Why Would a Holy Knight Be Afflicted with Such a Curse? - Chapter 16

“Did you think you could overcome it?”

“Yeah.”

Celesto answered in a calm voice.

His judgment was probably not wrong. His family had, for generations, donated enormous sums to the Order and produced several clergy members as well.

In other words, most ordinary curses or spells had likely been resolved through methods like that until now.

Hmm… I’ll need a more honest answer.

I quietly pulled out a small snack pouch from my pocket. After checking the note that read “For Clients Only,” I set the pouch down on the coffee table.

From the snacks, I picked up the most elaborate-looking chocolate. It was the only “normal” snack among them.

“You should have one too.”

“…No, I’m fine.”

“Are you seriously putting on airs in front of me right now? You’ve demolished hundreds of jars of chocolate at our house—”

“When was that?”

Even as he grumbled, Celesto popped a chocolate packed with fruit chips into his mouth. From the looks of it, he was still living his life pretending he didn’t like chocolate.

At least I succeeded in getting him to eat….

Instead of taking out the notebook where I recorded conversations with my clients, I began drawing in my mind the shape of the mark the curse had left on that part of Celesto.

The mark that had shone an ominous, vivid red.

In many ways, it was not an ordinary kind.

From the type of curse to its intensity, nothing about it is normal….

That thought crossed my mind as I tapped my fingers against the sofa.

It had been a question from the start—why would such a curse have been placed in the basement of a chapel? Both the one who cast it and the one who would fall victim to it had to be people within the Order.

He’s probably hiding the reason from me among the things he hasn’t told me.

I kept tapping my fingers. It was to count the seconds instead of checking a clock.

It should be about time now.

I adjusted my posture. Compared to before, it was not just more relaxed—it was almost arrogant.

“The fact that you thought you could endure it at first means it wasn’t very different from other abnormal conditions.”

Celesto looked toward me.

Maintaining a leisurely attitude, I continued speaking—doing my best not to let Celesto notice the state he was in.

As naturally as possible.

“But this curse would have been different. It isn’t the kind of curse that can be solved just by enduring it.”

“…Yeah.”

Celesto readily agreed with what I said.

Soon, he sank into the sofa in a posture similar to mine—more relaxed than before.

“Enduring it was useless. The more I endured it, the more the sensations built up… and those accumulated sensations came back as even stronger reactions.”

“Sensations? What do you mean?”

“Heat rising from the mark… pressure… tension building up in my lower abdomen…”

He obediently answered my questions for a moment.

Then suddenly, Celesto’s face twisted.

“Why am I telling you all this right now?”

Ah, what a sharp question to ask at this timing.

I gathered every ounce of composure I could muster and gave him a gentle smile.

The moment Celesto saw my face, he shot to his feet. Then, as if he had realized something, he shouted—

“You put something strange in that chocolate earlier, didn’t you?!”

Right, he did have a tendency to be suspicious.

Even though a Holy Knight with a massive build was rampaging in front of me, I didn’t feel intimidated in the slightest.

The truth serum was already taking effect, and besides, there were two things only I could do for him.

Still lounging on the sofa, I continued the interrogation—no, the consultation.

“So after enduring it for about a month, the symptoms worsened to the point where you couldn’t bear it anymore? To the extent that my face started appearing in your mind?”

“Why would your face appear in my mind? Because you’re the only person who’d do perverted things with a priest bound by a vow of chastity. Ah, damn it. Hand over the antidote, Roarna.”

At those words, I swallowed without realizing it.

A priest bound by a vow of chastity, and perverted acts. There was exactly one man who fit all those keywords. Celesto’s older brother, who was now dead.

To be honest, I was a little flustered. I wasn’t mentally prepared yet to bring up Leocel.

It wasn’t as if Leocel and I had some grand relationship. It was more like… we had simply had a relationship where both of us clearly knew what we wanted.

But regardless of that, bringing up Leocel in front of Celesto was difficult.