CHAPTER 25: REMIND

That morning, Julian had been strolling in the manor for a long while, stepping in to see if he could help whenever he noticed someone in need. What puzzled him was that whenever others saw him, they either became tongue-tied or blushed like a steaming kettle and hurriedly waved him away.

Especially when it came to physical contact—Julian had simply intended to lend a hand, but the moment the other party saw him, they became so frightened that they backed away, almost causing a disturbance.

After several such incidents, Julian inevitably felt a bit disheartened. He decided to return to the manor and head to the study to delve into the issues surrounding the Holy Seal.

On the way, he ran into Alice, who was coming from the kitchen. Seeing that she seemed to have something to say to him, Julian paused and couldn’t help but start complaining.

"They all hurriedly refuse my help, don’t they?" Julian asked.

Alice looked at him strangely. "Ah... maybe it’s because you don’t exactly look like someone who needs help yourself," she replied, a bit awkwardly.

"Haha, you really do underestimate yourself," Alice said, thinking about how to explain things to Julian.

The young lady really had gone too far—just to satisfy a certain desire in her heart, she’d tricked Julian into working as a maid. All she’d done was see him change into the uniform, yet Julian had taken it seriously.

"None of them have interacted with you directly?" Alice asked cautiously.

"Ah..." Julian recalled the face of a certain young maid. "No."

Better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Alice knew very well just how possessive Losiya was, so of course she wouldn’t let others interact with Julian for no good reason.

"That’s good," Alice replied, with a meaningful tone.

Looks like she’d have to remind the young lady again today. If Julian really did continue doing maid work and started mingling with all those young girls, the young lady would surely get upset again—pouting and sulking without reason.

If she got mad at Julian just for unintentionally attracting attention, that’d be unfair. Especially if those young maids ended up making her jealous—it would not end well.

After all, Alice worked under Losiya, so she finally opened her mouth to say:

"You’d best not interact too much with them in the future. You know how the young lady is—she thinks a lot, especially when it comes to you. She doesn’t want anyone touching you for any reason."

Julian was stunned for a moment, then blushed and nodded slightly to show he understood.

"Right," Alice continued, "Was it you who healed the gateau?"

"Not bad," Julian said, not particularly surprised, and admitted it plainly.

"Your ability is truly remarkable," Alice said with genuine admiration. "Most priests can only handle external wounds. I saw that gateau before—saying it was completely necrotic wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Yet you’d only just awakened your Holy Seal and were already able to heal it to that extent. That’s amazing."

"You flatter me. I merely gave it a try," Julian said softly, his hand brushing against the bun tied in front of his chest.

"Right!" he suddenly exclaimed, but that burst of energy immediately shrank back into a more hesitant tone with the next sentence.

"Is the young lady busy with something today?"

It took Alice about five seconds to realize that by "young lady," Julian meant Losiya. She glanced at him quietly. Julian was looking down, fiddling with his bun, blushing as he stared at the floor.

The sight made Alice feel just a little envious of her mistress—though the feeling passed quickly. Alice smiled and replied:

"There’s a guest visiting today. That person is of considerable status, so the young lady went to meet them first."

"Who’s the guest?" Julian asked curiously.

Alice gave him a long look before answering, "It’s Desmond from Lady Tania’s household. You should have some impression of him."

Julian’s eyes showed a trace of confusion, but after thinking it over, he remembered and his expression turned troubled, uncertain.

"You don’t have to worry. The young lady will handle everything just fine," Alice said, noticing the change in his expression and quickly trying to reassure him.

"Hmm..." Julian himself couldn’t quite put into words what he was feeling. It wasn’t exactly negative—but he was a bit curious. If things had turned out differently from the beginning, what kind of person would he be now?

Losiya’s warning from that evening banquet still echoed in his ears. Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine. Shaking his head, he used the excuse of not feeling well and said goodbye to Alice before leaving.

He went up to the second floor and, following Losiya’s instructions, found her study.

"Hmm?" He gently pushed open the door and showed a puzzled expression.

Silently, he slipped inside and saw Madam Catherine sitting on a chair with a stack of open books before her. She was wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses and seemed to be taking notes.

"Madam, why are you here?" Julian asked softly as he approached.

"Ah..." People absorbed in work can be easily startled. Madam Catherine clearly was. At Julian’s sudden voice, her hand slipped across the page she was writing on.

When she turned and saw Julian, she couldn’t help but scold playfully: "So it was you, Julian. You nearly scared me to death."

She was wearing a high-necked long dress that hugged her figure, and as she turned, her full chest shifted with her movement. Julian quickly averted his gaze and hurriedly apologized.

"I was just saying—no need to apologize," Catherine said, pulling Julian excitedly to sit beside her. She opened her notebook for him to see.

"I searched the records on the Holy Seal of ’Life’ throughout the Radiant Continent, and there’s no documentation of anyone witnessing it—so naturally, no relevant entries."

"But I did go through all the records from priests, mages, even the Church knights. Any abilities remotely related to ’Life’ I wrote down here. You can take a look."

Julian read through the notes on the table. Almost every point sparked some insight in him, and he quickly became absorbed.

Catherine, meanwhile, fell into a kind of thoughtful silence beside him.

There was a certain line of thinking that frightened even her when it came to mind. She wasn’t sure if telling Julian about it would be wise—so in the end, she chose to remain silent.

The issue with ’Life’ was that its goodness came with a flip side. It was a vast concept—not just related to priestly healing powers.

In other words, healing-type abilities were just one expression of ’Life,’ usually associated with growth or increase.

So... what about the opposite? What would it mean to apply the Holy Mark with the intent to cut down life?

The stronger the healing power of the ’Life’ Mark, the stronger its destructive, decaying potential could be. Catherine had thought about it all night and ultimately decided Julian must not learn about this dangerous possibility.

Time passed quickly, and by noon the manor had become lively again. The maids, who had already prepared ingredients for lunch and dinner in the morning, began their work on schedule.

"Alice, I’m back," said the maid Enie, who had just returned and came straight to Alice to report in.

"Everything settled at home?" Alice asked gently.

"All taken care of," Enie replied, forcing a small smile.