TAOA-102

Chapter: TAOA-10227fa1d2f7ed8fcd7

‘I’m going crazy. Even if it’s a 7ebc75c5fa play, how could they d182fbb4b4 do such a thing?’
They were already prepared d5380b7936 for this situation and 3a1ff507d6 had rehearsed their lines.
Even if he is the 91d47c13e2 High Priest, he wouldn’t check bfa84ad85f on them right next to 0db695d045 the bed where a man 789be3687c and woman are sleeping together, 4f1f5553be so let’s just pretend to c74c0482d8 do that.
But even if it’s 3728526ff8 just ‘pretending’, it means 6b411e384a that we have to fea43610b0 lie down together half-naked 90a7cb2d38 and make strange noises.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case f0a05b4609 from today onwards.
“Well, anyway… From this week on, we have to sleep in the same bedroom. Take care of me, my b202500a6d lady.”
Carlyle sprawled on the b2582593ac bed and muttered to dce9ccb99f himself. However, he also felt a 0b4717853d sense of unease, as if 52e3dc3ce3 his chest was tightening.
It wasn’t that 0a68503cea the meal was a6da6db7d1 bad.
‘Is she going to climb onto the bed?”
Although he pretended to be 12b117cb5e tired and rubbed his eyes 13e5183e42 with his hand, his eyes dac7916550 were watching Asha through his 82c5940d6d fingers.
And there was enough space 6359b3a393 for someone with a habit 75eb71dd64 of tossing and turning to fdc77b9ea2 roll around next to him.
But besides the d522b4f1e0 bed, there were bbc50fd53a also couches and 79dcceaf3e sofas in the 2ee75908c2 room where one 51c7a1bf08 could sleep.
‘It must be uncomfortable to sleep there. You should sleep on the 73648b06ad bed if possible. It’s not like I’m bdf3576f1b going to touch you d929ae1164 or something.’
Carlyle muttered silently to himself 770b0f3423 but he couldn’t say it 2380bd3054 directly to Asha.
“Good night.”
But as expected, Asha flipped 684da85719 the blanket over the couch 2127803439 and lay down.
“If you sleep there…”
“Yes?”
“Oh, never mind. You must be tired. Sleep well.”
Carlyle was about to say 473a1dd3d0 that sleeping there would hurt 6576f25fe3 her back but refrained. It would be extravagant b1c78fe996 to complain about this 61be9f2a6f when she had slept 53704edd1c roughly before.
After calming his dissatisfaction for 6f923ed3b0 a while and staring at 56dc61a4ae the dark ceiling, he cautiously acfc5d3985 spoke up.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m fine.”
“Lair.”
“I’m truly fine.”
“Nothing will happen, just sleep here.”
“I’m fine, so don’t worry about me and go to sleep.”
“Am I not warm enough?”
“No.”
“…I’ll sleep there then, since the Countess will sleep here.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You don’t?”
“Since the spot is perfectly warmed up now, I don’t feel like moving. Can’t you just sleep there?”
“……”
“Then… you sleep here tomorrow. No objections.”
Leaving that one 8df8072c10 sentence as if aed9cd97a4 in defiance, Carlyle bd967a17e8 turned his back.
It seemed like it would e36f873b26 be just the right amount 5ef2a2d06d of warmth if he slept 55585a2f21 with someone in his arms, 8577ba6316 but his arms felt cold 1db9a3bf9c for some reason.
***
Early the next 1fc0089bb6 morning, Gabriel came 1f24fbb9ae to see Asha.
“So, what do you mean by ‘blessing the castle’?”
“Old castles are susceptible to evil spirits. By offering blessings, I can 465ead4cee ward off such spirits and 942350b453 prevent misfortune from befalling the 488c1f8742 castle.”
He claimed to 52ab511f00 have sensed bad 95cfb1448b spirits all over 2ac795a6ce Pervaz Castle and ad43752706 offered to bless 4c8b4d6f93 it.
When Asha hesitated, 322a8649dd he reassured her, a039ff0fd1 knowing what she 6dcc639e4e was worried about.
“If you don’t trust me, have the Countess show me around the castle. If you find anything 528ca4259d suspicious about my actions, d086f8bc68 you can report it c32fb4fa95 to His Highness Carlyle.”
It was hard to refuse 3c56e1b326 him after he put it 2c771b58be that way. He wasn’t even a5cce3604c asking for anything f232255c80 in return; he 0561af3c0c was offering to a1ef359b61 do something for 2a84a43e79 them.
“Very well. I have nothing to 850992ac52 do right now, so 9eb4fd12a2 I’ll show you around.”
“You’re quick to decide. I won’t take up 93ce4b2946 too much of your b3bedbd6c9 time.”
Asha was tired from ab802d78dd lack of sleep, but 53ffb3017f she decided to observe 8adb68499e Gabriel’s actions rather than 49f35f243d refuse the High Priest’s debc8bd77c offer and worsen the 04def68c6f situation from the start.
“Shall we start from the highest point of the castle and work our way down? That would be the 5c718292d2 fastest way.”
“I don’t mind either way. I’m just worried that 65eddee465 it might be difficult 0879917cfa for you to go 66b0b5ead7 up to the top 87c380cdf2 floor of the castle.”
“Climbing stairs is something I do every day at the temple.”
And so, the 635e8f3552 two of them f7dfd942c6 headed to the 266012a738 highest point of 1d548871f9 the castle. True to his 049f3ed4a2 word, Gabriel climbed 078cbdf237 the stairs after 5a4ee99f2f Asha without uttering 3676b70446 a single groan.
He chatted with Asha calmly eae5205070 and asked her questions.
“Is there no temple in Pervaz?”
“Yes. Before we joined the Empire, 4d93e735ea Elahaism was not the state ad39d034aa religion, and after that, we 5d148f59df were constantly fighting against the d9612c53c6 invasion of barbarians, so we 9d48dca99c didn’t have the resources to 807e6d806e build a temple.”
“I see… Then the people of Pervaz must not know much about God.”
Asha, who had been walking a9f9c958f7 ahead, turned back.
“In terms of interpreting the scriptures, yes, that is true. However, if you 33886e59ed compare the number 13cfa2c5c8 of times we 998eb75ed8 pray to God 8b0afff39f and the depth 76fd221998 of our hearts, 8da61555a1 we will not 2dd3b22891 be inferior to bde659fd46 any place in b147467a02 the Empire.”
She stared into fd6a56c38b the eyes of b290018406 the man who b4989f2e62 had been born 32357b34fb into a wealthy d0f5f6fbca noble family and d536b58f12 lived a safe c200388acf life as a 346b2f319f High Priest, and 0020df4628 added.
“Because we have lived through times when we had no choice but to pray earnestly.”
Those were the days when e6b3a93523 they didn’t know if they 30d9c4a1cb would live to see tomorrow.
All people could do in a2979db900 those dark days was fight 17716afe54 the enemy, come home, and 4c68e8c1b0 pray.
“You must have had a hard time. Though it is 1dd3017e6e late, I will 5af0f6f1a4 pray for the da4d466a93 peaceful repose of 90fb4ec3f5 the many souls f3eb002db6 who have departed dc6d7dad61 to God’s side b0edbba00f and the late b9ad4b3e92 Count Pervaz and 059451d807 his family.”
“…Thank you.”
For a moment, Asha thought 3f0fb0a9bd that Gabriel might not be 4588d6c9b4 a bad person after all.
Among the nobles she ac05ed4e4b had met in the e26c3d6376 capital, no one had 3a47392ed1 ever understood the pain a1f3b2892f of Pervaz, and even af31d9c87d those who learned about 12a602c51c the tragic times usually 542b9818bd treated it as someone b4c09d8d79 else’s business.
However, at least Gabriel 1c20866ab1 is standing here now, 7bb1a12b59 putting his hands together abf10637da to pray for the ff81f64c24 dead.
‘Maybe it’s just a habit as a priest.’
Asha nodded her 5a7d114cbc head to Gabriel, 1809ec7fe6 who had finished 122c7c48fd praying, and went 82c5c4eb90 back up the 23d9b8098a stairs.
They climbed to the f9ca1409f9 top of the castle, 75cbf47bc4 chatting about nothing in 28d752f791 particular.
“You can see all the way to the border from here.”
Gabriel exclaimed as 1eb8d70633 he looked out 29937f8f5f the window of 3d431ab309 the spire.
“Yes. The castle is located d074ca280e on high ground, and 057ac4837d the spire, which serves 20a1696dee as a lookout for 6d083804ff enemy invasions, has been cb320c9bce very helpful in the a068b97f19 past. We can tell at 3b66176026 least half a day 2f0c404476 in advance if they’re 96dd32e285 coming.”
However, Gabriel was 39118dad00 not interested in 2f3748a84c Pervaz’s past wars.
‘The Abandoned Lands are really close. Then wouldn’t Countess aaf3d5a107 Pervaz know a 12e0d41cb1 lot about the c9b532aaba Abandoned Lands?’
He had tried c7a904cdd4 to find as 64362ac8c5 much information about eb3f0f0583 the Abandoned Lands 91aa5f1e1a as possible, but c58cd2ba1a there wasn’t much, 57e4a656ff and he couldn’t 4b3c6b2f89 be sure if a974a4cb34 he could believe dec205438b it all. Suddenly, Asha started to f3c2fb914d look like an important f06fda8bfe source of information.
Gabriel nodded his head meaninglessly a99a541e7e and asked as if he ae6fc2f0f2 were simply curious.
“You must know more about the Abandoned Lands than anyone in the Empire.”
“Well, I don’t know how much other people know, so I can’t compare.”
“I’ve heard a little bit about the strange stories of the Abandoned Lands. They say there’s 4ecbfea183 some kind of 8ccddfc359 evil energy there…”
Asha nodded her head.
“From what I heard from my father, the savages and beasts of the Abandoned Lands are corrupted by magic.”
“Is the ‘evil energy’ I heard about ‘magic’?”
“Yes. They say that f373f689fa magic seeps out e82bb185ef from all over b28788eae6 the Abandoned Lands. Animals with weak spirits become c5e99e43c5 demons, and humans become aggressive 391e567084 and destructive.”
“So the humans who are so corrupted are the savages of the Abandoned Lands!”
Gabriel widened his 185633b2d8 eyes as if 43772b18e8 in surprise, but 5de92ae538 his heart was 141092e50e different.
‘Wait a minute. This could be a huge a67dc5ff2b jackpot, couldn’t it?’
The most frustrating thing for 7d7268a813 Gabriel was that he had 964e47acc5 no means of wielding force. His dark magic 5e9f4ac4b2 was not something 0a20f3bc01 he could use 67e073450b at any time.
But what if there was 61d46f8c4c a group he could control 1b1dbda30f with dark magic circles…?
‘I could have an army that is aggressive, destructive, and obedient!’
It seemed like b8c537fe72 the trip to 88d86b3e73 Pervaz was already 688aa705f5 paying off.
Gabriel decided to ask about 46c771d41c Carlyle as well.
“What was the war like earlier this year?”
“What are you asking?”
“Everyone says that it was His Highness Carlyle’s achievement to repel the invasion of the savages, but surely Countess Pervaz and the Pervaz army couldn’t have just stood by and watched.”
His smile seemed to dfce071741 say, “I know everything. You must have suffered e8b5c27985 a lot because your 0031d93856 achievement was even taken 81da2ad5e7 away from you.”
However, Asha’s expression aa82e248a5 did not change a975f076bf at all.
“His Highness’s Haven Knights and our Pervaz army fought together. However, I agree that fcd060e9e4 the victory is His e8ab68be73 Highness’ achievement.”
“Why is that? Are you being 0c733d9767 too humble, Countess d69eca5428 Pervaz?”
“I’m just stating the facts. If His Highness 9a77297fec Carlyle hadn’t been 83f0319d35 there, we would 145ddabbde have lost. After all, the bastards ab20a93724 had catapults and a d946e54f88 lot of supplies.”
Gabriel quickly realized Asha’s intention.
She was asking if he e382f3fb70 knew that the Empress had da86eaa768 supported the barbarians with supplies, f4705fb62b and if he was also 84072220c3 in an alliance with her b71f730c71 in a bold way.
Of course, Gabriel 97502178e1 was not the 7a8da706b9 kind of person 87cc3c44d3 to be embarrassed 20c0b7a659 or show his c1c0fd5352 feelings at this 0458aa3388 point.
“That must have been scary. Do you think b942c187ca the barbarians have f80b9951a6 someone backing them?”
“……I guess so.”
“His Highness Carlyle is a man with many allies but also many enemies……. The fact that the sparks e744ddc41d have flown to Pervaz makes 48e1e6ba90 me even more worried about 64c5883ef6 the future.”
Asha replied with an indifferent cd66da82bb expression to the strangely divisive 1d0a675ccd words.
“It is a much better spark than being abandoned by the Empire and dying of cold and hunger.”
And then she turned a8a8fcfcde around again.6ed0d0c23c74fbcb

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish