episode_0038

“Where did you get this?”

I was surprised because it was something I had never heard of before.

If something like this were possible, there’s no way I wouldn’t have heard of it by now.

Since priests are the ones who never miss out on luxury, they would have tried to secure any item that would help them utilize their abilities.

“Are you going to keep acting like this? These are things that came out of a labyrinth!”

“This is a labyrinth item?”

Do such good things come out of the labyrinth?

“Even though you are a priest, isn’t that too careless? You shouldn’t know this while in the labyrinth city!”

Of course, I live in a labyrinth city and have heard stories about things that come out of the labyrinth.

I also found out that things that came out of the labyrinth were leading the trend.

It was just unfamiliar to me because I never had the chance to see it in person.

Even though I know about it, I am not familiar enough with it to be able to immediately recall its existence.

“I’ve heard that special items come out of the labyrinth. I just didn’t know it was this one.”

“You surprised me. I thought you really didn’t know. These days, people are turning their eyes upside down because of this and are trying to enter the labyrinth. It’s not for nothing that those people risk their lives to enter the labyrinth.”

Anyone who sees this will think they’ve been in a labyrinth.

“Do you, Your Highness, also want to enter the labyrinth to get these items?”

“Of course. If you search the labyrinth, you might find something that can lift your sister’s curse without killing the monster.”

I guess I figured it might be better to find an item that could lift any curse than to search for a monster that might be somewhere unknown.

‘That makes sense.’

Even I think Princess Rasiel’s plan seems much more feasible than just blindly searching for monsters.

Contrary to her first impression of being young and immature, Princess Rasiel had become quite dignified after witnessing her sister’s crisis with her own eyes.

At least he knew exactly what he had to do.

At this point, I thought I could push through Princess Rasiel’s request.

◎ ◎ ◎

When I first heard that the path to the labyrinth had completely changed, I thought, “Is this it?”

Should I say that it felt like it was coming?

I should have noticed this when Arthur the priest suddenly suggested that I meet with the bishop.

‘Father Arthur really did the best he could for me.’

It’s not just a matter of the Holy Empire hiding information and making huge profits from the information fees.

If you knew my circumstances, knowing that the path of the labyrinth would change, you would have wanted to tell me this fact.

‘I kicked the favor away with my own feet.’

Who can you blame?

It was largely my fault for refusing his kindness that things turned out this way.

“Will you accept Princess Rasiel’s offer?”

Arthur was taken aback by Priest’s unexpected question.

“I’m embarrassed that you asked that.”

“I never thought I’d say something like that.”

“Did Rasiel ask you to do this?”

“In my opinion, Princess Rasiel’s plan seems to have the highest probability of curing the princess.”

Having already suffered the consequences of refusing his advice once, I was reluctant to ignore him a second time.

“Do you think you should accept what that kid is planning?”

“Maybe. Isn’t there a better way? The time that others spend and the princess’s time are not the same. It should be used more valuably.”

Forming a punitive force isn’t something that can be done in a day or two.

This time, you were in a hurry and sent it down to the labyrinth without properly servicing it, and didn’t you suffer a disaster?

The next time, I planned to send out a punitive force after preparing it properly.

The problem was that because of the curse, my lifespan was decreasing in real time.

My younger brother was worried about that too, so he suggested that we use the medicine that only one can be used on the royal family.

“Don’t you know how absurd your younger brother’s suggestion is?”

Sleeping for a year was a very risky thing to do.

What if something happens to the child while you are not protecting him?

“If things get worse than they are now, I plan on going into the labyrinth myself. However, I have to ask you to do that, so I haven’t been able to make a decision right away.”

“I guess it’s a request to go into the labyrinth together.”

“That’s right.”

Arthur the priest immediately understood what I was trying to say, even without me saying it out loud.

This may not be an easy thing to accept.

It was like putting the priest at risk to save his own life.

While waiting for his choice, the priest said something unexpected.

“Didn’t you know?”

“??”

“Princess Rasiel was thinking of taking me as one of her Labyrinth team members.”

“You went into the labyrinth? Did that kid force you to do it?”

If that was the case, I was planning to call Rasiel over right away, give him a stern scolding, and tell him to return to the palace immediately.

“No. I asked politely. And in my short thoughts, I thought Princess Rasiel’s plan was the only way to save the princess, so I agreed to cooperate.”

“Didn’t you say it was scary to go into the labyrinth?”

While having several conversations with him, we also talked a lot about the labyrinth.

He clearly remembered saying that those who had the courage to enter the labyrinth were truly amazing, and that he himself was too scared to dare enter.

“It is natural to choose the most likely way to save the princess.”

“… … .”

My mind became complicated as I watched the priest, no, the man, smiling brightly and saying that he made that choice to save himself.

‘I never suspected anything like that because he was a priest… Could it be that I was ignoring this person’s feelings?’

I don’t know why I didn’t notice.

I should have known a long time ago that something was wrong, seeing how confident and sure Lasiel was.

A priest risks his life to save the royal family of another country?

That doesn’t make sense.

It is a sacrifice that would be impossible without other reasons.

‘…he had feelings for me.’

The concern you have shown so far was not simply for the patients.

Suddenly my face felt hot.

‘What should I do?’

It would be better for both of us if we pretended not to know, as we have done so far.

A priest and a princess.

Isn’t this a relationship that just doesn’t make sense?

Besides, right now, he wasn’t in the mood for a peaceful relationship.

Even now, with both eyes wide open, he is suffering from the threat of assassination, and is also suffering from the threat of a curse that leaves him uncertain of when he will die.

‘Dating in the midst of this? That’s ridiculous.’

I couldn’t date just anyone in peace, even for the sake of the future.

‘If it’s a cardinal, there might be a slight possibility… .’

As soon as I think about dating him, more than ten reasons why it won’t work out come to mind.

“Princess. Princess?”

“Ah! Sorry. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”

“Please reconsider going into the labyrinth yourself. It’s too dangerous. If the curse goes off while you’re being attacked by monsters, it’ll be a disaster. I’m not sure if I can fully manage the princess in the labyrinth.”

“The priest wants me to sleep in a safe place.”

But I’m not hesitating to make a decision for no reason.

“If I don’t show up, people will come looking for me. And if I don’t show up after some time, they’ll turn their attention to Rasiel.”

That kid wasn’t someone who could stop it on his own.

If it was an opponent of that level, I would have dealt with it myself a long time ago.

“I have to protect him. That kid can’t handle it alone.”

“Why do you think you’re alone?”

“If you’re not alone?”

“I am here. I am the one who wishes for the princess to get well soon.”

Yeah, they’ll do their best to save me.

But that too eventually becomes debt.

Because I can’t accept his heart.

“Are you going to stop those people and protect Rasiel?”

“I think that the fact that we decided to go into the labyrinth together to lift the princess’ curse is no different from being in the same boat. It’s only natural to protect her.”

“Protecting Rasiel would be hard enough, but what if I were to be burdened as well? Can you guarantee that you can protect both of us?”

It was not something a single priest could promise.

What if Rasiel is attacked by an assassin?

Isn’t it true that it’s not safe inside a labyrinth?

You may be at risk from monsters or traitors within your team.

The palace may also exert political pressure on the child.

Rasiel is too young and ignorant to endure all that.

‘Plus, he has to protect me too, how can that kid possibly do that?’

Even if the knights took turns protecting me like they were doing now, their tenacity could be broken through at any time, and I didn’t want to be killed in vain while I was asleep.

‘I guess I’ll give up at this point.’

But he had a stubbornness that went beyond imagination.

“There is a way. We can provide a safe place for you to hide while you sleep. We can guarantee that your access to the outside world will be completely restricted and that you will not be threatened.”

“… … .”

Is that possible?

“I heard from Princess Rasiel that if you take the medicine, your entire body will stop as if it were frozen, so you won’t lose muscle, won’t gain weight, and won’t need to eat. Is that right?”

“You’ve heard it in great detail. It’s something that not everyone should know.”

Arthur the priest is taken aback by my words.

“I guess I have to say something. But what my brother said is right.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to be in a completely sealed place where no one can touch you? There is a secret place under the Labyrinth Temple. It’s a place that the construction company manager who built the temple told me about, and it’s a panic room that was built in case of an emergency. Since the construction company manager is somewhere else, I’m the only one who knows about the existence of the panic room.”

“… … .”

“If you take the medicine there and fall asleep, won’t Princess Rasiel be able to focus on finding and killing monsters?”