Even smiling, he gave off an oddly chilly air.
Cassian couldn't tell how much sincerity Ollia had packed into that absurd question.
“No. I don't like drawing attention.”
“Strange, considering you were putting on quite the dazzling show at center stage?”
“That was... I had my reasons. There was no helping it.”
Cassian carefully set down the Ollia who had been leaning against him and averted his gaze.
He didn't want to admit that he'd willingly done something he hated in order to find Ollia. Because he knew that if he said it, Ollia would look pleased.
And if he saw that face, it would seem as though he actually liked Ollia.
That couldn't be. It mustn't be.
Honestly, Cassian lusted after Ollia. He'd done too much to deny that desire.
But that didn't mean he cared for Ollia deep in his heart.
“What reasons?”
“I'd rather not say.”
An interesting answer.
Ollia's eyes narrowed further.
“Are you embarrassed? You can be honest, you know. You can admit it was fun dancing with a beautiful young lady. That's only natural.”
“...What answer are you hoping to hear?”
“Your true feelings.”
How he'd ended up dancing with that lady. How a man who claimed to hate attention had adorned the stage so brilliantly. What they'd talked about. What he'd felt.
He wanted to know all of it.
Obsession?
Yes. It was obsession.
He had no intention of denying it. After all, Ollia had always been obsessed with Cassian.
He wanted every one of Cassian's glances, every scrap of his attention, fixed on him.
Eyes that feigned innocence performed a clear serenity.
But Cassian still wouldn't give up the answer Ollia wanted.
“It was just an impulsive choice. I got swept up in the moment, that's all.”
“An impulsive choice...”
Ollia knew perfectly well that Cassian was not a man easily swept up by impulse.
What a cute little excuse.
“Like when you kissed me?”
“...”
“Hmm? Cassian, was kissing me an impulsive choice too? Did you get swept up in the moment?”
That hadn't exactly been the sort of moment to get swept up in, had it?
When he said it with a teasing, ticklish note of laughter, Cassian's expression hardened.
Ollia pressed him.
He wanted Cassian to quit the clumsy excuses and explain the whole sequence of events in detail.
Perhaps he wanted even more than that.
Cassian, who had fallen silent with a rigid face as if ordering his thoughts, finally looked Ollia in the eye.
And he spoke coldly.
“Spending time with a beautiful lady left me heated, so I used even a priest to satisfy my urges. Are you satisfied now?”
His tone was almost harsh.
What it held was not what Ollia had expected to hear from Cassian.
And so he felt a slight bewilderment.
Ollia, who had blinked his startled eyes with his mouth slightly open, gave a slow nod.
“I hadn't thought of it that way.”
“...”
“So you could use me... like that too.”
Well, that made sense.
No matter how beautiful a lady might be, one couldn't easily dally with a noble from another kingdom.
Cassian was serious by nature, and the expedition would leave the kingdom before long.
So he'd vented that frustration on Ollia.
Not as a test, nor anything of the sort, but as a substitute.
A substitute for Asimo Gibrik, a substitute for some unnamed lady.
“Well, if that's what it takes for you to seek me out, then it's a good thing. Understood, Cassian.”
Ollia wished that Cassian wanted 'Ollia Saperdo' himself.
But that would be greedy.
He'd cruelly betrayed him, killed him. He couldn't expect Cassian to crave him before those feelings had even faded.
For now, he had to be content just to have Cassian grow used to him, even in this way.
At the meek acceptance, Cassian seemed to want to say something more, but Ollia passed by him with a smile.
“Hide too long and you'll invite suspicion. Let's head out soon.”
The banquet ran late.
Ollia waited for the right moment and slipped Cassian out unnoticed.
He didn't attempt to escape together with him. He still had business left here.
“Why do you keep trailing along after me? Didn't you say you'd enjoy the banquet on your own, Priest Ollia?”
Ollia hovered ceaselessly at Hersta's side.
Whenever Hersta struck up a conversation with another lady, or approached the princesses, Ollia would appear like a ghost and insert himself into the exchange.
Since no woman would turn away a beautiful priest, Hersta could scarcely manage any intimate conversation with a woman.
That was exactly Ollia's aim.
“Haha, these banquets simply don't suit me, Your Highness. I feel most at ease staying close to the most dependable person here, yourself.”
“No, no, Priest Ollia. It seems you're not fond of me having my fun. Let me hear that impudent reasoning of yours.”
“Don't misunderstand. I have no desire whatsoever to spoil Your Highness's fun.”
Ollia, his eyes curved like a fox's, looked up at Hersta, who wore an equally artificial smile.
From a distance, the two of them looked, at a glance, like remarkably close friends.
“Must you make me put on a dignified face in front of my precious priest?”
“You needn't bother putting on airs. Your Highness's majesty comes through perfectly well without it.”
“How cute.”
Clicking his tongue briefly, Hersta looked around the hall.
There were women casting flirtatious glances, and women who wished he'd answer them.
But there had to be a reason Ollia was going to such lengths to be a nuisance.
Hersta wasn't fool enough to throw away a future wrapped in power for the pleasure of the present.
“Let's step out and talk. If your story isn't interesting, I think I'll be quite angry, so you'd best sharpen your tongue.”
“I'll do my best for Your Highness.”
Slipping out of the hall, they went straight to Hersta's bedchamber.
Unable to wait even that long, Hersta had a servant fetch some fine wine and began drinking it alone.
His logic was that if his lower half was going to be bored, his mouth ought to at least be entertained.
“How many more days do you intend to stay in the Meibo Kingdom?”
“A week at most. Once I've squeezed out of the king everything worth squeezing, I'll leave. It won't do to let the knights go soft from too much rest.”
A week. Short, in one sense; ample, in another.
Ollia, having calculated the time in his head, opened his mouth again.
“What does Your Highness make of the situation in Naria?”
“Naria's situation? Who knows. A paradise built by pigs, I'd say. And that's a rather generous assessment.”
“The king of Meibo is said to keep the priests confined within the city. Regardless of their wishes, he keeps them here to defend it.”
Taking a sip of wine, Hersta fixed his gaze on Ollia.
His dark red eyes sank, holding some ambiguous intent.
“If a nation's been eroded by the disaster, defending at least the capital where the royal castle stands is the best course. Though in this case, admittedly, it's taken too far.”
“On our way here, we saw eroded villages and cities. If the king had freed even a few of the priests he's confined in Naria, those places wouldn't have had to suffer such a wretched fate.”
Hersta's eyes narrowed. With a small snort, he picked up a plump olive and ate it.
“Do you take this for some kind of pilgrimage? Priest Ollia, I believe I told you clearly. Prattling on about tedious matters would make me angry.”
“How can a matter with people's lives at stake be tedious?”
“It's tedious to me. Especially when those 'people' are the subjects of another kingdom.”
He'd known Hersta would react this way.
To Hersta, the lives of the Meibo Kingdom's subjects were worth less than flies.
If anything, the fewer of them there were, the better.
That would mean a decline in the Meibo Kingdom's national strength, which in turn meant that invasion would be easier once he himself ascended to the throne.
So invoking the lives of others to appeal to his sympathy would get nowhere.
“...Is Your Highness satisfied with my divine power at present?”
“Now this is rather interesting. Am I satisfied with your divine power? Of course. So satisfied it's downright unpleasant. I have to put up with you always acting this insolent, with that pretty face and your overflowing divine power.”
Sitting with his legs crossed in a relaxed posture, he let out a low breath.
His attitude suggested he already anticipated what Ollia was about to request, and was tired of refusing before it was even asked.
“I am not satisfied. To be precise, I feel the need to master various techniques for making use of this overflowing divine power.”
“Mm, brimming with a thirst for learning. A fine attitude.”
“Have you been to the temple in Hyle?”
Hersta shook his head lightly. The only memory he had of Hyle was of Cassian kneeling there covered in blood, insisting he'd save the residents.
“That place is protected by divine power.”
“There was no priest there, as I recall.”
“Right. One priest's divine power was imbued into the temple's stone statue, and so it protected the temple for a long time even in the priest's absence.”
“Is that possible?”
Interest kindled in Hersta's expression.
Not missing the opening, Ollia nodded quickly.
“Here, I met the priest who protected the temple in Hyle. Someone trusted deeply enough by the Meibo king to be invited to the banquet.”
“When did you build up connections like that? You certainly make thorough use of that pretty face of yours.”
“What matters is what comes next, Your Highness. What would you think if I mastered a way to imbue divine power into some object, structure, or building?”
If that came to pass, Ollia wouldn't have to lay down a holy formation for every single battle.
Simply imbuing their armor and accessories with divine power would provide protection.
If he could imbue a tent with divine power, they could secure sleeping hours without a strained watch.
The same went for buildings. He could create an outright safe zone and use it as a base.
Even without stretching the imagination far, its usefulness was enough to covet.
Stroking his chin quietly, Hersta said,
“So this is a deal. In exchange for teaching you that method, you want me to restore freedom to the priests of Naria.”
