NOVEL NEXT chapter 20
20 – 3. Where the Gaze Goes, Where the Heart Calms (Part 2)
“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible, Miss Clara.”
Indeed, Bishop Ivan had a strong personality.
Without a single wrinkle on his face, he scolded the girl.
“If you keep hugging Clara like this, you’ll have to attend classes up to the evening prayers, won’t you?”
“Well, so what? Regardless, it’s just memorizing old passages and reciting boring prayers during class.”
The girl rolled her eyes as if dying of boredom. Then, she wrapped her arms around the still-stiff shoulders of the boy.
“Rem, don’t you want to be here too? Right?”
The boy couldn’t respond. The situation was chaotic, and it was partly because Ayvahn spoke first.
“It goes against the principles.”
Ayvahn lowered his eyes as if recalling a distant past.
“As you know, in the past, the gods, in their mercy, left us with three hundred and fifty-two verses and seventy-nine prayers. And…”
“Anyone who can read and write them can access the power. That’s the origin of the Holy Law.”
The girl continued, making her own remarks with an uneven expression.
“But, since everyone can wield the power of the gods, there are wars and whatnot in the world. So, Saint Thomas found all those verses and prayers, burned them, blah blah. To prevent such incidents, he established an organization that later became the Church, blah blah…”
Then, as if annoyed, she tilted her head down.
“I get it, I’ve heard this story hundreds of times. Don’t act like I wouldn’t know, Ayvahn.”
“…I apologize.”
Ayvahn bowed his head. However, soon, with gentle yet firm eyes, he looked at the girl again.
“But if you know so well, you should understand why I’m sending Rem away.”
The saint avoided eye contact and puffed up her cheeks.
“Rem is my exclusive servant. I don’t want someone recklessly spreading the verses outside.”
“But he was never part of the Church. Moreover, he lacks the qualifications.”
Ayvahn said, looking at the boy’s clumsy wrist. The girl’s gaze also fell on him.
“And Clara, you know well what punishment befalls those who learn the Holy Law without the proper qualifications.”
She plucked out her eyes, revealing the golden needles with engraved verses, making one forget what they had learned.
In truth, the punishment was close to execution.
Finally, the girl released the boy’s hand, stood up from the chair, and sighed.
“Fine. Just listen carefully.”
“A wise choice.”
The girl shot a glance at the bowed Ayvahn and then turned her gaze back to the boy.
“Rem, go out for a moment. I’ll call you right after the class ends.”
“Yes, Miss Clara…”
“Miss.”
The boy’s shoulders trembled slightly. The girl made a fist and said,
“I told you to call me Miss Clara.”
The boy looked up, exchanging glances between Ayvahn and the girl.
A deep hesitation crossed the boy’s face. Then, a voice flowed out from his lowered head.
“Yes, Miss Clara.”
And then, the boy hurriedly left the room as if he were running away.
Clara watched him leave with a sense of contentment,
while Ivan watched her with an unreadable expression.
But the contrast didn’t last long.
Ivan soon looked at the girl with a kindly smiling face.
“Well then, shall we start the lesson?”
“…Ugh.”
Immediately, an unpleasant expression appeared on the girl’s face.
However, Ivan began the lesson with a calm face, unaffected by her annoyance.
“Now, I will recite a phrase, and you should repeat it while thinking of its meaning. l-comma’ deni…”
***
To the young master, time spent away from the master was considered break time. The words “go out for a while” were synonymous with “go have fun on your own.”
However, as soon as he stepped out of the room, the boy headed to the kitchen instead of his own room.
After all, the girl was always hungry around the time Ivan’s lessons were finished.
It was better to prepare the food in advance, rather than going to the kitchen later.
To be precise, the girl preferred it that way.
“…Is it because of the Lady-in-Waiting’s meal?”
Of course, the head chef did not like it at all.
The boy nodded his head. The head chef looked at him disgustingly and gestured to the assistant chef.
Finally, the assistant chef came with a tray full of food. The head chef accepted it and presented it to the boy.
“This is the Lady-in-Waiting’s meal.”
And then, he placed a clearly firm bread roll next to the tray.
“And this is your meal.”
He pointed to the tray and growled softly.
“If you dare to steal and eat anything on your way, know that you will be in my hands.”
An intimidating face with a scowling expression, even showing his incisors.
However, the boy simply made a nonchalant expression.
The boy put a barley bread in his pocket and held a tray. Without even looking back, he briskly left the kitchen.
And as soon as the noise from the kitchen became far enough to not be heard, the boy spat towards the kitchen.
“Damn, it’s dirty, I’m not eating it because it’s dirty. Those bastards who received their home education with a stick from their fucking father… Gah, ptooey!”
The end of the fierce curse was inevitably saliva.
The boy wiped his mouth with his sleeve and started to go back to the Crystal Palace where the girl was.
And that was similar to walking barefoot in the streets of the city.
Wherever he went, there were cold gazes.
Orphan, disabled, lowlife. Those words were like labels attached to them.
At first, it also made the boy cringe when he came here.
But as they say, even a dog of a school can recite poetry in three years,
The boy was about three times quicker in adapting than others.
Now that a year has passed, the boy has learned to ignore them. It wasn’t particularly difficult.
Having so much disgust for them, after all, no one dared to lay a hand on him because of the position of “Chief Priest of the Prospective Holy Maiden.”
Yes, human beings are like that.
It was an incident that happened when he was walking across the grass field located between the Crystal Palace and the main palace.
Thunk-!
“…!”
The boy turned his head at the sharp pain he felt on his forehead. The fact that he didn’t drop the tray in his hand was purely due to countless experiences.
The boy checked the still intact dishes and let out a sigh of relief.
And he felt the blood flowing down his forehead and looked in the direction where the stone had come from.
“__!”
The sound of shaking grass and small things scurrying around. Through the blades of grass, a white priest’s robe is visible.
Since ancient times, haven’t they said that children resemble monkeys more than people?
The boy sighed as he watched the dispersing children.
This torment had been going on for a year already.
Drawing graffiti on the boy’s priest’s robe, leaving dead insects in front of his room, knocking on the door in the middle of the night and running away…
The list of torment the boy endured seemed endless.
The boy understood them to some extent.
Even the children in the Crystal Palace were present when the girl chose her exclusive priest.
They hoped that their eyes would sparkle inwardly and that they were the ones chosen.
However, the girl chosen by the gods was not the child with shining eyes, nor the one with golden hair. She was not even more extraordinary herself but rather chose an orphan without wrists. Furthermore, a boy who used to beg and steal in the past.
From the moment the boy entered the Crystal Palace, the other children probably wanted to strangle him.
However, that doesn’t justify such actions.
“Sigh…”
The boy wiped the flowing blood and looked back at the Crystal Palace.
As the palace was made entirely of stained glass depicting the history of adults, it was called the Crystal Palace.
Bathed in the spring sunlight, the white palace was undeniably beautiful enough to be called the jewel of the Papal State.
However, that beauty was a mockery of beauty.
A mocking voice echoed in the boy’s ears.
“I am so noble, and you are so lowly. Yet, you dare to step in here.”
“Know your place, you wristless fool.”
The boy’s face twisted, but the emotion within the contorted face was not sadness.
With eyes filled with resentment, the boy stared at the Crystal Palace.
He vowed not to leave until his wrists were healed, even if dirt entered his eyes.
***
The girl closed her eyes and opened her mouth.
“Ah~”
The boy looked at her with a cold expression. Clearly, there were appetizing foods in front of her. However, next to them, the girl’s hands were also laid out.
“Ah~”
When the anticipated food did not enter her mouth, the girl grimaced and opened her mouth again.
Unable to bear it any longer, the boy finally spoke.
“…Miss Clara, who is not the one with wrist issues here. Why should I feed the food to the prospective saint?”
The girl opened her previously closed eyes, speaking with a sharp voice.
“Miss Clara and pretty words.”
“… Miss Clara, your hands are perfectly fine, so why are you asking me, who has no hands, to feed you?”
The girl pondered with her chin in her hand and soon spoke.
“Just because?”
The boy rolled his eyes for a moment, deep in thought.
“Is this guy really crazy?”
No, unable to hold back, he blurted out.
Upon hearing the boy’s curse, the girl’s cheeks puffed up.
“I told you to say nice things!”
“No, dam…”
“Nice words! Nice words! Nice words!”
The girl shouted while slapping the boy’s mouth. It seemed as if she expected that by doing so, kind words would somehow be infused into the boy’s mouth.
“Okay, fine! Fine, I get it! Fine!”
In the end, the one who declared surrender was the boy.
It was not so much because it hurt, but rather because he was afraid the girl might overturn the food.
The girl sat back on the bed, looking triumphant.
“Ah-“
And this time, without even closing her eyes, she opened her mouth wide.
The boy rolled his eyes and, with his blunt wrists, picked up the cream-covered bread. Then, he fed it to the girl.
“…!”
The girl made a sound as if the boiling kettle was delicious. The boy chuckled and wiped his wrists with a handkerchief.
“Is it that delicious?”
“Yeah!”
Then, holding the same bread, he offered it to the boy.
“So, open your mouth, Rem.”
There was a moment of confusion in the boy’s eyes. He quickly turned his head and said.
“I-I already had a meal. I’m not hungry.”
“Still, there must be room for one piece of bread.”
“Are you really full?”
“Rem, sorry, but that’s not my concern. Open your mouth right now.”
The girl’s stern voice. However, the boy firmly kept his mouth shut.
Although she didn’t lack the desire to eat,
the reason she didn’t want to be caught eating that was because she would have to endure the priest in charge of education lecturing her all night.
And the priest in charge of education was always a crazy woman who inspected the boy’s breath.
The problem was that the girl was just as persistent and didn’t yield to anyone.
“What, you’re not going to listen to me again?”
The girl jumps up from the bed.
The boy instinctively gets up from his chair too.
A smile appears on the girl’s lips.
The boy’s eyes have a troubled look, but mischief has already taken hold of his mouth.
“If I catch you, I’ll shove it up your nose!”
“Oh, come on! Miss!”
So, a pursuit begins that is suddenly said to be unexpected.
The boy and the girl run around the spacious room, bursting into laughter.
Overturning jewel-studded chairs,
running across the table made of gold,
covering each other’s views with silk curtains,
but the pursuit couldn’t last long.
“Heh… heh…”
The girl pants for breath, clutching her knees.
A girl who always rolls around in bed couldn’t possibly catch a boy who survived in the slums with just one swift leg.
The boy catches his breath and smirks.
“So, I told you to do some exercise…”
“Rem…”
The girl looks up at the boy with red pupils, gripping her chest.
“My chest…”
And then, she collapses onto the plush carpet.
At that moment, the boy’s body moves faster than he thought.
“Miss Clara! Are you okay…”
“Fool.”
The boy couldn’t even bring a question to his face. It was because the girl had just toppled him onto the carpet.
At the moment the boy exclaimed, the girl climbed onto the boy’s body.
“Hah… hah… Gotcha…!”
The rising and falling of the girl’s chest.
Her red eyes shimmered with ecstasy, and the hand that had completely lost the shape of bread now raised towards the sky.
“Open your mouth! If you don’t, it’ll really go up your nostrils…!”
The girl’s sudden words were correct.
A perplexed expression crossed the boy’s face, who had been inwardly anticipating something.
Then, upon hearing the words flowing from the girl’s mouth, he widened his eyes.
“Blood…”
Sensation flowing down his cheek wasn’t sweat.
Injuries obtained while moving today’s meal.
The boy quickly opened his mouth.
“Miss, this is…”
“Who said that?”
However, the girl was quicker.
The girl placed her hand on the boy’s cheek.
The hand was warm, but the red eyes were incredibly cold.
“Rem, who said that?”