Chapter 99: Side Story 4) Truth?

New Empire Calendar, Year 12, November 4.

As the empire continued to grow in power and its foundations became ever stronger, we found ourselves facing an unexpected and serious dilemma.

“What… exactly is this child?”

“Did you extract divine power from the Goddess’s corpse or something?”

“No one’s even set foot near that place in the past five years, as far as I know.”

Was it because our marital relationship had grown distant?

No way.

Sure, I was already in my forties, and my empresses had entered their thirties, but our passion was still very much alive.

Unless I was away on official trips, the three of us still enjoyed ourselves together about twelve times a week.

Was it about the imperial succession?

That was impossible.

The rules of succession had been firmly established, and the heir had been officially announced long ago.

We had even codified it into law, leaving zero room for debate.

I had no intention of letting this become a source of family conflict.

Had I simply grown weak with age?

Not a chance.

Thanks to Lilia’s miracles, we had all been significantly slowed in aging.

The idiot former Holy Pontiff had forcibly extracted blood to create so-called “elixirs,” but unlike him, we had a proper divine blessing—given freely, as a family.

With my continued military training and divine power bolstering my body, I was healthier than ever.

If anything, I looked younger than when I had first married.

At this rate, I could probably live another eighty years in perfect health.

“Besides, the ancient rituals the Holy See used to create a Saintess were lost, weren’t they? Everyone who knew them was executed.”

“Which means… our daughter awakened divine power on her own? Is that even possible?”

“How should I know…?”

The problem was our daughter.

Lilia’s fourth daughter and the youngest in our family.

Victoria von Royten.

So far, Camilla had given birth to four sons and three daughters, while Lilia had given birth to three sons and four daughters.

Victoria was the youngest, born three winters ago.

She had learned to walk incredibly fast and picked up speech at an astonishing rate.

We had assumed she was simply a genius.

Until, one day, she suddenly started using divine power.

Flawlessly.

Despite the fact that we had never conducted any kind of Saintess succession ritual.

“Papa!”

Look at her.

Even now, she’s floating midair, casually unleashing miracles.

Thanks to her reckless use of divine power, flowers were blooming in full force, despite it being the middle of winter.

“I think… she has more divine power than me. And I was once considered one of the most powerful Saintesses in history.”

“Maybe she inherited it from her mother. You’re the only Saintess who has ever had children, so there was no precedent until now.”

“That’s a possibility.”

We didn’t have enough information to determine the exact cause, but one thing was clear.

At this rate, Victoria would grow into the strongest Saintess in history.

She was only two years old and could already cast mass healing over an entire battlefield and buff an entire division of soldiers at once.

What would she be capable of as an adult?

Would she be able to level mountains with divine power?

Split the seas in half?

…Actually, that wouldn’t be so bad.

Those Albione bastards had been getting too full of themselves lately.

She could help put them back in their place.

“Lilia, make sure to take good care of her. I don’t want her being treated differently just because she’s… special.”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty.”

Whatever the future held, that was still a long way off.

For now, the best thing we could do was love and raise Victoria with care.

Hopefully, she would grow up to be a kind-hearted child.

‘Mom and Dad are worrying about me again.’

Meanwhile, Victoria watched her family, quietly observing their concerns.

‘I guess they’re just confused since they’ve never seen a child like me before.’

Her reasoning skills and awareness were far beyond her age.

More importantly, she was conscious enough to hide it.

Despite being a toddler who still spoke with a lisp, Victoria’s intelligence was already comparable to that of a fully grown adult.

Why?

Did she inherit her parents’ talents?

Was she simply born a genius?

Unfortunately, the answer was neither of those.

The truth was simple.

She was the reincarnation of the Goddess who had been killed long ago.

‘Still… thank you. For allowing me to be born again.’

About two hundred years ago.

After spending countless millennia guiding and watching over humanity.

The Goddess was betrayed and slain.

She could have fought back.

Even though she had descended into a physical form, she was still a Goddess—her power was beyond comprehension.

If she had wished, she could have wiped out not only the heretics who betrayed her but the entire Holy Kingdom in an instant.

But she didn’t.

She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Because she couldn’t accept that the very believers who had worshiped her had turned against her.

“I was foolishly kind, and I suffered for it… but still, thank you for granting me this second life.”

Unlike a certain carpenter from Nazareth, the Goddess had been too kind.

She had loved humanity without expecting anything in return.

For countless ages, she had guided them, intervening whenever necessary to keep them on the right path.

She had chosen kings, established morals, and nurtured civilization.

In truth, most of humanity’s progress and history had been shaped by her hand.

Even when she finally grew weary of humanity’s foolishness and decided to abandon them, her love for them never fully disappeared.

Even when she declared that she would no longer guide them because of the corruption of their rulers and priests.

A part of her still cared.

And that was why, even when those very priests turned on her, she did not retaliate.

Even when they bound her with sorcery and magic, she merely tried to escape—never once considering that she could strike them down.

“And… I’m sorry. I used you to bring myself back into this world. One day, I will repay this sin.”

Instead of fighting, she had chosen a different path.

She offered up her life—but not without a plan.

She had long understood the real reason the priests had turned against her.

They sought to preserve their power.

To prove to the world that the Holy Church alone held the true faith and that divine authority remained with them.

Even if she died, they would undoubtedly try to preserve her corpse.

They would extract divine power from her remains to manufacture new Saintesses, ensuring that their God still existed.

So she used that against them.

Divine power was both the source and the essence of the Goddess herself.

For a human to contain divine power meant accepting a fragment of the Goddess herself.

And when a Saintess bore a child, the divine power within her would naturally be passed down to her offspring.

She had planned for this.

The Goddess hid her own soul within her corpse, allowing it to merge with the divine power extracted from her remains.

From there, she slipped into the body of a Saintess.

Waiting.

Then, the moment that Saintess became pregnant, she would reincarnate as the newborn child.

“The nation you have built will flourish. As someone who was once a Goddess, I swear I will make sure of it.”

For centuries, the plan had failed.

Most Saintesses either lived their entire lives as celibate servants before dying, or worse, were used as playthings for the Holy Pontiffs.

There had never been a chance.

Until now.

Her mother, Lilia, had escaped the cruel life of a Saintess, unable to endure it any longer.

By chance, she had met Carolus, and together, they had embarked on a love-fueled escape.

Less than a year later, they were married.

Then, they had child after child, building a warm, happy family.

And thanks to that, the Goddess, after centuries of hiding, had finally returned to the world.

“I can never reveal my true identity… but I love you both. Until I must return to my place as the Goddess, I will do my best to fulfill my duty as your daughter.”

She would never be able to tell them the truth.

Not in this lifetime.

The Goddess knew just how much Lilia had longed for her—

How much she had grieved, how much she had desperately searched for her.

She didn’t have the courage to confess everything and ask for forgiveness.

Instead, she would wait.

Someday, when her parents’ time in the mortal world came to an end.

When their souls departed from their bodies.

She would be there to send them off.

And in that moment, she would finally reveal the truth and repay them for everything they had done.

At the very least, in the next life, she would ensure they lived happily—without hardship or suffering.

“Mommy! I’m flying!”

“My amazing daughter. But it’s a bit dangerous up there—why don’t you come down just a little?”

“Okay!”

Hiding her true thoughts, the Goddess—no, Victoria—smiled brightly, basking in the warmth of her mother’s embrace.

Far in the future…

When she grew up, Victoria would become known as the first-ever Saintess to serve alongside her mother, Lilia.

With the skills passed down from her mother, her innate talent, and her unparalleled learning ability, she would rise to become the strongest Saintess in history.

Her power would rival the greatest miracles the Goddess had once performed, making her both the mascot of the empire and the symbol of faith.

In Year 67 of the Empire, when the Daiching Empire invaded from the west, Victoria personally took to the frontlines.

She altered the very landscape, raised mountain ranges along key paths, and physically stopped the war by cutting off entire routes with her divine power.

Beyond that, she even resolved the empire’s only flaw.

The fact that the dynasty had never been formally recognized by the Goddess.

Through prayer, she received a divine oracle and officially secured the blessing of the heavens.

Since the Goddess had remained silent for centuries until Victoria was born, some people began to question.

“Was she truly just a Saintess? Or was she the Goddess herself?”

The theory gained widespread support.

And to be fair, it was a rather convincing argument.

But the truth was something the imperial family would keep hidden—forever.

After all, once everyone was dead and gone…

They would learn the truth for themselves.