I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 59

Even after spouting such outrageous nonsense, he remained utterly shameless. He even arrogantly lifted his chin and added more.

“As you know, there are only four positions for official wives. Securing the last spot means you are quite fortunate.”

“……”

According to Lucan doctrine, which allowed polygamy, one could have up to four official wives. Of course, realistically, this applied only to the wealthy upper class.

But this man seemed young, and he already had three wives?

“I know, it must feel like a dream. It’s alright. You are more suited for that position than anyone else. You’re the first woman to save my life.”

“……”

Still in shock and disbelief, I was speechless. His subordinate, with his mouth agape, tried to dissuade him.

“Bringing a Holy Kingdom citizen as a wife! This cannot be! If the Padishah finds out, he will be furious.”

…Is he speaking in the Holy Kingdom language on purpose for me to hear?

“Tong, be broad-minded. The virtue of the Ramz religion is in its inclusiveness. Besides, this cutie has already seen everything.”

“What?”

“……”

What is he talking about? Is he referring to the time he dropped his pants?

“What? When did… If you must, at least bring her into the harem first. Marrying a woman who hasn’t converted is impossible!”

Convert? I’m already desperate to leave the Herr religion as it is, why would I convert?

“Hey.”

I finally couldn’t take it anymore and intervened. If I listened any longer, I’d be dumbfounded and speechless. Ruffling my still-damp hair, I glared sharply at Nizaz and his subordinate.

“I have my own preferences, you know?”

He’s been getting on my nerves since earlier. I’m not even thinking of giving him cake!

“Talking about being the fourth wife. I’d rather join a convent than marry Your Highness, so keep that in mind!”

“……”

“……”

Once I realized I had saved his life, I no longer felt the need to maintain any decorum. Just keeping my speech formal was the best I could do.

Leaving the two dumbfounded men behind, I picked up the glowing stone and resumed searching for the exit. Honestly, I wanted to get away from these two fools as soon as possible.

Fortunately, my diligent search paid off. Before long, I discovered that the seemingly dead-end narrow passage hidden under the puddle could be widened to the size of a small hole.

“The key is how to maintain this…”

The magic circle only activated when I stood in the center. Judging from the fact that it worked just by stepping on it, it didn’t seem to require holy power. Watching the small hole gradually widen to a size that a person could crawl through, I fell into thought.

Wouldn’t it work if I placed something with the weight of a person on it?

To test the hypothesis, I gathered objects of sufficient weight and placed them on the circle, but the hole remained unchanged, maintaining its small size. It seemed the mechanism required detecting living energy.

In other words, I needed to place something alive on it.

“Hm, have you found anything?”

I was using levitation magic to drag the monster I had just defeated when Nizaz, who had been watching from a distance, approached me.

“If you need anything, tell Tong. That lazy fellow is just idling around.”

“……”

He never volunteers to do anything himself.

I shook my head in exasperation and ignored him. Nizaz, seemingly offended, furrowed his brow and blocked my path. As his foot stepped on the circle, the magic activated, but he didn’t notice, as he was facing me.

“Cutie, why don’t you like me? Perhaps you don’t understand what it means to be a prince’s consort…”

“Ah.”

His words no longer reached my ears. I was focused on the now widened passageway behind him.

Yes, that’s an option. It might be better than using the heavy and cumbersome monster’s corpse.

Interrupting his long-winded speech about the Lucan royal family’s power, I asked,

“Your Highness, you can’t fight, right?”

“Being the consort could mean having a palace of your own… Huh?”

“You seemed completely incapable earlier.”

“…Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”

I smiled contentedly at his confused response.

“I finally found a use for you.”

“Cutie, I’m glad to be of help, but your choice of words…”

Nizaz couldn’t finish his sentence. Before he could, I bound him with binding magic.

“Your Highness!”

Realizing something was wrong, the pot-bellied subordinate rushed towards us. But given his large size, he was slow, and I easily captured and bound him with Nizaz, kneeling them both on the circle.

“Cutie! What on earth are you doing?”

Nizaz shouted with an aggrieved expression. Tong, equally distressed, added,

“Priest! Aren’t we on the same side? How could you do this?”

Ignoring their protests, I checked the now human-sized passage.

Good, it’s big enough to escape through.

“Cutie, are you upset about being the fourth wife? If you want, I’ll give you the third position. That woman was taken in on a whim during a trip to Shtaria. She hasn’t been here long, so I can easily dismiss her.”

“……”

Isn’t this guy a complete piece of trash?

I looked at Nizaz with disdain as he spouted nonsense about discarding his current wife. Honestly, if someone like him becomes emperor, what did the citizens of the empire do to deserve that?

“Enough. Let’s never see each other again. Just wait a bit, and the binding will release, so find your own way out.”

“What? Wait! Cutie! Cutie!”

Come to think of it, does he even know my name?

Ignoring the endless cries of ‘Cutie!’ and ‘Priest!’ behind me, I entered the small hole.

* * *

The passage was just wide enough for one person to pass through but still quite narrow. If it weren’t for the magic circle opening it, I would have been anxious the entire way, doubting whether there would be an exit at the end.

The only saving grace was that I didn’t have claustrophobia. Even though I used to hide in closets for an hour during hide-and-seek in my childhood, I felt suffocated now. If I actually had claustrophobia, I might not have survived.

“Light!”

Fortunately, as I got closer to the end, the passage gradually became brighter. With hope that I might finally be reaching the main exit, I crawled forward eagerly.

“…Huh?”

I was confused by the unexpected scene. Instead of the ground, there was a lake beneath the exit. For some reason, the water was black.

“What the…?”

Thinking it might look that way due to the low number of glowing stones, I temporarily cast a light spell, but the water beneath the hole was indeed dark, even considering the dim cave.

Feeling uneasy, I bit my lip. To reach the ground on the other side, I had to pass through the water.

“Why can’t I levitate myself?”

Just like healing magic, levitation magic couldn’t be used on oneself, which was incredibly inefficient.

Sighing deeply, I slowly slid down. There was only one path, and I couldn’t not take it just because it seemed suspicious.

But as soon as my wrist touched the water, I felt a strange sensation. It was as if my energy was being drained…

“Huh?”

Before I could think more about it, I lost my balance and fell in. With a splash, the cold water rushed into my clothes and hair.

“Pwah!”

Confident in my dog paddle, I quickly swam to the surface, but it was definitely different from a normal lake. Even though the current was slow, moving felt like struggling in a mud pit.

And the magic. I definitely felt like my life energy was being drained continuously…

“No way… a black lake?”

Black lake. According to the prophecy, it was one of the signs of ‘destruction.’ The water filled with dark energy would absorb all life force, grow in size, and bring ruin to the country.

Primis Starring, as the protagonist, purified the suddenly appearing black lakes, solidifying her position as a candidate for Great Saint. But this place wasn’t even mentioned in the novel, let alone a place Prim would come to. How unlucky am I to encounter a Black Lake here?

“I have to… go…”

As my strength waned, the nearby land felt infinitely far away. If I stayed still, I’d either die from losing all my life energy or drown after passing out.

What should I do? I really don’t think I can last much longer.

At that moment, like a light bulb turning on in my mind, I suddenly remembered what happened when I faced the monster.

The powerful burst of holy power I unknowingly released. If I could release that much holy power again, maybe I could purify this small lake.

But, can I really muster that level of holy power again? Can I, who am just a rival supporting character to the protagonist?

[Didn’t you know, Du? You have considerable potential. If you had become a purification priest, the Magic Tower would have had to rethink their plans.]

Suddenly, Keene’s words echoed in my mind.

I knew he had said it just to comfort me, but I oddly wanted to rely on those words. I wanted to believe that I had immense potential and could perform another miracle.

…Keene, are you still alive?

With your exceptional skills, you must be holding out well, even in this trap-filled place.

“Ah.”

At some point, I realized.

I was thinking about that man again.