Flowers of Worship

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“Hey, I’m a feeling a little weak too…” Grieg said to me with a sullen face. He was nicknamed the Cunning Bear. It was a time when I vaguely replied, ‘Ah, you’re a bear’ while looking at his heavy and threatening giant body when he said that.

“Brother, where did you put your conscience? Come quickly and bring Orssen while finding your conscience.”

Just as we arrived at the interrogation room at the dungeon entrance, Leon, who had entered the room, gave Grieg a call with a cold voice and went inside. No, you just can’t go in saying what you want. As I looked at Grieg, he held his hands together; rubbing it and said:

“I only have a few griffin eyes… Can’t you?”

“If I get anything, I’ll send it to you through Leon.” Grieg was startled by my words.

“Oh, can’t you send it through someone else? I’ll give you a handmaiden!”

“The handmaiden is a bit difficult. Hastred is a fast-moving group, and it is hard to keep up with the untrained.”

“That, then, then… .” Grieg’s face contorted. He eventually said, ‘He will eventually find someone in Hastred, so please don’t send it through Leon. Our youngest is having a hard time.’ He seemed to know Leon was a person who could have gotten the griffin eyeballs from me, make them rot, and threw them away. Griffin’s eyes are one of the rare nutritional supplements, but they were leftovers from Hastred. When you first enter Hastred, you eat them because it is a waste to throw them away, but soon the reality comes that you won’t even look at anything other than the best because it rolls too much. In general, if you are lucky enough to meet a village, you either have to share it with money or if it becomes a burden, it is common to throw it away because it’s tasteless.

“Do whatever you feel like.” To my words, Grieg said, “Is that so?” and disappeared with a happy face. It seemed that he would bring Orssen. It made me laugh. He’s a funny guy. As we entered the interrogation room, Leon warned me.

“Don’t be fooled because he’s not nicknamed the Cunning Bear for nothing.”

“Huh?”

“It means nothing to me, but to other people, he is someone who puts his intentions in every word he says. Did you just think he was a funny person?”

Leon’s eyes were full of vigilance. I meekly said, “Yeah, I thought so,” and sat down next to Leon. There were sticky things near the table that were getting my boots dirty. Upon closer inspection, it looked like blood. He did some very intense interrogations. Leon said while rubbing the blood and pus from the tip of his boots against the cleanest part of the table.

“Be careful, my lord. He is a cunning person who will change his attitude whenever necessary.”

I wonder what the hell was going on in Leon’s head at this time. How can you be so cold to your older brother, who loves you so much? Leon smiled bitterly as if my thoughts were written on my face.

“Love is not everything.”

“Okay?”

“What kind of love who loves to call your thirty-six-year-old brother baby without even looking at him face-to-face?”

That was a bit harsh. I was Leon’s boss, and his brother treated him like a baby in front of me. Leon was a knight, a very famous and capable knight, so that was no different from an official insult. But I thought it was something we could laugh at because we know each other.

“Is that so.”

I do not know. My father was very proud of me for becoming a holy knight, and as soon as I became a holy knight, he gradually prepared to hand over the knights to me, and then I became the leader of the knights at a very young age. When I became Hastred’s master, the backlash from my uncles was so tremendous that one of my uncles even told me to draw a sword. As it turns out, he had applied for a duel with his niece on the street. Rather than being displeased by the touch of the glove on my cheek, the ridiculous memory was still vivid. My father always treated me like an adult, so I don’t know what it feels like.

But since Grieg Nossen’s love for his younger brother is ginger, I think I can give it a little credit for that, isn’t it? As I was thinking bitterly, Orssen rolled into the interrogation room. I think it’s accurate to describe it that way. Because he really rolls in.

“Long time no see, Orssen.”

Orssen, who was lying on the floor, was distracted, and when he looked up at my greeting, he sighed and swallowed his breath. I smiled at him.

“You have something to tell us. Right?”

“Tha, that, that… .”

Orssen trembled and stuttered when Leon squatted next to him, placing his chin on Orssen’s shoulder. From a distance, he seemed like a close friend.

“I tell you, sir. I don’t feel very well.”

“No, Vice-Captain Nossen.”

“If you think your tongue is useless, can you cut it off and start over? There is no problem with communicating with just your fingers. … Do you know what I mean?” Orssen nodded enthusiastically at Leon’s words.

Orssen was silent as if he had forgotten that he was threatened of having his tongue cut off as soon as he talked about his gambling. His face turned white, ashamed that we knew of his gambling history, but I thought Orssen’s body smelling like urine should be more shameful. He was afraid of Leon’s threats, so he seemed to have spilled some things he shouldn’t have spilled.

Well, everyone’s standards are different. I sip the tea that the guard had brought me and listened to Orssen’s conversation.

“Why did you gamble, whether you played or not, how much was it based on gamblers’ standards, and whether it belongs to gambling or not, it doesn’t matter to us. What I am curious about is the list of men who dared to treat noble blood as an amulet and ordered it.”

Leon turned his dagger from his left then to his right, showing off his brilliant hand technique. Orssen’s white hair seemed to be getting whiter, and his eyes moved with the movement of Leon’s dagger incessantly. Even the cornered mouse thought that it could afford more than that. But there was no sympathy considering Eden’s vomit, even breaking his head was no good.

“Because I am not a doctor, I can only give my opinion as a herbalist on the condition of the Grand Duke. Take that into consideration, Cili. It’s up to the doctor to make a proper diagnosis, not me.”

Ingrid, who had examined Eden, sighed, and the words echoed behind my ears.

“Okay.”

“It’s too deep.”

“… … .”

“The blood poison is also a problem, and he can’t eat properly and sleep during the process of growing up. Everyone has at least one or two limitations in this era, but the strong magic power has made them stronger; however, it has also put a strain on the body. The Grand Duke’s original magical power probably wasn’t up to this level. I don’t know what other people have said, but honestly, this magic right now… .”

Ingrid said sorry, giving me comfort with her eyes.

“It’s strong enough at the level five. But you know what? Magic power gets stronger over time. Yet again, it’s unusual for a 13-year-old child to have such strong magical powers. No matter how natural you are, when you turn 13, you still have to have condensed magical powers. But this boy’s magic is already expanding. That said, the depth of this person is great. He was enchanted by the desire to protect himself.”

“Is his magic that strong?”

“It’s strong. Fortunately, no raw energy was used. Many people have such a deep heart and die while converting their vital energy into magical power.” Ingrid said, burning herbs and filling the Grand Duke’s room with a strange scent.

“It would be nice to resolve it before I die since it’s not something other people can do. It’s just like fate or something like that.”

As she said that, Ingrid’s back felt huge. Like fate itself.

I’ve never felt fate. But it must have been fate that I became a holy knight. It is not something that can be achieved no matter how much I want and try. I was born as an individual with magical powers in a family with divine power, gained both powers, and even liked swords. I really liked it so much. There was a time when I was crazy about swords, and even that period was quite long. As fate guides me, I became a holy knight. When I became a holy knight at 15, people praised me for being the youngest holy knight and praised me for having excellent skills. But was that my talent? Was my talent the result of my hard work? Everything was going as if it was meant to be. I didn’t try anything. I just did as much as I liked and stood here.

If my father’s death was fate and I was destined to become a holy knight, and if all the significant events in my life were fated, then I can’t seem to resist the fact that its destiny because it’s so absolute and powerful.

It was miserable that Eden’s growth could only be resolved if there was a good reason. The young Grand Duke has already suffered a lot, but his pain still burns like hell in his heart.