Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 255

The two stepped into the garden, where the wind had grown considerably harsher.

Winter had arrived, and with the dungeon subjugation season long over, the wind would now carry the deeper scent of the cold season.

As if she had been waiting for this moment, Cecilia leaned into his embrace.

Michael did not pull away this time either.

“How is your room? Is there anything lacking?”

Cecilia asked in a familiar tone, as if they were close.

Michael answered quietly.

“It is satisfactory.”

And he meant it.

He had no desire to accept anything from this woman. But staying outside the palace was not an option.

At first, he had requested the smallest room available.

But then he realized there was no space to store Irene’s reliquary.

If he left it unprotected, Cecilia’s subordinates would surely rummage through his belongings while he was away.

And if they discovered that he was keeping Irene’s remains, they would not leave it be.

So Michael quickly examined the palace.

That was when he found a room with slightly thicker walls.

In an old royal palace like this, it was common for some rooms to have hidden compartments.

Even the palace’s owners seemed to have forgotten about it, as there were no signs of the space having been opened for a long time.

So he requested that room.

After thoroughly cleaning the concealed space, he placed Irene’s reliquary inside.

Her other belongings were stored separately outside the palace, but this was something he could not bear to part with.

He knew the princess’s subordinates would go through his possessions.

And, as expected, only a few days after he moved in, while he was briefly away, someone had entered his room.

Those who had been trained likely believed they had left no trace.

But to Michael, it was glaringly obvious.

He immediately checked the place where he had stored the reliquary.

Fortunately, it remained undisturbed.

After that, Michael continued to act as if he had noticed nothing.

He began spending time with the palace knights.

Particularly with those who had accompanied Cecilia to the fortress.

Among them was a solemn middle-aged knight.

From the beginning, this knight had regarded Michael with disapproval.

One night, after drinking heavily, he finally spoke to him.

“It is a person’s duty to have compassion over honor… Yet it seems that on the path to God, there is no need for such human sentiments.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

Seeing the contempt in his gaze, Michael realized that this knight knew something.

So he deliberately switched his drink for a stronger one and provoked him with cutting words.

Before long, the knight was completely intoxicated.

Then, looking at Michael with eyes full of scorn, he muttered,

“That woman… She was constantly summoned by the princess… Who knows what was said to her… Even if you’re no longer a knight of the temple… How could you…”

The drunken knight let out a bitter laugh and then spat at Michael’s feet.

“…What did Irene hear from the princess?”

“Irene? Ah… Right. That was her name, wasn’t it? I did know her name…”

The knight chuckled lowly.

Then, the knight recounted what had happened at the princess’s gatherings.

The Purifiers who deliberately invited lower-ranked Purifiers only to act as if they didn’t exist, taking pleasure in their disregard. And in the midst of it all, how Irene had been treated as if she were completely invisible.

And it didn’t stop there. On days when the princess was in a foul mood, the maids would naturally go to summon Irene, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

And for hours, she was forced to endure insults—words that were little more than outright humiliation—telling her she was the one who had tainted Michael’s honor.

“And now, here you are, running to the princess like a loyal dog… That young lady was the only one who truly suffered.”

That night, Michael supported the knight, who was too drunk to walk properly, and took him all the way to his home.

From the next day onward, Michael began approaching the palace maids. Or, more precisely, the princess’s personal maids, and he struck up conversations with them.

At first, they were tense, but as Michael greeted them warmly and acknowledged them with familiarity, their wariness gradually faded.

He was now all but confirmed to be the princess’s pair.

And besides, who would dislike a tall, handsome man treating them kindly?

“Her Highness had extended the offer to me for quite some time, and I’m glad that I am finally able to accept. From next year onward, I’ll be able to take on dungeon subjugations with much more ease.”

At those words, coupled with his polite request for their support, the maids let their guards down even further.

And with that, their instinct to conceal their past actions also faded.

Lately, he had been spending more time with the princess than ever.

Which meant he might have heard a thing or two about Irene from Cecilia herself.

Then, as someone subtly brought up Irene’s name, Michael openly frowned.

The maids mistook that for contempt toward Irene, not realizing that it was directed at them for daring to utter her name.

Emboldened, they began boasting about what they had done.

Michael remembered the face of the maid who laughed as she recalled how she had ‘accidentally’ kicked a piece of bread Irene had dropped.

As expected, it wasn’t long after Michael had started approaching them that those maids began to disappear.

Cecilia, thinking he was showing interest in them, had them all quietly removed.

Feigning disappointment, Michael asked around to confirm where they had gone.

And after their disappearance, Cecilia grew even bolder in pressing her body closer to his.

She must have first ensured that the maids had not said anything they shouldn’t have before dismissing them.

She must have confirmed that even when Irene’s name was mentioned, he showed no reaction.

That he had even seemed to despise her.

She had tested him over and over again—confirming, time and time again, that he was a serpent just like her.

And now, at last, the day had arrived.

Perhaps she had been so pleased with herself for using the banquet to implicitly declare him as hers.

Cecilia was more talkative than usual.

Then, at last, she said the words Michael had been waiting for.

“This was bound to happen anyway. But because of that wench, Irene, it ended up taking an extra year. No, perhaps I should say it’s thanks to her that you’ve finally come to me?”

Cecilia fell silent after saying that.

Even in her intoxicated state, she seemed to worry that she had exposed too much of her raw emotions.