Stella opened her eyes wide and made excuses.
“I can’t just watch your pain…”
“Then who asked you to bother about it?”
Erich, ignoring my wounds, held out a bleeding hand to the saint.
“Do you think you can interfere with my scars any way you want? It’s my scar, after all!”
There was a strange, almost overwhelming force coming from Erich. His sharp, irritable appearance seemed to shine even brighter today.
“Do more, go further.”
Honestly, I didn’t like the saint very much, so it was satisfying to hear him say that.
“I’ve learned from being tormented myself.”
Of course, Erich’s cutting sarcasm didn’t wound me much. It was more annoying to keep talking. But for a saint who’d spent a lifetime hearing only kind words, this would be different. Especially since it followed healing her wounds.
“I- I’m sorry.”
Stella, shocked, began to cry out loud.
At that moment, the priests, startled by Erich’s intensity, stepped forward. They positioned themselves in front of Stella to protect her.
“Baron Blonnu! What is this rudeness toward the saint?”
“Rudeness?”
Erich turned his head toward the priests and challenged them.
“Is it rude that I’ve bled on my own hands?”
The priests hesitated, blinking in response to Erich’s sharp retort. Erich glared at them and Stella.
“Today’s temple seems to be in a different mood. If a shameless troublemaker who meddled with the saint’s healed wound were to appear in the papers, that would be perfect.”
Oh, so spiteful.
‘When I fight with you, you’re not so good…’
Seeing him speak to the temple staff like that made me feel a little reassured.
The priests, their faces flushed, shouted at Erich.
“Didn’t you yell at our saint!”
Erich gave a half-hearted bow.
“Oh, yes. You’re right. I was rude to a rather faint-hearted saint. Of course, all of this happened because the saint moved about as she pleased.”
“-Baron Blonnu!”
“Then why are you behaving rudely toward me?”
Erich adjusted his glasses and asked them.
“I don’t think you understand, but the Duke of Blanchet isn’t someone to be trifled with.”
Crk- The monster’s noose in Erich’s hand came into view.
“We’re not going to ignore the safety of guests who didn’t leave despite being told to.”
The black panther monster tore the tether with its claws. The priests’ faces turned pale.
“No matter what, we’re legitimate guests of the Duke of Blanchet…”
“The guests’ mistakes aren’t our responsibility, either, right? Especially since they’ve slandered the master in the duchy.”
As the monster stepped closer, the priests stepped back, shivering with fear. They begged Erich.
“Very well. We were wrong…”
“Do you have time to spare? You should survive, even if just by yourself, before you’re eaten.”
The black panther monster barked loudly. At that sound, the priests grabbed Stella and fled in a hurry. Of course, the monster didn’t chase them. It flashed its golden eyes as if it would chase them, but it only licked its lips.
“Despicable bastards.”
Erich frowned and brushed his blood-stained hair. His long gray hair fell down.
“My lady. Since all the guests are gone now, would you like to come out?”
I awkwardly crawled out from the bushes.
“Kyaaah!”
“Good. It’s nice to meet you again.”
The black panther monster ran toward me excitedly.
I petted the monster’s head as it wagged its tail and asked Erich,
“Did you know I was here?”
“I knew from the start. If it weren’t for those fools, anyone would have known.”
A strange sense of guilt brushed Erich’s pale blue-gray eyes.
“Are you all right, my lady?”
What do you mean by all right?
‘Your own hand looks the worst.’
The wound on his hand was so deep that the blood wouldn’t stop flowing.
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
Erich, following John’s orders, took charge of the black panther monster.
Sometimes the monster, who even the master John ignored, behaved very calmly.
We were about to cross the garden to the main building when the panther lowered itself, growling with a displeased air.
Even Erich, who was sensitive to sounds, heard the murmur in the garden.
“Even that fake has a different kind of generosity in his attitude.”
“Duke Blanchet is a duke, but what does that fake believe in to mock the saint so much?”
“What did the saint do wrong? If she rests for a few days, even a small scar that would have needed treatment by the saint herself wouldn’t have mattered.”
Fake.
A term for Estelle, the orphan adopted by the Blanchet family, not a noble.
“I said something similar…”
For some reason, the word fake hurt deeply in Erich’s chest.
The priests distorted the situation and belittled Estelle.
Left alone, the priests’ arrogance seemed limitless.
“Not only did you order the saint to come and go, you manipulated the duke’s actions!”
A roar.
The black panther monster could howl no more, and Erich could have controlled it with a device, but he didn’t use it.
‘How dare you.’
Estelle would disappear someday. But we couldn’t let them talk like that.
Yet when we arrived, there was an unexpected sensation.
‘Behind the bushes, you.’
The black panther monster seemed to sense Estelle’s presence as well, its ears pricking up.
‘So you heard all of that?’
Erich was furious to the tips of his hair. No matter how unaware he was, to publicly boast in Estelle’s presence was unacceptable.
‘My lady…’
Someone who might worry people, someone who would spit blood for the sake of others, someone who would apologize in front of everyone, someone who would even cry. Erich deliberately left the black panther monster loose to torment them. They weren’t in agreement, but the monster did its part to deal with them.
“Calm down, everyone.”
At that moment, the saint stepped forward.
The noble princess of the temple, as if the transparent sunlight had been made into a woman, clean and pure.
“But I can’t just take help from the saint and move on. Is there something you need help with?”
The saint grabbed Erich’s hand and healed him, despite his reluctance.
“The burns on both hands, all of them…”
From childhood, when Erich was kicked out of Libertan, both hands bore burn scars. At one point, doctors even said his arm might have to be amputated, but the huge scar disappeared completely.
“My hands are so clean.”
In that moment, Erich felt a terrible sense of loss.
He had fought so hard to overcome these burn scars. For months he’d practiced gripping objects with gritted teeth.
Looking at the scars on his hands, he was reminded of Libertan and his desire for revenge.
“Was my help any good?”
“…The saint’s mercy is truly generous.”
The saint smiled kindly, unaware of his feelings.
“I benefited from it, too.”
Erich could no longer bear his own clean hands. He impulsively drew his sword and carved a wound on the back of his hand.
The saint’s face went pale and she asked,
“Why, why the back of the hand…?”
“Of course, because of you.”
Erich found the saint’s trembling face repulsive. She meddled in other people’s affairs as if she were a victim.
“Your meddling should only be for the disciples who cling to you, not for someone like me, who isn’t needed.”
As soon as the saint realized this, the surrounding priests swarmed in.
So Erich mocked and threatened them, though he remained uneasy about Estelle, who sat quietly in the bushes, possibly crying.
“Calm down, everyone.”
When the saint and priests disappeared, Estelle remained, and Erich released his tense hair and called to her.
“Did you know I was here?”
Fortunately, there were no signs of tears on Estelle.
“More importantly, are you all right, my lady?”
That open accusation was full of spite and mistrust toward Estelle.
“What is it?”
“Did you hear what those priests were saying?”
“Why?”
Estelle tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.
“Not very important, I suppose.”
“Not important? Not at all?”
“Surely I didn’t have to go out and apologize, did I?”
When Erich widened his eyes, Estelle faintly smiled.
“I’m sorry for disappointing Duke Blanchet.”
When Estelle showed that same face, I think she had always held such a look.
“I have only one thing I can do.”
Calm, yet sad.
“Of course… you’re not like that.”
“Then that’s enough.”
“Why won’t you be angry at the words that insult you, my lady?”
Erich spoke suddenly. Following John’s orders, he investigated the Rabianne Orphanage, where Estelle had once lived.
The Rabianne Orphanage was a ruin.
For the young Estelle, there was probably no option but to be adopted by the Libertan Duke’s family.
‘One more strange thing.’
The Rabianne Orphanage wasn’t a place nobles passed by. Yet the Duke and Duchess of Libertan happened to pass by, see Estelle, and adopt her. There was no trace of them visiting other orphanages either.
‘Was it a huge stroke of luck?’
Erich suddenly found himself questioning everything around Estelle.
If not for Estelle revealing the orphanage’s corruption, he wouldn’t have investigated this far.
“That’s a little strange for Baron Blonnu to say.”
Estelle fiddled with her pinkish platinum hair and smiled.
“You said you had no right to be angry with me. Then why are you curious?”
“That’s because…”
“Are you worried about me, or worried that the Blanchet Duke’s name will be defamed because of me?”
Erich faltered. He, too, wasn’t different from the priests. He had directed emotional blame at Estelle just as she had.
“Don’t worry. As you know, there are so many bad rumors that this won’t stain the Blanchet Duke’s name in any way.”
“That’s not true.”
Her calm words pierced Erich’s heart. He felt inexplicably sad whenever he looked into Estelle’s deep blue eyes.
“All right. I won’t go that far. Baron Blonnu, you’d better stop worrying only about your own wounds.”
Erich instinctively hid his hand behind his back.
“This is… nothing.”
“It’s still bleeding, isn’t it?”
“I did it to show you. If it weren’t for wounds like this, it would be meaningless.”
He spoke without expecting a reply. After all, he doubted Estelle would understand his feelings. Even he couldn’t explain why.
“That’s wrong.”
A cool summer breeze blew through the garden. Estelle’s platinum hair gleamed softly.
“Wounds don’t give meaning. And even if they disappear, it doesn’t mean they vanish completely.”
“Madam, what do you know and why are you saying this?”
“I don’t know. I just wanted to tell Baron Blonnu.”
In the quiet, his blue eyes took on a dreamy glow.
“Because even if the wounds disappear, you know yourself. So as long as you don’t forget, their meaning will remain, even if unseen.”
Her pale, calm face filled with the bluish gray of Estelle’s eyes. Like a flower blooming in an instant, Estelle blossomed inside Erich.
A meaning-filled flower bloomed where his life had withered due to the burn scars.
“…”
Erich’s eyes reddened.
That was it.
“The words I wanted to hear.”
In that moment, Erich realized he had assigned far too much meaning to the burn scars.
As if the scars were his life.
“And why you? Why you, out of all people.”
From Estelle, who had insulted and belittled him so much, Erich felt moved.
“…I’m sorry.”
A tear of repentance fell from Erich’s eyes.
“For all the rudeness I showed you.”
In truth, Estelle might indeed be the kind of woman he’d imagined. Knowing Libertan’s evils, pretending not to know, a shameless villainess.
“To recklessly declare and press you—every one of those things I want to apologize for.”
Estelle opened her round eyes wide. A blue rose suddenly sprouted and bloomed behind her.
‘Eden Rose?’
A blue rose, symbol of the Blanchet Ducal family.
A flower that had completely vanished from the world along with the Blanchet Dynasty.
“Ah.”
Erich, unable to help himself, shed tears and knelt before Estelle. Estelle, among the blue roses, seemed more noble than anyone else. The thing Erich had argued about, the thing he thought was the point of worth, suddenly felt absurd.
Estelle was, indeed, the true mistress of the Blanchet Ducal Family. No one else belonged there but her.
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
John stood in front of the altar beneath the basement.
“Come out.”
He pushed aside the altar, revealing a space that tore open and a black hand sprang out. Then a humanoid black demon slowly appeared.
The demon was the being that had formed an agreement after John had devoured the shadow dragon.
The demon’s purple eyes flashed.
“How did you lose all your protective magic? You’ve become unable to use dark magic properly…”
“Enough. Tell me what you need as a sacrifice.”
John, who had lost the ring of protection, was limited in using dark magic. Using black magic could even devour his own demonic power.
“Fine. I’ll demand a price for your wish.”
But there was a way to restore his power. If there was a suitable sacrifice, he could regain his power through a deal with the demon.
“The problem is I don’t know what kind of sacrifice it will be.”
Sometimes the demon demanded an unattainable sacrifice.
“Your cookie.”
“…Cookie?”
“Give me your teddy bear cookie.”
A cookie Estelle had given to John.
The demon’s mouth cracked into a grin.
“A very good sacrifice, isn’t it?”
“No.”
John frowned.
“That cookie won’t do.”
Then the demon paused for a moment.
“…That can’t be?”
“No.”
“Then we’ll take only one of them.”
“I don’t want that.”
John was firm.
“That’s mine.”
~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.
See you then!!
