“ – Your Highness, please refrain from any dangerous actions.”
Thinking of Jean, and one of his requests; to protect myself and my body.
I didn’t forget, I faced and pointed the dagger at the orc with a cold face. Without missing a single beat, I condemned him.
The orc soon fell out of the window, screaming in pain.
The dagger was small but made very sharp infused with mana. Enough to penetrate thick orc leather skin.
The orc collapsed helplessly, spouting green blood from his body in a green blood from his body.
BAM!
The carriage door suddenly opened.
“Riddel!”
“Your Highness, my lady!”
“Your Highness!”
At the same time, I heard the voices of Kyle, Sejan and the knights accompanying us.
Kyle and Sejan, who made eye contact with me, paused in disbelief. The same happened to the knights in the back. I knew why; holding a dagger ready to strike.
‘I guess it’s because of the green blood dripping from the dagger.’
Everyone would have thought I would be terrified.
‘Oh, my God. I can’t live up to your expectations.’
Embarrassed and uncomfortable, I encourage with a smile to settle the silent atmosphere.
“Archduke, Sejan, don’t worry about this, but can you take care of the rest of the orcs?”
Uh, well, maybe they’ve already taken care of it.
***
From ancient times, the southern part of the Arnold Empire has long been called the Sun. It was due to the rich area that bathed in the warm sunlight throughout the four seasons.
“Wow.” Popped out of my mouth.
As we left the forest and continued on our way a little longer, I discovered flowers on the side of the road blooming beautifully, even this late in November.
It was amazing.
‘By the way, it was really embarrassing earlier.
When we had to take a break in the middle of the forest to get rid of the monster’s corpse and quickly repair the carriage.
That is when one of the knights made a fuss and became the source of my embarrassment.
“ – I heard that her Highness really killed one of the orcs.”
“ – Oh my god, really?”
“ – Of course, I saw it happening with my own two eyes. Her Highness’ appearance was one of elegance as she was the goddess of war defeating the orc with a simple dagger.”
“ – I saw that too! After defeating the orc, did you see what her Highness looked like. She was so calm and relaxed.”
“ – She defeated the orc all on her own.”
“ – Goddess of luck, a goddess!”
The knights praised me infinitely and even added false testimony; to the point of creating a new story.
Thanks to this, all eyes were on me while the knights devoted their passion and sincerity to the new topic of the day. Eventually, I couldn’t stand the praise and went quietly into the carriage. However, I found an excited Lily who praised me for the second time.
‘Oh, it’s embarrassing to think about it again.’
I shook my head twice for the memories to go away.
There was some consolation to the situation; Kyle and Sejan were quieter than expected while moving south.
‘I thought it would be the case.
Thank God.
After some time, I started to wonder how long I have been looking at the scenery of the south outside the carriage that ran nonstop since the attack.
“Your Highness, look over there. I see a temple up ahead.’
As I turned my head at Lily’s words, I began to see a white and magnificent building. We finally reached our destination. The temple was just around the corner.
***
At that time, we arrived, the Arcane Temple seemed busier than usual.
Although there was no running around due to the nature of the temple, the frequency of people going in and out was a good indicator of the busy time.
“Priest Corte, has the final inspection of the hall been completed?”
“How’s the meal preparation going? Everything will be out in time, right?”
“Wait, what’s this stain on the pillar? It’s dirty. Wipe it again.”
Among them, a distinctive luxuriously clothed man was nervous, moving twice as much as others.
It was Lantes Thales, one of the highest priests at the temple. Lantes, who had been giving instructions for quite some time now, looked around as if he were looking for something.
Then he frowned and said to the gentleman next to him. “Priest John. The Romani Great Duchy will be arriving soon. Where is the High Priest now?”
“That’s…”
Lantes’ face hardened when he found the embarrassed expression of the priest.
“Don’t tell me he’s not here.”
“Well, yes.”
Lantes’ face hardened even more as the priest bowed his head.
I was familiar with the High Priest filthy and tricky nature disposition. Was it not too much of him? While we were not the Emperor, we were still coming from the Romani Great Duchy.
Of course, there was something more.
Unlike other countries, the Arnold Empire was ruled by lords in the west, south, and north, except for the east where the emperor was located. Among them, the northern Romani Great Duchy was the least interfered with by the emperor.
The reason was simple; the northern territory was owned by the Archduke, which was not granted to the emperor, and in a way, it was also the concept of a small country.
And the people managing the south here were uniquely on the temple side.
In other words, the High Priest was the lord.
However, due to the large ownership of land owned by the emperor in the west, south, and north, the emperor considered the south to be the weak force, meaning the interference between the emperor and the south was higher than other regions.
So, if you get along with Romani.
‘I think we can keep the Emperor in check.’
“Damn it!” Eventually, a harsh word popped out of Lantes’ mouth.
It was something that should not have been said as a priest, but there was no one who stopped him.
He soon gritted his teeth and shouted. “I’m sure you’re stuck somewhere in the temple anyway, so come find me now.”
***
The temple was filled with pure white flowers. It was so white that my heart became reverent.
At the entrance, hundreds of believers and priests were standing in a line in silence, almost in a meditating state, each with white flowers on the left side of their chests.
‘Is it one of the temple’s rituals that are held every time a precious guest comes?
A pure ceremony to pray for the happiness of those who welcome.
There was nothing bad about it.
“You’re from the Romani Great Duchy. We have been waiting for you. Then I’ll take you right in.”
Subsequently, the three of us, including me, Kyle, and Sejan, followed him in with a gentle step.
Then, the priest escorting us made his way towards another priest, this one dressed in high-quality religious clothing with gold embroidery on his white robes. Holding his hands politely, he soon found us and greeted us politely.
“This is a rare sight from far away. I’m Lantes Thales, the manager of the Arcane Temple. Thank you for coming all the way here.”
The moment I heard his name, I almost couldn’t control my expression.
Lantes was also the High Priest’s secretary and the character in charge of the overall saltiness of this novel.
Instead of falling for his tricks, he would spend all night with documents piled up thanks to the High Priest. He would wander all day long, looking from him, playing hide and seek at important events.
That’s the kind of person he was.
‘On second thought…’
While Kyle stayed silent upon receiving Lantes’ greeting, a cold sweat grew on his face. Poor thing.
“Nice to meet you, Lantes. My name is Riddel Spencer, Romani’s Archduchess.”
I accepted Lantes’ greeting instead of Kyle.
Then I naturally looked around. The surroundings were noticeably frozen at a glance.
‘It’s because of Kyle.’
I was so used to it that I forgot about it for a second, but from the perspective of the priests, the notorious northern Archduke was in front of them.
‘Also.’
The dignity of the so-called crazy knight, Sejan, who was rumored throughout many stories, was also tremendous.
‘This is it; someone is going to be kept on their toes.’
Looking all around us, Lantes immediately picked up the conversation.
“Your Highness seems to be very curious about the inside of the temple, let me show you right away.”
As expected of the High Priest’s secretary, he quickly noticed the situation. In fact, it was half the reflexes cultivated by the harsh secretary life.
After the greetings, we quickly began to tour the temple.
In fact, it would be difficult to see this huge temple in a matter of hours. Lantes, who knew it well, introduced only important areas.
From the large hall on the first floor, which was the actual wedding venue, a kitchen that can accommodate more than 1,000 people. Rooms to purify your body and mind after a day of work.
‘But there’s gold all over the walls.’
Hmm. Perhaps a thousand years of history would do that.
Nevertheless, the temple was second to the Imperial Palace in terms of size. It was worth seeing.
In addition, the well-designed flow from each hallway minimized walking and Lantes’ explanations of each location were also positive factors.
However, as the size is large, it took quite a long time to make our way back.
‘I’m glad I wore flat shoes instead of heels.’
Or the soles of my feet would have already caught fire. I followed the pace, praising myself for making a wise decision.
“This is the prayer’s room.”
Lantes, who had been speaking without a hitch, was first cloudy with a look of embarrassment, blocking him from speaking further. But why…?
Lantes, who glanced at Kyle’s complexion, opened his mouth again.
“From here on out, it’s a gender-divided space, so only you can enter.”
In other words, it was for women only.
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