The carriage door swung open, and a man dressed in black stepped out.
His name was Rowen.
He was the escort knight of the Great Saintess—and her husband.
One might wonder how a saintess, the very symbol of purity, could possibly marry. But leveraging her privilege as Great Saintess to alter a single church doctrine, she had changed the rules to allow saintesses the freedom to love as ordinary women. And so, she married.
When the Great Saintess first announced it publicly, there was endless gossip and backlash. In the end, however, they won everyone over and became a couple famed for their incredible chemistry.
They even had five children.
"Careful getting down."
"Thanks, hehe."
Escorted by Rowen, a petite woman disembarked from the carriage, giggling like a child.
Silver hair and mysterious purple eyes.
The Great Saintess, Ariel Violet.
"Whoa...!"
Ariel stumbled as she stepped down from the carriage, her foot slipping.
Rowen immediately pulled her into his arms by the waist.
"I told you to be careful."
"It's your fault for pounding me like a wild beast—my legs are all weak."
Zeke, who had been approaching to greet the guests, froze in place.
"Who was it that was oinking first, begging me to fuck her sow cunt?"
"I didn't know you'd go for the backdoor pussy too."
"Your backdoor was winking like crazy, begging for it."
"Ehehe, so you caught me clenching my asshole on purpose?"
"I could tell at a glance."
"Ugh... Anyway... my panties are soaked from all your cum."
"Feels good, though."
"Yeah. Feels amazing, ehehe."
Zeke's eyes went wide as saucers upon overhearing their exchange.
He couldn't believe his ears.
In mere moments, an astonishingly vulgar conversation had unfolded.
It was the kind of talk that might pass between spouses, but not between a saintess and her escort knight.
"Oh...!"
Ariel, utterly lost in their private world, belatedly noticed someone else was there.
Her flushed, lustful expression instantly transformed into that of a saintess.
"Hello."
She clasped her hands together prayerfully and bowed her head in greeting.
The atmosphere had shifted completely.
A halo seemed to shimmer behind her.
Her demeanor was pure saintess—yet the conversation moments ago had been anything but.
"Please pretend you didn't hear that. It's just our everyday couple talk... I didn't realize anyone was around. The Witch said she lived here alone... Ahaha."
Zeke felt an intense gaze upon him.
Rowen was smiling at him.
But that smile carried a bone-chilling killing intent that made it hard to breathe.
The message was clear: pretend you heard nothing.
And so he would.
He had grown stronger during his mercenary days, but this man's power was immeasurable—utterly beyond him.
"Greetings. I'm Zeke, the caretaker of the mansion."
Introducing himself as the Witch's disciple pricked his conscience.
He was a worthless disciple.
A master's reputation suffered from a pathetic pupil like him.
"The mansion's caretaker?"
Ariel tilted her head quizzically.
"Aha!"
Ariel clapped her hands.
"You're the worthless disciple the Witch mentioned!"
Pfft.
Zeke felt like he'd taken a mortal blow.
He had self-deprecatingly called himself a worthless disciple, but hearing it from someone else hit hard.
Especially knowing it had come straight from Freya's mouth.
So... Master really thinks that way about me...
It was inevitable, but it still left a bitter taste.
"Yes... I'm Zeke, the worthless disciple of the Witch."
Zeke bowed his head once more in greeting.
"I heard you left home, but you've come back?"
"Yes... Haha..."
How much did she know?
He was shocked that the saintess knew about their master-disciple relationship at all, but even more so that his master had shared this story with her.
"That aside, for the Saintess to come all this way..."
Zeke's face, moments ago filled with embarrassment, turned serious.
"Is the curse on Master that severe?"
"Curse?"
Ariel tilted her head again.
Her round eyes blinked innocently.
They radiated complete ignorance of the matter.
"Master hasn't been cursed?"
Ariel pondered briefly, then grinned as if struck by a fun idea.
"The Witch has been cursed. A very serious one, at that."
"As I feared..."
Zeke's face twisted in anguish.
His heart sank.
"What kind of curse?"
"Hmm... It's hard for me to explain."
"Why?"
"It's not my place to speak on the curse casually. You should hear it from the Witch herself."
He couldn't even fathom how dire it must be.
Zeke's expression darkened further.
"Still, there's one thing I can tell you..."
Ariel spoke with a warm, radiant smile.
"To lift the Witch's curse, she'll need your power."
"Me? My power?"
"That's right."
"What should I do?"
"It's simple."
Zeke leaned in, ears perked.
If it could lift the curse on his master, he would do anything.
Even lay down his life.
This life belonged to his master from the start.
She had saved him from those ruins that day, allowing him to live until now.
She had restored his sight.
She was his creator.
"Just love her."
"...Pardon?"
"If you love her with all your heart, it might break the curse."
Zeke blinked in confusion.
"You mean romantic love?"
"Exactly."
He was already doing that.
He was trying desperately to suppress those feelings, but they wouldn't fade easily.
"But isn't it unethical for a disciple to love his master romantically?"
"Even if you say that to me, I'm not one to judge love by other standards. After all, I'm the woman who became Great Saintess and changed church doctrine all for love."
Ariel puffed out her chest proudly, beaming with pride. She glanced up at Rowen beside her and giggled "ehehe."
Rowen gently stroked her hair.
"Still, I've done something unforgivable to Master by harboring those feelings."
"Unforgivable?"
"I hurt her deeply."
"Really?"
Ariel tilted her head, puzzled.
Rowen beside her wore a similar expression.
"If you've done wrong, just ask for forgiveness."
"She won't forgive me."
"There's no such thing in this world as unforgivable sins. People just choose not to forgive. Keep conveying your true feelings and devote yourself to her until she does. And that devotion must be genuine—no falsehoods. Be honest. Eventually, she'll want to forgive you."
Be honest.
The saintess's words etched themselves into Zeke's heart.
2.
In the parlor sat two people.
Rowen and Ariel.
While Zeke went to fetch Freya, the pair sipped tea in the parlor.
"Ariel."
"Yes."
"What's this about a curse?"
"Ah."
Ariel set down her teacup and chuckled softly.
"Falling for someone and loving them is like a curse, isn't it? Your chest tightens and aches until it's fulfilled. So it's not wrong to call it a curse."
The Witch of Sorrow, Freya, had sought her out for a meeting and consultation.
She liked someone.
She had hurt the one she liked.
She thought of him every night and didn't know what to do.
The ordinary woes of a lovelorn woman.
Ariel hadn't expected that "someone" to be her own disciple.
No wonder she was conflicted.
A man and woman in a master-disciple bond.
The world called it taboo.
Ariel had thought a witch wouldn't care about societal gazes, but she was surprisingly straitlaced.
So what if they were master and disciple?
No blood ties between them.
It was perfectly natural for a man and woman.
Instinct. The way of things.
"From what I saw, they already have feelings for each other, but neither is being honest, so they're missing each other."
"Then just tell him."
"That won't do."
Ariel playfully smacked Rowen's thigh.
"Love is something you realize through mutual understanding. You know that."
"Haha."
Still, there seemed to be some misunderstanding between them.
The master thought she'd wronged her disciple.
The disciple believed he'd wronged his master.
Something had happened, and it was thoroughly tangled.
Whatever it was, they'd sort it out themselves.
She'd given Zeke a hint, so she hoped the misunderstanding would clear up.
"In the end, I think those two will work out."
"How can you be so sure?"
"They're already devoted to each other. Ready to lay down their lives for one another. That says it all."
Ariel glanced at the book on the table.
At that moment, the parlor door opened.
The Witch entered the room.
"Zeke, I have private matters to discuss, so wait outside."
"Can't I stay and listen?"
"I said wait outside."
"Yes, ma'am..."
Like a dejected puppy, Zeke slumped his shoulders and left the parlor.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Freya apologized as she sat on the sofa.
"I looked into that thing you asked about last time..."
Ariel pointed to the book on the table.
"I thought it might help, so I brought it."
Freya gazed quietly at the book.