Suddenly pouring out the feelings that had settled in his heart like a lump, Astaire lowered his gaze and gave a bitter smile.
The moment he turned away after lying to Dike and faced Elsez’s face.
And now, this moment when he felt a faint trace of a demon’s power in her hand he held.
He realized it.
Even if I break my beliefs, kill them, tear them apart over and over again, I…
“I like you. A lot.”
In the end, I can’t help but love you.
“Aww, why are you saying things like that between us? That’s so embarrassing.”
Elsez, who had looked at Astaire with momentarily confused eyes, quickly composed her expression and patted his shoulder lightly.
“Of course, I like you too, sir.”
Astaire gave another bitter smile as he looked at her.
He knew that the feeling Elsez spoke of and the feelings he had toward her were not the same.
But he dared not be greedy.
Because I, who chose you over the fate of this world and the safety of the people who believe in me, have no right to be happy.
So this was a confession with an end already set by himself.
A sad confession toward a woman he must kill with his own hands.
Astaire looked at the radiant woman before him and smiled faintly.
As if sad, and somehow a little relieved.
***
Late at night, someone entered the temporary prison in the temple.
Henry, who had been staying up all night with open eyes but had dozed off for a moment, sensed a presence and opened his eyes.
It wasn’t just the presence of a regular jailer—it was suspicious, as if someone had come with a specific purpose.
Since Henry’s trial had not yet taken place, he was being held in a temporary cell, and currently, he was the only inmate here.
In other words, whoever had come must have business with him.
Realizing this, Henry’s eyes sharpened.
Step, step—
Only the sound of approaching footsteps echoed eerily through the quiet prison. At the same time, a faint light slowly grew closer.
Eventually, accompanied by the glow of a magic device, the source of the footsteps revealed itself.
It was a middle-aged man dressed in a priest’s robes.
“Are you Henry Rivette?”
“You must be a spy sent by the top brass, huh?”
The man didn’t answer, but Henry already knew the answer without needing one.
And he knew why the man had come here at this late hour.
“You’re here to kill me.”
“Regrettably, yes.”
“There’s still plenty of time before the trial. How about going back and asking them to reconsider?”
“According to the original plan, you should have died before even arriving in the Holy Nation. Be thankful you had a few days to mentally prepare.”
That meant they had intended to take care of Henry before he was transferred to the Holy Nation, but because the four heroes were standing guard, the operation had to be delayed.
It was urgent to silence Henry, but if they made a mistake, the ones sent to eliminate him might get caught too.
In the end, Henry’s disposal was to be carried out today, in the Holy Nation.
When Henry saw a small vial of poison taken from the priest’s robes, his eyes trembled.
“Give me one more chance! I still have so much to offer. Tell them—!”
“That’s why you should’ve handled things more carefully.”
Before Henry could finish, the priest pulled out a magic device and fired a poisoned dart.
As the dart hit him, the strength drained from Henry’s body, and he collapsed with a thud.
A pained voice escaped Henry’s mouth.
“You’ll… regret this… for sure…”
But he could say no more, and soon fell silent.
“This is for the sake of the world, so don’t resent it too much.”
The priest looked down at the collapsed Henry with indifferent eyes, then dropped the vial of poison inside the cell.
The poisoned dart would soon dissolve without a trace, and in the morning, when the knights saw the vial beside him, they would believe—
That the fallen hero couldn’t endure the disgrace and took his own life.
Having finished the task, the priest walked away at a leisurely pace, leaving the prison.
****
The next morning, while eating alone in the dining hall, Elsez had only one thought running through her mind.
‘I’m screwed.’
Last night, Astaire confessed to her.
Just recalling yesterday made her heart pound uncontrollably, regardless of her confusion about her feelings.
In front of him, she had pretended to know nothing, smiled like it was just a friendly kind of like, and ignored his sincerity—but how could she not know it was a confession in the romantic sense?
With that kind of expression, saying those kinds of words.
She felt sorry for turning away from his feelings, but in that moment, she had no other way to respond.
‘What else could I have done? I still have to see him all the time.’
She didn’t want to hurt him, so she had to carefully express her own feelings.
That to her, he was a good comrade, a good friend—nothing more.
It was a blessing that Noel and Reti had stepped in at just the right time to break the tension.
‘Damn it, how did it come to this?’
If only she hadn’t taken Reti, who couldn’t sleep, out last night. Or at least hadn’t gone toward the garden. Then maybe this awkward situation could’ve been avoided.
Not that she disliked Astaire. No, it was impossible to dislike him.
How could anyone hate that handsome face, that kind and righteous man?
But she had never imagined, nor could she imagine, being in a relationship with Astaire.
‘And more than anything…’
Even putting everything else aside—how could a demon and a cardinal possibly date?
‘That’d be a total disaster.’
Poor guy. Of all people, he fell for me, his worst enemy. Doesn’t he have any idea how dangerous this is?
Shaking her head, Elsez scooped another spoonful of tasteless soup into her mouth.
‘But is something up with Astaire? He hasn’t looked good the past few days.’
The image of him smiling with eyes that looked ready to cry kept flashing in her mind, and it weighed on her heart.
“I can’t even ask, since it might give him false hope…”
Just as Elsez muttered to herself, a hand rested on her head, and a familiar voice followed.
“Sleep well?”
It was Cassian.
He set down his tray next to her and asked,
“Where are the others?”
“Dunno. Maybe they’re still sleeping?”
Tezette probably was. But she couldn’t understand why Astaire or Rasiel hadn’t shown up.
‘Both of them are the kind to show up on time for meals.’
Especially Astaire—she couldn’t stop worrying because of what happened yesterday.
“Slackers. They better not be late for the meeting too.”
The four heroes were scheduled to have a strategy meeting with Dike after breakfast about the demon’s resurrection.
Of course, Elsez wasn’t a hero, so she wasn’t included.
“No way. It’s a meeting with the Saintess.”
…Though one of them is a bit unreliable.
“Why are you eating so slowly? Are you sick or something?”
Watching her eat, Cassian reached out and placed the back of his hand against her forehead. His large hand covered half of her face.
“You don’t seem sick. Something bothering you?”
“Cough!”
His spot-on guess made Elsez jump, causing her to choke and start coughing.
‘Why is he so sharp about the weirdest things…’
Elsez thought about opening up about her dilemma, but one look around at the paladins and priests filling the hall made her clamp her mouth shut.
A vivid memory from the village of Rysen flashed through her mind.
‘Astaire confessed to you?!’
He had definitely shouted it loud enough that by tomorrow, the entire temple would know Astaire had confessed—and got rejected.
‘That’s practically public execution…’
Wouldn’t that be too cruel to Astaire?
Swallowing her unspoken frustration, Elsez muttered vaguely,
“I guess I’m still tired from the trip.”
“It’s ‘cause you’re not eating properly. You’re way too skinny.”
“This is all muscle, thank you.”
Cassian clicked his tongue disapprovingly at her thin frame.
“Eat, then go back to your room and rest. Or if you’re really bored, go visit the guild.”
“The guild?”
“Yeah. Our guild has a branch here.”
Only then did Elsez remember that Guild Eternity had branches across the continent.
“Purse and Jack are here.”
“They’re here? Why?”
“I called them in case I had work for them. They’re probably just hanging around. They’ll be happy to see you.”
“Hm.”
Just as Elsez was considering actually going to the guild—
“Miss Elsez.”
She turned toward the unfamiliar voice and saw one of Dike’s personal knights standing there.
“The Saintess has requested that you join the meeting as well.”
****
After finishing their meal, Elsez and Cassian headed to the temple building where the meeting room was located.
As Elsez casually tried to step into the meeting room, Cassian stopped her.
“Hold up. I need to talk to you.”
He spoke more seriously than usual.
“Listen closely. In today’s meeting, the Saintess is probably going to ask you to become a hero.”
Elsez had already expected that.
Considering the demon’s resurrection, being summoned all the way to the Holy Nation, being thrown into the hero’s trial without warning, and now being invited to this meeting—it all made perfect sense.
‘Is he going to tell me how I should respond politely?’
But Cassian said something completely different from what she’d expected.
“When she asks… turn it down.”
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