018 The Duke is Suspicious (4)
“Are you going to enter Sarnez’s lord’s castle today?”
The boy silently nodded at my question.
Sadie, who had raided my room without a sound like the first day, had been climbing up on an oak chest of drawers for a while and glaring at the frantic red panda.
I slowly flowed the ether to the boy through the circle, adding more questions.
“Isn’t it a big deal if I get caught? If you don’t come from tomorrow, how should I interpret it?”
Then Sadie turned her head towards me.
From https://noblemtl.com
Orange eyes were shining confidently.
“If the divine beasts sense a divine substance in Yeongju Castle, they will not meet you from tomorrow.”
“So, is it that easy?”
I gave you a pint cup.
This little boy didn’t seem to be afraid of getting caught by Duke Sarnez’s privates or being attacked and killed when he went near the lord’s castle.
To be precise, he acted as if he knew in advance that it would never happen.
“It is said that His Majesty is inviting an outside priest. Sir Elizabeth told me. Can’t you just ask them there?”
“… did the lieutenant guard explain it that way?”
The boy’s eyes narrowed. In the atmosphere of interrogation, I chose a word for a moment.
“I asked if I was planning on doing that, and I said yes.”
Sadie snorted.
The boy didn’t seem to be able to give an answer or break his stubbornness, so instead of continuing the story, I looked at the red panda on the chest of drawers.
I held out a piece of peeled grapefruit, and he wrinkled his nose and began to slowly descend onto the carpet.
– Hey!
“Right.”
The guy who approached me looking straight at me had a plump tail like a hot dog.
The red panda lightly sniffed the grapefruit, then took another gulp and began to chew hard.
Surprisingly, he seemed to like the bitter taste.
I laughed out loud when I saw a cockscomb the size of a finger smoking under my feet.
“What did you do to him?”
Then Sadie said this.
I couldn’t understand the meaning, so I only met the boy’s eyes.
It seemed that the two eyes were a little perplexed under the thick eyebrows like charcoal black.
“Shinsu doesn’t eat food. Aether would suffice.”
From https://noblemtl.com
Oh······. Did you?
“Well, I ate it because it was given.”
I answered honestly.
Looking down again, the little Shinsoo was concentrating on the grapefruit without showing any interest in our conversation.
“Not all gods are the same. I guess this guy likes to eat.”
“·················ogue.”
“So, have you been awake alone since broad daylight?”
It was sealed with the same ether, but if I woke up alone and wandered around the garden, there could be no other reason other than being hungry.
I even heard that this guy is the smallest among the three divine beasts.
Ether or whatever, there was a high possibility that he was pushed by the other two and ate less.
Suddenly, the red panda, who had eaten a piece of grapefruit, put her head in my palm and wiggled her beard.
It meant that anyone could ask for more.
“Sadie, would you like to eat too?”
The boy simply ignored me.
It wasn’t once or twice that I was surprised by the guy’s toughness, so I only gave the red panda a few more grapefruit slices.
It took about ten minutes for Sadie to receive my ether and fill her stomach with fruits.
“If these guys can’t detect a sickness even in the vicinity of Yeongju Castle, what are we going to do then?”
“I’ll have to listen to the duke’s explanation.”
It was a remark that was made with the case in mind that the ‘blessing of Changhae’ would not be present in Sarnez.
The little boy’s eyes were firm.
Sadie often exudes an atmosphere of authority that is hard to find in children her age.
He had a tone that only appeared in a novel, and he didn’t know that he was indeed a noble Confucius from a high family.
“It’s time to leave.”
Suddenly, from the boy’s body, golden grains smaller than a little fingernail began to rise.
The appearance of the fluffy ether beads was always surprising.
When they showed up, Sadie would get up and rob her like she would unplug a fully charged cell phone charger.
“Things are going well, I hope we don’t see anything in the future.”
I said, following the little boy to the balcony.
Not having to wander around late at night was obviously much better for the little one.
Sadie, wearing a large robe, sprinted up to the railing with light movements.
The red panda, who was flapping her ears, also noticed the atmosphere of leaving, and moved her toddler body this way.
“Are you going to miss the spring ball?”
“Uh, I’m going to be busy getting a confession. Still, he sent me an invitation.”
I smiled and gently rubbed between the red panda’s ears.
Sadie looked down at me for a moment, then stretched out her left arm in the air.
But is he going to the spring ball too?
– Exactly!
There was a spark with the sound of snapping fingers.
Surprised, the thoughts evaporated in an instant.
I lifted my head and looked at the boy’s fingertips.
“you······.”
Flames the same color as the orange eyes of a child were burning from the tips of their thumbs and index fingers the size of a fist.
This was the first time I saw Sadie’s abilities.
And I didn’t know it might be the last.
In the ecstasy of lighting up the darkness, I forgot what to say and stood stunned.
– gurgle
The first to react to the fire was the red panda.
Supporting himself on his hind legs, he slipped to his feet, and clasped his two front paws to hold onto the railing.
Even without Sadie’s command, a fairly large branch protruded from his toes.
I guess that’s what it meant to be compatible.
“Is the fire attribute stronger than the earth attribute?”
“As you can see.”
A little, but the little boy seemed to be happy.
I didn’t know if he liked the fact that he was stronger than the red panda, or if it was better to just use his abilities.
“then.”
– Kuroo!
Before I could say anything more, Sadie threw herself out of the balcony.
Pale red flames and yellowish etheric particles slit long through the night air and moved away.
When I lowered my gaze, the red panda had already gone down to the first floor.
The leaves that were just born trembled with the power of the ether.
“Gorgeous hello.”
I murmured.
The cute red panda and the less cute but handsome child actor left Juliet Palace like that.
*
four days later.
When I left the Imperial Palace under Canael’s escort, Benjamin was waiting for me outside.
“Prince. While the Juliet Palace was away, I received a formal request for an audience from Duchess Isabelle de Sarnez.”
“okay?”
As I got into the carriage, I stopped.
Today was the day I had a morning tutoring session with Cardinal Aurelie Butier.
As usual, she made me rough and practiced ‘practice rather than theory’.
While I was shivering at the gap between the carrot and the stick, the Duchess seemed to have asked for a stand.
“So what did you say?”
“I said that I wanted to see you this afternoon, so I answered that it was difficult because the prince’s schedule was full. There were many people who knew that the Prince had come to the Imperial Palace, so there was no excuse that he was ill. sorry.”
“Okay, good job.”
I waved my hand.
If the prince, who went to receive the cardinal’s teachings in the morning with a normal face, suddenly became ill, it would be considered a lie, so he seemed to be using a more plausible excuse.
Then Canael stuck out his mouth.
“It would not have been strange if you refused without any reason. It is rude to ask for an audience with the prince on the morning of the same day.”
“Forget it, Canael.”
I’m not going to meet you anyway. I swallowed my back and smiled softly.
I thought a letter saying I wanted to be baal was just a greeting, but it was a little surprising that it was sincere.
“I will go to the temple, Prince.”
Before closing the carriage door, the driver of the imperial palace made a bow announcing the destination.
I shook my head and looked out the window.
The afternoon sun was dazzling.
The vast imperial palace was dazzling with colorful flowers and trees.
Everywhere I looked, there were plenty of people preparing for the spring ball the day after tomorrow.
There seemed to be no place that was not busy.
Some people carrying furniture wrapped in white cloth saw our carriage and put things on the floor and bowed their heads.
It was time for me to answer them silently.
“Aren’t you coming now?”
At the sound of Canael’s gloomy voice somewhere, I turned to look at the child.
Honey-colored eyes were drooping.
“Shin-soo.”
“Well, I guess so. It’s been a few days and nothing has happened.”
I answered.
Sadie and Red Panda, who left my room yesterday, haven’t appeared since then.
I thought I had reached ‘Changhae’s Blessing’ safely.
“It’s fine. It is said that it is good for the gods to stay by the side of the gods.”
Benjamin and Canael nodded at the same time.
When I heard that Shinsoo had left the palace last night, the two people from a few days ago, who could not hide their sadness, came to mind and burst into laughter.
“It is said that those who help and take care of the divine beast are said to have the power to gain good fortune and ward off curses. The prince will receive such a blessing.”
“Haha, just the words make me feel good.”
Benjamin’s thanks made my mouth wide open.
I hope I can get home safely if I get lucky. I thought about it for a moment.
“Gerbera has already bloomed. The gardeners must have worked hard.”
Benjamin beckoned out the window.
As I was bewildered, as I don’t know many flowers, he kindly pointed me to a place.
Bright orange clusters like fireworks stood out.
·······Isn’t that guy safe?
“We have arrived at the temple, Prince.”
Canael’s voice woke me from my thoughts.
The shaking stopped soon, and the driver opened the door with a quick motion.
*
“Then, we will wait in the priest’s room.”
“Cheer up, Prince!”
Canael smiled broadly as he handed me a picnic basket.
Whenever I cried while saying that Shin-soo was not coming, my recovery was very quick.
After waving to the two of them, I opened the confessional door and went inside.
After putting up a ‘You can confess’ sign at the entrance and sitting on a soft chair, the son-in-law became quiet.
From https://noblemtl.com
Once again, I thought that this was my new daily life.
A wise hostage life, who possessed but boldly abandoned the role of the male sub.
“It hasn’t been fixed yet.”
I smirked as I alternately looked at the string on the left, which was still cut off, and the wooden spear on the right, which had a hole in it.
The spring ball was just around the corner, so it was understandable that there were no hands to put into the temple.
-Quick profit…
At that moment, a mournful noise pierced my ears.
It wasn’t the sound of the front door or the priest’s door opening.
In the distance, a sign could be heard from the back of the temple. I instinctively swallowed my breath.
-Ttogak, Ttogak, Ttogak…
It was neither slow nor fast, it was a light shoe sound.
I frowned at the trajectory of people walking from the back of the temple without hesitation.
Who’s going through the back door down here?
The faces of Benjamin, Canael, Sir Elizabeth, the Cardinals, and the knights guarding the entrance passed one after another before their eyes.
But none of them seemed to be.
– Again.
It was creepy. Eventually, my footsteps stopped in front of the confessional where I was.
The moment you develop a circle without further hesitation,
– click
I gasped in surprise.
The door of the next compartment opened, and a shadow was seen entering the confessor’s seat.
The indigo plant hit me like a tsunami.
“Welcome, devotee. When was your last confession?”
So I opened my mouth aggressively.
I wanted to emphasize that I opened the sanctuary only to receive confession, not because I was afraid.
“I didn’t come here to confess.”
Then, the voice of a young woman rang a confession. My heart was pounding for no reason.
It was a charming sound that could be called a voice that sticks in one’s ears no matter who heard it.
“I heard that my mother’s request for an audience was rejected. I’m here to ask you one-on-one again.”
“·················ogue.”
A woman was seen taking off the robe over her head.
The world was moving in slow motion.
I finally blamed the carpenters of the Imperial Palace for not fixing this place.
Her side face could be seen through the open wooden window.
Curly wavy pink hair. Bright blue-grey eyes.
It was Christel de Sarnez.