The Saintess Returned to the Emperor's Arms

First Contact

“No, that’s because I’ve never seen her before…” 

“Did she jump herself into the river? Oh my god! what’s going on!” 

“Is there no one with her?”

There were more and more people who pretended to help with their mouths while not intending to lend their hand. Herhan was upset, but he couldn’t leave the unconscious woman alone.

“Hey! That child is my sister!” 

It was at that time that the woman’s family man appeared.

He was surprised that there was a family member nearby, but he was relieved. Now he could hand her over to that man and leave.

“Thank you for saving her.”

Herhan handed the woman to that man with open arms. The back of his hand brushed against the man’s body. Then a flash of lightning flashed through his mind.

[‘Hahaha. What a windfall!’]

The voice that rang in Herhan’s head was that of that man who was said to be the woman’s brother. A very wicked voice, unlike the polite way of saying ‘thank you’ like before.

Pretending to help, Herhan put his hand back on the man’s shoulder. The man’s voice was louder than before as he spoke in a Wicked voice.

[‘Should I sell her to a brothel? no. Before that, I need to taste it first. Where did this special product come from?’]

Herhan removed his hand from the man’s body expressionlessly.

When he took his hands off, he couldn’t hear the man’s ‘voice of heart’ anymore. 

However, Herhan’s state of mind was already uncomfortable. No. It was after it got dirty.

“Wait a moment.”

Herhan was about to leave but blocked the man’s way.

He knew he’d overreached, but he couldn’t control his rising irritation. Could it be because of the nagging headache?

“Yes? what?” 

“I’ve changed my mind, so put that body down.” 

“What? I have thanked you, so you can go on your way.” 

The man looked dumbfounded, but he grabbed the woman and wouldn’t let go. Herhan looked at the repulsive touch impassively, then spoke coldly.

 “I know you have nothing to do with this woman, so put her down.”

“What? I’m her brother…” 

“Is that so? What is your sister’s name?” 

“Ma… Marie…”

“Marie? Just before she fainted, she said it was Rose.” 

“That’s right, Rose is the name and Marie is a nickname…” 

“Oh, mistaken. She said Laura, not Rose.”

“So I mean, this kid’s name is Laura…” 

“No, it wasn’t. It was Lottie.”

“I mean, this kid’s name was Lottie…”

“Ah. It was Rossi…”

“What kind of a joke are you playing!”

The man shouted, but the crowd of onlookers already began to stare suspiciously at the man. 

“Are you really her brother?”

“you don’t even know her name properly!”

“Are you sure you’re not a kidnapper?”

and a few snide remarks here and there.

The embarrassed man suddenly cursed with his face reddened. Still, Herhan did not budge. Rather, he approached and whispered in the man’s ear.

“There’s been a crackdown on human traffickers on the border lately. I hear there’s a big reward for turning them over to the guards.”

“what! I never do that…”

“It seems that the special product is you, not her?”

The man, who was about to run off with the woman if he had to, paled for a moment. Was it a coincidence that that word came out of his mouth?

It was then that Herhan sneered as if he could sense his agitation.

It wasn’t until he saw his creepy smile that the man realized Herhan had seen through his heart.

‘I don’t know how the hell you did it.’

The man put the woman down that way and ran away.

Herhan looked coldly at the back of the man who ran away, then reluctantly picked up the abandoned woman on his back.

He carried that woman who was shivering in the cold, the place he headed to was an inn in the village. 

“Have a good time. I will get the extra clothes you asked for in a minute.” 

The innkeeper didn’t leave the door easily even though he bent down. He seemed to be curious about the story of this strange couple who appeared wet, carrying his woman who had passed out on his back.

“Leave the clothes at the door and do not accept any other guests in this room.”

Only after receiving a bundle of money from Herrhan did the owner step down with a smile. After confirming that the owner had completely receded, Herhan locked the door of the room and looked around the room.

The room felt more gloomy because it was dark. Old curtains. dusty rug. He passed through the broken lights, and finally, Herhan’s gaze reached a woman lying limp on the bed.

‘If Asion knew, he would go crazy.’ 

Usually, Asion would have said something ridiculous like, “I would rather you hug a woman than ruin yourself with alcohol.”

However, even his aides hadn’t expected this situation.

It wasn’t enough that the troublesome lord had snuck out of the barracks in the middle of the night, he’d also taken a woman into an inn.

And he can’t explain how he got into this mess, or the reasoning behind his impulses.

‘Is it because I have been drinking and ignoring the doctor’s stern warning?’

Herhan approached the bed with a stiff face. It was the first time he had looked into a woman’s face properly.

Her hair was wet and tangled like seaweed, and her complexion was pale, but she was a woman with a high nose and a round forehead. She had thick eyelashes and her thick lips were cutely closed.

In other words, she was a rare beauty. Even a pale-faced person like this, he wondered if she was properly fed and clothed, Would she shine brightly?

‘Is that why you jumped into the water? Beauty can be a poison to a powerless, poor woman.’

However, no matter how strange her story was, it wasn’t something Herhan needed to know. 

Herhan just let out a heavy breath and turned away from the woman. 

‘The favor was overdone, and now I really wanted to go back to the barracks.’

“Don’t…”

The woman stirred and murmured softly.

‘Are you conscious now?’

Herhan looked back and saw the woman struggling to lift her eyelids, her eyelashes quivering.

“You don’t have to force yourself to get up.”

His voice was so cold that he couldn’t tell if he was trying to reassure her or scare her more.

Still, the woman continued to frown and suffered.

“Don’t…Bian.…don’t go.”

The woman mumbled in her sleep. Among the unclear words, Herhan could understand only the words “Don’t go.”

“You can’t hold on with fear. I knew I’d to do something…”

 “uh…”

“What?”

Herhan looked at the woman with a troubled expression, then leaned forward as if to ask. He brought His ear close to the woman’s lips and could barely hear the woman’s half-crying, half-breathing words. 

“Don’t Leave me alone… don’t go. I’m afraid to be alone. It’s cold…so cold.” 

“…..”

Herhan frowned.

When he looked closer, some things caught his eye.

Fluffy hair that stood up on clear skin. A single tear dangles from the corner of her eye and her eyes are so red as if she were crying for something.

Seeing her look like a flower that would die if he didn’t water it right away, somehow Herhan’s body became hot.

‘The woman’s lips were dry. How would it taste if I took a bite?’

‘I even had a bit of an unnecessary urge.’

“I told the owner to bring new clothes in front of the door, so change yourself.”

Herhan struggled to get up and covered the woman with the blanket up to her neck before turning around. Then the woman reached out and grabbed Herhan’s wrist as he was about to leave.

That was the moment.

The moment the ice-cold hand touches Herhan’s skin. He felt goosebumps all over his body and a tingling sensation penetrated him from head to toe. 

He staggered backward, his vision going from black to bright and back again.

No matter how bad the headaches were, he never had a hallucination like this before.

Herhan, who was out of breath, managed to balance himself by holding onto the old head of the creaking bed.

The vision, which had been black, brightened again after a while. Even then, the woman was holding Herhan’s wrist.

Herhan, who came to his senses, looked at his wrist with a puzzled look.

The area where the woman’s skin touched was hot as if it were on fire. 

It was really strange. Even though the woman’s body temperature is very low.

“What is that?”

At the rather bewildered question, the woman finally raised her eyelids fully and met his gaze. Her eyes were dazed, as if suffering from a fever, yet full of burning desperation.

Looking at those red eyes, something hot ran down Herhan’s neck. Herhan was taken aback and involuntarily grabbed the woman’s shoulders and raised his voice.

“Who are you? Are you a witch?”

‘Was the question too many?’

The woman who had barely regained her consciousness closed her eyelids again and fell asleep.

‘Damn it’

Herhan murmured so low, then stretched out his hand again. With the intention of grabbing her and shaking her to wake her up.

But the teardrops dangling from beneath her closed eyelids stopped him.

“….”

Was she originally the type to appeal to his emotions like this? 

Herhan hesitated, then laughed at himself.

The hand that had reached out to wake the woman hesitated a little and finally grabbed the blanket instead of her shoulder. 

Even after pulling the end to cover the woman’s body, Herhan’s expression remained disturbed for a long time.

* * *

The next morning. Riella smelled something warm.

For some reason, her body didn’t have any strength. It felt like her body was weighed down by something heavy, and it felt like she was still wandering in a hazy dream.

It took her a few seconds to wake up realizing that the warm, cozy smell was actually ‘the smell of someone’s body.

‘….!’ 

Riella jumped up and saw an unfamiliar room, an unfamiliar bed, and a strange man sitting next to her.

‘oh my god!’ 

Liella’s heart sank and she covered her mouth. The strange man was asleep on his stomach.

It would have been nice if it was a sight. The hair shining in the morning sun was too vivid to be in vain.

When she touched it carefully, trembling, the man’s hair was so gently wrapped around his fingertips. Riela pulled out of her hands as if she had been burned by something hot.

‘What the hell…’ 

Riella jumped out of her bed and got up. Then, along with light dizziness, her memories flooded in.

Making a stupid choice out of unbearable sadness and betrayal. He is the man who saved her. And she held his hand like that.

Judging from the clothes she was wearing yesterday, it seems that there was no more accident, but that did not relieve her hatred toward herself.

‘After being betrayed like an idiot, I can’t even die. It’s funny I’ve ended up like this.’

‘It’s really the worst, In many ways it was.’

Riella could only bite her lip until it bled. She trembled alone for a while, then hurriedly packed her things to leave. She almost broke out in tears several times as she picked up her clothes with her trembling hands.

‘It would be so embarrassing to cry here. It’s pathetic to cry when you’re the one who did something irresponsibly wrong.’

She told herself like that, but all kinds of emotions continued to surge. The only good thing was that the man didn’t wake up until the end.

Riella struggled to change her clothes. Her body continued to lose strength, and her eyes were dizzy. The heat also boiled on her forehead and the nape of her neck. 

Just one more time before leaving. Riella looked behind her at the still-sleeping man.

‘Should I say thank you? Should I say I’m sorry Or should I blame him for bringing me back to a terrible life?’

Confusing emotions swirled around, but none of them could be put into words.

Riella chose to just keep her mouth shut and turn around, cowardly running away. 

Running away from everything was the only way to survive this day if she didn’t die.

* * *

It was one night when a cold wind rattled the windows noisily. 

“Excuse me…”

“Yes, yes. Who are you?”

Yawning, the lady stepped out of her room, and her eyes widened in surprise when she realized who the visitor was. A young woman stood in the doorway.

Except for her striking red hair, she was a rather shabby-looking woman. Her clothes were too thin to protect her from the cold, which had just begun to snow, and her face was dark as to how much he suffered from fatigue and hunger.

However, the woman’s eyes were filled with fierce poison.

Her desperate will to survive somehow despite being on the brink of a cliff led her to this mountain village on this night.

“Anyway, is there anywhere to get a job around here?”

Maybe that’s why the woman who appeared out of nowhere didn’t surprise her with the words she uttered. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you, ma’am, but…” 

Tsk Tsk, there was nothing to click the tongue.

This is the story of a woman wandering in the streets on a cold day without a child.

“Do you have a place to stay tonight? Have you eaten?” 

“….”

“Come in.”

The lady opened the door to the room where she had been sleeping a while ago. The woman stood at the door for a long time, hesitating.

“Come on in. It’s cold outside.”

The woman finally bowed her head and went inside. She tried to say thank you, but it seemed that her throat was choking. The lady patted the woman on the shoulder with her generous hand.

* * *