LADAD Chapter 2

"Are you satisfied now, Sacred Maiden?"

The only one in this land with black hair and black eyes. The unique name Amelia, even with the Escliffe surname cast aside. No matter how little interest Ivan had in the temple, recognizing that the woman before him was Amelia and the sacred maiden wasn't very difficult.

"How did you..."

However, Amelia stepped back in surprise at having her identity discovered. It was only natural, so why was she so shocked? Perhaps due to living only under the temple's protection, she was a woman with somewhat naive aspects.

"Because the name Amelia is permitted only to you."

At Ivan's answer, Amelia finally let out a foolish short exclamation.

"That's right..."

Amelia trailed off.

Meanwhile, Ivan thoroughly examined the woman's face that somehow looked forlorn. At the same time, he sharpened his senses to check if there was anyone around them or any approaching presence.

No one was there. The moment he was certain of this, Ivan lightly jumped down from the wall.

"My goodness."

Then Amelia's red lips parted slightly in surprise. The wall was higher than Ivan's height, let alone Amelia's. But unbelievably, his landing was as light as a cat's.

"Why are you so wary of me?"

At Ivan's question, Amelia hesitated. She only then realized that she had unconsciously been preparing to step back.

"I am God's servant, so I am your servant as well. Don't be afraid."

It was a lie. Ivan approached Amelia step by step with a smiling face. His hand was toying with the handle of a dagger hidden in his coat.

"It's not that I'm being wary..."

If I just plunge a knife into that woman's heart who looks incredibly fragile, I could at least find out whether she really dies or not. Of course, it would be even better if she died from it. That was his thinking.

"I was just surprised."

When there were two or three steps left to the distance where he could swing his blade, Amelia said this and smiled. It was such a soft smile that she looked like a child.

"......"

Ivan unconsciously stopped his steps toward Amelia. Crack, the sharp hostility he had sharpened crumbled in an instant.

"So, did you go outside the temple today?"

As if sensing this, Amelia spoke to him in a tone free of tension or fear.

"Yes."

At Ivan's answer, Amelia's eyes sparkled. And this time, she stepped toward him without hesitation. It was a matter of moments before Amelia stood close to Ivan. Ivan consciously stopped himself from unconsciously pulling back.

"How was the outside?"

Amelia's eyes sparkled. They were the color of black grapes, but the pupils sparkling with anticipation looked like jewels. Even though there were no jewels in the world so jet-black and bewitching.

"It was the same as usual."

Ivan couldn't ignore those eyes, that sparkling anticipation. It wasn't as if he was captivated, yet he did so.

"What's it usually like? Are there many people? Did you go around places like night markets? What do they talk about?"

After hearing Ivan's answer, Amelia fired off questions. Ivan uncharacteristically shut his mouth, a bit flustered. The sacred maiden was said to be the most precious woman in Escliffe. She received even better treatment than the empress. So he hadn't thought she would be curious about such trivial matters.

"I went to a tavern."

At Ivan's confession, Amelia's eyes widened.

"A tavern?"

"......"

"You said a tavern?"

And she burst into small laughter. Ivan just blinked, not knowing what was strange about his answer.

"You've completely gone astray."

Only then did an 'oh no' expression appear on Ivan's face. A temple member going to a tavern. It was truly evidence of straying from the path. Since he had originally robbed a novice priest of his identity card at a tavern, he hadn't even thought it was strange.

"Ah, that's..."

Ivan was about to speak with a flustered face.

"It's okay. It's just something I need to keep secret. That's why you climbed over the wall and escaped here, right?"

Amelia spoke as if it didn't matter. It was truly an attitude of no big deal. Thanks to this, Ivan's momentary tension became ridiculous.

"So how was it?"

Just as Amelia was subtly probing Ivan about the outside situation—

"Sacred Maiden!"

A voice looking for Amelia was heard. At the same time Amelia's eyes widened, the sound of grass being stepped on grew closer. Ivan hurriedly pulled his hood back over his head.

"Come this way."

At that moment, Amelia hastily grabbed Ivan's hand. And she led Ivan to a prayer room where few people came.

"This is close to my private quarters, so except when I use it, people hardly ever come. Even if I said I'd go to the prayer room today, they'd use the main hall, so no one will come here."

After opening the heavy door and pushing Ivan into the prayer room without warning, Amelia rattled off words like a machine gun.

"Sacred Maiden! Where are you!"

The voice calling for Amelia grew closer.

"The guards will return soon too. I'll take the maid and go straight back to my room, so quietly slip out and return to your quarters. Got it?"

"......"

"Did you understand what I said?"

When Ivan silently nodded, Amelia showed a smile as if it was safe to be relieved and closed the prayer room door.

"Ah, but."

However, soon the door opened just a little and Amelia's black pupils appeared again.

"Next time, tell me about the outside world that I couldn't hear today. I'm curious about many things. Around midnight, the guards briefly lose focus while changing shifts, so that would be a good time."

Her eyes curved gently with laughter. The face wet with anticipation was innocent and lovely. Ivan looked at that appearance and nodded. Satisfied with the wordless answer, Amelia closed the door and turned around.

"Sacred Maiden!"

"I'm here."

Amelia answered the call.

"Can't you leave me alone even for a moment?"

"You left without saying anything. The High Priest told me to look and see if something had happened."

"I just came out for a walk alone. I felt suffocated."

Before long, the presence in front of the door gradually began to move away.

And when no presence could be felt at all, Ivan quietly opened the prayer room door. As if his conversation with Amelia had been like a dream, no one remained in the empty garden.

'I should leave before the guards return.'

Before leaving the prayer room, Ivan quietly looked around the interior. He saw a stone statue of the sacred maiden with hands clasped and eyes closed.

"......"

According to plan, he should have greeted her by first plunging a knife into her heart, asking if she was well, but he hadn't done so. Just because he was curious about the black eyes he was seeing for the first time in his life.

"Ha..."

Suddenly, Ivan burst into laughter that didn't fit the situation.

"......"

Of course, it was erased in an instant. Ivan turned his head straight ahead and took leisurely steps. And taking advantage of the gap before the holy knights returned, he climbed over the castle wall.

"Your Majesty."

"I told you not to follow."

"This is my job."

"You're so inflexible."

Rodan, who had been waiting for Ivan, bowed respectfully in greeting. Ivan clicked his tongue and handed the robe he had been wearing to Rodan.

"It's the temple wall of all places that you climbed over, how could I not wait?"

Rodan draped the robe over his arm while adding an explanation that his action wasn't born from inflexibility.

His words were right. The antipathy Ivan harbored toward the temple wasn't of a light kind. Moreover, after eavesdropping on the conversation at the tavern earlier, he had wanted to immediately behead the sacred maiden.

For Rodan, it was an unavoidable choice, which Ivan also understood.

"I didn't kill her."

At Ivan's leisurely answer, faint anxiety appeared on Rodan's face. If he didn't kill her, did that mean he had injured her?

"I only had a peaceful conversation."

Rodan frowned slightly as if he had heard something absurd.

"But you set a fire."

"......"

"You beat a novice priest nearly to death and stole his identity card."

And he carefully pointed out Ivan's wrongdoings. It could have been called impudent, but Ivan didn't point this out. While there was naturally a difference in status, since Rodan was the son of his wet nurse, Ivan got along with him quite casually.

"Did I do that?"

Ivan shamelessly turned his head and stepped forward nonchalantly.

"But there was a harvest."

Although he hadn't been able to harm the sacred maiden to confirm whether her existence was truly immortal, it didn't seem like he had lost out. Even knowing that such an absurd opportunity—a night when Amelia was alone and even the guards were lax in their vigilance—would be difficult to come by again, he felt this way.

"Next time, tell me about the outside world that I couldn't hear today. I'm curious about many things."

Eyes that turned up sharply at the ends. But the poorly concealed curiosity toward the intruder who had appeared in the middle of the night. And interest in the world outside the temple. What all of this implied was clear.

Innocence, naivety, and purity.

"What do you mean by harvest..."

"There's a child who's very interested in the outside world. I became friends with her."

A little one who craved attention and affection.

"Ivan. You, you must become a strong emperor."

Such things were generally easy to exploit.