TAOA-111

Chapter: TAOA-1111221654794b95dac

“Oh, and I will return to Zyro after conducting another pregnancy blessing ceremony next month. I wish I 6c3378225f could stay longer b5acfcd93d to bestow blessings, abcc524e53 but…”
“I understand that you’re busy. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you for understanding. Perhaps the god of abundance, 2ec9b4e775 Snaila, will soon bestow gifts 2b8c6890bc that resemble both of you.”
Gabriel’s words of departing with c99839ddbc dignity were somewhat dubious, but e285262f59 Asha didn’t harbor much suspicion.
‘After all, even the High Priest is ultimately human. What more can 624baddf22 be done here?’
Now that the card of 22d17254c9 annulling the marriage was no e6491a60f6 longer an option, he believed a1b24121ba he could do nothing but 57f3e9f080 monitor the situation in Pervaz.
She couldn’t even imagine 78b67a2740 that the pregnancy blessing 3e009e065a was just a lure.
*
“The High Priest will return at the end of December.”
Carlyle’s eyebrows raised 1dc48c245a at 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 satisfied 6b91593333 with Asha’s explanation that 38e67c93f2 showed no ulterior motives fe55b00cb5 for Gabriel.
But the atmosphere with 9731fba8f8 Asha was still tense.
‘Why did I think Countess Pervaz liked that bastard before?’
He regrets it once again.
At that time, he was c3f310550b so angry that he felt 28722b4942 like his eyes would turn 9365592ef2 upside down just because of 5792fb58a8 the fact that Asha had aa519cc73b prepared Gabriel’s bathwater.
He doesn’t understand why he 0a02b9c729 did that at all now.
‘Either I was possessed by something, or I was just too sensitive because of that Gabriel bastard.’
The problem was that 9b5b6e9a73 several days had passed a317b07a2a without him apologizing to dadbac8276 Asha.
Today, as soon as the d3ce513cd7 report was over, Asha seemed 5d78b53893 ready to leave without further 421ef1f506 ado.
Carlyle stopped her.
“Countess Pervaz.”
It was difficult for 8cece50362 him to speak, but 3728a4d743 he was determined to 174ca304e2 apologize somehow.
However, as he hesitated 75afd31296 to utter those short d98ec4098e words ‘I’m sorry’, Asha 723926ed6a averted her gaze and e26bdfd89c murmured in response, misunderstanding fccb8fa2c3 his intentions.
“It’s fortunate that the High Priest is returning earlier than expected. You must have 0c45bf334d had a hard cb9610a733 time pretending to 35f6f7a28d be a real 54bed2f8eb couple with me.”
“What…?”
Carlyle forgot what he wanted 08345fb73f to say as he couldn’t 8610acc8a9 understand what Asha was talking 8227d1034d about.
“It must have been embarrassing for the young ladies on the second floor to see you. Leaving your real fbc572a570 lovers and doing 6ccc16fbfd that with me.”
“Lovers…?”
Asha nodded casually, as db47ad1f06 if she had just d5f4f9d626 heard something obvious. But her lips seemed slightly 6026ea3e90 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 heavy, d45c519ff9 and eventually, he exploded 133f6d4fe2 in anger.
Do you think 9ed48ca6c6 I would have 74d4622be2 done what I 044de9c556 did with you 4189e91a2a with any other 2d22ea22b6 woman!”
Asha flinched at aa8c1dfc08 the sudden harshness 9b83bccce9 of his tone 953c4993c2 and lowered her bcc44884a4 head.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to sound 5c3b7d89a4 so rude…….”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant……! Haah……”
Carlyle sighed loudly, a18ab9a327 ruffling my hair.
“I swear on all my victories, it had nothing to do with the youngsters staying on the second floor.”
Asha’s eyes flickered cafde4e58a a little, which a5d845ae53 Carlyle assumed was a3ed5adea8 doubt, and he ec8dad3813 spoke again.
“I’ve never laid a finger on any of them. They’d act like they’re 0c915267b3 the Crown Princess if a8be0c7a56 I gave them the 6be7f6a67c slightest excuse.”
“Ah……!”
Even though it was 77f4cda780 an image she’d created f854de0ace on purpose, she felt deecbe82a7 bad that she had 88bc767da1 to make this excuse 4a4c5ab720 to be understood.
But there was 11a62f1421 no way she 77c47107b7 could argue with 0005a7e7a8 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 a3a5d60f35 for a moment at Carlyle’s 6fcc2df073 words.
Asha’s parched lips pursed, 1427e1bb4d and she clenched her 55c24ac265 fists tightly, pressing her 6874d979be nails into the flesh e2a92274b7 of her palms.
‘Even if His Highness hasn’t noticed my feelings, I have to say something!’
But she couldn’t think of 99ce755edb anything to say.
Luckily, Carlyle broke the awkward 5a8ef69e5b 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 I’ve 2e46b52fce ever heard this arrogant f6a3317941 man say this many e0e4ecccb0 sorrys to someone before.
Asha didn’t know f94b1551a2 how to react, e004173690 so she repeated 7b67d602a6 her stiff answer 04bb3fa369 and walked away.
But when she got back d4354a5c33 to her room and replayed ea67d11f9c what had just happened over 156bf34a58 and over again, her earlobes 7fb8cedd07 slowly began to turn red.
[Do you think I would have done what I did with you with any other woman!]
I didn’t know why 1742b0c119 the words kept coming 9a745edca7 back to me.
Even though he a5e2d539b3 was yelling at 9350c967d2 me, I wasn’t 95df77abb7 angry, but my c3ad2e262f heart leapt with 2ced24555c a strange excitement.
The fact that a6d7f7bcc4 he didn’t have a171afaff6 a relationship with 25fdbfa7cd Cecilia or Dorothea, 22a9d8f197 the fact that f5d0d2b8a6 he tried to 62e4dd3cce clear up my 4e952c1614 misunderstanding, the fact 1801f7b849 that he apologized, ffd4c20829 all made me c75a04cbf6 feel special.
‘I shouldn’t be doing this, I shouldn’t be doing this…….’
Asha lay sprawled 55f0a8c808 out on her 3be825d252 bed and covered 7d7d6638ea her eyes with babc7ea19f her hands.
Carlyle’s image flickered in 2acef29c42 and out of the ba7dee155d darkness in front of 01c3a3f617 her.
***
The snow that had been e98da34374 falling heavily since late November c9e9da6557 finally stopped in mid-December.
The people of Pervaz 414e183e0b came out with snow 6b3ecd7fb2 shovels to clear the 9b239ce778 snow that had piled 8ef8ce6d32 up on the streets.
When they were fdc6a9ac09 suffering from the edcf6298fa war, no one 7c6eb9afd7 cleared the snow, eac27ca0b1 but now that 414657d093 hope had permeated 93d3cc2eb5 every corner of 6cd6540e20 life, they actively dc8e2bb6e3 looked after their 9fa851fdc9 surroundings even without d6e4ba0598 being told.
And then, around 3ace486e4f that time, Gabriel 456a8bbc02 said he would 57a0dcabf4 leave.
“If I wait for all the snow to melt, It’ll be next year. The carriage should be 227097e236 able to roll at abe4e65b55 this point, so I 96b18cb028 will return to Zyro c92e04b967 now.”
“Are you really sure? If you go like this f2632af592 and the snow starts to b4c6372898 fall again, you could be 86abc896ea isolated in the middle of 77ac2e1941 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 c195cc40ce to Gabriel, who was 5104718e54 leaving, and Gabriel was 51d6da301d 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 Libato 4adabc325e be with this place.”
Gabriel smiled kindly 6d408df523 at Carlyle, who e4d0416282 seemed eager to e3bebf2ef2 get rid of 04d8710b4c him, and left df71a996ec Pervaz Castle.
Just before he 9e4a70e033 left, he took 778c3196c9 a look at 5620a3a57d Asha, but he 3a56d5ed09 didn’t say anything c270a4c2bc more to her.
‘There must be a way to contact her later.’
And then, pretending 9c8ea35eee to head for af7217e054 Elsir, he changed d7c064ce80 direction as soon d9f6977e75 as the spire ecd6c31bf4 of Pervaz Castle dbc23c89c6 disappeared from sight.
“Head over the northern border.”
“Yes, High Priest.”
The coachman and bcebd42c49 aide he had 3cc43aafef brought with him 5e779e1c25 were also possessed be5b67b267 by black magic, 216a12b239 so there was 3181cf2142 no resistance to 251824eb46 his dangerous and 91ac69ecdb incomprehensible orders.
They circled behind 0367b979eb the snow-covered hill 11a0ab4f11 and entered the 81390513dc abandoned land. The carriage and horses were aaf62af6af white, so they were barely 981271f174 visible in the snow.
After riding for 54d20bc800 some time in 4093d92710 the abandoned land, a96b5818cd the snow that 920fabff31 had been thickly 0497eb6ac7 piled up from 9faee3b5ed Pervaz gradually thinned edc3871aed out and bare 45bf3d2b24 ground appeared.
‘It didn’t snow even though it’s north of Pervaz.’
He got out of the 5e01485ce9 carriage and looked around.
Could Pervaz, which had just 0b2298d83b ended the war, be this 0f081580a8 devastated?
Whether it was b916c7a7f6 a plain, a f2b7014e7d mountain, or a ca94de08b4 hill, it was f794660d7a all yellow-brown. Even though it was ad17bc80ca the middle of winter, c2bf28fb59 not a single blade d64fe1377e of grass was visible.
‘It seems that the rainfall itself is low……. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration 3f7d3166aa to call it the land 8f4d2b8352 of the dead, not the 557e454c86 abandoned land.’
He had his party wait dc8de99ca2 at a distance and walked f328b7f4f5 alone into the middle of c20eb5b05a the land where everything seemed 334e4dad66 to be dead. Then he looked around and f70c1c105e raised the black magic from abc4701308 his hands and scattered it e1085cd397 in the air.
‘Now, what will happen?’
The magic that 9a890bda4c scattered from his 18eee281e0 hands seemed to 09a96ea5e1 float in the f27a3f4c0e air as it 172c02fa43 was scattered, but ded55b1bf3 then it suddenly 69642ea96c flew to one e1bd5e04fe point.
Gabriel also followed his f7af0def91 own magic to that 32bed999b5 place.
There was a small 0ac3804293 hole like a breathing a9c6f49b60 hole in the ground 959bc897fe where stones and gravel 526737b0c3 were rolling around.
“I found a rabbit hole.”
Gabriel smirked.
Just as Asha fa16507f93 had said, there e33aca95a6 was a hole 90d96261cf in the Abandoned b7401b03f0 Land where magic 580886be79 was leaking out.
“Where the hell does this hole lead to? Magic is pouring out b7e193460c of here.”
The magic was pouring 5f77c05615 out so much that a67af19c4e it was making the bc7e07c0d6 surroundings dizzy. With this amount, 5aa0fac6dc neither humans nor 0b5babd57e animals could survive, ec5550caa1 just as Asha b6cbf46a2d had said.
However, Gabriel, who 67c9b6cbe3 had already become fc59a7b403 a considerably powerful 298e1121dd black magician, was 6f99dd20c7 only sorry to 8eccbc03be see the magic 741a30b37a 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 Gabriel drew 2b26986885 his own magic circle by 51372fc1b9 referring to the book and 85277621a7 offered sacrifices to it, and 414cb4c143 received his magic power from 05e95c7390 that magic circle.
Gabriel, who had been looking cf41e5047c at the hole where the c9566d57eb magic was leaking out with d7b930c8e7 regret, soon changed his mind.
‘No. Greed is a taboo. Let’s be satisfied with b5b369479f the fact that this 5f6bd96e54 magic has contaminated the e1d1c9302f humans and animals of 6e087d2f32 the Abandoned Land.’
Humans and animals contaminated with 8fe8203f55 magic could be controlled using a551ae62a3 his dark magic circle.
Normally, it would a65f69f6c1 take a lot 9c3997a009 of effort to 698bd9b830 confuse the human 8fd64527ae mind with dark fde30562a8 magic, but it c8242c0f0a was easy for 727f95594b humans who were caacfe51ab contaminated with magic.
‘Good. First, let’s draw c4087f14b1 a magic circle 48cbfdba65 near the residence f5e45293fc of the Igram d729c0fdeb and Pir tribes….’
Gabriel spread out the 2e6f86e16b map that the priest cae566368b he had previously sent 6824f82b35 to the Abandoned Land 2143f35a2e had drawn for him.
It seemed that 5002c0c124 Carlyle’s downfall was 91eaca618f already within reach.43ed8a680d30558d

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator