Chapter 34
Someone poisoned the high priest of death. That fact alone made Phileal run away in a panic. I hurriedly followed him in my priest’s robes. I had never seen him so flustered before.
The playful, relaxed face he had shown me before was gone. Right now, it was as if he was completely white and would pass out at any moment.
It was too difficult for Lilith to pursue him. But I knew too. That I should go together to help the high priest. That’s why it’s cumbersome. It took a long time to get dressed, and even though I’m slow to run, I’m still managing to catch up.
Creak.
“High Priest!”
Phileal’s voice was strange. I didn’t know when he started running, but his voice was full of wetness as if he was about to cry.
“What is this? What about Leviathan?”
“Second Bishop…”
“That, that…”
Leviathan was not around.
“Didn’t anyone share their energy?”
“…….”
Phileal paused for a moment at their attitude, then he smiled wryly.
“Right. We are priests of the god of death.”
He said it like a mockery. Then, he approached the high priest who was lying on the bed and breathing hard. Phileal could see energy from a distance, but as he approached, he frowned even more as if he could clearly feel the high priest’s lost energy and bad condition.
“High Priest.”
Anxiously, he called the high priest. But the tightly closed eyes were still closed. Phileal put his hand on the high priest’s neck and began to give his own energy.
“Phileal.”
“Anais…”
He was very unstable now. He even forgot to call me Lilith.
“Anais, I…”
Phileal seemed to be seeking help from me. But I was hesitant. There were priests around, but they seemed to have enough energy, but no one gave any.
The god of death puts the order of power first. If they are priests of death who offer sacrifices to gain power, they will want to get rid of the highest priest in order to increase their status in the temple.
If the one in first place disappears, the 100th place becomes 99th place. The priests of death were people who, even if they seemed to succumb to fearful powers, would not hesitate to show their selfishness when given the opportunity to eliminate rivals.
“If you give out your energy so carelessly, you might collapse.”
“Anais…”
His bright red eyes were wet even though they hadn’t been in the rain.
I sighed unknowingly and walked over to him. If the high priest drank poison, it is better to use divine power. But it was clear that he was so agitated that he was not even aware of calling me by my real name.
“For helping, do me a favor later. A difficult one.”
“Yes.”
“Even if it’s difficult, you can’t refuse.”
“Yes.”
I put my hand under his as he nodded like a child. Then Phileal began to transfer the divine power that was in me to the high priest. Just like it was ignorantly moved in the past.
I felt like my energy was being ripped out. I felt as if all the divine power that had been wrapped around my heart had flowed out of my palm.
“Ugh…”
Thud!
I felt a pain in my chest, and it went dark everywhere, as if a light had gone out.
“Haa.”
When I opened my eyes, my whole body was aching again. I was anxious because I seemed to pass out too often these days. If it’s like the last time and it’s because of side effects like Lewarren said, then maybe I should leave this body soon.
Before leaving, I had to convince Kylian that I was the real Anais and that this was not what I wanted from him.
Kylian was very unstable now. Even though he’s pretending to be a wise king on the outside, he would not hesitate to call the priests of death and offer them as a living sacrifice to save me here at the imperial palace.
I never wished for anything like that. I just wanted him to be happier in a life without me. I thought that if I went away from his life like a speck of dust, he would have nothing left to do but live happily ever after with Lilith.
Offer sacrifices to revive me, and fill the heart of the palace with priests of death. It seemed like all of this was my fault.
I shouldn’t have tried to make Kylian comfortable at that time. I should have been harsher, less affectionate, and colder so that he wouldn’t have formed any attachment to me.
How foolish I was to be so arrogant. I never thought that, while making him comfortable, he would feel indebted to me under the guise of hating me.
The affection he had for me now was a sense of debt. Because I gave that space and died for him.
What I thought was my own perfect performance collapsed when the diary was discovered, and he must have felt guilty about me. It was clear that the guilt had turned into a debt, and he mistook that debt for affection.
I came to my senses and looked around to see restraints on my limbs. I wondered if I had come to the empress’s room, but that wasn’t the case either.
“From the looks of it, it must have been another accident, right?”
In front of me was my father. Sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed and lowering the book he was holding, he looked at me through the glass wall with a gesture of curiosity about the situation.
“I don’t know either. How did I get caught here?”
“Ho.”
Seeing that he couldn’t hear what he wanted to hear from me, Father immediately readjusted the book and looked away.
“Dad, no. Duke Pervical.”
“…….”
“Why am I here? I didn’t do anything to get caught.”
When I tried to get up, I had no strength in my legs. as if I had been beaten to death.
Besides, even the restraints were jingling, so I couldn’t control my body. There was also a bed next to me, but I couldn’t figure out why I was left on the floor.
“Duke Pervical.”
My father, coldly, took no interest in me.
“Once upon a time when I was 10 years old, I said I felt sorry for the slaves. Did you really ban the slave trade because of my words then?”
“…Are you pretending to be my daughter again?”
“I am your daughter. Your Grace won’t be able to come out of there anyway.”
The expression on his face as he lowered the book down was cold, but he didn’t react as violently as before, feeling that something was unclear. The years I lived as a couple with Kylian were long, but I also spent a long time with my father.
“Do you think I will answer you?”
“I always wondered what my father would put in the first drawer of his desk drawer in the office. It was locked there with a padlock.”
“…….”
“The lemon candy in it was really good.”
“Did Anais tell you?”
“Hm.”
He was frowning. Maybe that’s why I was a little upset when I saw wrinkles in his eyes that could tell how old he was. It felt strange and sad that my father had aged five years after being here.
Even though I’m not in a situation to be immersed in such thoughts. All of these moments were precious, thinking that there was not much time left for me to be in Lilith’s body.
“Father must have thought I hated lemons, but I only hated raw lemons and everything else is fine.”
“…….”
“You often gave me peach sorbet because you thought I couldn’t eat lemon sorbet, right?”
“…….”
Now, without getting angry, he started to read the book again.
“Actually, I was happy to be able to spend time with Father at that time. It didn’t matter what the sorbet tasted like. Do you remember how I always got my table manners wrong?”
“…….”
“That was on purpose.”
“…….”
“Father always corrected me. And I wanted to see you smile every time I learned it again.”
At the age of ten, I forgot the order in which I picked up my fork and knife each time. I really didn’t know at first, and then I found out that he was happy to teach me that. After that, whenever he taught me, I liked his affection, so I purposely did it wrong every time.
“You know that I had been doing it wrong on purpose until I was twenty years old, right?”
“…….”
“It is so nice to see you.”
“…….”
The book was completely lowered, revealing his face. He still looked at me coldly, but it was clear that he seemed confused.
I don’t know what everyone thought of me after I died, but I wanted to tell them that when I borrow someone’s body like this, I want them to cherish the rest of their lives at least as much as I care for them.
“You…”
“Criminal, Lilith Isadora!”
At that moment, soldiers began to enter the prison.
“Am I a criminal?”
“Listen, criminal.”
Why am I a criminal? I must have only done good things.
“As of today, Lilith Isadora, the criminal who tried to assassinate the High Priest, must dedicate her divine power at regular intervals according to His Majesty’s order.”
“What?”
“To thank His Majesty for giving the second bishop, Phileal.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Take her.”
“Wait!”
But as if they couldn’t hear me, the knights opened the door and came inside, releasing the restraints that had been holding me. Except for the one locked on the wrist.
“What kind of situation is this?”
“You are shameless.”
“What?”
“Hurry up and take her.”
“Yes.”
“Wait!”
My feet dragged on the floor as the soldiers dragged me by the arms. Because I didn’t have the strength to walk, it was impossible to walk on my own feet in the first place. I felt my instep burning, but it was strange to feel the strange pain of recovery.
“Couldn’t you go a little slower?”
“…….”
“…….”
Like machines, the soldiers ignored my words and continued to drag me along.
Then, I soon arrived at my destination after being dragged for such a long time.
“You are late.”
“Your Majesty…”
Anais hid behind Kylian, and Kylian glared at me while hiding her behind his back.
“Recover my wife.”
“…….”
“Right now.”
He was giving orders to Phileal. Pretending not to see me.
“Do you think I tried to poison the high priest?”
So, I started talking to him first.
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