I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 135

“Your condition is highly unstable right now. If you stay near Haniel, who has a high level of holy power, the holy power within you might transfer to her. Avoid contact until the Pope selection ceremony.”

“…Dead?”

Orias muttered as he stared down at his hands. Just as Zoro had said, when all the rituals were completed, the amount of holy power transferred to him was immense.

It was an overwhelming power, incomparable to the holy power he had possessed before. After receiving that enormous strength and collapsing, Orias learned the news that ‘Orias’ was dead.

Zoro, with a satisfied expression, watched over the fallen Orias. Hearing the news from Zoro, Orias opened and closed his lips helplessly.

“You never told me… You only said it would be like with Haniel—that I would simply receive holy power…”

“I told you to take only a part of the name. I never said to take it all.”

“You clearly told me that if I took the name completely, I would gain all the holy power! That I needed to do that in order to have enough strength to become the Pope…”

“Yes, I did.”

Orias shouted furiously at Zoro, who nodded indifferently.

“You deceived me! You made me kill Orias!”

“Deceived? That’s a hurtful thing to say, Orias.”

“I’m not Orias.”

“You are now.”

Zoro patted Orias’s shoulder. Deliberately emphasizing the name, he smiled slyly as he spoke.

“I told you that taking only a part would be enough. It was your choice to take the name entirely.”

Finishing his cunning words, Zoro stood up from his chair, looking down at Orias with a smirk.

“Haniel seemed deeply shaken after seeing the body. If we proceed with the selection ceremony now, you are guaranteed to become the Pope. Prepare yourself.”

“Haniel…”

“Don’t even think about going to see her. If your holy power transfers to her, all your efforts will be in vain.”

After Zoro left, he remained sitting in place, motionless.

The room, which contained only a single bed, felt unusually vast and cold.

Even if he were to enter the room where three beds used to be lined up side by side, this chilling emptiness would remain. Because he was the one who had made it this way.

Blinded by petty jealousy, he had done this.

As he absentmindedly turned his head, he was met with a large mirror. The eyes reflected back at him were gold—just like Haniel’s and Orias’s.

The first time he met them, he had thought that their golden eyes seemed clearer than any other. He had once wondered—if he had eyes like theirs, would he be able to live like them, caring for each other?

“Those who can wield holy power or magic have golden eyes.”

“Then what about the hair? What does this mean?”

“It’s a symbol of divine blessing. It means that while you may lack the ability to wield holy power, you have received divine favor.”

“Then does that mean I’m blessed too?”

“Yes, but El, your way of speaking is too informal.”

“But Theodora, you speak informally to me too.”

He recalled Theodora’s words from their lessons.

When he had first pulled at his hair, which had changed color after receiving Haniel’s name, Theodora had merely smiled helplessly.

“Fine, do as you wish. If you are to serve Lady Haniel and Lord Orias in the future, you will need this much boldness…”

But Theodora’s voice was soon swallowed by the loud ringing in his ears. Frowning, he stared into the mirror at his own reflection.

His golden eyes were much murkier and dirtier than Orias’s.

He would have to live with these eyes forever.

Avoiding his own gaze, he closed his eyes.

***

There was a problem. A serious problem that was even affecting me.

“Lady Haniel, please get a hold of yourself.”

Haniel was too young to accept the death of the real Orias.

After hearing that her brother had died, I had frantically searched through the temple. And then, when I found his pale corpse, I collapsed.

The chilling sensation of his cold cheek beneath my trembling fingertips still lingered.

I had no idea how much time had passed. From what I could see, I could no longer even distinguish between night and day.

I, too, was in a state of shock, just like Haniel.

Orias’s death had come much sooner than expected. No, perhaps I, like young Haniel, was simply struggling to accept his death.

Even though this was nothing more than the past, it was tearing through my emotions.

“Please, pull yourself together. Lady Haniel!”

Theodora shook my shoulders, but her voice barely reached me. Because Haniel’s body was in an abnormal state, even the sounds reaching my ears were distorted.

Ever since I found his body, a deafening ringing had persisted in my ears. I desperately tried to focus on Theodora’s voice amid the relentless noise.

“Lady Haniel, El has become a Pope candidate. This is undoubtedly the work of Priest Zoro. If you stay like this, Priest Zoro will…!”

“El?”

“Yes, El! Can you hear me?”

“El… Where is El?”

I moved only my eyes as I asked. I didn’t even have the strength to lift my head.

Theodora, hearing me speak for the first time in days, clung to me desperately. She continued talking to me while hoisting me up onto her back.

It seemed she intended to take me to Orias.

“I’m taking you to El now. Lady Haniel, please, stay with me.”

“El… I want to see El…”

“Yes, we’re going to him right now.”

I buried my head into Theodora’s shoulder, staring blankly into space. Every time I called out “El,” my vision seemed to clear little by little.

The fact that I was thinking of Orias instead of Ardal now meant that Haniel had relied more on Orias.

As my slightly cleared vision blinked, Theodora came to a sudden halt.

“Lord Orias.”

“…What?”

At the name that came from beyond the open door, I hastily lifted my head. Theodora also seemed startled, frozen as she looked toward the room.

“Priest Theodora, didn’t someone just call for my brother from inside…?”

“Lord Orias, you have much to prepare.”

A voice continued from inside the room, proving that I hadn’t misheard. I slid down from Theodora’s back and approached the room. The surroundings brightened.

The ringing in my ears stopped.

“They really called for Orias… Priest Theodora, I must have had a nightmare.”

“Lady Haniel, wait a moment. Something is wrong.”

Theodora grabbed my wrist, but I shook off her hand and threw the door open wide.

Inside, priests were deep in conversation, and among them stood a golden-haired child. He was wearing the white ceremonial robe that only Pope candidates—my brother and I—had ever worn.

Smiling, I called out to him. “Orias oppa! What are you doing here instead of coming back to our room?”

“Haniel?”

The moment I confirmed the child’s face as he turned toward me, I froze.

“…El?”

As I called out his name, one of the priests responded bluntly. “He is no longer El. He is Lord Orias now, Lady Haniel.”

“What do you mean? Why are you calling El ‘Orias’…?”

Stammering, I met Orias’s gaze. His golden eyes gleamed eerily as they stared back at me.

Now, he was entirely the Orias I knew. Delicate golden hair, elegant features, and golden eyes that suited him perfectly.

The curled-up boy I had first met was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had been this way from the beginning, without a hint of unnaturalness.

“No, El. Why are you using my brother’s name?”

“…Orias handed it over when he died. His holy power, his name—everything.”

Watching my shocked expression, Orias spoke slowly.

“Haniel, if you had been there, he would have given it to you.”

Orias continued in a detached tone, as if blaming me for not being there when my brother died.

“But you weren’t there then, were you?”

The ringing in my ears grew so loud that I could no longer hear Orias’s voice properly.

“Lady Haniel!”

Theodora caught me as I staggered.

“The Pope selection ceremony will proceed as scheduled. Haniel, you will have to take the test soon.”

Watching me sway, Orias’s shoulders tensed for a brief moment, but he quickly regained his composure and spoke calmly.

“Lord Orias, your preparations…”

“Yes.”

Orias responded indifferently and left the room, following the priests’ guidance with practiced ease.

He didn’t look back at me. The only person he acknowledged was Zoro, nodding slightly at his words as he walked.

I leaned against Theodora’s arm, unable to fully process what Orias had said.

“Priest Theodora, what happened the day I left?”

“I will find out. In the meantime, you must focus entirely on preparing for the selection ceremony. While I investigate, Ardal will escort you.”

Theodora spoke with a trembling voice, barely suppressing her rising anger.

“I will uncover exactly what happened to Lord Orias. Lady Haniel, until I learn the truth about that night, do not trust anyone in the temple. Not a single one. …Not even El.”

***

Ardal glanced at me with an anxious expression.

He seemed to think he was being subtle, trying to observe me without me noticing, but I was too lost in thought to miss his nervous movements.

Haniel still believed that her brother’s death was an accident, as Orias and the other priests had claimed.

Theodora had gone to investigate, but she had yet to uncover anything definitive.

The shock was immense, but Haniel hadn’t even considered the possibility that Orias had betrayed her.

Because she didn’t know anything, she had begun to accept reality and resolve to let her brother go.

‘I can’t just stay like this.’

That was what I thought.

Curled up in thought, I suddenly lifted my head toward Ardal.

“Do you need something…?”

Startled, Ardal, who had been watching me, let out a flustered cry. His voice was higher than usual, and I let out a small, tearful laugh.

When I opened my mouth but neither cried nor laughed properly, Ardal’s face twisted, and he hurried toward me.

“Lady Haniel, please don’t cry…”

“I want to leave.”

“What? Where…? Surely you don’t mean leaving the temple…”

Ardal, unable to even touch me in his confusion, hesitantly asked back. I wiped my tear-filled eyes and nodded at him.

“Lady Haniel, that’s…”

“Ardal, come with me.”

Ardal blocked my way, but I spoke firmly without hesitation. His eyes darkened as he looked down at my outstretched hand. His pupils, dulled by the lack of light, gleamed the moment they met mine.

“…As you command, Lady Haniel.”

Ardal answered without a trace of hesitation.

‘Theodora told me not to trust anyone, but… I can trust Ardal.’

Gripping Ardal’s hand tightly, I was certain of that.