episode_0118
by fnovelpia
Beatrice sat down, her head hanging low.
After the broad back of the receding sword disappeared from sight, I just kept looking at the ground.
The once beautifully shining blue eyes lost their vitality and were enveloped in darkness as if they had never been there before.
Her stockings were a mess of grass and mud, and her dress was completely soaked. She was miserable. What was worse was that her insides were even worse than her miserable appearance.
The sun hasn’t set yet, but the sky is cloudy.
The air, burdened with pain, seemed to be closing in on her from all sides. So even though quite some time had passed since the sword had left, she felt as if time was passing slowly.
Suddenly, I felt like the sound of the rain had died down.
The sensation of water droplets that had been wetting her ceaselessly disappeared.
“?”
Only then did Beatrice raise her head.
When I looked, there was Julia holding an umbrella over me.
As always, she was dressed in a maid outfit and held an umbrella politely.
“Miss, you’ll catch a cold like this.”
“……”
Violet eyes blink beneath the umbrella.
“It’s okay. A cold or something… No, I’m okay no matter what happens to me.”
Julia’s heart ached at Beatrice’s words.
It was painful to see her master being ruined like this.
But there’s nothing I can do about it now.
“Go back to the mansion. I’ll bring you some warm tea when you get there. I’ll also fill the bathtub with water.”
When I look into the eyes of my master who is full of sadness, I feel like hugging him tightly.
But you have to endure it.
For the bigger plan, there is still time.
‘I should thank Carl Maynor for making the young lady so vulnerable.’
To Julia’s mind, her master seemed to have a blind fondness for his enemy, Karl Maynor.
Unlike the Count and Blair, I could tell because I had watched my master at the Academy. Beatrice, who I had watched closely, was always great, beautiful, and wise, but she was an exception in front of the person named Carl Maynor.
Whether you confront him directly or bring him up indirectly as a topic of conversation.
If Karl Maynor ever becomes a hindrance to Julia’s plans, he will need to be eliminated, but for now, he is left alone as he seems to be helpful to her plans.
In particular, this was a golden opportunity for Julia, who had been plotting all sorts of ways to change Beatrice’s mind about giving up revenge.
It is easier to push a weakened mind back to the path of revenge than to do it with a strong mind.
“Beatrice, I have something to tell you.”
Julia suddenly said.
Beatrice looked at Julia in silence.
– Julia took Beatrice’s hand and placed the pendant in her hand.
Silver chain and sapphire decoration.
The pendant engraved with the imperial emblem was familiar to Beatrice.
“?”
I held it tightly in my hand and looked at it again.
The pendant was identical to the one Beatrice had worn in the past.
A pendant that has been around my neck since the moment I was conceived.
A pendant stolen by the Heresy Investigation Bureau and used as a medium for holy relics.
The more I think back, the more I remember the terrible events of that night.
But how is this happening again?
“…What is this?”
“It’s an imperial treasure. Beatrice had the same thing. And what I’m giving you now is…”
Beatrice looked at Julia, who was sitting down and holding an umbrella.
Julia’s face, shaded by the umbrella, looks sad.
“This is Lord Theo’s pendant.”
“!?”
“As you know, the imperial family wore pendants around their necks to celebrate coming of age. I remember that Lady Beatrice herself brought them with her when she escaped the palace during the rebellion… She must have been searching for a pair of pendants with her small, delicate arms.”
Of course, Beatrice has no such memory now.
Because it was long before she became possessed.
“Theo kept that precious pendant in a secret box in his drawer. It was a cute box he made out of wood when he was a kid.”
“……”
“Lady Beatrice was reluctant to enter the master’s room that day after Theo’s work, so it was just covered in dust.”
The guilt comes flooding back again.
After losing Theo, Beatrice had avoided his room because of regret and fear.
Suddenly, I realize the truth that I tried to avoid and turn away from responsibility, and my regret deepens again.
She stroked the pendant in a daze.
“Beatrice’s pendant is gone… but I wanted to give you Theo’s. You two were a couple that should never have been separated, but the world dared… take away the royal heir…”
Julia’s voice trembled. Her throat was choking up. It felt as if the tears she had been holding back were about to spill out.
“Please forgive me, Miss. I went into Theo’s room without permission… But I really wanted to give it to you. I know how much you treasured that pendant. I’ve been so busy that I’ve been in a hurry, but I think it’s right for it to go back into Beatrice’s hands, even if it’s during this brief break.”
Saying so, Julia bent down and met Beatrice’s gaze. Then she took Beatrice’s hand and made her hold the pendant.
“If only I could remember the late Theo in this way, if only I could look at that pendant and think of him wherever I am…”
“……”
Julia, who had been speaking sadly, finally burst into tears and could not finish her words.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Beatrice. I’m so sorry… Ugh…!”
She covered her face with her hands and began to sob.
“Ugh… If I do this, I know I shouldn’t do this…! I know that the young lady is having the hardest time…!”
She shook her shoulders, scolding herself.
The sound of sobbing echoed under the umbrella.
Beatrice looked blankly back and forth between Julia and the pendant in her hand.
Then he reached out and hugged Julia.
He hugged Julia tightly, ran his hand through her silver hair, and patted her on the back.
“It’s okay, Julia. You’re not at fault. It’s all my fault. Don’t worry about it. It’s okay to be sad.”
As Beatrice’s elegant voice whispered warmly, Julia dropped the umbrella she was holding on her shoulder.
“And thank you. The pendant… for telling me about Theo’s relic. I almost… no, I almost forgot.”
Beatrice stood up, putting the pendant around her neck.
My legs were numb from having been sitting there for so long, but I stood up and looked up and down at Julia.
He reached out his hand and helped Julia up.
Julia’s maid outfit also got soaked in the rain.
She stood up and looked at her master.
“Let’s go back.”
There is no trace of Beatrice’s misery anywhere now.
Neither the dirty dress that had fallen to the floor nor the muddy high heels and stockings were noticeable.
Beatrice, with her back straight, looked neat, relaxed, and elegant as always.
“Ah, Miss……”
The sight was so beautiful that Julia blushed without realizing it.
Then, in a flash, Beatrice’s eyes glowed blue-green.
“We’re going back to where we should be, where we should have been.”
A pair of eerie, enchanting turquoise eyes looked at Julia.
And the last successor in turquoise touched Julia’s shoulder and said.
“Julia, will you come with me? Will you follow me on my…… painful path of atonement?”
Beatrice’s voice rang in Julia’s head.
Julia wiped away her tears and laughed heartily.
She smiled with her eyes wide open, her nose and cheeks red from crying.
“Yes. Forever. I will always be by your side.”
Julia finally found happiness again.
The wheels of fate that had been waiting for a long time have finally begun to turn again.
Beatrice would never notice the madness hidden behind the silver-haired maid’s smile.
*
Alana sat in a pew in the cathedral, her head covered with a plain veil.
The cathedral she was in was one of the cathedrals of a religious order that was widespread throughout the Kingdom of Primira, but it was a fairly large building and held many secrets.
The sect’s teleportation station was hidden right beneath this cathedral.
Beneath the Temple of the Gospel was a magnificent product of magical engineering that the common believers would never know about.
Alana, veiled and dressed in a nun’s habit, looked like a painting.
If the moment of her putting her hands together in devout prayer were captured in a painting, it would certainly be preserved for a long time as a ‘sanctification’.
Knock- knock-
But instead of praying, she was kicking her legs and kicking the floor as if she was bored.
She seemed bored and impatient.
The cathedral was quiet because it was not mass time.
Strictly speaking, there was no one except Alana, because she, the saint, had specifically asked for it.
Just when she couldn’t stand the boredom anymore, the door opened.
Outside, the sound of pouring rain could be heard, but it stopped when the door closed. A man with dark clouds behind him slowly walked into the chapel.
Alana shouted so that the man in the distance could hear.
“Late!”
He said it with a sharp voice, but with a smile.
“I know it’s a bit odd to ask a secret intelligence agent like that, but.”
Alana put her hands on her hips and walked towards the man.
Now that I think about it, I’ve been feeling unfamiliar with that guy since he joined the intelligence agency. To be exact, since I first saw him at the academy a few years ago.
He was a cute and obedient child, but before we knew it, he had grown into a sturdy, powerful male.
Alana became increasingly restless and anxious as she dealt with him.
I missed my childhood when we were everything to each other. The relationships I took for granted now seemed like they would all fall apart if I didn’t make an effort.
So I’m anxious.
“What on earth have you been doing?”
“Mission.”
Alana narrowed her brows and made a hmm sound.
“Going to see Beatrice?”
“……”
“You really went on a mission without any personal feelings?”
“The mission is over. I have no business seeing Beatrice anymore. No, I don’t even have to pretend to know her anymore.”
Carl said, running his hands through his rain-soaked hair.
Alana was quite surprised by his words, but she tried hard to hide her strangely happy feelings.
“I, I… How come, Ah. No. Rather, Carl! It’s all wet. What should I do… Wait. I’ll get you a towel!”
Alana touched Carl’s hand and was shocked to find it cold. She was about to turn around and go find a warm towel.
At that moment, Carl grabbed Alana’s arm.
“!?”
Carl hugged Alana from behind.
Alana stopped and blushed.
She thought to herself that it was a good thing she turned around, otherwise she would have been caught with her face red.
“Thank you, Alana. And I’m sorry.”
“…what?”
“Just, everything.”
“Tsk- It’s so annoying.”
As Carl whispered softly in her ear, Alana tried her best not to be caught bashful.
“If there are no believers here, it’s fortunate, but you know the saint… How blasphemous…!”
“The saint who asked for a date in exchange for doing a favor is also impious.”
“…How, how is that a date?”
“Not a date? Then I’ll pretend it’s not a date. From a distance, like escorts do.”
“Ah, no! Ma… That’s right! It’s a date. So you have to stick by my side and go together.”
Alana was speechless.
Because I made a very personal and private condition to Carl, who asked that I allow him to use the sect’s teleportation station.
‘Take me around the academy on Christmas Eve. I’m curious about the world outside the church! Carl, then I want to make all the knights step down and become a normal woman and walk the streets. Will you help me…?’
She recalled what she had said. At the same time, she felt embarrassed again. It was as if she had asked Karl out on a date because she was so anxious that she couldn’t properly refuse his sudden request.
I heard Carl’s low laughter in my ear.
It was a calm, not frivolous laugh.
“Let’s go back, Alana. To the Empire.”
“Yeah……”
Alana answered in a small voice, feeling as if her true feelings had been revealed.
As Carl released her arm and let her go, Alana held onto her veil tightly to hide her face, trying not to let anyone see her blushing face.
“By the way, Alana.”
“Huh?”
“This is the first time I’ve seen you wearing a veil.”
“That, that’s right…? How is it? Does it suit you?”
“It suits you well. It’s pretty.”
Alana bashfully laughed at Carl’s blunt answer.
At this point, it was as good as having my embarrassed face exposed.
“Will I be able to see you wearing a veil on the last night of the Christmas Eve?”
“!?”
Alana knew immediately what Carl meant.
‘Love hidden behind a veil.’
The greatest festival that marks the end of the Christmas season.
A stage for lovers who long for love.
The slender fingers holding the rosary trembled.
Carl tilted his head and brought his face close to the veil Alana was wearing.
Her pink eyes stared blankly at the sword’s golden eyes.
“Even if I look at it from this close, or from far away, or even if my eyes are covered, I will definitely be able to notice it.”
The vague excitement of the Christmas Eve festival has become a reality.
Alana wished that time would pass quickly and that Christmas would come soon.
“My beautiful saint, my only woman. No matter what crude magic may interfere…”
Carl got down on one knee.
“I will definitely find you.”
Alana lost her rosary.
She looked shy, her hands clasped together, missing the rosary, a symbol of her devout faith.
“gi, what are you waiting for?”
And Alana prayed to God again.
Forgive the sinful woman.
I dare to ask your forgiveness for a servant who has foolish selfish desires rather than faith in your temple.
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