Chapter 115
At Kyte’s command, Rahada, whose eyes were covered by white lace, bowed deeply. Kyte pointed to his own hair with a single finger.
Rahada promptly moved behind him and brushed out the long white hair, then tied it up high.
So that it wouldn’t hurt. So that the scalp wouldn’t be pulled tight.
Once Rahada, exercising superhuman focus, had finished arranging his hair, a lively woman’s voice rang out from outside the room.
“Lord Kyte! It’s me!”
At Kyte’s glance into the mirror, Rahada went to open the door.
On the other side stood Rozemian, her pink hair seeming to give off a sweet fragrance.
“May I come in?”
“Of course.”
Kyte smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
Rozemian entered the room, her wavy hair bouncing. With a natural movement, she sat in the chair opposite Kyte.
Kyte, as if well accustomed to her visits, poured tea into the cup prepared for her.
“Thank you, Lord Kyte! Wow, what kind of tea is this today? It smells amazing!”
Rozemian’s cheeks, the same shade as her hair, blushed. Her rosy cheeks looked just like ripe peaches. With a gentle smile and his usual kind voice, Kyte said,
“Priestess, you seem to be in a good mood.”
“Mm. I’ve always been in a great mood every single day since joining the pilgrimage procession! And to see you here in distant Dongguk, Lord Kyte! I thought I wouldn’t see you for months, so I’m so glad! Ah, maybe the good thing is that I got to meet you, Lord Kyte?”
With a voice as sweet as her smile, Rozemian chattered away, sometimes grinning, sometimes baring her teeth in a wide smile. It was as if the very air around them was being tinged with pink flower petals.
Even Rahada, standing guard behind Kyte, couldn’t help glancing at Rozemian’s lovely face. Despite all his harsh training to suppress desire and emotion, even for outstanding Rahada, Rozemian’s cheerfulness was hard to withstand.
“But what brings you suddenly to Dongguk? I thought you’d be busy at the temple!”
“Since the Holy Kingdom is turning a blind eye to the problem at Seonui Lake, I couldn’t bear to wait for the news to reach His Holiness the Pope while the villagers suffered, so I pushed myself to come here.”
“Wow… As expected. I’ll definitely become a kind and warm priest just like you, Lord Kyte!”
“Priestess Rozemian, you already are such a person.”
As Kyte smiled warmly, Rozemian caught her breath, eyes sparkling as if in awe.
A wonderful person. Someone to emulate.
Seeing Kyte’s strength and kindness once again inspired Rozemian’s resolve to become a high priest like him.
“Lord Kyte, that child—um, what do you plan to do? I was so shocked when you said you’d brought a child abandoned by his parents on your way here. You’re going to take him to the central temple in the capital, right?”
Rozemian’s true purpose had been the black-haired boy from the beginning. She had become so distressed over the boy, who had lost both identity and speech from the shock of being abandoned, that she could do nothing else.
Despite the other priests’ attempts to dissuade her, insisting that Lord Kyte would take good care of him, Rozemian ended up visiting Kyte’s room. It was an inexplicable sense of responsibility—she just had to look after the child herself.
“The boy seems quite ill… I don’t think he’s fit to walk the path of a priest. I was considering leaving him in a nearby orphanage.”
“What? Around Dongguk?!”
Rozemian’s rabbit-like round eyes grew even wider.
“Yes. I plan to return immediately through a portal, but I’m worried his condition might worsen if he’s exposed to large-scale magic like that.”
“Ah…”
Rozemian’s expression crumpled. Kyte was putting it nicely, but he was basically saying he would just leave the boy here!
“L-Lord Kyte, then…”
“Yes? Please, go ahead.”
“Would it be all right if I… took the boy to the capital?”
“The capital?”
“Uh… yes! There’s an orphanage I serve at in the capital, and the healing priests visit often, so it would be good for the child, too!”
“You must be quite concerned about him.”
“…Yes. I don’t know why, but he keeps weighing on my mind.”
“You are a warmhearted person. But you don’t need my permission for something like that. Do as you wish. No one needs permission to help others.”
“Wow! Thank you so much!”
Rozemian sprang up and went to the boy, who was facing the wall, examining the patterns.
“My name’s Rozemian. Shall we go out with this Big Sis and get something tasty?”
With her cherry-like lips chattering cheerfully, Rozemian led the boy out.
Once more, a chilling, heavy silence fell over Kyte’s room.
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