“It’s the body of a person who was struck by divine punishment after stabbing the body of God. To prevent any possible curses from lingering, no one has been allowed to touch it.”
I frowned deeply at those words.
“Do you feel any unclean energy coming from his body?”
“Not… not really.”
“Then has the divine power that should fill the temple and the mountain disappeared?”
The priest shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why…!”
I shouted, my face contorting in frustration.
The priest also looked distressed.
“Are you saying you’re leaving the body of a priest who devoted himself to the temple just lying here?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“What’s the most difficult part?”
“No one has stepped forward to perform a purification prayer for him.”
“So if you can’t do that, you have no choice but to leave the body as is?”
“To handle this, we would need to report to the great temple and bring a higher-ranking priest…”
I assessed the situation. A higher-level priest meant one with even greater divine power.
Instead of listening to him, I took a step forward and stood in front of the body.
“What are you doing…”
I said firmly.
“This place is already filled with the god’s blessing. The divine power here is more abundant than anywhere else.”
“So, are you saying that Miss Ariadeline intends to perform the purification prayer herself?”
“Yes.”
“You’re being reckless.”
“Even if this person is truly a heretic who received divine punishment and is thus tainted by curses, I don’t care.”
There was no need for further discussion. Everyone knew that Ariadeline had used black magic to attempt to kill Dorothea.
I knelt beside the body and barely managed to properly place the fallen priest’s body on my lap.
I supported the back of his neck with one hand and held the back of his thighs with the other.
The white light pouring through the columns of the temple illuminated us.
I slowly closed my eyes and began to pray to God.
No, God, this isn’t right!
Are you going to let someone who followed you die unjustly and be left like this, huh?
Of course, we are not blameless, so I will try to make amends. Do you understand?
So please, let this person rest in your embrace. Please.
At that moment, someone answered my prayer.
[Let’s do that.]
Wait, what?
I opened my eyes wide at the voice that I heard in my head. At that moment, commotion began to erupt from all around.
What’s going on? What is this?
For some reason, my vision was bright. After a moment, as I assessed the situation, I was astonished.
White light was emanating from my body, which was holding the priest’s body. The blood that had been smeared all over the priest’s body disintegrated like dust, soon transforming into a clean appearance.
I looked around in panic for Carlothian.
But Carlothian was simply staring at me with wide eyes.
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, then gently laid the priest’s body back on the floor.
The bright light that had been shining so brightly began to slowly fade.
“C-could it be…?”
An elderly priest who had been standing far off approached me, his legs trembling.
I’m sorry, but could you please not ask me anything? I’m also very confused right now.
Even if you ask what happened, I won’t have an answer.
But the elderly priest spoke words that were completely unexpected.
“S, saintess. Are you saintess?”
“Yes?”
What on earth is he talking about? The Saintess is doing very well in the Capital!
“No.”
“No…?”
“I’m just an ordinary person passing through.”
“Then what about that light earlier?”
I smiled at them.
“Well…”
I looked at the statue.
“Perhaps it was God removing the false accusations against his lamb?”
“Is that possible…?”
I quietly observed their astonished faces and then said, “So, can we hold his funeral now?”
I need to wrap this up quickly.
“With the divine energy stronger than ever, it’s as if his innocence has been proven. So, yes, it’s possible.”
“That’s a relief.”
I smiled and approached the statue. I then carefully withdrew the dagger embedded in the statue.
This action caused another commotion around us, but I offered a carefully prepared excuse.
“It seems like an impure person came, harmed the priest, and stuck a knife in the statue. We’d like to take this knife to the capital and show it to the Saintess and the High Priest. Is that alright?”
“Ah, um, if you could do that, I’d be very grateful, but is it really right to ask this of you…”
Of course it’s right. I flashed a bright smile, gathered up the dagger, and quickly returned to Carlothian and below the temple before they could regain their composure.
“Carlothian, let’s depart!”
“Tsk.”
Back at the lodging, preparations to leave Anrize were already complete.
Carlothian gave orders to a few of his knights before departing.
“Stay for a while, assess the situation, and then return.”
“Yes.”
Thus, the carriages of the Duke of Denaves departed from Anrize.
Inside the carriage, there was a deep silence. I needed time to organize my thoughts.
Carlothian was the first to speak.
“What was that light earlier?”
“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure either.”
“You didn’t know that and still decided to pray?”
“I just asked God if he’s going to keep things like this.”
“And then light emanated from your body?”
I debated whether to tell him about the voice but eventually decided to share.
“And I heard a voice.”
“A voice?”
He furrowed his brows. I understood what kind of voice he was thinking of—those vicious whispers that constantly come in my ears and when I’m suffering from madness. But the voice I heard was entirely different.
“That was the answer I received. It was a gentle and kind voice…”
His brows furrowed even more.
Stop making that handsome face all scrunched up.
I instinctively reached out, and he tilted his head toward me with an expression of disapproval.
I smoothed out his frown with a touch and then lowered my hand, sitting quietly.
“…If there really is a relic left in my body, I think such a thing could indeed happen.”
“I see.”
I pondered for a moment and then asked Carlothian.
“Could we contact Her Highness, Crown Princess Dorothea?”
“Dorothea?”
“Yes. She would likely have a good understanding of divine power.”
“Alright. I’ll try to get in touch.”
“And now that we’ve left Anrize, the madness might return, right?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll travel as quickly as possible.”
The carriage raced toward the capital with full speed. Skipping over towns where we could rest, the carriage continued until sunset before stopping in a clearing to prepare for camp.
At that moment, Carlothian and I sat in the carriage, facing each other because…
“There’s no sign of madness?”
“…It seems so.”
Before we came to Anrize, Carlothian had struggled so much to hide the madness while we were traveling in the carriage!
But now, I feel completely fine. In fact, thinking back, I hadn’t even had nightmares on our last night in Anrize.
‘If that’s the case…’
I patted my abdomen. Is there really a relic inside me? No, such a precious thing in this humble place…
I briefly closed my eyes. What is going on…
The silence in our thoughts was broken by a knock on the carriage door.
A servant outside opened the door. Carlothian, with a serious expression, looked at the visitor while sitting with his legs crossed.
“Healer?”
I called out to him, and he nodded.
“What’s the matter?”
Carlothian, seemingly annoyed by the interruption, responded sharply. But the healer’s expression was also far from ordinary.
“Um, the situation is strange.”
“Situation? What do you mean?”
“We’ve moved away from Anrize, yet I still feel a strong divine power.”
“…”
“…”
We exchanged looks of concern. I could see the bewilderment in Carlothian’s eyes. You too, huh?
“We did receive a blessing from the temple,” I explained.
“Oh, I see.”
The healer seemed to accept this explanation.
What is a healer? They are those with divine power who cannot enter the temple. Those with divine power below standard or who have only developed in the healing field enter as healers of noble families.
So, it means they can still sense divine power.
“Given the situation, try not to worry too much and just get some rest.”
“Understood.”
After the healer left, we had to reluctantly accept the reality.
There is indeed a relic inside me.
