
Perhaps because of that, even his normally unreadable expression showed clear signs of exhaustion.
“Are you alright?”
Before she realized it, Elsez had reached out and grabbed his arm. She moved on instinct, as if afraid he might collapse if she didn’t hold him up.
At that moment—
“Good thing the arrow missed your heart.”
Rashiel, who had just returned from the underground prison, was approaching them.
His gaze was locked onto Elsez’s hand, which was gripping Tezette’s arm.
Though his words expressed relief, to Elsez, they sounded more like he was disappointed that it hadn’t hit.
Tezette shot Rashiel a cold glare but didn’t respond. He didn’t seem to have the energy to.
Astaire, noticing Rashiel’s presence beside Elsez, glanced at him, then at Tezette, and finally at Cassian before speaking.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we were all together like this.”
Elsez felt the same way.
‘It almost feels like we’re back in the days of Ruel.’
The only difference was that, aside from Rashiel, none of the others knew she was Ruel.
‘Maybe this is my chance to reveal my identity through Rashiel?’
She couldn’t say it herself, but Rashiel could tell them the truth.
Then, maybe… they could go back to how things used to be.
With that thought in mind, Elsez suddenly spoke up.
“You both asked earlier about my connection to Rashiel, right?”
Astaire, Cassian, and even Tezette—who hadn’t asked—turned their gazes toward her.
Lowering her voice, Elsez whispered to Rashiel,
“You tell them, Rashiel. I can’t reveal my identity myself.”
For a brief moment, Rashiel’s expression darkened, his eyes turning cold. But then, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.
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