For Sale: Male Lead, Obsession Included - Chapter 74
“There’s a lot of talk about dark mages lately.”
“To the point that it’s tiring.”
After buying the gossip paper, Feyden and I headed straight to the inn. Feyden, who had come to my room to chat until Ariel returned from the temple, sat on the windowsill where the sun was shining brightly.
His untamed brown hair caught the sunlight, taking on a pretty golden hue. Feyden’s handsome face, with its sharp features and narrow, elongated eyes, seemed to stand out even more today.
“I didn’t hear anything about dark mages before we arrived at the duchy.”
“That’s probably because we’re near the Holy Kingdom, where more priests have gone missing.”
“Priests going missing…”
Although Feyden spoke casually, as if discussing the weather, the subject was serious.
Lately, there had been a surge in attacks on priests by unidentified assailants along the roads to the Holy Kingdom, after which the priests would vanish without a trace.
Rumor had it that the remnants of the dark mages, who were supposedly eradicated by the combined efforts of the temple and the imperial family years ago, might be responsible.
It was such a popular topic that even in the short time Feyden and I spent wandering the marketplace, we’d heard people mention it multiple times. The dark mages’ past atrocities had been so horrific that people couldn’t ignore it.
“Why the serious look? If it gets risky, we can always ditch that silver-haired priest and run.”
“…Why do you keep talking about abandoning people?”
Feyden reassured me several times, saying it was nothing we needed to worry about, but for some reason, this incident made me feel uneasy.
‘Because this priest disappearance incident wasn’t in the original story.’
Perhaps it was because I couldn’t grasp what this meant, but I felt an inexplicable unease that left my mouth dry.
“Speak of the devil.”
When I looked up, I saw Feyden staring at the door with a sulky expression. At that moment, a soft voice came from outside.
“Estira, are you inside?”
“Hm? Ariel?”
Since Ariel rarely visited my room unless something important had happened, I quickly opened the door. Ariel, looking different than usual, stood awkwardly by the entrance.
“Have you just returned from the temple? You were there a long time.”
“Oh, I left the temple a little while ago…”
“Come in first.”
Noticing that he seemed to have something important to say, I led him to the table.
Ariel, who was acting a bit off, finally noticed Feyden standing boldly by the window and reacted with a start.
Feyden, clearly displeased with Ariel’s sudden arrival, crossed his arms and lifted his upper lip.
Judging by that expression, it didn’t look like he would leave even if I asked him to.
I shrugged and looked back at Ariel, who was fidgeting as if sitting on pins and needles. Then, he rummaged through his belongings and handed me something.
His fair cheeks flushed red, as if embarrassed by whatever he was giving me.
“There was new information in the gossip paper that you often buy, so… I thought you might not have heard it yet.”
“Oh, new information?”
When I’d bought it earlier, no one had mentioned that.
Ariel pulled out a flyer that had been tucked into the gossip paper.
What kind of urgent news would require them to print and distribute an extra flyer like this?
The moment he handed me the paper, I froze, forgetting to breathe, as if I’d lost all sense of how to function. My fingers gripping the flyer turned icy, as though the blood had drained from them.
It was because of the bold headline printed across the page.
[Duke Ragnar Visits the Duchy for the First Time in Three Years. What Could Be the Reason?]
On the surface, there was no reason for me to feel tense about this.
A duke visiting his duchy was as ordinary as a homeowner going home—it was natural and unremarkable.
But my instincts were warning me.
That the timing of the duke’s visit, coinciding with my own arrival at the duchy, was no coincidence.
Moreover, could I be sure the duke was coming here alone?
No. Absolutely not.
After all, what kind of father-son relationship would allow Duke Dezereth to come this far without bringing Declan along?
Which means…
“Estira?”
Noticing my silence and the way I was glued to the flyer, Ariel gently called my name, sensing something was off.
“Is something… wrong?”
Despite his gentle voice, my heart kept racing with an unshakeable anxiety.
Because I had a terrible feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong.
I’m uneasy. Really uneasy.
“When… did you buy this flyer?”
Ariel looked into the air, trying to recall the time.
“Hey, priest.”
Feyden, who was standing by the window, called out to Ariel, motioning toward the outside with his chin.
“What exactly did you bring with you?”
At Feyden’s sharp tone, my heart plummeted.
No way…
