At the brutal sight, the old lady quickly covered my eyes.

“Wah……. It’s gruesome.”

At the sound of the unmistakable male voice, I slapped her hand away.

“Old lady, are you kidding me?”

The High Priest died.

The Meteor that had been flying toward me had vanished, and the High Priest’s body slumped to the ground, defeated.

I screamed at the old lady who hadn’t done enough.

“That’s because I knew your husband was coming.”

“You knew …… he was coming?”

I pondered our conversation.

[Hmm, it’s coming].

Coming? What is coming?

[…….]

That’s just what you told me?

It’s the only thing you said, without giving me a clue?

“Old lady, if you’re really going to help, you have to do it right……!”

Just as I was about to lash out at her, someone grabbed my wrist.

It was the Grand Duke.

“Who are you?”

His sharp eyes turned to the old lady.

“Your Excellency, this is……”

Before I could finish my sentence, a sword was at the old lady’s throat.

The sharp blade cut into the man’s throat.

“Oh my, look at that temperament.”

“Your Excellency, it’s not that, it’s that he’s a…….”

What am I supposed to say?

The old lady possessed that body, giving me power… I mean, a god in this body?

I hesitated to speak for a moment.

I hesitated for a moment, because I wasn’t really Flotty either.

I was afraid of the Grand Duke’s reaction.

“Is this priest a part of this?”

While I hesitated, the Grand Duke grabbed the old lady by the scruff of the neck.

“Oh my, what the hell are you talking about?”

“You have a strange way of speaking.”

The man was tall and well-built, but the Grand Duke’s strength was too much for him.

I grabbed his arm and shouted urgently.

“He’s the priest who helped me!”

“……helped you?”

“Yes, yes. He’s the one who got me out when I was locked up. He offered to help me escape, and I told him I wanted to see the High Priest.”

The Grand Duke looked back and forth between the old lady and I in disbelief.

“I, it’s true.”

“But why does he sound like…….”

I glanced at my grandmother.

She nods, the corners of her mouth twitching in understanding.

“I am, no, Grand Duke, Your Highness.”

“…….”

The old lady said, her tone suddenly awkward.

‘Ah you suck…….’

But the Grand Duke was fooled by this lousy act.

“Flotty, are you sure this is the man who helped you?”

He asked me once again.

I exchanged a glance with the old lady and nodded in the affirmative.

The Grand Duke let go of his grip.

“You look like a follower.”

Of course, that’s with leaving a bit of doubt.

I quickly change the subject.

“How did you get here?”

“I came because you’re here.”

The Grand Duke narrowed his eyebrows, as if I asked something so obvious.

“How I felt when I realized you were gone……”

“…….”

I didn’t mean to cry.

The temple in shambles, the High Priest dead.

And the Grand Duke standing before me.

Relief that I had survived finally washed over me.

The tension that had been clenched in my gut released, and I burst into tears.

“Well, I mean……. Why am I crying? That’s weird.”

I turned and quickly wiped the tears away.

‘This is embarrassing…….’

The old lady looked at me crying and clicked her tongue so that only I could hear it.

The look on her face was something to behold.

She looked like she was relieved.

It touched my heart again, and I shed a tear without realizing it.

“I must have gotten some dust in my eye, it stings……”

I blurted out, even though no one asked me.

A pair of arms shot out from behind my back.

A sigh from above my head, searing warmth.

“Don’t cry, Flotty.”

“…….”

“I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

The voice sounded so different from a moment ago.

“I’m just, I’m worried.”

The Grand Duke’s breath trickled through my hair.

His arms are wide, and I feel like I’m wrapped in a thick quilt.

‘This is going to make me cry even more…….’

I bit my lip, trying not to cry.

The Grand Duke, who could not understand my feelings, hugged me with a little more force.

“Don’t cry, okay?”

At the sound of his soothing voice, I finally lowered my head.

I turned and buried my face in his chest.

“I thought I was going to die.”

“…….”

“Dying, it was so scary.”

Surprised by my sudden move, the Grand Duke didn’t speak for a long time.

His body remained stiff.

“Thank you for coming.”

In a choked voice, the Grand Duke slowly patted me on the back with his awkwardly raised hand.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

His body temperature felt a little warmer, hotter.

***

I’ll never forget the moment I walked out of the temple.

The pale-faced priests parted to the side to give way whenever they made eye contact with the Grand Duke, who was supporting me.

Occasionally, they could be heard shouting.

As we passed, the priests looked inside in unison.

When they saw the decapitated High Priest, their shouts grew louder.

Back at the mansion, the Grand Duke soothed me through the night, still sobbing in his arms.

“Shall I bring you some warm milk?”

“Flotty, be sure to tell me if anything hurts.”

“Don’t worry, everything is fine.”

After a few hours of pats on the back, I barely managed to fall asleep.

The old lady was still in the priest’s body.

“Did you say Lionel?”

“Yes, yes, Grand Duke, Your Highness.”

“You are to be a witness at the trial tomorrow, so stay at my manor.”

For that very reason.

She grumbled so only I could hear.

[Aigoo, I’m so tired].

That’s what she’s saying.

Even as she spoke, she did not leave the priest’s body.

“Flotty, I can go to the palace on my own.”

“No.”

And today was the day of the High Priest’s trial.

“I’d like to go and see it, too.”

“You didn’t sleep well all night.”

“I’m fine now, look.”

I whirled around, a little over the top.

The Grand Duke laughed, as if he couldn’t help it.

“All right, then. Don’t overdo it.”

With that, the Grand Duke, me, and the priest with the old lady made our way to the palace.

‘I want to see Omen’s face.’

He had come all the way to the temple and taunted me.

He swore I was going to die.

I remembered the face of the Omen who came to me that day.

“Flotty, what’s with the look on your face?”

“What? Oh, no, I’m just thinking.”

“I wonder what you’re thinking about that makes you look so murderous.”

The Grand Duke playfully touched my cheek with his finger.

“I  mentioned before that Omen came to see me.”

“You did.”

“That guy said that to me. He said he would expect me to come out alive.”

Even thinking about it, my teeth grind.

I can see his smug, arrogant face in front of me.

“I’ll have to live up to that expectation.”

“That’s why you said you’d go.”

The Grand Duke withdrew his hand and smiled.

“Yes. He was so sure of himself that he even came to find me imprisoned in the temple and revealed his true colors.”

“…….”

“That he’d win the game he’d set up.”

“Flotty.”

“What?”

“I should be thankful you’re not my enemy.”

The Grand Duke cracked a lame joke.

‘Who’s to say…….’

I remember the Grand Duke disposing of the High Priest without batting an eye.

It’s not him who should be thankful, but rather me.

“When you put it like that, I’m flattered.”

The Grand Duke laughed.

After a few good-natured jokes were exchanged, we arrived in front of the Imperial Palace.

***

The trial proceeded at breakneck speed.

‘The deceitful High Priest.’

For betraying the god Solar, spreading a false creed, and attempting to have a member of the royal family killed.

Though already dead, he was condemned not to be buried on Imperial soil.

The nobles gathered at the tribunal said in unison.

‘Of course, it can’t be true.’

Noctis’s gaze gleamed even brighter.

‘A man who saw through a lie and went to save his wife.’

The crown prince flashed the Grand Duke an apologetic, sad smile.

The Grand Duke returned it with a smile of his own.

Then the old woman took the stand.

“I am Lionel, servant of the goddess Solar.”

The corner of her mouth trembled slightly as she said it.

Oh, I shouldn’t be laughing.

‘It’s too funny.’

The old woman continued with an awkward performance.

“I, too, am a deceitful priest, following in the footsteps of the High Priest.”

The Grand Duke looked a little surprised beside me.

For he knew Lionel to be the priest who had helped me.

“So I, too, deserve to be punished.”

The old woman spoke in a staccato voice, trying not to use her dialect.

The people in the hall were stunned by the words.

“I will pay the penalty.”

The old woman said.

Then the crown prince, sitting in the center of the dais, wiped away his expression and said.

“For the crime of manipulating the oracle and attempting to murder a member of the royal family, and thereby distressing the public sentiment of the Empire.”

“…….”

“The guilty party shall be put to death.”

The punishment was pronounced upon the priest.

The man’s eyes flashed and glowed in a strange way, and the old lady slipped out of his body.

[Aigoo, finally.]

She patted him on the shoulder and walked leisurely toward me.

‘Good job, old lady.’

[That’s all you need to know, dear.]

My focus snapped back to the priest.

“……?”

He looked like he didn’t know why he was here.

“Pfft…….”

I almost laughed out loud.

I barely kept my hand over my mouth.

“Drag the sinner away.”

The cold order fell, and the imperial knights grabbed the priest by both arms.

“What, what, what is this…….”

“Shut up, sinner.”

“……Sinner?”

The priest still didn’t understand the situation.

The nobles booed at him.

“How dare you betray God Solar!”

“Go to hell!”

The priest cried out in desperation as his arms were grabbed and he was dragged away.

“Ah, no, not me!”