Chapter 2

Isabelle didn’t take her eyes off Lix until he became a dot on the horizon and disappeared. She sighed when she recalled how his expression had remained stiff throughout her marriage proposal.

I’ve never seen such a thoughtful look on Lix’s face before.

The last time she witnessed him at his most serious was when they were playing pretend at the age of ten. She had accidentally chopped off a chunk of his brown hair while imitating a hairdresser with a pair of sharp scissors. After suddenly losing half his hair, Lix thought for a long time whether to shave it all off or pretend it had been done on purpose to look cool. Even when he had decided to shave off all his remaining hair and live with a buzz cut for a year, he didn’t look as solemn as he had done today.

Was I being unreasonable for asking him to marry me tomorrow? She had asked him for countless favors before, but never had she been as desperate as she was right now.

Barely holding back her tears, Isabelle brushed the dust off her clothes and made her way back to the temple.

They say that negative thoughts manifest negative outcomes.

Just then, an old mirror caught her eye, as if to hint she should check her clothes. She stopped in front of it.

My face looks so stiff.

Then again, it was no surprise. After all, she was about to be sold to the infamous Duke Cardiego—House Cardiego’s long-awaited only son and current head. House Cardiego was one of the three great families in the empire. They gained their prominence as a result of their ability to control death and spirits at command. At the tender age of seven, Duke Cardiego fully inherited the power of the Underworld that had been handed down from generation to generation. He was reportedly the youngest successor in family history.

He preferred to keep his personal life under wraps, so there wasn’t much information available about him. So naturally, in its place were a plethora of groundless rumors and speculations. Only two things were certain. First, Duke Cardiego was going to be elected as the next emperor. Second, he was very sensitive to scandals involving women.

Of course, considering he has a problem with his lower body... Nothing has happened yet, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Isabelle forced a smile in an attempt to dispel her grim expression. Her face brightened, her blue eyes gleaming like a pond on a sunny day, and her long, silver hair cascading softly behind her ears. It was said that silver hair and blue eyes could only be found in those who were loved by the goddess Iris. They weren’t rare, but they weren’t common either. Because of this, the saints and the believers favored Isabelle a lot.

Lix won’t be embarrassed to call me his wife. Since he also feels comfortable with me, he’ll probably accept my proposal.

Isabelle knew that some boys her age who visited the small church attached to the temple every weekend had eyes for her. They attempted to conceal their impure thoughts within the confines of the sanctuary dedicated to Iris. But whenever they made eye contact with Isabelle, they would stop walking and avoid her gaze. It was around puberty when she learned they were lovesick. However, Lix never reacted that way around her.

Wait a minute.

A sudden onset of unease roused Isabelle from her reverie. Lix had never blushed or avoided eye contact with her—not even once ever since she first met him when she was six until now when she was twenty years old. As she became increasingly anxious, her pace toward her bedroom decreased. Feeling a little bewildered, Isabelle blinked and started reminiscing about the days she spent with Lix.

***

Isabelle vividly remembered the first day they first met—not just because it was the day after she turned six.

“Sister Maria, today is the day of the festival, right?”

Isabelle recalled jumping up and down as she held on to Sister Maria’s skirt and begged to go to the festival. She had met Lix on the day of the solar eclipse, which only occurred once every seven years.

The people of Cardiego Duchy, where the temple was located, believed in the power of the Underworld—things like darkness, shadows, and death. Therefore, they held a large festival every seven years to celebrate the solar eclipse. Her first festival with Lix was particularly lavish because it coincided with the return of the head of House Cardiego to the duchy from the palace in the empire’s capital.

“Please, Sister. I won’t ask you to buy me a snack. Can’t we just watch the fireworks?”

“Isabelle.” The girl grew sullen when Maria sternly called her name. She already knew what the answer would be. “There is indeed a festival in the village today, but we won’t be attending it. Danger lurks everywhere on crowded days like this.”

“Wouldn’t a crowded place be perfect for us to spread Iris’ message? We can give out eggs or something.”

“As thoughtful as that sounds, I don’t think the people of the Cardiego Duchy would appreciate the saints of the Pilsburg Temple intruding at their festival. So you’d better go to bed early today.” Almost immediately, the saint grabbed her arm and pulled her in the direction of her room.

“Ow! Sister, that hurts!”

All Sister Maria did was prepare prayers and pray, but she was unexpectedly strong. Isabelle wore a gloomy expression on her face as she was dragged along.

She washed up, prayed, and laid down on the bed, but she couldn’t fall asleep. The girl blinked as her mind became increasingly awake.

Fireworks... She had never seen real fireworks before, but she longed to do so after hearing the saints’ descriptions of them as shooting stars gathering in one spot before scattering everywhere. They say that wishes made upon shooting stars always come true.

Isabelle blinked and thought about the wish she wanted to make if she ever saw a shooting star. It wasn’t related to delicious food or the fancy dresses that the ladies of nobility wore.

Goddess Iris, please, I don’t want to be alone anymore.

By now, children her age from the town were probably holding hands with their parents and making wishes while they watched the fireworks. Isabelle, on the other hand, just wanted to find someone to spend the rest of her life with.

I wish I had a family to hold hands and go to the festival with. Although the saints hold my hand, they won’t go to the festival with me.

Isabelle was wallowing in her disappointment when she heard a rustling noise coming from somewhere. It didn’t sound like a mountain beast pacing in the middle of the night. She quietly crept toward the window and took a peek outside, squinting her eyes. It was then that she saw a small child curled up in the grass.

At this hour? Even the saints, who usually didn’t sleep much, were fast asleep at this time. There was only one reason a child would come to the temple alone despite the fact that it was located far away from the village. Are his parents ill?

Without giving it any thought, Isabelle headed toward the thicket. She planned to invite the trembling child inside and give him a cup of warm tea. Then, she would wake up the saints and ask for herbs so that the child wouldn’t have to worry about losing his parents.

Isabelle strode forward with her arms swaying at her sides. The child looked at her, quivering like an injured baby animal. His face and clothes were stained with dirt, suggesting that he had been wandering outside for a while. It was dark and hard to see, but the fear in his reddened eyes was palpable.

Isabelle asked, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

The boy didn’t reply.

“I’m not a bad person. I live at the temple. Why did you come all the way here at this hour?”

The shaking child remained silent. He must have been too wary to admit that he was there to get medicine for his ill parents. Instead of thinking about how to comfort the child, Isabelle recalled the story she had recently heard from Sister Cecilia about a fawn.

She said the baby deer she saved from a trap had grown up and later led her to some rare mushrooms.

Cecilia sold the mushrooms without Sister Maria’s knowledge and used the money to buy Isabelle a lot of sweets. The girl’s eyes flickered with a new idea as she remembered the sweet pie she had eaten. The helpless child, who was still curled up in the grass and shooting her a guarded look, resembled a helpless fawn.

A baby deer!

Feeling like an explorer who had discovered treasure, she shared, “I’m Isabelle. And you are?” After a brief pause, she continued, “I’m six years old. What about you?”

Stumped at the silence, Isabelle thought of a surefire way to make the child talk.

“Out of all the girls I’ve met, you’re the least talkative. But Sister Maria said that silence is a virtue...”

Isabelle couldn’t finish her speech because the child, who had seemed cautious of her until then, shouted, “I’m not a girl!”

“Huh? You’re a boy? You look so pretty, though.”

“What makes you think I’m a girl? I...”

The baby deer regained his composure and stopped talking. Isabelle felt a strange urge to poke his mouth open.

“You really look like a girl. What’s your name? Elizabeth?”

Isabelle then started calling him feminine names like Evelyn, Amelia, and Seirin. It did not take long for the boy to get angry and blurt out his name.

“Ephelix.”

“Ephe... What?”

“Lix! My name is Lix! You said you were six years old. Why are you so stupid?”

“Why are you so feisty? I came out on this cold night to help you, you know?”

Isabelle immediately regretted shouting because the baby deer, who she had hoped would give her something precious later, became guarded again. His feistiness and sensitivity really reminded her of an injured baby animal. It was dark, so she couldn’t see him well, but she noticed there were quite deep wounds on his legs that his shorts couldn’t hide.

I need to take him to the temple to treat his injuries for the sake of my precious mushrooms.

Isabelle took a deep breath and decided to help the baby deer calm down again. To accomplish that, she needed to find common ground with him.

“Lix, where do you live?”

Once again, the boy did not speak.

“You look a little shorter than me. How old are you?”

When he didn’t answer her question, she asked another.

“What are you doing here at this late hour?”

No matter how much she smiled and asked him questions, he didn’t cave in. Isabelle felt silly because it seemed as if she was talking to herself, but she persisted in her efforts to calm his nerves.

“What do your parents do? Don’t they mind that you’re wandering alone at night?”

“They died in an accident. Can you stop talking to me already?”

Although his tone was rough, he had finally spoken. Without giving his response a lot of thought, Isabelle decided to use their similarity to her advantage.

“Really? I’m an orphan, too! My parents abandoned me when I was a baby.”

“What?”

“Since we have something in common, we’re friends now.”

Lix was dumbfounded into silence.