Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: A Precious Friend
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“Who is that powerhouse?”
“It’s Lady Evelyn. There was footage of Lady Evelyn from her childhood in the viewing orb.”
The first time Enoch saw the viewing orb, he was greatly shocked. The girl who appeared to be his age had reached a higher realm than he had.
“Even when I first asked who it was, Priestess Peace wouldn’t tell me. She said she’d let me know once I got this strong, so I started training again.”
Back then, he was so fixated on the idea of a powerhouse his own age that he didn’t consider the person in the viewing orb might be older.
“From that point on, Priestess Peace became my guardian. And I traveled to many places with her.”
Once she became his guardian, the days he spent confined to the temple came to an end. Enoch set out on a pilgrimage with the priestess.
Helping others, properly camping out, even cooking—it was all a first for him back then.
The priestess taught him things he had never experienced, broadening his world.
“I was definitely a frog in a well. The world was vast, and I had so much to learn.”
As his experiences accumulated, his swordsmanship improved as well.
“When I came of age, Priestess Peace told me about the girl in the footage.”
He had heard stories about the previous White Knight from other instructors.
But he had never heard that she was a young woman.
After that, whenever he visited the temple, Enoch sought out the older holy knights and listened to tales about Evelyn.
The realm she had reached, as he heard it, was even higher than what he had confirmed in the viewing orb.
“Lady Evelyn was the object of my admiration.”
He couldn’t believe someone without divine power could become that strong. Imagining her realm, he devoted himself to sword training.
“So when I heard Lady Evelyn’s name, I was overjoyed.”
“If I were in your shoes, Enoch, I would have been happy too.”
Enoch looked at Rachel with a smile.
As she said, when he first met Evelyn, he was so thrilled that he forgot about the ominous aura emanating from the mansion.
And when he saw Rachel, who looked just like her, he secretly hoped.
Had that child learned swordsmanship too? If so, how strong was she?
But he soon realized Rachel had never held a sword.
She was different from Evelyn. Her hands were clean, without calluses. Her hunched posture resembled that of the lay priests.
Most priests without divine power worked in the temple transcribing scriptures. Staring at books all day naturally hunched their backs, and Rachel’s body was like that.
Yet she spoke of having ominous dreams. The Curse Medium appeared exactly as she had seen in her dreams.
And Rachel got caught up in the curse. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, anxious. His body moved on its own whenever it sensed her in danger.
The day he destroyed the Curse Medium and stayed at the mansion, Enoch ran into Rachel in the hallway.
Seeing her call him amazing stirred complex emotions in him. To have such an amazing person as her mother and still call him amazing.
Rachel said that because she knew nothing of swordsmanship. But hearing it made him feel both ashamed and immensely happy.
Everyone else said his greatness came from his bloodline, that he wasn’t truly great. But she saw him as great with her honest feelings.
He was surprised when she called his shortcomings opportunities for growth, and even more surprised when she suggested they be friends.
As he grew older, he had to compromise with reality. He had once thought about what he would have to give up. Friends were one of them.
At twenty, protection from the temple would end.
Enoch had spent too much time in the temple, steeped in the church’s doctrines, so he couldn’t inherit the throne.
Instead, his biological father, the king, promised him a portion of the territory and the position of grand duke.
Suddenly becoming a grand duke, he wouldn’t have true friends. Only those entangled in power.
He thought he would never have the bond of friendship, but Rachel offered it.
It was the only time he could make a true friend without regard for status. That was why Enoch was moved.
But having never had a friend, he didn’t know what to do with one.
The friendships he saw in scripture were beautiful and radiant. Because he thought he could never have one, they shone even brighter.
Friendship, a friend, must be incredibly precious. That was why Rachel, his first friend, was so dear and valuable to Enoch.
“Enoch, you trailed off. Are you sleepy?”
Enoch looked at Rachel waving her hand in front of his eyes.
She had gone through so much on her own while he wasn’t looking. She had changed from when he first saw her.
It had been a little over a month for him, but years for her.
What on earth had his past selves been doing in previous loops? Rachel said he had helped a lot, but he couldn’t be satisfied.
She was precious, so he had to protect her. The precarious sight from their first meeting still lingered, but now she showed no such vulnerability.
She must have struggled to change like that. She had to make the effort to survive without changing.
If she died again, he would become the past. Like his previous selves, he would become just another part of history.
‘I don’t want that.’
Had his past selves wrestled with these thoughts too?
At the same time, he felt jealous of his past selves who weren’t him. They knew sides of Rachel he didn’t, shared long times with her.
And they must have watched her efforts. Yet they let her regress.
‘I don’t want to do that.’
He wanted to keep watching over Rachel.
“Enoch, don’t you want to sleep? I’ve explained enough, so it’s fine to rest.”
“I don’t want to close my eyes.”
“Well, there are times when you just don’t want to sleep.”
Thinking he was sleepy but avoiding her, Rachel shifted and pulled his shoulder toward her.
His upper body tilted sideways, and his head fell onto Rachel’s thigh.
Once, Priestess Peace had done this for him too. But the feeling was different.
Back then, he thought of Evelyn from his imagination, but now...
‘I don’t know.’
Was this normal between friends? Having no friends, he couldn’t identify the emotion he felt now.
‘Roses.’
He blushed unnecessarily at the scent, unsure if it came from her clothes or skin. He felt like he had done something wrong, though he hadn’t.
Enoch adjusted his position to lie facing up. His eyes met her lake-like black ones.
“Uncomfortable?”
“Ah, no.”
Enoch stuttered without realizing it.
Why with a face he saw often? Even he didn’t know.
But he liked looking at Rachel’s face, so he stayed put.
‘Her loose hair is like golden threads.’
If you drew thread from gold, it would surely look like this. lost in such idle thoughts, he gazed at her face intently.
Carion had said he would treat Rachel with utmost care, and it wasn’t a lie—her skin was smooth.
When she was buried under paperwork, exploited by the scumbag employer Abyss, dark circles shadowed her eyes.
No matter how busy, abusing a fifteen-year-old girl like that made him irredeemable.
Moreover, even if Rachel volunteered, using her as bait in a life-risking operation didn’t sit well.
Enoch harbored many grudges against Abyss.
‘If it were me...’
He would have protected her preciously. He would have tried somehow...
‘But I lack the strength.’
He felt it keenly. As a mere priest, protecting Rachel was daunting. Regardless of his personal skill, dangers lurked everywhere.
Even today, he hadn’t anticipated danger in the royal palace.
It was a banquet hosted by the king himself, and those not in the guard were forbidden weapons.
Yet he nearly lost her.
If he hadn’t been talking with Carion in a room right above the banquet hall, Rachel would have been badly hurt or killed.
There was no guarantee such things wouldn’t happen again. Enoch had never craved power before, but now was different.
To protect Rachel, he needed power. But as a holy knight, he couldn’t confront a prince.
He needed to stand on equal footing. And he could do that anytime.
‘I didn’t want the king’s help, but...’
Biologically, the king was his father, but Enoch had never seen him that way. He had never asked for help.
Two years ago, led by Priestess Peace to meet the king, he felt no great emotion.
Carion had been overly friendly, forcing him to respond. He bombarded him all day with questions about how special the Enoch called the Hero’s Reincarnation in the temple was, if he could use the founder hero’s abilities, and such.
But Carion’s friendliness toward Enoch stemmed not from familial bonds but personal curiosity.
Enoch had always seen the royal family and himself as separate, planning to continue that way.
But today changed his mind.
‘I’ll reclaim my position.’
It would come automatically in two years, but Enoch wouldn’t wait. He needed recognition now. To protect the girl before him.
Steeling his resolve, Enoch took in Rachel with his eyes.
“Rachel.”
“Yes?”
“What’s your schedule tomorrow?”
“Heading down to the territory. The Third Prince won’t leave me alone.”
Once he woke, he’d hunt the Enoch who attacked him, and the root cause, Rachel.
Rather than get entangled with Demian, Rachel chose to avoid him for now.
“Didn’t you sense any black magic aura when you clashed earlier?”
“Yes. Unfortunately.”
It was clearly related to the Black Sorcerer, yet no black magic aura.
Enoch regretted it. If it were linked to black magic, he could have mobilized the temple to punish him.
“Anyway, why do you ask about my schedule?”
“Rachel, my original mission was to protect you. Time to return to my original duties.”
Enoch was truly glad his mission was protecting Rachel.
He had been disappointed at fewer chances to spar with Evelyn, but now his duty aligned with his personal wish, making him happy.
He slowly lifted his head. He had admired her face fully. A face he wanted to see again and again, but it was time to go.
If word spread that an unmarried man and woman spent the night in the same room, it would be fatal for the woman.
Enoch planned to move to the next room to prevent his precious friend from ugly rumors because of him.
“Leaving?”
“There are many eyes and ears in the palace. I’ll be in the next room, so don’t worry.”
Rachel nodded. Enoch found even that cute.
As he was about to leave the room, he remembered the matter he had forgotten because of Demian.
“I meant to tell you this.”
“What?”
“The contract is completely gone.”
Rachel’s eyes widened at his words.
The contract that hadn’t vanished even in holy fire was finally gone. That meant the pact between the demon and House Emporus was severed.
“I suspected from Father and Deyner’s hair colors, but it’s really gone!”
Overjoyed, Rachel hugged Enoch tightly and cheered.
Hugging when happy wasn’t strange.
Enoch opened his arms to hug her back, but her body quickly pulled away.
“Thank you, it’s all thanks to you, Enoch! Good night!”
Rachel thanked him and pecked his left cheek. Feeling his face heat up, Enoch moved his hand behind him.
Unable to turn, he groped the wall for the door handle and opened it.
“Sweet dreams, Rachel.”
Barely leaving those words, he backed out of the guest room. He hurried to his assigned next-door room.
Closing the door with a thud, he caressed the cheek where her lips had touched, over and over.
That night, Enoch couldn’t fall asleep easily, his left cheek burning hot.