ETL – Chapter 8
“It’s only natural that I am in a carriage that belongs to the temple. Does that answer the question for you?”
“…”
“Then I’ll ask you a question this time. Who are you?”
The man looked over at the princess again. I was getting goosebumps. At the same time, the princess raised her head.
“Ah…!”
“…”
I heard a rustling sound from behind me. She walked past me and pointed her finger at the man. Then she rubbed her eyes as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Why here?”
I looked back and forth between the two and then I realized why the man looked familiar…
“Brother!!”
The princess smiled and moved towards the man. The man pressed his thumb and index finger together and an amazing thing happened. The man used his skills as a wizard and moved the carriage back to its original state.
Once the carriage was upright, the princess stepped off and threw her arms around the man.
“I thought you will be here in four days!”
“I was ahead of schedule.”
That man… is the son and heir of Duke Nestro.
The hair color, which was the exact opposite of the princess, glistened in the sun. So this was the brother she was just talking about.
Was it a good relationship between the two? I found an unexpected answer in my observation.
His eyes seemed cold and he was not stroking Ronella’s hair. The princess was talking but her eyes did not express joy. Neither of them seemed to be into this.
Both were acting but not enough to deceive me perfectly.
“It’s been 3 years, I missed you so much!”
As soon as she released the hug from her brother, she returned to her original state.
I watched her brother with interest, especially since the two looked so similar.
He was as thin as Reneben. He had pale skin, white eyelashes framed his sharp frosty blue eyes. His hair shimmered under the sunlight as he swept his hair back. Unfortunately he was not one of the princess’s fishes.
“But why this carriage…?”
The princess raised her chin and laughed, “The demon, it smelled dirty.”
He was making eye contact with me but somehow he was also looking at the princess.
This situation was strange but I decided to greet him first.
”I’m Emilone. I’m not in a good mood,” I said sarcastically.
He looked at me with a grave face. I did not notice it at first but he was as handsome as a prince.
“My name is Veron Nestro. I apologize for my rudeness.”
He was using formal language but I felt like I was being treated strangely.
Veron did not look away from me so I felt like I had to say something. I ended up shaking my finger at him.
“Don’t do that next time. I wonder if you can even give me a reason why you did that to the carriage.”
Veron glanced over at the princess with narrow eyes. Ronella reacted by stamping her foot in joy. But I feel like…
“Somehow… my hand did that without me knowing.”
“I think it was the aura of the demon that the Saintess just dealt with,” Ronella responded.
They seemed to hate each other a lot. Hmmm… is that the case? I guess it’s not only a romance story, but there’s also hardships and problems.
Veron responded to the princess’s response with a grin.
The princess spoke to me kindly, “I’m sorry Miss Emilone, I will have to pay my respects to God later. Now that my brother is back, I ask for your understanding that we should return home first.”
I wanted to see a little more. The acting ability seemed to run in the family. Veron had an emotionless face from beginning to end but he could not fool me.
**********
“Well…”
After soaking myself in warm water, I covered my face with my hands and laughed.
The wound caused by the prince’s dagger hurts, so I removed my hands from my face.
“She said it smells dirty…”
Did she even know what the demon smelled like? I have to find out later.
I was cleaning myself since I did not want others to do it. I had to rub and wash myself several times since the blue-green blood was not coming off easily.
“I hope this never happens again…”
I was able to deal with it easily. However it was said about 800 years ago before the appearance of a saintess, a demon killed over half of the people in a country before it was finally destroyed. Then the Empire attacked the country while it was weak and recovering. Now that country is a part of the Empire.
I held my breath as I poured water over my wounds. As a saintess, I had incredible power and strength but I was unable to heal myself.
“I didn’t even get an sincere apology or a thank you.”
Nothing from the Crown Prince, I saved his life.
He even took my shawl. It was my favorite shawl, it was soft and the lining made it super warm. I guess I wouldn’t be able to wear it again anyway…
The demon blood between my nails didn’t come off easily. I squinted my eyes and looked at my hands. I saved a person today with these hands. It was gross, scary, and disgusting all at the same time but I guess the results were worth it.
I tried to cover the light that came out with my hand. I ended up staring blankly at the light that escaped in between.
I thought I would get dizzy if I stayed here any longer so I finished up. When I came out, Reneben was waiting there. Only then I remembered that I told him to wait for me.
“Saintess…”
I realized that I was only wearing a gown and my hair was a mess. I pulled the gown tighter around me and told Reneben to follow me.
Reneben looked around in embarrassment.
I walked barefoot towards the desk. I grabbed the file I had prepared in advance and gave it to him.
“Please deliver this to the Imperial Palace.”
“This is…”
“It’s related to the demon that harmed the Crown Prince. The Emperor will probably ask for the information. I thought it would be better to give it in advance.”
I was trying to get Reneben to leave as soon as possible. Water from my hair was making my gown wet.
“Miss Emilone. A message… just came from the Imperial Palace.”
“What was the message?”
Looking anywhere but me, Reneben said, “There’s going to be a party celebrating the Saintess instead of a reception for the end of the hunting competition.”
“What…?”
“His Majesty wants to thank you for saving the Crown Prince…”
“A party for me?”
“His Majesty may not be present though since he’s not in good physical condition.”
The party would be held either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I would attend the party and then it would be dinner with Duke Nestro’s family. I arranged the schedule in my head.
“Of course, if Miss Emilone does not want to…”
Reneben was restless. I nodded and swept my hand over the wound on my cheek.
“Please let them know that I am attending.”
**********
It was a party for me, but also a party for the Princess and her fishes.
“And Reneben too…”
The princess was unaware of my motives, so I can continue to enjoy the situation unnoticed.
I had a blueberry muffin and milk with honey in front of me. I hummed songs by famous idols and singers I remembered from my old world as I was eating. Some people get tired eating Western food all the time but not me. I’m not picky so I’ll eat anything. Still, sometimes I crave Korean food.
Most aristocratic parties did not start until after sunset so right now I had plenty of time. I enjoyed imagining what would happen tonight as I popped a piece of sweet muffin in my mouth.
Come to think of it, I remembered that Reneben was surprised last night when he noticed my wound. I did not know that he was unaware of it. I’m sure his head was preoccupied with thoughts of the princess instead.
The wound already disappeared since I healed faster as a saintess.