CH 91

“Looks like you made a new enemy in a short while.”

To think that it was a priest. If Cass hadn’t found him here, he might have targeted me inside the temple.

“Shall we send the body to the temple?”

“No. Don’t do that.”

I interrupted Cass.

I thought that maybe something sinister was going on.

“Can you keep his belongings and body?”

Cass stared at me for a few seconds, then he replied.

“Alright. Lloyd’s will take care of it.  And we will also investigate his identity.”

At Cass’ signal, his men dragged the dead man into a dark alley.

“Thank you, Marquis.”

He held out a glass of water to me, and I drank to calm my alarmed heart.

“I tried to live without being an enemy to others, but it seems difficult.”

Cass smiled at my words and said, like a joke.

“It’s the hardest thing in the world.”

Cass, who had been watching me until I calmed down, spoke up after a while.

“You still have holy power.”

I put on a slightly bitter expression.

Rumors spread like this, there was no way it wouldn’t get into his ears.

“Well, that doesn’t sound good to hear.”

After a moment of silence after my words, he opened his mouth.

“My mother was also a saintess.”

“Your mother… was a saintess?”

I was surprised by the first words I heard.

He replied with a calm expression.

“She was a former saintess who passed away seven years ago.”

It was something that didn’t appear in the original story.

In the original story, it was only portrayed that his mother gave birth to him after separating from his father, and Cass was raised to be educated by his father, the owner of Lloyd’s.

“When Mother was a priestess, she met my father, the owner of Lloyd’s, and gave birth to me.”

“Ah…”

But there was something I didn’t understand. In the temple history book, the former saintess’ husband was the Duke of Rockford. Not the owner of Lloyd’s.

He continued talking as if he noticed my doubts.

“She was a single mother. It wasn’t known to the public that she gave birth to me secretly, and Mother, who sent me to Father, married the Duke of Rockford.”

I could see that his birth and growth must have been turbulent.

So, that means Kyle is a half-brother to Shane Rockford, whom Noah mentioned earlier.

He spoke calmly, as if it was nothing.

“Do you know why there aren’t two saintesses in one generation?”

At that, I shook my head.

I thought I was a fake saintess anyway, so I didn’t think much about it.

“When a new saintess appears, the original saintess reverts to an ordinary priestess. Mother died while still possessing holy power, but that was before she exerted her holy power on you.”

And after a while he reached out and took my hand.

It was neither a rude or sudden move.

“However, the Saintess is still using your holy power.”

His low voice rang in my ears. My heartbeat quickened.

“Even though your holy power will disappear if Camilla is truly a new saintess.”

I never thought that the holy power would disappear from me.

Because… Even if the oracle is silent, I always feel the holy power inside my body.

Cass’ words confused me.

“What does this mean, I wonder.”

“Maybe it’s possible…”

“It’s impossible.”

He cut me off

My heart thumped.

“There have been a lot of surprises lately.”

“Because there are a series of things that have never happened in history.”

In Ares, the gate towards the Demon Realm was about to explode.

I looked away and opened my mouth.

“If you think so, wouldn’t it be strange if a new saintess appeared, but I still have strong divine power?”

“Perhaps, if she’s an anomaly.”

At Cass’ words, I looked straight at him.

Yet there was something Cass didn’t know. Camilla was the real protagonist of the prophecy I had read.

If he mentioned an anomaly, it would mean me.

“I’m thinking of several things. But one thing that confuses me right now…”

At Cass’ words, I stared into his eyes for a while, then looked away.

As there was no way to explain the disappearance of the oracle.

“I don’t have the same power as before.”

“But just now…”

“I can’t elaborate, but that’s for sure.”

It was true that the connected sacred power was intact, but it wasn’t the same as before because I couldn’t use the oracle, as if the use of the function had expired.

I could feel Cass’ gaze on me.

Deep, incomprehensible eyes.

“Then what are you going to do now?”

“We are going to go through the process of confirming her holy power.”

I brought up the story that was going on.

Rumors were circulating in the temple that Camilla would make a generational change as a new saintess.

“It’s unavoidable unless you go to the temple. Many people will be invited as witnesses. The request may go to the Marquis as well.”

Soon his voice was heard.

“Then you will have to prove it in front of everyone.”

In the middle of those coolly shining ultramarine blue eyes, I could see my reflection.

“That you’re alive and well.”

“…Marquis.”

“No matter what power she has, no one deserves to be a saintess as much as you.”

His eyebrows were stiff with anger.

“…Do you really think I deserve it?”

The reason why I’m praised by people’s mouths is because I made achievements as a saintess.

But it wasn’t for the sake of justice or out of fear of the Gods. It just happened that way. It was all for myself.

“You…”

At my words, he turned his gaze the other way and pursed his lips.

“Why are you so unsure of yourself?”

Those words that sounded like accusations stabbed me in the chest.

“You know who you are, don’t you?”

Cass seemed to see right through me.

“…”

Since I started out as a ‘fake saintess’ without being the main character in the first place, I had no choice but to be unsure. However, the real psychology underlying it may be the defensive instinct.

I’m fake, that’s why I can live moderately.

I’m fake, that’s why I can make mistakes.

I’m fake, that’s why I don’t need to be worried.

And I’m fake… That’s why it’s okay for me to be abandoned. It’s supposed to be like that.

So I guess I’ve been in denial all along.

Even if the oracle window that most clearly reveals that I’m a saintess shines before my eyes, even if the Gods joke, even if powerful divine power dwells in my hand, even if stigma shines on my body.

I denied all the evidence and confined myself.

Yet when the moment I had been waiting for came, I felt more desperate than ever.

The fact that there are many things around me that I love.

***

The sound of a skirt dragged behind Reihausd, who was arranging the temple library and rare old books, was heard.

When he glanced back and found Camilla, his expression was somewhat dry.

Camilla noticed Reihausd and moved closer to him.

“Chief Priest Heinz asked me to help the High Priest organize the old books.”

“He spouted nonsense. I can do it alone, so go back.”

Camilla’s hands trembled at the emotionless voice.

She bit her lip for a moment, then opened her mouth again.

“What kind of tea do you like, High Priest? I’ll heat up the tea then…”

“Camilla.”

Reihausd turned her head and looked at Camilla with cold eyes.

She was wearing a light blue, close-fitting dress known as the official saintess dress.

“I don’t want to drink tea. However, it seems that the Chief Priest didn’t advise you on the priest dress code.”

Camilla’s blue eyes widened at those words.

“I heard that you became a friend of the Saintess, yet it never occurred to you that such a dress would be disrespectful to her.”

Reihausd must have heard of her reviving a pair of Golden Crowns. However, there was no curiosity or interest in his dark gold eyes.

It was colder than when they talked about Rotunia before.

Camilla bit her lip for a second and then she opened her mouth a moment later.

“…Is the High Priest planning to send me to the temple of Raid?”

“You heard the news.”

Reihausd answered in a low voice.

“Is the reason you want to send me to the temple because the Saintess has changed since I came?”

“Or are you afraid that I, who has strong divine power, will take over the position of the Saintess?”

Her blue eyes twinkled.

“I don’t want to leave. I… want to stay with you.”

Camilla’s lips parted with difficulty.

“…With the High Priest.”

The beautiful man standing across from her parted his red lips coldly.

“Take care of your own life, Camilla.”

It was meant as a clear warning.

Camilla stared at him for a long while, then she turned around. There wasn’t even a hint of warmth in Reihath’s eyes.

A faint voice escaped from her parched lips.

“Why did it end up like this?”

Her clenched fist twitched.