Evan is handsome.
Objectively and subjectively, there is not a single soul on the entire continent who could look at Evan and call him ugly.
Of course Frey knew this very well.
“Of course he has to be handsome. There is no option for him to be ugly.”
Evan is her god.
The one and only savior who can free her from the shackles of the fate called Sin.
If she ever disliked his face, she was confident she could rip off some random decent-looking human’s face and transplant it onto him.
Fortunately, there was no need for that.
Even if he had average looks, she would have praised him as handsome, but objectively speaking, he was stunning.
She had never thought that would become a problem.
“Names I’ve never heard before.”
Acella.
Velia.
Frey rolled the two names around in her mind.
Frey is not an idiot.
She had diligently accumulated knowledge so she wouldn’t lack common sense or theology.
But that only went up to common sense and theology.
She hadn’t memorized every single noble child currently alive.
“…They must be from good families, at least.”
Karen Academy.
It’s the empire’s greatest academy, after all.
If they took first and second place overall, they were definitely born into good families.
Statistically, people born into good families were far more likely to excel at studying than the poor.
But that was it.
“So what?”
The comparison target was none other than Evan.
Evan’s family was the ducal house of Alkart.
One of the top families even within the empire.
Depending on the perspective, they surpassed the imperial family; if you counted the money flowing through the underworld, they were estimated to be above the imperial family.
In fact, people sometimes pointed out that the imperial family was the one occasionally short on funds.
Then talent?
At best, they were prodigies.
Could mere mortals ever surpass Evan’s talent?
Murderous intent leaked from Frey’s eyes.
“How dare they wag their tails?”
She didn’t know exactly who they were, but they were far, far too lacking to stand beside her god.
Frey’s standards were never low.
If someone wanted to stand equal to a god, wasn’t it natural for the bar to be sky-high?
They had to be a genius among geniuses.
The kind that appears once in a thousand years—no, once in a century at most…
“And they dare dream of becoming his spouse with that level?”
Spouse.
A companion who walks together until death, even if born on different days.
The very idea that they dared scheme to become the companion who would walk beside her god made rage boil inside her.
There is only one case where a spouse is allowed:
Either they are of equal rank,
or a follower is acknowledged and elevated to that position.
These nobodies.
How dare they covet the seat beside Evan…!
“Tch.”
Lapis quietly approached Frey.
The usual puppy-like, tail-wagging appearance she showed Evan was nowhere to be seen.
When her anger reached its limit, her mind grew cold instead; she was radiating an aura colder than usual.
Yet Lapis was suppressing it as much as possible.
It was obvious even to Frey.
“Open your eyes prettily. Evan is watching right now.”
At those words, Frey stealthily checked Evan’s reaction.
Evan still hadn’t looked at her.
He probably had no idea she was sharpening a blade behind his back.
…But that was the kind of thinking only mortals still bound by fate—or Frey—would have.
Lapis seemed to think differently.
The Sin of Pride, barely holding itself back from bursting out due to lack of emotional control, was soothed by the Sin of Wrath.
“Do you really think Evan wouldn’t know? The one with the power and wisdom to free us from fate—do you think he wouldn’t realize we’d feel bad hearing that?”
“…”
Frey slightly relaxed her clenched fist.
…She wasn’t wrong.
There was no way Evan didn’t know about the girls harboring ulterior motives toward him.
Just look at him right now.
That icy expression.
A perfect poker face that revealed no emotion.
“Then he’s doing it on purpose?”
“Either that, or he never planned to place anyone beside him anyway. So he just lets them delude themselves. There’s definitely something to gain from it, right?”
Frey couldn’t understand.
Someone spreading rumors that they liked him?
Good person or not aside, just hearing it was unpleasant.
The meaning of “I love you” is “I want to spend my whole life with you.”
If it wasn’t that, then it was just “let’s spend a night together”—something she found utterly repulsive.
Spend a lifetime together? She hated that too.
The only person Frey wanted to look at for the rest of her life was Evan, and the only person she wanted looking at her forever was Evan.
But just because she didn’t understand didn’t mean she denied it.
She herself knew full well that she hadn’t yet grasped everything about Evan.
“…I see.”
Once Frey accepted it, Lapis’s gaze turned strange.
She stared as if asking why are you freaking out so much?, then seemed to realize something and narrowed her eyes.
“You can’t aim for Evan. The age gap between you two…”
“Age gap?”
Lapis herself looked momentarily confused after saying it.
Age gap being a problem?
But Frey didn’t sense anything odd in her attitude.
Instead, she only felt inwardly ashamed.
To think she had almost lost her composure and inconvenienced Evan!
Unworthy as a follower.
From now on, she would have to meditate more and research ways to maintain perfect calmness…
Frey puffed up slightly, her pride a little wounded.
But she was willing to give Lapis at least some answer.
It would prick her conscience to just let it slide.
Frey spat out,
“You and I are the same age, idiot.”
Lapis is young.
But Evan is young too.
The age gap between them is roughly four years.
In modern times, four years is considered big, but for two people with long lives ahead, it’s practically nothing…
Wait a minute.
Lapis’s wavering gaze landed on Frey.
Still in the growth period, but the outlines were already visible.
Completely unlike Lapis, who showed no signs yet…!
“Turn your eyes away right now. I said turn them away this instant!”
“???”
Suddenly, the calm Lapis started freaking out.
Frey looked away from her and fixed her gaze on Evan.
Perhaps because he had dressed up today, he looked even cooler than usual.
It was already decided that all sorts of flies would flock to him.
So…
“If anyone crosses the line…”
The definition of “the line” was very broad.
For example, staring at Evan for more than thirty seconds, or “accidentally” touching him…
If anyone did that,
whether it was Acella or Velia,
even if it was the emperor or a princess,
She swore she would behead them and offer the heads to raise Evan’s prestige.
***
Meanwhile, while Evan was flustered by the nonsense rumors,
they were not the only ones paying attention to the academy.
“Hmm.”
The mountain closest to the sun.
The peak where the sanctuary and grand temple of the Sun God stood.
Saintess Adrianna, having just received a messenger pigeon, tapped the table with her finger.
“He went to the academy… Why?”
Evan Alkart.
It was unexpected that his destination was the academy.
To learn?
Doubtful.
The only person who could treat the “curse” that even the Saintess alone possessed was going to the academy as a student?
Laughable.
The Alkart ducal house rarely sent anyone to the academy in the first place.
They were already so outstanding, and the succession struggle often made the academy more of a hindrance.
Then as a professor?
What would he do as a professor?
Share knowledge?
He didn’t seem like that good a person.
“I’d love to take my time investigating…”
Adrianna quietly placed a hand over her chest.
Her heartbeat—slowing bit by bit, as if freezing.
Even atop the mountain bathed in the Sun God’s grace,
should she say her time was running out?
She could feel the grace Evan had given her gradually losing its power.
Not because Evan was weak.
It was simply approaching the limit of what medicine could achieve.
“I need new medicine soon.”
It had been a long time since she last felt the warmth of the sun properly.
Before she started taking this medicine.
Once she had tasted even a partial cure, she could never let it go again.
Truthfully, she wanted Arthur to go in her stead.
But when he said his little sister was throwing fits because the full moon was approaching, she couldn’t exactly complain.
“That damn little sister…”
When the day the Sun God draws near arrives, everything will melt and become one anyway…
She sincerely sighed but did not criticize.
Destroying what a foolish mortal truly believed in or dreamed of came with a commensurate price.
The Full Moon Knight was an opponent even the Saintess would find slightly burdensome.
Just thinking about the number of demon worshippers he could grind to dust alone already gave her a headache.
And he would show the same force against holy knights.
A holy knight who could wield aura—what a lunatic.
“Is Evan… trying to turn the knights to his side?”
She periodically checked Evan Alkart’s movements.
She didn’t know exactly what he had done in the Demisia Kingdom,
but she could guess roughly.
The mad White King.
Innocence—the only hope that could hold the Demisia Kingdom together.
He had cured his illness and normalized him.
She still had no idea how.
From the symptoms, his brain—an untouchable domain—had already been destroyed.
Even with her powerful divine power as the Saintess, she couldn’t have fixed that.
“What on earth is his goal?”
There was no consistency in anything he did.
If there was any invisible common thread, it was simply that he was strong? Or that he had secrets?
But even the secrets didn’t overlap…
After a moment of thought, the Saintess shook her head.
For a split second, the question “Is he my enemy?” had surfaced,
but she concluded it was still too early to judge.
“If he were an enemy, he wouldn’t have needed to treat my illness.”
…Unless, of course, this was all a means to bind her.
Adrianna was certainly not a bad person.
At least she believed she was someone who kept the minimum line of good.
Until the enemy crossed that line, anyway.
If he ever showed even the slightest sign of trying to control her with this…
“Even if I have to cross the line myself…”
I will have to kill him.
Cold sweat ran down her back.
Killing someone of Evan’s caliber was already questionable, and even if possible, she had no idea how many resources it would consume…
“Saintess.”
At that moment, a holy knight approached.
“Karen Academy sent an invitation again this year. Shall we burn it?”
“No.”
“Yes, we will bu— Huh?”
“I will go myself.”
The Saintess rose from her seat.
There must be a reason for Evan’s actions.
It was time to find out in person.
Conveniently,
she needed more medicine anyway.
“Perhaps…”
Thinking of a certain famous figure at Karen Academy, the Saintess smiled inwardly.
“He might be trying to commit a new taboo.”
If it’s him,
he would know better than anyone
that Professor Moriarty was secretly preparing “something.”