Sorry for all the late posts, I’ve been ridiculously busy the last month and a half or so… I’ve scheduled some releases in advance just in case I don’t get any time to post. You can always read the completed novel on my Patreon as well! Enjoy!
“Ahh! Ahh! Hot!”
“What, an affair, not a rebellion? I’m sorry, but to me, having an affair is a greater sin than plotting a rebellion. Also, I think you’ve misunderstood something, so I’ll tell you clearly, I have no intention of trying to make things work with you again.”
“Hey, Rachel. What do you mean!”
“I’m telling you to get those silly thoughts out of your head and never come back here again.”
Steam rose from the hot tea covering Theodore’s hair.
“Don’t come back? How could you say that to me? You love me, don’t you? I thought you blamed Carl for what I did because you loved me!”
“What nonsense are you spewing now? Are your ears only for show? I told you clearly that I was only doing it to drive a wedge between you and Jane. I never loved you.”
“What? You were trying to separate us? How could you do such a terrible thing…”
“You’re the terrible one. You were in a relationship with Jane before we even got married. I read all those letters. You wrote in detail that you had no choice but to get married because of your family, but now you’re clinging onto me. It’s so lame.”
Theodore looked devastated; his hopes dashed.
Was that the look Rachel had on her face when she found out Theodore never loved her?
What would it be like if the original Rachel saw Theodore now?
Thos questions were all meaningless now..
Rachel stood up from her seat.
“Don’t visit me again. You’ll be charged with trespassing into a mansion gifted by His Majesty the Emperor. Or I’ll just send the address of your townhouse to the Noble Council.”
” Rachel. Wait!”
Theodore rushed after her, panting, he still had more to say. It was ridiculous watching him carry around a basket of letters during all this.
Would he go back to Jane if thigs didn’t work out with Rachel?
She quickly turned to walk away, but Theodore ran up and grabbed Rachel’s wrist tightly.
“Rachel Elrosa! I told you to wait!”
“I am not an Elrosa!”
The surname of Elrosa had gone extinct, no longer any trace of it remaining in the registers. It had been weeks, but Theodore still hadn’t gotten over it.
Rachel shook off Theodore’s hand holding her and turned the corner of the building at a brisk pace.
Theodore hurried after her, but lost sight of where she’d gone.
“Rachel! Come back, Rachel! Shit.”
The mansion Cian prepared for them was located in the center of the capital. It had been there since the capital was first founded and the imperial palace was built.
The mansion was old enough to have many secret passages and hidden rooms. As soon as Rachel lost Theodore, she pushed an invisible handle and slipped into a small room hidden behind the wall.
“Rachel!”
Theodore had been persistently pacing the walls of the mansion for several minutes, looking for her.
He hadn’t gone inside the mansion for fear of being caught, but he hadn’t gone back to the townhouse either.
The room Rachel had entered was cramped and uncomfortable, designed for temporary refuge. The field of view was narrow. She could see Theodore pacing outside through a small peephole.
‘I’ll just wait here for a little while, it’s almost time for him to arrive anyways, but that hurt.’
Her wrist throbbed where Theodore had grabbed her before.
He’d held on so tightly that, even though it was only for a moment, it looked like it was already bruised.
‘I thought he might try to argue, but I had no idea he would be this cruel.’
As she gritted her teeth, clutching her aching wrist, she suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice outside.
“You devil, be gone!”
The person Rachel had been waiting for arrived. His appearance was a little different from what she’d expected.
Theodore screamed and threw the basket to the ground.
“Ugh! What the hell!”
She peeked out through the crack and saw that the basket he was carrying was on fire. Surprisingly, the fire was not red, but shiny silver.
Soon, a strange man appeared. Middle-aged, with silver hair and dark eyes. Lylus Van, the only bishop of the Church of Yenis and a friend of Rachel’s father, Count James Fram.
She’d summoned Theodore at this hour on purpose because she’d been informed that Lylus would arrive around this time today. He was the one who’d said he’d ‘kick Count Elrosa’s ass’, so if anything happened, he might be able to help.
Though, she didn’t know there was a way to create silver flames like this.
Lylus shouted, pointing at the basket with the long stick he was holding.
“Get out of the way, these are letters written by the devil!”
“The devil? What nonsense! These are letters written to me by my lover!”
“Don’t speak such nonsense! You don’t have a lover!”
“W-what?”
Rachel had to stop herself from bursting into laughter.
Come to think of it, he was right. Theodore no longer had a wife or lover.
When the silver flame had consumed all the letters in the basket, Lylus spoke calmly.
“The mark of the devil is gone. You may rest easy.”
“What are you doing, burning someone else’s love letters? They were the last the last remaining token of love!”
“I am Bishop Lylus Van, servant of the goddess Yenis, and you must be Theodore, once the head of the family of Count Elrosa.”
“Uh… Yenis? Come to think of it, you do have silver hair…?”
“You recognize me.”
“Why are you here…?”
Lylus had a grin on his wrinkled face.
“Why would the bishop come here? I heard rumors that there was a devil and came to exorcise it in the name of Yenis. Rest assured, I’ve just eliminated a mark of the devil.”
Theodore’s eyes widened as he pondered the meaning of his words, putting everything all together. Yenis, bishop, silver hair, and silver flame. He seemed to believe the devil thing now.
“That… Was there really a devil in these letters?”
“No, not a devil, but a mark of the devil.”
“So, am I possessed by a devil then? A lot of strange things have been happening these days. It must be my imagination that I feel as if nothing has changed even though the letters have disappeared, right?”
“You can’t feel a change? Oh, that’s not good.”
After staring at Theodore for a moment, Lylus struck him hard on the head with the stick he was holding.
Bam!
“Ow! Bishop, what the hell are you doing!”
“Those possessed usually need to be beaten to come back to their senses, so now things will be a little different. By the way, this is a sacred staff of Yenis.”
“Uh… Is that so?”
Theodore scratched his head and Lylus politely nodded.
“Please go back now. You must not remain here.”
“Ah! Of course. I almost ended up wandering around this place where the devil’s traces remained. Thank you, Bishop.”
“You’re welcome. I wish you the best of luck.”
“What?”
Theodore tilted his head, wondering if he’d heard wrong, but Lylus only smiled good-naturedly.
Feeling uncertain, Theodore looked back several times as he headed back toward the hole in the northern wall. After confirming that there were no guards around and looking back at Lylus once more, he slipped through the hole and disappeared.
Once Theodore was completely out of sight, Lylus spoke.
“You can come out now, Rachel.”
With a tap, the stick lightly bounced off the wall, and the hidden door opened, revealing Rachel.
Rachel smiled awkwardly and bowed politely.
“Hello, Bishop Lylus Van. I’m Rachel. Thank you for saving me.”
Rachel and Lylus sat facing each other in the drawing room.
Unlike when dealing with Theodore earlier, Lylus was very calm, gentle, and polite.
Rachel, unable to bear the awkward silence, spoke first.
You said you were coming, but I didn’t really expect you to follow through. You must be busy, so I’m not sure if it was worth your precious time coming all the way here. Earlier, did you tell Theodore that he was the devil?”
“Yeah, that’s right. If the guy who harassed our Rachel isn’t a devil, then who is? He’s a despicable guy.”
“Thank you very much. I really enjoyed the show.”
“Rachel.”
“Yes, Bishop.”
“Call me uncle like you used to.”
Oh, it looks like Rachel called Lylus uncle.
Rachel nodded, it wasn’t a difficult request.
“Okay, uncle.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you since your wedding, so it’s been 6 years. If you’d gone to your parents’ funeral, it would’ve only been five years.”
When Rachel’s parents died in a carriage accident five years ago, Theodore prevented Rachel from going to their funeral, saying he would take care of everything.
He was an asshole. He didn’t let her say goodbye to her parents and stole their money.
“Sorry. I should’ve been there.”
“No. I should’ve noticed something was wrong when you didn’t come, but I’ve gotten careless in my old age.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I was surprised that you didn’t come to the funeral, but I thought there must’ve been a reason. I should’ve looked after you properly after James passed, but I couldn’t because I was caught up in my own grief. I’m so sorry. Please accept my apology.”
“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’ll take good care of you from now on. I’m going to use the power that damn Yenis gave me to look after you.”
“…What Yenis, is it okay to say that?”
In his last letter and when dealing with Theodore earlier, Lylus, unlike his solemn appearance, was very… He was very free-spirited.
Lylus smiled wryly.
“It’s okay, Yenis is generous. Since she hasn’t listened to my prayers to make you happy, she should’ve been prepared for this low level of abuse. If she doesn’t like it, whatever. She can just take her foresight back.”
Then he closed his eyes and opened his arms as if to say, ‘take it if you want’.
“Ahaha.”
Rachel laughed out loud, and Lylus looked at her happily.
“You look so pretty when you smile. You should smile more in the future.”
“Yes, I’ll try.”
“Rachel. The reason I came here is because I have something I want to tell you.”
“Please speak.”
Lylus looked serious, completely different from when he’d been joking before. He placed the stick with the mark of Yenis on his lap and bowed reverently with his hands clasped.
“I ask you this in the name of Goddess Yenis. Will you accept me as your new father?”
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Thank you for the update <3
Really enjoyed it. Thanks for the update. ☺