Episode 24
Translator : missme Editor : Aru

Then I sat face to face with Ash on the parlour. He asked me if I needed tea, so I shook my head and fastened my goal.

“I’m…..”

‘I’m going to the temple of love to steal the enchanted cloth, and if I take Ari out with me, she’ll be dead. So I have to leave her alone, and I’m here to ask you to help me find someone to protect Ari in the meantime because Sir Davery, who’s qualified, doesn’t listen to me and it’s hard to find the right person.’

“……I’m thinking of going to the temple for a while, and I’d like to have an outstanding skilled knight here to escort Lady Grace.”

“A skilled knight, how skilled do you need him to be?”

“As skilled as……Sir Davery?”

Then Ash seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

I suddenly agonized over Ash, who was silent. Do I have to add some extra explanation?

Maybe he thinks the criteria I suggested are too much. It might have been the case. Surely Sir Davery was a top-knight within the mansion.

It may be questionable that such a strong man is needed as an escort to Ari. I was pondering what to add when Ash opened her mouth.

“If you need someone with the same level as Davery, then just use Davery.”

“Huh?”

“Leave Davery in the mansion, and to the temple……”

The bright yellow eyes blinked and the words continued.

“Come with me. That’s solved, right?”

Ugh? No, wait a minute.

As soon as I heard it, my eyes unconsciously turned to the desk in the office.

I don’t know, but when I saw the number of documents that didn’t seem to be small, I opened my mouth.

“Aren’t you busy?

“I told you.”

“…..”

“It’s okay. That doesn’t matter.”

I thought for a moment how far the west temple I was going to go would be from here, but I stopped.

Ash wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t know it.

Soon I just nodded.

It was in a different direction than I thought, but the necessary problem was solved anyway. There was no reason to refuse.

There was no excuse to refuse anyway.

So my third visit to the temple was decided with Ash.

∞∞∞

“Have a good trip.”

Sir Davery waved his handkerchief in a restrained posture. I stared at him gently when I saw him off and opened my mouth.

“You told me that you can’t. What did you tell me back then? You’re going to get your bones plucked out if you neglect your duty?”

“Ah, my lady. That is also true.”

Sir Davery laughed.

“You know, my body is under the sky, and that sky is the Duke.”

“……..”

“If it’s the Duke’s command, this Davery Sack would not have said those few words with this darn mouth.”

There was nothing more to say about the imposing figure of Ash. Anyway.

“Please take good care of Ari.”

“Don’t worry.”

Ari also responded. Although she wore the ‘want-to-follow’ face she knew the reason why I was leaving her in the mansion, so she waved gently beside Sir Davery.

Soon the carriage set off.

The carriage, carrying only me and Ash, ran at a constant speed.

Is it just my feeling? I felt like the horseman was driving the carriage comfortably with all his might.

‘No, it’s not just my feeling.’

I stared at Ash sitting opposite me.

Ash had his arms folded and his eyes closed.

As soon as he got on the wagon, he leaned against the chair like that and closed his eyes. I couldn’t get rid of the thought that he slept less the night before.

‘There’s a lot of paperwork on top of his desk.’

In any case, Ash, neatly dressed in an out-of-town suit, was wearing a long sword at his waist.

His tall, sturdy physique, and a sword that did not seem to be for decoration. In addition, the face with the flowing features was combined, making it difficult for most people to see Ash even before they could hear his identity and status.

Once they’ve heard his identity, oh, let’s just not mention it.

In particular, the deeper the survival instincts developed, the more nervous they were and lower their postures, I thought.

‘I…’

I thought at a glance.

‘What if I hadn’t known Ash completely?’

So if it was the first time we ran into each other at an event outside.

‘Would I be scared?’

Maybe I’ll be worried and scared even when I stare at him from a distance.

‘No, I don’t know. I might have been at ease, unexpectedly, because I didn’t know from his appearance that he was a psychopath.”

Or maybe like this, I would have been uncomfortable because of his face.

It was when I was thinking about it and fixed my gaze on him. Ash opened his mouth.

“You got something to say?”

“Huh?”

“Do you have anything to say?”

……….wasn’t he asleep?

As the eyelids slowly rolled up, golden eyes like glass beads were revealed.

I couldn’t help but reconsider that my gaze must be stinging him.

“That’s…”

“……..”

“Oh, have you ever been to the temple of love?”

I didn’t want to say I was just looking at him, so I quoted Sir Davery’s question. Thank you, Sir.

“No. Never.”

“Then this is your first time. What do you think? Western love temples are pretty famous. Aren’t you curious about what it’s like?”

“Well… …not really. Rather than that, I’m more curious about what Noonim wants to do there.”

“Me? Well for me, I just want to sightseeing.”

“That’s good too.”

Ash, who said so and laughed, closed his eyes again.

I looked at the window instead of looking for something more to discuss.

If I keep looking at him, he’ll think I have something to say. So, I’ll just have to see the scenery.

The carriage moved at a fairly quick pace while maintaining a high level of comfort.

I thought it was quite advanced technology. Thanks to the horseman’s hard work, my eyes started to squint gently.

‘How long did I doze off?’

When I came to my senses, we had almost arrived at the temple.

‘Sseeup.’

Oh, my God, I didn’t doze off, I slept soundly.

How long did I sleep?

I straightened my body and pretended to fix my dress up. In the meantime, the carriage stopped completely.

The horseman opened the door. When I got off the carriage after receiving Ash’s escort, I could see the exterior of the temple at a glance…

A little disheartened exclamation flowed out.

“Wow…”

“It’s so easy.”

It’s so easy to get here, with nothing happening. I should have done this before. Oh, my beads.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lobo, the priest of the Western Temple of Love.”

We sent a message before departure, and a woman dressed in white priestly clothes greeted us as if she had been waiting.

I turned my head against her greeting.

“Lydia Widgreen. This is Ash Widgreen.”

“I know. Princess, Duke. As I’ve heard…….”

Her gaze. To Me. Ash, and straight to Ash.

Her gaze remained blatantly long, followed by her extended word.

“You’re very beautiful. Both of you.”

Both of us are beautiful, but I don’t know why she’s still staring at Ash.

“God will be glad to see you. Beauty is a gift from God. Now, this way,”

Soon after, we followed the priest’s instructions and stepped into the entrance to the temple.

The tall building, which seems to be a mixture of descending rocks and ivory, was magnificent, from walking and inside were similar.

The white pillars continue endlessly along the corridor, and the ceiling is very high, giving the impression of being open even though it is indoors.

It was rather monotonous because there were no decorations, but in other words, it was clean and tidy.

Walking ahead, the priest began to briefly explain the temple.

“For a piece of brief information, the temple was built about 300 years ago under the orders of the Holy Father of the time. The Zarzier brothers who were called the greatest architects of the time……”

I listened to her explanation with one ear. There was only one thought in my head.

‘As expected.’

It was fortunate that my guess was right. I was worried because the appearance looked a little different, but when I came in, the structure of time was almost identical to the temple of time.

The other thing maybe was the windows torching the sun from time to time.

‘The location of the room would be similar.’

I’ll recall where I have to sneak in.

It’s the room where the High Priest stays, their secret space inside it.

The enchanted cloth was kept in it. It was clear from the passage from the book I read that from that secret space, the High Priest had taken out the enchanted cloth and handed it over to Agrita.

‘If the method of storage is the same as the time’s bead, it’s not that difficult to get it in hand. All I needed to do was just get in that room.’

It won’t be too hard if I just follow my luck.

The good thing about the temple is that it does not set up security guards in front of the room because of faith among devotees.

They were only wary of outside intrusion, and once they entered, they were free to move everywhere.

However, it was not possible to make any disturbance because there were many young knights who came to study within the temple.

Of course, it wasn’t my purpose to make any disturbance, although I needed one million to sneak in, it doesn’t matter.

While breathing inwardly in the low tension, the priest stopped walking. She pointed to the left.

“It’s a small prayer room. You can donate here and pray to God.”

“Ah, yes.”

“When you’re done praying, we’ll show you the small auditorium, the main auditorium, the reception room, and the waiting room. I’d like to show you the atmosphere first, but now the High Priest is praying.”

“……the high priest?”

“Yes, if you really want to see him first, I’ll tell him.”

“No, it’s okay. There’s nothing to rush.”

My ears were ringing and my heart was pounding.

‘This is the chance.’

The high priest is praying. If so, then it means that the room is currently empty. All right, lucky me.

“Well, what does the priest do while we pray in the small prayer room?”

“I can’t interrupt your prayers, so I’ll wait here in the hallway. When you’re done, you can come out right away or try calling me, it’s fine.”

“Ah. I see.”

I then stepped into the small prayer room. As soon as I entered and closed the door, my eyes glistened.

‘I have to sneak out.’

I even didn’t see the scenery of the prayer room.

Pretending to be praying, I should get out of here and sneak into the room of the High Priest.

I will quickly steal the cloth, and then I can come back here, take the pretence off, and go straight into the hallway.

I looked inside the prayer room. I opened the window and thought about pulling myself out of it, and then I met Ash with my eyes.

“……….”

After a brief conflict, he opened his mouth.

“I need to go somewhere for a while, but……… it’s only for a while.”

“…….”

“Would you wait?”

And perhaps a natural answer came out.

“I’ll come with you.”

After a while, I crossed the window with Ash.

It was not as difficult as I thought to find the room of the High Priest. I don’t know if it was built by the same person, but I really want to praise the idea that all temples have the same structure.

As if I were shooting a spy movie, I walked under the window, or hid behind a pillar, carefully moving into the room.

Ash went along with my actions. Although, I don’t know what he’s thinking.