Chapter 39
To Barak Heil Ryze, I was nothing more than a child desperately pretending to be April, hoping not to be abandoned.
I would never have risked my position by pushing April down the stairs.
Even if I had threatened her, there was no guarantee that April wouldn’t tell the Duke and Duchess.
“Whether I actually pushed April or not was never really the point, was it?”
“…You.”
“It was just an excuse to throw me out, regardless of the truth.”
A brief shadow of guilt flickered across Barak’s face, but he quickly looked down, taking a deep breath before responding.
“So what?”
“…”
“You’re not really of Ryze blood. What’s wrong with me wanting to protect my sister?”
As expected, he wouldn’t lower himself to say sorry. People like him never change.
I stifled a smirk.
“You told me not to get on your nerves, but let me return the advice.”
“…”
“Stay out of my way.”
I lowered myself to his eye level, locking my gaze with his.
“I’ve already told you—I’ll be here for a year.”
“…”
“Do you know how I might act over that time? You shouldn’t treat me so carelessly.”
“If you step out of line, I’ll kill you. Understand?”
As he reached for me, I caught his wrist, driving it to the floor. With a firm step, I pressed down on the back of his hand.
“Ugh!”
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on me again, Barak Heil Ryze.”
“Get your foot off me.”
Instead of letting go, I ground my heel into his hand even harder.
“I refrained from hitting your head more than once today.”
“If you threaten me again, it’ll be your wrist I get rid of next, just as you said.”
Blood was pooling at Barak’s lips, a testament to how hard he had bitten down on them.
With a small click of my tongue, I repeated his words from the past.
“A missing hand wouldn’t exactly keep you from going about your daily life, would it?”
His struggling ceased, and he looked up at me, his face bewildered, as though he hadn’t expected to hear his own words thrown back at him. I straightened, brushing off his shoulder with a light tap.
“Lady.”
The library doors creaked open, and Amber’s voice sounded from the entryway.
I heard the light patter of her footsteps as she hurried closer, calling, “Lady April!”
Barak’s face twisted, visibly displeased at the title. I could imagine how he would hound Amber later, despite my warnings.
Amber, entering the library, paused in confusion at the sight of Barak crouched on the floor.
“What is it?”
At my prompt, she tore her gaze from Barak and lowered her head to me, assuming the perfect demeanor of a maid.
“A visitor has come to see you.”
A visitor? I couldn’t think of anyone who might come looking for me. Blinking slowly, I waited for her to continue.
“High Priest Tamitarte from the temple.”
An unexpected guest.
Why on earth was he here to see me?
I glanced sidelong at Barak, then nodded at Amber.
“He’s in the drawing room.”
“All right.”
Having retrieved the books I needed, there was no reason to linger here with Barak. Ignoring the heavy gaze on my back, I handed the two volumes to Amber.
“Put these in my room.”
“Yes, Lady.”
I looked at Amber, who called me “Lady” so diligently, knowing she would likely face Barak’s ire for it.
Though I shouldn’t concern myself with the troubles of a maid in the Duke’s household, her unwavering loyalty stirred a vague sense of obligation to shield her.
Sensing my gaze, Amber tilted her head with a hesitant smile.
“My lady?”
Sighing lightly, I instructed her.
“If Barak questions you about today, just say I told you to call me ‘Lady.’ If you mention that I insisted on it, he won’t say another word.”
Amber nodded, still slightly perplexed but compliant.
“You may go.”
Amber hugged the books to her chest, bowed, and disappeared from my view.
Though I knew Amber wasn’t malicious, I also realized that what she had witnessed in the library could quickly become gossip throughout the Duke’s household, whether she intended it or not.
Barak alone would face the backlash of this tale. Even if I’d defied him, there was no one here with the authority to stop me.
In Barak’s mind, I might be nothing more than a temporary annoyance to be cast aside in a year, but as long as I held the key to April’s recovery, he wouldn’t dare cross me.
I thought only of swiftly returning her to the Duke’s estate, a thought driven by the impending shock her news would bring, as I softly pushed open the drawing room door.
Through the open window, the fragrance of wisteria drifted in on the breeze.
And there, in the soft, violet-hued light, was a figure with wisteria-colored hair that moved gently with the wind.
His expression was not one of shock or confusion, as it had been when I last wore my mother’s face.
A touch of unease crossed his features, and I masked my own tension with a polite smile.
“My apologies for keeping you waiting.”
“No, I should apologize for arriving unannounced.”
After exchanging the expected pleasantries, I took the seat across from him.
“What brings you here today?”
I guessed that he hadn’t recognized me as the woman he had met before, that he had come for some other purpose. Likely a purpose influenced by Rozian, rather than Tamitarte himself.
The High Priest, after all, was merely one of Rozian’s pawns.
“Since that day, I couldn’t shake my concern and thought it best to see you myself.”
“Thank you for your worry, but truly, I am quite well.”
“…”
“My leg is fine.”
I lightly lifted my skirt, tapping my foot a few times as if to prove my point, flashing a reassuring smile that conveyed I had no issues with walking, running, or anything else.
Of course, the injury had never been mine. His pale blue eyes briefly flicked to my foot before shifting away with a worried smile, one that mirrored the serene countenance of the temple’s statue.
“There’s no need to worry.”
“I felt troubled by our conversation at the temple and came to follow up.”
His words made me tense.
“You suggested that perhaps the priest who treated you was that priest.”
“Yes, but you mentioned he had left the temple.”
Normally, such a departure would be described as serving elsewhere or undertaking a mission, yet he had chosen “left.”
Not knowing how this conversation would unfold made me uneasy, as any misstep could lead him to conclusions I’d prefer he not reach.
Especially given that he was so close to Rozian.
“I came to ask about that priest.”
I licked my lips nervously, feeling the dryness intensify.
Had Tamitarte been anyone other than someone who might know about my mother, I could have brushed off his inquiries with a casual mention that my father, the Duke, had arranged the healer.
But the very fact he avoided that response told me he knew something of my mother.
Reaching for the teacup before me, I asked,
“Did Rozian send you to inquire about this?”
His expression flickered at the unexpected mention of Rozian’s name, prompting me to continue.
“Is there anyone in the capital who doesn’t know Rozian’s close ties to the temple?”
With Rozian’s background as a former orphan from the temple, it was well-known she generously supported it.
As I sipped my tea, the tension slowly easing, the priest’s expression hardened as soon as I invoked Rozian’s name.
“This is a matter independent of Lady Rozian.”
“Even if you say that, it’s difficult to believe.”
Thieves don’t usually confess to stealing, after all; it’s not exactly a trustworthy claim.
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