Chapter 83
Because she wasn’t fine.
Not physically—mentally.
“This sand has been blessed with divine power, Hies. That means the greatest responsibility falls on you.”
“I know nothing about this. Please, calm yourself, Your Highness.”
“If you don’t know, then who does?”
After setting Siren upright, Yasamin lowered himself to examine her knees, his aura turning menacing.
Blood-soaked knees, stained skirts, and sand.
With a careless kick, he scattered the grains, revealing something that wasn’t sand between them.
The faint glimmer was unmistakable—glass shards.
“The ritual ends here. You—call Eltan.”
“Y-yes, understood!”
“And no one moves from this spot. I need to find out who dared to damage what belongs to me.”
His tone was so ruthless it sounded as if he’d behead anyone who disobeyed.
Sensing the danger, members of the Nu clan surged forward to shield Hies.
“Stay your hand, Your Highness!”
“We must first investigate exactly how this happened!”
“If Hies were responsible, it would be too obvious. This is a setup!”
As voices rose in defense of Hies, Yasamin unleashed a fierce pressure.
Like a tidal wave, his power crashed over them, silencing the background music in an instant. The murmuring crowd, too, slowly fell silent, swallowing their words.
And Siren… as she watched Yasamin, a thought crossed her mind.
Ah, if only this man never changed.
If he remained like this forever, she would gladly stay by his side—even to death.
She had endured the pain and hesitated for nothing, because Yasamin had been willing to rage for her.
She never realized before what it truly meant to have someone she could hide behind.
She didn’t have to say a single word.
He would handle everything for her.
Yasamin seated Siren in the chair he had occupied and carefully examined her legs from knee to calf. Then, activating Raksha, he healed her wounds.
Seeing this, the gathered clans men’s eyes widened in shock.
“H-healing magic!”
“As expected, His Highness is truly extraordinary!”
Healing magic was an advanced form of sorcery. Very few could wield it with such ease.
Observing their reactions, Siren felt a newfound certainty.
If she honed her sorcery, she could carve out a place for herself in the South.
‘For now, I’ll be fine because Yasamin is here. Even if I’m tormented, he’ll step in for me. There’s nothing to worry about.’
But what if Yasamin left her here and returned to Wilkeron?
What if he didn’t come back for a long time?
What if he collapsed?
Or… what if he abandoned her?
Even as she watched Yasamin standing up for her, Siren found herself thinking of the worst possibilities.
To survive.
‘Hies, was it? That priest has been staring at me persistently for a while now.’
And it was far from a friendly gaze.
Eltan once said that if Yasamin wasn’t present, that man would be the second most powerful figure here.
‘So that means if Yasamin isn’t here, I’ll be nothing more than prey for that man.’
He seemed to be a different type from Angelique, yet the same insidiousness lurked within him. The arrogance of someone who had spent their entire life looking down from a position of superiority. The oppressive air of one who tramples upon those beneath them.
As a preyed-upon being, she could sense it.
The priest was likely not the one who orchestrated this harassment.
‘It’s too crude for him to have done it himself.’
It was probably the work of one of the subordinates who followed Hies.
The truth would come to light within two days… and she could already picture exactly how things would unfold.
That thought alone was exhausting.
‘Ruining the Diet ritual wouldn’t just be a stain on me—it could tarnish Yasamin as well. Seeing him in person, the priest seems to hold some favor toward Yasamin….’
That made it all the more certain that Hies wasn’t behind this.
‘Whoever orchestrated this will likely be punished by Hies himself. It was done without his permission, after all. That much is obvious just from his expression.’
And in the end, Siren would receive a formal apology.
That would be the end of it.
This wasn’t an incident that would escalate any further.
She was injured, humiliated, and the ritual had been ruined, but… everything needed to be resolved within a “reasonable limit.”
“There’s no guarantee the same thing won’t happen again, so we’ll consider the ritual complete.”
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