Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

I only peeked my head out into the hallway. Just like what Marissa said, there were several doors lining the walls that seemed to be rooms. Perhaps each room was meant for confinement but most of the doors looked broken, crushed or were left wide open.

I stepped out carefully.

Squeak squeak.

A strange cry echoed in the hallway.

Click.

As soon as I turned the doorknob, a hand reached out to grab mine before I could open the door.

“Well done!”

Marissa pulled me into a hug. As if she was very familiar with the actions, she stroked my rough hair and treated me like her younger sibling.

‘She’s like Fleon.’

I wondered why she suddenly turned so friendly. I carefully held on the skirt of the woman hugging me. For some reason, I felt anxious.

“I think someone’s coming soon. Shouldn’t we leave now?”

“Are you worried?”

Her voice rustled through the air as if she understood all my intentions.

“What a brave child. I’ll tell you something good as a reward for your efforts. You won’t need to worry about the security. You and I are probably the only ones locked inside here.”

“No way. How would you know that?’

Marissa smiled and stared at me as if she could read all my thoughts.

“Because this building is only used by the top brass of those slave traders.”

“The top brass?”

“Yes, the top brass. This is the place where they lock up important hostages for the top brass. Me, myself and Ahn, people like you.”

As I watched her smile and look at me as if she was joking around, I spoke. The woman who had been calm and collected for a while now did not seem to shake

How could a kidnapped woman remain this calm?

“I don’t understand. That didn’t answer my question regarding how you know about all this.”

The woman slowly smiled as if to say that my gaze on her did not feel too bad.

“To put it simply. You’re asking how I know all this so well?’

Marissa paused for a while. I narrowed my eyes.

“Because I’m the person sent to deal with this place.”

As soon as she finished her sentence, loud and scary shouts erupted from upstairs.

—Go! Retreat! Run away!

—It’s the 2nd Prince! It’s the Templars of Swords and Justice!

“See that?”

Shouts continued upstairs. The faint sounds of soldiers above. I could not keep up with her explanation so I alternated my gazes between the ceiling and Marissa before hugging my diary.

“Are you an enemy?”

“No.”

Marissa’s voice was as beautiful as flowing water but her smiling expression was cold.

“Be at ease. I was just here to break into this place.”

“… Am I safe?”

“… Damn, your voice sounds like a templar who worked for 73 days. Darling!”

Just as she said, I was too tired. Anyway, it did not sound like she was lying. So, she was saying that I could escape, right? It would be good if I could get out of here safely.

“I have a niece who is as young or even younger than you. When I see you, I think of her, you know?”

As I hugged the diary, she patted my head as if she found me cute. It seemed to be a continuation of her treatment of me as a child. No matter how I thought about it, my transformed face looked nothing like a child’s.

“Right. So you mean that I can escape here safely. Pardon me for asking but who are you?’

I asked as I swept my face down in deep thought. I had only asked out of courtesy.

The shouts upstairs were getting louder and closer. The woman smiled calmly with her arms crossed as if she was not afraid of the people approaching.

“I am the Saintess of this Empire, Beatrice Marissa.”

As I stared at her beautiful smile, I exclaimed immediately without realising it.

“My hobby is to chew out the Emperor’s face.”

“She was the princess’ replacement during her absence.”

‘Not the real princess but someone temporary.’

“Because there had been no one performing the dance for a long time, the saintess danced in her stead.”

Marissa pointed my chin towards her with the hand that was not petting me before smiling.

“To keep their hands off the weak and women. That’s the creed of a Templar of Justice.”

I decided to give up thinking for a moment and enjoy the feeling.

“Uhm, so you’re the saintess who’s been dancing in place of the princess…?”

“So, you know me well?”

“It’s just something I heard a little about. Also, why have you been calling me that since a while ago?”

“I am calling a child a child. Then what should I call you?”

“I’m an adult.”

“You may look mature but your words and actions are clumsy.”

The stomping footsteps were getting a lot closer. If we had been a floor apart just now, I could hear them right beside me.

“A word of advice, commoners don’t stand out by just sitting down like you do, young miss. In other words, you must have been doing such actions unconsciously for a long time already.”

“… I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh dear, that face. It looks as if you don’t know anything.”

She raised her hands to neatly groom my mess of a hair.

With a long rip, Marissa tore off a piece of fabric from her skirt without hesitation before grabbing her long hair and tying a high ponytail.

“You have the ability to hide what you really look like, right?”

Marissa, with a sword which she had unsheathed from her thigh at hand, looked completely different from my first impression of her.

When she smiled, the decadent feeling of seduction that she used to give off disappeared and a reverent and noble feeling replaced it. Her clothes were still ripped but she looked a completely different person.

“I want to answer many questions for my young templar but there are guests coming.”

Marissa swung her sword around as a test. Her appearance looked like that of a wild beast crouching on its stomach in the thicket. Anxious, I spoke first.

“I’m not a templar.”

“You’re not a templar?”

As I faced the gaze that was strong enough to pierce me, I nodded. Marissa held her sword and stretched her wrist before smiling and asking.

“Have you ever been blessed by a templar?”

“Yes.”

I nodded as I stared into her eyes of colour. It was not something I should keep a secret. Right?

“Let’s get out of here first.”

Marissa’s sword stretched from my wrist to my forearm. Since she had hid it behind her thighs, I thought it was going to be a short sword. She held the sword with her gloved hands before pointing her sword towards the end of the hallway.

“It’s still noisy upstairs.”

I wanted to head upstairs as soon as we could but I held the desire in. I thought there should be a reason why Marissa did not want to head up.

—Attack!

Moreover, it would be better to head up only after the commotion upstairs had died down. I did not want to reset unluckily like getting stabbed in the back by a sword during the squabble.

As I was lost in thought, Marissa interrupted me and talked.

“Hold onto them tight.”

“What?”

“I’m talking about the templar who blessed you. Because that’s a templar who loves you.”

What did she mean? Marissa tilted her head as if it was nothing much.

“I can feel the power of their protection over him. When I look closely, I realise that it’s not really your own powers.”

The woman sing-songed in a serious voice.

“Do you mean the blessing?”

“Yeah. Usually, the power from the blessing is very small but now you have so much I wondered if you were a templar. It feels like they transferred a portion of their power. So, what’s your relationship? Fiances? Lovers? Or are you already married?”

“…..”

In the silence, I wondered how I should process this as she grabbed my shoulders and patted me.

“How much did they give you for other templars to be able to feel their powers too?”

However, the woman was no longer looking at me.

“A blessing provides stronger protection in proportion to the strength of the templar who gave it.”

There were two faces that came to mind.

“The blessing from the templar depends on the templar himself.”

“The kiss from a templar is a blessing.”

Just when I wanted to keep asking her about what she said.

Crash!

There was an explosion and when I closed and opened my eyes again, Marissa was holding my head tightly. My vision was filled with smoke and I could not see anything. I could make out two grey figures in front of me. One quickly rushed over to Marissa.

Marissa pulled me towards her and swung her sword. At the spot she just avoided, a sword stuck out from the ground. As the dust slowly settled down, someone let out a long sigh.

“I was wondering who it was.”

The moment I thought I met the cool and refreshingly blue eyes, the harsh sounds of metal clanging pierced my ears.

Clang.

And there Hernan was swinging his sword which had just been hovering in the air with his shirt unbuttoned and his hair unkempt.

“Please hand Ahn over.”

“But I don’t want to?”

Hernan shifted his gaze before making eye contact with me.

“As a duke, I am of higher status.”

“If you’re referring to the power that is not yours, then you’re saying quite the funny things. Don’t you have a body that can’t be real?”

He alternated his gaze between Marissa and I before slowly tilting his face. He still looked different from his usual appearance in front of me but the difference is the most distinct now.

“Come over here. Ahn.”

There was a slightly reddish hue under his eyes. It was only more noticeable because of his pale skin. His eyes that looked like blue glass beads clouded over as the purple haze began to constantly swirl around.

“You’re being rude.”

Marissa’s sword blocked him from approaching me. Hernan stared at Marissa gently before smiling.

“What do you think you’re interrupting?”

In the space where not a single gust of wind was blowing, a swirl of gold circled my feet before blowing the dust away and disappeared into thin air.

“Oh my, is the Crown Prince’s dog barking at me?”

Marissa flashed a deep smile.

“So, this is the body that’s being treated so preciously, right?”

Without a change in her expression, Marissa threw those words out as if it was a warning.

“The handsome duke. Do you know the guest that I came here searching for?”

Hernan, who did not look too threatening currently, let her continue calmly.

“It must have been the 2nd Prince considering the information you’ve been fed with.”

“That’s right. The righteous prince will diligently straighten this place out. Weren’t your minions busy running away just now?”

“I don’t have any minions here.”

“Are you going to pretend you don’t know about the Emperor’s shadows?”

“The Emperor’s shadows do not belong to me. So I have no idea what they did to you while you pretended to be kidnapped.”

Hernan swung his sword. It was Marissa who calmly deflected the blow with a casual swing of her own but just for a moment, I could see her arms shake.

“I don’t think this is the right time for this.”

Marissa spoke mockingly before closing her eyes for a second. Just then, a completely different roar broke out of her.