Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Beneath the Sacred Bells
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“My bride certainly has a lot on her mind.”
Theodor murmured.
That human child sometimes met his gaze with eyes like those.
He had no ability to read minds, but deciphering Lara’s expressions wasn’t all that difficult.
What could she be thinking about right now?
What was binding that child so tightly?
He recalled how Lara had frozen solid at the shopkeeper’s words.
She seemed to believe in her own misfortune.
Perhaps she truly thought those heterochromatic eyes of hers—different colors that drew fingers pointed in scorn—really brought calamity.
She was anxious. The stigma that had tormented her for so long still lingered.
Theodor confirmed the slow, resounding tolls of the Pantheon’s bells.
Even amid the crowds, he spotted lovers halting their steps at the sound, whispering sweet nothings to each other.
“……Saint Kucheanis’s Day is a human holiday. We wolves don’t put much stock in it.”
It wasn’t exactly the sort of thing to ponder while listening to the reverent peals from the Pantheon, but that didn’t matter.
“But right now, I want to believe.”
Theodor slowly knelt before Lara.
Lara stared at him with trembling eyes, utterly flustered.
She couldn’t fathom why he was doing this.
Had she done something wrong? Was Theo upset about her foolish behavior after all? Or was he feeling ill somewhere? Should she help him up?
Ignoring whatever thoughts had briefly consumed her in that short moment, Theodor gently took Lara’s hand. It was his hand, gloved in leather as always.
“A vow made alongside the temple bells is sure to come true.”
The patron saint of Aren, Kucheanis, was a rather romantic figure. A man who had proclaimed love across the frozen lands of Aren—a rarity—he was one of the saints beloved by the city’s citizens.
As a monk, he had made one promise to his lover.
“‘My vow shall endure until the night sky is veiled and the ground beneath my feet vanishes, until nothing can be seen and no sound reaches my ears…’”
Theodor recited Saint Kucheanis’s ancient oath.
“‘You shall be my moon, and I your night…’”
Theodor turned Lara’s hand palm-down and briefly pressed his lips to the back of his own hand over hers. Lara’s cheeks flushed red.
“‘I shall dwell within you, and you within me.’”
It was a lover’s pledge. The grandest oath mortals bound to inevitable destruction could swear, invoking the immortals of the heavens.
For some reason, time seemed to crawl by agonizingly slow.
Lara gazed at his hand enveloping hers, at his downcast lashes, at his black hair dyed an even deeper shade beneath the light.
He had called her his night, but to Lara, he was a blinding sun.
A sun of black, white, and red.
The most beautiful being to enter her life.
In her hand, held beneath his, Lara felt a familiar sensation.
His gloved hand, crafted of soft leather, couldn’t convey his body heat directly, but it shared certain sensations. The way he grasped her hand, the pressure he applied, the smooth gleam of the leather.
Suddenly, she recalled Claude’s words about a “common greeting.” He had kissed the back of her hand in front of Marsha and insisted it was perfectly ordinary.
Was it really?
Theodor hadn’t kissed the back of Lara’s hand directly like Claude had. He had simply held her hand in his and lightly touched his lips to the back of his own.
Yet unlike Claude’s greeting, which stirred no emotion in her, Theodor’s felt entirely different.
Even without direct contact, even without feeling his lips, somewhere deep in her heart tickled unbearably.
Her heart was still pounding wildly.
This feeling was unfamiliar. An emotion Lara didn’t know.
Overwhelmed by the strange, incomprehensible sensation, Lara wanted to hide somewhere. But at the same time, she didn’t want to pull away from Theodor even a little.
How nice it would be if they could stay like this forever.
“Don’t be anxious. No matter what you do—or even if you do nothing—you’re Lara Diarc.”
Theodor said as he slowly rose to his feet.
Only then did Lara realize she had been anxious. She had thought Theodor’s surname didn’t suit someone like her.
Embarrassed that he had seen through it, she bowed her head deeply. A low chuckle escaped Theodor.
“Let’s go, Lara.”
She couldn’t refuse his hand, extended once more with crisp politeness for an escort.
Grasping Theodor’s hand, Lara now walked staring only at her toes.
The streets were no longer crowded, and the bells had faded, but Lara kept replaying that moment from just before.
Theodor’s ordinary yet extraordinary greeting. His vow.
It was fortunate they hadn’t gotten lost in downtown Aren, but they had nearly caused a different kind of disaster.
How long had it been since she was mistaken for a thief, and now this? Rin felt like she’d choke just hearing the word “thief” at this point. She couldn’t understand why this city kept treating an upstanding crow beastkin girl like her as a criminal.
And this time, they had dragged Miss Lara into it too. That rotten shopkeeper! It all felt like her own fault for failing to properly attend to her lady. But…
‘Good heavens…’
Rin’s mind went blank the moment she witnessed what Master Theodor did to Miss Lara after appearing so suddenly. Her mouth fell open in shock.
‘Good heavens, the Master…!’
It had been lucky to hear the tolls of the Pantheon on the famous Saint Kucheanis’s Day.
But seeing Master Theodor kneel before Miss Lara against that backdrop? She truly had to doubt her own eyes.
‘Good heavens, what is this?! Their atmosphere… it’s no joke!’
There was a saying that confessions made under Saint Kucheanis’s bells always came true… Was this what they called “married first, love later”? Rin couldn’t calm down at all, watching the most romantic scene from the romance novels she devoured back home unfold right before her eyes!
‘Those two really are… in love!’
Even back in her hometown, rumors about Theodor Diarc, head of the Diarc family, were common.
They said the youngest-ever family head was exceptionally capable but incredibly cold and aloof, that all the noble ladies of the capital saw him as a marriage prospect, that even the king’s daughter adored him fervently.
Duke Theodor Diarc in person had certainly seemed that way. Just recalling his icy stare when he caught her—the intruder in Miss Lara’s room—made cold sweat break out even now.
Yet with Miss Lara, he was different.
‘The rumors are going to spread like wildfire. Wildfire, I tell you!’
Master Theodor was the sort who stole everyone’s gaze—be they beastkin or human—simply by standing there. His refined, exquisite features were dazzling enough to leave one entranced, and the imposing presence of a top predator weighed so heavily that even humans felt oppressed.
To kneel in the middle of the street, in plain view of everyone, and whisper words of love (though she hadn’t caught the exact words)… It was a sight hard to believe even seeing it herself.
Rin shook her head vigorously, reciting her duties as a Diarc family servant inwardly.
‘Act like I didn’t see it, didn’t hear it. I know nothing, nothing at all!’
She desperately suppressed the urge to transform into her crow beastkin form and fly off somewhere, chattering about the romantic sight of her master and lady.
Otherwise, she’d be in for Breina’s ten-hour lecture.
The Pantheon was drawing ever closer.
The massive temple before them was even more breathtaking up close. Mystical hues scattered from its stained-glass windows. Pure white marble statues, intricately carved, splendidly adorned the entrance.
“We greet Your Excellency Duke Theodor. And this lady is…?”
A novice priest in white robes befitting the temple welcomed Lara and Theodor near the entrance.
“……”
Noticing Lara glancing around and stiffly avoiding the priest’s gaze, Theodor answered for her.
“Lara Diarc.”
“……Yes, Lady Lara. Then, Your Excellency. The High Priest awaits you both. This way, please.”
The temple inside and out buzzed with people reveling in the festive holiday spirit. With the doors open for the celebration, visitors freely came and went.
Those who recognized Aren’s ruler all paid him due respects.
Lara stuck as close as possible to Theodor’s back, trying not to draw attention.
“……”
As they ventured deeper into the temple’s labyrinthine interior, a firmly shut door came into view. Solemn sculptures lined both sides. This seemed to be the end of the novice priest’s escort duties.
“The High Priest is within. I’ll take my leave now, Your Excellency.”
Theodor ignored the novice priest’s oddly hasty bow and swift departure, turning to Lara before opening the door.
“Lara.”