Ch.66Confession (1)
by fnovelpia
“Huu……”
Irene, the final Saintess candidate, finished her prayer with mixed feelings.
It was because just yesterday, Livga had voluntarily given up her candidacy.
In truth, there had been signs for several months. According to Livga’s attendants, she had not only been unable to sleep at night, but would break into cold sweats whenever she had a moment to herself.
However, Irene and others had been unaware of this fact until yesterday.
Because she had maintained her usual devout attitude without showing any signs, no one had noticed.
“Lady Irene. Where are you going?”
A holy knight guarding the chapel asked. The holy knights, clad in pure white armor, revealed nothing of their bodies except their eyes.
To be judged only by one’s actions, not appearance. That was the doctrine of the holy knights.
“I’m going to the Hall of Repentance.”
“…Is it because of Lady Livga?”
Irene’s body flinched.
A direct hit.
“I won’t deny it.”
“Lady Irene. Rules are rules. You already know that no contact with others is allowed in the Hall of Repentance, don’t you?”
“…As a servant of God, I cannot abandon a sister who is suffering.”
That too was a valid point, so the holy knight closed his mouth.
“…Just this once. But please return before sunset.”
“Th-thank you!”
The holy knight stepped aside from the door. Irene repeatedly expressed her gratitude as she headed to the Hall of Repentance.
‘It’s high.’
The Hall of Repentance was located at the summit of the mountain behind the Order of Light. Though called a mountain, it was practically a cliff.
Repentance is offered to God. It meant that those with half-hearted resolve should turn back.
“Huu.”
As Irene took a deep breath, pure white divine power enveloped her body. With that, she put strength into her legs and jumped up as high as her own height in one go.
Climbing the cliff at a rapid pace, Irene wiped her sweat with her sleeve.
The closer she got to the Hall of Repentance, the more difficult it became to use divine power. This was a natural phenomenon because the Hall had restrictions placed on it, but it was still burdensome.
After climbing for quite some time, she finally reached level ground. Irene placed both hands on her knees and caught her breath.
‘…Haa. I should go over there, right?’
Before her eyes was a cathedral covered in moss. She couldn’t tell if it had been left unmanaged for a long time or deliberately neglected.
Creeeeak.
Irene carefully opened the door. True to being a Hall of Repentance, there was no one guarding it. If there had been a holy knight here, he would have come not to protect the Hall but to repent for his own sins.
The interior was filled with moss-covered stonework. The chairs were worn out, and cobwebs hung in every corner. The glass that once would have emitted colorful light had become dim.
It would be no exaggeration to call it a collapsing ruin.
But.
“……”
Irene’s gaze couldn’t leave the girl kneeling in the center of the Hall of Repentance.
The feeling of a space she had thought was a ruin being transformed into a solemn and devout place by the presence of just one person was… truly ambiguous.
The atmosphere made it impossible to speak to her, so Irene quietly went to sit on a chair.
– Crack.
At that moment, there was a sound of something breaking, and the chair shattered into pieces as Irene tumbled to the floor.
‘Ugh, urgh!’
It was too old!
Irene, who had been biting her lip and trying to swallow the pain, flinched.
She sensed a presence before her.
It was Livga.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Livga spoke in a tone that seemed unconcerned.
“Lady Irene. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, no.”
“That’s a relief. The chairs here are very old. I’m glad no splinters got into you.”
Livga brought a broom and swept the wooden pieces outside.
‘To think you would come all the way to the Hall of Repentance.’
She guessed why Irene had come, but didn’t ask anything.
Irene is a kind-hearted person. When Livga was chosen as the Saintess, it was Irene who sincerely congratulated her.
As Livga was about to resume her repentance, Irene spoke in an urgent voice.
“L-Lady Livga!”
“Yes?”
“…Why did you give up?”
There was much meaning in those words.
Livga spoke with a bitter expression.
“As I said, I felt I lacked the qualifications.”
“But…”
“I’m sorry if you felt deceived. But my thoughts haven’t changed. I don’t deserve to be the Saintess.”
Hearing the sincerity in her voice, Irene closed her mouth.
That’s why, even knowing it was rude, she had to ask.
“Can you tell me the reason?”
Irene grabbed Livga’s hand.
“I’ll help you.”
“……”
Livga couldn’t open her mouth hastily. Not because she was flustered. Because she had experienced a situation like this before.
– Livga. I’ll help you.
Was it an illusion?
Olivia’s face seemed to overlap with Irene’s.
A person who was once more noble than anyone.
Someone who had received the recognition of all holy knights, and whom even she, as the Saintess, had trusted and relied on.
Such a person…
Livga felt hatred rising in her heart anew. And at the fact that she harbored such wicked emotions, she became angry once more.
It was the first time controlling her emotions had been this difficult.
“Then may I ask one favor?”
“Anything!”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m currently using the Hall of Repentance with the Pope’s permission. For a week starting today.”
Irene paused.
“Could you give me that time? I want to sort out my thoughts.”
Only then did she realize Livga’s intention.
“…Is that all you need?”
“Yes.”
Irene closed her mouth. For now, giving her space was the best option.
“You’ll be… fasting, right?”
“Yes.”
Irene knew well how arduous it was to fast for a week.
The pain of your stomach shrinking and your body’s movements becoming sluggish.
“…I’ll come to get you on the last day.”
That was the last consideration Irene could offer.
Thud.
Livga remained seated in formal posture for a long time until Irene’s presence faded away.
Facing the statue of the Goddess of Light, Livga solemnly knelt down.
“…Will I be able to forgive her?”
*****
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
Calliophe Linesel had a tense expression.
“Just because it’s been a while?”
Opposite her stood Olivia with a sly smile.
The place they met was indeed in the north. However, it was quite far from Glacia’s lair.
Far enough that Melina’s perception couldn’t reach.
“Aren’t you very busy these days? The Second Prince wouldn’t just leave your faction’s expansion alone.”
“…Did Seth tell you that much?”
“I have ways of knowing everything.”
Both princes were capable. With knowledge, character, and strength, they were worthy of being called imperial material.
This was also why the nobles were divided into two factions.
If one of them had been inferior, there would have been no need to fight, but since both were excellent, it created a choice.
‘If Aria had just shown her abilities, this wouldn’t have happened.’
They would have given up in despair at the overwhelming difference in ability.
‘……’
Calliophe’s gaze became complicated. She couldn’t understand why a witch who knew the internal affairs of the imperial court from the far north would demand information as a means of transaction with them.
In her experience, this type was the most dangerous.
The type whose intentions were unknown.
But…
‘I’ve come too far to refuse.’
Olivia, who had been secretly observing Calliophe, smiled.
From the beginning, she had only given her carefully selected sweet information, so once tasted, it was impossible to break away.
“Anyway, here’s the information you requested.”
Olivia checked the magically treated document.
To summarize the contents:
One, representatives of the Empire and the Eastern Alliance are conducting negotiations at the border.
Two, the notary to guarantee the content of the negotiations will be selected from a third country.
This was why Calliophe had come all the way to the north. It was information that only someone of a commander’s rank would know.
Whoosh!
After some time, the document spontaneously burst into flames. No matter how much Calliophe was the commander of the Night Ravens, what she was doing was clearly leaking confidential information.
Of course, Calliophe would probably consider this an unavoidable sacrifice for the greater good.
It was evident from the fact that she chose coexistence with Olivia, a witch, instead of subjugating her.
Though she wasn’t really a witch, of course.
‘Now about this notary…’
There was only one country that could influence both the Empire and the Eastern Alliance while having the justification to act as a mediator.
The Holy Kingdom.
And the Holy Kingdom still had no Saintess.
‘Then the Pope will go.’
The Empire and the Holy Kingdom, the Kingdom of Canis and the Kingdom of Roel. Plus the two free cities.
It meant that key figures from six countries would gather in one place.
Of course, that was none of Olivia’s business.
The fact that the Pope would go as a notary. That was all she needed to know.
‘The Holy Kingdom’s defenses will be weakened for a while.’
Someone of the Pope’s stature wouldn’t go without an escort. He would take enough forces to protect himself.
‘He’ll probably take the Four Knights too.’
The Holy Kingdom’s strongest, the Four Knights.
Since the King of Martial Arts would appear as the representative of the free city of Micabel, he would need to bring the Four Knights to balance the power.
Without them, infiltrating the Holy Kingdom would be no challenge at all.
‘I wonder what the reward will be this time?’
When she obtained the first clue, she was able to intervene in past memories.
When she obtained the second clue, time only flowed when she was with the returner.
Then when she obtains the third clue…
Olivia turned her head in the direction of the Holy Kingdom.
The returners were changing the world in ways she didn’t understand.
The Empire had proposed negotiations to the Eastern Alliance first, and Ashe Balthar had descended from the Atilla Mountains.
Before the world became completely twisted, she needed to collect at least one more clue.
[The owner of Clue #3 is ‘Saintess Livga’.]
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