“That’s right. Brukisel personally escorted me all the way to the lakeside.”
“Ah…… Oh, I-I see.”
Rosaria’s expression was utterly uncontrolled. The High Priest and the Emperor? It was a combination she had never even considered.
Fear and love were emotions that could not coexist. Because of that, there was no one who harbored such gentle and sweet feelings toward the Emperor, nor anyone who looked at him with such eyes. She had never imagined that the object of the High Priest’s affections could possibly be the Emperor.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Lilian pushed forward from behind.
“C-Could it be that the person you consulted us about back then was also His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Oh, my! Oh my goodness!”
Lilian staggered as if she might faint. Whether they had grown close while practicing songs together or their shared troubles had brought them together, Rosaria quickly supported her and led her to a place where she could lean and rest.
Rou was a bit concerned about the whispering voices and the shocked humans, but his heart was already overflowing with joy, so it didn’t particularly bother him. It sounded as pleasant as the fluttering of wings when bees took flight.
Rou hummed a hymn he wouldn’t normally sing aloud. Unaware of the wet footprints he left behind and the words being passed from mouth to mouth among the people.
“Oh my goodness.”
Once the High Priest had moved away, someone spoke up.
“Just what exactly……”
“How intense must it have been……”
Everyone refrained from uttering explicit words aloud, but they were all thinking the same thing. Rumors had already spread that the High Priest had attended this banquet because there was someone he needed to meet. Everyone was united in their curiosity about who that person might be.
The fact that the person was the Emperor was surprising enough, but the sight of the two emerging from the lake together stirred even greater curiosity.
Just how vigorous must their boating have been for both of them to emerge completely soaked like that? Moreover, the Emperor had escorted the High Priest as one would a lover, helping him disembark from the boat, and the High Priest was contentedly humming a tune.
What had they done, and how much of it? The nobles’ cheeks flushed pink as each fell into their own imaginings. The fog must have shrouded their activities like a thick curtain. Even knowing it was sinful to imagine the High Priest in such a state, they couldn’t stop themselves.
The sight of the High Priest in thin silk clothing stirred everyone present’s imagination.
That ruthless and cold Emperor gripping the High Priest’s slender waist. Their skin pressed close together. So vigorously and intensely that water overflowed into the boat. That act!
The nobles exchanged meaningful glances. The rumors began spreading in an instant. At tea parties where only intimate acquaintances were invited, at private dinner gatherings, at social clubs restricted to members only—the embellished rumors began circulating.
However, even nobles who enjoyed gossiping about others didn’t want to attract the Emperor’s attention, so it took a bit more time for those rumors to reach Jes’s ears after making the rounds.
The day right after the banquet ended. A knight came to visit the temple. He exchanged nods with Het, suggesting they were acquainted. For a Northerner, he was quite favorable toward the Kaine Religion. Het could easily deduce that he had volunteered to come here.
Like everyone meeting Rou for the first time, he stared blankly for a moment before belatedly delivering his message.
“His Majesty summons you.”
Jes argued that even if he was the Emperor, he couldn’t simply order the High Priest to come and go as he pleased, and if the Emperor desired it so much, shouldn’t he come himself? The knight, who had only wanted to deliver the Emperor’s message and take the opportunity to see the High Priest up close, looked troubled.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely wrong, so he couldn’t call it presumptuous.
However, Rou, who wasn’t concerned with such matters at all, was purely delighted by the fact that Brukisel had summoned him.
“Really? Then let’s hurry and go!”
“No, absolutely not in that outfit!”
Rou was wearing a fluttery silk tunic today as well. While it was fine in the High Priest’s quarters, Jes had nearly fainted upon hearing that he had gone to the banquet dressed like that. The High Priest had such gorgeous and exceptional looks that he was beautiful even in this state, but time and place needed to be distinguished.
The same applied now. He couldn’t just go to meet that Emperor as he was. They needed to show through his attire just how wealthy the temple that the Emperor shunned was, and how devotedly the believers served the High Priest.
Jes quickly gestured to Yan. Yan began pulling out vibrantly colored clothes, as if prepared in advance. Het tactfully stood guard at the door with the knight. The knight asked if the temple was always like this. Het could only reply with an awkward expression that it was.
From behind the closed door, Jes’s voice could occasionally be heard.
‘No! This outfit looks great on you too! As expected, you wear bold colors beautifully!’
Then someone beside him enthusiastically agreed.
‘Indeed. At this rate, we won’t be able to choose!’
It seemed less like a temple and more like a place where people adored and worshipped the High Priest. The knight looked at Het with a puzzled expression, wondering if temples were normally like this, and Het quietly averted his gaze.
Only after a long while did they finish dressing him and open the door to proudly display the results of their efforts. Rou walked out with a slightly tired face and slow steps.
Having changed clothes so many times he couldn’t count them, he was exhausted before even departing. He had suggested to Jes to take it easy, mentioning that Brukisel would probably summon him frequently from now on, but Jes began burning with determination in a completely different direction—declaring he needed to order more clothes—contrary to Rou’s wishes.
They seemed to have settled on a cream-colored outfit with gold embroidery on the sleeves and collar, as they began untying the ribbon of the tunic Rou was wearing. Just as he was relieved that the flowing material wouldn’t constrict his body and would be relatively comfortable, Yan tied a red sash around his waist from behind, accentuating his slender waist.
Standing behind him, Yan gathered some of Rou’s hair and braided it in an intricate pattern. Then he began inserting hair ornaments into the braided sections.
‘Next time, I absolutely must sneak out.’
Rou resolved anew. Thus he ended up dressed even more elaborately than at the banquet. Every time he moved his head or walked, every time he breathed, the metal ornaments on his head clinked against each other annoyingly. The sash tightly cinched around his waist was equally uncomfortable.
But afraid of being caught again and buried in clothing hell if he said anything, Rou didn’t add any complaints.
“Well then, I’ll be back.”
Though his desire to go alone was firm, if he told Het he didn’t need to accompany him, Jes would surely take over his position. Rou followed the knight’s guidance with somehow heavy steps. Jes and Yan saw him off with more satisfied faces than ever before.
The knight guided Rou to the greenhouse. Judging by Mac standing at the door, the Emperor seemed to be inside the greenhouse. Het hesitated to open the greenhouse door. He questioned whether it was really right to let the High Priest enter that space.
As if mocking Het’s dilemma, Mac promptly announced inside the greenhouse.
“The High Priest is entering!”
And he even personally opened the door for Rou. Het hurriedly tried to close the door again, lest the High Priest breathe in the air flowing out from inside. Het grabbed Mac’s forearm. A power struggle began between the one trying to open the door and the one trying to close it. Mac even bulged the veins on his forehead as he struggled to preserve his pride.
“Het.”
Rou stopped him with a gentle smile.
“Don’t worry. Among the life rooted in the earth, nothing can harm me.”
The goddess’s protection was always with Rou. Plants could not harm Rou.
“Wasn’t it fine even when I stayed in the greenhouse for a week?”
“That’s…… true.”
The strength gradually left Het’s hands. Come to think of it, even when the High Priest had been confined in the greenhouse for a week, he had emerged looking perfectly fine. Het realized anew that he was the High Priest who received the goddess’s love in full. He was someone who could bloom a flower-like smile even in that space filled with death.
Rou walked into the greenhouse without hesitation. It was actually better that the two humans didn’t follow. It was an opportunity to be alone with Brukisel.
“Brukisel?”
The greenhouse was even more lush, having welcomed summer. Rou pushed through the long-hanging vines and went deeper and deeper inside the greenhouse. The air was humid and warm, as if it hadn’t been long since it was watered. It was exactly the temperature Rou liked.
There was a tea table in the middle of the greenhouse that hadn’t been there before. A narrow stream flowed beside it, and Brukisel was slowly turning the pages of a book with his long fingers.
Except for the poisonous plants filling the space, it was peaceful enough to be unbelievable for someone who wished for death.
“Brukisel.”
“Ah. You’re here.”
Brukisel slowly turned his head. Brukisel’s usually cold face vanished the moment he spotted Rou.
The waist emphasized by the red sash looked even more slender than usual. It was astonishing that such a delicate body could survive in the harsh North. Would it even fill one hand if he wrapped his fingers around it?
Unlike usual, Brukisel’s gaze lingered on the clothes for a long time, making Rou’s eyes widen. Would Jes and Yan’s efforts finally bear great fruit? It was rare for Brukisel to show interest.
Rou was curious about Brukisel’s opinion. He had worn this outfit because Jes and Yan had insisted so strongly, but Rou couldn’t relate to the humans’ opinions at all. Wearing different clothes and accessories didn’t change who a person was. He wondered if Brukisel noticed any difference.
“How is it?”
At Rou’s question, Brukisel slowly blinked. Because Rou’s hand happened to be at his waist, Brukisel’s gaze naturally focused on Rou’s waist.
‘Red…… Is he conscious of me?’
