Chapter 102

'I'm going crazy. Even if it's a play, how could they do such a thing?'

They were already prepared for this situation and had rehearsed their lines.

Even if he is the High Priest, he wouldn't check on them right next to the bed where a man and woman are sleeping together, so let's just pretend to do that.

But even if it's just 'pretending', it means that we have to lie down together half-naked and make strange noises.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case from today onwards.

"Well, anyway… From this week on, we have to sleep in the same bedroom. Take care of me, my lady."

Carlyle sprawled on the bed and muttered to himself. However, he also felt a sense of unease, as if his chest was tightening.

It wasn't that the meal was bad.

'Is she going to climb onto the bed?"

Although he pretended to be tired and rubbed his eyes with his hand, his eyes were watching Asha through his fingers.

And there was enough space for someone with a habit of tossing and turning to roll around next to him.

But besides the bed, there were also couches and sofas in the room where one could sleep.

'It must be uncomfortable to sleep there. You should sleep on the bed if possible. It's not like I'm going to touch you or something.'

Carlyle muttered silently to himself but he couldn't say it directly to Asha.

"Good night."

But as expected, Asha flipped the blanket over the couch and lay down.

"If you sleep there…"

"Yes?"

"Oh, never mind. You must be tired. Sleep well."

Carlyle was about to say that sleeping there would hurt her back but refrained. It would be extravagant to complain about this when she had slept roughly before.

After calming his dissatisfaction for a while and staring at the dark ceiling, he cautiously spoke up.

"Aren't you cold?"

"I'm fine."

"Lair."

"I'm truly fine."

"Nothing will happen, just sleep here."

"I'm fine, so don't worry about me and go to sleep."

"Am I not warm enough?"

"No."

"…I'll sleep there then, since the Countess will sleep here."

"I don't want to."

"You don't?"

"Since the spot is perfectly warmed up now, I don't feel like moving. Can't you just sleep there?"

"..."

"Then… you sleep here tomorrow. No objections."

Leaving that one sentence as if in defiance, Carlyle turned his back.

It seemed like it would be just the right amount of warmth if he slept with someone in his arms, but his arms felt cold for some reason.

***

Early the next morning, Gabriel came to see Asha.

"So, what do you mean by 'blessing the castle'?"

"Old castles are susceptible to evil spirits. By offering blessings, I can ward off such spirits and prevent misfortune from befalling the castle."

He claimed to have sensed bad spirits all over Pervaz Castle and offered to bless it.

When Asha hesitated, he reassured her, knowing what she was worried about.

"If you don't trust me, have the Countess show me around the castle. If you find anything suspicious about my actions, you can report it to His Highness Carlyle."

It was hard to refuse him after he put it that way. He wasn't even asking for anything in return; he was offering to do something for them.

"Very well. I have nothing to do right now, so I'll show you around."

"You're quick to decide. I won't take up too much of your time."

Asha was tired from lack of sleep, but she decided to observe Gabriel's actions rather than refuse the High Priest's offer and worsen the situation from the start.

"Shall we start from the highest point of the castle and work our way down? That would be the fastest way."

"I don't mind either way. I'm just worried that it might be difficult for you to go up to the top floor of the castle."

"Climbing stairs is something I do every day at the temple."

And so, the two of them headed to the highest point of the castle. True to his word, Gabriel climbed the stairs after Asha without uttering a single groan.

He chatted with Asha calmly and asked her questions.

"Is there no temple in Pervaz?"

"Yes. Before we joined the Empire, Elahaism was not the state religion, and after that, we were constantly fighting against the invasion of barbarians, so we didn't have the resources to build a temple."

"I see… Then the people of Pervaz must not know much about God."

Asha, who had been walking ahead, turned back.

"In terms of interpreting the scriptures, yes, that is true. However, if you compare the number of times we pray to God and the depth of our hearts, we will not be inferior to any place in the Empire."

She stared into the eyes of the man who had been born into a wealthy noble family and lived a safe life as a High Priest, and added.

"Because we have lived through times when we had no choice but to pray earnestly."

Those were the days when they didn't know if they would live to see tomorrow.

All people could do in those dark days was fight the enemy, come home, and pray.

"You must have had a hard time. Though it is late, I will pray for the peaceful repose of the many souls who have departed to God's side and the late Count Pervaz and his family."

"…Thank you."

For a moment, Asha thought that Gabriel might not be a bad person after all.

Among the nobles she had met in the capital, no one had ever understood the pain of Pervaz, and even those who learned about the tragic times usually treated it as someone else's business.

However, at least Gabriel is standing here now, putting his hands together to pray for the dead.

'Maybe it's just a habit as a priest.'

Asha nodded her head to Gabriel, who had finished praying, and went back up the stairs.

They climbed to the top of the castle, chatting about nothing in particular.

"You can see all the way to the border from here."

Gabriel exclaimed as he looked out the window of the spire.

"Yes. The castle is located on high ground, and the spire, which serves as a lookout for enemy invasions, has been very helpful in the past. We can tell at least half a day in advance if they're coming."

However, Gabriel was not interested in Pervaz's past wars.

'The Abandoned Lands are really close. Then wouldn't Countess Pervaz know a lot about the Abandoned Lands?'

He had tried to find as much information about the Abandoned Lands as possible, but there wasn't much, and he couldn't be sure if he could believe it all. Suddenly, Asha started to look like an important source of information.

Gabriel nodded his head meaninglessly and asked as if he were simply curious.

"You must know more about the Abandoned Lands than anyone in the Empire."

"Well, I don't know how much other people know, so I can't compare."

"I've heard a little bit about the strange stories of the Abandoned Lands. They say there's some kind of evil energy there…"

Asha nodded her head.

"From what I heard from my father, the savages and beasts of the Abandoned Lands are corrupted by magic."

"Is the 'evil energy' I heard about 'magic'?"

"Yes. They say that magic seeps out from all over the Abandoned Lands. Animals with weak spirits become demons, and humans become aggressive and destructive."

"So the humans who are so corrupted are the savages of the Abandoned Lands!"

Gabriel widened his eyes as if in surprise, but his heart was different.

'Wait a minute. This could be a huge jackpot, couldn't it?'

The most frustrating thing for Gabriel was that he had no means of wielding force. His dark magic was not something he could use at any time.

But what if there was a group he could control with dark magic circles…?

'I could have an army that is aggressive, destructive, and obedient!'

It seemed like the trip to Pervaz was already paying off.

Gabriel decided to ask about Carlyle as well.

"What was the war like earlier this year?"

"What are you asking?"

"Everyone says that it was His Highness Carlyle's achievement to repel the invasion of the savages, but surely Countess Pervaz and the Pervaz army couldn't have just stood by and watched."

His smile seemed to say, "I know everything. You must have suffered a lot because your achievement was even taken away from you."

However, Asha's expression did not change at all.

"His Highness's Haven Knights and our Pervaz army fought together. However, I agree that the victory is His Highness' achievement."

"Why is that? Are you being too humble, Countess Pervaz?"

"I'm just stating the facts. If His Highness Carlyle hadn't been there, we would have lost. After all, the bastards had catapults and a lot of supplies."

Gabriel quickly realized Asha's intention.

She was asking if he knew that the Empress had supported the barbarians with supplies, and if he was also in an alliance with her in a bold way.

Of course, Gabriel was not the kind of person to be embarrassed or show his feelings at this point.

"That must have been scary. Do you think the barbarians have someone backing them?"

"...I guess so."

"His Highness Carlyle is a man with many allies but also many enemies.... The fact that the sparks have flown to Pervaz makes me even more worried about the future."

Asha replied with an indifferent expression to the strangely divisive words.

"It is a much better spark than being abandoned by the Empire and dying of cold and hunger."

And then she turned around again.