43
“The tingling in my hand must have felt so good that you can’t forget it. Seeing how you’re seeking out a man you wouldn’t even spare a glance at before.”
I was struck speechless.
While it’s true that Castian appeared as my matchmaking partner, that was closer to a mistake, and I’m not even considering him as a marriage candidate.
I should have explained that, but hearing such unfamiliarly sharp sarcasm made my mind go blank.
One corner of Cedric’s mouth twisted up crookedly.
“You should have just told me directly.”
“……”
“I could suck you off like a rag anytime.”
Unable to contain the emotion that surged up in that moment, my hand moved. When I drove my clenched fist straight into his cheek, his face turned sharply to the side.
While I was breathing roughly and glaring at him, Cedric staggered and touched his face. Even though he’d been hit hard enough to make a loud sound, his expression didn’t change in the slightest.
“Why…”
I wanted to ask why he was saying such things.
Rather than him being sarcastic without properly listening to my story, I was more upset that Cedric called himself a rag, and something welled up inside me.
I shook my head vigorously.
“It’s not what you think it is.”
“……”
“I have no feelings whatsoever for His Highness the Prince.”
“……”
“His Highness appearing as my matchmaking partner this time was my mistake, and I only went out with him because he said he’d be staying at our house for at least several days, so it would be awkward to refuse.”
“……”
“I kept telling him I couldn’t accept his feelings…”
As I was going on and on trying to clear up the misunderstanding in front of this guy who wasn’t even responding, I began to feel doubtful about why I was so desperately making excuses.
Actually, this isn’t really something I need to explain to a friend.
When I closed my mouth, silence fell.
“…Sorry.”
Soon Cedric, who muttered an apology, pulled his hand away from his cheek. I was concerned seeing the area where I’d hit him turn bright red.
“What are you doing out there? Eddie?”
The mansion door opened behind us and Mother raised her voice with a serious-looking face.
Oh no.
Come to think of it, this was at an angle where the outside could be seen completely from the salon window, so if she had been there, even if she couldn’t hear our conversation, she would have witnessed me hitting Cedric’s cheek.
When I belatedly looked back toward the salon window, sure enough, Father was looking out with a stern face.
Mother asked what I was doing, pretending not to know, but it was obvious she had come out after watching the situation outside from inside.
‘Since Cedy just came out of the mansion…’
It seemed they had been gathered in the salon to entertain their visitor before Edgar and Castian returned.
“Ah, Mother, well…”
I was trying to figure out how to explain this when Cedric, who had been silent until then, stood facing Mother.
“I’m sorry. It’s because I said something bad.”
“Hm? Something bad?”
“I’ll be going back now.”
Cedric didn’t answer any further and just bowed his head to Mother before brushing past me. He left heartlessly without looking back even once.
…I definitely said everything I needed to say.
I cleared up the misunderstanding too.
Strangely, one corner of my heart felt heavy.
Afterward, Mother was curious about what conversation had passed between us, but I couldn’t honestly tell her so I kept my mouth shut.
Even when we returned to the salon and had a leisurely conversation including Castian who was sitting there first, until we sent him up to his room first… I acted as if nothing had happened.
My parents also didn’t seem inclined to press me immediately.
“How was it with His Highness the Prince?”
Instead, their interest shifted to the matchmaking.
I automatically sighed at Mother’s question.
“You know what my inclinations are like…”
“…I guess it won’t work out after all?”
What kind of question is that?
When I glared at Mother sharply, she smiled awkwardly. Father, who seemed embarrassed as he cleared his throat, made excuses in Mother’s place.
“Still, he’s not a bad marriage prospect.”
“……”
“We’re not forcing you, so don’t be like that.”
I withdrew my glaring gaze from the two of them and sighed deeply once more.
“From the beginning, His Highness the Prince said he’s not interested in me, but rather in that ancient temple that our family came to own.”
He did say he was also interested in me, but I didn’t need to bring up that story, so I didn’t. Though my conscience pricked me a bit, I felt that if I added it unnecessarily, they wouldn’t let go of their hopes.
“What? That’s what it was?”
“Haah! How could such…”
My parents looked very disappointed. They seemed ready to go find Castian and confront him.
I decided to quickly escape from this topic and, since it came up, ask about that ancient temple our family had come to own.
“More importantly, about that ancient temple.”
“Ah. Right, is there something you’re curious about?”
“I heard that the temples scattered throughout the continent each worship completely different gods. Is the temple we discovered the same?”
Father nodded.
“That’s right. We’re still investigating, but it seems to be a temple of a god called ‘Prometil.'”
Prometil?
Then it has nothing to do with Chronos. I remembered Cedric asking if it was a temple related to Chronos last time, which led to that thought.
“Did you find the divine artifact?”
“No. Unfortunately, we haven’t found it yet.”
“Maybe there isn’t one.”
“Well. There are cases where divine artifacts are never found to the end. But we haven’t seen all of the inside of the temple yet, so we don’t know.”
Hmm. I see.
I only brought this up to change the subject, but listening to it, it’s quite interesting.
There are stories about how someone chosen by a divine artifact became suddenly wealthy or gained power… I wonder if that’s really true?
What kind of god is Chronos that Cedric mentioned, and what kind of god is Prometil?
What do the divine artifacts that stimulate Castian’s curiosity look like?
And does a divine artifact really exist in the Prometil temple…?
I usually wasn’t very interested in divine artifact studies, but as one thing led to another, I began to feel intrigued.
“Father. You said the temple is currently under investigation?”
“That’s right.”
“I’d like to go and take a look.”
If I see something new and refresh my mood, maybe my unsettled feelings because of Cedric will improve compared to now. I had that expectation too.
“If it’s just you going, it wouldn’t be difficult.”
Father gave conditional permission.
In other words, I couldn’t enter together with other people besides myself, like Castian, Riette, or Cedric.
It seemed to be because we were still investigating the interior of the temple, so they didn’t know what could happen when or how.
“That’s fine.”
I was planning to go alone anyway if I went…
And so a new schedule was born.
* * *
Temples are places that store divine artifacts, and divine artifacts are considered to be a kind of medium that conveys the voice of gods.
Their appearance and types are all different for each temple based on what has been discovered so far, taking various forms.
However, if you’re not chosen by the will of the divine artifact, it’s just an antique with an unusual shape that’s completely useless…
There are also eerie rumors that if someone the divine artifact’s will doesn’t want possesses the divine artifact, it will suddenly disappear.
Still, there were many people who wanted them. Not just divine artifacts, but also people who wanted those chosen by the will of divine artifacts.
And if there are those who want them, there are bound to be those who try to sell them.
The ‘Seraphium’ cult.
They were exactly those ‘sellers.’
While putting forward the nobility of conveying God’s will, they were actually a group that collected information related to divine artifacts and filled their own stomachs by distributing fake or real divine artifacts outside without distinction.
They thoroughly hid their true identity behind the name of a cult, surviving undetected until now. And one day, precious information flew to them.
“A noble family came to own a temple?”
Usually temples were either managed at the national level or abandoned without owners.
Even those abandoned places were empty shells presumed to have ‘nothing’ because divine artifacts couldn’t be found to the end.
While it wasn’t unheard of for newly discovered temples with potential to be managed as private property, it was certainly not common.
“Yes. The owner is said to be Count Lowell.”
“Lowell! So that rich bastard was the protagonist.”
Lowell, who operates the largest trading company in the empire. The Seraphium cult also operated a trading company for information gathering purposes, so they knew him particularly well.
The cult leader’s mouth tasted bitter.
The thought of an already rich bastard becoming even richer made his stomach churn.
Inside temples weren’t just divine artifacts, but also gold and various objects of unknown origin.
How much money would they get if they plundered and sold those…
“Should we take action?”
A man who was the cult leader’s right hand and one of the apostles within the cult asked subtly. Soon the cult leader’s mouth split into a wide grin.
‘Right. There’s no reason for my stomach to churn.’
As always, they just needed to plunder and take it.
“There’s no rush, so just watch the situation for now.”
“Understood.”
With that answer, the apostle quietly disappeared. The cult leader smiled like a well-fed cat and burned the paper with the information.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
