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Not seeing Genevia anywhere, I looked around and asked.
“Has anyone seen Genevia?”
“Oh, the priestess? She’s probably carrying out her duties right now.”
“Duties? What duties?”
‘Sion and I are here, what kind of work would she be doing?’
Garen scratched his head as he tried to recall.
“She mentioned last time that she’d officially started taking over responsibilities from her superior, and she’s been running back and forth between the annex and the main building handling various tasks. She seemed quite busy yesterday too.”
“...Really?”
I frowned at Garen’s words.
In the original story, Genevia also had a hard time after newly arriving at the Grand Duchy. Her superior at the time dumped all the work on her and made her life miserable. Until the main male lead eventually showed up and turned the situation around, she had to silently endure the overwork while constantly helping others—often to the point of collapsing.
Back then, it was Sion who quietly looked after her behind the scenes. But now, since their relationship had deviated from the original plot, the heroine was essentially being neglected.
“No wonder she’s been looking a little pale lately…”
Clicking my tongue in disapproval, I finally brought up something I had been putting off.
“Sion. That expedition to the border zone, let’s bring Genevia along.”
“The priestess?”
“Yeah. Genevia’s a healing priestess, right? She’ll be a huge help and a source of support if we bring her.”
Sion responded with a logical tone.
“There are already a couple of lower-ranked priests stationed near the border zone. There’s no need to increase the number of people on the team.”
“But we don’t know what could happen on the way there. Wouldn’t it be better to have at least one healing priestess on hand in case of an emergency?”
Sion hesitated, considering my words.
“That’s true. Something like last time could happen again.”
His serious gaze swept over me, he must’ve been recalling the time I got poisoned by assassins.
A moment later, Sion added Genevia Lilo’s name to the list of ‘Support Personnel Deployment.’
“Yes!”
As Sion set down his quill, I instinctively grabbed his right hand.
“Good call, Sion! Thank you!”
“….”
Thanks to all the subtle fangirling I’d done to recharge my energy, massaging his hand, arm, cheek, or whatever I could get away with—Sion had gradually grown more tolerant of my spontaneous skinship.
“But did you get her consent?”
“Huh?”
“I mean Genevia Lilo’s consent. Even if she’s technically part of the Grand Duchy’s personnel, she’s still officially affiliated with the temple. Without her personal agreement, we can’t force her to join the expedition.”
I froze.
‘…Her consent? That’s a curveball I didn’t see coming.’
Genevia, who wasn’t even keen on staying in the annex with us, was hardly going to willingly follow us to the frontlines at the border.
“…Ahem. When exactly is the expedition scheduled to depart?”
“Three days from now, probably.”
“I-I’ll talk to her and get her consent before then. No problem!”
“…….”
I slowly rose to my feet.
‘Standing around won’t help. I’ve got to find Genevia and either sweet-talk or pressure her into agreeing.’
Even if the sky were to fall, Genevia absolutely had to come with us.
“I’ll just… go out for a bit!”
Without delay, I dashed out of the room.
***
After tearing through the Grand Duchy estate like a person possessed.
“Huff, huff… Found her.”
It took quite some time, but I finally managed to locate Genevia.
She was at the knights’ outdoor training grounds, tucked away in a remote corner of the main building.
Peeking between the broad shoulders of the burly knights, I spotted the top of her curly head and muttered under my breath,
“…It’s like watching a Thomson’s gazelle surrounded by predators.”
Sneaking between columns along the corridor, I quietly crept closer to where Genevia was.
At that moment, I overheard the chatter of a couple of maids walking past me.
“What? Are you serious?”
“I’m telling you, it’s true! Molly got burned while cooking yesterday, and she was completely healed!”
“No way. She used that precious divine power for us servants?”
An elderly housekeeper exiting from the opposite direction chimed in.
“It’s all true. The new priestess who arrived a few days ago has been tending not just the knights, but anyone in the main building or annex with injuries.”
“Good heavens!”
“They say she’s as kind and beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Word’s spreading fast.”
The maids, faces flushed with excitement, hurried off with light steps.
The crowd surrounding Genevia seemed to swell by the second.
Standing at a distance, I crossed my arms and quietly observed.
‘…Hmm.’
Every time divine power flowed from Genevia’s hands, the crowd gasped in awe.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“Thank you so much, Priestess!”
“How could I ever repay this kindness…!”
“We’re so lucky to have someone like you here at the Grand Duchy!”
Genevia, wearing the same polite, well-practiced smile she’d once shown in front of the Grand Duchess, responded to them all with flawless grace.
“I’ll make sure to treat everyone, so please stay in line.”
She was exactly as the original novel had described her: warm, gentle, and sunny to everyone she met.
If I hadn’t known the real Genevia, I might’ve genuinely believed that was her true nature.
“Tsk tsk.”
Clicking my tongue, I looked at the top of Genevia’s head.
“She looks like she’s about to collapse.”
Now that I saw her up close, her complexion was paler than usual, clearly, she was pushing herself too hard.
Even in the original story, Genevia would always overdo it like this and collapse out of sight or fall into an exhausted sleep without warning.
At the time, I thought it was because she was just kind-hearted, a pushover, or maybe just a saint. But now that I knew what Genevia was really like, I was honestly curious why she kept putting herself through this.
“Me next!”
“My shoulder's been acting up-”
“Me too! My lower back!”
“Hey! No cutting in line!”
Even those who didn’t look particularly injured rushed forward just to get a taste of divine power.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I leapt toward where Genevia was standing.
Then I aimed at the tree hanging over her head.
I wasn’t thrilled about using my precious fangirl skills and energy for this, but it was all for Sion in the end.
With little enthusiasm, I activated my skill.
“<Unstoppable Devotion>.”
A glowing heart flew out and struck the trunk of the tree with a solid thud.
THUMP—! A loud crash followed as the snow piled on the branches came tumbling down.
“Eek! That’s cold!”
“Ahhh! What the heck?!”
The surprise snow attack sent the crowd around Genevia scattering like ants.
Some were hit directly and ended up flailing helplessly, half-buried in snow.
Taking advantage of the chaos, I darted into Genevia’s hair.
“Genevia.”
“…?! Ms. Lin? What are you doing here?”
“No time to talk. Just follow me.”
I grabbed a lock of Genevia’s hair and tugged, dragging her out of the training grounds.
***
We stopped abruptly in the corridor on the way back to the annex.
Arms crossed, I stared at Genevia and asked.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Huh? Doing what?”
Genevia looked genuinely confused, like she had no idea what I was talking about. Her face, usually flushed with a healthy glow, was pale.
“You do know that using divine power like that without rest is going to wreck your body, right?”
There was no way she didn’t know.
Genevia said nothing, her lips pressed tightly together, which pretty much confirmed I’d hit the mark.
“You should really consider your own situation before rushing to help others. What kind of priestess acts like such a pushover?”
“…A pushover?”
I clicked my tongue.
“It’s true. You are. And it’s not even like you’re naturally this selfless or obedient.”
Flinching like I’d struck a nerve, Genevia’s face turned red.
“You’re one to talk, Ms. Lin…!”
Clearly agitated now, she snapped at me with narrowed eyes.
“Since when have you cared enough about me to suddenly show up and start lecturing like this? Honestly, this is just confusing.”
“Well, I’m the one who’s confused. Sion specifically assigned you as the exclusive priestess for the annex. So what are you doing here?”
“…!”
“You’ve been treating knights and servants in the main building, haven’t you? Managing the knights’ injuries is supposed to be your senior priest’s responsibility. Where is that guy, anyway? Why are you doing all of it?”
“…That’s…”
Genevia’s lips parted slightly, but she couldn’t find the words.
I exercised what little patience I had and waited.
Finally, she spoke again.
“But I didn’t have a choice.”
“A choice in what?”
“Do you think I want to tiptoe around that slippery snake and suck up to him while getting buried in work? Do you think I enjoy faking a sweet smile and playing nice so people can walk all over me?!”
“Then don’t let them walk all over you.”
My flat reply made her expression shift, for the first time, Genevia looked genuinely furious.
“Easy for you to say! You can say things like that because you’re a fairy!”
“……”
“What do you even know about me?! You act all high and mighty, but you’ve never once considered what it’s like to be someone who’s always replaceable, someone who could be tossed aside the moment they’re no longer useful. To you, all of this is just a game, something amusing to watch!”
Trembling, Genevia lashed out, not quite at me, but maybe at everything.
“You’re infuriating! So smug and annoying! Just go back to your little noble boy and leave me alone!”
“……”
After taking a few deep breaths, she turned around and stormed off.
So much for gently coaxing her. Instead, I had thoroughly pissed her off.
Scratching my cheek awkwardly, I muttered to myself.
“…Huh. Well, that could’ve gone better.”
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1 Comments
Girlllll
ReplyDeleteYou need some empathyyy