No Such Thing as a Chaste Man! Just Give It Ten Tries! - Chapter 41
He hadn’t thought this far ahead… but Ephelinus had no choice but to accept it. And so, the girl—pale as wax, black as ebony—suddenly entered his life.
At first, he thought it would be as simple as assigning her a room in the residence he had lived in alone for years.
But then…
“Hiic… sniff… Mom…”
Every night, sobs seeped through the thick door, and he couldn’t ignore them.
“Nights here are… too quiet. It really makes me feel like I’ve been left all alone.”
“Miss Seo-ah. At the very least, I will always be by your side. Your soul resonated strongly with my sacred power, which is why you were brought here… I hope you can trust me.”
“Sniff… then… could you sing me a song?”
“…What?”
“It’s so weird how quiet it is at night…”
“Well, ahem, I don’t have much experience, but…”
And so, as if they were family, he started to care for her, cherishing her and always by her side.
An alien presence barged into the life of a young man who had grown up with nothing but doctrine and duty as his companions. Perhaps because she was the one foretold to slay the dragon, her small hands and clear voice had an overwhelming influence on him.
“Where did you fall? If your clothes are torn, ask a servant to bring you a new outfit…”
“Oh, no, the skirt was too long and kept getting in the way when I walked, so I cut it myself. Is that bad?”
“…There’s no doctrinal rule against it, but…”
Her actions constantly overturned his sense of normalcy.
“Your Holiness, may I visit the kitchen?”
“The kitchen? For what purpose?”
“The food is too bland. I want to see if there’s any red pepper powder or something spicy, like mala.”
“I can guide you there, but spices are extremely restricted in the Holy Kingdom. You might not find what you’re looking for.”
“Why?”
“……”
“Does the scripture prohibit spices, too?”
She began asking questions he had never thought to ask in his twenty-some years.
Why must we read scripture every day? Why wake at 4:30 every morning? Why transcribe scripture every day? Why eat breakfast every morning? Why attend sacred ceremonies every feast day? Why pray at dawn at five but not at six? Why fast on the evening before a feast day?
Her relentless stream of questions began creating subtle cracks in his inner world.
“Seo-ah. Why are you still awake? It’s already past midnight.”
“Just a little longer. This book is so interesting. If they’d taught me the common language with novels like this instead of scripture, I would’ve learned it all in a month.”
“Have you received permission from the customs office? Unauthorized books are confiscated and destroyed.”
“You even need permission for books? It’s just a novel! And it’s not even indecent!”
“Ahem, it’s not just about indecency… And if you stay up this late and doze off during morning prayer, what will you do?”
“Uugh. Can’t I skip it for one day?”
“No, you cannot.”
“Why?”
“……”
“Are you worried your father will scold you for failing to supervise me? Honestly, why is His Holy Majesty so intent on finding fault with you? Uuugh. If you were my mom’s son, she would’ve carried you around on her back with pride.”
Good question.
Why, indeed?
Why had he never questioned anything and simply followed all commands?
“Oh! This is amazing! Skipping is the best!”
“Seo-ah, I think we’ve come too far…”
“There’s no turning back now. Even if we head back to the temple, we’d still be late! So just dance with me, won’t you?”
Under a sky dyed deep blue, across endless, sunlit plains stretching beyond sight.
“Look at the sky… It’s the same color as your eyes, Your Holiness. Sol is blessing our little escapade.”
And then there was Seo-ah’s smile, clearer and more innocent than the sky.
Her small, delicate hand reached out, urging him to step away from his rigid world.
Ah… who knew there was such sweetness beyond the world of rules and order?
This foreigner, burdened with the title of Saintess, effortlessly shattered the twenty years of pure white and monochrome that had shaped his world, bringing vibrant colors and unpredictable changes.
And so, a year passed like this.
“Your Holiness, I’ll complete the mission and return safely so His Holiness won’t scold you for bringing me here!”
True to her original purpose—one he had tried to forget, or perhaps willfully ignored—Seo-ah, the outsider Saintess, left on an indefinite expedition to slay the dragon.
Days passed, and the saying, ‘You don’t notice what you have until it’s gone,’ became all too real.
“Now that the guest is gone, things must feel much calmer in the Holy Kingdom.”
“She was quite… lively, wasn’t she? You must’ve had a hard time accommodating her.”
Not at all. Every moment with her had been joyous.
Now, the once-small residence felt unbearably vast and desolate.
