Cursed

"Do keep us informed on Lady Alice's condition, Your Grace," said the priest in a sincere tone while bowing before the duke. However, the subject of the address didn't give any response as he continued to study the documents before him.

Meanwhile, the priest didn't care for an answer at the moment since there was a more pressing thing that he needed to do. Thus, he needed to make haste towards the church. "I shall excuse myself then."

It was the butler then, who replied to him the seconds before he left the office. "We will certainly keep you posted."

"May God bless the young lady," the priest smiled kindly.

As soon as the door closed and the footsteps went away, a light thud resounded from the duke setting down his quill. The document that he had been seriously reading just now was carelessly cast aside as he stared at the door with a pair of dark eyes. The aura around him grew solemn.

The butler who had been by the duke's side since the man was but a teenager, immediately sensed the change in his mood. He turned towards the desk and inquired politely, "What might be bothering you, Your Grace?"

"He's suspicious," the man answered curtly as his brows joined together. He brought his intertwined hands towards his mouth and fell into deep thought.

For an old time butler like him, it didn't take a minute for him to understand his master's thoughts. "Does His Grace mean the priest's attention towards the lady?"

"For now, it's not certain whether it's just the priest or the church as well. But for him to take such an interest in a mere young girl's condition was already an issue." The duke didn't give a direct confirmation to the butler's guess, however this sentence itself was already enough to deduce his meaning.

There was a good reasoning behind the duke's prejudice against the church. However, with just his power and the second prince's party, it wasn't enough to contend against them. This was also one of the reasons why he kept Ophelia in the family.

Tapping his finger on the desk, the duke narrowed his eyes as he repeated the priest's words, "Keep them informed, eh?"

He scoffed with contempt and picked up the document again. "You know what to do, Elliard."

The butler, Elliard Bouchard, smiled amiably like a gentle old man. But, only few knew what treacherous deeds he had done while putting on that good-natured visage.

"Certainly, Sire." He bowed in reverence. "What about the prince? Shall we inform His Highness as well?"

The duke halted his writings for a second before shaking his head. "Not for now."

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On the other hand, as soon as the priest left the office, he didn't dilly dally and directly zoomed towards his carriage at a high speed. Then, he ordered the coachman to hurry back. It took approximately twenty minutes before a grand towering structure in the shade of purity while exuding a majestic feeling through its gold linings, unfolded before the priest's eyes.

He quickly got off the carriage and strode through the front steps, past the archway to the open foyer that led him to the first building where the sermon was usually held. Then, he continued to follow the path through different courtyards before arriving at the heart of the cathedral where the structure held the most splendor. It was located at the very back and the roof towered the other connecting buildings.

The priest directly went to knock on the archbishop's study room. "Pardon my interruption, Your Excellency. This humble one is Gilbert Reis and I've come bearing important news."

"Come in," an eldery voice came from behind the door. It sounded calm and steady but held the kind of charisma that made people couldn't help but to show respect. Gilbert immediately bowed as soon as he entered the room.

"What is it?" the archbishop set down his quill. A smile painted his elderly face.

"Your Excellency," Gilbert beamed once again when he was given permission to speak. The excitement that he had to conceal came pouring out. "I've found--ugh…"

Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to even begin his sentence when blood splashed out of his mouth, shocking the archbishop to his feet.

"Gilbert!" His complexion contorted as he watched Gilbert dropped to his knees and continued to retch more and more blood. But, what horrified both the archbishop and Gilbert was the dozens of scarabs that poured out with the blood.

Though some were dead as they exited his mouth, some were still alive. They flooded the entryway in a dense number and quickly spread within the room.

The archbishop complexion grew unsightly as he cast a simple fire spell to extinguish the crawling insects. He then went to Gilbert and tried to heal the poor man. By now, Gilbert was teetering in pain with his complexion growing paler and paler. Additionally, when he watched the scarabs pouring out of his mouth, he couldn't stop shaking in disgust and fear.

"Hang on," the archbishop encouraged Gilbert while pouring his mana into Gilbert's body. He supported Gilbert so he didn't fall onto the pool of his own blood. "Get a grip of yourself."

"Hah..hah...hah…" Gilbert was slowly losing his breath when the urge to vomit suddenly stopped. The pain had also vanished without a trace. "Wha...What's going on?"

"Are you alright now?" The archbishop asked as he stared at the young priest before him in confusion. He had tried to heal Gilbert but strangely, when his mana coursed through his body, the archbishop realized there was nothing wrong with Gilbert besides lack of blood.

"Y-Yes...hah…" Gilbert sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady himself. Then, he continued, "Your Excellency, more importantly---"

And it happened all over again. He didn't get the chance to say it before he threw up a dozen mouthfuls of blood. The group of scarabs crawled out again and the pain dunked him to the ground as his body trembled unstoppably.

The archbishop had pulled himself away from Gilbert the moment he started vomiting again. His brows knitted grimly as his voice boomed, "Guards!!"

If in the beginning he wasn't aware of it because of panic, now witnessing it happening for the second time gave him an inkling on what was going on with Gilbert. He watched as the holy knights barged in and immediately assisted Gilbert when he pointed at the dying man upon the pool of blood. The holy knights were a bit startled when they saw the mess.

After Gilbert calmed down again, before he could open his mouth, the archbishop made his move. "Silentium!"

The spell immediately clamped the young priest's mouth, forbidding him from speaking. He was dumbstruck at the archbishop's action. He went into panic when he thought he had crossed the archbishop. His eyes were wide open in terror. But, reality was different from what he thought.

"If you don't wish to die early, then don't speak out whatever it is you have wanted to share with me," the archbishop spoke solemnly. A deep frown formed on his face.

"You have been cursed, Child."