“You’re really planning to ride through the night?”
Shulva let out a deep sigh.
“No matter how fast we go... we’ll still arrive by morning at best.”
At those words, Zahid gazed out the window, answering indifferently.
“I just want to get there as soon as possible.”
“Either way, we’ve used up all the acceleration mana stones. We’ll need to restock before heading back.”
In the pitch-black night, the Dyfenril carriage raced at full speed.
Shulva had bluntly informed the coachman, "I plan to fire every servant in this house, but if you drive as fast as humanly possible, I might reconsider keeping you."
So the coachman was doing his absolute best.
Zahid slowly leaned his head against the carriage window and closed his eyes.
He couldn’t bring himself to say it to Shulva, but... Zahid wasn’t confident in his condition. He was afraid he would be consumed by pain again, rendered completely immobile.
Before that happened—while he could still move—he wanted to confirm this phenomenon as soon as possible. And Rosie’s identity as well.
Just as she had said, the Temple would never send out an apprentice in the first place. Yet she was undeniably an apprentice. Her divine power was even minimal.
Could she actually be a high-ranking priest, hiding away in the depths of the Temple, secretly infiltrating the outside world under the guise of an apprentice?
Suspicious. She’s a strange girl.
He despised the Temple.
If Rosie ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) was a spy from the Temple, then he despised her even more than Elizabeth.
The soft, downy smile of that girl, her vividly gleaming green eyes—they lingered in his mind far too much. And that irritated him.
Her slow, measured tone. Those serene eyes, as if observing everything from afar.
That ever-present gentle, bright smile—even as she casually dropped infuriating remarks.
The Noart Count is famous for hating the Temple. That means... the entire Noart family might have fallen into a trap set by their granddaughter from the Temple.
Having lost his parents young, Zahid had been forced to grow up early. His expression turned cold.
“If we ride through the night, we might arrive by dawn,” Shulva yawned.
From beneath their feet, Fire let out a whine. At the mention of going to see Rosie, the divine beast wagged its tail furiously, clearly excited.
What’s with this...? That dog absolutely loathed priests. So why is it so affectionate toward Rosie Noart?
Everything was a mystery. But for now, all he could do was rush to Rosie Noart.
Zahid decided to close his eyes for a bit. And as soon as he drifted into sleep, he began to dream.
“...Who are you? Why are you locked up with Fire?”
“And who are you? Wait, was our pup’s name Fire?”
“Pup? Who in their right mind would give such a ridiculous name to a wolf...?”
“I named him... It’s brave, intuitive, and forward-thinking, don’t you think? And yet humble at the same time...”
“...That’s so ridiculous it’s actually kind of impressive.”
“Bark, bark, bark! Bark-bark-bark!”
It was that dream again—the one where he saw a small, shabby girl.
Since it was a dream, her features were unclear. But still...
Even in the dream, Zahid felt his chest tighten as he thought.
My heart is racing. It’s beating so fast. But... it hurts so much.
Even if it was just a dream, this was the first time he had ever felt this way.
“Zahid, how did your parents die?”
“They were on their way to a friend’s funeral... They were caught by black magic.”
“Huh? Black magic still exists? Didn’t the Temple purify all of it? I thought it had been completely eradicated.”
“That’s what they say. But of all times, there just happened to be no priests at the nearest Temple. A sudden earthquake blocked the roads, so they couldn’t receive treatment in time... and they died.”
“Doesn’t that sound suspicious? As if someone had anticipated the accident, every single dispatched priest in the region just happened to be missing...”
As he wandered through his dream, Zahid unknowingly furrowed his brows.
Why am I telling her something this personal?
“This is about my parents... so why are you crying? I don’t care anymore. I just think it’s suspicious. So stop crying...”
“I just... I just thought about how lonely and sad you must have been, as a child, until you could say that without any emotion.”
“Thinking about that... it made me cry. Because I couldn’t even comfort you. Because you were just a little kid. If I could turn back time... I’d stay by your side, no matter what...”
Zahid shifted in his sleep, his brows twitching.
Powerless, yet kind. Beautiful, yet warm.
It was, without a doubt, the sweetest nightmare.
"Is this really the best you can do?"
A loud voice rang through the Noart estate early in the morning.
"This is exactly why people like you can only work in a place ."
Cecil spoke coldly to the maid who had collapsed at her feet after being struck across the face.
"I am not someone who deserves this kind of treatment."
Her voice dripped with contempt, her gaze filled with nothing but disgust as if she were looking at an insect.
"Bring me another maid. There's no way a girl like you is fit to serve me."
She pressed the heel of her shoe down hard on the maid’s skirt.
"For someone so incompetent, your fabric is surprisingly high quality. I hate people who don’t know their place."
Only when the maid’s uniform was smeared with dirt, sullied beyond repair, did Cecil’s expression finally relax into one of satisfaction.
"Now this suits you."
"What are you waiting for? Go and bring my tea again."
The maid sniffled, wiping her tears as she turned around.
All this... over the tea being slightly colder than it should have been. She had even been slapped for it. Such things didn’t happen at the Noart estate—this was unheard of.
Even the direct family members didn’t throw such tantrums. But since she was supposedly carrying Julian’s child, there was nothing anyone could do.
As she limped away, still reeling from the blow, her hair was suddenly yanked back.
"Are you insane? How dare you not bow properly before leaving?"
Another slap landed on her cheek.
Cecil’s eyes burned with fury as she shouted.
"A mere maid—born a wretched beggar—dares to act in front of me?"
Every servant who had been watching flinched.
No one had ever seen such cruelty in the Noart estate before.
The reason was simple: Count Noart himself had been born a slave.
Because of that, he always treated his servants with dignity. He was a ruthless employer, yes—but his philosophy was simple: Do your job thoroughly because you are being paid for it. It was never about treating people like dirt.
"I... I’ve seen people like that before."
One of the maids, who had been too afraid to intervene, whispered.
"I used to work at the Aydra Duchy. The Duchess of Aydra was exactly like that."
"People like her divide humans into different tiers. Anyone beneath them? They don’t even consider them human. That’s their biggest trait. You hear the words they use a lot—'know your place,' 'your kind,' 'this filth'..."
"Oh... you’re right."
"People like that hate it when someone they see as ‘low-tier’ is treated better than they should be. But you know what’s weird?"
"That woman—wasn’t she just some farm girl Julian met during a mission? Then why does she act like she was born a noble...?"
Someone suddenly dashed forward, positioning themselves between Cecil and the battered maid.
Every servant held their breath, eyes widening.
"In the Noart estate, servants are not subjected to violence."
The one who stood in front of Cecil... was a very small child.
But there was something astonishing about the sight before them.
Rosie’s hands were trembling.
Rosie had never trembled before—not even in front of Count Noart himself.
She might have looked absentminded and slow with her speech, making her seem harmless at first glance, but she was a child who never lost her composure, no matter the situation.
And yet—right now, in front of Cecil—she was visibly shaken.