Chapter 137 – The Goddess’s Sacred Artifact
“I just want to kiss you.”
“…!”
Just? Without any excuse?
But before I could even think about what his words meant, a shadow fell across my face.
I couldn’t help but part my lips instinctively.
Loic gently pulled my head towards him and kissed my lower lip.
Soon, a strange but familiar tingling sensation took over my whole body.
‘It’s hot.’
The warmth from his lips made the hair on my neck stand up.
The heat from his hand, as it ran from my head to my neck, seemed to melt me.
As if trying to swallow me whole, Loic kissed my lips over and over, sucking them in.
I was so breathless that I pushed him away and broke the kiss.
The intense look in his eyes sent chills down my spine.
Breathing heavily, Loic clenched his jaw, trying to control himself.
His collarbones rose and fell quickly, showing his struggle.
After a moment, Loic hesitated, his chest heaving.
He finally spoke, his voice low and trembling.
“…I like you.”
The words were soft, but they hit my heart.
“I like you, Annette.”
His voice made my chest ache.
“I can’t hold it in anymore.”
Loic took my hand very carefully, his lips trembling as he said, “I like you so much, I can’t stand it.”
My heart sank.
Back in my room, I struggled to calm my pounding heart.
What on earth had just happened?
Loic had confessed his feelings.
‘I… didn’t say anything.’
Seeing my confused face, Loic looked at me with a hint of sadness.
— “I didn’t mean to burden you.”
— “…”
The silence lingered, and Loic grabbed my hand a little desperately.
— “If I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry. I just… you’re the kind of person it’s hard not to like.”
I shook my head to show I wasn’t uncomfortable, but his hand was still trembling.
— “I really mean it. I was just a little, well, sudden…”
— “Of course. What I just said was my selfish desire. I’m not expecting an answer from you right now.”
Loic seemed relieved when I assured him.
I felt guilty for not answering him.
‘Did he feel hurt because I didn’t respond?’
It would be a lie if I said I didn’t notice his feelings.
I wasn’t foolish enough to miss the kind, loving looks he gave me.
‘I’ve just been pretending not to see it.’
It might sound bold, but perhaps, for Loic, it was harder not to fall for me than the other way around.
The only woman who wouldn’t die if he touched her, his legally bound wife, his only friend, and the one who eased his deep pain.
Anyone would end up liking or at least thinking they liked me.
Maybe Loic’s feelings were more about ‘me as a person’ than about me specifically.
So, no, I didn’t dislike Loic.
But right now, I had to focus on survival, and I couldn’t give him an answer to his feelings.
Accepting Loic’s confession would mean committing to living as Annette here, and that required a bigger decision than I was ready to make.
‘But I don’t want to hurt Loic, either.’
Is it selfish to enjoy his kindness without responding to his feelings?
The next night, I lay on the hard bed in the temple, trying to calm my restless mind.
‘Did I fall asleep?’
Listening closely, I could hear Loic’s soft breathing.
Relieved, Loic finally sank against the wall, his head in his hands.
‘I knew something was going to happen today.’
He felt pathetic for giving in to his feelings, but after that moment…
‘I couldn’t hold back.’
Annette, standing in the middle of the corridor in her white flowing attire, looked nothing short of a goddess.
Loic was captivated by her graceful gaze, overwhelmed with awe.
Feeling as though he was now a servant of the goddess, he walked toward Annette.
At that moment, if she had ordered the empire to be brought to her feet, he would have bent his knee and kissed her in submission.
Loic struggled to regain his composure as he spoke.
“I just wanted to see you.”
In that instant, his control broke down completely.
Resistance was pointless now.
There was no one in the world who would seek the Duke of Blenheim simply because they wanted to see him, except for Annette.
For the first time, Loic wanted to kiss her without any excuses.
He wanted to show her all his affection and desire.
He couldn’t stop himself anymore.
Unable to hold back, his words spilled out.
“I like you, Annette.”
Only when he saw the look of surprise on Annette’s face did he snap back to reality.
Loic pressed his clenched fist to his forehead.
‘What if Annette rejects me?’
The fear kept him awake all night, making him regret ruining what could have been the happiest day of his life.
He couldn’t sleep until the early morning.
I woke up early, feeling restless, possibly because of the strange feeling in my heart.
The birds were chirping loudly, and I realized I was thirsty.
I recalled the fresh spring water I had drunk yesterday.
When I stepped into the corridor, I filled a golden cup with clear water and drank it down quickly.
“Ah… Annette?”
I heard Loic’s trembling voice.
I stopped, unaware that a drop of water was trickling down my lips.
Now was the time!
‘If I make this awkward, it’s all over.’
I wiped my lips and tried to greet Loic as calmly as possible.
“Loic, did you sleep well?”
But Loic’s face was full of confusion.
“Is that… the cup from the altar you’re holding?”
“Ah? Yes.”
I awkwardly lowered the cup from my lips to my chest.
‘What is this? Could it be a cup only for the priests, some sacred artifact?’
“Is it something I shouldn’t be using?”
Loic frowned and stepped closer.
“That cup… it’s a sacred object.”
“Pardon?”
I was startled and quickly supported the bottom of the cup.
“That… is it the goddess’s sacred artifact found in the hot spring?”
“How did you lift it?”
I was confused.
“I just held it in my hand.”
“This sacred object… is not supposed to be lifted.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
I tried to explain that I hadn’t forced it or torn it off, but Loic’s throat visibly tightened.
“…Once it’s set down, it sticks to the altar. No one has been able to lift it since.”
“I’ll place it down carefully.”
Just as I tried to turn and set the cup back, Priest Miel appeared at the other end of the corridor.
“Wait… is that… the sacred artifact you’re holding?”
I froze, feeling the tension.
Miel’s eyes were filled with shock and admiration.
“Truly, the Grand Duchess is the saint…!”
“No, no!”
I waved my hands, denying it quickly, and Loic stepped forward.
“Be quiet. She’s not the saint.”
Miel looked upset at Loic’s firm command.
Earlier, Loic had asked me cautiously.
— “Are you still uncomfortable with the priest?”
He had suggested keeping Miel around until I recovered, so it seemed best to stay near him.
— “It’s not that Miel bothers me. I just… feel burdened by the idea of being called the saint.”
— “Do you not want to become the saint?”
It wasn’t about liking or disliking it…
Who would believe I was the saint, after everything I had done to deceive the empire?
I would be bombarded with accusations and ridicule, forced to prove it.
‘The situation is already clear in my mind.’
The original story involved the saint, Kathren, surviving palace and temple intrigues and eventually becoming a duchess.
If both the palace and the temple were involved with the saint…
That would be a trilogy of hidden forces.
No, I couldn’t let that happen!
Right now, my only goal was to survive!
Loic, seeing my frustration, spoke firmly.
— “If you don’t want to, there’s no need to become the saint.”
His gentle hand combed through my tangled hair with care.
— “If Annette becomes the saint, there will only be more competitors for me…”
Loic smiled mischievously, not wanting to lose his capable duchess.
— “Besides, we’re not even sure if you’re the saint.”
— “That’s right. I brought her, but that priest is probably just a fraud.”
Afterward, Loic made sure to warn Miel, and he stopped talking about the saint in front of me.
I carefully wiped the rim of the golden cup in my hand.
Thankfully, only Loic and Miel had seen it.
“Well, this cup has been here all along.”
As I spoke, I was about to set the cup down on the altar when a group of villagers entered with baskets of food.
“Priest, please let us meet the Grand Duchess. This land must not be desecrated like this!”
The villagers’ eyes all fixed on the cup in my hand.
One of them dropped their basket in shock.
“Oh my god!”
“The Grand Duchess just lifted the goddess’s cup!”
Damn it.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
