For Sale: Male Lead, Obsession Included - Chapter 81
Ariel addressed Feyden with his usual gentle tone and a warm smile.
Feyden, on the other hand, grabbed his neck in frustration, his veins bulging as though he might collapse backward.
“Hah? Look at this little priest, huh?”
Until now, Feyden had always scolded Ariel, seeing him as a pushover who could never talk back.
‘Was he actually a sly fox?’
I watched Ariel, who handled Feyden’s aggression with an unflinching stance, and found the scene unfamiliar.
‘This must be why they say you can’t judge someone by their appearance.’
As I witnessed the rare sight of Feyden being pushed back by Ariel for the first time, I stepped in to mediate between them.
After all, given the current situation—dark mages kidnapping priests—their lack of tension seemed almost surreal.
Or perhaps they were so strong that they didn’t see a few dark mage minions as a threat.
‘If that’s the case, I envy them.’
“This isn’t the time to argue. We need to head back quickly. What if the dark mages come here?”
At that moment, Ariel raised his long, slender fingers and pointed beyond the forest.
“It’s too late, Estira.”
“What? Too late?”
“I can feel the dark energy quickly approaching.”
“What?”
Feyden frowned and tried to sense the presence, but his expression turned baffled as if his attempts were in vain.
He turned to Ariel, his face full of disbelief, as if to say, ‘You were this strong all along?’ or ‘Why are you only telling us just now, you madman?’
***
“Urgh!”
Someone whose entire body was ravaged by the marks of torture finally opened their mouth.
“Ra… Rag…nar… The young… duke… came… to this… this margraviate…”
“That’s enough.”
The torture device that had been tormenting him fell to the floor.
“Yes, sir.”
One of the torturers, a member of the Rahada Holy Order, quietly loosened the blindfold of the victim.
The fabric was stained with blood.
Meanwhile, the Rahada glanced nervously at someone sitting in the corner of the torture chamber, toying with his long hair.
“Three months’ pay is docked. Still making mistakes like this?”
“…I apologize.”
The Rahada hurriedly apologized and wiped the blood from his hands before using them to tie Kyte’s white hair into a neat ponytail.
When the Rahada, who had braided his hair prettily, bowed their head, Kyte lazily opened and closed his eyelids.
“‘Ragnar’ was it?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“That believer said they received a thousand gold from Duke Dezereth…”
Tap, tap. Kyte kicked the cheek of the collapsed figure as he pondered.
After torturing five people, Kyte finally gleaned some useful information.
A sudden thought lit up his face, and the corners of his mouth stretched into a wide grin.
“Oh, I see now.”
He clapped his hands together, his fine hair swaying and exuding a faint floral fragrance.
“That slave is the duke’s son, hm?”
A flower-like smile blossomed on Kyte’s pale face.
Perhaps he was pleased with the results of the interrogation.
Watching quietly from the sidelines, one of the Rahadas exhaled a sigh of relief.
“Your Holiness.”
At that moment, a voice interrupted Kyte’s satisfaction.
A Rahada, who entered the torture chamber with urgency, delivered an emergency message.
“The Holy Kingdom has been attacked by dark mages. It’s partial, but they’re expanding their scope.”
“They dared to step foot in the Holy Kingdom?”
Kyte’s face froze over, as cold as the eternal snow of the mountain peaks.
He slowly raised a hand and unraveled his tied hair.
The Rahada who had tied it looked visibly shaken.
“Yes. This is the first time they’ve entered the Holy Kingdom, as they had only been active in the surrounding regions before.”
It had been a hairstyle Kyte had taken a liking to.
He clenched the string used to tie his hair in his hand and, suddenly, it ignited and burned to ash.
The flames, large enough to touch the ceiling, caused the Rahadas to take a step back.
They could feel Kyte’s displeasure in the very air.
“This is a good pretext. Capture the thousand-gold believer.”
“Pardon? May I ask what pretext you’re referring to, Your Holiness…?”
“Wherever that believer goes, dark mages seem to flourish. Apprehend that person before she takes even a single step into the Holy Kingdom.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
“And you—one month’s pay docked. There’s no cure for stupidity.”
Kyte strode briskly out of the torture chamber, his white hair fluttering dramatically.
His hurried steps carried an unusual sense of delight.
“A party seems in order.”
His mood stemmed from the fact that he had finally uncovered the secret of the thousand gold that had troubled him for a month and that he could claim the believer’s money for himself.
‘And, by sheer luck.’
He had also gained leverage over the duke’s family, which had long been a thorn in his side.
How could a day like this pass without a celebration?
Whether dark mages attacked the Holy Kingdom or wreaked havoc there, such matters were beyond Kyte’s interest.
If the situation grew dire, the elderly Pope would likely step in, and he knew that the dark mages’ activity wouldn’t escalate any further.
After all, they had already sent word for the temple to prepare for a brief commotion.
Ah, that won’t do.
“Tell everyone that I will be locking myself in my room today to mourn the Holy Kingdom’s tragedy through prayer.”
Inside Kyte’s room, a grand banquet would be waiting.
