I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke

The tip of her nose twitched. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Evelyn moved a little closer and looked at the woman lying behind the girl.

 

She was about her own age. She was thin, with every bone in her body showing, and her wrists bore the same scars as hers.

 “Blood purification ritual.” 

The blood near her wrist had congealed and turned brown from long neglect.

 

‘I wonder what I can do now.’

 

Evelyn clenched her hands inside her sleeves. She looked at the other women in the cage.

 

They were all bruised and battered, their faces worn with the resignation that comes from years of abuse.

 

As an unauthorized priestess, she had no right to change the order. But she could try something else.

 

‘What I can do…’

 

Ease the pain as much as possible.

 

In the past, her healing powers hadn’t worked on anyone but Kalian, and Evelyn thought it was because of Louise’s curse.

 

‘Now that the curse has been cleansed a bit… Maybe her healing powers will work on others?’

 

There were no guarantees, but she figured it was worth a try.

 

Taking a low, deep breath, Evelyn opened the bars and walked over to the woman lying helplessly on the floor and took her hand.

 

Slowly, she focused her mind.

 

A warm aura gathered at her fingertips, and then a ball of light extended from her small hand and enveloped the woman’s pale body.

 “Mm.” 

An unknown power stirred deep within her body, and then a pure white flash flashed from her palm, accompanied by a popping sound.

 Boom! 

A moment later, when her eyes adjusted to the darkness again.

 “Oh, my God. Thank you, messenger of God.” 

The woman who had fallen was looking up and down at her body in disbelief.

 

The other women did the same, as they gazed in wonder at the sight before them, and then bowed their heads in gratitude to her.

 “…….” 

She was the only one who was surprised by the strength.

 

She couldn’t understand the source of the healing power that had burst forth so quickly and uncontrollably.

 “This is not the time!” 

She wondered if the priests, who had noticed the surge of magic, would come looking for the source of the power.

 “Don’t worry. Because of the blocking circle, no one will be able to catch a glimpse of the priest’s traces. More than that…” 

At that moment, as if reading Evelyn’s mind, the girl who spoke tugged at her sleeve.

 

Evelyn turned her head, still stunned, and the girl locked eyes with her and smiled brightly.

 “I have something I must give to the priest.” 

* * *

 

Evelyn led the girl out of the cage.

 

She sat her down in a chair behind the center pillar, then bent down so that she was eye level with the girl.

 

They could have talked inside, but she knew their conversation would be heard by others.

 

‘Though I’m not sure what good that would do, since I’ve already shown my strength…’

 “You have something you want to give me?” “Yes, a gift.” 

With that, the girl slid something from her own necklace onto her finger.

 “…A ring?” 

It was a slender silver ring with the words healing light engraved on it, an all-too-common ring, but Evelyn’s intuition was telling her.

 

This was her mother’s ring.

 

Evelyn took both hands of the girl, who wore a plain off-white robe and a name tag reading

“100,”

and asked,

 “This ring, where did you get it?” 

A flash of embarrassment flashed across the girl’s previously calm face. She must have thought Evelyn suspected her.

 

Evelyn calmed her furious voice.

 “I’m not trying to scold you,”

she said,

“and if it’s from someone, it’s because there’s someone… who is desperately looking for her.” 

The girl stared into Evelyn’s eyes with a strange hopefulness in them, and after a pause, she spoke carefully.

 “I didn’t steal it, I just… thought the real owner of this ring had shown up.” “The real owner?” “When my sister and I first came here, there was a woman who took a special liking to us, and she left this ring with me because she said… she couldn’t give it to her daughter.” 

‘Daughter?’

 

She turned to face the altar, wondering if the illusion spell had been broken, but her face was still that of a man.

 

Evelyn turned pale and asked urgently.

 “Where is she now, and if you can think of anything… anything at all, do you think you can tell me?” “I don’t know her name, we’re all called by number. She was number 87, and she gave me this ring before she was taken to the altar.” “The altar?” “Yes, although I haven’t seen her since.” 

The meaning of the words was clear.

 

The altar, the blood consecration, the prison full of signs of abuse.

 

It was clear that her mother had fallen victim to some sort of witchcraft practiced in the temple.

 

Why such unholy things would be practiced in a temple was unknown, but otherwise there was no way to explain the girl’s words.

 

‘What the hell happened, Mother.’

 

Evelyn squeezed her eyes tightly shut and swallowed back the sobs that racked her.

 

The little girl watched her silently, her tiny hand wrapped comfortingly around the back of Evelyn’s hand.

 “Can you keep this a secret? I don’t want anyone to know that I said this.” “That’s what I have to say.” 

Her voice was tight from holding back tears. If that sounded pitiful, the girl added quickly.

 “We are all of the same clan, and we lived in the northernmost part of the continent, in the village of Lingus, near the Irina Gorge.” “The north? Then why are you here… Huck, shhh!” 

Just then, Evelyn heard eerie footsteps in the distance.

 

Putting her index finger to the corner of her mouth, Evelyn channeled her ring to expand her soul energy.

 

A voice was getting closer and closer.

 [No, no, no, what kind of big idiot has infiltrated this place? You don’t think it’s some pagan bastard who serves the Black Ram, do you?] 

From the sound of his footsteps, he was coming down the stairs and heading here.

 

Her heart was pounding. A cold sweat trickled down her spine, knowing they would be here soon.

 

As if sensing something was amiss, the girl quickly held out her wrist.

 “Magic.” 

The girl’s voice grew lower and faster.

 “My clan’s blood is imbued with life-renewing magic, and when they take us to the temple and bless us with blood, it’s probably…” 

Evelyn nodded in understanding as she realized what she had just been through.

 “There is something that must be resurrected.” 

Whatever it was, it couldn’t be a normal being that borrowed the power of regeneration to take form.

 

She remembered the shadowy mass from her dreams.

 

The moment when it had gradually taken on a human shape, until it looked exactly like her, and then laughed strangely.

 [Giggle. Gotcha!] 

Deep sadness, anxiety, and fear flashed in Evelyn’s light green eyes in sequence.

 

* * *

 

Evelyn led the girl into the cell and hastily hid herself near the door of the processing room.

 

She could only remain frozen as the people who had come to look for her were talking through one of the thin doors.

 “You little rat, they’ve run away already!” “Not now, let’s all spread out and find the intruder before he does something extraordinary!” 

Soon, the sound of footsteps grew distant.

 

Evelyn, who hadn’t even breathed, rushed out of the basement as soon as the pretense was completely gone.

 Thump, thump, thump. 

A quick walk down the corridor and out into the sunlit open air finally brought her to her backup.

 

Even as her breath caught in her throat, her fingertips turned to ice as soon as she saw the jagged black bars.

 

If she could just open that door, Benjamin would be waiting for her.

 

Now all she had to do was follow him to the carriage already waiting in the back alley, and her escape would be simple.

 

The only catch was that she’d lost time in the processing room.

 Thump, thump. 

Her heart pounded frantically.

 

A cold sweat broke out all over her body, as if someone was going to grab her by the rear end at any moment.

 

‘Please, please…!’

 

With trembling hands, she desperately tried to grab the doorknob.

 “Hey, who’s there?” 

A voice from behind called out to Evelyn.

 

She felt the blood drain from her body.

 

‘It’s dangerous, it’s really dangerous!’

 

She wasn’t sure why she was being called, but it was enough to give her a sense of foreboding.

 “What are you doing here? You’re lazy when everyone else is busy looking for intruders. You must have a very lazy wife.” 

‘I just need to open this door and get out.’

 

Evelyn bit her lip as she felt a creeping presence at her back.

 

The only good thing about her misfortune was that the man behind her had mistaken her for a probationary priest.

 

Evelyn hung her head low and gave the best excuse she could muster at the moment.

 “I’m searching…” 

‘Oh, my God!’

 

As soon as she opened her mouth, Evelyn sucked in a sharp breath.

 

Apparently, her illusion spell had timed out, and her natural, thin voice spilled out of her mouth.

 “Hmph, I was searching for intruders on the priest’s orders!” 

She cleared her throat and replied in her best girly voice, but there was no way she could nip the suspicion in the bud once it was planted.

 “Wait! What’s wrong with your… voice? Get your hands off the door and turn around, now!”