Back in the room, Rurutia’s heart was pounding.

‘I did it on impulse.’

Her father, who was already angry about this incident, might bring the knights here.

In that case, to not damage the temple, she would have to return to the mansion sooner than scheduled.

‘But I don’t regret it.’

Because she’s sure she did the right thing.

Rurutia paced around the room holding her chest tightly and sat down in front of the dressing table.

Her reflection in the mirror seemed unusually lively.

Her heart kept tickling.

It was different from pounding from not feeling well. It also wasn’t the anxiety that she might be dragged back to the mansion.

“Huuu.”

Her heart raced when she imagined the delighted faces of the people in the temple.

They’ll feel better if they eat delicious and nutritious meals and are energized.

‘The captain who will go on the expedition will be able to use more energy to fight off the monsters.’

It may not be of great help, but she hoped it helps even by a bit.

As her thoughts reached this point, an unhappy future came to mind.

‘Isn’t he supposed to die on this mission?’

Rurutia, who became more comfortable with her body and mind, recalled the contents of the book. Looking back, Kane’s death was right after the Empress’s birthday.

Her immediate concern was how her father would come here.

Lost in her thoughts, Rurutia tapped the dressing table with her fingertips. A comb touched the tip of her fingers.

The comb that her mother handed down was made of black crystal.

‘In the book, my father started the Black Crystal business after the expedition began.’

Then, in that case, he’ll break his arms and legs and lock them up.

(note: i’m not sure what this meant)

He’ll feel great doing the business he wanted, and he won’t care about Rurutia.

‘Wait, the Black Crystal business……. started?’

Rurutia sprang up from her seat.

No one knew the hidden value of the gold mine owned by Gael, or more precisely, Diorde.

‘The gold mine he bought a few days ago. He’s gonna have to hand it over to someone else.’

‘Didn’t it say that the gold that’s mined there has a high value?’

‘What should I do? The digging was so bad that no gold was found, even after half a year. No gold dust has been found in the last two months.’

Diorde went all over the place and complained. No one wanted to buy a worthless mine that he put up for sale.

He had no choice but to give away the gold mine, but it was actually a black crystal mine.

Excited, Gael tried various businesses over the next 10 years but failed. Despite the heavy losses, the Bruckes did not fail until the end.

It’s a mine with a huge amount of black crystals to compensate for Gael’s losses!

‘If only I could get the mine for myself.’

If she had enough money, she could help regain the authority of the temple and confront the Brucke family.

Rurutia’s cheeks turned red when she found an answer to what she thought was impossible.

‘I don’t think I need to go back to the Brucke mansion.’

Rurutia looked at the beautiful wedding dress that was hung up.

Although the assumption of “hopefully” was added, a good business plan was drawn.

It was a way to get away from her father, what she wanted so badly.

* * *

After breakfast and prayer, the Paladins immediately began training.

They swung their sword hard, but it looked awkward. It’s been a long time since they had a proper meal, so they weren’t encouraged.

In addition, after the hard training, they were depressed just by imagining that they were going to be waiting for water with tree bark and wild plants.

“Lunch will be *socks boiled in water, right?”

“It’s terrifying just to think about it. Eating a meal is torture.”

After the training, the Paladins took a bath, changed into priest’s clothes, and headed to the cafeteria.

Strangely, the closer they got to the cafeteria, the nicer it smelled.

“What’s this smell?”

“It smells good…….”

Some gulped their saliva and walked faster. They were greeted by a variety of well-done meat dishes.

It was full of fresh vegetables and fruit salads. Dried wild greens were nowhere to be seen.

“Is this the meal? Were there diamonds found in the basement of the temple?”

The kitchen priest carrying the food said.

“An anonymous believer made a big donation. You don’t have to worry about eating for a while.”

An anonymous believer.

He didn’t say who it was, but they knew who it was.

‘There must be a reason you don’t want to reveal your name.’

‘It’s a pity I couldn’t express my thanks directly.’

The Paladins thought and began to eat, reciting their thanks to Rurutia.

* * *

Kitchen after lunchtime.

At the same time as washing dishes, dinner preparation was in full swing.

There’s a lot of work to do, but the temple kitchen was more lively than ever.

The chef, who had been grumpy and angry, felt better. He even hummed while cutting the meat.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve touched proper ingredients and shown my skills.”

“I’d like to say thank you to Lady Brucke!”

The chef, who was cleaning up, shouted as if he was pouring cold water on the excited priests.

“No! It’s from an anonymous believer. We must abide by their will.”

“Ugh…….”

The priests in charge of the kitchen were all interested in cooking.

They used to have doubts about why they were doing this because they only cooked dried vegetables every day, but thanks to Rurutia, they enjoyed the kitchen work.

Thank her so much.

“How can we not?”

The priest, who had thought of many things to say to her, asked.

The chef, who has already thanked Rurutia directly, also understood their feelings. He said, dipping the minced meat into the water with the herbs.

“Oh, well, I can’t help it. Why don’t we make the Lady’s food separately to express our gratitude?”

“That’s a good idea!”

The expressions of the priests who applauded were noticeably brighter.

“Let’s think about what type of food would be good.”

One of the priests, who was thinking about what Rurutia would be happy about, spoke.

“Sandwiches are in trend these days.”

“Sandwich?”

“They put a lot of boiled meat in pickled onion sauce. The bread is also sprinkled with finely grounded biscuits to add a crispy texture!”

“That would be great.”

“Then I’ll bake the bread!”

“I’ll make the sauce.”

“Well, I’ll prepare a drink for her.”

The kitchen became even noisier.

* * *

Afternoon when the sun begins to set.

Kanechel was skipping lunch and arranging the documents of the temple’s finances.

‘It’s already this time?’

It was time for dinner.

He didn’t want to give Rurutia a poor meal. What food should he send Rurutia tonight?

He wanted to serve her the best food possible, but everything in the temple seemed lacking to her.

“Ed.”

Kanechel called for his aide standing at the entrance of his office and took out his own money.

Priests could not build their fortune. Xavi was part of the cost given to him, the Commander of the Paladins.

Because the temple was so poor, the amount was so small that they didn’t know what to do with it.

But it was enough to treat Rurutia to a better meal than the temple’s food.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Do you know any popular restaurants in the capital these days? And if the food that can be packaged.”+

“A popular restaurant……last time I went out, I heard that the sandwich shop in Central Square is popular.”

“Buy one of those sandwiches and give it to Lady Brucke.”

“Alright.”

Does Rurutia like sandwiches? Kane, who recalled her, had a faint smile.

Ed was embarrassed to see Kanechel’s smile after a very long time. He thought it meant that if he did something he never did before, he was hurt somewhere.

“Are you ill, sir?”

“No.”

He returned to his expressionless face again.

Kanechel was not harsh and unfriendly during his apprenticeship, but he wasn’t lively as he is now. It was after he made a deal with the Imperial Family that he became sharper.

The Imperial Family and Empress gave a secret mission on Kanechel. His close aide and deputy general, Cronu. The content of the mission, which only two senior knights knew, was an expedition to eradicate the monsters.

Since it was a secret job to help the Imperial Family, it was impossible to use the Paladins.

It was difficult for him to go on an expedition alone.

He must have been at the death threshold multiple times.

Kanechel didn’t laugh because he didn’t want to share the big burden he was carrying with others.

He doesn’t have to carry it on his own.

His tightly closed lips seemed to express his inner feelings that he didn’t want to show even a small bit.

* * *

It’s been about an hour since he sent Ed.

Looking at the time, he would have delivered the sandwich to Rurutia by now.

After work, Kanechel organized the remaining documents and left the office for dinner.

“Oh, Captain!”

The Paladin welcomed Kanezel.

Seeing that he raised one hand, he seemed to have opened the door just before he knocked.

An unsuitable basket hung from his arm.

It was very suspicious that he covered it with a white cloth and tied a ribbon.