027. The Reason for Change (1)
“Insane….”
She thought it was the end after dealing with one.
But the monsters didn’t stop there.
A horde of monsters, appearing together from who knows where, was sluggishly crawling into the mansion.
Bella raised her Saint’s power again to attack the monsters, but she wasn’t confident.
She wasn’t sure if she could protect all the nobles behind her.
While sacrificing one’s own body might be possible, it would be difficult if the monsters targeted someone else.
As Bella fought against the worrying monsters,
“Cough.”
Several monsters rushing into the mansion at the same time collapsed, spurting blood.
Behind the fallen bodies of monsters, the familiar figure of someone emerged.
“Lucia.”
With jet-black hair and eyes as dark as obsidian.
A person with overwhelming charisma and skills.
The male protagonist of ‘The Flower of the Empire,’ Owen Verdun.
Bella’s gaze was immediately drawn to Owen as he suddenly appeared.
The situation wasn’t fully understood.
The fact that monsters revealed themselves in a place where they shouldn’t, and that Owen personally came to deal with them.
Such events didn’t happen in the original work.
There were no distortions in the forest, monsters didn’t suddenly rush towards civilians, and most importantly –
Owen wasn’t delicate enough to step forward and resolve such situations until Bella appeared.
Until Bella appeared, he was an extremely businesslike person.
“Any injuries?”
As Bella fought against the monsters with a worried expression,
Owen, who had entered the mansion, approached Lucía.
Lucía, trying to understand the situation with a confused look in her eyes,
Owen quickly approached her.
Looking at his urgent eyes and the way he exhaled, Lucía blinked silently and nodded.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
For some reason,
Owen seemed extremely anxious.
Lucía, who had been pondering, suddenly understood why he was so anxious as she looked at the corpses of the monsters.
It seemed he had belatedly realized the situation that wasn’t foreseen.
“How did Owen get here?”
Just as she was about to ask for more details to understand the situation,
Owen, who had dropped his sword on the ground, hugged Lucía.
Bending his knees and lowering his waist to tightly embrace her while she was sitting.
“Thank goodness.”
Hugging Lucía tightly, he slowly exhaled and whispered to her.
In his voice that reached her ears, there were deep and intense emotions.
“I was worried. Afraid you might get hurt.”
The words spoken from his mouth, the emotions revealed, all seemed to share the same color of feelings that were difficult to grasp.
“I really am okay.”
The person she wished for, the response she had longed for.
For some reason.
I couldn’t just take advantage of the situation with a smile.
It was strange.
Seeing someone worrying about me getting hurt, and actually feeling those emotions.
Perhaps because I had never experienced it before.
The thought suddenly occurred to me that I needed to calm down the eyes filled with concern and anxiety.
So, instead of taking advantage of the situation as usual, I reached out.
To soothe the emotions that surfaced on Owen’s face.
“So, you don’t have to worry.”
Lucía carefully placed her hand on Owen’s back as she spoke.
Then she began gently patting him.
The gesture was delicate but warm, a small and gentle hand reaching out.
“Yeah.”
At least Owen felt that way, though he couldn’t be sure about others.
* * *
To eliminate the underground monsters, Kyle had to once again spread his magic power below the ground.
Thanks to Owen quickly heading towards the mansion, there were no further casualties, but the cost and magical stones needed to restore the forest increased.
A day later, at the summons of Viscount Keres, priests arrived at the temple.
Although Bella’s status had already been proven in front of numerous nobles due to her use of Saint’s power, the temple’s intervention was necessary to formally recognize her as a Saint.
After confirming Bella’s power, the priests announced the formal recognition of her as a Saint, and the proclamation from the temple reached the imperial palace.
With everything settled and the curtains drawn, the nobles all returned to their respective territories and mansions.
And Bella, for her education as a Saint, went to the temple.
‘What on earth.’
On the way to the temple.
Bella, sitting in the carriage, furrowed her brows and fell into deep contemplation.
‘It’s not just because I destroyed the original setting… Owen has changed too much.’
Yesterday’s image of Owen troubled her.
It had bothered her since the moment Owen showed a friendly side to Lucia, but to embrace her in front of everyone.
Moreover, it was a dangerous situation for everyone.
He called out to her as if she were the only important person, rushing towards her as soon as he saw her.
‘What on earth is happening?’
There had to be some reason.
It couldn’t be just because of my whim; I’ll do my best to revert to the original setting. But…
‘There seems to be something else.’
Something bothered her.
There must be something that I didn’t notice, something that didn’t happen in the original story.
Something that Lucia and Owen seemed to know, but I didn’t.
Strangely.
“We’ve arrived, Your Holiness.”
While Bella was lost in thought for a long time.
The carriage stopped in front of the temple.
“Oh, yes.”
Bella responded briefly as the coachman opened the carriage door for her.
Carefully stepping down from the carriage, she saw the magnificent and vast building in front of her.
“Heu….”
Although it was emphasized in “The Flower of the Empire,” the main temple in the capital was truly overwhelming.
Not only was it huge, but the atmosphere was also overwhelming.
“Come this way.”
Seeing Bella looking at the temple with a wry smile, a priest personally guided her.
Upon hearing the priest’s voice, Bella snapped out of her thoughts and moved her feet.
It was not the time to be distracted.
To proceed as close to the original setting as possible, she needed to restore the situation.
She had to follow the original route, adopted by the Tailor Viscount, to eliminate the causes that started to destroy the original.
“This is the office where the High Priest usually works.”
The place the priest guided Bella to was the office where the High Priest usually worked.
He knocked on the door to announce their arrival before opening it.
“Welcome, Your Holiness. I’ve been waiting for your arrival after hearing the news.”
“Oh, yes. Nice to meet you.”
The High Priest looked as benevolent as described.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Bella exchanged greetings with him.
“Please have a seat here. There’s much to explain, and it seems we’ll need a long conversation. Would you like some tea?”
It would undoubtedly be black or green tea, and if not, there were certainly various herbal teas.
Disliking the taste of healthy tea, Bella shook her head.
“No, thank you. But rather than that…”
Since the story was getting longer, she had to speak up first.
Restoring the situation as it was in the original was not an urgent matter for now.
“I have something I want to tell you.”
“Please, go ahead.”
Despite an unfamiliar look, the High Priest nodded.
Being a Saint who appeared after decades, it seemed like he was willing to grant any request as long as it was within his capacity.
Bella was well aware of both the situation in the temple and the High Priest’s disposition.
Having read the original story dozens of times and memorized the settings inside out, she was familiar with it.
“I want to be adopted by Viscount Taylor. Is that possible?”
To Bella’s request, the High Priest seemed surprised.
Perhaps it was because what Bella said was unexpected.
“Yes, it might be possible. If you make such a request to Viscount Taylor.”
However, he nodded shortly and included a positive statement.
Though the words were unexpected, they weren’t something that could harm the temple’s position.
Especially since the Saint’s status was a commoner, which had been bothering him.
If she were to be adopted into a noble family and gained noble status, it might even help her position.
“Then please, I ask for your support.”
As expected, when a positive response came from the High Priest, Bella smiled brightly.
Now that the twisted settings had been corrected, all that was left was to learn more about Owen.
Even though I corrected the settings and events I created, if he doesn’t return.
No, if something other than me is the cause.
I would have to find out.
* * *
While Bella struggled to restore the flow of the original, Owen was also lost in thought, pondering over similar concerns.
‘Why on earth?’
No matter how much he thought about it, Bella’s appearance timing was strange.
Even if I had changed, I didn’t expect the original to change so much.
No, I did hope for the original to change.
But not in this direction.
He only wished for Owen to change, for Lucia to get what she wanted.
He didn’t wish for Bella to change.
‘The timing of her appearance, the place, and…’
The fact that the starting point of “The Flower of the Empire” changed was a problem in itself. The timing of Bella’s appearance being earlier and the location being different, all of it twisted the original settings. However, the most concerning part wasn’t that.
‘Her abilities too.’
In “The Flower of the Empire,” Bella gains complete abilities simultaneous with her awakening. Not only can she attack monsters with her aura, but she also freely controls the aura itself. Strangely, Bella seen at the hunting competition couldn’t do that. At that time, she thought it was merely because the original schedule was moved forward. Even now, there was no other explanation besides the changes that happened to me. Strange, but Owen sighed, feeling like he missed something.
‘Maybe it’s just my imagination.’
No matter how much he thought about it, there was no answer that came out from pondering over it.
Realistically, there was no reason outside the changes that happened to me. Shaking off his thoughts, Owen stood up from his seat. His thoughts about Bella had been enough for now. Anyway, the awakening of the Saint and what happened during the hunting competition would be dealt with at the royal council meeting. It wasn’t my responsibility. It was something the imperial family and the temple would handle themselves.
“Logan.”
Leaving the office, Owen immediately called the butler. Logan, who was waiting on the side, bowed his head.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“The reservation was at 3 o’clock, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I instructed to vacate Stella Boutique completely by 3 o’clock.”
“Right.”
Today was the day Stella Boutique began selling the new summer season collection. Normally, on such days, the boutique was the busiest and generated the most revenue, so renting the entire store for the day was a rare occurrence. However, as always, Owen was an exceptional existence. It was well-known that the few hours he rented would bring in more profit than dozens of other customers combined.
“Then, go ahead.”
The reason he took such action was obvious. Because the limited edition brooch that belonged to Lucia’s wishlist was released this season. He wanted to personally bring the limited edition brooch for her. Of course, if it were Lucia, she could get it somehow. But this side had more meaning in various ways. Owen boarded the carriage, heading towards the boutique district.
It wasn’t far from the Verdin Mansion to the boutique district, so the carriage stopped after a short while. At the moment Owen was about to get off through the opened carriage door, he abruptly stopped moving.
‘…Presence?’
