Chapter 5.2 – Marquis Garth
Valia, who had her ears pressed against the carriage window, flinched. She couldn’t see what was going on outside, but she already knew that the situation outside wasn’t good. She wondered whether to answer or not.
“I’m Philemon, the Great Holy Priest,” the man continued. “I have something to tell you, My Lady, so please open the carriage door and come out. I swear to God that I will never harm you.”
‘Great Holy Priest?’
Valia’s eyes widened. The Great Holy Priest was one of the three highest ranking priests in the Empire. If Valia had been more devout in faith, she would have gone outside out of sheer obedience.
[My Lady, don’t come out until I say it’s all right.]
But Valia remembered the young knight’s warning. Instead of opening the carriage door, she clasped her trembling hands together.
‘Oh Holy God, you saw that I didn’t do it on purpose. Please don’t punish me.’
Time continued to pass in the darkness. The carriage door didn’t budge an inch. The Great Holy Priest’s face darkened and the knights breathed a sigh of relief. They were helpless because they couldn’t lay a hand on the Great Holy Priest’s body.
Sean stepped forward, his lip curled into a snarl. “Great Holy Priest. If you act like this, it will be difficult for us.”
Then, another answered from behind the backyard. “Right. If you keep acting this way, it’ll be troubling.”
The knights’ face instantly brightened, which was the opposite reaction that the Great Holy Priest had.
The measured footsteps drew near. From the night gloom emerged red eyes set upon well-proportioned features. Its shining gaze was fixed precisely on the Great Holy Priest.
“Isn’t that right, Great Holy Priest?” the newcomer said.
“I beg your pardon, Your Excellency.”
The Great Holy Priest stepped back hastily. Though he had good intentions, he was definitely at fault. When the Marquis agreed to the princess selection, he had a number of conditions, one of which was to be the first to meet the princess who arrived at Ghel; not the Great Holy Priest or the Emperor, but the one named Shuden Garth.
“We’ll discuss this matter later,” Marquis Garth said with a cold look at the Great Holy Priest. The priest felt an ominous shadow pass over him, but because he had already been condemned, he accepted it without saying anything.
“I’ll be sure you are compensated for this at the temple’s standards,” the Great Holy Priest murmured finally.
“Mmhmm.”
Marquis Garth knew well enough that the Great Holy Priest meant no harm. The priest must have been worried that the princess, whom no one knew when another one would appear again, might not be Shuden’s type. But that was that and this was this. One couldn’t justify the breaking of a promise for a personal reason like that.
Shuden took his eyes off the great priest and approached the carriage. The young knight turned towards the window.
“It’s alright for you to come out now, My Lady,” the knight said.
Shuden’s eyes briefly flickered towards the young knight. Did they come prepared for a situation like this? Were they put together in preparation for such a scenario? It occurred to the Marquis that the little boy was quite sensible.
The carriage door, which had remained firmly closed all this time, slowly opened. All the eyes of the people standing in the backyard turned towards the carriage.
‘Haah, oh my God.’
Valia gasped inwardly as she carefully emerged from the carriage. There were more people than she thought. Moreover, everyone was looking at her at the same time, and she felt like she was suffocating under the pressure.
‘What’s going on here…’
Valia had never had so many eyes on her before. She was familiar with the knights as she spent a day with them, but that wasn’t the case for the priests. More importantly, one of three great priests of the continent was here too, and, guessing from the conversation, the man who was currently holding out his hand towards her was…
‘Marquis Garth.’
His face was obscured from the backlight of the lanterns held by the priests, but she knew it was him by intuition. Besides, anyone could tell he was trying to escort her.
Valia put her trembling hand in his. Just when she stepped on the carriage stairs—
“Aah!”
Her leg had gone numb from sitting in the carriage for a long time. Her foot slipped, and in an instant she fell forward. The knights who were standing nearby hurriedly reached out.
“…”
Valia felt a powerful hand grab her waist as she fell. It wasn’t a delusion. She had fallen. However, she hadn’t fallen to her knees onto the backyard ground, but into the arms of the Marquis who was standing in front of her. The only thing that fell to the ground was a blue shawl that had been loosely tied to her shoulder.
“You must be exhausted from the trip,” a voice said from above her head.
At the same time, Valia thought it was a really nice voice to listen to. But she didn’t have the confidence to look up. She would much rather melt and vanish away like this.
It was then that she realized that her legs were shaking. Her eyes widened when she felt the hand on her waist tighten and another hand hold her thighs.
“It seems like it’s hard for you to walk, so I’ll guide you,” he said.
The journey here had only taken a day. Valia wasn’t incapable to the point that she needed help moving around. However, her throat felt so thick with embarrassment that she couldn’t even cry out ‘I’ll walk on my own!’. She eventually chose to stay calm and keep her mouth closed.
The Marquis looked down at Valia, whose ears were flaming red, then lifted his gaze back up.
“Lead me to the Honored Guest room,” he said to the priests.
“Lead the way for Your Excellency.”
The priests guided the Marquis, while the Marquis strode forward with Valia in his arms.
‘I hope it works out.’
The priests looked at the couple, half-worry and half-concern written on their faces.