I Ran Away And The Reverse Harem Started Chapter 102

At his words, I blinked my eyes wide.

Well, yeah. Considering what I knew about their relationship, it wasn’t surprising at all that Daniel was meeting Deborah in private.

It wasn’t like the king hadn’t tried to push them together countless times.

Honestly, even if they had been forced to meet a few times, they must have seen each other often enough to form some sort of bond. It wouldn’t be strange for them to meet privately like friends.

But then why…

“Why do you look like someone who just got caught cheating? Did you do something wrong?”

I said it with a scoff, not thinking much of it, but Daniel flinched even more at my words, as if I had hit the mark.

Avoiding my gaze, which was unusual for him, he muttered,

“…I mean, I did kind of confess to you, and now I’m telling you I’m going to meet the woman involved in that scandal. Wouldn’t that make things awkward?”

“So, you’ve been feeling guilty all on your own?”

Daniel nodded without resistance.

I was dumbfounded.

He’s really strange in the weirdest ways. Did he think I’d be jealous over something like this?

I shot him an incredulous look.

“I don’t care at all, so don’t worry about it.”

As I shrugged and spoke, Daniel lowered his hand, his dark eyes now filled with confusion.

“You don’t care? No, wait—why don’t you care?”

“What do you mean, why?”

This conversation was starting to feel like a loop. I exaggerated my shrug and gave him the same response I always did.

“Do you want me to say it another five hundred times? You’re going to marry Deborah anyway. You may have confessed to me, but so what?”

“…….”

“You’re still struggling because you haven’t been able to defy the king’s will, right? Then, in the end, you’ll give in to the pressure and marry her. Regardless of how you feel. There’s no other way.”

I knew full well how much Daniel would hate hearing that.

But come on, this was arranged by the king. Could he really break it off just because he didn’t like it? My words weren’t wrong.

Until now, I had avoided bringing this issue up openly because my own feelings were unsettled. But Daniel kept acting as if he could actually defy the king’s will.

After saying my piece, I expected Daniel to glare at me like he had swallowed something bitter.

But instead, his expression turned even more unreadable.

At this point, he should be getting mad, saying how ridiculous I was being…

Instead of scowling at me, Daniel smirked, the corners of his mouth curling up. His eyes gleamed with amusement.

“What the… Why—why are you smiling?!”

This guy smiling was never a good sign.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Daniel looked at me before suddenly bending forward to meet my eye level.

“Alright then, let me ask you something instead.”

“Huh?”

“If the king were to give up on arranging my marriage with Saint Deborah, if I were no longer bound by any promises, would that mean you’d come to me?”

I stared at him, speechless.

Why… why was the conversation going in this direction?

Of course, I thought what he was saying was completely absurd and impossible.

There was no way the king would give up such a valuable asset as Daniel Leandro for free.

The king, abandon the marriage arrangement? That’s ridiculous!

And yet, I had been so convinced that Daniel and Deborah would get married that I had never even considered what might happen if the original story changed.

If Daniel didn’t marry Deborah… then what about me? My feelings?

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

For the sake of my pride, I should have just said, “I don’t care whether you marry someone else or stay single forever.”

But strangely, the words wouldn’t come out as easily as I expected.

Instead, my mind started racing.

Daniel was the male lead, so of course, he was good-looking. He was the same age as me and a renowned merchant in the kingdom.

As for his personality… well, I had endured five years with him, so I knew I could handle it.

If it weren’t for his fate to marry Deborah, he would actually be a pretty decent option.

And besides, wasn’t he the one who told me to use him if I wanted to marry a rich man…?

While my mind was busy calculating how high Daniel would score as a potential husband, his smile deepened, as if he had already won.

He had read my silence as agreement!

And even as my rational mind continued to assess his qualities, it was already giving him high marks.

“Ugh…”

But no matter what, I refused to admit out loud that he was a good option. Stubbornly, I pressed my lips together.

“I’m saying don’t even entertain such a ridiculous idea. If you want to talk like that, do it after the king actually gives up on you two. Right now, that scenario doesn’t matter at all!”

I repeated my usual “You two are getting married anyway!” line just to irritate him, but his smug face didn’t falter in the slightest.

Instead, Daniel grinned even wider, looking thoroughly amused.

And then, with an unreadable expression, he said something unexpected.

“That’s exactly why I’m going to meet Saint Deborah right now.”

 

 

 

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The Central Temple of the Capital saw hundreds of believers pass through its halls every day.

The grand white building and its gardens stood as a testament to its magnificence. Within the vast Central Temple, a mix of noble donors and impoverished commoners formed a ceaseless stream of visitors.

Some of these commoners traveled from the farthest reaches of the kingdom, driven solely by faith, making their way to the capital.

Most of them came hoping to pray under the guidance of Saint Deborah, the living symbol of the temple.

Simply having her hear their desperate prayers brought them great comfort.

However, for the past few weeks, Saint Deborah had shut herself away in her chambers, refusing to step outside. It was an unusual occurrence.

“Will the Saint not be coming out today either?”

“No. She is said to be unwell. No one knows when she will return. There is nothing more to say.”

The priests, now irritated, responded coldly to the believers.

At first, the kingdom and the temple mourned the fact that their symbol had fallen ill.

But as the days turned into weeks, doubt crept into the priests’ expressions.

“How can the temple’s saint lock herself away for weeks without tending to the faithful? Why has she become so negligent?”

Most voices carried discontent.

“Exactly! Even when the High Priest himself came to check on her, he was turned away! Since when has anyone in the Central Temple ranked above the High Priest?”

“I completely agree.”

Despite her twenty years of service and dedication to the temple, Deborah’s reputation plummeted in an instant.

No one in the temple truly cared for her.

While Deborah was a symbol of faith for the people, that did not mean she was cherished by all.

As time passed and she remained secluded, the priests whispered behind her back.

They became especially resentful when desperate commoners pleaded to see her.

Meanwhile, Deborah sat quietly in her small, humble room.

Through the side window, she could see the gardens and stone statues of the Central Temple.

The lush greenery and the golden sunlight made for a peaceful sight, but her face told another story.

Days of silent, tearful nights had left her skin raw and her expression pained.

She let out a sigh and pulled out the letter resting on her lap.

She had scoured every corner of the Louis family’s townhouse to find this half-burnt letter.

Though scorched by fire, it had not been completely destroyed. The surviving portion contained desperate words and, at the bottom, the sender’s name.

[I am truly sorry for not keeping my promise. However, I am still short by 500,000 billings. Please send the remainder. I have done my part, haven’t I?]

[I told you I would do anything for my son. And I did. So why are you being so cruel to me? I even discarded someone else’s child to do what you asked, Baron! How could you do this to me?]

It was an aged, yellowed letter, carelessly stuffed among the clutter in Kazan Louis’s office.

Reading it, Deborah let out a hollow laugh.

To commit such brazen crimes and yet handle evidence so recklessly—his foolishness was almost laughable.

Muttering the letter’s words under her breath, Deborah ran her fingers over the signature at the bottom.

“Rumi…”

A familiar name.

Even though she had lived a sheltered life in the temple since the age of three, the sender of this letter was someone she knew well.

She recalled memories from the distant past.

A time when she had no parents, when she was learning the strict rules of the temple, and when she was scolded by the High Priest for every mistake.

A time when the stares of strangers overwhelmed her, making her retreat to the temple’s corners to cry.

It was then that a girl approached her.

A young girl with bright blue eyes—and beside her, a maid with a beauty mark below her lips.

“This is my maid, Rumi. She became my personal maid last year. Rumi, this is the Saint.”

Young Yvette introduced her in her clear voice.

For years after that, Rumi had carried their picnic baskets and cared for them both.

She had tended to Yvette with the utmost devotion, always staying close whenever she was sorrowful.

Naturally, Deborah had also known her.

But now…

“How could she…?”

Deborah lowered her head, tormented.

How could a person do something like this?

Had Rumi, the personal maid of Viscount Bullosen’s family, truly betrayed her master?

Even now, Deborah could vividly remember Rumi’s sharp, almost aloof expression in her early thirties.

But what tormented her more was the truth—that Kazan Louis really had kidnapped Yvette’s younger sister.

Yvette, who had comforted her in sorrow, who had always visited and cared for her like family.

It was her sister that Deborah’s own father had stolen.

Her eyes, now devoid of light, flickered to the letter another priest had left her that morning.

A blue envelope rested on the table.

A letter from Yvette, who had just returned from a vacation in Rewybourn.

It contained news of Viscount Bullosen’s worsening health.

And Deborah knew exactly why he had fallen ill.

“…It’s my fault.”

She was Kazan Louis’s flesh and blood.

If she had never been born, he might never have committed such atrocities.

The Bullosen family wouldn’t have spent decades searching for their lost daughter.

Viscount Bullosen wouldn’t have fallen into a lifelong illness from heartbreak.

The weight of this realization crushed her.

‘How could I ever face them now?’

A tear slipped down her cheek.

Yet, her sorrow did not last long.

She had already spent weeks trapped in her room, crying alone and tormenting herself.

Now, at last, her thoughts and emotions had settled.

Staring blankly at the air, Deborah slowly raised a hand and wiped her tear-streaked face.

The despair threatened to swallow her whole, but she had something she needed to do.

“That’s right. This is no time to sit and wallow.”

She couldn’t just cry and pity herself.

She had to expose her father’s sins and reveal the truth to the world.

‘Even if it means destroying the years I’ve dedicated to the temple…’

Deborah rose from her chair and walked to the window.

Beyond the lush summer greenery and golden sunlight, a carriage approached the temple’s gates.

It bore the crest of Count Drunia.