The High Priest
When I could only blink at him instead of answering, the Grand Duke spoke again.
"What's so surprising? Did you really think I brought you here with no ulterior motive, just to treat you to a fine meal?"
"……"
"To think our butler was this innocent."
"……"
The Grand Duke curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.
His tone was clearly teasing, but thanks to my full stomach, it didn't look nearly as insufferable as it should have.
If anything, that gorgeous smile layered over his already handsome face only reminded me, once again, just how striking the Grand Duke was.
When my silence stretched on too long, he asked again.
"So, do you remember anything?"
"……No, my lord."
"……I see."
He didn't press any further. There seemed to be a faint drain of energy in his flat acknowledgment, though that might just have been my imagination.
I quietly studied the Grand Duke.
'Something I remember, huh…….'
I turned his question over in my mind once more.
This was the first time since I'd begun living in the Cadea Empire that I had ever left the Grand Duke's estate.
And no one knew that better than the Grand Duke himself.
'So if he's asking whether I remember anything……'
That question wasn't really meant for me. It was meant for the original owner of this body.
Which meant.
'It means the Grand Duke must have come here with the owner of this body before, and eaten this insanely delicious roasted pork together.'
Somehow, an uneasy feeling crept over me.
'Could they actually be… secret lovers? Is that even possible?'
Otherwise, there'd be no reason for them to go around eating food this good together, would there……?
And then.
"My Freya. Even the way you devour your food is adorable."
Eep—!
I had gone and imagined the Grand Duke calling my name in that tender voice, and a shiver ran down my spine.
'No! It absolutely can't be that!'
Right. What kind of lunatic makes his amnesiac lover work as a butler in his own household? Especially after locking her up for two whole years?
Even for as vile a man as the Grand Duke, he wasn't that much of a piece of trash.
'So it's definitely not that. Lovers…… or anything of the sort.'
Yes, yes. I nodded to myself and forcibly erased the tender image of the Grand Duke that had seized my mind.
'Phew.'
At any rate, I pondered the Grand Duke's question carefully, but nothing particularly special came to mind.
Besides the rich, meaty aroma that flooded my senses as I ate, there had been a distinctive scent of seasoning — an aroma unlike anything I'd ever tasted, even in the Tenasis Empire.
The thing was, that scent didn't feel unfamiliar at all. And the fact that it suited my palate so perfectly made my heart pound strangely hard.
Other than that… hmm.
'Wait a moment…….'
I slowly looked around the restaurant.
It was definitely my first time in the Cadea Empire, and my first time leaving the Grand Duke's estate.
All the more reason there should have been no way for me to know this place.
'So what's with this déjà vu?'
Over the scenery of the restaurant drifting into my field of vision, faint, blurry shapes seemed to flicker and overlap for an instant.
Come to think of it, it had been like that ever since I first walked into this restaurant.
I'd assumed my vision was just blurry from fatigue, but looking at it now, it was something quite different.
'What is it? What could it be?'
Had the original owner of this body really come here? Was the body's memory slowly surfacing, little by little?
'Is that why this place feels so familiar?'
But I didn't tell the Grand Duke about the feelings stirring inside me.
'Nothing's certain, so there's no need to bring it up.'
We boarded the carriage once more to head back to the imperial palace.
When I was hungry versus when I was full — the atmosphere inside that carriage was the difference between heaven and earth.
I'd expected the earlier question to leave a lingering unease, but not at all.
Right now, the Grand Duke didn't feel the least bit oppressive.
'From now on, I'm always facing the Grand Duke on a full stomach. No exceptions.'
And just like that, I mastered yet another survival technique.
Once in the carriage, the Grand Duke closed his eyes again.
Thanks to that, I could sit across from him and appreciate him at my leisure — far more relaxed than before.
Wow, what a high nose bridge. So that's the shape those irritating lips make when they're not busy sneering at me every day. Long lashes for a man, and look at that shadow they cast. What a lucky bastard. And so on, and so forth.
As I dissected him in exquisitely specific detail, my gaze snagged on one spot.
'Those muscles.'
Beyond awe, envy and jealousy began to stir.
'Muscles I don't have — and probably never will.'
The way he sat with his arms crossed over his chest only emphasized the sculpted planes of his chest and arms.
Even without armor, the Grand Duke's body was as solid as if it were clad in steel.
A vast territory, a colossal mansion, staggering power and wealth — and on top of all that, those looks and those formidable muscles.
I felt it anew: truly……
'He really does have it all, doesn't he, the Grand Duke.'
There was a time when I had longed for muscles like those, too.
It had been my own small, quiet wish.
Ever since I first picked up a sword, I could never take my eyes off tall, powerfully built female knights. They simply looked too magnificent for words.
I suppose I'd been envious. Small and slight as I was, I admired that presence that overwhelmed everyone around it by sheer appearance alone.
'But…… this new body isn't exactly tall either.'
No matter how much I ate, neither fat nor muscle seemed to stick. And I ate far more now than I ever had as Sia.
I was willing to bet the cost of the meat I consumed in a single month far exceeded my monthly wages.
Once again, I felt grateful for the Grand Duke's household benefits, where such expenses were never itemized or billed.
Just then, the carriage began to slow.
I lifted the curtain slightly and surveyed our surroundings. In the distance, a building of breathtaking grandeur came into view.
'The imperial palace!'
So that was the imperial palace of the Cadea Empire!
Not an allied nation, but an enemy's palace.
And I hadn't even been dragged here as a prisoner — I was walking in through the front gate, bold as brass.
'How strange. What an odd feeling this is.'
Past the main gates, the carriage traveled on for quite a while, heading somewhere deep within the grounds.
Just as it seemed we were drifting away from the palace buildings again, the carriage slowed to a complete stop.
"We've arrived."
The Grand Duke, opening his eyes at last, stepped down as soon as the carriage door opened.
I rose to follow him out.
At that moment — a smooth sweep of motion, and the Grand Duke extended his hand toward me.
'Hm?'
Caught in an awkward half-crouch, neither rising nor sitting back down, I blinked rapidly, looking from his face to his outstretched hand and back again.
'What? What am I supposed to do with that?'
Palm turned up toward the sky — he looked for all the world like a nobleman offering to escort a lad—
'Wait. ……Seriously?'
Was the Grand Duke actually offering to escort me right now?
I stared at his face for a moment. His expression was as unreadable as ever, perfectly blank. The firm line of his closed lips spoke of his earnest nature, and those cool, glacial eyes were fixed entirely on my face.
Somehow, my fingertips began to tingle.
'Do I take it, or don't I?'
Still — I was the butler, if in name only. A butler receiving an escort from her master? I had most certainly never heard of such a thing……
It lasted only the briefest of instants, yet hundreds of questions and dilemmas flooded my head.
And then, suddenly—
Ah!
'I've got it!'
He's hunting for another way to mess with me, isn't he?
'Did you think I'd fall for something that obvious, Your Grace?'
Hmph. Having seen straight through the Grand Duke's wicked scheme, I ignored his hand entirely and hopped down from the carriage on my own.
'Did he really think I'd grab his hand without even knowing the basics!'
Once my feet touched the ground, I straightened my back and looked up at the Grand Duke with a look that said, how's that?
"……"
"……"
The Grand Duke withdrew his hand without a word and began walking away from the carriage. I followed in silence, using his back as my guide. Heehee. Somehow, it felt like a victory.
After walking for some time, the Grand Duke suddenly turned into a garden. Then he spoke to me without looking back.
"Keep up closely, so you don't get lost."
"Yes, Your Highness."
At my prompt reply, the Grand Duke glanced back at me for a moment.
"Though you already look thoroughly lost to me."
"……"
Again. Again! What is with these cryptic remarks of his!
Is every damn noble's idea of conversation like this?
'Insufferable.'
I glared at the back of his head for a moment before trailing after him once more.
The garden wound like a maze. Densely planted trees stood as solid as walls.
'Uh……. Come to think of it, he wasn't joking. One wrong step and I really could get lost in here?'
I realized his warning hadn't simply been a jab at me. Tense with determination not to fall behind under any circumstances, I kept close on his heels.
Round and round we wound through the maze of a garden, until an exit finally came into view.
The moment we emerged, I stood gaping at the magnificent structure before me.
'Whoa…….'
It was a building unlike the palace I'd seen from the carriage.
A pure white structure, as though a sliver of the moon had been plucked from the softly glowing night sky, shimmered with an otherworldly radiance.
A sacred aura. Even if I'd been harboring the most wicked of intentions, I felt that merely gazing upon this building would cleanse them away.
For a long while, I simply stood there, spellbound.
Then—
"Welcome, Your Highness the Grand Duke."
Someone appeared up ahead and offered a greeting.
The man who emerged, dressed in pristine white robes, greeted us with a gentle smile.
With silver eyes and long, flowing silver hair, he possessed an androgynous beauty.
Yet despite his beautiful, youthful appearance, the gaze and expression with which he regarded us held something hollow — like that of one who had weathered every hardship the ages could bring — and at the same time, something as clear and translucent as an eternal spring.
The Grand Duke looked at the man and spoke.
"It is an honor to see you, Your Eminence the High Priest."
At those words, my eyes went wide.
The High Priest?!
I'd expected to meet royalty at best — and now, suddenly, the High Priest himself?