* * *
After Erdian, Malrang, and Justin left, the campfire area quickly grew quiet, save for the sound of the ladle stirring the pot.
Prince Habios became unusually silent, and Raullet was his usual quiet self.
Seo Woohyun decided to fully enjoy this rare moment of peace.
‘Dating Erdian… No, since it’s within the Temple, would this be like dating in the workplace? Anyway, I need to think about whether I should get involved with him.’
On this group trip, Seo Woohyun hadn’t had much time to himself.
While traveling, he had been occupied with listening to Malrang’s stories, and during breaks, it was hard to retreat into the carriage alone.
He felt guilty eating food prepared by others without helping.
As a result, his dilemma had been pushed aside, with time slipping away.
Now that he had a moment alone, he was relieved to finally think.
‘But… even if Erdian were just a regular person, isn’t the age gap a bit too much?’
The age difference was over 12 centuries. Not 12 years, but 1,200 years.
Could they possibly overcome such a massive generational—or rather, a centuries-long—gap?
‘I mean, what kind of human even contemplates dating a god…?’
It felt absurd the more he thought about it.
As Seo Woohyun stirred the pot with a sigh, Habios, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
“Priest Ciel.”
“…Yes?”
Seo Woohyun’s response was, as usual, a beat late.
He still hadn’t gotten used to his alias. When he glanced up at Habios, the prince’s expression was stern.
‘What’s this? Are there assassins nearby or something?’
Seo Woohyun, now dressed in a fresh set of clothes borrowed from Justin, felt uneasy whenever Habios adopted that serious expression.
It made him think assassins were lurking nearby, targeting the prince.
But Raullet stood still without a hint of movement.
He was watching, his face hidden beneath a deeply pulled hood, as if aware of Habios.
Seo Woohyun knew that if any real danger appeared, Raullet would vanish in a flash like last time.
“I’ve come to think, quite irreverently, that you, Priest Ciel, might actually be a Saint.”
Habios’s unexpected statement caught Seo Woohyun off guard.
They had never spoken of saints, so the sudden speculation was surprising.
‘What? How did he figure it out?’
While Seo Woohyun was still processing this, Raullet’s hand moved toward the hilt of his sword.
He was ready to kill and erase any witnesses, even if that witness was a prince.
‘Why does Raullet always reach for his sword at the slightest thing?’
Seo Woohyun quickly shook his head.
He didn’t want to witness anyone getting killed in front of him.
“Are you the Saint that the Temple has declared to be Erdian’s chosen one, Priest Ciel?”
Habios was certain, as indicated by the upward curve of his lips.
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re the Saint.”
“I said I’m not.”
“If you were an ordinary priest, you’d have angrily rebuked me for such blasphemy by now.”
“Ah…?”
Seo Woohyun let out a short sound.
Habios had a point.
When he thought about how others at the temple, like Sihero, had treated him, it made sense.
If someone mistook him for a Saint, they would have erupted in anger, yelling and pointing fingers, accusing them of disrespecting a holy figure.
‘I got caught by Malrang, and now even the prince knows? What’s the point of using an alias like Ciel if everyone figures it out this easily…?’
As Seo Woohyun took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to handle the situation, Habios spoke again, softly.
“What I said was just a guess, but seeing your reaction… you really are the Saint.”
So it had just been a wild guess.
Seo Woohyun had inadvertently confirmed it himself.
He felt his neck stiffen as he realized he had revealed too much.
‘How am I going to get out of this? Raullet can’t help. His hand’s already on his sword.’
Raullet was definitely not an option.
Seo Woohyun looked around frantically, searching for someone who could help him resolve the situation.
At the edge of his vision, he spotted Giselle, who was inspecting the repaired wagon wheel.
‘Giselle… Please, help!’
With a heartfelt wish that he would come closer, Seo Woohyun blinked, and Habios dropped to one knee on the ground.
Seo Woohyun had seen many people take that position before.
‘Oh no! He’s about to bow! That overly dramatic greeting!’
Just as Seo Woohyun was about to shift in his seat to stop him, Habios grabbed the edge of Seo Woohyun’s sleeve and kissed it.
“Habios de Erhart offers his greetings to the Saint of the Eridian Temple.”
“…Ah.”
Seo Woohyun looked down at Habios, who was still kneeling, and let out a sigh of surrender.
As he gazed at the shimmering silver hair, he couldn’t help but think of the person nearby watching the cute creatures hunt.
‘Why am I being tested like this…?’
As if making him question whether humans could date gods wasn’t enough, now they had put him in an even more precarious position where he desperately wanted to avoid revealing his identity.
“I would offer a kiss to your hand, but as a devout follower bound by the church’s decrees, I present my greetings this way, O Saint.”
Church decrees?
Seo Woohyun vaguely recalled something from what Sihero had taught him.
Church decrees in the Eridian Temple were rules that clergy and believers had to follow.
The main idea he remembered was that clergy must maintain dignity and should not exploit the name of Eridian for personal gain.
“What decree from Sihero…?”
“It’s a decree that limits the greeting when meeting the Saint. All royals and believers of the Empire who follow Eridian must obey it.”
Hearing these dizzying words, Seo Woohyun barely managed to recall something Sihero had once told him.
‘No one is allowed to kiss the back of the Saint’s hand anymore. I got in big trouble with Eridian over that. It was the first time I’d ever seen Eridian that angry.’
It seemed that after Sihero got reprimanded, he issued a church decree to completely restrict such greetings.
‘Really? That far?’
Avoiding it silently was one thing, but officially banning it was a whole different story.
While Seo Woohyun was still baffled, Habios’s smile deepened.
Every believer knew that, with three high priests bedridden, the entire responsibility of the Eridian Temple rested on the head of the High Priest Sihero.
And the way Habios casually referred to High Priest Sihero was a clear sign.
It was further proof that the priest Ciel must indeed be the Saint.
The calm demeanor of the captain of the temple knights standing silently nearby only reinforced that idea.
If Priest Ciel wasn’t the Saint, just speaking words that suspected he might be would have cost him his head.
The captain of the temple knights was known for his unwavering devotion.
‘As I thought, my hunch was right. The Saint…!’
Habios, his face filled with emotion, bowed his head even lower.
“It is an honor to meet the revered Saint of the Temple. …Ahem, the Saint is welcome to call me by my familiar name. You can just call me Bibi.”
Seo Woohyun hesitated for a moment, thinking that the name reminded him of a coworker who had once owned a similarly named cat.
But he couldn’t quite remember the coworker’s exact name.
It figured, considering how high the turnover was.
The company was run so haphazardly that even Seo Woohyun, who had only done part-time jobs unrelated to his current field before graduating from high school, had become an assistant manager by the age of twenty-nine.
New hires would quit as soon as they were brought in.
“No, I don’t think I should… Why would I call you by your familiar name, Your Highness?”
“You’re not denying you’re the Saint, though.”
Habios smirked, adding that last comment, making Seo Woohyun’s cheek twitch.
The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.
‘This kid was testing me all along, huh?’
It didn’t feel great being played by an eighteen-year-old, but it wasn’t like Seo Woohyun had the guts to argue with a royal.
He was timid by nature and didn’t want to deny it outright either.
Since the revered Saint hadn’t yet told him to stand, Habios was still kneeling on the dirt.
Sensing the awkward tension, Giselle approached and asked, “Why are you kneeling on the ground like that?”
“I’ve been found out.”
Seo Woohyun had given up.
He felt that trying to hide anything now would just make him look foolish.
He had expected his identity to be exposed at some point, but not this soon.
It hadn’t even been ten days since the journey began, and already two beings—one human and one non-human—knew his secret.
“Ah, I see.”
Without needing further explanation, Giselle quickly grasped the situation.
There was only one reason why a member of the royal family like Habios would kneel before Seo Woohyun.
Giselle thought back to the relationship between the church and the royal family.
The Eridian Temple and the Erhartan Empire had a delicate relationship.
An emperor two generations ago had tried to annex the tax rights of the holy city to the empire, using drought and poor harvests as justification, and had fallen gravely ill soon after.
Since then, the royal family had been extremely reluctant to get involved with church matters.
The current emperor, who had seized the throne after beheading his brother, was no different.
The power-hungry emperor kept his distance from the church, showing just enough respect but never overstepping.
He had no intention of repeating his father’s mistake, which had earned him the wrath of Eridian and turned him into a powerless figurehead.
‘The prince is sharp.’
As Giselle pondered how to resolve this situation, Raullet’s hand moved toward his sword hilt again.
“Raullet, no! Why do you keep reaching for your sword?”
“It’s just a small habit.”
A deadly habit.
Having a Sword Master whose “small” habit was to prepare to draw his blade at any moment seemed rather unsettling.
‘I’ll have to be extra careful around Raullet from now on.’
While Seo Woohyun was busy having these irrelevant thoughts, a familiar male voice sounded from behind him.
“Did we arrive late? Looks like the guest got so hungry he’s collapsed on the floor.”
Eridian stood with his arms crossed, watching the scene with an amused expression.
* * *
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