“…Josef?”
“Rowy, you should have told me first when you came back. How could you let me hear it from someone else?”
The man who had suddenly entered while drawing back the curtain, Josef, lightly embraced Rowy’s shoulder in greeting. Rowy, fork still in hand, was held in Josef’s embrace with a bewildered expression.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Rumors that you’re here have already circulated and reached my ears. I’m your only close friend, aren’t I? Besides, I happened to be nearby.”
‘Close friend? I had a close friend?’
Van stared at Josef intently with a rigid face. He hadn’t heard about any close friend. Moreover, to just call them friends seemed…
“Rowy, even though it’s been a while, you’re still the same. So, how have you been? I was worried when you were crying the last time we contacted each other. Has anything fun happened since then? Your face looks good. You’ve become much more beautiful!”
Josef smiled and stroked Rowy’s hair. At that familiar behavior, Van’s expression hardened even more. The man’s gorgeous golden hair, clearly marking him as a high-ranking noble, his perfectly tailored formal wear—everything grated on Van’s eyes. It was an emotion he’d never once felt when seeing Seilan, Rowy’s other close friend.
‘What kind of close friend embraces someone and strokes their hair like that?’
Even if they were close friends, wasn’t there no need to act that intimately? Moreover, it was even more frustrating that Rowy, who always avoided others’ touch, was just letting that man touch him. But he couldn’t rashly step forward against an opponent who appeared to be a high-ranking noble, so Van just clenched his fists. Meanwhile, the two’s conversation continued.
“Then, did you come to attend Liam-kyung’s wedding? Do you have to go back right away when it’s over?”
“Mm.”
“I thought so. …Do you know? The Crown Prince still gets furious whenever your name is mentioned.”
Josef, who had whispered softly in Rowy’s ear, burst into laughter. Ah, is something fun about to happen again? Without even guessing that Van was on guard against him, Josef kept clinging affectionately to Rowy. In boring aristocratic society, didn’t you need this kind of out-of-the-ordinary existence for something interesting to happen? There was no way Josef would quietly leave alone this pleasure that had returned after so long.
“Right. I’m holding a small ball this time, will you come? I’ll send an invitation to the mansion.”
“That’s bothersome.”
“There won’t be anyone to bother you. I didn’t even invite those types. Hm? You came back after so long and you’re going to refuse a friend’s invitation?”
I want to refuse. Even without saying it aloud, naked refusal showed on Rowy’s face. However, Josef didn’t care at all about Rowy’s wishes.
“I’ll send the invitation to the mansion.”
Because if he sent the invitation to the mansion anyway, the Duke of Irad would wrap Rowy up nicely and send him. Josef, who laughed loudly once more at the sullen-faced Rowy, turned around.
“I should get going. I came out briefly after hearing you were here.”
“Hmph.”
“It’s good to see you after so long.”
Josef, who ruffled Rowy’s hair once more, drew back the curtain and quickly left the shop.
“What was that? Coming so suddenly…”
Rowy, who had been watching Josef’s retreating figure, shook his head and reached for the cake again. However, Van was still looking at the spot where Josef had been standing with dark eyes.
“……”
Throughout the conversation, Josef hadn’t given Van a single glance. As if he wasn’t someone worth paying attention to.
‘He probably thought I was just a knight attached by the family.’
However, Van, who wasn’t just a knight, asked Rowy in a frighteningly sunken voice.
“…Who is he?”
“Huh?”
At the unusually dark voice, Rowy, who had been captivated by the cake, raised his head. Not only his voice but his face was stiff too. Why is he like that? Rowy, who didn’t understand, tilted his head.
“That man earlier. Who is he?”
“Ah, Josef? He’s a friend.”
“You had a friend? I haven’t heard anything about it.”
“I have at least one friend, you know.”
Though there’s no one besides Josef… Rowy answered evasively.
“…Are you very close?”
“Huh?”
What kind of question is that? Rowy made a bewildered expression, not knowing why Van was acting this way. However, Van with his serious face turned Rowy to face him directly.
“That ball or whatever it is, are you going? Can’t you not go?”
Why is he acting like this again? Rowy frowned at the shoulder being grabbed painfully.
“Let go. I’m going to eat more cake.”
“…Haah.”
Rowy irritably swatted away Van’s hand. Van, who had been staring intently at Rowy, was obediently pushed back by that hand. Since he said they were friends, it would be strange to question it further.
‘Still, I wish he wouldn’t go to that ball or whatever alone.’
Would it be okay to say I want to go together? However, Josef, who had once again been the very picture of a perfect noble, came to mind, and Van let out a sigh. Ever since coming to the Empire, he kept feeling like he was becoming smaller.
“I’m full now.”
“…Yes.”
Van gloomily stuffed the cake Rowy had left behind into his mouth in one bite.
* * *
The next destination was Solanis Temple. Leading the now-stuffed and drooping Rowy, Van moved his steps toward the temple. Though it was a sudden outing, since they’d come out anyway, they decided to retrieve the holy relic. Of course, Rowy didn’t really want to go to the temple.
“Ugh, it’s been so long since we came out. Can’t we play today and go next time?”
“How do we know when we’ll have time like this again?”
“We can just come out again.”
“That won’t do. Didn’t we originally come to the Empire to find the holy relic in the first place? We need to break the curse quickly.”
“Tsk.”
Rowy no longer took the curse seriously. No, he seemed to have even forgotten the fact that he was cursed. However, that too was a characteristic of the curse. Making him unable to be vigilant, so the curse could take root even deeper.
‘That’s why we must find the holy relic quickly.’
Holy relics repel demons. Since the exorcism ceremony had already been performed once, just having the holy relic on his person would be helpful enough. As long as there was a holy relic, the demon wouldn’t dare touch Rowy. And then…
‘I need to find the demon that cursed Rowy and deal with it.’
Van hardened his expression. Unlike Rowy, Van hadn’t stopped chasing demons. The Elysion Temple was the same. Last night, he’d heard from Shane, with whom he’d made contact after a long time, that the number of demon summoners was greater than expected and they were struggling. It seemed a bigger situation was unfolding than anticipated, so he’d already been thinking he needed to find the holy relic quickly anyway.
‘It’s fortunate we got to come outside.’
Van had been planning to go find the holy relic even if he had to go alone. But since he’d been able to come out with Rowy like this, he couldn’t miss this opportunity. Leading the sullen-faced Rowy, Van hurriedly headed toward Solanis Temple. However… things didn’t flow as easily as Van had thought.
“We cannot return the holy relic to you right now.”
To Van, who had come mentioning the Elysion Temple’s name, the priest of Solanis refused to return the holy relic in a rigid voice. Van, who had naturally thought he’d be able to get the holy relic back, raised his voice.
“What do you mean by that? I understand that the Head Priest gave you the holy relic on the condition that it could be taken back at any time.”
At those words, difficulty appeared on the priest’s face, which had been icy.
“The holy relic is currently… being used by the Imperial Palace. We will contact you immediately when we get it back.”
The Imperial Palace? At the unexpected words, Van and Rowy looked at each other with bewildered expressions.
* * *
The Imperial Palace… At the mention that the Empire’s Imperial Palace itself had taken the holy relic, Van could no longer demand its return.
“Why would the Imperial Palace take the holy relic?”
“I don’t know.”
Rowy shook his head. Rowy, who had been away from the Empire for two years, also didn’t know about the current situation of the Empire or Imperial Palace.
“Maybe we could find out if we ask Josef.”
“……”
At the name that popped out of Rowy’s mouth, Van momentarily failed to manage his expression and furrowed his brow. However, now wasn’t the time to be jealous. Wasn’t Rowy’s safety more important than anything else?
“…Yes. It would be good to know what’s happening.”
“Mm.”
Watching Rowy nod without much thought, Van swallowed a sigh inwardly. Leaving only questions behind, the two were currently walking through Solanis Temple’s long and magnificent corridor. The decorations, so splendid they couldn’t even be compared to Elysion Temple, caught their attention.
“It’s very sparkly. Even if I closed my eyes, I think they’d still be dazzled.”
“You’re right.”
Van had never seen such a splendid temple before either. Rowy pulled Van, who was looking around with curious eyes.
“Since we’re here, pray before we go. You like praying.”
What? Prayer? Here? Van, flustered, belatedly took his eyes off the wall decorations and looked at Rowy. However, Rowy had already put money in the offering box and received a prayer room key. Prayer in a temple that served a different god was actually absurd, but there was no way Rowy would care about such things.
“What are you doing? Hurry up.”
“Yes.”
Though it was bewildering, knowing that Rowy had been considerate of him, Van was obediently led by that hand into the prayer room.
“This place is really splendid too.”
Decorations far too luxurious to be placed in a prayer room caught his eye. Awkwardly looking at the space that brought to mind a high-class inn, Van turned his gaze to the mural filling one wall. The mural of Solanis, the god symbolizing the sun and gold, was dazzlingly glittering, covered in golden light from head to toe.
‘It seems like this is the right temple to come to for praying for a jackpot.’
Van shook his head, thinking of those who had come to Elysion Temple, which chased demons, to pray for jackpots out of the blue.
“Why aren’t you praying? Pray.”
Rowy, who had claimed a sofa prepared to one side as soon as they entered the prayer room and laid down, told Van. At those words, Van, who had been alternately looking at Rowy and the mural for a moment, soon approached Rowy and knelt down.
“What? Why?”
“I serve a different god. Isn’t it a bit strange to pray to Solanis?”
“They’re all the same god, so what does it matter?”
Whether Solanis or Elion. If there really is a god, they probably wouldn’t care much who you pray to. Rowy, who had quite open-minded thoughts, looked at Van with indifferent eyes.
“So, aren’t you going to pray?”
Rowy had been concerned that he hadn’t properly taken care of Van since coming to the Empire. On top of that, they couldn’t get back the holy relic they’d been searching for, so he’d brought Van here to at least let him pray to his heart’s content since he liked it… but the reaction was completely different from what he’d expected.
‘I went to the trouble of being considerate.’
When he looked at Van sulkily, Van grinned at Rowy.
“I shouldn’t pray to Solanis but to Master.”
“Why would you pray to me?”
However, Van just buried his head in Rowy’s lap without answering.
“What, who prays in such an improper posture?”
“Shh, be quiet. Aren’t I praying?”
“Hmph.”
Rowy tried to kick Van while being mischievous for no reason, but his leg caught in those firm hands didn’t budge. Rowy, who had tried moving a few more times, eventually released his strength and went limp. While he was struggling alone, Van was already in the midst of praying.
“……”
Rowy stared blankly at Van. In the prayer room with its antique atmosphere, only Van’s low voice continued to be heard for some time.
