Story 49. The Person I Love (5)

Chapter 84

The crazy prophet said to us, “You paganists… I haven’t heard your opinions yet. I want to know what the outsiders think. Nadvien religion is very interesting. It insists that there is a savior… But its gospel does not take care of its own people… Did you know that?”

The mad prophet continued to chat inside the cage, and the prince seemed uninterested. He didn’t even listen to the man in the cage.

Prince Camille brought me here. Wasn’t his intention to show me this man? He didn’t say anything special to me. He just let me sit and announced to me, “Juya, I need to go back now. If I am absent for too long, Eriez will find out that I’m gone. He comes to check on me regularly. If he asks where I have been, I can tell him I’ve been taking a stroll around the lake, but if he becomes interested in this area and finds the entrance to this place… I can’t let that happen.”

“Is Eriez a harsh teacher?”

“Well…” He turned away as he answered, “He is a proper Innocent One who follows my brother’s order perfectly, and he does train me to become stronger. It was him who got me to be strong enough to carry you here… I guess.”

The boy looked glum, and I knew that Prince Camille also had no one on his side in Minurd. Eri… That bastard… But what could I say to him or the others? What could I do?

Nothing, except to show him how sorry I felt.

“Your highness… If this would cause so many problems for you, why did you save me? Why did you free me and bring me here? It’s not like I could be of any help to you.”

It would have been easier if he abandoned me. I was useless to him. I couldn’t do secret missions for him anymore like I used to. I was also no longer a swordsman.

The prince replied, “I didn’t help you because you could be helpful to me.”

“Alright. You should get going now…”

Suddenly, the madman began to laugh, “Ahahahahahaha!”

I tried to give back the shirt to the prince, but he told me to keep it. He asked me to sit down again, and he stayed as well as if there was something he wanted to say to me. He seemed hesitant, but he finally said to me, “You asked me why I brought you here, right? The person who can explain the reason will be coming here very soon. That person is the one who told me to bring you here, and I said what he asked because…”

“…”

Just because? Or because he loved me? It… It couldn’t be since the boy prince told me he didn’t know what love was.

“Juya, I don’t want you to end up in hell. I also don’t want you to worry that you might go to hell. This is why I thought you should know more about what is going on. You should also know if the laws and ethics really decide a person’s fate… And who goes to hell and who gets saved…”

He came closer to one of my ears. He whispered, “Is this ear the one you can hear well?”

“Pardon…? Oh, yes, it is…”

“The things we have believed until now… These things may not be true. The laws and ethics we were taught to follow… They may have been created to control the people of Alincha…”

The prince then kissed my cheek lightly and walked away.

Meanwhile, the mad prophet continued his nonsense chatter, “Oh, oh! Yes! A new guest is here! He likes men! So big and beautiful. Hahaha. Selamlique is where only men live. You are very interested. There are many like you in Hwen too! You liked it a lot too, didn’t you?”

I didn’t know how far his voice carried. I didn’t see the prince anymore, but I wondered if he heard it. I guess… I guess there was no way of stopping the prince from learning what I did. What I was.

I frowned quietly, and I didn’t have to stop the madman because the person who could shut him up appeared.

“Shut up, you crazy prophet.”

I was watching where the prince left, and I didn’t even notice someone approaching me. Of all people, it was someone I knew well.

A young girl’s voice.

Before I had to turn around to face her, she threw me a blanket so I could cover my naked body.

The man in the cage greeted her, familiarly, “Oh, oh, oh! Strong pagan girl. How are you!?”

I gasped her name, “Fatima…?”

“I was the one who asked to bring you here, Juya. I am glad you are still alive.”

Unlike Prince Camille, she didn’t come close to me. The man above us in the cage was still ranting loudly, so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation with Fatima.

However, quickly enough, I learned that I didn’t have to worry at all.

The mad prophet asked Fatima, “Girl, today are you going to talk about the man again? I, new guest, am very, oh, happy…! The girl says that this man is interested in the harem’s drug. If he becomes addicted again and goes crazy because of the drug, I would like.”

Fatima frowned and shouted, “Just stop talking, you old man.” She picked up a rock and threw it at the cage. It was quite a skill because this place was very dark and the cage was very far above us.

I exclaimed, “Oh, that’s amazing.”

The mad man peaked out from the cage briefly before disappearing again. He moaned a little as he complained weakly, “Oh no… The girl is killing me! But she can’t kill. Isnilen not kill. Even the Goddess’ warrior tried to kill a few times, but it never happened. The reason is…”

“…”

When he finally quieted down, Fatima brought up the lantern to my face. Thankfully, it was after I wrapped myself with the blanket she gave me.

Fatima asked me, “You asked me before if I fell in love with you, right?”

She was clearly laughing at me now, but her grin quickly disappeared, and I was glad. Fatima continued, “I guess I like you enough that I am pleased you aren’t dead, so be thankful for that. If you had died, I would have felt so sorry. I don’t think I could have slept if I learned that you died.”

“What is the point of me still being alive?”

All I had was my life. Technically, I could blame her partly for ruining me. She was the one who gave me the drug. She was the one who allowed me to have easy access to it. I tried to look indifferent, even laugh at her, but I couldn’t hide my anger. I growled at her, “I have nothing now, woman. I don’t know what your intention was, but you better be careful. Perhaps you thought about trapping me and keeping me as your toy but think again. I am useless now. I can’t fight anymore, and I know nothing else. I have no friends to help me, and I may be a little stronger than you, but that is still very questionable. Based on how you threw that rock like that, I don’t think I could win a fight with you easily, if at all.”

“Hmm…”

I remained on the floor, and Fatima watched me silently. I meant to argue if she said something nasty to me, but instead, she began to explain, “You people… The Innocent Ones and your master, the Goddess’ warrior… We used to live here in Minurd even before you came here. The Virtuous Priestess and us the Odalisques.”

“I know…”

“We were here so we could avoid the war in the capital. Our Virtuous Priestess was chosen at the age of three to have her position. When she was chosen, the Goddess died, and the priestess was sent to Mind. When we first came here, Minurd wasn’t this developed. There was a small number of people living here, but this harem and most of the castles were built by the servants and the men who followed the priestess here.”

“…”

Was she going to keep talking about history? I wasn’t very interested in a history lesson at this point. I just wished she would get to the point, although I knew nothing really mattered anymore.

Fatima continued, “The Virtuous Priestess… She wanted to help them. She wanted to rule.”

“… Hawaki wanted to rule? What a stupid idea.”