Emilone's Temptation Labyrinth

ETL – Chapter 10

This was the main story now so everything was fine.

The princess was wearing a dress that was slightly out of fashion. When I saw Duke Cassan next to her, I held my breath. It was the same feeling that I had when I saw Reneben earlier. The duke was dressed neatly in his uniform and with his hair slicked back, making him look cooler than usual.

I saw many young people swayed by the appearance of a young unmarried princess. She was making good use of her beautiful appearance. Both men and women were captivated by her beauty. Considering her true nature, this was not unusual.

She has a cute face. I believed if she hardened her face and spoke in a cold voice, she would look like the twin of her brother Veron.

“Saintess.”

“…?”

Someone courageous enough was speaking to me.

“I am the second son of Count Angela Mosio. I greet you for the first time.”

I nodded and looked at him. I could not ignore him because he spoke to me first. I saw that Reneben was restless.

“Hello.”

“Ah… Hello.”

His cheek blushed in embarrassment, his eyes narrowed a bit as he licked his upper lip.

“Well, I was at the hunting competition and I was wondering if you remember…”

He could not finish his sentence and his cheeks grew redder.

“Of course,” I replied simply.

Actually I did not remember but I responded in the affirmative anyway.

“I wanted to greet you yesterday but was unable to because there was no opportunity. Our knight received help from you… thank you so much for helping.”

In my opinion, he was saying thank you as an excuse to talk to me.

I got up from my seat with a sigh. I reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“It was nothing.”

Then, he lowered his head a little and opened his lips slightly.

That was enough.

Seeing him like that, I moved towards Reneben. He started to follow but Ronella interrupted instead.

When Ronella looked around and saw me, she headed over in my direction.

She was wearing a dress that stopped right above the ankle, which was popular these days.

Numerous people were trying to glance at her way but Duke Cassan covered her, blocking their view of her.

“God bless you.”

“May God bless you.”

I nodded at her response.

“Were both of you able to rest yesterday?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. I hope you did not suffer because of me.”

The princess placed her fingers over the button by her neck and raised her eyes slightly upwards. I swallowed my saliva subconsciously in response to her act of seduction. I knew what was happening but I was still falling under her charms.

Even though I stood up to move, the princess clung to my side as if I was her best friend. With the appearance of the princess, everybody was paying attention to us.

‘Was I being used?’

“Saintess,” Duke Cassan said as he interrupted my thoughts.

Not only I was surprised at the greeting from an unexpected character, the princess was too. The duke was well known for only paying attention to the princess.

“May God bless you.”

I was very curious as to why he called me but I pretended not to show it.

“May God’s blessing reach you, Duke Cassan. How may I help you?”

“I have something that I could not say yesterday. I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to you.”

He was also a knowledgeable knight.

“Thank you for saving Nella.”

He didn’t seem to hate me, but who would hate someone who saved a person they loved.

Apart from that, what did his gaze mean? I knew the expression clearly. It was the look of a rival.

“Yes, why are you saying that for me…?” Ronella blushed and said in a small voice.

It was another illusion at first glance, it was time to watch the scene.

SCREECH –

Where did that sound come from? I gained a lot from becoming a saintess, including great vision and hearing.

The world seemed to be moving slowly right now.

As a knight, the duke was the first to react.

For some reason, the chandelier above us was slowly falling down. Reneben and I were directly underneath the chandelier. The duke moved to cover Ronella even though she was in a safe area.

I exhaled deeply under the stressful situation and went to grab Reneben’s arm. Reneben’s face turned pale when he realized what was happening. I used my strength to push him away.

CLANG!!

“…”

I actually do not like being a saintess. But I did not mind saving people and receiving thanks. Well… I actually liked the feeling. But that did not mean that I wanted to get hurt.

I managed to narrowly escape from being crushed by the chandelier. However I could not avoid getting hurt by the broken debris. I looked down at my bleeding hand.

Reneben, who fell down when I pushed him earlier, shouted, “Miss Emilone!”

I managed to not get seriously injured but I only barely avoided the chandelier. The broken glass shards flew everywhere and injured me. Red blood was dripping down my arm.

I looked up to see the duke holding the princess.

I unknowingly raised my arm to look at the blood. I frowned at the tingling sensation that I felt flowing inside. I also felt blood in my mouth.

Duke Cassan looked at me with a confused expression.

I sighed at the energy that came with the flowing blood in my mouth.

It was poison, the chandelier must have been covered with it.

This would not have happened if he saved me. But I guess it’s human nature to save who you loved first.

‘I have decided…’

I don’t know who was responsible for this but they don’t seem to be scared of the punishment.

This was very upsetting.

The bleeding hurts. It seems that the pain originated from my fingers. I calmly looked down at the wound and then quickly looked away. It was hard for me to look at other people’s wounds so there was no way for me to look at my own wounds.

I frowned at the feeling of bitter pain and displeasure. I lowered my arm and saw the red blood on my dress.

With a frightened expression, Reneben carefully raised me up.

“Miss Emilone, are you alright?”

He ripped my clothes without hesitation and applied pressure on my wound.

The servants and maids moved around hecticly. The turmoil continued to build around me. The knights came and closed the party hall. The doors were locked so nobody can go in or out.

Reneben had his hand out as he was trying to heal me himself.

I thanked the servant who brought the bandage and medicine for first aid. The child was shorter than me, holding a bucket and passing it to Reneben.

“For the wound treatment…”

“Alright.”

Blood was trickling down. Although I had many benefits as a saintess, I also had my disadvantages. I was unable to heal myself if I got hurt.

The wound opened and was actively bleeding. Reneben was trying his best but it was to no avail. My condition was not improving with his treatment.

Duke Cassan was staring at me, still holding the princess in his arms.

I can count the number of conversations between us on one hand. We were not close so I had no resentment against him.

I tilted my head and made eye contact with him. I blinked a few times to show that I was fine. Only then did he loosen his arms around the princess.

“Quiet…”

The surroundings became quiet for a moment. I blinked my eyes, looking around the silent hall. There were people who both respected and feared me. There were also those who thought it was natural for me to suffer.

I was a saintess who saved people. A person who does not harm others and cares for everybody including the lowest.

“The chandelier fell…” I said in a dry voice. I took a step back, crushing the fragments underneath.

“Why?”

Only the chandelier that was above me fell. The incident occurred in the Imperial Palace’s banquet hall. The Imperial Palace of all places.

“It’s not a coincidence…”

I laughed before realizing it.

“I’m sure you all know.”

It’s not a coincidence that a chandelier fell from the tightly controlled Imperial Palace. It was definitely intentional.

This made me angry. I did not like it.