Chapter 7. The Abduction of the Priestess (1)
The Abduction of the Priestess (1)
"Let's depart. I-seo, you'll ride in my carriage."
"Yes, Master."
Over the past few days working together in the study, I-seo's intelligence had thoroughly impressed Lucian.
Above all, her exceptional ability to decipher ancient languages was precisely the talent he desperately needed.
She donned a traveling robe over her maid uniform and set off toward the royal palace with a select group of elite royal guards.
Count Lucian had told Victoria he was going to pay respects to the king for the restoration of the Elrheim family's honor, but in truth, he had another, far more important objective.
[Interim Stop]
The village of the Crea tribe.
What greeted them upon arrival was the sight of billowing smoke and the atrocities of pirates.
"Damn it, even here these pirates...!"
Though it was a village serving a priestess and thus reasonably well-defended, the attacking pirates were clearly no ordinary bandits.
Lucian ordered his guards to cut down every last pirate while he sprinted toward the shrine where the legendary Priestess Sophia resided.
Saving her would earn him great merit. And more importantly—Lucian needed the priestess's help.
The shrine.
When he reached the innermost chamber, Lucian's breath caught in his throat.
"You filthy bastards...!"
A hulking pirate leader loomed over the priestess, her pristine white ritual robes torn to shreds, forcibly spreading her legs apart as he gripped her ankles.
The leader was moments away from thrusting himself into her sacred depths.
Swish!
Thud! Thud!
"Argh!"
Two daggers thrown by Lucian embedded themselves perfectly in the throats of the pirate's guards.
"Fuck! Just when I was about to sink my teeth in, some bastard has to interfere!!"
As the pirate leader spat out his furious curses, Lucian lunged forward, rolling to plunge his sword into the man's gut.
"Guhk—!"
The giant collapsed helplessly.
Lucian was among the most formidable warriors in the Eldonia Kingdom.
Though his excess mana allowed him to wield simple spells, his true strength lay in swordsmanship.
A mere pirate leader was nothing.
With the fallen pirates' corpses littering the floor, a heavy silence settled over the shrine.
Lucian let his bloodied sword hang at his side as he gazed down at the trembling woman crouched on the ground.
Her body shook as she clutched the torn remnants of her robes around herself.
Lucian's crimson eyes, still burning with the adrenaline of battle, slowly took in her presence. And in that moment, a different kind of thrill raced down his spine—one entirely separate from the heat of combat.
"...Wow."
She wasn't human.
An angel freshly fallen from the heavens, utterly out of place amidst the stench of blood and filth.
Her face, partially visible through disheveled platinum-blonde hair, was so ethereal it stole his breath.
Terror glistened in her clear, translucent gray eyes—deep and mysterious like a lake at dawn, so captivating they seemed to pull at his very soul.
Her skin, pale as if never touched by sunlight, glowed with an almost luminescent radiance even in the shrine's dim interior, like moonlight given form.
Lucian's gaze trailed downward.
Her priestess garments had been savagely torn by the pirates, but the glimpses of flesh beneath were like a sculpture carved by a goddess herself.
Slender arms that stirred protective instincts, legs smooth and perfectly shaped. The delicate curve of her waist, so narrow it might snap if embraced, traced elegant lines with each trembling breath.
"Hahh..."
As Sophia exhaled sharply, the torn fabric of her top gaped open.
The immense, perky breasts that had been constrained beneath now spilled free with relief.
Snow-white mounds of flesh. At their peaks, rosy nipples stood taut from the cold air and fear, like cherry blossoms scattered over fresh snow—or unripe raspberries, vibrant and tempting.
Gulp.
Lucian swallowed dryly, entranced by those pure hues.
His gaze drifted lower still.
Sophia, sensing the heat in his stare, hastily clamped her thighs together.
But Lucian's reflexes caught the fleeting glimpse before she could hide it.
The deep valley where fluttering skirt met milky inner thighs.
Even that shadowed sanctuary bore no darkness—only a translucent, delicate pink, untouched by any impurity.
A holy land permitted only to the gods, unclaimed by mortal hands.
That brief flash of pristine color seared itself into Lucian's mind with devastating clarity.
'How can something be this... perfectly beautiful.'
His eyes gleamed with the hunger of a beast—no, a plunderer coveting sacred treasure.
More than relief at having saved her, a destructive urge to stain this noble beauty with his own colors surged through his veins, boiling his blood.
A woman who seemed to embody all the world's beauty in one form.
A cool breeze carried her sacred scent to his nostrils, piercing him with its purity.
The fragrance seemed to whisper "Breathe me in, deeper", wrapping around him and spreading through his body in an instant.
"Are you unharmed, Priestess?
I am Count Lucian of House Eckhart.
On my way to the royal palace, I happened upon this chaos and was in the midst of eliminating these pirates."
He extended a hand—but that hand felt far too rough and heated for a rescuer's touch.
"...Yes. Thank you.
I am Priestess Sophia."
Sophia shrank under Lucian's gaze. As a priestess who could read hearts, she recognized the look in his eyes.
The reflection of herself she saw there wasn't mere reverence—it was tainted with lecherous desire.
But she had no energy to dwell on that now.
"Count, they've stolen a sacred relic. Please... could you retrieve it for me?"
"..."
"Please... help me. It's no ordinary treasure.
You could say the fate of our nation depends on it. A Holy Grail as precious as my own life.
I'm already endlessly grateful for saving me. But if you could recover the Grail..."
Priestess Sophia forgot all dignity, kneeling at Lucian's feet.
"But I have only a handful of soldiers left, and they're exhausted. Pursuing now would be too dangerous. We should regroup first—"
Lucian nodded along to her words, but his mind was already elsewhere.
Compared to the divinely radiant priestess before him, the value of some relic meant nothing.
In this moment, only one craving burned in his chest—to stay by her side, even a second longer.
Her pale hands clutched desperately at Lucian's leather boots. Clear teardrops fell from her gray eyes, dampening the floor.
"If you retrieve it... I swear, I'll grant any request you make."
That single phrase.
A strange light flickered in Lucian's crimson eyes as his lips curled into a smile.
"If you insist... though it won't be easy, I'll find it for you."
He bent down to meet Sophia's gaze.
"But Priestess—didn't you just say any request?"
"Wh-what? Y-yes..."
Sophia nodded weakly. She had no choice now.
The moment her answer left her lips, Lucian's arm snaked around her waist.
"Ah—!"
Her feather-light body was yanked into his embrace.
Sophia writhed in shock at the unfamiliar male scent and feel of hard muscle.
"S-stop this...!"
"A priestess must keep her promises. We'll finish this when I return."
After whispering thickly in her ear, Lucian released her without hesitation and dashed from the shrine.
Sophia collapsed, trembling, her face flushed. His gaze had been as dangerous as the pirates.
Time passed.
The clamor of battle outside the shrine gradually faded. The pirates seemed to have been eradicated by Lucian's guards, leaving only silence.
But Lucian himself did not return.
Back in the carriage, I-seo chewed her nails anxiously.
Though ordered to wait, she couldn't stay still—Lucian's mana overload condition had seemed unstable.
'Could he have lost control?'
Finally, she opened the carriage door and stepped out.
Through the smoke and stench of blood covering the village hill, past scattered corpses, she reached the shrine entrance.
The massive stone doors hung half-shattered, revealing only heavy silence within.
When Lucian summoned his guards outside,
the captain approached carrying something wrapped in bloodied cloth—the sacred relic (Holy Grail) the pirates had stolen and hidden.
Lucian took it and approached Sophia before the altar.
"Here it is."
"Ah...!"
Overcome with emotion, Sophia accepted the Grail and clutched it to her chest. Divine protection—and the kingdom's peace—had been preserved.
To Lucian, however, the idea that this Grail could safeguard the kingdom made no sense.
True protection came only through force—like the power he wielded.
"Thank you... thank you so much, Count!"
As she bowed her tearful head,
Lucian stepped in front of her.
His eyes were bloodshot, his breathing ragged. Desire for the priestess and suppressed mana were pushing him to his limit.
"Gratitude isn't necessary... I'll claim my reward now."
"Y-yes? Name it. Do you need gold? Land? I can petition the king—"
Lucian chuckled darkly and shook his head. He leaned in until his face nearly touched hers, declaring in a low voice:
"I'm going to put myself inside you."
"...What?"
Sophia stared blankly, not comprehending at first.
But when Lucian's gaze blatantly traveled down to between her legs, to the torn slit in her skirt, she gasped.
"W-wait! Are you—are you saying you'll rape me?!"
"Think of it as a transaction."
"No! The king won't stand for this! And I'm a priestess! Losing my virginity destroys my divine power!"
Sophia clutched the Grail like a shield as she scrambled backward. The hero who'd recovered their national treasure was now demanding payment by defiling their priestess.
But Lucian didn't retreat an inch. The thread of his rationality had already snapped.
"I don't care. If I can hold a woman like you... I'd gladly give my life."
"!!"
Sophia was speechless.
This man wasn't some persuadable noble—he was a beast consumed by lust.
Neither her purity, the king's authority, nor divine curses could stop this ravenous wolf.
If she refused... he would take her by force.
Sophia closed her eyes in resignation. If she couldn't escape, she at least needed safeguards.
"Then... promise me one more thing."
Her voice shook, but her words were firm.
"If I lose my power... help find a new priestess. The kingdom can't be abandoned."
Her final negotiation—trading her purity and fate.
Only then did Lucian smile in satisfaction, slowly undoing his shirt buttons.
"Agreed. I promise."
