Chapter 47
“A priest shouldn’t do such a thing with a member of the opposite sex. Are you really not afraid of excommunication?”
“She just fell down and I caught her, sire.”
Anais was trying hard not to let him notice that her hair became shorter, holding tightly to the stola wrapped around her head.
“Why are you here?”
With Kylian’s crooked question, Anais hurriedly stood up. She looked anxiously at Phileal, who was slowly rising from the floor, brushing the dust from his clothes with a grin and not knowing what she was thinking.
“It is none of Your Majesty’s business.”
“Huh.”
He really wasn’t even that curious. But if he recalled what grief Lilith Isadora caused unto him before, he certainly shouldn’t let her go even if he was not interested.
On the contrary, he did not know what kind of accident could happen if he didn’t pay attention to her. She was like a ticking time bomb.
It was true that Anais was saved thanks to her. But until she would truly save Anais, the things she deceived him with and the atrocities she manipulated him into were not inconsequential.
Moreover, the fact that the empress appointed her as a handmaid, saying that she would monitor her, and that she was going around with Phileal at will was also annoying. A handmaid wouldn’t even be able to leave the imperial palace and wander around wherever she wanted.
“Are you aiming for the Lord of the Magic Tower again?”
“…….”
“You must have known that he’s in hibernation.”
Anais was still unfamiliar with Kylian, who spoke coldly to her. Before she died, he would speak in a gentle tone even if he had complaints or dislikes.
Besides, he was a prudent man. He hadn’t been as rude as he was now, and he wasn’t the kind of person who said whatever’s on his mind, no holds barred.
“Your Majesty is really disappointed every day.”
“Ha.”
“It’s because the current Lady Anais has no memories, you think if she finds her memories, she’ll come back like before.”
Anais knew that the soul that had entered her body was not her, so it was impossible for her to find those memories. But she was lying to convince him because Kylian wouldn’t believe her even if she told him she was the real one.
“You are still arrogant, Lilith Isadora.”
Kylian was standing in front of the Lord of the Magic Tower’s door. Anais walked slowly upstairs. Her thighs were sore from all the steps she had climbed to reach the top floor of the tower. Her calves were shaking convulsively. The speed of her recovery was commensurate with her waning energy, but it was not enough to soothe her sore muscles.
She took a deep breath and climbed the stairs with her wobbly legs. As he stared blankly at her as she came up, Kylian glared at her with ferocious eyes.
“People change.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means that my wife and I have also changed.”
Kylian’s golden eyes were shining like stars even in the dark. She couldn’t take her eyes off it because it felt like she was looking into a tiger’s eyes. The beast will attack the moment she’d show her back.
“I do not understand.”
“People change when they go through the crisis of death. My wife died once and came back to life. In the meantime, it makes sense that she lost her memory and became a different person than before, doesn’t it?”
Anais, however, disagreed with that statement. She wanted him to be happy even if she died and came back to life, and she wanted to prevent him from constantly doing wrong things like he was now.
There was nothing she couldn’t do if she knew how to do it. Even if he wouldn’t recognize her, even if she entered the body of the person he hates the most. She hoped that he would turn back, and that he would be happy with the saintess as with the original story.
“There are people who do not change. The Lady Anais that I know is not someone who will change like that.”
“You’re jumping to conclusions again.”
“…….”
“My wife has changed. You can see it too.”
Kylian narrowed his brows as if it was painful to say those words. Anais stood close enough to touch him as he stared at her.
“And I love my wife even if she has changed.”
“Your Majesty, how is that love? You are mistaking guilt for love.”
“…….”
Anais was horrified to see Kylian’s eyes grow fiercer. Chills ran down from her neck and to her spine.
“Your Majesty, didn’t you realize your feelings only after Lady Anais died? It’s more like a lingering yearning for the dead than romantic love.”
“Because I was stupid before that.”
“…….”
“Each person realizes their emotions at a different time.”
Kylian looked fiercely at Anais, who came closer to him. Anais knew he couldn’t do her any harm.
She was still clutching the stola she wore over her head. That kind of behavior bothered Kylian very much.
“Why are you wearing that ugly thing on your head?”
“Why? Are you offended again?”
“Everything about you offends me.”
With Kylian stepping back, Anais thought she could no longer talk to him. She couldn’t show him that her hair got shorter.
“If you don’t want to see me, it would be right for me to leave Your Majesty’s presence, but I have work to do here.”
“Do you think I will let that happen?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Anais hesitated as she made her way to the door, where he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her over the railing.
“Your Majesty.”
“Second bishop. If you come up any further, I will kill the High Priest.”
“…….”
Phileal was standing about ten steps down from them.
“What are you going to do? Are you trying to push me out of here?”
“……”
“If I die, what will happen to Lady Anais’s body?”
“There are other living sacrifices.”
“If you push me like this, you will regret it.”
Kylian laughed and pushed her harder against the staircase’s railing. She was pushed and her back landed on the railing.
The Magic Tower was a very tall spire. Going up all the way up the stairs on the side of the tower, the master’s room was on the highest floor.
And looking down from here, it was so far away that the bottom couldn’t be seen.
“If I die, Lady Anais will be sad.”
“Is it really so?”
Kylian held Anais’s throat with one hand. She didn’t think he’d really push her here, but as she was pushed behind the railing, she grabbed his arm immediately.
“My wife gets sad whenever she talks about you.”
“Ugh…”
“You deceive people every time. And make them miserable.”
“Your Ma— Ugh…!”
The pressure on her neck was increasing. He was pushing Anais behind without hesitation.
“Your Majesty!”
“I should have told you not to forget the warning, Second Bishop.”
Phileal knew that as long as Anais wouldn’t die from the fall, she could still recover. But it wasn’t the same for the High Priest.
Certainly, he should not intervene here anymore, but his body trembled as if he was going to move forward without even realizing it.
“It’s obvious why you came here.”
“Kgh…!”
“You’re probably trying to wake up the Lord of the Magic Tower and re-absorb the magic that went into my wife.”
“That, ugh… that’s not…!”
Anais struggled and grabbed the hand that was strangling her. Then he loosened the pressure on her neck a bit. However, he was still pushing her back. With everything she had in her, she had to stop him right here.
“Then my wife will return to the brink of death again, and I will have to rely on your strength.”
“Stop…!”
“I don’t need anything like you anymore.”
“Your Majesty!”
“My wife also said that she wishes for your death.”
His eyes flickered for a moment as he spoke of the empress. He thought he couldn’t tell if the empress really wanted her dead. However, she had said that she wished that the Saintess of Goddess Julias would disappear on the first day she was revived.
He was confused because he knew how much she cared for Lilith before her death.
“Why do you covet what you can’t have?”
“Urk… ugh!”
“Was it funny when I played along with your tricks? Is that why you approached me using my wife as an excuse?”
Anais scratched her fingernails through his coat with trembling hands. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, and her legs were shaking with little strength left.
“You played along— ugh… with my tricks?”
“You did. You said that since my wife doesn’t seem to know her feelings for me…”
“Ugh….”
“She will come to acknowledge it if I follow your words.”
“What is that…!”
Kylian squeezed the hand that had been strangling her again. His eyes were exceedingly cold. Like he was truly planning on twisting her neck.
Anais thought that, although he was cold towards Lilith, he did not hate her to death. But why did his resentment suddenly get worse?
“I’m not trying to harm Lady Anais…! I came to see Lionel!”
She had to scream even though her neck hurt as if it would break. Because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to hear it.
“Then why did you come? I must have asked you to attend the empress.”
“I-I can’t say that… uht… !”
“Say it.”
“Huk…!”
For a moment, he grabbed her neck loosely again.
“I can do everything for my wife. If you dare pose a threat to her again, getting rid of you wouldn’t be difficult at all.”
Despite being asphyxiated like this, the pain in the left side of Anais’s chest felt even worse as she listened to his warning.
“So that’s why you killed so many?”
“I don’t care if this world perishes. As long as the wife is alive.”
Realizing that Kylian was serious, Anais struggled to take off his hand. The railing of the staircase bumped against her feet, and he just looked at her coldly, thinking that she was a bug.
“Her, her hair is cut!”
“Phileal!”
Phileal shouted unknowingly. He was already standing next to Kylian. Then he trembled as he gripped Kylian’s arm, who was holding Anais.
“The saintess’ hair was cut… That’s why we came, Your Majesty.”
“What’s with her hair?”
At that moment, Kylian used his free arm to remove the stola on her head.
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