Around this time, special annual leave was given to mandatory service members who didn’t plan to stay at the temple for life. This benefit was to ensure priests of marriageable age didn’t miss the peak of the social season.

The power as a Stella makes me stand out in the marriage market. Because of this, Mom would undoubtedly send me to the social scene this year. She might even pressure me to find a husband before returning to the temple.

I glanced at Peidos, who had suddenly fallen silent again. His face, which had seemed to brighten a bit, was once more clouded with worry.

“……”

Watching him, my heart began to flutter like a butterfly’s wings.

To say I had no expectations would be a lie.

I secretly hoped he would dissuade me. That he would subtly hint that I didn’t have to. If that was too much, at least show some sign of displeasure or restlessness.

Really, that would have been enough.

With his past kindness and the fact that he was the male lead, even a slight hint would have made me ready to forgo the social season, at least for this year.

If the affection I felt and others observed between us wasn’t a lie. If there really was something between us.

“……Yes. You’re at that age.”

“……”

At that moment, a cold disappointment washed over me as if I had been doused with ice water. It was sharp and stinging, as if rebuking me to know my place.

Right. You are the male lead. The one who’s meant to be with the female lead, not a mere supporting character.

The reality I had forgotten hurt. What had I been expecting?

“……Yes.”

Even sitting by the fire, my body felt endlessly cold. I had to try hard to keep my voice from trembling.

“It’s about time I got married.”

“……”

Half in self-mockery and half in a sly attempt to confirm once more, I mumbled. His lack of response, as if confirming it, made me feel a bit resentful.

This made it clear. The man who might have saved me from the second-tier mire had drawn a line. A long, high, ironic line that a supporting character could never cross.

I stared endlessly at the logs turning into black ash in the fire. The wood pieces, unable to withstand the flames, were gradually losing their shape.

Crack, crack. The small cries swallowed by greed repeatedly struck my ears. With each sharp spark, my hopes shattered along with it.

.

.

.

chapter D. A Special Person

The reason why the Master of the Magic Tower, who had no particular interest in plants, ended up raising a small flowering tree named Aigunis was simply because it was delivered to his office as a gift. Recently, the royal family of Lumati, in gratitude for agreeing to install teleportation facilities in the capital in exchange for reducing tariffs on magical items through a trade agreement, gifted a rare plant from their country.

The petals of Aigunis, a mix of yellow and red, boasted a shape reminiscent of blazing flames, and were so rare that one would have to pay the equivalent of a royal mage’s three months’ salary to obtain them.

However, despite its value, the tree withered day by day due to the lack of attention. If the king of Lumati had known, he might have pleaded to have it returned.

The flower finally revived when Belchio, a janitor who pitied it, began to water it diligently. Aigunis, which had lost all its petals and was withering away, barely came back to life with the care of someone other than its owner, and slowly began to bloom again.

Around the same time, the original owner also started to show interest in the plant. Often lost in thought and staring intently at the pot, those who came to report to him had checked the pot several times, wondering if something was written on it.

Sneka was one of those people. That day, she found the Master staring at the pot while rubbing his chin and muttered to herself, ‘What on earth is wrong with this person?’ as she closed the door behind her.

“Master.”

She approached the Tower Master, who was sitting on the desk, and tapped him with her left arm, as her right arm was in a cast.

He must have heard the knocking sound, yet he ignored her unless he needed something. Where did he learn such a bad habit?

Look at him now. Even after calling him repeatedly and tapping him, he completely ignored her. Her right arm, which had almost been severed in a fight with Peidos Carmel at the ruins, started to throb again due to her rising blood pressure.

“Where is that relic?”

“……”

Only after mentioning the word ‘relic’ did his gaze shift to her.

Keene, as if it was nothing, put his hand in his pocket and then held it out to her. Knowing that no matter how valuable a holy relic was, it would be treated like junk in his hands, Sneka tried to quickly grab it before he could throw it.

“What is this?”

Until she realized his hand was empty.

As Sneka looked at him in disbelief, Keene laughed mischievously.

“I gave you what I received.”

“What?”

“I gave you exactly what I received.”

He answered and then burst into loud laughter alone. Sneka stared at her superior, who was laughing so hard that even his dimples showed, wondering what on earth was so funny.

What on earth is this about?

“Goodness, I really can’t help but fall for you.”

“……Surely, you’re not going to say that things went wrong because of that woman again, are you?”

She didn’t like her superior, who had been slacking off since last year, following around some clumsy novitiate. Contrary to her expectation that it would be a passing interest, his strange fascination lasted for over a year.

Maybe that’s why. Although he handled business-related matters well, there was no progress when it came to the Holy Kingdom. Even after stealing one holy relic last year, he showed no interest at all, which was frustrating.

“Master!”

“Sneka. I swear on Helmes’s Principles, this time I was really tricked too.”

Helmes’s Principles of Magic was a book written by the ancient great mage Helmes, a must-have on any mage’s bookshelf. Learning magic without it was considered a joke, so mages often swore by it to prove their innocence even after their years as a novice.

Sneka raised an eyebrow and stared at him. Seeing that he swore by Helmes’s Principles, it seemed there was indeed a convincing reason this time.

Of course, even if it was a fundamental principle, she doubted how much value it held for this Tower Master. But he was not the type to make up such excuses. If he had simply lost it in a fit of emotion, he wouldn’t have said that.

“What happened?”

And after hearing the explanation, Sneka felt the pain in her right arm again due to her rising anger.

“So, you brought a fake. How could you not tell? It’s a holy relic, for goodness’ sake.”

“I guess I made the pocket better than I thought. I was completely fooled.”

“……”

Of course, the replica artifact was specially developed to steal holy relics, so its performance was undoubtedly flawless. But why on earth did he hand it over to that novitiate in the first place?

“So, what are you going to do now? Huh?”

If the temple reinforces the barrier with the holy relic, it will take that much longer to bring down the Holy Kingdom. It seemed that Sneka was the only one anxious about this, while the Master in front of her was utterly unconcerned.

“I’ve been thinking about that for a long time too.”

With a smiling face, he slowly approached the flowerpot. Sneka, pouting and watching, wondered what scheme he was up to this time. In the very next moment, he did something truly shocking.

“What the…”

He roughly yanked out the poor Aigunis and threw it out the window. If Belchio, who had been so proud of the recently blooming tree, saw this, he would be in tears.

“Why on earth did you do that?”

Although she wasn’t very interested, Sneka’s heart still ached at the sight of the pitiful flowering tree being uprooted. She couldn’t understand what this had to do with their current conversation.

Keene chuckled and gently touched the soil in the pot with his index finger. Upon closer inspection, a small sprout was growing there.

“What else can I do? It’s cute.”

“……”

Watching the man, who was satisfiedly smiling while fiddling with the weed that had taken root at some unknown time, Sneka thought to herself once again today.

As expected, isn’t rebellion the only answer?