Episode 04: I seem to have been possessed in a novel.
“L-Lady Muriel… shouldn’t you be treated first? I will personally heal with you my divine power, so if you’ll just give me your hand…”
“No thanks.”
“I’ll pass.”
Muriel didn’t have time to feel depressed. Nicholas was persistently clinging to her.
Yeah, let’s not get depressed.
After all, she knew from the beginning that this was just a novel transmigration. She just had to prevent the world from being destroyed. She wished she could outright tell them she wasn’t the Saint…
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. Give Nicholas a chance to make up for hurting your hand, young lady.”
“What kind of bullshit nonsense is this again…”
“N-nonsense? What do you mean by that, my lady?”
“Well what do you think it means? I don’t know either.”
How could one mistake such clear discomfort for being embarrassed or shy? It was Muriel who wanted to ask what the hell he meant.
“Your Holiness, I’m not embarrassed at all. Not even a bit.”
“If you’re not shy, why are you rejecting my holy power? The wound is deep. We must get your hand treated.”
‘Why can’t you understand me? It’s because I get goosebumps when I touch you!!!’
Frustrated, Muriel clenched her teeth, trying to look at the situation objectively.
Yeah.. this is a novel. This is just how the character is set up. It’s no use saying anything even if their ego is set to pierce through the roof. Yes, let’s try to persuade him calmly. She couldn’t hit him, could she?
“Well… I’m not yet officially the Saint, so I can’t receive your holy power. It would be audacious. Only members of the royal family can receive the power of the priests.”
“T-that’s true, but.. Are you sure you’re okay? The blood… there’s a lot of it gushing out from the wound.”
“Yes, of course.”
So, please, just get away.
“Oh… I didn’t know Miss Muriel was so thoughtful. I almost thought you hated me, I wonder why? Hahaha.”
“Haha, no way. It’s just that I’d rather bleed to death than touch the high priest, haha. Your joke is so funny.”
“….”
Just as Nicholas was about to step back, Rovelia stepped forward. She grabbed Muriel’s arm, preventing her from escaping, and pushed her towards the High Priest.
“It would be a great ordeal if you were to get a scar, Muriel, so accept the help from his holiness. I agree too, so don’t worry, Muriel.”
“That’ll be quite difficult, Miss Dachini.”
Sharan, who had been sitting lazily with an indifferent expression all this time, finally spoke up.
“Sharan…!”
Rovelia and Nicholas Neville, who were grappling with Muriel’s arm, quickly adjusted their posture. Muriel, who had been standing awkwardly with an attitude of ‘Are my ears made only for listening to these people?’, reluctantly followed their actions under their gaze.
Then Sharan spoke sourly. Someone at his side tried to mediate, but it seemed like he wasn’t interested.
“Miss Storm is right. The power of the priests should only be used for the King and the Holy Saint. It’s not a matter on which Miss Dachini can give permission.”
“I’m sorry, Sharan. I was just so worried about lady Muriel’s condition… I acted carelessly.”
“It’s fine. I understand Miss Rovelia’s feelings too, but be careful in the future. You haven’t been confirmed as a saint yet, have you?”
“Yes, Sharan. I will keep that in mind.”
Rovelia bowed. Her body trembled slightly. Was she startled? Or… was she trembling with anger at the humiliation?
The atmosphere in the banquet hall quickly turned tense.
The atmosphere surrounding Dachini, in particular, was terrible. Although the Guardians had a relationship with the Imperial family through their pledge of loyalty, the relationship between the three guardians and Sharan was peculiar.
The servants were stronger than the king. The ruler was weaker than the vassals who were loyal to the kingdom. The king was only able to gain the loyalty of his vassals because of his eyes.
Sharan’s eyes.
The ability to monitor the fragments of the sculpture of Ur left behind by Callahan Ur whenever it coveted and devoured someone’s Pacio.
For that reason alone, the Sharans were able to become kings, and the three guardians pledged loyalty for the sake of the kingdom.
The Kingdom of Bulerion had enjoyed peace for a long time, and the longer peace continued, the weaker the Sharans’ control over their vassals became
Dachini’s current head, Veron, seemed upset as he huffed and puffed. Veron Dachini, with his sturdy build and fiery red hair like a mane, was like a brown bear.
Muriel became anxious, thinking that the bear might get too riled up and cause trouble. Sharan seemed to have also noticed the change in Veron’s mood, because he spoke with a much kinder tone this time.
“Since I’m aware of Miss Rovelia’s troubled heart for Miss Storm, I will personally assign Mr. Crawford, the Chief Court Wizard to heal her. That little wound will be healed in no time. What do you say, Miss Rovelia? Will your heart be at ease now?”
“Thank you, Sharan. I feel relieved now.”
As soon as Rovelia responded, Veron glared at Muriel, his eyes flashing menacingly.
“Does lady Muriel have no words of thanks to say? Did she become a mute in such a short period of time?”
Muriel wanted to vehemently protest against their unwanted consideration, but there was no time. Kaiton Ur was already approaching Muriel. The most important thing now was to distance herself from Kaiton in any way possible, rather than pointing out their ignorance.
“Sharan, I’m really fine. It happened because I made a mistake, so I will treat it on my own when I return to the mansion.”
It wasn’t Muriel who’d broken the Unet, so it wasn’t her fault, but that didn’t matter right now either.
Kaiton was already standing in front of Muriel, looking at her with a crooked gaze. She didn’t want to get involved with Kaiton anyhow… but it’d somehow ended up like this.
“Miss Storm, I no longer wish to see your blood tarnish the floors of the royal palace. Behave and get treated.”
So, in the end, he ordered the treatment neither to appease Rovelia nor for Muriel’s sake, but because he didn’t want her blood staining his golden floor. Is that what he was saying?
No wonder just looking at his portrait made her nauseous.
“Muriel Storm.”
Kaiton, who had no intention of waiting for any more dilly-dallying, called Muriel in a low tone. Muriel’s shoulders twitched in surprise, but Kaiton was the only one who noticed.
“Young lady.”
Kaiton turned his gaze to Muriel’s blood, which was pooling on the floor. Even in his eyes, her wounds seemed too hurtful to insist on not getting treatment.
“Do you know who I am?”
“…What?”
For the first time, Muriel’s face, which had been stubbornly blunt even in front of Sharan, had a flicker of embarrassment.
Wasn’t he supposed to be pretending to be a court wizard?
In truth, he didn’t seem like he had any intention of hiding his identity at all. You could see that just from his face. He was covered in black from head to toe, and looked more like a reclusive black wizard than a court magician. Even if his black hair and black eyes were natural features he couldn’t be blamed for, his cloak and clothes were all black!
Was he bold or just brazen?
Not many would suspect this man spewing a dangerous aura was Kaiton Ur, sure, but going by his appearance, there’s no way people didn’t think he’d dabbled in dark magic at least once!
“You’re the Chief Court Wizard, Kai Crawford.. Aren’t you?”
Upon hearing Muriel’s response, Kaiten raised an eyebrow that looked like he was mocking her for some unknown reason.
What’s going on?
Muriel suddenly became uneasy. Despite knowing that it was unlikely, she couldn’t help but feel like he knew who she really was.
“… You know it well. So, there’s no need to worry. Give me your hand. I’ll treat you.”
“It’s really fine if you don’t.”
“Is there any particular reason why you should refuse?”
She had no idea how much he knew or why he was saying these things.
However, she could faintly see a mischievous glint flickering in his eyes. If a joke was filled with mischief and malice, it would be appropriate to see it as a provocation.
She felt like crying out of frustration.
“I don’t like it. There’s no why. I just don’t.”
Annoyed, Muriel said bluntly.
“Well… Even if you don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do. I must follow Sharan’’s orders.”
Kaiton thought Muriel was like a cat. A cat with a fierce look on her face, but the more scared she became, the more she puffed up her tail. Like a frightened cat that bares its teeth and threatens, but with dilated pupils and flattened ears, was unable to hide its fear.
Kaiton’s long fingers wrapped around Muriel’s wrist. It felt overly intimate for just treating a wound, but Muriel couldn’t find the right words to say, so she just let it be.
Well, what could she say anyway about him grabbing her wrist? Should she tell him not to hold it too much because her wrist might wear out? It seemed even more absurd, so Muriel deliberately averted her gaze from her wrist, which was tightly held by Kaiten’s hand.
She could clearly feel his energy pushing into her body. It felt like cold water seeping into her veins. Not just cold water, but ice-cold water with ice crystals. So, every time the sharp ice particles scraped against the walls of her blood vessels, it stung.
The intense energy swiftly passed through her body, bypassing her heart, and it was clearly not for some magical wound treatment.
“What are you doing right…!”
As Muriel tried to quickly pull her hand away, Kaiton used his long fingers to firmly hold her wrist in place.
“Shh… Stay still.”
Muriel’s annoyed gaze clashed with Kaiton’s seemingly nonchalant gaze, but within it, she could see a sinister glint.
Muriel lost focus in his expression and gaze. She forgot to pull away her wrist and fixated solely on his face, as if possessed.
She knew that Kaiton was targeting Muriel. She also understood that he intended to eliminate her before she became a threat. So, she could comprehend why he had the eyes of a leopard, ready to pounce on his prey.
However, what was this anger and resentment that could be read in his gaze? Expectation and disappointment seemed to coexist. It was like he took pleasure in teasing Muriel, yet also felt an unbearable disgust towards her.
“Mr. Crawford, let go of my hand. Are you really treating me right now?”
“Are you nervous?”
“What?”
Once again, Muriel was dumbfounded by his unexpected words, and he accurately found and pressed on the pulsating heartbeat in her wrist.
“Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.”
He noticed her heart beating like a fish out of water. His voice was so low that only Muriel could hear it, but it unsettled her all the same. As his soft voice echoed in his ears, as if he were teasing her, Muriel’s heartbeat accelerated even more.
“You’re nervous, aren’t you?”
“I’m not nervous…”
“Liar, you’re trembling.”
“You… let go of my hand!”
As Muriel tried to twist her wrist to free herself, the pressure on her veins increased. Even though Muriel’s hand turned pale with the lack of blood flow, Kaiton kept persistently peering into her eyes as if he wanted to check something.
A faint sneer appeared on his lips. It seemed like he’d gotten the answer he was looking for.
“Thump. Thump. Thump. The heart cannot lie.”
“I’ve never lied.”
The corner of Kaiton’s lips twisted, and he abruptly threw Muriel’s wrist away.
Muriel’s heart didn’t calm down easily. She couldn’t say anything for a while because she was afraid he’d hear her heartbeat again.
