This One Is Merciful
The first thing that met the eye was Rizeon's upper body, slumped back against the sofa as though it had swallowed him whole. Sweat poured off him in sheets, and his lips had gone pale to the point of looking bloodless.
And below him, mostly hidden by the sofa's backrest, Seira's sobs—thick with tangled, hitching breaths—were rattling the entire room.
"Uhhhuuuhhh...! Ah, goddamn it... I... what the hell is this..."
"Miss Seira?!"
Alper burst through in an instant, picking up speed before he'd even cleared the threshold. The attendant, panic written all over his face, hurriedly shut the door behind them to salvage what dignity they had left.
When Alper set a hand on Rizeon's shoulder and looked down at Seira, her clothes were a rumpled wreck, smeared with the remnants of strangely translucent stains... wait? And there she was in that state, clinging to Rizeon's torso with both fists twisted into his collar, weeping as if the world itself had ended.
"Seriously... if this isn't a curse, then what the hell is it... Waaaaaah—!"
"...Rizeon."
Alper's gaze lingered on those traces. Then, at last, he quietly swallowed.
Half of him believed a clergyman like Rizeon couldn't possibly have done such a thing. The other half resigned himself to the fact that, if it was Seira, she absolutely could have. For a moment a chill passed through Alper's eyes as he looked at Rizeon—only to meet Rizeon's own desperate stare instead.
"......Help me."
It was the look of a man begging to be saved. A face that made the fact that this woman was Alper's companion feel genuinely terrifying.
Surely this was a misunderstanding no one could entertain about a man of the cloth... right?
"Young Maaaster..."
Before anyone knew it, Seira had let go of Rizeon and burrowed into Alper's arms, her face a wreck. She was sobbing so hard she couldn't even catch her breath, her voice breaking into choked hiccups.
"I... I think I've actually gone crazy... Something's wrong with me... I..."
Alper lifted her onto his lap and quietly laid a hand on her back. He patted her gently and spoke in a low, steady voice.
"It's all right. I'm here, Miss Seira."
"Ah, shit... you can't say that!"
At those words, Seira sucked in a sharp breath and buried herself even deeper against his chest.
Rizeon sat dazed beside the sofa, watching them, then finally tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling.
"...O Lord."
With a trembling hand he traced a holy sign, then collapsed onto the opposite sofa just as he had before, and finally clutched his head in both hands.
Alper took in his wretched state and slowly nodded.
"Rizeon. Looks like you've had quite the ordeal."
"Please... just take her with you already."
From beside the sofa, still clutching his head, Rizeon spoke through the gaps in the hands covering half his face.
"I can't handle her. No—I don't even want to."
At that, Seira's head snapped up.
"...What?"
Her tears hadn't even dried, and that one damn sentence had filled her eyes with a fully charged rage gauge.
"...The hell did this bastard just say?"
"Miss Seira—"
She shook off Alper's restraining hand and shot to her feet. The fabric over her chest heaved and bounced, and she jabbed a finger straight at Rizeon.
"I was saying this earlier—you're just incompetent, aren't you?!"
"Yes. I used to take some pride in my abilities, but I see now that my spiritual discipline has been lacking. I mean it. You are far too..."
Rizeon stepped back, wanting no part of her advancing fury.
"...chaotic. Far too..."
"Ha?!"
Even with him conceding, she was packed to bursting with the feeling of having lost, and she was not about to back down.
"Fine then! This merciful me will give this amateur a chance!"
Seira whirled around to look at Alper.
"Young Master."
"Yes."
"Blow a bunch of money and make sure that guy can't set foot in this monastery today."
Alper aside, Rizeon let out a hollow laugh of sheer incredulity.
"The only people who can even get an audience with me are nobles like Alper. Do you think I'd be short on funds?"
Not wanting to get involved was one thing, but treating him like some destitute novice mage just because her own problem hadn't been solved? Rizeon looked at Seira and let out a dry snort.
At that firmness, Seira let out a long haaah and cocked her head to the side.
And then—
"Rizeon."
Alper spoke quietly. Unlike the woman beside him, his voice was plain and harmless, the private request of an old acquaintance.
"...I'll make a large offering."
"........."
Rizeon's eyebrows twitched. Now he genuinely wanted to ask.
"You. Why are you even traveling with this woman? What is she?"
He no longer even called her a lady. She was the sort of person who didn't warrant it. Alper gave an embarrassed smile, as if this were as good a time as any to make introductions.
"........."
Rizeon squeezed his eyes shut. Wasn't he the one who'd been cursed? When he looked up again, the woman who'd just been called "the future Duchess" had both arms flung out in protest.
"Hey, Young Master, you're crossing the line again?!"
"If we're going to ask for his help, I thought a certain amount of explanation would be necessary..."
Alper lowered his head with those gentle eyes. At the sight of him, Rizeon pinched the bridge of his nose.
Beneath the white stone columns of the monastery garden, where the sunlight fell cool and mild, stood a man who looked as though he'd just walked out of the apocalypse.
It was the silver-haired beauty, Rizeon.
The moment he'd stepped through the monastery's front gate, he'd half-collapsed against a pillar and done something he would never ordinarily do: he'd undone the collar of his sacred vestments.
"Haaah... O Lord, what in the world is that woman..."
He wiped at his sweat and hung his head, as if denying reality itself. And then, from behind him, came the sound of light, padding footsteps.
"Oh my. What's this? You got out faster than I expected."
Today's employer, apparently.
Seira stood with her hands half-clasped behind her back, tilting her head, then reached out with one hand and tugged—tug—on the hem of Alper's robe.
"Young Master. Let's go to the inn now~"
"Yes. It should be ready."
Alper gestured for Rizeon to follow as well.
"Think of it as resting somewhere else for a change, Rizeon."
"Haaah..."
As Alper offered that small consolation, Seira cut in from beside him.
"You were going to book some huge fancy place anyway. Just share one and save the money."
"......"
Rizeon couldn't even close his mouth at the sight of Seira being stingy even now.
"Calling that guy out probably cost a fortune. We've got to save where we can."
That woman, sticking her tongue out like that—Duchess? Even if you dunked her in holy water for three days straight, that energy of hers wouldn't wash out.
"...Still, we can hardly let anyone see Miss Seira in that state..."
And what was Alper doing, murmuring that under his breath on top of everything? Rizeon wanted to escape this situation. Sincerely.
The quiet afternoon sun lay across the outer streets of Elies.
The inn they arrived at was a high-end private establishment, its exterior lavish and immaculate—a stark contrast to the monastery. A courteous doorman and well-mannered staff opened the doors, and Seira swept in first.
"Mmm~ smells nice."
She stepped onto the velvet carpet and scrunched her brow in pleasant satisfaction.
"One more of your finest rooms, please."
While Alper arranged an additional suite for Rizeon, the other two stood behind him with their arms folded, staring each other down as sparks flew between them.
"Thanks for coming along."
As the staff prepared to show them to their respective rooms, Alper waved to him.
Seira, meanwhile, glared at Rizeon and tossed her abundant pink hair back over her shoulder.
"I'll be calling you soon, so stay on standby. When I call, you come. Got it?"
"...Pardon?"
Even Alper blinked at that. Rizeon, silently cursing himself for following her all the way to this inn, left without a word, accompanying the attendant.
"As for you, Young Master."
Then she turned toward Alper and met his eyes dead-on.
"I've got something to tell you."
"...Right now?"
"Yeah."
Her smile was something wicked, and her gaze drifted slowly, lingeringly, up and down his body.
"It's something I really need your help with. You'll help me, right? For my sake."
The moment the door closed behind Alper and Seira, low voices began to pass back and forth inside the room.
First it was Seira's voice, then Alper's. But it wasn't like usual.
"...How exactly am I supposed to take that, Miss Seira."
Calm, yet somehow pitched high, with suppressed emotion bleeding through. And then, immediately after—
"That's why I said it was a favor! It's really important to me, you know?"
Her words stretched out a little too long. Seira's tone was a peculiar, coquettish thing that could only be called wicked, and she was answering with shameless ease.
What followed was a thinning of voices, then a low murmur that sounded as though some kind of compromise had been reached. Without an ear pressed to the door, it was impossible to make out the words exactly.
Not long after, Rizeon was summoned in earnest. He stood before the door and raked a hand back through his hair.
Haaah...
All he wanted, now that things had come to this, was to finish whatever business that strange woman had and collapse into a comfortable private room.
Before knocking, Rizeon looked at the doorknob one more time. A sigh escaped him of its own accord. Then he steeled himself, knocked, and opened the door at the occupant's reply.
What he saw the moment the door opened was nothing like what he'd expected. No—he hadn't even been expecting anything anymore, and it still went beyond that.
What he saw was a man and a woman draped in loosely worn robes. Seira sitting at the edge of the bed, and Alper kneeling before her with his eyes cast down.
"Heeey."
Even then, Seira lazily lifted one hand and beckoned him over. Alper, the one Rizeon had been counting on for moral support, couldn't even look at him, and turned his face away.