Upon entering the Holy Land, Yura visited Pope Conitel.
"Where is he?"
"In the prayer room...….”
Without even waiting for a full answer, Yura turned straight away.
Rushing toward the prayer room with a pale face, looking like she was being chased by something.
Thus, Yura opened the door of the prayer room and entered without knocking.
Under the statue of Luz.
She saw Conitel praying with his hands together.
Yura called out to him loudly.
"Conitel!"
“……I've asked you to call me Pope."
Conitel rose from his knees and walked over to Yura.
In fact, it was obvious to anyone who saw Yura that something had happened, but Conitel was not at all curious.
He just calmly greeted Yura, as if he had foreseen that she would come to him like this from the beginning.
"Did you have a safe trip?"
Yura clenched her teeth at the question.
“……You've already heard from others that it failed, haven't you?"
Still, Conitel was calm.
He just nodded with a look devoid of any shock.
Then he asked Yura,
"Yes, I heard, but you're not here to tell me that. Why are you looking for me?"
Yura's expression hardened.
She gradually approached Conitel and asked him straightforwardly,
"If he says I’m free to do as I please, that means I can reveal the true identity of the duke, right?"
"Do you want to do that?"
"Of course."
Yura's voice rose hysterically.
‘Why is that?’
Conitel, who seemed so gentle and only knew how to smile, also looked frighteningly callous.
Conitel said to Yura,
" It will be more believable if you speak publicly rather than through letters. I will also provide you with various effects accordingly."
"Please do so. Sprinkle me with a particular shade of light to make me look sacred."
"Yes, but Lady Saint...”
The gentle Conitel's voice, which never deviated from a certain tone, was now extremely low.
His green eyes shone as cold as ice.
"In a way, he is the direct opposite to our religion. If we become obsolete, he will also try to dispose of us. Keep that in mind."
Although he’d helped him as much as he could, calling ‘Him’ due to the contract...….
Conitel actually knew.
That once he got what he wanted, they'd be dealt with as well.
"Basically, they are all our enemies. We have to bide our time and abandon them first."
So, Conitel had to choose.
I can't move recklessly because I'm bound by the contract...….
Yura was different.
‘We’ll use her to our advantage, take only what we need, and then deal with them all at once.’
In the end, we will be the winners.
Conitel carried that insidious thought in his heart, and he smiled strangely.
If you’re so greedy, you’ll lose what you’ve achieved and, even worse, be destroyed together.
***
His body felt like it was floating on something.
However, he couldn't open his eyes because of the persistent coughing. He couldn’t breathe.
"Oh, my!"
He only remembered that he was intermittently trembling and gasping.
Then he fell asleep.
As he began to regain consciousness again, he heard the voices of familiar people.
It was cacophonous sound.
Most of the conversations were about how he was doing, that he would be fine once he rested, and that they would go see the next patient.
Then it suddenly became quiet...….
Edmund's words were heard in the stillness.
"My Lord, the physician's gone to Wolf, so he'll be fine, too. Please hurry and recover."
Funnily enough, after hearing that clearly, he quickly lost consciousness.
That repeated several times; his consciousness returning and then turning off again like a light switch.
"What the hell is this...….”
Alas, no matter how cloudy his mind was, he couldn’t forget this voice.
A soft but powerful voice.
It was Theodore. ‘He said he'd come to see me, but today...….’
"Why is the Duke in this state?"
The room was full, and Theodore's cry, almost like a howl, rang out.
Of course, the household staff couldn't tell him anything. It all happened without their knowledge, and the people who could explain it were unconscious in bed.
Therefore, Theodore's questions were only followed by answers coated with the apologies and explanations of the staff.
They could only explain the end of the story.
Out of the blue, Theodore said that he would take Rosenta with him.
"I'll take the Duke. It would be better for him to be treated at the Imperial Palace."
But the staff blocked it.
"That's not possible! The Duke has barely managed to fall asleep...…. Things could take a serious turn while he’s being transferred."
"That's right. The physician who's already visited said as much, and above all, if the Duke were to leave the castle in this situation, it would be a mess."
The scuffle continued.
Although it had taken him a long time to come to his senses, Rosenta grew tired again because of the hectic situation.
Eventually, his consciousness was cut off again.
When he came back to his senses, Theodore's voice was completely absent.
Instead, a faint cry was heard.
"Oh, Rosen! Don't die!"
‘Who's going to die?’
His head ached. His body, which had not budged until now, was now moving at his will.
He slowly lifted his eyelids.
He wriggled his fingers one-by-one as though it was a warm-up exercise.
He could see Vivian's face covered with tears; her makeup smudged.
He gave a weak smile.
"Hello, Vivian."
Vivian blinked at his weak voice and burst into even more tears than before.
"Argh! Rosen!"
Vivian clung to his shoulder like a koala and cried.
He carefully dropped Vivian and burst out laughing.
He tried to soothe Vivian by wiping her stained face with his hands.
"Don't cry. I've just had a lot of trouble sleeping lately, so I just caught up on the sleep I couldn’t get."
It was counterproductive, contrary to what he thought.
Vivian began to cry like a child to the point where one wouldn’t believe that she was the one called the flower of the social world.
She was sobbing as if she felt sorry for him.
"Ugh. What kind of guy is he! Why can't our Rosen sleep properly? Ugh. I didn't even know that and just wanted to play with Rosen all the time...…!”
He couldn’t take it anymore, so he grabbed the back of Vivian’s head and brought her to lean against his chest.
It was a bizarre situation where he was the one who was hurting, but he had to comfort Vivian instead.
"Ugh!"
***
After he comforted Vivian, he immediately got up.
It was to go see Enoch.
He could see Vivian and the worried-looking house staff following him, but he walked out without hesitation.
Fortunately, Enoch was recovering on the lowest floor of the building where he was staying.
Perhaps it was to make it easier for the physician to see them both.
Thanks to this, he was able to see him in no time.
"Not yet."
"Yes, he exerted so much force on his body that his veins burst, and his mouth is a mess too...….”
‘I did see his blood-stained eyes, but that's...… Did you keep straining against the curse.’
‘Enoch, you're so...….’
"Rosen?"
He was holding his lowered forehead when Vivian’s face suddenly popped up underneath.
Although they were puffy like steamed buns, her red eyes were full of curiosity.
"Why are you laughing?"
"What?"
‘Are you saying I laughed?’
‘That's ridiculous...….’ Alas, he didn't know until he swept his face with his hands.
He really was smiling.
But it wasn’t a smile of joy; all he could feel at the moment were sadness, gratitude, and regret.
He changed the subject for no reason.
"Vivian, did you come alone?"
"Huh? Oh, no. I was shopping when I heard about Rosen from Aphra, so the coachman is outside...….”
Vivian's big eyes were blinking, perhaps because of the sudden change in the subject.
He turned Vivian's body just like that.
He grabbed her shoulder and started pushing her out of the door as though they were playing train.
"That means you came here without telling your family. Now that the sky is dark like this, you have to go back quickly."