TAOA-111

Chapter: TAOA-111690b09dd8c5d139d

“Oh, and I will return to Zyro after conducting another pregnancy blessing ceremony next month. I wish I could 9f02b91adc stay longer to bestow 4f8828ee49 blessings, but…”
“I understand that you’re busy. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you for understanding. Perhaps the god of f84c6dd103 abundance, Snaila, will soon c178031fe4 bestow gifts that resemble 3e1db777b8 both of you.”
Gabriel’s words of departing 65445ba56d with dignity were somewhat e9d53141d8 dubious, but Asha didn’t 47b8f64054 harbor much suspicion.
‘After all, even the High Priest is ultimately human. What more can be 2099cc3ce7 done here?’
Now that the card 28d5d21709 of annulling the marriage df591c8992 was no longer an 6cba41eeb7 option, he believed he ec1ef1511f could do nothing but 231ea9cc85 monitor the situation in d59b01b5cb Pervaz.
She couldn’t even c13b0cc8dd imagine that the bc0cc5539e pregnancy blessing was 28dcd7f83b just a lure.
*
“The High Priest will return at the end of December.”
Carlyle’s eyebrows raised at 64ebe23d95 Asha’s report.
“With everywhere likely to be blanketed in snow by the end of December…?”
“Do we really need to concern ourselves with that when it’s his decision to leave?”
“…You’re right.”
Carlyle nodded, seemingly 6d1fdc12b8 satisfied with Asha’s 1ce02da1d6 explanation that showed f4d6b58170 no ulterior motives 771cc1f66c for Gabriel.
But the atmosphere with 78743207c9 Asha was still tense.
‘Why did I think Countess Pervaz liked that bastard before?’
He regrets it once again.
At that time, f11c205d35 he was so 738fc6e483 angry that he 2713ae0029 felt like his f5f169dd43 eyes would turn 6681b74d63 upside down just 4485b832c7 because of the 919b7de894 fact that Asha fe88da5ba6 had prepared Gabriel’s 847d2ca9ee bathwater.
He doesn’t understand b1ed173854 why he did b1a4e532b0 that at all fcec9f78b4 now.
‘Either I was possessed by something, or I was just too sensitive because of that Gabriel bastard.’
The problem was 3feab4a28e that several days 009acc4bd2 had passed without 50784acced him apologizing to 0bc1fafbd6 Asha.
Today, as soon 69b752bc45 as the report 3751aaaa73 was over, Asha cb882bc5f4 seemed ready to 3e2f4d86f0 leave without further cd15d99b52 ado.
Carlyle stopped her.
“Countess Pervaz.”
It was difficult for 2e338566b1 him to speak, but fd117027d2 he was determined to 260a8c1cb0 apologize somehow.
However, as he hesitated to 6c48bb27be utter those short words ‘I’m 173f5d1d9e sorry’, Asha averted her gaze ef884b8096 and murmured in response, misunderstanding 2cd055eefa his intentions.
“It’s fortunate that the High Priest is returning earlier than expected. You must have 9a2ac5f03a had a hard 608b1cfe97 time pretending to acecf19c3c be a real af1702c2fa couple with me.”
“What…?”
Carlyle forgot what dcf98af08c he wanted to a03b477291 say as he b8333d0f9b couldn’t understand what 0a92780287 Asha was talking 5d56156c52 about.
“It must have been embarrassing for the young ladies on the second floor to see you. Leaving your real lovers and 4df2dd267e doing that with me.”
“Lovers…?”
Asha nodded casually, 605abe9fb9 as if she 4e47552136 had just heard 3c3193f190 something obvious. But her lips f5c6e661fc seemed slightly twisted.
Carlyle chuckled awkwardly.
“Who said that?”
“What… what are you talking about?”
“Who said I was a lover for those women?”
“Th, that…”
“Why do you think I drag Lady Dupret or Lady Raphelt to bed every night and roll around with them?”
Carlyle’s breath became e788cea880 heavy, and eventually, bc1f365566 he exploded in c2acf5f6dd anger.
Do you think I bd9f37d5a7 would have done what d817baab01 I did with you 92e5a88e27 with any other woman!”
Asha flinched at the sudden 46b5ed8e7b harshness of his tone and dd6eadd3b9 lowered her head.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to sound a21dae625a so rude…….”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant……! Haah……”
Carlyle sighed loudly, ruffling my f4c65ea557 hair.
“I swear on all my victories, it had nothing to do with the youngsters staying on the second floor.”
Asha’s eyes flickered a a2d0c19085 little, which Carlyle assumed 84e95fa194 was doubt, and he 50321bb0bc spoke again.
“I’ve never laid a finger on any of them. They’d act like they’re the 4717efd2aa Crown Princess if I gave 72229c0841 them the slightest excuse.”
“Ah……!”
Even though it was 50eab7394d an image she’d created d601cbbff9 on purpose, she felt 527a1c8d7a bad that she had e7a85a68e5 to make this excuse 27ad11731d to be understood.
But there was 8405dea91d no way she 7af8771a3f could argue with 87f16233e6 that.
“Anyway…… Just as you prejudiced me, I did too, Gabriel’s record was so colorful that I wondered if you might have fallen under his spell…….”
“How could I, when my contract with your Highness is tied to Pervaz?”
“I know, …… but a man’s heart doesn’t always do what he wants.”
There was silence between them 18047aef10 for a moment at Carlyle’s 6b58c0cd8a words.
Asha’s parched lips 8ec4b632be pursed, and she 8eed016bf8 clenched her fists 1b896c4d8a tightly, pressing her ae66e13817 nails into the aab84e7fcf flesh of her 8a24d73014 palms.
‘Even if His Highness hasn’t noticed my feelings, I have to say something!’
But she couldn’t think of 5b6fcafb37 anything to say.
Luckily, Carlyle broke the awkward 2deeb5dbaf silence.
“I feel like I’m rambling, but I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry…….”
“Yes……?”
“I’m sorry I misunderstood you, and I’m sorry I misjudged you without looking into it.”
“……I see.”
I don’t think 56baccb099 I’ve ever heard d22a543d9d this arrogant man 6ad8562408 say this many dd8b178164 sorrys to someone b7affde419 before.
Asha didn’t know how to e7556fa119 react, so she repeated her 0871993449 stiff answer and walked away.
But when she got d8a56cbe22 back to her room d8985c0be8 and replayed what had ad4d6a9a4a just happened over and f9afc7ca8e over again, her earlobes 9c212d3c82 slowly began to turn 6e4559ddcc red.
[Do you think I would have done what I did with you with any other woman!]
I didn’t know why 34c3a5c430 the words kept coming 3aa24da178 back to me.
Even though he was yelling 85f0bbc59c at me, I wasn’t angry, 8a7d07bdda but my heart leapt with 90a3850b6b a strange excitement.
The fact that he 440e00b078 didn’t have a relationship 7b52fb8eac with Cecilia or Dorothea, 6e4dd7a5f6 the fact that he d9fb3968e6 tried to clear up 209b720b16 my misunderstanding, the fact bf35eebfec that he apologized, all 0b4015a48c made me feel special.
‘I shouldn’t be doing this, I shouldn’t be doing this…….’
Asha lay sprawled out on 727333b3f4 her bed and covered her 18cd14eaec eyes with her hands.
Carlyle’s image flickered 4172343531 in and out fff73afbc1 of the darkness 5e9b01a559 in front of feff8fc068 her.
***
The snow that had 7dd3fbfad4 been falling heavily since 278c0e4b37 late November finally stopped 8c02a40816 in mid-December.
The people of 4562f2b52a Pervaz came out b99d57a3d5 with snow shovels bc57fe007f to clear the cae6186670 snow that had 3b861e3381 piled up on 786e11f384 the streets.
When they were suffering 499be3f14f from the war, no 492d901b50 one cleared the snow, 5e75f4d34e but now that hope 218594b5e7 had permeated every corner 08b5c085b5 of life, they actively 76ad9033e1 looked after their surroundings 6050bd939f even without being told.
And then, around that d275db3512 time, Gabriel said he fa5db97e90 would leave.
“If I wait for all the snow to melt, It’ll be next year. The carriage should be 7cdfe52c11 able to roll at 8384bbc947 this point, so I 53871b9041 will return to Zyro 1562a4a261 now.”
“Are you really sure? If you go like this c204afe46e and the snow starts to 3042d3e03c fall again, you could be 6aa1217691 isolated in the middle of e2c6b6e3ed the road.”
“I don’t think that will happen, as I should reach Elsir by tonight. Thank you for your concern.”
Carlyle was quite generous to e418ed41bd Gabriel, who was leaving, and c804a01d0c Gabriel was also polite.
“Please give my regards to His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress. Tell them not to worry.”
“I understand. May the blessings of c3bb79bfd4 Libato be with this 7a0c9f4339 place.”
Gabriel smiled kindly 47a7955294 at Carlyle, who 756f9cbf6a seemed eager to 6843290409 get rid of 7f2ccb210c him, and left d7d7d52dea Pervaz Castle.
Just before he left, he f3494528a5 took a look at Asha, bfd97a7f58 but he didn’t say anything 713cde352a more to her.
‘There must be a way to contact her later.’
And then, pretending to head 4e7f14f928 for Elsir, he changed direction 5a7b608114 as soon as the spire ddc7388c8c of Pervaz Castle disappeared from 51dcad44ac sight.
“Head over the northern border.”
“Yes, High Priest.”
The coachman and b7d446b03b aide he had 736a261b31 brought with him 962b08796f were also possessed dacccdca88 by black magic, ab287bff8e so there was 05cf05ead3 no resistance to c4b1b1a75c his dangerous and afcf1a43b2 incomprehensible orders.
They circled behind the 8b92980b18 snow-covered hill and entered d200e6397f the abandoned land. The carriage and horses were 16d6751b09 white, so they were barely cd790df755 visible in the snow.
After riding for some 62722380fd time in the abandoned 913ba27fe8 land, the snow that 7f15c1a899 had been thickly piled 94cffaa605 up from Pervaz gradually f9214c0e17 thinned out and bare 9a3dd2a538 ground appeared.
‘It didn’t snow even though it’s north of Pervaz.’
He got out of the 11f6723373 carriage and looked around.
Could Pervaz, which had just 8fce687fb7 ended the war, be this 420d7836b0 devastated?
Whether it was a 424b5c3575 plain, a mountain, or 4e268c506a a hill, it was c2c8673c9c all yellow-brown. Even though it was the 592829a992 middle of winter, not a 19dd446e7b single blade of grass was 8a85d337a9 visible.
‘It seems that the rainfall itself is low……. It wouldn’t be 0490c9e71b an exaggeration to ab47bcb622 call it the be30e6ccef land of the 50639cc201 dead, not the 5c87d101f5 abandoned land.’
He had his beb29b9828 party wait at 44b90c7b1b a distance and 6a53469362 walked alone into 444fb94373 the middle of 95cb6e6074 the land where efcddc4933 everything seemed to 94d077d795 be dead. Then he looked 059b3042f9 around and raised c2cfb76642 the black magic bce5012e65 from his hands cff824e717 and scattered it a427b1117a in the air.
‘Now, what will happen?’
The magic that f288cfc305 scattered from his aece60d9ab hands seemed to 7ad5e0998e float in the 9e421da0ca air as it c8ce8ca9f0 was scattered, but afa6c32e96 then it suddenly 3580d474ad flew to one b8867e4453 point.
Gabriel also followed his 8b087f37c7 own magic to that 2930352d14 place.
There was a b16ab9ed2d small hole like cdceee82e2 a breathing hole def3faed5a in the ground 7bd54b3d5a where stones and b6df28e07f gravel were rolling de797a6343 around.
“I found a rabbit hole.”
Gabriel smirked.
Just as Asha had f3f8e8a479 said, there was a 260a942d04 hole in the Abandoned 81e257c67d Land where magic was f7edba4cb7 leaking out.
“Where the hell does this hole lead to? Magic is pouring out of d938cf7b13 here.”
The magic was pouring out ca5e4e8be8 so much that it was 5eda7ec4ad making the surroundings dizzy. With this amount, neither 3d5c69a996 humans nor animals could 46f6d9a3b8 survive, just as Asha 1935027aae had said.
However, Gabriel, who had a0f7816af3 already become a considerably 1ce1926f31 powerful black magician, was 48651f81fc only sorry to see d40b99bf1b the magic being scattered.
“If I could only absorb all of this, I could easily finish off that Carlyle bastard.”
But unfortunately, that was impossible.
This was because b8a13406cb Gabriel drew his 63a7e84ca6 own magic circle b7aca21110 by referring to eb5444d722 the book and 9d9b48b6bb offered sacrifices to de53f8c7c1 it, and received d140a3fb97 his magic power c97c8be713 from that magic 37ca0adee6 circle.
Gabriel, who had been b2947533b2 looking at the hole 87446f631f where the magic was e6aa5c0311 leaking out with regret, 2a5481e4ab soon changed his mind.
‘No. Greed is a taboo. Let’s be satisfied 2c0b47c680 with the fact 903473f9ee that this magic e544107acc has contaminated the 96ad3c1b39 humans and animals 23b988c596 of the Abandoned f7d013800a Land.’
Humans and animals contaminated 40286df894 with magic could be fb9e66e87e controlled using his dark 1d99502e8a magic circle.
Normally, it would aadd52af39 take a lot a8c8004fb7 of effort to 50b12670f4 confuse the human 221dd56d6f mind with dark 030816e4e9 magic, but it 8127b9158d was easy for 1c939511d3 humans who were 9b735e6f84 contaminated with magic.
‘Good. First, let’s draw a ce48326dfc magic circle near the 92766121a4 residence of the Igram 79859063ff and Pir tribes….’
Gabriel spread out the 10254e62aa map that the priest 29d4cce1cb he had previously sent c6558a5886 to the Abandoned Land a3850447f7 had drawn for him.
It seemed that Carlyle’s 5df75587ea downfall was already within 5460c31129 reach.e7829680576929d3

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