“Where did you get something like this?”
I was surprised because it was something I had never heard of before.
If something like this were possible, I should have heard about it by now.
Since priests don’t hold back when it comes to luxury, they would have definitely tried to secure anything that could aid in utilizing their abilities.
“Are you going to keep being mysterious? These are items that came from the labyrinth!”
“These are from the labyrinth?”
Good items came from the labyrinth?
“Even if you’re a priest, isn’t it a bit careless? Living in a labyrinth city and not knowing about these things is unacceptable!”
Of course, I had heard stories about the things that come from the labyrinth while living in a labyrinth city.
I also knew that the things coming out of the labyrinth were setting trends.
But I had never had the chance to actually see those items, so they were unfamiliar to me.
Although I knew about them, I wasn’t familiar enough to recognize their existence right away.
“I’ve heard that special items come from the labyrinth. But I didn’t expect this one.”
“I was shocked. I thought you didn’t know. These days, because of this, there are people who are crazy enough to want to enter the labyrinth. But trust me, those people aren’t just risking their lives to get into the labyrinth.”
If someone didn’t know better, they’d think I had been inside the labyrinth.
“Are you perhaps trying to enter the labyrinth in search of these items, Your Highness?”
“Of course. If we search through the labyrinth, we might find something that could break my sister’s curse without having to kill the monster.”
Rather than searching for a monster whose location was unknown, it seemed like she thought it would be better to find an item that could break any curse.
‘That’s a valid point.’
Even I thought that Princess Lasiell’s plan seemed far more likely to succeed than aimlessly searching for a monster.
Despite her initial impression of being immature and naive, seeing her sister’s crisis firsthand had matured Princess Lasiell.
At the very least, she knew exactly what she had to do.
With that in mind, I started thinking it might be okay to support Princess Lasiell’s request.
When I first heard that the path in the labyrinth had completely changed, I thought, “Could this be it?”
It felt like things were falling into place.
I should have noticed when Priest Arthur suddenly suggested that I meet with the bishop.
‘Priest Arthur truly did his best for me.’
It wasn’t the first time the Sacred Empire had hidden information and made a huge profit from it.
Knowing that the path in the labyrinth was going to change, if he knew my situation, he would have wanted to pass on this information to me.
‘I kicked away his kindness with my own feet.’
Who could I blame?
The mess I found myself in was largely due to rejecting his kindness.
“Will you accept Princess Lasiell’s proposal?”
I was taken aback by Priest Arthur’s sudden question.
“It’s a bit surprising that you’re asking me something like that.”
“I never thought I’d be the one saying this either.”
“Did Lasiell ask for this?”
“From my perspective, Princess Lasiell’s plan seems to be the most likely to save you.”
Having rejected his advice once and suffered the consequences, I was reluctant to ignore his words again.
“Do you also think that the plan she’s making is the one we should accept?”
“Probably. Isn’t there no better option? The time of others and Princess Lasiell’s time aren’t the same. It needs to be used much more valuably.”
Forming a hunting squad wasn’t something that could be done in just a day or two.
Wasn’t it because we rushed and sent people to the labyrinth without proper preparation that we got into trouble last time?
Next time, I planned to properly prepare the hunting squad before sending them.
The problem was that my life was shortening in real time because of the curse.
My younger sibling must have been worried about that, which is why they suggested using that one-time-only medicine for royals.
“Do you not realize how ridiculous the suggestion my younger sibling made is?”
Sleeping for a year was a risky decision.
Moreover, while I couldn’t protect them, what if something happened to that child?
“If the situation worsens, I’m thinking of entering the labyrinth myself. But if I do, I’ll need to ask you for help, so I haven’t made a decision yet.”
“You’re asking me to enter the labyrinth with you, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Priest Arthur immediately understood what I was trying to say, even without me explicitly mentioning it.
It wouldn’t be an easy thing to accept.
After all, it meant risking his life to save mine.
As I waited for his decision, he said something unexpected.
“Didn’t you know?”
“??”
“Princess Lasiell intends to take me as one of the team members for the labyrinth.”
“You’re going into the labyrinth? Did she force you?”
If that were the case, I would call Lasiell right away, scold her harshly, and tell her to return to the palace immediately.
“No. She asked me politely. And, in my opinion, Princess Lasiell’s plan seems to be the only way to save the princess, so I agreed to cooperate.”
“Didn’t you say you were afraid of entering the labyrinth?”
He had had many conversations with him, and they had exchanged several words about the labyrinth.
He had clearly remembered saying that the people who entered the labyrinth with courage were truly amazing, and that he himself was too scared to even think about entering.
“It’s only natural to choose the option that seems most likely to save the Princess.”
“……”
Looking at the priest—no, the man, who was smiling brightly and saying that he made such a choice to save her, her mind grew more and more complicated.
‘I never suspected anything because he was a priest… Could it be that I’ve been ignoring his feelings?’
She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed before.
Seeing the confident and self-assured Lasiell, she should have realized that something was off earlier.
A priest risking his life to save the royalty of another country?
It didn’t make sense.
It was an impossible sacrifice unless there was another reason.
…Did he have feelings for me?’
The attention he had shown was not just for a patient, then.
Her face suddenly flushed.
‘What should I do?’
As she had done so far, it would be better to pretend she didn’t know for the sake of both of them.
A priest and a princess?
It was an utterly unreasonable relationship, wasn’t it?
Moreover, she wasn’t in a situation where she could be leisurely involved in romance at the moment.
Even now, with her eyes wide open, she was suffering from assassination threats, and constantly at risk from a curse, not knowing when she would die.
‘In the middle of all this, a romance? Ridiculous.’
For the future, she couldn’t afford to casually get involved with anyone.
‘Maybe if he were a cardinal, there’d be a slight possibility…’
As soon as she thought about a relationship with him, more than ten reasons why it wouldn’t work came to mind.
“Your Highness. Your Highness?”
“Ah! I’m sorry. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
“Please reconsider going into the labyrinth yourself. It’s too dangerous. If the curse activates while you’re under attack by monsters, it will be a huge problem. I’m not sure I can manage to protect you fully within the labyrinth.”
“So, you want me to stay safe and sleep somewhere far away?”
But she wasn’t hesitating without reason.
“If I disappear from view, people will start looking for me. If they don’t find me after some time, they’ll shift their attention to Lasiell.”
She alone wouldn’t be able to stop them.
If the opponent were that formidable, she would have dealt with it herself long ago.
“I must protect her. It’s something she can’t handle alone.”
“Why do you think she’s alone?”
“If not alone, then?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? I’m someone who wishes for Your Highness’ recovery.”
Right, he would do everything he could to save her.
But that, too, would eventually become a debt.
Because she couldn’t return his feelings.
“Are you saying you will stop those people and protect Lasiell?”
“I think it’s just the same as being in the same boat when we enter the labyrinth together to lift Your Highness’ curse. It’s only natural that I protect her.”
“Protecting Lasiell will be difficult enough, but adding me as a burden too? Are you really confident that you can protect both of us?”
It was something an ordinary priest couldn’t promise.
What if Lasiell were attacked by assassins?
Even inside the labyrinth, it wouldn’t be safe.
Monsters might pose a threat, or there could be a traitor in the team, putting them at risk.
Also, Lasiell might face political pressure from the imperial palace.
She was too young to endure all of that and lacked experience.
‘And on top of that, he has to protect me. How could he manage it all?’
Even if the knights took turns protecting them as they were now, their persistence might break through at any time, and she would rather not face a futile death while asleep.
‘At this point, he’ll give up.’
But he had an unthinkable stubbornness.
“I have a way. I can provide a safe place for you to hide while you’re asleep. I can assure you that no one will have access, and there will be no threats.”
“…….”
“Is that possible?”
“I heard from Lasiell, Your Highness, that if you take the medicine, your entire body will stop as if frozen, so your muscles won’t shrink, you won’t gain weight, and you won’t need to eat. Is that true?”
“You’ve heard quite a lot. That’s information not meant for just anyone to know.”
At her words, Priest Arthur was taken aback.
“I suppose I must speak up. But yes, my younger sibling was right.”
“Then, wouldn’t it be enough for you to stay in a completely sealed place where no one can touch you? There is a secret location beneath the labyrinth’s temple. The person who built the temple, the project manager, is the only one who told me about it. It’s a panic room made for possible emergencies. The project manager has gone elsewhere, so I’m the only one who knows about it.”
“……”
“If you stay there, taking the medicine and sleeping, Lasiell, Your Highness, can focus on finding and killing the monsters, right?”