episode_0014

After escaping from the Marquis’s study, I went straight to meet Asia.

“What did your father say?”

What did he say…

“I couldn’t be honest about this false engagement.”

“Why?”

I would die if I spoke.

The Messiah Marquis’s eyes at that moment looked infinitely serious.

If it was indeed a false engagement, there was a high possibility that he would kill me.

So, I had no choice but to lie.

Therefore, Asia had to go along with my lie, even if unwillingly.

For the sake of my life.

“If I had been honest, you might have killed me, right? So, I just told him that I wanted to be engaged to Asia, as I had asked Sir Geomsung.”

Asia’s expression froze for a moment as she pondered.

“S-So, that was the truth…!”

“No! Don’t you know that Sir Geomsung is against arranged marriages?”

“W-Well, yes. But wouldn’t your father know that too…?”

It was natural for Asia to have doubts about that.

I had them too.

But the answer was unknown.

I just let it go.

“He didn’t ask about that. It was more of a relief. I’ll think of an excuse for that.”

I quickly got to the point of why I had urgently sought out Asia.

“Listen carefully… It’s better to go with this kind of feeling.”

I had finished what I wanted to say.

Now it was Asia’s turn to do well.

I suggested a way for Asia to deceive the Messiah Marquis.

And Asia, who silently listened to that method, nodded her head in agreement.

“It seems like there’s no other way.”

***

In order, like choosing dishes, Andrew the Messiah Marquis called Asia after Sir Geomsung.

“What do you think of Sir Geomsung, Asia?”

“I still don’t know well. But I’m sure he’s not a bad person.”

The Messiah Marquis thought his daughter would reject him outright.

But contrary to the Messiah Marquis’s thoughts, Asia left a seemingly open-ended remark.

The Messiah Marquis asked Asia.

“Do you want to be engaged to that man?”

“…Father, I want to start with dating.”

A vein popped slightly on the Messiah Marquis’s forehead.

He was aghast at the word “dating” coming from his daughter’s mouth.

“D-Dating. You mean you want to date that guy?”

“It’s not like that. It’s the prelude to dating. I think we should get to know each other first.”

“Ugh, I see… I see.”

“And if we accept an engagement without knowing each other well, it could be a problem when we break up later. But I don’t know him well enough to reject him.”

Asia’s gaze lowered.

The Messiah Marquis felt embarrassed by this and a little angry.

But in reality, he avoided eye contact out of guilt for lying to his father.

After clearing his throat once, Asia spoke.

“Hmm! I think I need to think about it until I have my coming-of-age ceremony.”

“Coming-of-age ceremony?”

“Yes. And furthermore, I hope you recognize him as a potential fiancé for now.”

“Why is that? Didn’t you just say you don’t know him well?”

“You know. The rumors about the Crown Prince and me.”

A countermeasure against the malicious rumors spread by the Crown Prince.

This was the focus of Sir Geomsung’s established method.

And another reason to convince him.

“And to add… an engagement candidate who undergoes a test from the father-in-law for the lady. How cool is that? My peers would all envy me, wouldn’t they?”

Rumors about the Messiah Marquis had not spread to the public.

However, the information was well spread among the nobles.

He had no talent for the sword, but through sheer effort, he became an expert in poison.

His rough personality befitting a poison expert and his feelings towards his daughter.

A man who challenges an engagement to such a person.

It was enough to make others envious.

At the same time, it also served to dispel the false rumors about the prince.

This was the method Asas had decided on.

“Ahem, understood. I will do as you say. However…!”

“However?”

“If you fail the test, you will be immediately eliminated from the engagement candidate.”

“Hmm…”

Asia narrowed her eyes.

If she failed the test…

‘I have to trust that man.’

That man was a disciple of the man known as Master Sword.

Surely, she would easily pass whatever test her father would give her.

“But what kind of test do you plan to give me?”

“What kind of test… I will have to give you many tests.”

“M-Many tests?”

“Yes.”

The Viscount of Messiah smiled ominously.

“I never said I would only give you one test.”

For a moment, Asia felt a chill at the thought of what her father was planning.

‘…Even if this plan is successful, I might not be able to have a fiancé, let alone a lover, because of my father.’

Such thoughts involuntarily crossed Asia’s mind.

***

Still, he treated her as an engagement candidate.

My residence became the mansion of the Viscount of Messiah.

Of course, I was assigned to a room completely different from Asia’s.

“Well, honestly, that’s more convenient for me.”

Since Asia and I had promised a fake engagement.

There was no need to get closer than necessary, and of course, there was no need for our rooms to be close.

However, the Viscount of Messiah seemed like a scary person on the surface.

But he didn’t seem like a bad person.

Thankfully, he even assigned me a servant.

But.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t need a servant. It’s just uncomfortable for me.”

I refused the servant.

I am a commoner.

I was born a commoner and lived as a commoner.

What use would a servant be to me, a commoner since birth?

It was uncomfortable, and it was strange for a commoner to have a servant.

But…

“I just need some guidance.”

I asked for guidance to find my way around the mansion.

The first place I was guided to by the servant was the bathhouse.

‘At least once, I wanted to bathe in a big bath like this.’

When I lived in the mountains, I bathed in the stream.

Honestly, I had never properly bathed in a bathhouse before.

So I really wanted to bathe in a place like this at least once.

‘Come to think of it, I used to enjoy public bathhouses in my past life.’

Seeing the spacious bathhouse befitting the Viscount’s reputation reminded me of public bathhouses.

I had enjoyed public bathhouses in my past life.

Perhaps that’s why I felt warm even before entering the bath.

‘Let’s hurry up and bathe and get into the tub!’

First, I decided to wash my body before entering the tub.

As I was meticulously washing myself…

“What’s this?”

In the mirror as I washed my back.

I saw something strange on my lower back.

“Can a mark like this even appear?”

A mark where two swords crossed, not a normal circular mark.

I figured out the identity of that mark that could only be described as fascinating.

“It’s a tattoo!”

Deciding that the mark resembling crossed swords was a tattoo, I started scratching it to get rid of it.

***

The central temple of Leah, the only god worshipped in the Kingdom of Heavis.

In front of the statue engraved with the likeness of Leah, the central temple of Leah’s capital.

A woman in nun’s attire was praying.

“Oh, Leah…”

The woman praying was Leti, the saint of the Leah temple.

Leti was not the typical image of a saint seen in stories.

Despite wearing a nun’s habit that covered her entire body, her sensual figure still shone through.

Bright blonde hair and a man captivated by the eyes beneath them.

It was more like the appearance of a demon bewitching a man than that of a saint.

Was it because of Leti’s appearance?

Leti was known in the world as a bewitching saint.

“Oh, Lady Lea… please bestow your grace…”

Leti prayed to Lea for a long time.

As time passed, Leti’s body began to glow at some point.

At the same time, a faint smile appeared on Leti’s lips.

“Fi-finally, you have bestowed your grace upon me.”

Exactly ten years ago.

When Leti was appointed as a saint.

Leti heard a prophecy from Lea.

A prophecy that a demon king and a hero would appear.

And that the two would face each other fifteen years from now.

‘Finally, I can find the hero…!’

When there were still fifteen years left, there was plenty of time.

But as time passed, problems began to arise.

The first problem was that they couldn’t find the hero.

It was said that the hero would have the hero’s mark engraved on one part of their body.

But the church had not yet found such a being.

The second problem was the issue of the prophecy.

The problem was that Lea had not given a prophecy to find the hero.

So the prophecy did not come true, and ten years had passed.

Naturally, the hero was not found.

‘Now, time is running out.’

There were only five years left until the demon king crossed over to the mainland and stained the continent with blood.

‘Fifteen years…! Several prophecies have come down, but none of them were about the hero. But this time…’

For the sake of peace in the world, false information was leaked that the hero had already been found.

Even though they hadn’t found them yet.

It was more about hiding the incompetence of the church than about peace.

That’s why they had to find the hero quickly, even at this moment.

A new prophecy had come down to Leti.

Leti was certain that this prophecy was about the hero’s location.

And that thought was correct.

But…

[In the north of a place full of holiness, where the hero was embraced…]

This prophecy that came down this time was too broad.

“If a place full of holiness refers to the only holy kingdom on the continent, it must be the Heavis Kingdom…”

According to the prophecy, there was a hero in the north of the Heavis Kingdom.

But the problem was…

“There is no country below the Heavis Kingdom…”

The location of the Heavis Kingdom was at the southernmost tip of the continent.

That meant the prophecy included all countries.

It was too broad, even though it was comprehensive.

In other words, they had to search the entire continent.

“Ugh… Lady Lea… why do you give such strange prophecies.”

Frustrated, Leti pounded on her chest.

Every time she did, Leti’s large chest shook.

“Hero… please appear soon.”

As Leti spoke, her cheeks were flushed red.

***

Arthur was currently scrubbing himself in the bathhouse of the Messiah Viscount.

And he was scrubbing very roughly.

“Ah, it’s not coming off.”

In the end, Arthur admitted.

This was not dirt, but a mark.

Arthur had never washed in a bathhouse with such a large mirror in his life.

So he didn’t notice the presence of this mark.

Today, for the first time, Arthur realized that he had a strange mark on his back.

Looking at the mark on his reddened skin, Arthur sighed.

“Ah, what a waste of time. Let’s just go into the tub.”

Arthur went straight into the tub.

The warm heat that warmed his body.

In that heat, a sigh of relief escaped Arthur’s lips involuntarily.

“Ah, it feels good!”

.

.

.

Arthur entered his room.

He immediately lay down on the bed to rest.

As he was about to fall asleep, one thought suddenly came to Arthur’s mind.

“Come to think of it, the Messiah lineage has produced several stars?”

A lineage that produces stars, the Messiah lineage.

In their veins, Arthas thought, there was clearly a special power hidden.

“Well, then, will Asia also become the next Sword Saint?”

With those words, Arthas fell into a deep sleep.

The room where he slept was located to the north in the mansion of Count Messiah.