The carriage ride back to the villa was quiet, but it was a silence heavy with shifting loyalties.
Chip sat across from me, staring at his new leg. He kept tapping his heel against the floorboards—thump, thump, thump—as if checking every few seconds that it hadn't turned back into mist.
Sofia was still trembling slightly, clutching her torn apron, stealing glances at me that were equal parts terror and worship. And Julienne... well, she couldn't stop looking at the empty sleeve of my robe.
My left arm was gone. Or rather, the cluster of tentacles that mimicked an arm was gone. I had tucked the loose fabric into my sash to hide the stump, but the way I leaned heavily against the window betrayed my exhaustion.
Dizziness.
My mana reserves were scrapping the bottom of the barrel.
That was 500 DP well spent, I thought, closing my eyes for a second. But damn, losing a primary limb feels like someone took a sledgehammer to my nervous system.
"Priest-san..." Julienne whispered, breaking the silence as the carriage slowed. "You look pale. We should call a doctor immediately."
"No doctors," I rasped, forcing a weak, saintly smile. "It is but a scratch, Lady Julienne. A small price to pay for a child's future."
I saw her lip quiver. Hook, line, and sinker. The more I downplayed it, the more the guilt ate at her. Good. Guilt was just love's ugly cousin; they both led to the same bed eventually.
"We have arrived!" Gaston called out.
The carriage groaned to a halt in the villa's courtyard. The sun was setting, casting long, bleeding shadows across the stone driveway.
I waited for Sofia to open the door, then stepped out. I wobbled—intentionally exaggerating it just a fraction—and Julienne was there instantly, her hands hovering near my good arm.
"Careful!" she gasped.
"I am fine," I insisted, straightening my posture despite the throbbing phantom pain in my left shoulder.
Chip jumped out after us. He stumbled, not used to the height, but caught himself on his new leg. He stood there, breathing in the smell of the rich garden, his eyes wide.
Then, the front doors flew open.
"My Lady!"
It was Kara. She rushed out, wiping her hands on her apron, her face flushed from the heat of the kitchen. But she stopped dead when she saw us.
She looked at Julienne. Then at me. And then, her gaze dropped to the boy standing beside the carriage.
"Chip...?" she whispered, the name choking in her throat.
"Mom!" Chip yelled.
He didn't limp. He ran.
He sprinted across the gravel, his new leg driving into the ground with power and stability. He slammed into his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Mom! Look! Look!" he cried, pulling away to stomp his foot. "I can walk! I can run! The Priest... he made me a God Knight!"
Kara stared at the leg. She fell to her knees, her trembling hands reaching out to touch the fabric of his trousers, feeling the solid limb beneath. It wasn't wood. It wasn't a crutch. It was flesh.
"How..." She looked up, her eyes locking onto mine. "How is this possible?"
I stood silently, letting the wind ripple my robes. I made sure the empty left sleeve fluttered visibly in the breeze.
Kara's eyes tracked the movement. She saw the flatness where my arm should have been. She saw the pallor of my skin. She saw the sweat beading on my forehead.
The realization hit her like a physical slap.
He didn't just heal him, her expression screamed. He gave a piece of himself.
"Priest-sama..." She crawled toward me on her knees, dragging herself over the gravel, ignoring the sharp stones. "Your arm... you..."
"It will grow back," I lied softly, stepping forward to touch her head with my remaining hand. "A shepherd does not count the cost of saving his flock, Kara."
She grabbed my hand, pressing her forehead against my knuckles. She was sobbing now, deep, guttural sounds of gratitude that bordered on madness.
"I am yours," she wept, kissing my fingers, her tears hot against my skin. "My life... my soul... everything. I am yours."
[DP Gained: 200] [Devotion Level: Fanatic]
I felt the surge of energy from her faith hit me, dulling the pain in my shoulder.
Two down, I thought, glancing at Sofia, who was watching with wet eyes. Julienne is wavering. The fortress is falling.
"What is the meaning of this commotion?"
The icy voice cut through the emotional warmth like a guillotine.
I looked up. Standing at the top of the stairs, arms crossed, was the Head Maid, Rose.
She didn't look at the miracle. She didn't look at the crying mother. She looked straight at me, her eyes narrowing with sharp, calculating suspicion.
"Kara," Rose barked. "Stand up. You are embarrassing the House."
Kara flinched, scrambling to her feet, though she kept a protective hand on Chip's shoulder.
"Madam Rose," Julienne stepped forward, her voice surprisingly firm. "Priest-san has performed a miracle. He has restored Chip's leg."
Rose's gaze flicked to the boy's leg, then back to my empty sleeve. She didn't gasp. She didn't smile.
"Miracles usually require payment, My Lady," Rose said coldly. "And I wonder what currency this 'Priest' accepts."
She walked towards me, stopping just inches from me. She smelled of starch and old lavender—the scent of someone who hadn't felt a touch of warmth in decades.
"We have prepared the feast for our guest," Rose announced, her voice the picture of elegance and grace, though her eyes remained cold.
"Excellent," Julienne replied, clapping her hands together, a newfound energy radiating from her. "Priest-san, Chip, everyone—let's proceed to the dining hall."
The courtyard became a flurry of motion. Gaston and Sofia bid us farewell to tend to the horses in the stable. Chip and Kara tried to step forward to assist me, their hands hovering near my missing limb, but I shook my head gently.
"I will be fine," I assured them, though my voice was raspier than I intended. "Truly. My mana is just... low."
As the group moved toward the great oak doors, a shadow detached itself from the pillar. It was Rose. She slipped behind me, her voice dropping to a whisper meant only for my ears.
"But do not think you have fooled everyone, 'Priest'. I know men who offer too much for free. They are usually the most expensive ones in the end."
I stopped. I didn't turn around immediately. Instead, I let a sliver of my predatory aura leak out—just enough to drop the temperature in the immediate vicinity, just enough to make the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
I turned my head slightly, locking eyes with her.
Then, faster than human sight, I moved.
Whoosh.
My tentacles lashed out, invisible and swift, creating a sudden, localized gust of wind that hit Rose from below. It whipped her heavy, starched skirt up into the air, exposing the secret she kept hidden beneath her austere uniform.
Black lace.
It was silk, patterned with tiny crimson roses—a stark, erotic contrast to her cold exterior. It was a thong, a scrap of fabric that was already being eaten by the hungry cleft of her buttocks, leaving her pale, plump cheeks largely exposed to the cool evening air.
She gasped, her hands flying down to cover herself, but she was too slow.
In a blink, I was no longer in front of her. I was at her back.
Rub. Squeeze.
My remaining hand slid over the curve of her buttocks, brazenly caressing the smooth, yielding flesh she tried so hard to hide. I felt the heat rising in her skin, the tremor of muscle beneath my palm.
I leaned in close, my voice a silken whisper against her ear.
"I didn't expect the scary Rose to have such... fetishy fashion tastes."
I squeezed lightly, feeling her jolt against me.
"Don't worry. I accept only faith, Madam Rose," I replied smoothly, my pupils dilating into horizontal slits for a fraction of a second as I savored the texture of her secret. "Perhaps one day, you will find you have some to spare."
She stiffened, her entire body going rigid. A deep, burning flush of embarrassment and humiliation crawled up her neck, staining her cheeks crimson. Her eyes widened, staring into nothingness.
For a heartbeat, the mask of the perfect, untouchable servant slipped, shattered by the realization that her privacy—and her dominance—had been effortlessly stripped away. She finally sensed the monster beneath the skin.
Grinning, I moved past her, a smile almost revealing my true nature. I licked the hands grip her ass just a moment ago, my gaze sweeping forward over the group still walking towards the hall unknowingly what just happened. As I walked, I whispered, "You are next..."