Chapter 18
“By the way, how are you feeling, Anais Percival?”
Seeing that smile on Phileal’s face made me doubt my ears. I couldn’t say anything, like my mouth was glued shut, so I looked at him with my mouth closed, and he smiled even wider.
My heart was beating wildly. It was something that shouldn’t have been revealed, and yet it was—and by someone who shouldn’t.
Even if no one else knew, the second bishop in the Temple of Death had found out. And he was the key figure among those who made sacrifices to revive my body.
“Don’t tell me, I’m right?”
I looked at him, forgetting to breathe, and he walked nearby. I didn’t know when he walked to my side. But as he stood forward and cast a shadow, I realized that Phileal was quite tall. Kylian was over 190 cm tall. Phileal’s height may not be to that extent, but he felt equally as overbearing.
Maybe it’s because of the intimidation he’s showing me now and the red eyes that match it.
“How did you know?”
Even though Kylian had broken Lilith’s necklace a while ago, thinking of him in this situation relieved my tension. No matter how much he hated me, my bias was still my bias. It may not change that he is the person who gave me hope in my life.
The priest of death is showing loyalty to the emperor, Kylian, so maybe he won’t leak this out too? Then, this method may be better than convincing Kylian when I return to my original body. But he may not believe it.
No, maybe Lilith’s body, which said something useless and had her soul put to sleep for me, could be in danger.
“With my hunch?”
“How did you get that ‘hunch’?”
“The god of death gives me a revelation. Whenever you are in your original body, you react in such a way that stands out more clearly to me.”
“You’re a quick-witted one.”
“If you get it right every day, it gets faster.”
His bright red eyes gleamed in joy. When our eyes met, I saw the corners of his eyes curved with a smile, and I felt something strange.
“You… no more childhood stories.”
“Why?”
Every time he says something casually, I feel like I need to do something nice. Still, thanks to this, the thought that he might endanger the safety of this body by saying useless words began to dissipate a little. Because he didn’t seem like a bad person.
“I don’t know.”
“Alright.”
The light from the chandelier gleamed as if they melted into Phileal’s hair. Come to think of it, it seems that death priests usually have dark hair.
“Anyway, so you had a good hunch, things like that. How did you really know?”
“If I tell you, will you give me your hair?”
“Are you a pervert?”
“Hm.”
Come to think of it, no matter what kind of provocation I make, I can’t win because he wouldn’t get angry at all. All in all, the way I win in an argument with someone is to make them angry. Of course, even if I did that, I lost to Lewarren every time.
But even if I insulted Phileal to the point of anger, he would brush it off, so there was nothing I could do about it.
“Why do you need my hair?”
“Your hair is special. This vivid blue is the color that comes to those who died and were resurrected by the power of God.”
“You can change it with magic.”
“Then it would have returned to its original color when my power fades.”
He pulled out the hair he had kept in his arms. What was neatly curled in the white handkerchief was the hair he had pulled out of me.
“You can’t pull it out like before.”
“Then I’ll take it as painlessly as possible.”
“Don’t pull it out. Cut it.”
“Ah, I could do that.”
Phileal smiled like a fox, as if he had just realized it. Oddly enough, I didn’t get angry even when I talked to this guy. It’s like talking to someone who’s broken somewhere. He was like an adult, yet also like a child?
“Anyway, there is power in this hair. If you give the power contained here to the High Priest, he will quickly recover his energy.”
Come to think of it, it seemed that he was serious about restoring the High Priest.
“Are you on good terms with the High Priest of Death?”
He was the high priest of the god of death. They said he had ambitions to dedicate the whole world to the god of death. Phileal follows such a person.
“I was ten years old when I dedicated my soul to the Temple of Death. At that time, the High Priest was the Second Bishop.”
“…….”
“He was the only one who treated me like his own child. You see, you can’t build a family once you become a priest. I don’t know if the same is true of the saint.”
This was the reason Lilith in the original story was a saint. Other priests can not marry, let alone love, but Lilith was different because she had been ordained as a saint from birth. The problem was that she had to walk the flower path after a life of being kidnapped as a child and then abandoned and sold like a slave.
“Never mind, tell me how you figured it out.”
“Hm.”
My hair looked like it was really about to be cut. Sometimes he said he didn’t want to touch the hair on my face, but now he was judging how much he should cut.
“First of all, your hair color was the biggest clue. Do you remember that you had blue hair every time you woke up in your original body?”
“…Yes.”
“The last time you woke up, I was watching you. But when you woke up over there, Lilith’s hair was dark blonde.”
“I must have been sleeping in the room then, and you were there next to me?”
So he was checking someone’s room while they were sleeping. And I have to give this guy my hair too?
“His Majesty said you could be in danger.”
“Why?”
“You used a lot of energy. I was going to share my energy in case it was really an emergency.”
Right. Even if the relationship was different from the original story, there was no way Kylian hated Lilith that much. I guess he wanted to be careful for her not to die no matter what.
“And?”
“And the conversation between you and His Majesty was strange, so I knew.”
“Strange?”
“Mmh.”
When I asked with my eyes what was strange, he seemed to be contemplating whether or not to tell me. With a very excited face on top of it too.
“His Majesty can’t handle it. Even now, your body wakes up and goes back to sleep. He was impatient.”
“Why are you talking about that all of a sudden?”
“It seems to me that the talk between you and His Majesty was a bit weird. It was not like Lilith and His Majesty were talking, but His Majesty and Anais fighting.”
“When did I?”
“You’re too dull.”
“No, I’m quick witted.”
I broke in a cold sweat because I got stabbed. Because Lewarren often said it a long time ago. But I was resourceful and had a good business sense. It was difficult for me to agree that I, who was perfect as the Young Duke, was dull.
“Usually dull people say that.”
“…….”
It seemed like the cold sweat was dripping down my back as he smiled and made eye contact. All of a sudden we had come to the front of the room, and I couldn’t get in unless he opened it.
“Are you going to give me a lock of hair now?”
As he approached more and more, the scalp felt like it was being threatened. I took a step backwards without realizing it, but the feel of the hard door behind my back was cold. Then I heard a familiar voice.
“Nonsense.”
“Kyaah!”
In an instant, the door opened and I was sucked in. Fortunately, the guy who opened the door grabbed me and I didn’t fall, but the dizzy feeling for a moment startled me and my heart pounded. I had to be reminded every time this happened that this body was so fragile.
“Lewarren?”
As soon as the door closed, Lewarren’s serious face appeared. He looked dizzy as if he was still lacking energy. But he had an annoyed face, and I could understand why.
“Do not get close to the priest of death.”
“…Yes.”
“Did you talk to Kylian?”
“I did, but I hate it so much. So I just want to wait.”
“What are you waiting for? Until he fails to bring souls into the dead Anais body?”
Perhaps because he was ill, he looked worse for wear. He walked to the sofa and sat down, his long hair, wet with sweat, clinging to his forehead. He must have been having a really hard time.
“There’s something I couldn’t tell you.”
“What is that?”
If I don’t talk now, I’ll get even more scolded later. If things escalate, I’ll open the door and run away. He won’t be able to follow me anyway. It’s the first time I’ve seen him sick like that. But no matter what happens, I think I’ll have to take care of him…
“Actually, I thought it was true because you said it was a side effect.”
“What, are you sick again? Or your body’s memory came out in the dream?”
“It’s not like that…”
Grasping the doorknob, I turned back and brought the door to my back. So that I can open it when I have to. And I was looking at Lewarren’s condition at a glance.
“I thought it was a dream, but I don’t think it’s a dream.”
“Tell me more. I don’t know what you mean.”
As Lewarren stroked his forehead in exhaustion, the lines between his brows deepened as he listened.
“Every time I dream, I feel like I go back to my original body.”
“What?”
“At first I thought it was a dream.”
“…….”
“But that is the reality. When I go back to that body, the color of my hair will also change to blue over there.”
“Did the priest of death say that?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s a lie.”
“Why?”
“Because they are good at lying.”
What I experienced was clear. I was going to say that, but Lewarren didn’t look good, so I stopped.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
If he says this.
Let’s just wait and see. I forcefully dragged Lewarren to bed.
“What are you doing?”
“To take care of you. Lie down.”
“Hoo…”
Although he hated it, he did not shake off my arm that was leading him. I laid him down on the bed and, as he had done before, put a towel on his forehead to cool him off. It was because the high priest gave me enough energy, so I’m fine now.
“You shouldn’t call me an idiot.”
“…….”
“You’re the silly one, what is this? You are the Bishop of Destruction.”
“Take care of me quietly.”
“Yes.”
I watched as he closed his eyes. I must have spent hours like that, but it was clear that I fell asleep without realizing it.
When I opened my eyes, it was Kylian’s bedroom. This time, there was a little bit of recovery, but it wasn’t as deathly painful as it was before.
“Anais.”
“Kylian.”
“Yes, Anais. Your husband is here.”
He took my hand and rubbed it in his face.
“Why did you look for Lilith first between Lilith and me?”
It was the same when I pretended to be Lilith, when I returned to my original body, my thoughts seemed to come out of my mouth without a filter.
—
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know or tag admin in comments so we can fix it as soon as possible.
