Aiden was walking down the corridor carrying a basket filled with clean towels. The purification chamber was originally the duty of the high priests, but having learned that today's guest, met by chance, was the Empress, he—who'd guided the way last—had stepped forward.
“Luan hyung…”
No, I should say Your Majesty the Empress. Aiden recalled the Luan he'd met in the herb bed. The person who'd called him "brother" and warmly clasped his hand. The mysterious platinum-blond hair and the seemingly indifferent yet kind purple eyes kept floating before his eyes.
I'd wished I had a brother like that, and pushed it on him in a way that wasn't like me—but to think he was the Empress.
It was then.
Hum—
Suddenly the air in the corridor seemed to sink heavily, and then a massive wave swept over Aiden. It was a sensation he'd never experienced in his life. But he could tell. Neither wind nor sound, it was an overwhelming "energy of light," like meeting the sun face-to-face.
“…Huh?”
Aiden stopped walking. Normally his sensitivity to divine power was low, and he was told he had no talent. But the energy he felt now was intense and vivid enough that even the obtuse Aiden couldn't ignore it.
A tide of divine power. He could tell instinctively. The source of this enormous force was right up ahead, the purification chamber.
Your Majesty?
The one in the purification chamber was Luan. Could something have happened? As if entranced, Aiden approached the purification chamber. Through the gap of the slightly opened stone door, a dazzling white radiance was leaking out. Aiden carefully peered inside through the crack.
And he saw.
“…!”
In the middle of the basin, holy light pouring down, stood Luan. Luanisiel Requies, whom countless people praised without end. The one loved by the god. It was divine power possible only for him.
But that figure was less holy than wretched.
“Cough! Hwuk…!”
Luan was folding over his stomach and vomiting up pitch-black blood. Over the holy water, clots of blood—redder, no, darker than red—scattered.
A pale face, faintly trembling shoulders, a groan filled with agony. By anyone's measure it looked like the final struggle of someone whose life was flickering out.
Blood… he's vomiting blood!
Aiden clapped both hands over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. It was a shock. The man had looked perfectly fine until just earlier. No—he'd been pretending to be fine.
In pain enough to burn up inside…
And even so, before him, the man had smiled as if it were nothing.
Just then, Luan—having vomited out all the blood—raised his head with effort. As he wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth, his low voice pierced into Aiden's ears.
“Haah… how much more do I have to pour out…”
The moment he spoke, he heaved up blood again. Aiden's eyes wavered.
“It's almost over now.”
Hold on just a bit more and it'll all be done. At the weary murmur, Aiden stepped back in spite of himself. Don't tell me…
Does he not have long to live? Has he given up, thinking that if he just endures this agony a little more, it'll all be over?
…!
Luan's intent was the simple meaning that the toxins were nearly gone, so if he endured just a little more he'd be fully healed—but to Aiden's eyes, having witnessed the wretched scene, it was otherwise. His green eyes wavered, lost for where to look.
Terminal illness.
A word he'd never even imagined lodged itself in his mind. It can't be. That such a beautiful, kind person was swallowing his agony alone, facing death. Aiden bit down hard on his lip, feeling tears about to burst out.
No. I can't go in.
The Empress's physical condition had deteriorated to that degree, and Aiden hadn't heard a single word of news about it until now. If so, it must be because Luan didn't want to show his ailing self to others. To protect that high pride and nobility was the only consideration he could offer right now.
Aiden slipped out of the corridor as if fleeing. His chest ached as if it were tearing.
How long had he walked aimlessly? Aiden, still carrying the basket of towels, reached the path to the storehouse behind the temple. His head was utterly filled with the image of Luan's hunched shoulders as he prepared for death alone.
Bump.
Aiden, walking lost in worry, collided with someone at a corner.
“I'm sor—”
“Oh, it's Aiden. Good timing.”
At the slow, slovenly voice, he couldn't continue his words. When Aiden raised his head, three men in the same novice priest robes stood there. It was Joe, a senior who'd entered a year before Aiden, and his peers.
Not a welcome face. Especially not on a day like today.
“Senior… hello.”
“Skip the greeting.”
At the voice tossed out as if picking a fight, Aiden secretly bit his lower lip. What pretext are they going to seize on this time? The groundless bullying was exhausting by now, but Aiden couldn't tell anyone about it. If he caused trouble for the temple and got driven out, he truly had nowhere to go.
“You organized the herb storehouse earlier, right?”
Joe slung an arm over Aiden's shoulder and gave a sour smile.
“Yes, I organized it all as instructed.”
It had originally been their job, but since they'd pushed it onto him, he'd processed it busily, and he'd clearly finished on time. But Joe's face showed nothing but the intent to seize on a pretext.
“Organized? Don't make me laugh.”
“Is there some problem…”
“Hey, why is the Silver Leaf stock short?”
“Pardon? That can't be. I filled it exactly to match the ledger.”
When Aiden answered, flustered, Joe heaved a sigh and clicked his tongue.
“Aiden, you've got to use your head. If it's on the ledger but the goods are gone, then someone stole it, didn't they.”
“What…”
“The storehouse key—you had it today, didn't you?”
Joe's voice was low and furtive. Aiden was innocent but no fool. He caught on quickly. So the bullying that had quietly persisted finally comes to this.
This was different from the usual bullying. It was a ploy to pin the responsibility for the herbs they'd embezzled onto Aiden. This, at least, I can't allow. He could take a beating as it came, and he could do unreasonable work. But theft was different. It was a serious crime that could get him driven out of the temple. Aiden said urgently.
“The key—you said earlier you'd take it, Senior—!”
“Got proof?”
Joe cut Aiden's words off.
“Where do you get off suspecting a senior? You know you've got the formal priesthood review next month, right? What should I report to the personnel officer?”
Like it or not, he was Aiden's direct senior. Aiden's evaluation was being submitted by him. But for some reason—whatever it was that he'd disliked from the start—he'd never once written anything good about Aiden.
“Should I write, 'Aiden has sticky fingers and lays hands on temple goods'?”
“…!”
It was a sordid and yet realistic threat. Aiden's face went pale. The temple's hierarchy was strict. The reason he'd endured all the injustice until now was precisely this. A senior's evaluation was directly tied to promotion. For Aiden—an orphan with nowhere to go if driven out—being expelled from the temple was no different from a death sentence.
And they were the kind to know Aiden's situation and use it viciously. Aiden stared silently at the ground.
“So let's resolve this nicely.”
Joe flicked at Aiden's name tag.
“Write a statement saying you lost it through negligent management. Then we'll specially block it from even going to the disciplinary committee.”
Whether they really would was anyone's guess. Joe's gang's scheming had already put Aiden in a considerably difficult position.
“And… if you don't have money to pay the fine, you'll have to make up for it with your body, won't you?”
“…”
“Pull every last weed in the back yard by tonight. If you can't finish by tomorrow morning, then know it won't be a statement going up but an embezzlement report.”
Plain injustice. Normally he'd have swallowed his grievance and answered, “Understood.”
But today…
The face that had smiled kindly at him despite being terminally ill came to mind. Recalling Luan's composed figure left his heart in turmoil. His insides began to boil. More than anything, this injustice was suffocating. What would he have done?
“…No.”
“What?”
“It's not a wrong I committed. I can't write a statement.”
Aiden clenched his fists and raised his head. He didn't want to be in a state he'd be ashamed for Luan to see, not for anything. Joe's expression twisted into something fierce in an instant.
“This little bastard! Coddle you and you can't read the situation, is that it?”
Joe grabbed Aiden by the collar and shoved him against the wall.
Bang!
“Ugh!”
“Hey, you think temple life is a joke? You shouldn't push your luck just because you've got one pretty face. When a senior says jump, you jump. Where do you get off talking back?”
Joe raised his fist. Aiden squeezed his eyes shut. He was scared. But he hadn't the slightest will to acquiesce to wrongdoing. I want to become like Lord Luan too.
“That hand. Let go.”
It was then. A voice so cool it was nearly freezing sliced through the air.
“Who the hell—”
Joe turned his head, irritated. From within the darkness, a man was walking out. Sweeping back platinum-blond hair not yet dried, with only an outer robe thrown carelessly over a thin linen gown. But the intimidation radiating from him made their bodies stiffen.
“What is this, some pretty-boy gigolo-looking…”
The man's face revealed under the moonlight was too exquisite and unreal to be a human's. The platinum-blond hair wet and clinging to his cheek shone like cold silver thread, and the purple eyes revealed between the strands pierced Joe like an abyss whose depth couldn't be known.
Joe, who'd been putting on a tough front, immediately froze in shock as if struck by lightning.
R-Requies…?
The strength drained from Joe's hand. A noble bloodline that had never once been absent from the history of the imperial temple. A legendary figure from House Requies—the family most beloved by the god—who'd been called the greatest talent in the temple's history. And one who now sat at the very highest place in the empire.
This can't be. Why would someone like this be in a place like this?
With each step Luan took closer, Joe felt his breath choke. The coolness and overwhelming divine power radiating from Luan's body crushed Joe's paltry divine power. The arrogance with which he'd threatened Aiden until moments ago had vanished without a trace, and Joe's knees began to tremble pathetically.
The blood drained clean out of Joe's face. The hand gripping Aiden's collar shook violently.
“Y-Your Majesty the Empress?!”
At Joe's scream-like cry, the eyes of Aiden—whose collar was held—flew open.
Aiden stared blankly at the man before him. A familiar face. The person who, just earlier, had asked him for directions and smiled warmly. But the man now was freezing souls solid with nothing more than a gaze.
Luan came right up to them. He gestured with his eyes at Aiden's collar in Joe's grip and spoke very low and dry.
“I believe I said not to put a scratch on what's mine. Are your ears stuffed?”
I haven't even started building rapport, and they're already trying to scratch it up. How should I deal with these insolent fellows?
Where do they get off bullying within the temple?
Luan's eyes, watching them try to ruin from the very start his plan to carefully care for the death flag so it wouldn't turn dark, were cold beyond measure.
