I Became the Wicked Beastmen’s Catnip - Chapter 22

“Yeni.”

 

“What?”

 

“Can I touch your hair?”

 

I remembered the bizarre hairstyle that I had forgotten for a while, and I made a straight face.

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

Noha’s eyebrows drooped.

 

“…You look like a fairy in a fairy tale. Dumpling fairy.”

 

“Dumpling? What is that?”

 

With a bewildered face, Noha let out a short sigh.

 

“Ah. Yeni hasn’t tried dumplings yet. It’s a continental snack and it’s delicious.”

 

“Have you tried it, Noha?”

 

“Yes. I ate it the day a banquet was held to celebrate my first growth.”

 

It is said that at a banquet held for Noha, a nobleman famous as a gourmet presented the finest dumplings.

 

“Let’s eat together next time.”

 

“Won’t it be hard to find?”

 

A cold smile appeared on Noha’s lips.

 

“Yeni. There is nothing in this world that we, the Persian royalty, can’t obtain.”

 

Noha’s remarks with his chin clenched at an angle made me feel a bit strange.

 

I felt as if I saw a glimpse of the arrogance resembling Licht in Noha, who had only been regarded as a simple boy who loved stars.

 

‘Is this why blood can’t lie?’

 

As I sat in the carriage and smiled awkwardly, I looked out the window and opened my eyes wide.

 

Under the clear blue sky of the Myo World without a single cloud, a field full of unknown wild flowers spread out.

 

“Whoa. It’s beautiful.”

 

Whenever the wind blew, the blue wave continued all the way over the hill. Just looking at it made my heart flutter.

 

While I was frantically looking at the scenery that had a different feel from the royal garden, Noha smiled lazily like a cat basking in the sun.

 

“You’re prettier.”

 

My face heated up when I heard that a boy of my age called me pretty for the first time in my life.

 

As I rolled my eyes in embarrassment, I murmured in a crawling voice.

 

“That sounds like what I’m supposed to say.”

 

Noha let out a low laugh. Unlike other Persian direct descendants, he had a particularly neutral atmosphere.

 

Indigo blue eyes and short hair fluttering, dancing with his shoulders moving up and down. Until his slender body.

 

All of them added mystery to the unique atmosphere of Noha.

 

“It seems Askari is bothering you these days.”

 

I lowered my head, unable to take my eyes off Noha’s face, which changes every minute depending on the angle of the sunlight.

 

It was because I almost burst out laughing just thinking about Askari, who had changed like other beastmen recently.

 

[Hey. Sit here, not there.]

 

[…Huh? next to you?]

 

[Don’t you even care? How uncomfortable Mir would be if we were apart like this.]

 

Since when did you care about that?

 

Regardless of my bewildered face, Askari joined our desks together.

 

[Moreover, are you a beggar? Why are you carrying such a tattered thing?]

 

[Loen bought this for me last year.]

 

[Who is Loen?]

 

[My maid.]

 

Askari, who was staring at my quill pen with a displeased expression, threw a long box with a fine ribbon in front of me the next day.

 

[I picked up something that was rolling around in the room, so you can keep it.]

 

The box that Askari said was picked up contained the finest feathers and a quill pen made of gold.

 

It was obvious to anyone looking at it that the craftsman made it by grinding his soul, but I pretended not to know and accepted that gift rather than Askari’s gift.

 

As I recalled that time, the corners of my lips rose.

 

“The more I see Askari, the more I think he’s nice.”

 

“Really?”

 

Noha’s reaction, which had one of his eyelids flinched, was somehow strange.

 

“Why?”

 

“…No. It’s nothing.”

 

The carriage, which had begun to slow down, came to a complete stop.

 

Along with the knock on the carriage door, the calm voice of Duchess Avicinian was heard.

 

“We’ve arrived at the Grand Temple. Your Highness the Prince, Your Highness the Princess.”

 

I was escorted by Noha who got off the carriage first, and I stopped the moment I got down.

 

It was because of the beastmen who had gathered in front of the magnificent stone building. A familiar woman bowed her head as she stood in the front of the beastmen in priestly robes.

 

“I’m greeting the children of the Myo tribe’s noble Persian .”

 

Following the High Priest who took the lead, the priests greeted us all at once.

 

Noha, who frowned in one eye, muttered to himself.

 

“I didn’t even come with Brother today, but why are you making such a fuss?”

 

Despite Noha’s remarks, which openly expressed his displeasure at the grand welcome, the High Priest didn’t erase a gentle smile.

 

“It was a glorious day when the Messiah in the prophecy visited the temple, so it was just a formality. Your Highness the Third Prince.”

 

“I’m not saying that you should do it all.”

 

Noha grabbed the priests lined up behind the High Priest with his hands. They were priests who looked to be in the tens of thousands.

 

‘Can I say it?’

 

It was something I had felt before, but it seemed that Noah had a subtle hostility towards the priests.

 

In fact, the priests had nonchalant faces, as if they were familiar with Noha’s harsh attitude.

 

“There’s nothing we can do. Only me and the Chief Priest will look after Your Highness the Prince and Her Highness the Princess.”

 

To figure out the starting spell for a relic, we must seek the help of the High Priest who is serious about it.

 

‘Because it was said that in order to read the documents of the temple, you must obtain permission from the High Priest.’

 

Unfortunately, it is said that the starting spell of the pendant I gave to Noha hasn’t been found out yet in the Grand Temple.

 

The only hope was a document detailing the circumstances at the time the relic was discovered.

 

‘Can we find it?’

 

I glanced at Noha and his wrinkled eyebrows.

 

Regardless of the personal purpose of visiting the Grand Temple, I sincerely hoped that Noha’s dream would come true.

 

‘I guess Noha is uncomfortable in places where there are many beastmen.’

 

Looking back, I had never seen Noha get along with other beasts, neither at banquets nor at the main palace.

 

Looking back, I had never seen Noha mingle with other beastmen at a banquet or the main palace

 

[I guess there are people who call His Highness the Third Prince the eccentric prince.]

 

For some reason, my mood subsided a little, and I grabbed Noha’s hand. His fingertips flinched violently.

 

The eyes that looked back at me trembled slightly with curiosity. I smiled faintly at Noha like that.

 

“Noha, make a face. It ruins your pretty face.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

Noha’s eyes, blankly looking down at his hand that was caught by me, curved in a beautiful half-moon.

 

“Yeah, Yeni.”

 

***

 

It took half a day just to look around the Grand Temple one after another.

 

In the midst of his anger, Noha followed the High Priest to the library where documents related to relics were kept. He was looking for a starting spell.

 

After leaving the words, “I’ll follow you soon!” to Noha, who was constantly looking back, I moved to the chapel where Licht was crowned.

 

‘Only two of us are left.’

 

I stared at the back of the High Priest who was walking in front of me with sullen eyes.

 

“This is a special chapel where the remains of Akamar are enshrined. It is also a sacred place where the head of the Myo tribe from generation to generation hold coronation ceremonies.”

 

At the same time, the colorful light pouring from the stained glass made the atmosphere of the chapel more reverent.

 

“Did Licht become king here too?”

 

The High Priest nodded her head as we advanced toward the center of the quiet chapel.

 

“That’s right. It has already been five years this year since His Majesty’s rise to the position of head. It was because he had a coronation ceremony before his coming-of-age ceremony at 18.”

 

He was already a king before I was born.

 

I followed the High Priest and slowly looked around the chapel, gently pressing my left chest with my hand.

 

My heartbeat began to beat violently under the palm of my hand.

 

The closer I got to the flat tombstone in the center of the chapel, the more explicit my body’s reaction became.

 

“The remains of Akamar. Only direct descendants of the Persian, who are endowed with the strongest mana powers, can take the oath of the head here.”

 

With sunken eyes, I looked up at the tombstone that was said to contain the remains of Akamar. Inevitably, a muffled voice came out.

 

“Is he the one who made me the Messiah of the Myo tribe?”

 

“…”

 

“Mir said that. After being betrayed, Akamar became obsessed with the predictive magic of the future until his death.”

 

It was information I found while submitting a book review on Akamar’s biography some time ago.

 

My hand gripped the hem of the dress, and strength entered.

 

The gaze of the High Priest whose inside couldn’t be read touched me.

 

“… Do you want to know about prophecy?”

 

“You’re not going to tell me.”

 

“If Your Highness the Princess is curious about the prophecy, His Majesty has allowed it to be made public. Of course, just being a party to the prophecy is enough to qualify for reading.”

 

“…!”

 

A corner of my chest grew cold.

 

At the most, it felt as if my purpose had been penetrated at once, to the extent that it was insignificant to have prepared the reason to find the starting word for the relic.

 

‘How far is Licht looking?’

 

Or did he think that I would naturally be curious about the prophecy after visiting the Grand Temple?

 

Faced with a trap disguised as caring, I closed and opened my eyes, trying to calm the agitation.

 

Taking a deep breath, I looked back at the High Priest, who had a quiet face throughout.

 

“Yes. Let me know.”

 

“… Hold on, hands.”

 

As the High Priest knelt down on one knee in front of me, the sloppy hem of her robe stretched to the floor of the chapel.

 

I put my hand on the long, slender hand of the High Priest. At the same time, a loud voice echoed in my head.

 

[The day the twin red moons swallow the darkness,

the last magician on this earth who will save the Myo World will be born.]

 

The fingertips holding the High Priest’s hand turned cold. It felt like my heart was beating in my ears.

 

At the same time, an endless rage rose.

 

‘Why does it have to be me?’

 

For being the protagonist of that damn prophecy, my life had to wither before it even bloomed, and the kingdom I was born in had to be wiped out by history.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

The High Priest’s soft hand gripped my trembling body as if I was about to collapse.

 

“What was that just now?”

 

I asked with a cracked voice, unable to hide my terrible feelings.

 

“It’s one of the powers passed down from generation to generation to the High Priest of Akamar.”

 

I didn’t know that the High Priest herself was the vessel that kept the prophecies.

 

It was a brief moment, but what I felt from the High Priest was a divine power that was completely different from magic.

 

‘Perhaps, that must be holy power, right.’

 

Unlike mana, it wasn’t surprising because it was a power that was also expressed in beastmen.

 

However, it was surprising that both powers, which had long since disappeared from the continent, had been secretly transmitted in the Myo World.

 

I asked, hiding my damp hands behind my back.

 

“What exactly does it mean for me to save the Myo World.”

 

“Unfortunately, that’s something I can’t answer.”

 

“…So you’re telling me to ask Licht.”

 

The High Priest, who smiled brightly, let go of my hand, neither affirming nor denying.

 

“Yeni.”

 

At that time, Noha with his somehow flushed face entered the chapel out of nowhere.

 

“When you’re done watching, let’s go back… Are you sick somewhere?”

 

Noha’s face, who was walking in front of me, turned cold. I raised the corners of my lips and shook my head.

 

“It’s just. I’m a little tired.”

 

The hazy eyes of Noha became sharp in an instant. A small, white hand came close to my cheek.

 

“…Cold.”

 

Is that so?

 

From the moment I heard the prophecy, I felt a chill. It didn’t seem like it was simply a matter of feeling.

 

“High Priest.”

 

As Noha’s voice became extremely low, the High Priest who was watching us immediately nodded her head.

 

“I’ll have the carriage on standby.”

 

While the High Priest gave orders to the Chief Priest, I grabbed Noha’s hand and exited the chapel.