LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 42
42nd Chapter
Lost in confusion, I walked on while feeling a presence right in front of me, and hurriedly turned my body. I barely managed to step back just before collision.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
‘Get a grip.’
I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them, raising my head.
Once again, I was astonished.
“……Who are you?”
His swaying silver-gray hair. A strikingly beautiful appearance that exuded strength. The scent of rosewood brushing against my nose and huge golden eyes staring at me.
‘Reiner Einhart!’
Every step I took felt like stepping on a landmine. Just as I was failing to compose myself, Reiner, who was staring at me with a confused look, muttered.
“How could you……”
“I-I’m sorry! I must go first!”
I fled hastily, leaving Reiner standing there in a daze. My heart was pounding like crazy.
‘Damn! At this rate, I’ll end up meeting my ex-boyfriend here!’
Of course, I didn’t have an ex-boyfriend, but everywhere I turned felt like a bomb waiting to explode.
‘Just stay calm. Shrink back quietly.’
I squeezed myself into an empty corner. I thought Aria would properly promote the harness and body chain, so there was no need for me to involve myself in that irresponsible thought. While hiding behind the curtains of the shadowed corner—
“Hey, Mir. Aren’t you bored all alone?”
Another uninvited guest appeared.
Clad in white priest robes that covered his entire body. A mask that concealed everything except for his mouth and eyes. With his hat pulled down low, making his face hard to see.
The subtle scent of lilies piercing my nose, along with the sparkling silver eyes peering at me from under the brim.
“El?”
‘What are you doing here?!’
I felt my eyes widen as if I was about to faint. He had the same gentle smile on his face as usual. Although his innocent-looking face resembled that of an angel, the strangely shining silver eyes gave me an unsettling feeling.
“It’s been a while, Mir.”
No, should I now call him the Young Lady of the Kashmir Crisis?
His voice, drenched in sweetness as if coated in honey, solidified my body. Clearly, El was still the same. Always wearing that kind smile and angelic face.
However, the odd atmosphere radiating from him had changed in some way.
‘He recognized me.’
I always wore a mask when meeting El. Yet, he recognized me.
‘……How far did he predict this?’
I had indeed not given much thought to El. After all, he was an innocent and kind person. However, El, who showed no signs of surprise in this situation, appeared to have intended for this meeting.
‘If he spreads the rumor that I’m Mir…’
His expression hardened into a frigid glare. El, who was gazing at me, curled the corners of his mouth upward with an unreadable look in his eyes.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep the secret. I have no intention of telling anyone that you are Mir.”
“Why should I believe you?”
I sharpened my tone. At that moment, El’s face showed a hint of hurt, and although my conscience pricked at me, I couldn’t back down on such a sensitive matter.
“We’re friends, after all.”
His low voice sank, letting out a soft rumble. The contrast between his sorrowful face and voice sent chills down my spine, but it was hard to maintain my composure in front of El, who looked like a wounded kitten.
“……Being friends is a different matter.”
“Friends should trust one another.”
I shrugged off El’s pleading gaze and answered defensively. But then, seeing the tears welling in his silver eyes, I lost my words.
‘This is infuriating.’
I felt like the worst person in the world and tightly shut my eyes.
Certainly, I thought of El as a friend and trusted him too. But this issue was far too sensitive for me. While I scratched my head awkwardly, El wiped the moisture away from his eyes with the back of his hand.
“How can I earn your trust? I’ll do anything you ask to gain your trust.”
His pitiful eyes stared right at me. El, who was willing to do anything to gain my trust, seemed too innocent. After a moment’s hesitation, I forced a serious expression and faced him.
“Then can you swear by the Sun’s Oath?”
The Sun’s Oath. An eternal promise made in the presence of the Sun God. It’s a vow activated through the priest, and one who breaks the Sun’s Oath dies on the spot. A pact tied to one’s life.
“If you want it, I’ll gladly do that as well.”
Given the weighty nature of the oath, I thought even El would hesitate a little, but he was unfazed. I flinched slightly.
“You do know what the Sun’s Oath entails, right?”
“……Do you think I wouldn’t know?”
I wondered if the naive El was agreeing without understanding, but when I casually asked, El blinked and tilted his head. Indeed, being a regent, he couldn’t possibly not know about the Sun’s Oath.
‘Is he accepting it so easily, even knowing?’
No matter how naive El was, he couldn’t accept a life-risking Sun’s Oath so easily. Moreover, he possessed information about the Young Lady of the Crisis being a mercenary. Such crucial information was something that an ordinary person would never easily part with.
“What do you want from me?”
Even though El was asking me to trust him wholeheartedly, I found myself doubting once again. I felt self-loathing creeping in as I sharped my gaze and emitted a chilly aura.
“……So you really don’t trust me at all, do you, Mir?”
El murmured in resignation. He gazed into the void with wet eyes, flinching as if he didn’t want to shed any tears. His reddened eyes looked strikingly out of place given the situation.
After struggling with tears for a while, El ultimately clenched his eyes shut. It was as if he didn’t want to show me that side of him.
His pitiful actions almost felt like a temptation, so I slightly averted my gaze.
“What I want from you…… is simple.”
No matter how holy El was, now that he had me for such priceless information, it was only natural for him to desire something. Even knowing that, I felt a little bitter, thinking there must have been some intention behind his acts of kindness.
“Just say it. I will do anything within my means. In exchange, you will swear the Sun’s Oath right now to not reveal that I am Mir.”
I spoke as calmly as I could, rolling up my sleeves to reveal my wrists.
The Sun’s Oath required a priest as a witness, and since El was the regent, he could execute it at any moment if he agreed.
“……As you wish.”
His eyes drooped sadly, making him look pathetically vulnerable. Feeling as if my heart was being stabbed with a skewer, I extended my wrist toward him.
“Are you sure it’s okay not to tell me how to swear the Sun’s Oath?”
“Yes. I know.”
Even after I pressed him, El gently gripped my wrist with a warm touch that sent warmth throughout my body. For a moment, he looked down at my wrist, took a deep breath, and began to chant the oath. Divine power began to radiate outward.
“I, a servant of the Sun, swear by blood and flesh between man and the Sun, that as long as the morning sun rises, this oath shall be eternal.”
He recited the oath in a low voice. A silvery glow burst forth from El’s hand, wrapping around our wrists. The divine power, forming a band shape, enveloped our wrists with a familiar warmth and a touch of ticklishness.
Feeling that the divine power connected him and me, I recalled the vow I had learned before and slowly opened my mouth.
“Do you swear by the Sun that you, El, the Young Lady of the Kashmir Crisis, will not disclose that I am the mercenary Mir to anyone unless I allow it?”
‘I can’t become a burden to the Duke’s Mansion. If it gets out, my plans will be hindered.’
If it became known that the Young Lady of the Crisis was the Mercenary King Mir, it would certainly stir up trouble throughout the continent. The Duke’s Mansion would also undoubtedly fall victim to the chaotic rumors. I didn’t want to cause any harm to the precious things I had newly acquired.
Someday, the truth would come out, but not now.
El, blinking slowly, smiled sadly.
“I swear.”
The burst of light wrapped around our wrists. The sigil of the Sun Temple, the Mandala Sun, was etched into my wrist and then vanished. I lightly stroked my now empty wrist, feeling a cold shiver.
“Now, please tell me what you wish.”
He asked in a slightly softened voice. While I was a bit concerned about what El wanted, the oath had already been made, and considering his personality, he likely wouldn’t ask for too much. El forced a bitter smile.
“It seems you’ve grown fond of many things, Mir.”
Caught off guard by his unexpected statement, I tilted my head, and El sighed as if letting it all out.
“Just one of those will do.”
His long, white fingers gently brushed my hair back from my face. His silver eyes gazed down at me, filled with an intense fixation only for me.
What is this small kindness? For a moment, it felt like my heart sank.
“Please love me too.”
El remained an incomprehensible person. Despite wearing an angelic smile, he also looked desolate.
‘……He’s similar.’
The scent of lilies brushing my nose was familiar. A déjà vu kept banging away in my head.
He was similar. To that child.
“El, you……”
Just as I impulsively began to voice my confusion while not quite in my right mind.
“The blessing ceremony is about to begin!”
The highlight of the debutante was about to start.
“……I’ll see you later. I must go first.”
I couldn’t be late for the blessing ceremony. Swallowing the questions that had risen to my tongue, I hurriedly moved my feet. Turning back in haste, I didn’t catch El’s expression at that moment.
“Sis! Where have you been? It was super close. We’re right about to start the blessing.”
Aria’s face brightened as she nervously clutched her dress. Excited Aria tightly held my hand.
At the debutante, the one with the highest status among the young nobility who would debut that year would go up to receive the Pope’s blessing on behalf of the others. Since there were no members of the royal family for this year’s debutante, the representatives were Aria and me.
‘This year, a regent will perform the blessing instead of the Pope, as he cannot attend.’
Recalling the information I had received in advance, I thought about the current Pope.
The owner of the Sun Temple, the Pope. The process of selecting a Pope in each era was quite simple. Immediately after the previous Pope passed away, the priest whose hair color changed to light blue—the sky blue representing the Sun’s grace—would become the next Pope.
Historically, the criteria for being chosen as Pope were incredibly erratic. A frail, elderly priest could be named right before dying, while a newborn, recently dedicated to the temple, could also become the Pope.
‘The current generation’s Pope is pretty young. He ascended at eighteen, so he must be twenty this year.’
The current master of the Sun Temple is ‘Elior.’
‘He faced quite a bit of ridicule because of his young age at his ascension.’
I remembered the atmosphere in the marketplace shortly after Elior’s ascension. Most people were skeptical about whether a boy could rule. Moreover, because the previous Pope was close to being a tyrant, the public’s perception of the temple reached an all-time low.
However, contrary to people’s expectations, Elior was a cruel yet competent ruler. Shortly after his ascension, he began to clean up the corruption within the temple and correct the wrongs.
At a young age, Elior ruled with an iron fist that bordered on terror, reining in the temple’s high-ranking officials—he was quite extraordinary.
‘And he is one of the male protagonists in ‘Fairy Night.’
In the reverse harem novel ‘Fairy Night,’ there were a total of five male protagonists.
Diego, the Crown Prince of Solatine. Karl, the Prince of Crisis. Reiner, the Viscount Einhart. Alexandros, the King of Atara.
And Elior, the Pope of the Sun Temple.
Even now, I think the original author did a great job ensuring the roles of the male characters didn’t overlap.
Diego held the kind role. Karl was the insane madman. Reiner was the pure-hearted one, and Alexandros was the chaotic wild card…
Elior, however, was the smiling bastard.