STM 164

Hoiga met an unexpected guest shortly after he heard Crystal Lake’s news. This morning’s newspaper was dominated by the Adeye family’s fire, which he’d prepared in advance.

However, the Adeye siblings’ obituary he meant to include didn’t make it in. Even so, the fire was news that would surely cover all of Tubain.

But news from Borhumi arrived that was so shocking it would make this fire be forgotten instantly. Kun Tairok used a divine beast’s power to defeat monsters and save Borhumi’s land. Moreover, that power was water’s power.

Kun used Borhumi’s divine beast’s power. He couldn’t believe it. How could Borhumi’s divine beast do that? Everyone knows a divine beast only contracts with a family’s bloodline. But it chose Tairok? Why?

He had countless questions, but couldn’t find a proper answer for even one of them. All of this just felt like it came from his own mistake.

An ominous feeling, as if he’d missed something important, made him suffocate. And now, one of those mistakes appeared before his eyes like a debtor.

“Have you heard Ariona’s news about being locked in prison?”

The guest who visited Hoiga was High Priest Cheki. He hadn’t seen her in a long time. She’d been resting since the White Branch meeting. She’d lost a lot of weight and looked like she would collapse at any moment.

She came all this way to save her disciple with such a body. Hoiga bowed his head in guilt, even though it wasn’t his fault.

He wanted to talk to Duke Kilu about that matter, but Kilu hadn’t appeared since last night. To be precise, he vanished right after they talked about the divine beast’s door.

“Furthermore, the temple’s decision came down to excommunicate that child for his crimes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Was it your order?”

“No!”

Hoiga denied it loudly and quickly checked his surroundings, worried someone might hear. However, the library was quiet as always. However, he couldn’t hide his anxiety and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Master, it really wasn’t me. Why would I give Ariona such a dangerous task? Ariona is like a brother to me.”

“Then why did that child steal and smuggle the temple’s treasure? Is this work truly not your plan?”

“I planned the Adeye family’s matter. But I really didn’t know Ariona would go there. Duke Kilu said he’d handle everything…”

Hoiga’s voice faded as he saw High Priest Cheki looking at him with eyes full of disappointment.

“You should get away from Duke Kilu right now.”

A moment of suppressed resentment burst from Hoiga’s mouth.

“Even though the start was because of you, Master? If you hadn’t been caught and lost consciousness, I wouldn’t have had to fulfill Duke Kilu’s demands.”

“Hoiga.”

“And it can’t be undone now. I’ve already taken Duke Kilu’s hand.”

Hoiga blamed her but couldn’t look at her face and turned away.

“I’ll do my best to handle Ariona’s situation.”

A moment later, he heard High Priest Cheki stand up. However, he didn’t hear any footsteps, as if she continued to look down at him. Instead, he heard her low voice after a long time.

“Hoiga, I still believe you’re Salvation. Don’t doubt yourself.”

Her footsteps faded, and Hoiga covered his head with his hands. Yes, I’m Salvation to save this world. So I shouldn’t waver. I can’t collapse.

But the resolution didn’t last more than a few hours. On a clear afternoon, countless extra editions were scattered across the world like festival confetti.

‘The true Salvation’s appearance? The one who’ll save the world from monsters appears. Adeye Lu declared he’d close the rift that appeared at Crystal Lake on [Date].’

The familiar sentences felt like Hoiga was looking at an article that announced his own prophecy. But this was on a different level than just predicting hail.

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“Lu.”

The person who caught me pressed for an answer. He asked why I ran away. I decided to act shamelessly.

“Ran away? You saw wrong.”

“You ran all the way here.”

“That’s because it’s my usual workout time. You’re the one who interrupted it, Grand Duke.”

“Then why can’t you look at me?”

A clever reply didn’t come to this question. I really couldn’t look at him. Once I admitted my feelings, I felt like every word and gesture would reveal everything. And the eyes were the most dangerous.

“It seems there’s something so scary you can’t even look at me properly.”

“No!”

I looked at him by habit as I flared up, but I soon regretted it. His sun-like golden eyes sparkled with a playful light as if he hadn’t been angry.

Unless he gained acting skills by selling his soul, his enjoyment seemed genuine. That made things even more complicated. I tried to hide it by asking aggressively.

“You also came to see me last night and just ran away, Grand Duke.”

His eyebrows twitched.

“I didn’t run.”

“But it was running away?”

“Similar.”

He agreed easily placed his hand on my face.

“I would have kidnapped you if I stayed longer. Because I wanted to take you with me.”

“…Why didn’t you?”

“Because I was afraid you’d wake up.”

His hand gently ran down my face.

“You haven’t slept deeply very often.”

I must have gone mad. In the past, I would have snorted and called it a cheap trick. But now it just sounded as sweet as sugar.

The complexities surrounding my future melted away with a comical ease at that gentle voice.

Without realizing it, I couldn’t take my eyes off him and almost kissed him. I tried to suppress it by looking away. I heard a small laugh.

“Are you so moved it’s embarrassing?”

“Well, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s just a small thing.”

“Exactly. It’s not something to be embarrassed about. It’s a small thing.”

But Doctor Kim said we care about small things because we like someone. I felt an urge to hear his true feelings.

“Why do you care about even the small things?”

“Because I want to. What can I do when my heart tells me to? Lu.”

He called me and stared with deep eyes.

“Do you like me?”

“Why are you suddenly asking that question?”

“Isn’t that the reason you want to check my heart? Because you like me. You’ve fallen for me so deeply that you want to run away so I don’t find out. Am I wrong?”

He brutally stripped me bare. I almost ran away again, overcome with shame. Instead, I let out a sigh of laughter.

“It shows you’ve received many confessions.”

He frowned, as if he didn’t like my reaction. That actually made me feel a little more comfortable looking at him. I thought the moment my feelings were revealed would be so embarrassing and terrifying that the sky would fall and the earth would cave in.

But it wasn’t a big deal. It was harder to deny it for my goal. So, in the end, I couldn’t say “No.”

“I’m not that far gone yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”

I replied bluntly, but the warning didn’t work. He was already smiling so brightly. He was already being called a radiant sun, and all sorts of adjectives, but he seemed poised to reach the pinnacle of brilliance.

It felt strange. Even though I didn’t admit I liked him, he was this happy.

I feel like I know your answer too well without hearing it.

You really like me. His eyes, expression, and even every strand of hair showed his emotions.

I couldn’t be as happy as him and just stared, captivated by his smile. He lifted my hand and whispered.

“You can get ahead of yourself.”

He kissed each finger and looked down at me with burning eyes.

“I’m far gone. I can’t control my emotions to the point where they’re obvious to you.”

“…I get it, so stop.”

“Lu, what are you afraid of?”

My usual self would’ve flared up at the word “afraid,” but I couldn’t argue now. I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Because I don’t know the future.”

“Why care about the future? I’m the one in front of you right now.”

That’s because I came from the future. Because I came to the past after I checked my world’s state in the future. I didn’t say anything, but his voice suddenly grew cold as if he felt something strange.

“Is there a reason the future is more important than the present?”