When the Villainess Died, the Male Lead Went Crazy - Chapter 146.2

Lewarren laughed at Anais’s gentle words, recalling how he had thought she was naive. It almost felt like the situation had flipped.

He even remembered when Lilith had said she would make him her father after she destroyed the world and started anew.

Perhaps he was calculating the possibility of the relationship changing at any moment.

“…Alright.”

He answered and stared at Anais. He realized again how precious she was to him. However, the feelings that once made his heart race were now completely faded, and he cherished her as if she was family.

In fact, he was grateful that he was a priest. It was because he had become a priest, unable to start a family, that he ended up having the family he had longed for.

“Get Kylian’s permission. While you’re at it, you might as well do that.”

Anais awkwardly sipped the now-cold milk tea. At her words, Lewarren chuckled and nodded.

* * *

Lewarren headed toward the Imperial Palace. On the way, he passed the palace behind the Empress’s residence where Kylian had once stayed.

A large wisteria tree stood there. Through the memories shared by Lilith, Lewarren had seen what was buried beneath the wisteria, and now he approached the X-shaped marking carved into the tree.

He knew that Anais and Kylian had such a solid bond now that they would likely have forgotten about this.

Lost in thought, he accidentally placed his hand on the tree. The X shape seemed to have been made by Anais. She had a habit of starting at the top left and drawing the X down to the bottom left, which is why the top right and bottom right parts of the X were strangely scribbled.

He disliked how rough his hands looked as they emerged from under his white priest’s robes. Still, he knew he had to uncover whatever was buried beneath the tree.

Digging with his bare hands was something he deeply hated. But if he used his powers, the locket necklace in the jewelry box would be reduced to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

Lewarren sighed and began to dig with his hands.

“Damn it.”

He grimaced at the damp feeling of the soil and the sensation of his hands getting dirty. Yet, oddly enough, as he held the soil, he found the sensation not as unpleasant as he expected, as if he was getting used to something dirty.

He only used his right hand to touch the soil. He had to be careful with his left hand so that dirt wouldn’t stain his clothes.

“How deep did you bury it, Anais?”

He dug up to his wrist, but when nothing touched his fingertips, he couldn’t suppress his discomfort. If the dirt reached his wrist, he felt it would be impossible to wash off the dirt just by rolling up his sleeves.

“Damn it.”

Reluctantly, he dug deeper than his wrist.

Eventually, when he dug to his elbow, the jewelry box finally came into view.

When Lewarren took the box out, his right sleeve was stained with dirt, and he had fallen on his backside, leaving a dirt mark on his white priest’s robe. He looked pale and horrified.

“Ugh.”

He had to check the contents, but he knew his left hand would get dirty too, so he couldn’t head straight to Kylian’s palace. Instead, he took the jewelry box and headed back to the Temple of Destruction.

* * *

“The Empress is inviting High Priest Lewarren Iphigenia as her partner for the upcoming New Year’s ball.”

“What?”

Kylian accidentally crushed the fountain pen he was holding in shock of the sudden news. Ink spilled from his hand, but he seemed unaware of it.

Kylian stared wide-eyed at the assistant, as if he was about to ask again. The assistant felt like his lifespan was halving, and he avoided Kylian’s golden gaze. He was about to read the paper he had been handed.

“Give it to me.”

“But Your Majesty, your hands…”

“Hah.”

Kylian tried to grab the paper with the hand that hadn’t been stained with ink, but both his hands were already dirty. Unfortunately, the ink from the broken pen had spilled onto the desk, and his left hand, resting on a pile of documents, was also covered in ink.

“Explain exactly what that means.”

At Kylian’s stern tone, the assistant, feeling like he was suffocating under the gaze of a predator, hurriedly fixed his eyes on the papers he was holding and spoke.

“For this New Year’s event, each person will be bringing a separate partner.”

“Why? If the Emperor isn’t standing next to the Empress, then who will?”

“According to Imperial law, it is allowed to bring a different partner.”

“Is there any way to nullify the partner designation altogether?”

“No, Your Majesty. It can only be revoked by the Empress herself.”

Kylian continued to stare at the assistant and blinked in surprise at the firm answer. The assistant felt as if he was being hunted by a wild beast and struggled to breathe.

He couldn’t understand why the Emperor and the Empress seemed so distant recently. Before, when their relationship was strong, the Emperor was never this intimidating.

“I’m going to the Empress’s palace.”

Kylian stood up, not even thinking of wiping the ink off his hands.