Gino scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. It turned out that he was the one who had insisted on going back down the mountain today, because a full week of non-stop rain had left Gino deeply worried about Orizio. After all, only Orizio's emotions could directly affect the weather.
The three of them walked along the muddy mountain path. Looking at the terrible weather before him, Gino could not help but grow even more worried. "I want to know why his highness is so depressed. He clearly knew we were going back today."
Hearing that, Luciana was puzzled. Prince Orizio is in a bad mood, but why would his emotions be related to the weather? A mortal like me really can never truly understand the gods. But even so, I still want to know more about his highness, and I also want to know why he wants me to live forever.
Just then, several bolts of lightning suddenly struck down. Nicole was instantly so frightened that she burst into tears. Gino knitted his brows tightly, feeling even more uneasy. His highness simply does not know when to stop. Then he reminded them, "Watch your step. The road is slippery."
Immediately afterward, he started running through the rain, and the two girls hurried after him. Very soon, they arrived at the entrance to Tesca Palace. Gino looked full of anxiety. "Take Miss Luciana to the tower. Take Miss Luciana to the tower. I'm going to talk to his highness."
With that, he turned and ran off, leaving the two of them standing there in a daze. After coming back to her senses, Nicole led Luciana into the tower with heavy steps. But Luciana absent-mindedly gazed out the window toward the temple where Orizio was. Yet what met her eyes was a faint blood-colored glow.
"What kind of light was that? Look over there. I wonder if something happened to his highness."
Hearing this, Nicole comforted her. "Maybe. But it might just be light reflected off the stone walls. Let's hurry. You can usually see it when it rains, so don't think too much about it."
Gino rushed to the temple where Orizio was as fast as he could. But the glaring scarlet all over the ground only made him even more frantic. "Prince Orizio, where are you?" He furiously grabbed one attendant who had collapsed in a pool of blood. "Have all of you really completely lost consciousness? Where exactly did his highness go?"
Suddenly, Gino froze as the corner of his eye caught a familiar piece of clothing, and he looked closely. The person lying ahead in the pool of blood was none other than Orizio. In the next second, he immediately ran over on his short little legs.
A healing halo quickly appeared around Orizio. Orizio's eyelashes trembled lightly, and he slowly opened his eyes, revealing dark black pupils as he looked at the person in front of him. "So, it's you."
Then he sat up somewhat blankly, and Gino spoke while using his divine power. "If this continues, you will only keep letting the queen manipulate you. You must go see the first prince immediately. He is a pure-blood prince. He will definitely be able to solve this."
But at that moment, Orizio was overflowing with deep sorrow and helplessness. "Even if I go to him, nothing will change. Today was clearly not a day of judgment. But I still killed them all without hesitation. So when you get the chance, you must kill me. I am a murderer."
Looking at Orizio, who was trapped in pain and self-blame, Gino cried so hard that tears kept falling. "You are not a murderer. You are Bovias's only omnipotent god of judgment. Please go see your brother Sulttus immediately."
Hearing that, Orizio smiled with helplessness all over his face. Then his face began to glow. In the next instant, he vanished from where he stood, leaving only Gino sobbing softly by himself. "Why does the queen have to treat his highness like this? He only wanted to live a peaceful life."
Looking at the increasingly heavy rain outside the magic barrier, Luciana said worriedly, "Are you still going home? It's already very late."
At that moment, Nicole was holding a cup of hot tea. "The rain is too heavy. Lord Gino told me to stay here and wait until it stops before leaving."
Hearing that, Luciana said, "What if his highness comes to find us? I know you're very afraid of him."
But Nicole was not flustered at all. "His highness will not come for a while."
Luciana froze for a moment and said blankly, "I understand."
But before her eyes, that man's handsome, almost unreal face appeared for no reason. So, Prince Orizio, for the time being, will not come to see me. For some reason, her heart suddenly felt empty.
The rain is falling so heavily, which means Prince Orizio is in a terrible mood. I do not know whether he is so depressed because something happened in the temple, and Gino also looked so frightened and so worried. At some point I began to find myself thinking of his highness involuntarily all the time. Thinking of the warmth when our bodies were pressed together. Thinking of the spark that burst forth when our lips touched, and when he pinned me beneath him, that heavy weight.
Thinking of this, Luciana could not help covering her flushed cheeks. I want to know when his highness will come back.