Don't Be Holy! - Chapter 13
Over time, Rubel had mingled with the villagers far more than Eir, who had lived there for three years.
However, as it was clear he wasn’t staying for just a day or two, the villagers couldn’t keep calling him granny’s grandson or young man forever. One day, they finally asked.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
Eir, who had been waiting in the market to sell her herbs, found herself the sudden center of attention. Startled, she instinctively stepped back.
“Why are you asking me that?”
The villagers averted their gazes, mumbling awkwardly, as if to say, ‘Well, it’s not like we can just ask the young man who’s lost his memory…….’
Well, yeah, let’s say she could understand why they might turn to her for an answer.
“But why are you looking at me?”
It was hard not to feel annoyed when even Rubel, the person in question, turned to her expectantly. He shrugged casually.
“I figured you might know. Being the daughter of my father’s close friend and all, I thought you might have heard my name.”
His nonchalant remark made her blood boil in an instant.
His father wasn’t some imaginary character conjured by Granny. He was Duke Andreas Shinote, a nobleman who wielded power over the entire country. The retort hovered at the tip of her tongue but never came out. In the end, Eir slumped her shoulders in resignation and replied,
“I think I’ve only heard a nickname…… ‘Ru.’”
Having already been struck by divine punishment for a string of lies, she couldn’t risk telling another. Eir avoided his gaze and looked elsewhere.
The villagers, upon hearing the name, clapped their hands.
“Ru! That suits him. Your hair is red, it makes sense.”
“His name isn’t something like Ruby, is it?”
“Come on, no one would name a boy Ruby. It’s probably something like Lucas.” (t/n: In Korean, the consonant ‘ㄹ’ blends the sounds of ‘r’ and ‘l’, making it tricky to translate names like ‘루벨’ could be read as “Rubel” or “Lubel” depending on context. Sorry :P)
“Yeah, Lucas works!”
And just like that, they were about to settle on Lucas amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Rubel, seemingly uninterested in the matter, stretched his shoulder as if he were uncomfortable.
Unable to watch any longer, Eir cut in.
“Just stick with ‘Lu.’”
“…….”
“It may be just a fragment of your name, but isn’t it better than a fake one?”
Rubel’s movements froze momentarily. He raised his eyes to look at her, and their gazes met—her stealing glances at him and him locking eyes with her.
Though they stood at opposite ends of the marketplace—she with her basket of herbs placed on a stall, and he selling firewood with Uncle Bowell—there was an inexplicable feeling that passed between them, as if they shared a secret no one else knew.
But the moment passed. Rubel nonchalantly resumed stretching his shoulder and shifted his gaze.
“I like the name Lu as well.”
With that, the villagers began calling him “Lu.”
***
Of course, Eir hadn’t been idly lounging around while the man integrated himself into village life.
She was putting in every effort to send Rubel Shinote back to the temple where he belonged.
At first, she tried luring him to the temple under the pretense of going out for a delicious meal, intending to leave him there and return home. She thought a priest who recognized him might take him back.
But no matter how much she considered it, she couldn’t shake the unease.
The great Rubel Shinote had been found in such a pitiful state—disheveled, injured, and memoryless. If he was in this condition, it likely meant the knights accompanying him had been annihilated.
Until recently, news had spread like wildfire about his knights crushing Albarm with ease, having found a witch’s weakness. What could have happened in such a short time? It was deeply suspicious.
‘If I leave him at the temple and he gets killed by a spy, it’ll be as if I killed him myself.’
With that thought, Eir decided it was better to investigate Rubel’s situation first.
But how could a fugitive from the temple, on the run for three years, uncover information about a legendary knight?
After much deliberation, she reluctantly retrieved the priestess robes she had vowed never to wear again and set off for a distant temple.
Her mind conjured dozens of scenarios where knights would drag her off to be executed, but outwardly, she remained composed, radiating divine energy as she infiltrated the priests-only quarters.
Every day, Eir carefully chose times when no one was around to sneak into the rooms of the high-ranking individuals. Yet, the information she painstakingly obtained was far too limited to justify the toll it took on her already shortened lifespan.
All she learned was that the knight order Rubel belonged to had been pursuing witches and had come across a rumor that they were developing a sorcery capable of threatening the Divine Empire. In response, they had attempted a raid to steal the information.
What, only this much?
Afterward, even the temple officials were left anxious, unable to make sense of the sudden cessation of communication.
In the end, she had no choice but to return without resolving anything significant.
