Chapter 51: Inside the Temple

 “I’m sorry.”

 “Please, I beg you. Help me just this once.”

 Faced with the other party’s refusal, Grit bowed his head again and pleaded.

 The other person’s status was merely that of a viscount.

 Yet the reason he bowed his head was because the current situation was extremely urgent.

 Having been refused everywhere else, Grit desperately needed the person before him.

 Despite sincerely bowing his head, the viscount’s response was lukewarm.

 “That’s all the funds we can provide you.”

“Look here, I’m begging you like this. Can’t you do something for the sake of the relationship we’ve maintained all this time?”

 Grit pleaded for help while bringing up their long-standing relationship.

 The viscount sneered at Grit after hearing his desperate words.

 “You should have treated your daughter better.”

 “What?”

 “It’s amusing that someone who knows full well who he owes his luxurious lifestyle to has neglected his daughter.”

 “What are you saying, Viscount!”

 The viscount deliberately provoked Grit, waiting for him to get angry.

 He thought that if Grit had any sense, he wouldn’t fall for it, but contrary to his expectations, Grit reacted too simply.

 Seeing him immediately reveal his true nature despite looking down on him as merely a viscount, he was dumbfounded.

 ‘What happened to that attitude of bowing his head and pleading just moments ago.’

 Looking at his shameless attitude, he felt disgusted.

 ‘She’ must have seen much more of this behavior, how did she endure it all this time?

 He briefly looked at the teacup in his hand.

 Looking at the still warm tea in the cup, the viscount couldn’t help but laugh.

 Something came to mind as he looked at the contents inside.

 He remembered something that happened a very long time ago.

 “Don’t be like this, Viscount. How can you treat me this way when our families have maintained a relationship since our predecessors’ time?”

 “Are you still going on about that?”

 But that smile completely disappeared at Grit’s words.

 “The reason I’ve maintained a relationship with the Odoi family until now wasn’t because of that petty relationship from our predecessors’ time, but because of the only normal person in your family.”

 “Viscount! You’ll regret your words!”

 “It’s funny that someone who’s desperate enough to go around seeking funds directly is talking about regret.”

 Bawin, the head of Viscount Lockin’s family, paid no attention to Grit’s words.

 Though Grit was raising his voice and pointing fingers in his face, he only looked into his teacup.

 He remained composed.

 “Do you think the nobles don’t know what happened between the grand ducal family and the ducal family? From the moment Clea Odoi, the talk of the town, suddenly disappeared from social circles, it was as good as acknowledged by the Duke’s family.”

 Grit had also heard the rumors initially.

 The secret meeting between the Crown Prince and the Odoi lady.

 He didn’t believe it at all.

 There was no way Clea would seduce the Crown Prince, and even if she tried, the Crown Prince wasn’t someone who would be moved by such seduction.

 Since everything would be resolved once Clea returned, he didn’t bother trying to correct the rumors.

 And as a result of that complacent thinking, Grit was now experiencing a series of humiliations for the first time in his life.

 “Your son also seems to be going around looking for people, but isn’t it all in vain?”

 “That’s all a family that does nothing but money-lending would say!”

 “Yet it’s the Duke who has come to us for that money-lending multiple times.”

 Bawin continued to provoke Grit until the end.

 While hierarchy and order clearly existed, in reality, money and power took precedence.

 Even a duke without power was inferior to a powerful baron, and a count who was a margrave could surpass a marquis and a duke.

 From Bawin’s perspective, the most futile things in the world were honor and tradition.

 ‘Honor, that can be bought with money in this world.’

 Even the Odoi family originally had substantial funds.

 However, due to the duke’s greed and continuous risky investments, their fortunes declined.

 Without seeing proper returns, those who had been helping the duke’s family gradually disappeared.

 Now, only a greedy character and an incompetent person remained in the Odoi family.

 In Bawin’s eyes, the future of the Odoi family didn’t look bright.

 He thought they might face extinction soon.

 ‘She went to the Crown Prince, they say.’

 Bawin, who had no particular interest in the Odoi family without Clea, turned his thoughts elsewhere.

 He had heard people say that the Crown Prince would marry Aria Hersher at one point.

 Of course, Bawin wasn’t particularly interested in such matters and knew that rumors couldn’t be trusted, but now it was different.

 ‘Since I’ve received help, I should also provide help.’

 He rose from his seat.

 At the same time, he grabbed the cooled teacup while looking at Grit, who still hadn’t left.

 “Please leave now. There’s nothing more to discuss.”

 “Argh!”

 “Such dramatics.”

 As he ordered him to leave, he poured the tea directly onto Grit’s head.

 He wanted to pour hot tea and cause burns so that he wouldn’t have to see his face for a while.

 But with the already cooled tea, he just felt annoyed.

 * * *

 “You don’t seem pleased.”

 “Because the plan has changed.”

 “But I like it.”

 Hayden and the other believers discussed modifying the existing plan slightly.

 Edmund strongly opposed this.

 He argued that since no one knew what would happen if they proceeded with a public penance, they should stick to the original plan without modifications.

 The person who persuaded Edmund from the side was none other than Clea.

 “Wouldn’t it be better if people see and believe even a little?”

 To prove that there wasn’t even a hint of falsehood, she would openly display her penance in front of people.

 Hayden’s proposal was to prove that no one had helped her.

 “Don’t push yourself.”

 “You’ve already agreed to stay by my side. Just having you beside me gives me strength.”

 It wasn’t a statement meant to reassure him.

 When she was beside Edmund, she truly felt energized as if by magic.

 Not only that, but even the watch on the back of her hand ticked slower.

 At one point, she thought that the slower the watch moved, the closer she was to the end of her time, but that wasn’t it.

 Since realizing that the hands of the watch slowed down because of Edmund’s presence, it felt like her time with him was extending.

 “If people say harsh things to you, how should I react? If they think you’re someone who can be hurt because they prefer Aria.”

 “Ignore them then.”

 Clea answered clearly as if she had been asked an easy question.

 But even after hearing her answer, Edmund’s expression didn’t ease.

 Knowing well why he had such an expression, she sat down next to him and said.

 “There’s no reason to be hurt by every word people say.”

 “I agree with that statement. But I don’t want to hear people talking about you as they please.”

 He feared that angry crowds, having only heard rumors of her being a villainess, would pour harsh words on her.

 Clea felt a tinge of regret, wondering why someone who cared so much about her had only appeared by her side now, and gently smiled as she took his hand.

 “Then how about becoming a tyrant?”

 “A tyrant?”

 Hearing Clea’s words, Edmund looked at her with a stunned expression.

 It wasn’t the first time he had heard the term “tyrant.”

 But the reason for bringing it up was different.

 Other people were always busy telling him to be cautious about becoming a tyrant and to learn from negative examples.

 Right now, the only person to succeed to the imperial throne in the empire was Edmund alone.

 He, whose future as emperor was guaranteed, had grown up hearing only that he should become a benevolent ruler.

 But now, the woman in front of him was asking him how about becoming a tyrant.

 “If you hate it so much, you can simply not listen or see.”

 Edmund had been told to listen to the empire’s citizens more than anyone else and become a benevolent ruler.

 What Clea was saying now was the opposite of what those who had taught him had said.

 Edmund raised the corners of his lips towards her, who was openly telling him to become a tyrant.

 Hearing these words for the first time, Edmund felt a strange sense of liberation.

 “Then I should strive to become a tyrant from now on.”

 “Yes, if you become a tyrant, I’ll gladly become a villainess.”

 “There’s no need for you to become a villainess though.”

 “Isn’t it better to be cursed together than alone?”

 Edmund, who laughed out loud at Clea’s words, took the hand of the woman sitting next to him.

 Having grown accustomed to her cold hand, he playfully whispered quietly.

 “I’ll postpone becoming a tyrant for now.”

 “Oh, that’s a shame. I was curious to see what you’d be like as a tyrant.”

 “You’re probably the only person curious about such a thing.”

 As they conversed, their gazes met, and their lips overlapped.

 After their lips touched briefly and parted, Edmund, seeming regretful, licked his lips and said.

 “This is a temple, I wonder if it’s okay.”

 It was a statement made with the awareness that obscene acts were prohibited within the temple space.

 But Clea looked at Edmund with an expression of incomprehension and said.

 “Is there a problem because it’s a temple? We’re both going to be doing penance soon anyway.”

 When she pointed out that they were both going to do penance anyway, Edmund was momentarily stunned. She smiled and pushed him down.

 Clea fell without any resistance and wrapped her arms around his neck as he approached.