Chapter 563: No More Than A Puppet (I)
Primrose felt as though her heart stopped beating the moment she saw the Captain of the Royal Knights.
It was Edmund.
It was her husband.
But the first thing she noticed was that he was nothing like the Edmund she knew. At this time, he smiled so much more freely, and his voice didn’t carry the same coldness she had grown used to.
He seemed like a completely different person, and yet, her soul recognized him immediately.
Despite the differences, he was still her beloved husband.
"Your Holiness," the Captain—Edmund—said at last, lowering his head as he carefully avoided looking directly into the Holy Saintess’s eyes. "I’m Captain Edmond. From this day forward, I will be personally responsible for your protection."
[This is ridiculous.]
Primrose froze inwardly. She hadn’t expected to hear Edmund’s inner thoughts as well.
Back when she had been watching her fragmented memories, she couldn’t hear anyone’s thoughts at all. But if she remembered correctly, it was because the person who had forced her to witness those memories had intentionally limited her ability.
Now, however, her power wasn’t being restricted.
So why could she only hear Edmund’s thoughts? Was it because their souls were connected?
More importantly, why did he think this situation was ridiculous?
Did he really think protecting the Saintess was such a foolish duty?
[How am I supposed to look away when she’s as beautiful as the first flowers blooming in spring?]
That...
That was such a specific compliment.
No wonder her husband in the current timeline could sometimes say things that sounded like poetry. It turned out that habit had been rooted in him for thousands of years.
"You don’t need to speak to the Saintess, Captain," the Cardinal reminded him. "I’ve already told her everything she needs to know about you."
Edmund pressed his lips together before giving a small nod.
"My apologies. I simply thought it would be more polite to introduce myself in person. I promise it won’t happen again."
[So many rules...] Edmund grumbled to himself.
[If she’s only allowed to speak when someone comes to confess their sins or with the people serving in the temple, wouldn’t that be incredibly boring?]
[I know the Saintess must remain pure, but... the rules in this temple are far too strict. Even the Saintess of the Moon Goddess can still speak freely with outsiders.]
To be honest, Primrose felt exactly the same.
She had spent the entire day praying in silence, and her lips were already itching to say something.
It was so boring!
She had thought her life would become more interesting after that day. Instead, even a month later, almost nothing had changed.
Every morning, she woke up, recited prayers in her private sanctum, listened to people confess their sins in the confession room—which, at least, felt a little like listening to other people’s gossip, so it helped pass the time—prayed again, and then went to bed.
Day after day, the same routine repeated itself. There was hardly anything interesting about it.
Well, except for Edmund. Watching him had become the brightest part of her day because she got to see so many sides of him that she had rarely seen in the current timeline.
Back then, he was full of life. He smiled easily, laughed without holding back, and carried himself with the energy of a young man who had yet to be weighed down by the years.
Sometimes, Primrose couldn’t help wondering how he would react if he ever met the version of himself who struggled just to socialize with other people.
He also had an endless amount of energy. She couldn’t understand how he managed to keep smiling despite working such long hours every single day. He only let the other soldiers take over guarding the Saintess for four hours before returning to her side himself, standing watch over her for the rest of the day as though he never grew tired.
"Captain, weren’t you supposed to come back an hour later?" the soldier who had been covering Edmund’s shift asked.
The two of them stood a fair distance away from the Saintess, who was quietly kneeling in the center of her private sanctum.
"I have nothing else to do, and I can’t sleep," Edmund replied honestly. "That’s why, I decided to come back early. It’s alright, isn’t it? You said earlier that you wanted to visit your sick sister."
The soldier scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile. "Captain, I’m really jealous of your Lycan energy."
Although he felt a little guilty that Edmund had returned before his shift was over, the soldier gladly left early to visit his sister.
[Will she accept my gift today?] Edmund wondered as he gently placed several colorful flower stems beside the Saintess’s veil, which rested neatly on the floor beside her.
No matter how many differences there were between Edmond and Edmund, they still shared the same nature. Just like her husband, the Captain also liked to leave her small gifts whenever he came to see her.
Primrose couldn’t remember when he had started doing it, but before she knew it, there were always fresh flower stems appearing in places where they shouldn’t have been.
Sometimes, they would be resting on the food tray brought to her by the servants. Other times, she would find them beside the prayer book she used every morning, or quietly placed near the window where the afternoon sunlight shone into her private sanctum.
He never mentioned the flowers, and he never expected anything in return. Even so, every single stem looked as though it had been carefully picked that very morning.
[It’s such a shame...]
[This temple has so many beautiful flowers in its garden, yet the Saintess isn’t even allowed to step outside.]
[They don’t even place flower pots inside the temple. Do they really think a few flowers would distract the Saintess?]
To be honest, they were very distracting.
From the very first day Primrose saw the flowers from Edmund, she had wanted to pick them. Yet this body had never once reached out for them, as if it had already accepted those strict rules without question.
Besides, weren’t the flowers still growing within the temple grounds? That meant they were still part of the temple, so what was wrong with holding one?
But today, unexpectedly, the Saintess picked up the flowers the Captain had left for her.
That small gesture brought a smile to Edmund’s face. However, his smile slowly faded as Primrose walked over to him and softly said, "Please don’t bring me flowers anymore."
She looked at the colorful flowers in her hands for a long moment before carefully offering them back to him.
Edmund didn’t reach out to take them. Instead, he looked at her in confusion. "Don’t you like them, Your Holiness?" he asked gently.
The Saintess parted her lips, only to close them again. After a brief moment of hesitation, she finally spoke. "I do like them..." she admitted in a soft voice. "But the Cardinal wouldn’t."