Category: I Became a Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

t/n
also, if you see frody being referred to as ‘friday’ anywhere in the chapter (or future ones), pls lmk in the mistakes channel on my discord or the comments below, my google docs likes to autocorrect frody’s name to friday GHSDLKFJFDSJ

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“I told you already. Don’t make me regret my first ‘act of mercy’.”

“…Are you really being salty when we were just having a little chat?” 

Although Frody had put it like that, everyone here knew that it was a lie. 

“I thought it was strange for you to have left more traces of yourself than necessary in the area, but in the end, it was just to deceive my eyes so you could come and see Ara. That was your true intention.”

It was the appearance of Lecht, who seemed to have chased after the traces left by Frody so far. Seemingly having been led on a wild goose chase, Lecht’s ego seemed to be wounded.

In response, Frody replied slyly, “True intention? I was just enjoying my game of hide and seek with you, Little Brother.” As if he held no malice toward him. “And I simply came here because I thought our Saintess would want to see me.”

His eyes curved up at me. If he had a tail, it would’ve been swaying back and forth, telling me to come already. That was how much his voice was wrapped in enchantment. Though it didn’t work on me, the Saintess.

“Why would I want to see you?”

“Think about it carefully. You obviously thought that you wanted to meet me though?”

When I looked dumbfounded, he added with a hehe~, “Wasn’t I the only one who could solve the false accusation against you, Saintess?”

“What a unique way of using the words, ‘I want to see you’.”

If ‘I want to see you’ meant, ‘I want to meet up and talk about something’, then I did want to see him. But I had a hunch that Frody would’ve never mistaken the two of them for something else.

“I didn’t want to see you. Please leave.” I waved my hand like I was swatting away a fly. 

“Really?”

“Yes.” 

Rather than asking Frody for help, I’d rather give candy to a child. 

“Oho~?”

Although he snorted as if he couldn’t believe it, I continued to ignore him and said, “You came by yourself when you came, so leave by yourself too then.”

I turned around without confirming whether or not he was leaving. I grabbed the arm of Lecht, who was next to me. Lecht noticed what I wanted straight away and let me naturally toward the building before I could pull him in that direction. 

However, before we left the garden, Frody said once again, “I warned you.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned my head. I frowned at Frody’s triumphant appearance. It showed a firm belief that one day, I’d definitely be betrayed by Lecht.

Although it bothered me, I didn’t really want to argue with him over nothing.  “You’d better look after yourself properly. Since I’ll definitely get even with you for what you’ve done to us humans.”

I was annoyed at the fact that he kept hiding behind the excuse of it being ‘his contractor’s request’ to avoid taking responsibility for causing that accident.

I turned my head and dragged Lecht back into the building. When I left the garden where the cool late autumn breeze was blowing and came inside, the warm air immediately melted my numb cheeks and ears. 

“Oh right, Lecht, if anyone sees your wings…!”

Although I had returned to the building in a huff, I quickly turned my head towards him when I realised belatedly what he still looked like. However, he had already folded his wings back in, and also put his sword back into its sheath as well. 

“Did you not get caught, even while you flew here in that state?”

“It’s been a hundred years since I’ve lived in the human realm. I know how to stay out of sight.”

Aha… I was worried over nothing. 

“That… I’m sorry.” I apologised to Lecht before I could say anything else. “I was the one who brought up the idea to persuade Frody first, made you chase after him, then ended up discarding him on my own as well.”

It was an apology for wasting his efforts. 

“I couldn’t get through to him at all. I can see why you opposed this method in the first place, Lecht.”

Lecht, who listened to me sighing, took off his coat and wrapped it around me. “Don’t say you’re sorry. I’m actually happy that you said you wouldn’t get involved with him any further.”

My turbulent mind calmed down slightly after feeling the weight of the heavy coat on my shoulders. My feelings of discomfort that came after meeting Frody turned for the better. 

“I didn’t do it just to hear an apology, and if it’s for you, then I can do as much as you want.” He added softly, “I guess you didn’t get it.” 

I could feel a sort of sadness in his voice for some reason. His expression was no different from usual, and he didn’t use a different tone in voice either. His hands went to fix my coat, as if to drive out all the cold energy from my body.

“Then, thank you?”

His hand, which had been fastening each button, one by one, paused in its motion.

“Saying that should be fine, right?”

It was subtle, but I could see the corners of his mouth rising. I guess that’s what he really wanted to hear instead. I thought it was unexpectedly cuter than I thought it would be for him to pretend not to smile and hide it, so I laughed.

“…Why are you laughing?” At my sudden laugh, he asked me with a slightly anxious expression. 

My lips kept going up since I found it so cute that a man who could decide to destroy the empire or even the demon realm if he wanted to, would get so nervous at just a smile from me. I bit my lip and tried to stifle my laughter, but the more I tried to, the harder I ended up laughing.

He examined my face with an uneasy expression. “Ara?” He seemed to be worried that something he had said was wrong. 

“Because you’re cute.” I spoke frankly, thinking that I didn’t have to hide it. “It’s because you’re so cute, Lecht.”

“I’m, what…?”

The word ‘cute’ didn’t go well at all with the words, ‘Demon King’ and ‘The Grand Duke of Arvis’. But those were the thoughts of people who didn’t really know Lecht. 

He was a man who was like an onion. No matter how many layers I peeled off, there would always be a new charm that would be revealed, and would make me laugh continuously nonstop. 

He looked at me with large eyes, as if what I had said was an extreme shock to him.

“Other people wouldn’t understand, would they?”

At my question, Lecht looked at me with a confused expression on his face and nodded his head minutely. Meanwhile, the tips of his ears slowly turned red. Perhaps it was because I had already been made aware of his cuteness already, but even that appearance of his was cute to me.

I couldn’t stop laughing and buried half of my face into his large coat. I kept laughing so hard that my cheekbones started to ache. 

Looking back on it now, this morning was full of failures in many ways, as well as issues that caused me to have complex thoughts about it. 

Alion had told Meliara what she had wanted to hear her whole life, but she herself was already in an irreversible situation, leaving only regret behind. And instead of requesting help from Frody, we came to the uncomfortable conclusion that Frody was a target that had to be unconditionally guarded against. 

‘It’s clearly a very frustrating situation.’

Laughter continued to flow out uncontrollably from my lips. 

‘But I think I can figure it all out somehow.’

I thought that I could get through anything with this man. The scent of the coat that wrapped around me was good, so I ended up gaining groundless confidence. 

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

The refreshing scent that remained on his clothes soaked deeply into my lungs as I remembered Lecht’s wings again. Since it was my first time seeing it, it was so captivating that I ended up being fascinated as soon as I saw it.

“By the way, Lecht.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly at my call, as if he was asking ‘what is it?’

“Why don’t you have any horns?”

“…?”

“If you undo your human appearance, shouldn’t you have both horns and wings?”

Lecht, who was the Demon King in the original novel, even had long hair as well. But where did the long hair and horns go, and why did only the wings end up coming out?

“Like I said earlier, I’ve lived in the human realm for a hundred years. It’s simple enough for me to undo certain parts of my human appearance.”

“Oh…”

So you’re saying that it’s easy for you to walk around just with your wings out. How fascinating. I tried to picture his majestic figure with wings again. It was so spectacular that I wanted to keep it as a picture.

“If I say that I want to see it, will you show it to me again…?”

“Of course.” He answered unhesitatingly. “Anytime you want.”

“Then the horns as well…?” I asked cautiously, just in case it was offensive, but he nodded his head with a ‘you’re so cute’ look in his eyes. “Then I’ll look forward to it, Lecht’s horns.”

I covered my face with his clothes again to hide my laughter. Nevertheless, I couldn’t hide my cheeks from going up, and when he saw me smiling like that, Lecht ended up smiling as well.

“Do you like wings and horns that much?”

Oh, so it was that obvious I liked it. My eyes widened as I nodded.

“Seriously…” He swept a finger over the cheek of me, who was still draped in his coat. “Not a single thing has changed about you.”

“Really…?”

It was Lecht who didn’t bring up the me from a hundred years ago ever since I had said it was burdensome. But he whispered, as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

I didn’t feel as much repulsion as before either. That’s how much it showed that I was leaning towards Lecht, right?

“You’re seriously exactly the same. Whether it’s your habits, mannerisms, the way you speak, or your preferences; all of it. A hundred years ago, you loved my horns and wings just as much as well.”

He covered my face with his entire palm, perhaps because he wasn’t satisfied with using just the back of his finger lightly. I didn’t try to avoid it either, since the feeling of his calluses that developed from holding a sword felt nice against my skin.

“Is it… still awkward?” He asked in a nervous voice. “I thought I was already used to waiting though.”

With the ends of his eyes drooping down slightly, it was an expression of Lecht’s that I had never seen before, so my heart started to race. 

“Waiting for you while you’re in a place where I can’t see you and where time is irrelevant is completely different to waiting calmly for you when you’re already right in front of me.”

As expected, was he also nervous about Frody’s appearance today? An untimely confession of his heart soon ensued.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll have to wait for you to get used to me… so I don’t know what I should do.”

Although he was expressing it in a pretty roundabout way, he was without a doubt, complaining about it being difficult. This man is seriously a master at shaking people’s hearts… even if I didn’t think he was cute, seeing him with this sort of appearance made me even more helpless against him.

“Lecht…”

I placed my hand over his hand which was stroking my cheek. Even though my hand was so small it was simply too ridiculous to cover his large hand, he paused in his actions at my touch.

Looking at him staring down at me with such profound eyes, I inhaled deeply and opened my mouth. “You know, we…”

Then.

“Saintess!”

“Ara!”

Linden was running along with the three priests from the end of the corridor. Surprised, I turned my head, Lecht’s hand naturally slipping off from my body.

Although it was a pity that I had missed the opportunity to talk to him properly, upon seeing them running toward me in such a hurry, I promised that I’d continue the conversation with him next time. Lecht also took a step back, as if he had caught my meaning.

“What’s wrong everyone?”

“There’s something ridiculous going on in the town square!”

“I have a way to catch that woman!”

They all spat out in unison, as if they had only been waiting for me to ask. The Priest Trio looked both shocked and dumbfounded, while Linden seemed rather excited. 

“Something ridiculous? And a way to catch Olivia?”

Perhaps because they were all talking about the same thing, they appointed Linden to talk on behalf of them. “That woman succeeded in curing the epidemic.”

“What…?”

“It isn’t just one or two people either, but dozens of them, so I can’t even say it’s a coincidence either.”

My eyes were even wider than they were before. “That’s ridiculous…”

It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t even continue to speak. Even if the wounds that are caused by the disease can be healed, diseases such as infectious diseases themselves could not be healed with the divine power of Solarism. 

It was because of the characteristics of the divine power, so words like, ‘because she’s the Saintess’, and ‘because I have more divine power that’s purer’ wouldn’t make sense. It was like treating a burn with advanced hemostasis.

“Right? Isn’t it ridiculous? How can the divine power of Solarism purify it?”

“The High Priest of Solarism is always saying things like, ‘There must be a mistake,’ and, ‘Diseases are normally like bruises in the body, so the divine power of Solarism should be fine,’ but he’s clearly just full of crap!”

“Doesn’t this seem rather fishy? I can’t make sense of it at all in my head. How is this the divine power of Solarism?”

The trio of priests, who did not know that Olivia was a fake saintess, were rather passionate about this dumbfounding and stuffed up situation.

“It’s a situation where the High Priest of Solarism and their priests are taking care of people in the town square. That’s why the situation has been completely reversed.” Linden, who knew Olivia was the fake saintess despite not knowing who Frody was, added quietly. “She probably wasn’t aware that she couldn’t cure the disease with the divine power of Solarism, and ended up blindly healing people with the unknown power she uses.”

It must have been a mistake since she had never actually used real divine power before. It was about the same level, no, even more fruitless and absurd than the incident where my peppermint tea had suddenly turned into chamomile tea. 

“Huu…”

That’s why they say you’ll get caught if your tail is too long¹. 

When I was at such a loss for words because of how absurd the situation was, Linden smiled and said what I wanted to say instead. “She dug her own grave.”

In any case… looks like I’ll be able to blow my nose without even lifting a hand²?

[1] if you keep doing something no matter how quietly you try to do it, in the end you will be caught. there are no secrets that can be kept forever.

[2] 손도 안 대고 코 풀게 생겼는데 = take it easy without lifting a finger

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guys… i think i’m falling for lecht all over again QAQ
the way he’s so soft and yielding to ara AHHHHH plus the consideration and communication too PLEASE JUST GET TOGETHER ARLEADY PLS SPARE US

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

t/n
will be getting rid of the brackets and only putting them in when it’s simply impossible to differentiate who’s speaking or not!

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“You can’t just show favouritism to only my younger brother though.”

“I don’t think you not respecting my personal space has anything to do with the fact that I favour Lecht.”

“It does, what do you mean it doesn’t? You’re always stuck super close to my younger brother while you don’t even allow me to approach you.”

“It’s natural that my relationship with Lecht is different from my relationship with you.”

“Then that’s favouritism, isn’t it?” Frody continued to blur my point.

“Isn’t it natural to treat the person who has always protected me differently from a person who helped frame me with false accusations?”

“I couldn’t help it because I was bound to a contract.” He said in a sad voice as if it wasn’t his fault, but then threw another absurd speculation at me. “Or are you jealous about the fact that I have a relationship with another woman?”

How on earth did that issue lead him to come to that conclusion…? His unfounded confidence and narcissism seemed to be able to pierce the heavens. I was so lost for words that I couldn’t find the words to say anything back to him.

“Tell me honestly. You like me too, don’t you, Saintess?” He bent his upper body and leaned closer toward me, his eyes crinkling as he laughed. 

The scent surrounding me got even stronger to the point where it felt like I had fallen into a perfume bottle that contained gold osmanthus. It was so strong that my head started to ache. I could feel the scent trying to soak into my body. It muddled my senses like how it would be if I was drunk and narrowed my vision down to only see Frody. 

But I only felt like that for a short amount of time. In an instant, the divine power in my body removed it immediately. 

Tanma had explained it to me before. “A saintess can easily disperse the ability of all demons.”

With my ability, even the strongest demon wouldn’t be able to touch me, the child of god. That’s why I wasn’t afraid to face Frody, despite not knowing what his special ability was. 

“So this is your ability.” 

A scent that muddles up all your senses.

The corners of Frody’s lips curled up. “What do you think? Are you enraptured?”

“…”

“Everyone who has fallen for my seduction says so. It’s a pleasure that makes you desperately yearn for it to never end.”

Pleasure, what pleasure? I just had a severe headache from that strong scent.

“So that’s why you’re wary of Muso?”

I remembered my first meeting with him. After all that provocation toward Lecht, he had taken a step back in retreat when Muso appeared. No matter who sees it, it’s obvious that Lecht is the stronger one between the two.

“Your scent must be spread first for you to be able to enchant, but Muso’s wind blows away all traces of your scent.”

I seemed to have hit the nail on the head. Frody’s eyes twitched. 

“Why would I be wary of someone who isn’t even a proper demon?” Although he spoke in a languid manner, I could sense a sharp edge in his voice. Since he was always a provocative and sly person, it was easier for me to sense when his composure was shaky. 

“Do you think that I’m unable to beat that half blood?”

It was true that the stronger amongst them would win, regardless of their abilities anyway.

“But it’s true that you’re forced to avoid him as well, aren’t you?”

However, it was inevitable for him to hate his opposing elemental type. No matter how much someone with the fire ability was able to beat someone with a water ability by using a much stronger fire, it was a similar logic in the sense that in the end, fire would be forced to avoid water.

“Are you provoking me right now, Saintess?” Frody placed his index finger on my chin and lifted my face toward him. “What are you going to do if I lose all reason? I seem to have less patience than I thought.”

“That sounds like something I’m meant to say.” I glared at him and said firmly, “I’ll say it one more time. Take your hands off me and stay away from me.”

“And what are you going to do if I don’t move away?” 

With a sarcastic tone, he moved closer toward me. The tips of our nose were about to touch. He raised one corner of his mouth as the scent of gold osmanthus got even thicker. 

I clicked my tongue at my past thought of trying to convince this man at least once. Just by seeing him look down at me now, I could tell that he was the type of person who didn’t have the adequate emotions for me to do so.

So I took out the divine power from within my heart and detonated it. 

Bam!

“Ugh!”

A flash of light appeared with the loud noise as a great wall was formed between the two of us. Frody was cast far away, as if he had been thrown out.

“Grrr…!” 

Kelber bit the body of Frody’s pet snake harshly and wounded it severely just in time. The five-headed snake made a grotesque sound and shrank its swollen body. Becoming the size of a normal snake, it hurriedly slipped out of Kelber’s grasp and disappeared up the opening of Frody’s pants by his ankle. Kelber came straight back to my side and guarded me.

“Ha!” 

Frody, who had been thrown by force and not by himself, let out a sigh as if it were ridiculous. 

“You even used the same move as that woman. Is it because you’re also the saintess?” He said, looking at the wound caused by the surging of my shield within me. 

Although I had already retrieved the shield back within me, he stuck his long tongue out and licked the blood that was coming out of the wound with his eyes fixed on me. As if he were provoking me. His ‘enchantment’ overflowed in that series of actions. 

“Saintess, shall I give you some advice?”

“There’s no need.”

“Don’t trust my brother too much.”

“Isn’t your way of coming between us a bit too shallow?”

“I’m not trying to come between the two of you. I’m saying this with you in mind, Saintess.” Frody’s soft voice seemed to slightly scratch the inside of my ear. 

I didn’t know what he meant by that. But I didn’t fall for it. 

I had already heard the rumours about the Grand Duke of Arvis, and also read the story of him as the Demon King in a novel. However, the Lecht I had met in person was completely different to what they said about him. So, no matter what Frody said, I was going to trust Lecht, who I had already seen and judged for myself. 

But I had something else I was curious about. “Why do you hate Lecht so much?”

Although he smiled softly and constantly called him, ‘Little brother, little brother’, Frody hated him. No, he despised him. 

Even though it had only been a short while, I could see through it with just a few words. 

“Probably trying to feel out my true intentions.”

Considering that Lecht had been the one to say that, the relationship between the two of them seemed to be quite complicated.

“I don’t understand why someone with such a strong sense of narcissism like you would lower yourself into signing a contract with a human just to argue with him.”

He was a man who ignored Muso, simply because he had human blood mixed in with his demonic lineage. I could see what he thought of humans. Furthermore, he wasn’t just any ordinary arrogant man.

But to be a contractor and listen to a human’s ‘requests’? Just to pick a fight with Lecht? It was an incomprehensible act that didn’t match his standards at all.

“Because he doesn’t suit being the Demon King.”

“…?”

“I’m the one who’s the product of the previous generation’s demon king and saintess. But you think I’m fine with the product of my father’s night of decadent pleasure taking the position of the demon king?”

There was a sense of superiority, anger, and ridicule in his voice.

“But wasn’t the demon king determined by Lunar, and not by blood?”

I didn’t know everything there was to know about the demon realm. But I had heard all the basics from Tanma and Muso. 

The reason why the Demon King was the Demon King was because God deliberately gave the power of God to the Demon King for his own use. Since using the power of God usually required a lot of mana, God usually tended to choose those who had a huge amount of mana.

“Naturally, you were a candidate as well, but… wasn’t it still Lunar’s decision in the end anyway?”

Since genetics also played a large factor in mana, it was usually those of high rank amongst the demons, or those who possessed the lineage of the demon king that eventually became the next demon king. So whether it was Frody or Lecht, there was nothing strange about it.

“Did that punk say it like that?” Frody laughed as if it were amusing. “That result was fraudulent.”

“What do you mean fraudulent? It was a decision made by God.”

“To be more exact, it isn’t made by God, but by the Saintess.”

What is he trying to say…?

“Since we can’t always hear God’s voice, it’s the Saintess, who is the child of God, who makes those decisions. We have no choice but to accept those words.”

“Then are you claiming that the Saintess of that time misrepresented God’s words?” I was a little dumbfounded. “There’s no way a saintess would do that. Lunar wouldn’t have just watched and let that happen.”

“Are you talking about divine punishment? It’s been almost five thousand years since that’s been meted out.”

It seemed as if Frody didn’t believe in Lunar itself.

“Whether you believe it or not, that’s the conclusion. Don’t you think it’s pathetic for you not to accept it?”

“I can’t help but not believe it. Because the saintess was in a relationship with that bastard at that time.”

I felt suffocated for a moment. ‘That bastard’ he mentioned was obviously Lecht.

“In a relationship…?”

“Yes, they were dating.”

“…Do you mean the saintess from a hundred years ago?”

“Yes, that black-haired saintess. Oh, as expected, you seem to know of it as well?”

His words relieved the tension in my stiffened body. If it was the saintess from a hundred years ago, then he was talking about me. 

“But I don’t know how he coaxed the saintess into doing it, or how he made her point him out as the Demon King. I guess the saintess fell in love with that bastard who’s full of crap…” he clicked his tongue as if he was still amazed at it, even now. “But as soon as he became the Demon King, the saintess disappeared without a trace.”

“…”

“Lecht, that bastard made sure he didn’t even leave behind a body.” Frody had also said that when we first met. “He must have thought she was unnecessary after he had already achieved his purpose.”

“That must be your own delusion.”

“You say it’s just my delusion, but the fact that the saintess disappeared without completely is a fact though?”

Despite knowing that Lecht wasn’t the one to do such a thing, my heart still pounded at Frody’s confident voice. 

“That’s why I’m telling you to be careful, Saintess. That is, if you don’t want to end up like the previous saintess.”

What he said made sense at first, but on second thought, was full of discrepancies. 

Why would Lecht wait for me for a hundred years if he had already dealt with me as the ‘previous saintess’? And he had used the description, ‘left’, to describe the me from a hundred years ago. It made more sense for me to have died then, and that Lecht had simply buried me without Frody’s knowledge.

“Thank you for the advice. But it’s more likely for me to doubt you since you played a part in trying to drive me into a corner than to believe that you’re truly concerned about me being deceived by Lecht.”

I decided to deflect his argument with a medley of contradictions. He’s a man who falsely accuses me in order to get on Lecht’s nerves. It’s a piece of cake for him to make that bullshit up to drive a wedge between us.

“I believe in Lecht.”

There was a slight crack in Frody’s face, which had remained provocative all along at my unhesistating answer.

“What I’m particularly sure about is that he’s a man who keeps his word. And…”

“…”

“That he promised to protect me with all his might.”

As soon as I finished speaking, something black descended with a bam from the sky.

Babam!

“Ack!”

The thing that fell on Frody was so harsh that it shook the floor strongly. Frody, who had hurriedly retreated, was now holding a rapier that he had gotten from god knows where.

The dust that had flown in the air at that moment slowly cleared up, and what caught my eye after my vision adjusted was a hole in the place where Frody had been standing. There was a man standing in that man-made crater. His huge wings were spread out behind his back. The feathers that filled those wings were black and shone like a crow’s, and were denser than an eagle’s.

‘Just look at this. How could I not believe in him?’

A faint smile hung across my mouth. Lecht, who beat his wings threateningly and caused a strong gust of wind to sweep through the garden, descended and pulled out a heavy double-edged sword from out of the ground.

At the black aura that was swirling around Lecht, Frody tightened his grip on his rapier. “Ha. Look here, Little Brother. Don’t you know what happens when you touch me, who has a human contractor?”

Lecht’s large wings moved in response to Frody’s provocation, yet not a provocation, and enveloped me in them. When I felt that soft sensation against my body, I was already in his arms before I knew it.

Wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me toward him, he spoke in a low voice. “Do I look like I care about that right now?”

“What…?”

“If the regulations of the demon realm are a problem in dealing with you, who touched Ara, then such a trivial thing like the demon realm, I’ll just replace it as well.”

“…?”

I let out a gasp at Lecht’s words, which could be seen as worse than when he said he’d destroy the empire. 

But did I already get used to his remarks at some point? Instead of the anxiety or unease I naturally should’ve felt, my heart seemed to be pounding like crazy with a sense of excitement.

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

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i nearly screamed when frody licked his wound hAGLKDSJFDFSJDFSJ PLS I AM SO DOWN BAD QAQ

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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To be honest, I wasn’t that surprised. Since it was within the range of requests he could’ve asked of me. That was why I could also answer him right away.

[Ara] “Little Duke, our relationship was severed the moment the Duke of Darchez threw me away. There is no reason for me to return to the Duchy.”

I understood that it would be a shame for the Duchy to lose me, who had become a saintess. But wasn’t it too deceptive of them to grab onto the ‘useless child’ once they had become of use?

[Ara] “If you want me to do something as the Saintess for the Duchy, I can talk to the temple and consider doing so.”

[Alion] “It’s not that.”

He bit his lower lip at my words telling him to request something different since I had no intention of returning.

[Alion] “It’s true that my father was the one who told me to bring you back since you became the saintess. I won’t deny that. But I’m saying that I want you back, not just because of that reason.”

[Ara] “…I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.”

Why else would he want Meliara back, if not for the reason that she’s now a ‘saintess’?

His lips moved slightly, but he couldn’t find anything appropriate to say. Instead, he placed the box that was next to him onto the table. 

Curious as it is about what was inside the box that he had brought together with him, he pushed it closer toward me.

[Alion] “I brought it back when I was returning from the expedition this time.”

He was beating around the bush when it was clearly a gift. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head for a moment.

A gift? Was Alion the type of person who would care enough to give Meliara a gift? 

That didn’t seem to be the case when I snuck a look sideways to check Meliara’s expression. Since she had a shocked expression on her face too. 

I looked suspiciously at the box for a long time before I reached my hand out.

[Ara] “I can open it, right?”

I opened it after I confirmed he had nodded his head. 

Inside was a teddy bear that was big enough to fit in my arms. It was a teddy bear that was ordinary enough to be found anywhere.

[Alion] “I’ve never once… properly behaved like an older brother before.”

[Meliara] Ah.

It wasn’t me, but Meliara, who let loose a sigh at his explanation of his gift. She covered her mouth with trembling hands. She looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment now. 

I understood without even having to ask.

Something she wanted to have at least once, but never had the chance to receive, even once. She never once had a stuffed toy that aristocratic girls would naturally have in their ordinary childhood. 

Since no one bought one for her, nor was she in any position to ask for one.  

[Alion] “When I came back and heard that you weren’t at the Duchy anymore, I thought you had just run away from home in a childish fit of temper. And after only listening to our father, who said that you talked back to him and complained, I went to pick you up without even trying to understand your reasoning behind it properly…”

He, who seemed to be laying out his justification, trailed off in the middle of his sentence. His lips moved slightly before he continued on carefully.

[Alion] “The moment I saw your expression when you said we should never see each other again, I knew. That you really had no intention of coming back.”

[Ara] “…”

[Alion] “So that’s why I also missed my opportunity to say this.”

[Ara] “Say what?” 

He hesitated again at my question. He seemed to be thinking, ‘Is saying this really the right thing?’ After a long while of hesitating, he whispered.

[Alion] “…I’m sorry.” 

My eyes widened at the words that flowed out of his lips. Meliara also seemed just as shocked when I turned my head to look at her. The sight of her trembling hands that still covered her mouth was extremely pitiful.

[Alion] “When I was little, I hated you because I believed the words of those around me when they said that my mother died because of you, just like a fool would.”

He slowly began to tell his own story. I considered whether or not I should stop him, but I waited quietly since Meliara seemed to want to hear it.

[Alion] “Then one day, I heard what you said when you were crying all by yourself.”

“If it weren’t for me, my mum wouldn’t have died, my brother wouldn’t be sad, and my dad wouldn’t be angry all the time.”

[Alion] “It wasn’t something a child of only nine years would say.”

[Ara] “…”

[Alion] “I immediately came to my senses the moment I heard those words. Just what on earth was I doing to my little sister?”

As if it wasn’t enough for her not to receive the generous love of her family, she was even shunned and abused at such an age. Since they were siblings with a nine year age gap, Alion, who turned eighteen, immediately realised his past wrongdoings.

[Alion] “But I couldn’t get closer to you without hesitating. You already found being around me so uncomfortable…”

Alion was also not someone who could suddenly change his behaviour to treat someone else warmly. Rather, the guilt of what he had done to her until now would’ve more likely caught him by the heels instead.

[Alion] “I couldn’t even protect you from our father since I was too weak…”

Moreover, to Alion, the Duke was like an unsurpassable mountain. He wasn’t brave enough to stand up to his father and protect Meliara at such a young age.

[Alion] “But seeing it now after coming here, even that’s all just a cowardly excuse. Even though I was weak, while you were living in fear, you were much more…”

He couldn’t bear to finish his sentence. 

Since she, at a much younger age, and with a much smaller body, was already being pressured by this unsurpassable mountain of a father, while he had been running away due to his fear.

Knowing that, Alion was at a loss for words for a long time. Staring only at the teddy bear that was inside the gift box, he murmured quietly in a voice that was almost a sigh.

[Alion] “I didn’t need to do anything that grandiose… I clearly could’ve just started with the basics.”

Those words that were murmured quietly made my heart tighten. A sour feeling tickled the edge of my throat. 

He had figured out the problem more accurately than I thought he would. 

[Alion] “So, give me one more chance, Meliara. So that at least once, I can be a proper older brother to you.”

[Ara] “…”

[Alion] “Come back.”

I couldn’t say anything to that.

[Meliara] Heuheuk…

Since I wasn’t the recipient of those words, and since the actual Meliara was crying silently next to me.

I wanted to be angry just like how I felt deep in my heart, since it was already too late. But I couldn’t even say anything recklessly, since it didn’t seem to be my place to get angry like that. 

The desperate appearance of Alion, who doesn’t even know that his little sister is already gone. The sound of Meliara sobbing, and her tears that are still leaking out, even now. And a teddy bear that, even though is late, has arrived all the more too late.

I felt that this whole situation was regrettable. 

A single word of resentment popped out of nowhere as I looked at the teddy bear that was lying on the table like that.

[Ara] “Why are you only here now?”

Why are you so late? And what’s with this extremely common teddy bear?

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

There was a long silence that followed the end of that sentence. 

It was Alion who got up from his seat first.

[Alion] “…Goodbye.”

I only looked up from my position, since there was no reason for me to stop him from leaving. 

The light in his eyes when we made eye contact was dark. I could still see the fatigue I had seen when I had encountered him at the accommodation. 

I could now understand why his face was always so dark. 

Even if he was only the Little Duke, he might’ve had a better life than Meliara, since he would’ve had the care of everyone in the Duchy. But…

‘This man was also just a victim of a broken family.’ 

He too was a man who needed just as much affection as Meliara needed. 

I could see that now. 

But there was nothing I could do. 

Since nothing would change, even if I went back with him. The fact that he was already too late was now an irreversible reality. It would only be a deception for me to pretend to be Meliara to reward his efforts, just to ease my mind.

[Ara] “Little Duke.”

I wasn’t in a position to forgive him, since I wasn’t Meliara. So this was the only sincerity I could freely tell him with my position.

[Ara] “Stay healthy.”

Alion’s pupils shook violently for a moment. But in the end, he still left the room without leaving a reply. 

The sound of Meliara’s sobbing grew louder as the door clicked shut after his departure.

[Meliara] Heuheuheuk…!

I could neither give her a pat on the back since I couldn’t even touch her, nor did I have the ability to give her any words of comfort. The best I could do was give her some time to herself. I left the room with her, crying sadly in front of the teddy bear. 

I took a heavy step after telling the priests not to enter that room for a while. 

I had only wanted to ask him for some evidence, but I had unintentionally caught a glimpse of the deep and complicated feelings between the two siblings. Although it wasn’t intentional, the situation became even more complicated since there was a foreign existence stuck between the two of them.

‘I don’t think it’s possible to ask for Alion’s cooperation anymore, so what should I do?’

Should I really use a spy to steal the evidence…?

But I didn’t want to employ such a method after seeing the complicated relationship between Meliara and Alion.

The problem was just that going ahead without either Frody’s testimony, or Alion’s evidence was like hitting a rock with an egg.

‘I should be able to clear my head a bit if I take a walk.’

I headed to the garden with the thought that I’d be able to think a bit more comfortably after getting some fresh air. I followed the long hallway and watched the scenery outside of the large window.

[Ara] “It’ll really be winter soon.”

I was hit by the chilly air as soon as I opened the door to the garden. I was lucky that I had my outerwear on. 

A cold energy wafted up as I walked on top of the lawn. It was a refreshing and pleasant coldness. It helped to ease the complicated thoughts that were cluttering my head.

I suddenly felt a prickling sensation at the back of my head as I was looking at the cloudless blue sky. I turned my head in surprise, but I couldn’t see anything there.

‘That’s strange. I thought I could feel someone looking at me.’

Thinking that I had mistaken it for the feeling of the cool wind, I turned my head back. However, as if to prove that I hadn’t been mistaken, Kelber suddenly stood in front of me with his back turned to me, his hackles raised.

[Kelber] “Grrr…”

[Ara] “Kelber…?”

I began to feel anxious upon seeing Kelber baring his teeth threateningly at the empty space in front of us. 

I put my hand on my chest and circulated my divine power around my heart. I could feel the shield that I had absorbed from the side temple in Chivan Village. Preparing to take it out at any time, I leaned closer to Kelber, who was now the size of a lion.

At that moment, the fragrance of gold osmanthus flowers tickled the tip of my nose. I could tell who it was immediately. 

[Ara] “Frody.”

As soon as I finished speaking, a small breeze billowed frighteningly in the space in front of me and revealed his figure.

[Frody] “Oh, it looks like the Saintess is right. How did you know?”

[Ara] “It’d be stranger if I didn’t know, when you’ve been so strongly appealing for me to notice you like this.”

Frody approached me, the corner of his mouth curling up.

[Kelber] “Woof woof!”

Kelber barked loudly at him as he approached me. 

Frody’s pet snake, which didn’t seem to like that, grew in size and sprang up toward Kelber. The five-headed snake that was as big as a horse, and Kelber, who was as big as a brown bear, quickly began to entangle each other.

It was a far cry from his playful tussling with Gryphon. The two of them rushed to kill each other. 

The snake was using its body to try and bind Kelber, who cleverly avoided it and was trampling on the moving torso of the snake. It looked as if either of them would be severely injured if they were even bitten once.

But I didn’t have time to worry about Kelber’s fight. 

Frody, who had narrowed the distance between us in an instance, was now right in front of me.

[Frody] “Hello, Saintess.”

‘Although I thought of meeting him in order to persuade him, I wasn’t expecting him to show up in person like this either.’

Was it because I knew he had a hostile relationship with Lecht? Or was it because I knew that he was the figure behind Olivia’s true self? Although he had never harmed me, nor did we have a particularly bad relationship, I could still feel chills travelling up my spine.

[Frody] “I thought so last time as well, but your face is really pretty, Saintess.”

I took a step back as he examined my face closely and evaluated it. 

[Ara] “I appreciate the compliment, but could you please stay away from me? This distance is a little burdensome.”

Nevertheless, he approached me just as much as I retreated.

---

prepare the tissues bc this is such a tragedy ;-;

i think this chapter is one of my favourites bc i rlly like how the author showed the complicated relationship between alion and the og meliara through ara’s third party pov.

i don’t think i’ll ever be able to fully forgive alion for being a bystander and in a way, enabling the abuse of meliara for all those years through his inaction, but i rlly love how the author did this whole scene. this situation clearly shows the effects of death and grief on a family and how all members of a broken family suffer from the aftereffects of it.

the duke channels his grief into anger and directs misguidedly toward the existence that took his wife away from him and neglects to think about how his wife will feel if she knows the existence that she so painstakingly brought into the world at the expense of her own life is treated so harshly by her own father.

we see a young misguided alion whose surroundings have shaped him to hate meliara. and i can’t exactly blame him there, because he was only a child as well, and it should’ve been an adult that told him how all these complexities work. but he should’ve known better when he was already 18. it shouldn’t have taken him overhearing meliara to get him to realise he’s done wrong. ara phrases it perfectly: he too is a victim of a broken family.

but i like the way they phrased his apology because he doesn’t try to make excuses; he acknowledges that everything he’s saying is an excuse and he’s aware that none of this can justify how he acted and takes responsibility. he also doesn’t get angry that meliara doesn’t want to reestablish a relationship with him.

and meliara is truly the most pitiful of all; she’s been framed as a culprit and no one in her household is willing to believe her– or at least to her knowledge; not until she’s ousted of her own body does she know that her older brother has always unconditionally believed in her.

this chapter is one of my favourites but it’s truly a tragedy; it’s bittersweet and melancholy and i’m crying rn to kenny by still woozy ;-;

sorry for the long ass essay, it’s been a while since i’ve done such a long translator’s endnote, but i rlly hope they do elaborate on og meliara and i wish her happiness too, bc god she deserves it. alion was just too late, but the fact that meliara heard it but is already gone just what makes it all the more tragic.

to end, pls vote and review this novel on novelupdates if it also made u feel smth, until next time <333

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Upon arriving at the Grand Duchy using the space travel portal, Lydia immediately started to work without further ado. Her job was easy since everyone who needed her touch was already gathered in one room.

Although there were many horned demons, and demonic creatures that would be outside the bounds of what would be familiar to humans, they didn’t bother her at all.

[Muso] “You’re not a human, are you?”

Muso asked as he looked at her, who he thought would’ve been much more startled, but was unusually calm, as if she was used to it.

[Muso] “Seeing as you have no horns… Do you have more human blood than demon blood?”

[Lydia] “Just like how the size of a demon’s horns does not make a difference to demons, the presence or absence of horns also has nothing to do with how much of each side’s blood you have mixed in you.”

[Muso] “So you are of mixed race!”

Muso didn’t care if she was closer to that of a human or a demon in the first place anyway.

[Muso] “Woah! It’s my first time seeing another half-demon other than me!”

Muso shifted closer to sit next to Lydia, who was washing her hands lightly to heal the next person.

[Muso] “Maybe that’s why I felt you looked familiar…!”

Lydia focused on the next patient after glancing at him for a bit.

[Muso] “My name is Muso. What about you?”

[Lydia] “You’re very extroverted.”

[Muso] “I mean, it’s my first time seeing another half-demon! I even thought that I was the only one in this world!”

The shining eyes that were fixed on her face were quite burdensome.

[Muso] “You won’t feel annoyed if I drop the formalities, right?”

[Lydia] “…”

[Muso] “Let’s speak comfortably as friends. How about it?”

[Lydia] “Friends… Even if I’m older than you, I’ll still be 100 years older than you.”

[Muso] “Heok. You didn’t seem like you were.”

Obviously having not thought that Lydia would be older than him, Muso covered his mouth in surprise. But soon after doing so, he began to talk once again.

[Muso] “When did you meet Her Majesty? I first met her 100 years ago, but back then, I…”

Lydia didn’t bother to stop him from talking excitedly about Ara. Since she also liked talking about Ara as well.

[Muso] “…so that I can repay Her Majesty’s faith in me…!”

He continued talking until Lydia had finished healing everyone. Finally finished with healing her last patient, Lydia stretched her stiff body. It had become dark outside before she even knew it.

[Muso] “What about you? When did you first meet Her Majesty? How did you meet her?”

Muso finally concluded his story before asking about Lydia’s story. Lydia turned her head to look out of the open window beside her. The autumn wind was floating in softly.

[Lydia] “The first time I met Miss Ara was on a cool, windy night like tonight.”

Lydia smiled as she recalled that day back then.

[Lydia] “She had an appearance that resembled a black rose, different from what she looks like now.”

[Muso] “That’s right. Her Majesty was beautiful, even when she had black hair.”

Lydia continued to speak calmly when Muso responded to her words.

[Lydia] “At that time, Miss Ara told me something I had never heard before in my life.”

[Muso] “What did she say?”

Since she had something as cool as, ‘You’re going to become an invincible guy’ to him, he similarly anticipated what sort of incredible words she’d say to Lydia. And naturally, Her Majesty didn’t disappoint him.

[Lydia] “It’s the first time I’ve seen such a pretty girl like you. So why are you covering up this pretty face?”

Lydia raised her hand to brush it across the Lunar pattern that covered half of her face.

[Lydia] “I would always try and cover it in a hurry, since everyone around me would only ask why that sort of thing was on a girl’s face.”

[Muso] “Cover it…?”

At her words, a glimpse of a past memory flashed through Muso’s mind.

[Muso] “Huh…?”

He sprang to his feet and reached a hand out toward her. His eyes grew round as he covered the left side of her face with the pattern with his own hand.

[Muso] “T-The masked noona from back then…?”

t/n: used by younger males to address older females

Lydia let out a grin at Muso’s words.

[Lydia] “Do you remember now?”

[Muso] “Heoookk!”

[Lydia] “You’d always follow me around, saying noona, noona. So you’ve forgotten about it all, huh?”

Muso’s mouth was so wide it seemed like his jaw was about to drop.

[Muso] “W-Why did you pretend not to know me?!”

[Lydia] “I was wondering how long it would take for you to remember.”

[Muso] “I-It’s because I thought you were a human! Obviously I thought you were already dead…!”

Lydia grabbed his hand which was covering half her face, still seemingly not believing him.

[Lydia] “Long time no see, crybaby.”

He had deliberately pretended to be energetic and strong for 100 years already, since he didn’t want to be criticised for being vulnerable, just because of the human blood in him. Overturning all that effort he had put in, Muso started to cry upon reconnecting with the friend he hadn’t met for 100 years.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Late into the night, we put our heads together to plan a counterattack.

[Linden] “Wouldn’t the Little Duke have wanted to prove Meliara’s innocence, judging by how he gathered all the evidence like that?”

[Ara] “I still think it’s simply because he wants to restore the Duke of Darchez’s reputation.”

I just couldn’t believe that he was struggling to clear his sibling’s name after leaving Meliara neglected for so many years beforehand. But Meliara was a bit more innocent.

[Meliara] Still, I’d like to think that he did it because he believed I was innocent… Is that too naive of me…?”

In any case, she would still carry the hope that he believed in her since she still had affection for her older brother.

[Linden] “It’s still a bit strange when you think about it. No matter what his initial intentions were, why isn’t he revealing it and just staying put when he now knows for sure that his little sister is innocent?”

Linden expressed more doubts about Alion’s current actions than the reason behind it.

[Ara] “Maybe he still lacks all the sufficient evidence, or perhaps he’s just waiting for the right timing to reveal it.”

While we exchanged our varying opinions, the one who gave the most useful conclusion was Lecht.

[Lecht] “No matter if it’s his initial intentions or what his current mentality is. Nothing will change unless we meet him.”

We had to meet him to see what his intentions were, and what his current mentality was right now. We also had to meet in order for us to take the evidence too.

[Ara] “Regardless of anything else, he’s more likely to meet me rather than Lecht or Linden, so I’ll request for him to make a visit.”

I was a bit worried since I had sent him back so cold-heartedly last time so he might not agree to my request to meet now. If he said he wouldn’t meet me, it’d be beyond my capacity, since there was no other way for us to meet, seeing as I currently was unable to leave the temple.

However, it was immediately revealed that all my worrying was meaningless the next day. Receiving the message, he came to see me as soon as the sun rose.

* * *

I greeted him in the temple’s parlour.

While I was meeting with Alion, Linden said that he’d look into Olivia while Lecht also left, saying that he’d try to track Frody’s footsteps.

[Ara] “You came quite quickly.”

[Alion] “…it’s because I’ll always be too late.”

He hesitated for a while before he spoke.

[Alion] “So it’s my desperate struggle to make up for it, even if it’s only now.” 

I couldn’t help but pay attention to the expression of Meliara, who was sitting next to me, at his words that were filled with a meaning I couldn’t quite understand. Looking at Alion with a complex expression on her face, she whispered.

[Meliara] It’s a bit awkward, since this is my first time seeing my older brother’s face this close…

But still, to think that it’s her first time seeing her brother’s face this close despite living under the same roof for so long. As long as they’ve had a meal together, no, then doesn’t this mean they’ve never even had tea together before?

Alion seemed to look even more annoying for no reason. 

He spoke quietly, perhaps because he had glimpsed the emotions that showed on my face.

[Alion] “Drinking tea together… I think it’s our first time.”

[Ara] “So you know.”

To be honest, even though Meliara had been amazed by this ‘first time’ of theirs, I didn’t think that he’d notice either.

Even though I was conscious of my detest of him, my voice still inevitably sounded a bit too curt. My cold reaction caused him to look at my face.

[Alion] “I heard you had a disturbance with the Crown Prince.”

He changed the conversation soon after.

[Alion] “That’s probably why you contacted me, right?”

[Ara] “It’s similar to that.”

[Alion] “What do you need?”

Without even asking what had happened, he asked. At his sudden reaction to tell him what I needed, I felt a bit flustered.

[Ara] “Is that what you’re most curious about…?”

[Alion] “…What would you like me to be curious about?”

[Ara] “You must have heard the full story already. About how they found the drug in my bag, or how I’m being suspected of spreading the epidemic. So I thought you’d be the most curious about whether or not I’m innocent.”

[Alion] “You said it’s not you.”

[Ara] “What…?”

[Alion] “You said it wasn’t you. That’s what you told me, or did I mishear that?”

[Ara] “It wasn’t me… I did say that.”

[Alion] “So is there any reason for me to be more curious about that?”

At his sincere looking appearance and the words that were said with a frown, as if they were a given, I was lost for words for a moment. I didn’t know how he interpreted my silence, but he added.

[Alion] “If you say it’s not you, then it isn’t.”

[Ara] “…Did you always think like that?”

I was rather embarrassed by his completely unexpected response.

[Ara] “Did you always believe… that your little sister was innocent…?”

[Alion] “…”

[Ara] “Is that why you investigated like that every time a situation occurred?”

[Alion] “You knew I investigated it all, as expected. I thought I had been pretty secretive already.”

[Ara] “…”

He paused for a moment before speaking again.

[Alion] “It wasn’t that I specifically believed you were innocent. I just believed you.”

[Ara] “What do you mean by that…?”

He said to me, who didn’t understand the difference between the two.

[Alion] “Because you always said it wasn’t you.”

[Ara] “…”

[Alion] “It didn’t matter if you weren’t innocent. I just believed you when you said it wasn’t you.”

I kept suspecting that the reason he investigated was to protect the reputation of the Duke of Darchez. But that wasn’t the case. Regardless of whether the reputation of the Duchy was restored, or whether she was innocent or not, he had only simply believed his little sister.

[Ara] “Ha.”

I turned my head at the truth that was unusually heavy. I could see Meliara next to me, who was just as shocked as I was.

[Meliara] Brother… believed in me…? But I thought you hated me, Brother…

[Ara] “Do you normally believe the words of someone you hate without doubting it?”

I threw Meliara’s question back at Alion. At that moment, Alion’s face was stained with embarrassment. His eyes shook violently.

[Alion] “It’s not that I hate you…!”

Instead of saying something that sounded like an excuse, he just kept his mouth shut. After a brief moment of silence, he opened his mouth again.

[Alion] “Tell me what you need.”

His objective of switching the topic was too obvious.

[Alion] “Seeing as you’ve got both the Grand Duke of Arvis and the Lunar religion on your side, you must need something that can’t be done without me, right?”

[Ara] “Correct.”

[Alion] “Tell me. I’ll see if I can do it.”

[Ara] “The things you’ve investigated about me so far.”

He frowned without saying anything, as if he didn’t understand what I was saying right away.

[Ara] “You have the messenger who delivered the tea to Saintess Olivia, right? I need that person.”

[Alion] “…”

[Ara] “Other than that, all the evidence that can prove my innocence, like the ledgers of the shop that sold the poisonous herbs.”

Realising what I was aiming for, only then did his frown deepen.

[Alion] “Are you thinking of using it?”

[Ara] “Yes.”

[Alion] “You won’t be able to restore your relationship with the Crown Prince if you touch Saintess Olivia. You know that, right?”

[Ara] “I have no thought of restoring that relationship.”

I peeked at Meliara who was next to me. I thought she would hope for that relationship to be repaired, since she loved that foolish Crown Prince. However, she shook her head, as if she could read my thoughts.

[Ara] “I can’t go back anyway.”

Meliara nodded in agreement with my comment. She seemed to have made up her mind too.

Alion seemed to be troubled over something for a moment.

[Alion] “Alright.”

[Ara] “Really…?”

[Alion] “I can give it all to you.”

I was even momentarily surprised by his unexpectedly refreshing answer.

[Alion] “Instead…”

His words that meant to introduce conditions caused my lips to shut. 

As expected, there’s no way he would just give it all away. I was the one who was foolish to think that he would help me without a price after hearing all that nonsense of him believing his little sister. 

In the end, he too, was a nobleman who took net profit into account.

[Ara] “Instead?”

As I waited quietly for his request, his lips moved slightly before he spoke in a breathy voice.

[Alion] “Instead, will you come back to the Duchy if I ask you to?”

---

get ready for the next chapter ;-;

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

[Ara] “Is it really the Little Duke?”

[Linden] “Yeah. I even double checked it since I couldn’t believe it either.”

I couldn’t understand why I was hearing that man’s name here.

[Linden] “To be honest, I also looked into everything where you and that woman were involved with each other since I had suspicions about a lot of things as well, but…’

In other words, he had run a background check on me without informing me, but it didn’t matter to me. Because I knew just how touchy Linden was on having all the information in his grasp first.

[Linden] “And the places I had stuck my hand in all had traces of the Little Duke presence.”

[Ara] “So apart from the poisoning case, the Little Duke had been investigating everything before that?”

[Linden] “Yeah. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

How could there be such a good opportunity for him to coincidentally investigate all the past ‘villainous’ acts of Meliara and find out that she had actually been framed instead? No one would bother investigating unless they already had doubts about what they knew. But to think that just investigating wasn’t enough and he even needed to take away an important witness…

[Linden] “This is just my opinion, but…”

Linden snuck a look at my face and spoke cautiously.

[Linden] “The Little Duke of Darchez… I think he knows you’re being framed.”

[Ara] “What?”

[—] “There’s no way…”

The quiet voice of a woman sounded in my ear, overlapping with my own voice.

Shocked because there was no one else around me except for Lecht and Tanma, I turned my head to where I had heard the sound come from. But there was no one there.

[Ara] “Just now, did you hear someone else’s voice?”

[Linden] “A voice? Whose voice?”

[Ara] “A woman’s voice…”

[Linden] “I’m not sure.”

Linden tilted his head at my question while Lecht walked over to the place where I was looking. Behind a pillar. He looked behind the curtain and shook his head.

[Ara] “Never mind, I must have misheard.”

But I was sure I heard it. It was strange, but since Lecht said he didn’t feel anything, I brushed it off, thinking only I had felt it.

[Ara] “So what you’re trying to tell me is that the Little Duke seems to believe that I’m innocent?”

[Linden] “Yeah.”

[Ara] “The Little Duke and I don’t seem to have a relationship that justifies such faith in me though…”

Meliara and Alion’s sibling relationship was in a way, worse than that of strangers.

[Linden] “Although I haven’t met the Little Duke very often either, he’s not the type of person to be so affectionate.”

[Ara] “No, that isn’t the problem.”

He neglected the young Meliara, who was being mistreated by the Duke, and turned a blind eye to her abuse. By hiding behind the position of a ‘bystander’, what he had done was nothing short of enabling and agreeing with Meliara’s abuse. 

It was a totally different matter to being an affectionate person. But now, he seems to believe that I’m being framed…?

[Ara] “How hypocritical.”

If that isn’t the case, then the only other possible reason is…?

[Ara] “Maybe it’s a ploy he’s made to make me return to the Duke’s estate.”

[Linden] “But to say that…”

Linden looked even more perplexed at my suspicion.

[Linden] “You and Olivia first had conflict when the Little Duke was at the front lines for the subjugation, right?”

[Ara] “That’s right.”

[Linden] “I think he asked someone to look into it as soon as he heard news of it at the front line.”

[Ara] “…That was almost two years ago.”

[Linden] “Yeah, so… personally, I don’t think it’s a ploy constructed to get you to return to the Duchy.”

It wasn’t something that happened recently. It’s something that’s been like that for a long time already. 

I massaged my head, which was full of complicated thoughts. My throat felt stuffy, like someone who had eaten something wrong.

[Ara] “You’re saying that he might have trusted and cherished me, even while he neglected me for such a long time?”

[Linden] “I just said it since it could be a possibility.”

Linden added cautiously, perhaps because my voice was too sharp. 

Nevertheless, the only thing I could do was let out a sigh. My throat felt stuffy. Whether it was anger or annoyance, an emotion that I couldn’t quite identify rose up from within me.

[Ara] “Haa…”

I shut my eyes tightly and tried to empty my stomach of its contents with a sigh, but it was useless.

[Ara] “Even if that’s how he truly feels…”

There’s already no one left for him to tell.

[Ara] “Even if it’s late, this is just too late.”

I heard a soft, muffled sound, as if it were responding to my words that I had blurted out.

[—] “Heup…!”

Despite the person trying not to make a sound, it was the kind of sobbing that couldn’t be held in. 

[—] Heuheuk…

I turned my head at the quiet sounds of sobbing so sorrowful it was enough to shake people’s hearts just by listening to it.

[Ara] “You can’t hear this either?”

I asked Linden, but he shook his head with an expression that showed he didn’t know what I was talking about.

[Ara] “Lecht too?”

Lecht shook his head as well. Tanma was no different to them.

I got up from where I sat and moved carefully to where the sound was coming from.

[—] Heuheuk…

To be honest, it was a little creepy. To think that no one else but me could hear the sound. 

But that was all the more reason for me to investigate it thoroughly. The source of the sound was none other than behind the pillar. It was definitely where Lecht had just checked earlier.

My eyes widened when I poked my head in slightly to check the identity of the sobbing person.

[Ara] “Huh…?”

[—] !

Surprised by my voice, the woman fell back onto the floor on her butt.

Brown eyes that looked back up at me. Clean skin. A face that looked exactly like mine, but filled with tears. 

[Ara] “Meliara…?”

[—] You can… hic, see me…?

The source of the auditory hallucination that had been heard earlier was none other than the original owner of this body.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

I deliberately took Lecht and Linden to my room in case anyone else could me if I talked outside. Butler Tanma stayed outside, saying that he would go and keep the priests in order instead of me.

[Ara] “You really can’t see it?”

Pointing to Meliara’s soul, I asked them again, but both men shook their heads.

[Meliara] You’re the first one who’s seen me.

The way she trails off at the end of her sentence, her way of speaking, and even her act of tucking her hair behind her ears. All of them were described as her habits in the original story. 

I stretched out my hand again, but it went straight through her, just like it had before.

[Ara] “Ha, I really can’t even touch it.”

Even though it didn’t seem like I was hallucinating, it was still my first time seeing a ghost, so I didn’t really know how to accept it.

[Ara] “If I’m the first one to see you, then why were you hiding like that earlier?”

[Meliara]​​ Oh… because I feel like I’m in a place where I’m not supposed to be for some reason…

She felt like she did something wrong, even though her opening her eyes here wasn’t because she wanted to. I felt suffocated just thinking of how she had been treated to think like that.

[Ara] “You said you couldn’t go outside this temple, right?”

[Meliara] Yes…

[Ara] “If the area inside the temple is special, then… is the fact that I can see you also thanks to the fact that I’m the saintess?”

[Meliara] That could be the case… It could also be because you’re me as well…

I exchanged a few words with her, feeling like I was talking to a mirror. The more we talked, the more I understood. This wasn’t an illusion, but was Meliara herself.

[Ara] “So the day before I opened my eyes in this body, you had earnestly wished to just ‘disappear like this’? And then when you woke up, you found yourself here in the temple in this state?”

[Meliara] Yes…

[Ara] “How could that be?”

Although she had wished to die, she hadn’t personally drank any poison, nor had she jumped off from anywhere either.

[Meliara] To be honest, back then… it felt like something had burst out from here… and now that I think about it, it seemed like the mana exploded…

[Ara] “Mana…? Don’t tell me that was your magic being unleashed?”

[Meliara] Maybe…

[Ara] “Weren’t you unable to use magic? You, who couldn’t use it, unlike the Duchess…!”

How much persecution had she received from the Duke though…! I couldn’t just recklessly talk about her terrible past, which she was all the more aware of than me, so I just shut up.

[Meliara] That’s what I thought as well, but I guess it was actually possible…

She lowered her head and looked down at her own two hands. For her mana to burst out causing her to become a mage at that moment; why then of all times? 

Looking back at that time, it was where even her engagement had been broken off, and she had lost all hope. Anyone who fell into an abyss like this would think that they just wanted to die, even if it was just for a moment. But the moment she had that thought, the first magic she had in her life burst out from within her, making her soul disappear from her own body. 

Just how pitiful would this woman’s life be? Even though I was angry and frustrated just from hearing about it, Meliara herself was quite calm.

[Meliara] I was stupid… I should have been more careful…

[Ara] “It’s not your fault. How could you be careful when you didn’t even know you could use magic?” 

It was never her fault. I would rather blame God than put the blame on her.

[Meliara] I should’ve worked harder in order to learn how to use magic faster…

[Ara] “How could you work any harder than you already did…!”

And to think that during all this time, you thought that you caused harm to other people just because you couldn’t use magic fast enough.

[Meliara] Thank you for saying so.

I realised upon seeing her smile softly, as if she were happy, even with such obvious words that were a given. Just how low Meliara’s self-esteem was. It upset me once again when I thought of the environment she grew up in, which led to her becoming like this.

As I closed both eyes tightly with a sigh, Linden called out to me.

[Linden] “Ara, if I’m not mistaken, then… there’s someone there, right?”

Turning his head, he gestured lightly to where Meliara’s soul was standing. But to him, it would look empty.

[Linden] “And that… if I’m not out of my mind, then…”

Looking alternately between where Meliara was standing and where I was standing, he spoke cautiously.

[Linden] “Meliara Darchez?”

[Ara] “Haa…”

How many times have I sighed already? But when I thought about everything I had to explain in the future, all I could do was let out another sigh again.

[Ara] “Lecht, Linden. I have something to tell the two of you. It’s going to be something absurd that you’ve never heard anywhere else before.”

I asked Lecht and Linden simultaneously.

[Ara] “Can you promise to believe what I’m saying?”

[Lecht] “You’re asking something that’s a given.”

Lecht’s answer came frighteningly quickly, as soon as he heard my question, while Linden seemed to hesitate for a while before nodding his head.

[Linden] “Who would I trust, if not you?”

[Ara] “Huu… Then, shall we take a seat first? It’s going to be a long story.”

* * *

The story, which I thought would take the whole day to explain, took less time for them to digest than I thought it would.

[Linden] “So ever since I first met you at the lodging, you’ve been a different person.”

[Ara] “I’m sorry for not telling you right away.”

[Linden] “No, I completely understand. There’d be no need for you to tell me if we didn’t have this close of a relationship as we do now.”

He was right. Since there’s no reason for me to go around talking about this for no reason. 

[Linden] “I’m glad I know, even if it’s now.”

A soft smile was spread prettily across Linden’s face.

[Linden] “I seem to understand everything now.”

He looked relieved, as if he had finally realised something. In any case, he seemed to have noticed how much I changed and thought it was strange. As expected, he’s quite quick-witted.

[Ara] “Lecht too, I’m so-”

[Lecht] “There’s no need for you to apologise.”

Lecht stopped me mid apology. Instead, he brushed the back of his finger against my cheek and whispered.

[Lecht] “Since what I’ve been waiting for is…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, perhaps because he was conscious of the people around us. However, I could still understand the obvious words, ‘Since what I’ve been waiting for is your soul anyway’, that he had swallowed.

[Lecht] “So that’s why you were saying that it would’ve been of no use, even if I had found you sooner.”

Judging from the relieved look in his eyes as he whispered, he seemed to have been hung up all throughout the day over our conversation yesterday. He smiled as I nodded my head.

[Meliara] Someone wrote about my story…?

While the two men only cared about when they discovered the difference between Meliara and I, Meliara reacted in a completely different direction.

I spoke apprehensively.

[Ara] “Even if a story was written about this place, it’s definitely still its own world and space.”

I felt like with her already low self-esteem, she’d have an even bigger sense of shame upon realising that this place was only a world within paper.

[Ara] “But I guess it’d be the same if you wrote about my world as well, it’d also be like a world inside a book too?”

Although I tried to explain the situation in a hurry, Meliara was fixated on a completely different point than what I was thinking.

[Meliara] So someone read my story…

[Ara] “Meliara…?”

Her tears dripped down uncontrollably.

[Meliara] So there was someone who took interest in my life… I’m glad…

She didn’t even seem to care that she was seen as a ‘villainess’ in it. She was just glad that someone had been paying attention to her, even if it was someone in another world. 

I felt my chest getting stuffy by seeing the reaction that showed just how lonely her life had been.

Just what sort of grudge did Olivia have against this kind of person?

[Ara] “Meliara, could you finish what you were saying earlier? The story of you and Olivia.”

---

never shitting on a villainess again.

meliara is so precious, i wish her all the happiness in the world QAQ

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

The fact that no one came to the temple for healing was so humiliating to the point where there were no visitors to the temple.

[Priest] “So they’ve all fallen for the words of those Solarist bastards and are suspecting our Saintess, huh?”

I didn’t know the reason why, but a lot of the priests, including the Priest Trio, were busy expressing their anger.

[Ara] “Don’t be too upset. All we’ve done is give them a choice, there’s no need for us to forcefully heal them.”

They seemed angry at the fact that people were doubting me, but I didn’t really mind. Since the truth would be revealed one day, I thought it’d be better for me to think about how to catch Olivia red handed.

‘There must be someone who knows I sent her peppermint tea.’

She couldn’t have gone out to buy tea leaves by herself as a princess. And even if she did, there would’ve been a maid or a knight who had followed her out. There had to be someone who knew that the tea Meliara had prepared and sent out was actually peppermint tea.

‘The problem was that I didn’t have any of my previous memories, so it was hard for me to single that person out.’

I began to feel quite hopeless at the thought of having to go back to the Duke’s estate just to find that person. 

Should I send in a spy to investigate all the servants in the Duke’s estate? But the problem was, apart from the embarrassment of having my spy discovered, there would also be the misunderstanding that I still had lingering feelings for them as well.

‘Finding someone who knew that Olivia was the one who prepared the poisoned chamomile tea… would be even harder.’

According to what Lecht had told me in the morning, the blue substance in the bottle that Ziken had showed me was the cause of the epidemic. The fact that she had obtained a poison from the demon realm from Frody in order to prevent herself from being found out was a chilling act in itself.

‘Was there nothing else I could do but meet up with Frody and try and persuade him to help me after all?’

I stroked Kelber’s head that was resting on my knee as I mulled over the problem. I was also scratching the chin of the Lunarism messenger bird which was sitting on Kelber’s back. The name of the hawk, which was like a mascot of the Lunar religion, was named ‘Lu’. Both of them were essential to stabilising my mental and physical health. 

But someone soon appeared, breaking the stability that was once there.

[Muso] “Your Majesty!!”

[Ara] “That scared me.”

Muso was loud from the moment he appeared this time as well. He came in normally through the temple doors instead of breaking something this time, running towards me, who was sitting on the stairs.

[Muso] “I heard that you were going to be staying here for the time being, so I came running over here!”

Oh, yeah, we left you at the accomodation… To be honest, I had actually completely forgotten about him, but I pretended I hadn’t and smiled prettily.

[Ara] “It’s good to see you. I had just been wondering whether or not I should go and pick you up.”

[Muso] “Heok, Your Majesty is always so considerate of me, as expected. I’m touched.”

He sat cross-legged on the floor with a teary expression on his face.

[Ara] “Have you finished fixing the broken door?”

[Linden] “It’s all been fixed.”

Although I had directed the question at Muso, the answer to that question sounded from above my head. I turned my head to see Linden with half his hair tied up.

[Ara] “Linden…”

My heart began to feel heavy when I made eye contact with him, the last moment I had seen of him replaying in my mind. However, Linden smiled and spoke quickly, as if to stop the words coming out of my mouth.

[Linden] “They say that mages all have weak bodies, but as expected, not all of them are like that. He fixed the door in one night.”

[Muso] “Yes! I completely fixed it!”

Muso announced gallantly, regardless of whether he was aware of the awkward atmosphere between Linden and I.

[Linden] “I heard the rumour. So my brother is trying to paint you as the culprit?”

[Ara] “Yeah, he said he found the evidence in my room or something.”

I sighed as I recalled yesterday’s incident. Muso let out a loud ‘Ah!’ and said at my deep sigh.

[Muso] “Were those guys in armour that came to the place where I was yesterday actually the bastards that caused trouble for Your Majesty? I heard it from the prince over here.”

 My eyes collided with Linden’s again at Muso’s words. At Linden’s slight smile, I tried to smile with him, but the lip muscles that were used to form a smile felt too stiff and awkward.

[Muso] “I didn’t even know and just let them go! I didn’t even know that the room those bastards went into was Your Majesty’s room…! I’m such a useless person! I sincerely apologise!”

[Ara] “No, it was inevitable since you didn’t know what Ziken looked like.”

It was only natural since he had never heard about what he looked like or even met him before, and had only been told by the Priest Trio that he was the ‘Crown Prince’.

[Ara] “More importantly, about the Grand Duchy…”

It had become a situation that was beyond my capacity since I couldn’t leave this place either.

[Muso] “I knew it was the plague as soon as it broke out so I’ve already prevented it from spreading any further.”

Since it was a poison that the demons were familiar with, unlike the case with humans, they were able to take action as soon as the symptoms appeared.

[Ara] “But it’s not getting any better either.”

[Muso] “Everyone who’s caught it is quite tough, so they’ll be able to hold out until your return.”

[Ara] “If you’ve caught it, you’ve caught it, and if you’re sick, you’re sick.”

It was also quite frustrating to let go of people who you knew were sick. However, due to the nature of the Grand Duchy, I couldn’t just ask any priest to go instead of me either. 

Who was going to take responsibility for it if the priest collapsed from shock after being sent to a place that was teeming with horned demons and peculiar demonic creatures…?

[Lydia] “I’ll go.”

Lydia, who wasn’t standing too far away from us, approached.

[Ara] “Ah, Lydia, I appreciate the offer, but…”

There wasn’t anyone that I trusted more than Lydia to heal the people of the Grand Duchy. But the reason why it was troublesome to send her to the Grand Duchy was the same reason I couldn’t send any other priest either. 

No matter how calm Lydia was, it would still calm as a shock to her.

[Lydia] “I know what you’re worried about, Saintess. But it’s alright.”

Her smile was as gentle as it always was.

[Ara] “No, the problem isn’t what you’re thinking of, Lydia. It’s actually a bit more troublesome…”

[Lydia] “It’s alright.”

Lecht, who was sitting next to me, leaned toward me when I was at a loss at being unable to explain the reason clearly to her. He whispered softly to me, the distance between us so close I could feel his breath against my ear.

[Lecht] “The High Priestess over there, she’s a half-demon.”

[Ara] “Yes… What?!”

The one who was being shocked wasn’t Lydia, but me?!

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

I turned my head to look at Lydia.

[Ara] “No way…”

She smiled, as if she knew what Lecht had just told me.

[Ara] “Then Lydia, with this child… and him…”

I pointed to Kelber and Muso, one after the other. Lydia smiled and nodded her head. It meant that she could see the true form beyond the illusion magic.

[Ara] “Huu… I feel betrayed…”

[Lydia] “I didn’t tell you since I didn’t think it was that important to you, Saintess.”

[Ara] “Well, that’s true… it doesn’t really matter.”

It didn’t matter whether Lydia was a human, a demon, or of mixed race.

[Ara] “I just feel embarrassed by my past behaviour when I didn’t even have to be careful in front of you, Lydia.”

[Lydia] “It was very natural. It is alright.”

[Ara] “I feel even more embarrassed when you comfort me like that, Lydia…”

Lydia laughed softly when I covered my red face with my hands.

[Lydia] “Then, I’ll be back soon. It should only take one or two days with the space travel portal.”

[Ara] “Oh yeah, you can use that, Lydia.”

I was just thinking about how nice it’d be not to get motion sickness like I did in a carriage, but Lydia laughed and said.

[Lydia] “You can also use it too if you want. It isn’t a matter of ability, but of gaining permission.”

[Ara] “Really?”

[Lydia] “There’s isn’t anything you can’t use in the entirety of Lunarism, Saintess.”

Then I’d definitely use that next time I travel to and from the Grand Duchy!

[Ara] “Then you should’ve told me that earlier! Then I wouldn’t have had such a hard time riding in the carriage.”

Lydia said something out of the blue just as I was smiling at the good news.

[Lydia] “To be honest, I didn’t tell you since I thought you wouldn’t use it, even if I did tell you.”

[Ara] “Why wouldn’t I use something that’s so good?”

[Lydia] “The motion sickness is worse than riding the carriage.”

[Ara] “Huh…?”

[Lydia] “The motion sickness is 100 times worse than the carriage. So I don’t use it unless it’s really urgent either.”

[Ara] “Heok.”

Forget using it next time. Motion sickness that’s 100 times worse than a carriage? I’ll definitely die…

Lydia laughed as I shuddered.

[Lydia] “Then, I’ll have to ask you to stay at the temple for the time being.”

[Ara] “Stay safe!”

I clenched my fist in support of Lydia, who said she’d go despite having to suffer terrible motion sickness.

[Lydia] “Could I ask you to be my guide there?”

Lydia nodded her head succinctly, asking Muso as she approached him.

Muso looked at Lydia with a blank face that was unlike his usual self, murmuring.

[Muso] “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

Lydia tilted her head and smiled at his words.

[Lydia] “Have we?”

[Muso] “I-I guess not.”

Lydia only smiled at Muso’s weirdness.

[Muso] “That’s strange. Why is it so familiar?”

Muso continued to tilt his head as Lydia smiled without neither affirming nor denying his statement.

[Muso] “Anyway, let’s go! I’ll be back, Your Majesty!”

Muso waved at me before following after Lydia. 

But Lecht spoke sharply before I could answer him.

[Lecht] “What do you mean, you’ll come back? Isn’t it your job to protect the Grand Duchy while Tanma is away?”

[Muso] “…Hic.”

Muso hiccuped at Lecht’s sharp jab.

[Muso] “I-I will make sure to carry out my duty!”

I shook my head as I watched Muso reply energetically before rushing away like he was fleeing.

[Ara] “Just by looking at him, Muso seems like the type to just invite scoldings.”

Lydia let out a small laugh at my words, as if she agreed with me, and followed after him.

Linden whispered to me softly as I waved at them.

[Linden] “Ara, sometimes you say things that I don’t understand.”

[Ara] “Hmm?”

I turned my head to find him looking at me with a very complicated expression on his face. He seemed rather sentimental, perhaps because of how his eyes looked.

[Linden] “With the Grand Duke and the High Priestess… It’s like there’s yet another thing I don’t know about.”

[Ara] “…”

I couldn’t say anything at his murmur. Although he looked upset, I couldn’t tell him anything about the demons rashly just to comfort him.

[Linden] “I always think I know you well, but then I always find out that I don’t.”

Linden smiled self-deprecatingly and sat where Muso had been sitting.

[Ara] “Linden, that…”

[Linden] “I’m not saying this to complain.”

Just as I was about to say something, he interrupted me and added another comment rather hastily.

[Linden] “I came because I had something to tell you.”

[Ara] “…Okay. Tell me.”

Although it was highly likely that his intention was to change the subject, I didn’t bother trying to stop him from doing so.

[Linden] “This might sound absurd, but I’m telling you because I think you’re being framed.”

[Ara] “What are you talking about?”

[Linden] “This case, Olivia… I think she was the one that did it.”

[Ara] “!”

I couldn’t hide my look of surprise. 

Although I had told Lecht and Tanma last night about my suspicions of Olivia, I hadn’t spoken about it to anyone else. 

I didn’t want to cause a commotion until I got my hands on solid evidence. I didn’t want to give her time to prepare for a counterattack by letting her know that I was going after her.

But how did Linden know? Linden wouldn’t know about Frody, just because Lecht did…

[Ara] “How… did you come to that conclusion?”

[Linden] “I was actually doing a little investigation on Olivia before this all happened. Did you know that woman was around the village where the epidemic started?”

[Ara] “Olivia?”

Linden shared the information that he had learned at that time with me. 

A saintess who suddenly disappeared from the temple. 

Apparently she had been found, collapsed at one of the villages on the outskirts, though perhaps her escape might have also been to meet with the crown prince, which she did quite often. With that village being the one exactly next to the village where the epidemic broke out.

[Linden] “I couldn’t believe it, so I tried to dig even deeper, and focused on the dates where she had ‘suddenly disappeared’.”

Having talked for quite a while, Linden paused for a moment. Trying to gauge my reaction, he asked even more cautiously than he had before.

[Linden] “Attempting to poison Olivia… that’s a false accusation, right?”

My eyes widened.

[Ara] “How did you…”

How did he get his hands on a fact that even I had only found out yesterday? I asked him while I admired his intelligence, hoping to get my hands on some evidence from how he found out.

[Linden] “Haa, I knew it.”

Linden rubbed his face, as if my reaction was a good enough answer. The face that had been swept by his large hand looked glad, as if he had just finished his homework. There was also a sense of relief.

[Ara] “How did you find out?”

[Linden] “The messenger you had sent to deliver the tea said so when he was drunk at the bar I own. He said that his mistress was innocent.”

[Ara] “Oh…”

Found it. 

Someone other than me who knows that I sent peppermint tea. To think that I found it without having to put a spy in the Duke’s estate. I guess Lunar must really love me.

[Linden] “Obviously, everyone thought it was just some drunken nonsense, but the manager told me when he heard me investigating it.”

[Ara] “So where is that person now?”

Linden looked perplexed as I asked urgently.

[Linden] “That’s actually the problem. It’s also the key point that I’m trying to tell you.”

[Ara] “How serious is it for you to have to prepare me like that?”

He looked so serious I wondered if that person had died.

[Linden] “There’s someone who’s been looking into this case long before me, and has since taken the messenger.”

[Ara] “No way, is it Olivia?”

I doubt it was Ziken. It would’ve been too obvious if such a simple-minded guy had made such a masterful move behind someone’s back.

Contrary to my expectations of it being Olivia or one of her aides, Linden brought out a name I couldn’t have even imagined would come out.

[Linden] “Alion.”

[Ara] “What…?”

[Linden] “Alion Darchez was investigating this case before I was.”

---

next few chapters are tear jerkers ;-;

also one thing i notice a lot in this story is that the author doesn’t really tell us when characters leave the scene bc sometimes i’ll be thinking like damn, isn’t so and so still there ?? but no, forgot abt creative liberties LMAO

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

As a general rule, demons were not allowed to stay in the human realm. In order for a demon to cross over, they needed the Demon King’s explicit permission to do so. This was due to the fact that in the past, a commotion caused by one or two demons had been the catalyst for a war that raged on between both the human and demon realm. 

It was a rule to prevent such friction from happening again. But there was an exception to that rule.

[Lecht] “If you are summoned by a human and obtain a human contractor, you will be able to cross over to the human realm without the Demon King’s permission on the condition that the only thing you will do will be to fulfil the contractor’s requests.”

The power that could be used in this place was also limited and was dependent on the contractor’s abilities. Therefore, their messing around didn’t seem likely to cause another commotion like last time again.

[Ara] “But the magic used to summon demons is forbidden in the Empire…”

But what I didn’t understand was why Olivia was able to summon Frody. Just as the rule of gaining the ‘approval of the Demon King’ was established in the demon realm, the rule ‘prohibiting the summoning of demons’ was also established in the empire.

[Ara] “To think that the Saintess would have such a Midas touch…”

It was a story that was much more severe than simply framing Meliara. Lecht put his hand on his forehead and proceeded to say something even more shocking.

[Lecht] “She isn’t a saintess.”

[Ara] “Pardon…?”

[Lecht] “That woman does not possess the divine power of Solarism.”

I felt as if I had just been knocked on the back of my head. My head was tingling and I couldn’t find any words to say for a moment.

[Lecht] “That ability that she uses like her divine power is all borrowed from Frody’s own power.”

[Ara] “No way…! So Olivia has deceived the whole empire into thinking that she’s the Saintess?!”

[Lecht] “You could say that.”

I was so shocked I couldn’t even manage a snort.

[Ara] “How did you know about this, Lecht?”

[Lecht] “I found out two years ago when she came to bless the Grand Duchy. She could see Kelber’s true form.”

He had said that there were two cases when someone saw through Kelber’s illusion magic and to his true form. They were either a demon, or they were under a contract with a demon. Since I was the Saintess, a child of Lunar, whom the demons served, I was able to see them despite not belonging to either of the two cases.

[Ara] “Why didn’t you tell anyone about it?”

If it was such a serious matter, then he should’ve brought the matter up with the Emperor.

[Lecht] “The only reason I stayed in the Empire was to wait for you.”

[Ara] “So whether or not the Saintess was deceiving everyone or not has nothing to do with you, Lecht.”

It wasn’t particularly damaging to the Grand Duchy, so from his point of view, there was no need for him to cause a commotion when he was content with simply living quietly.

Closing his eyes as he pressed down on his throbbing forehead, Lecht said.

[Lecht] “If I had known that woman was using it to do that to you, I would’ve dealt with it earlier.”

Opening his eyes, he looked down at me with an apologetic expression.

[Lecht] “As expected, I should have found you sooner.”

I relaxed my frown at his remorseful words.

[Ara] “It would’ve been no use.”

Even if he had met Meliara sooner, he would’ve brushed past her since it was before I had arrived in her body.

[Lecht] “Why would it have been no use? I could’ve dealt with the Crown Prince and the Saintess if I had known you were having a hard time.”

I laughed at his words that unhesitatingly branded both the imperial family and Solar religion as his enemies. It was very much something that Lecht would do. 

[Ara] “But how could the High Priest not know that her ability isn’t actually divine power?”

After all, the High Priest of Solarism was the one who judged that Meliara’s body had no divine power at all. But to mistake a demon’s power as divine power, does that even make any sense?

[Lecht] “Frody’s ability is ‘enchantment’, so it must have concealed the feeling of her power quite well. Otherwise, maybe they’re all just in cahoots with each other.”

To have even the High Priest in the same league as them…? It was a situation that I didn’t really want to think about.

[Ara] “I’d like to believe that isn’t the case, but… I guess we should try and investigate it together.”

Lecht had said he had just left it because it had nothing to do with him, but I couldn’t do the same. I could tell just how much that woman had done so far, just by looking at Meliara’s life.

[Ara] “This is an act of deceiving the people who love and believe in her and the Solar religion.”

It wasn’t just one or two people who donated money to the temple in order to receive just one of her blessings. I was angry at both her framing Meliara for attempting to poison her, and all of her previous schemes and misdeeds. 

But the incident this time was the one that upset me the most.

[Ara] “How could she even think of spreading an epidemic?”

To even hurt the very people who believed in her.

She deceived people with her false abilities, coercing them into supporting her and taking their affections. And by doing so, had driven them into a corner.

[Lecht] “Isn’t she a woman who raised her position by trampling you underfoot? There’s nothing she can’t do.”

[Ara] “She’s a woman who’d even go as far as scheming for a civil war, just for her own interests if we leave her alone.”

Other than having been falsely accused by her, what was more pressing was having to catch her in order to prevent further damage.

[Ara] “Haa, but I don’t know how to catch her. The Crown Prince who is absolutely obsessed with her is unusually stubborn. Moreover, if the High Priest is also in on it, then…”

That idiotic man was ready to believe that a stone rolling on the ground was gold if she even said the word. It seemed like a love that was strong enough to bring you to tears to strangers, but to me, it seemed like a ridiculous complacent obsession. 

[Lecht] “Then we can just obliterate the Crown Prince’s sources of influence.”

[Ara] “No, you can’t!”

Lecht’s immediate reply was so bloody that I slapped him on the shoulder.

[Ara] “I’m trying to catch her in order to prevent her from doing any more damage, but if you do that, then we’ll actually go to war for real.”

Even if Lecht was the Demon King, the Emperor would have to declare civil war on Lecht, with him touching the Crown Prince as more than enough justification to do so. It was tantamount to trying to prevent the danger of a civil war and creating an actual civil war in the process of it.

[Lecht] “Then shall we just take care of him without anyone knowing?”

[Ara] “Are you going to continue saying such frightening things?”

I glared at him with a deadpan expression.

[Ara] “The Crown Prince may be extremely frustrating and annoying, but…”

Although it was true that he enjoyed showing off his power and behaving like that, at least he didn’t do anything that would hurt the citizens of the empire like this. If you ask me, this man was also probably a victim of Olivia’s lies.

[Ara] “He’s only an idiot, and not an actual evil person at heart.”

Though of course, that didn’t mean he was innocent of all the crimes he committed while he was ignorant. It wasn’t a crime to be ignorant, but he couldn’t irresponsibly avoid his crime with the excuse of ‘I didn’t know’.

However, in Ziken’s case, I thought it was worth brushing over.

[Ara] “And won’t you only be pruning the branches if you catch him? We have to get rid of the roots.”

Catching Ziken would solve anything, since the one we were trying to get rid of was Olivia.

[Ara] “First off, our main priority is to make it clear that she was the one who started this incident as well… Frody won’t defect to our side, right?”

[Lecht] “If we utilise the authority of the Demon King, I can make it so that he tells the truth.”

At Lecht’s pleasant words, my feeling of discomfort, as if I had indigestion, was soon replaced by a good feeling.

[Ara] “Really? Then we’ll find him tomorrow and reveal the truth!”

[Tanma] “No, you can’t.”

But my joy was soon blocked by Tanma. 

Tanma, who had received my puzzled look, explained with a troubled expression on his face.

[Tanma] “I also agree that it’s of the utmost importance for us to catch that woman and clear Miss of her innocence. But I am against Your Majesty using your authority to do so.”

[Ara] “Why?”

Is there a reason why he shouldn’t use it?

[Tanma] “It is against the rules of the demon realm to impose your authority on him, since staying in the human realm under a contract with a human means being free from the ‘Demon King’s approval’.”

[Ara] “Oh, so there’s another rule.”

Finding out about yet another rule I was unaware of gave me a headache.

 [Lecht] “It doesn’t matter. I’ll call him out tomorrow.”

[Tanma] “You can’t, Your Majesty. Don’t you know how great the cost you’ll have to pay for tampering with the rules of the human realm?”

[Lecht] “I’ll take care of it.”

[Tanma] “Your Majesty!”

Looking at the unusual atmosphere between Lecht and Tanma, I asked cautiously.

[Ara] “What happens if you break the rules?”

[Tnama] “On a small scale, you’ll be stripped of the Demon King’s authority, and on a large scale, you’ll be banished to an infinite world of space and time.”

[Ara] “Heok.”

Didn’t you say it wasn’t a big deal?

[Ara] “Then you can’t, you absolutely cannot do that.”

[Lecht] “It’s not a big deal. There’s nothing to worry about.”

[Ara] “I can tell just how serious it is just from hearing about it, what do you mean it’s nothing?!” 

[Lecht] “Tanma has exaggerated it for no reason.”

[Ara] “No way. Even if it’s exaggerated, the risk is too big. We can find another way.”

I couldn’t push Lecht into a difficult situation just to clear my name.

[Lecht] “It’s really fine.”

[Ara] “I said no!”

I began to grow restless when Lecht kept saying it was fine. Since this man was someone who would even suffer an accident for me.

[Ara] “Don’t you dare! If you do, I’ll ignore Lecht for the rest of my life!”

I saw Lecht’s fingertips flinch at my threat. It was a reaction that came out whenever he was flustered or a point had hit its mark. He nodded meekly, just as I expected.

[Lecht] “We should find another way.”

I smiled proudly at the sight of him obediently listening to my words.

[Ara] “Then how should we reel that woman… no, how we’ll catch her; should we think about it more tomorrow and just head in for today? Being physically healthy is essential to hunt after all.”

Although I was someone who preferred to live quietly whenever possible, I was going to catch her. Not because I was an extremely righteous person, but because the least I could do was to try and protect the people as the Saintess of the Night God to the best of my ability.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

A priest approached Lydia, who was looking up at the moon outside of the large window.

[Priest] “High Priestess, I have a question.”

Instead of answering him, Lydia said something completely irrelevant.

[Lydia] “Today’s full moon looks just like a red moon.”

[Priest] “A red moon?”

The priest looked up at the moon that Lydia was looking at.

[Priest] “Isn’t it impossible to predict the cycle of the red and blue moon?”

[Lydia] “It’s just a feeling.”

[Priest] “It’d be nice for it to be a red moon. If the red moon, which only rises once every twenty or thirty years, comes out at the Saintess’s proclamation ceremony, don’t you think we’d be able to lift our heads a bit higher?”

Lydia smiled with him upon hearing his excited voice.

[Lydia] “It will come out. Since Lunar will want to talk to Miss Ara.”

[Priest] “Oh, that’s right. Apparently Lunar is rather chatty.”

Among the priests, Lydia was the only one who had ever communicated directly with Lunar.

[Lydia] “Yes, they’re quite chatty too…”

Lydia smiled mysteriously as if she suddenly thought of something.

[Lydia] “Since it’s been 100 years since they’ve met.”

[Priest] “100 years?”

The priest looked at Lydia with an odd expression on their face.

[Priest] “Oh, I guess you’re right. It’s been 100 years since the last saintess has appeared.”

Lydia smiled meaningfully at the priest’s question. The priest, who didn’t notice, then went on to tell her why they had sought her out.

[Priest] “What should we do with what the Crown Prince sent? I reported it yesterday but you haven’t said anything, so I’ve come again to ask.”

Yesterday, a slightly friendly message arrived from the crown prince’s faction, saying that they wanted to strengthen their ties with the Lunar religion in the future.

[Priest] “I don’t know where they got their audacity from.”

They appealed the fact that the Crown Prince and new saintess had previously been engaged. Even if there had been an unpleasant situation in the past, the relationship could still be renewed again. However, it was ridiculous from the Lunar religion’s point of view.

[Priest] “They sent us that yesterday, yet today they’re trying to paint our Saintess as a sinner.”

It was like they were using Ara as a link to strengthen their ties with the Lunar religion, while simultaneously trying to shame and accuse Ara at the same time.

[Lydia] “The one who wants to strengthen their relationship with us isn’t the Crown Prince himself, but the forces behind him.

In other words, attempting to accuse Ara of a crime was an act that solely belongs to the Crown Prince.

[Priest] “If so, why would the Crown Prince do something that would go against his own influence…”

[Lydia] “He must be blinded by love.”

Lydia suddenly thought of Lecht as she said so. She let out a laugh.

That’s true. Some people could even dedicate 100 years to a single person, so what the Crown Prince was doing right now was merely childs play.

[Lydia] “Ignore it.”

[Priest] “Yes!”

The priest replied happily, as if he had been waiting for that response. He didn’t ask any useless questions like, ‘Will that really be alright?’. It was because deep in his heart, he didn’t want to associate with someone who had insulted the Saintess. 

Lydia, who was left alone again after the priest left, looked up at the moon once more. She smiled as she recalled Ara again.

[Lydia] “I really wouldn’t have recognised her if you hadn’t said anything, Lunar.”

There was a secret of Lydia’s that people didn’t know of. Although it had been twenty years since she had first heard Lunar’s voice and become their high priestess, she had already lived for over 100 years. 

That was when Lunar told Lydia something about the saintess, among the many conversations they had.

[The previous saintess and the new saintess are the same person.]

Rather than the fact that they were both saintesses, it meant their soul itself was the same. However, it was difficult to think of them as the same person since they had a different appearance and had no memory of 100 years ago.

[Lydia] “His Majesty the Demon King must be a master at recognising her.”

She thought she was second to none at loving Ara, but in the end, she still couldn’t beat the Demon King.

‘It’s a bit sad that you can’t remember anything though.’ 

Lydia smiled as she touched the design on her face with her fingertips. A new world had opened up to Lydia 100 years ago thanks to her, but she herself had no memory of it. 

She thought about talking about it, but she gave it up in the end. Since telling someone, ‘I was that girl back then’, who didn’t even have any memory of it, was burdening them as well.

‘Well, my grief can’t be compared to His Majesty.’ 

He could’ve been resentful and hurt at the fact that she had forgotten such a deep love… but he still looked at her with eyes that dripped honey, and only took care of her. The Demon King who ruled over the entirety of the demon realm, would be excessively nervous and attentive to her every word.

It might seem ridiculous to other demons if they saw that, but Lydia understood. 

As long as they had life in them, they would have no choice but to be drawn to Ara. Ara wasn’t just a ‘user’ of divine power, but divine power itself.

The divine power of Lunar specialised in purification. It wasn’t just poison or diseases that it purified. It also purified a person’s mind. Just by being around her, all the pain and wounds suffered throughout your life are healed, and your mind is immediately relieved of all anxiety. 

A panacea for the soul. Who in the world wouldn’t like that?

t/n: panacea is a cure all for all diseases

[Lydia] “Loving Ara is uncontrollable.”

Lydia herself was still unaware that she was also one of them, falling back into the memories of her and Ara from 100 years ago.

---

READ LYDIA’S PART WITH ‘MY EVERYTHING — THE BLACK SKIRTS’ PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND i normally put it on when i’m tling bc it helps me focus but i was tling lecht’s part of him loving her so much i deadass started sobbing HGLDSFJFDSJ there’s also a line in there that’s super cute that i always think abt;;

넌 내 모든 거야
내 여름이고 내 꿈이야
넌 내 모든거야
나 있는 그대로 받아줄게요

you’re my everything
my summer and my dream
you’re my everything
i’ll take you just as you are.

BYE ISN’T THAT SO CUTE ???? THE WHOLE SONG IS A MOOD I FR WANT THIS AT MY WEDDING
PLS GIVE IT A LISTEN I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS SONG PLUS I WENT OVER ALL MY CHAPTERS AND LISTENED TO IT WHEN IT WAS LECHT’S POVS AND QAQ WATERWORKS FR

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

I had no intention of stopping him from digging his own grave. But unlike me, there was someone who had to stop this from happening.

[Olivia] “There’s no need for you to go that far, right…?”

Olivia, who was gripping onto Ziken’s collar tightly, asked cautiously. But Ziken let out a sigh, obviously already misinterpreting the reason for her desperation.

[Ziken] “Livi, are you going to ask me to forgive her again?”

[Olivia] “That…”

[Ziken] “Don’t worry. I’ll investigate it thoroughly and get to the bottom of this case to make sure they won’t be able to get away with it this time.”

It was a statement from a man who firmly believed that I was the culprit.

Olivia bit her lower lip. Ziken brushed his thumb over her lip upon discovering it and smiled.

[Ziken] “The habit that appears whenever you’re anxious has come out again.”

[Olivia] “…”

[Ziken] “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to protect you from that woman’s retaliation or anything like that.”

He really said anything he wanted, despite being in front of the person who was directly involved in the incident… 

But that probably wasn’t what she was worried about anyway.

[Olivia] “But…”

[Ziken] “Trust me, Livi.”

The disjointed conversation between her, who was caught up in anxiety, and Ziken, who was just making wild guesses, looked so ridiculous to a third party who knew the truth.

In the end, Olivia couldn’t help but nod her head. Realistically, there was no justification for Olivia to stop Ziken from actually investigating the facts of the case. No matter how much she was called a ‘kindhearted saintess’.

Appreciating the patheticness of Ziken, who had driven his own lover into a corner, I interrupted their discordant conversation and asked.

[Ara] “Then shouldn’t Your Highness step aside and go chase after him immediately?”

I spoke while looking at the sick people surrounding me. There were a lot who had run away at the sudden confrontation, but there were still a lot who remained. I could tell how desperate they were, even without asking. Since I had seen how they were constantly monitoring the situation and seemed uneasy over whether I’d really get taken away or not.

[Ara] “I need to heal the people here.”

There were still a lot of people who were waiting for the divine power’s touch in places other than here too. 

I was thinking of investigating the past between Olivia and myself, as well as the relationship between Olivia and Frody in my spare time while I healed them.

Nevertheless, Ziken, who always got in the way every time, didn’t let it go very easily this time either.

[Ziken] “I can’t let someone who’s still under suspicion, like you, continue to heal people.”

His words naturally caused the expressions of the people beside him to darken. 

I tried to speak while holding back a frown. 

[Ara] “Please do not harm the innocent people around you just because of your suspicion which is directed towards me, Your Highness.”

There might not be many people since the epidemic hadn’t had a severe outbreak yet, but after a while had passed, there would be people in need of urgent care coming out soon. Turning a blind eye to them all would be too harsh.

[Ziken] “I don’t know what else you’ll do if I leave you here.”

[Ara] “Then assign someone to monitor me.”

I could just do it while avoiding the eyes of the monitor if it was for the investigation. It was more important to heal these people first. 

But Ziken didn’t allow that either.

[Ziken] “Then I’m just burying my head in the sand. How am I supposed to believe that you’ll actually heal people?”

[Ara] “…”

I couldn’t even find any words to respond to his words that were suspicious of even the fundamentals. What use were my words to someone who didn’t even believe my intentions?

Someone who would resolve my concerns appeared exactly at that time.

[Lydia] “That part is our responsibility.”

The composed voice that came from the entrance caused all of our heads to turn in unison. Lydia, who was so elegant even the act of her taking off her hood seemed so, was walking towards me.

[Lydia] “Saintess, how have you been?”

She was the first to greet me.

[Lydia] “I’m quite late, aren’t I?”

She also added that it took quite a long time to gather all the priests who were scattered outside the capital. Lydia only turned her gaze to Ziken and Olivia after greeting Lecht with a look.

[Lydia] “It’s been a while, Your Highness.”

[Ziken] “I didn’t expect even the High Priestess to come.”

Ziken greeted Lydia with a courteous appearance, completely different to the one he had when he faced me.

[Lydia] “Please speak comfortably, Your Highness.”

[Ziken] “How could I do that? You’re the High Priestess.”

Lydia spoke in a tone of amazement at his words that were full of respect.

[Lydia] “That’s strange.”

[Ziken] “What do you mean?”

[Lydia] “Then why are you so courteous to me, who only takes care of people on behalf of god, and yet so disrespectful to even speak informally and raise your voice at the Saintess, who is the child of god?”

Ziken, who had a benevolent smile on his face as he asked, immediately stiffened at Lydia’s answer. She had only coldly stated the facts, but it was still a satisfying line nevertheless.

‘It’s probably because I’m firmly entrenched in that bastard’s head as ‘that vicious bitch’.’

He must’ve taken on such a rude attitude since before he saw me as a saintess, he had previously viewed me as a wicked woman who had harmed his lover.

Ziken did a double take as he looked alternately between Lydia and I, like someone who had heard something that he never could have thought of. Nevertheless, the expression on his face clearly showed that even if he was dying, he still hated the idea of being respectful toward me.

Lydia started to speak once again, ignoring him who displayed such an attitude.

[Lydia] “I will hereby guarantee it with the name of the High Priestess right here. She is not someone who would dare to do harm to people.”

If it was the Priest Trio who said that, I would’ve just thought that they took my side unconditionally since they just liked me, but it felt different when Lydia, and not anyone else, said something like that. So this is how it felt to receive someone else’s complete trust in you.

[Lydia] “However, I will not cause any disruption to your investigation if you wish to do so, Your Highness.”

She even expressed her confidence at how he wouldn’t be able to find anything, even if he conducts an investigation.

[Lydia] “Rather, if you allow it, I’d be happy to assist Your Highness in catching the man who dared to frame our Saintess. But in return…”

[Ziken] “In return…?”

[Lydia] “While the investigation is being conducted, the Saintess’s residence will be changed to the Great Temple.”

[Ziken] “!”

If we’re talking about the Great Temple, not even the imperial family could bring their knights in there without their permission. If we took that point into consideration, then it would definitely be the safest place for me in this situation.

[Lydia] “I’d like to take this time to inform everyone here. The Saintess will be staying in the Great Temple of the God of Night until the full story of the incident has been revealed.”

Lydia declared without even seeking Ziken’s permission. 

She was relying heavily on using the fact that I was the Saintess after highlighting it. She was appealing to the fact that despite not having a proclamation ceremony, I was still an existence worthy of being protected by the Lunar religion since I was Lunar’s Saintess. 

If Ziken still insists on taking me away right now, it would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Lunarism. Ziken couldn’t respond hastily, perhaps because he also understood the underlying meaning behind her words.

[Lydia] “If anyone is in need of healing, please come and visit the Great Temple at any time.”

Lastly, Lydia turned back toward me with a gentle smile on her face.

[Lydia] “The Moon God’s Saintess right here, Ara, will heal you.”

The words of her, who had even remembered my wish of being called ‘Ara’ instead of ‘Meliara’, completely reversed the atmosphere in which Ziken had the upperhand in. 

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

We all headed back to the Great Temple after the long battle between Ziken and I ended. 

The Great Temple was even more spectacular than the temple I had seen in the mountains. Although it wasn’t particularly flashy at any place, there was still a subtle beauty to it. 

The priests who Lydia had contacted had gathered together and naturally greeted me warmly. Although there were priests who asked for a handshake or guidance, none of them were as unusual as the Priest Trio.

[Ara] “Phew, I’m exhausted out of my mind.

It had already become nighttime by the time I finished greeting everyone. Only after Lydia had butted in and kicked everyone out did I finally have time to catch a breather.

[Lydia] “I told them to make preparations to welcome and receive people right away starting from tomorrow. Are you sure you’re okay with that, Saintess?”

[Ara] “Of course I am.”

I was overflowing with divine power. It was enough, not just for me to use, but also for all the priests combined to use if they wanted to.

[Lydia] “I feel a bit apologetic for only telling you now that you’ve arrived, but not everyone who comes will believe you’re innocent.”

[Ara] “I know. There will be people who don’t believe me and are just feeling me out, but there will be more people chasing after me because they believe me coming after them because they don’t have any other options left.”

Normally, as a human being, you’ll even chase after a god you don’t believe in if you’re in a desperate enough situation.

[Lydia] “Yes, that’s right. Although it’s possible for the divine power of Solarism to relieve symptoms, it’s difficult for them to completely heal someone.”

Unlike the divine power of Lunarism which ‘purifies’, the divine power of Solarism only has the power to heal festering skin, but is unable to remove the disease itself. So in the end, the only option left for them is to seek out the Lunar religion.

[Ara] “It’ll start getting busy soon.”

[Lydia] “We’ll be the ones to deal with the rude ones, so you won’t have to worry about that.”

[Ara] “Thank you, Lydia.”

[Lydia] “No, I should be the one thanking you. We haven’t even held the proclamation ceremony, yet you’re already working so hard.”

Truthfully speaking, I didn’t need a grand event like a proclamation ceremony or whatever, just because I was the Saintess. But to them, it was a procedure that had to be followed in order to show the dignity of the Lunar religion, so I just smiled in response.

[Lydia] “Get some rest then.”

After Lydia left the room, only Lecht, Tanma, and I were left in the room.

[Ara] “You’re also staying here, right Lecht?”

[Lecht[ “In the room next door.”

[Ara] “That’s a relief…”

How I truly felt leaked out of my lips without me knowing as I covered my mouth quickly, surprised by what I had just said. 

[Ara] “Oh, that… It’s because even though the temple is safe, I feel a bit more secure if you’re here…”

Lecht smiled as if he understood the additional excuse I had blurted out.

[Lecht] “Where would I, your escort be, if not here?”

Does he know how reassuring it is for him to call himself my ‘escort’ at a time like this?

[Ara] “To be honest, I was a bit scared when the Crown Prince brought in his knights. I wondered if I’d really be dragged away when I had done nothing wrong at all.”

Although I had pretended to be strong in front of Ziken since I didn’t want to lose to him, my heart was actually racing wildly at the time.

[Ara] “But you drew your sword and stood guard next to me so I was able to say everything I wanted to say. Thank you.”

[Lecht] “You don’t need to thank me for something I would’ve done naturally.”

[Ara] “But still, it’s something I’m grateful for, so of course I have to thank you.”

To be honest, I was even thankful that he said that what he did was a given.

I gave him a pretty smile. Lecht smiled with me. His smile in a room that was dark since it was night, despite the lamp being lit, had a different sort of charm to it. It was bewitching.

[Ara] “But…”

A person naturally came to my mind just as I was thinking it was bewitching.

[Ara] “About what the butler said earlier.”

I looked at Tanma, who was standing behind Lecht and asked.

[Ara] “Is it true that he started the rumour about me?”

[Tanma] “I’m sure. He apparently also carries around a small snake as a pet too.”

The fact that people saw that and didn’t care meant that Frody had humanised himself, and the pet snake was under an illusion spell, like Kelber.

[Tanma] “He doesn’t seem to have any intention of hiding his own identity.”

[Lecht] “Probably trying to feel out my true intentions.”

Lecht, who had stayed by my side silently throughout everything, spat out as if he was annoyed.

[Ara] “Why Lecht…?”

The two of them didn’t seem to get along very well last time we met either. Frody kept deliberately provoking Lecht and getting on his nerves while Lecht just ignored Frody as much as he could. He seemed to have not responded since he hadn’t crossed his bottom line yet. I could sense that their relationship was much more complex than just one of hostility.

[Ara] “You might think this is a bit odd, but I thought Saintess Olivia was the one who did it.”

[Lecht] “The woman with blonde hair?”

[Ara] “This time as well…The tea that I apparently poisoned. The truth is…”

I calmly began to explain. Of course, excluding the fact that I had read it in a novel and that I was Ara Lee and had possessed Meliara’s body. 

The fact that the tea I had given her was a different type of tea, and the fact that she seemed a bit off during the situation today. So, in many ways, I explained how all my previous incidents also had many dubious aspects to it as well.

[Ara] “I know it may seem strange to be so suspicious in the absence of any concrete evidence.”

I didn’t know the entire story either, so it all sounded vague, even to me. 

[Ara] “But for some reason… the way Olivia’s complexion changed earlier…”

[Lecht] “It’s not strange. That’s enough for your suspicion of her to be reasonable, and you’ve come to the right conclusion.”

[Ara] “Do you really think so?”

Lecht spoke resolutely, as if he fully trusted my tentative thoughts that stemmed from my gut feeling.

[Lecht] “This incident is probably that woman’s fault too.”

[Ara] “But didn’t you say Frody was the one who started the rumour… What’s with Frody and Olivia?”

How did the two of them get to know each other, does Olivia know that Frody is a demon, so on and so forth. I had a lot of questions. Lecht seemed to know, so I quickly asked him.

[Lecht] “There’s something I didn’t tell you since I thought it had nothing to do with you. I would’ve told you earlier if I knew you and her were this entangled with each other.

[Ara] “What is it?”

Lecht pressed his forehead as if he had a headache and spoke as if he were sighing.

[Lecht] “That blonde woman and Frody are in a contractual relationship.”

[Ara] “Contractual…?”

There wasn’t anything strange about it, since anyone would enter into a contract when they make transactions. It was just that Lecht was so serious I could only guess that the contents of their transaction was anything but lighthearted.

[Lecht] “It’s a contract where in exchange for Frody’s power being lent to her, that woman then serves as a medium for Frody to remain in the human realm.”

I couldn’t help but widen my eyes. What he told me was, as expected, a grave story on a completely different level.

---

im actually really curious about the relationship between lecht and frody since i don’t think their relationship is purely one of hostility either,,,hopefully it gets revealed soon!!

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Meliara had given her peppermint tea. Olivia collapsed after drinking chamomile tea. But the one who tried to poison Olivia was Meliara?

What sort of planting a green bean only for it to yield a red bean¹ nonsense is this? Feeling dubious, I asked one more time for confirmation.

[Ara] “You’re saying you collapsed after drinking the chamomile tea I gave you?”

Ziken temper flared at my question.

[Ziken] “What exactly are you playing at now, Princess!? To even poke at other people’s trauma like that…!”

He hurriedly jumped to Olivia’s defence. Olivia fisted her temple robes with her small hands as her slender shoulders trembled violently. Although I felt a bit apologetic at her pitiful appearance, this was something that I needed to confirm.

[Olivia] “You even announced that you were going to send chamomile tea in front of everyone…”

Olivia said, her voice full of terror.

[Olivia] “You said that you’d know that I was rejecting your goodwill if I didn’t drink it, so I… hic…”

Hearing her say that she was forced to drink it under my coercion and threats, I felt dizzy, swiping a hand across my forehead. 

Although the original story had already changed drastically, this was part of a future that hadn’t happened yet. All the events before I came here were exactly the same as the original novel’s. I didn’t just trust the original novel blindly. 

But there hasn’t been anything wrong with what happened in the past so far. So if that was the case, then how was I meant to accept these two inconsistent facts?

‘Who made the switch in the middle…?’

If that was the case, then this was a serious situation. Although I had now left the Duke household, I was still a princess at that time, so it could be interpreted as an attempt to incite discord between the Darchez Duchy and the temple. Furthermore, even the Crown Prince, Princess, and the Saintess had all been deceived by it.

‘However…’

I had a strong gut feeling that this wasn’t done by a third party at all. 

I fixed my eyes onto Olivia. 

Contrary to her trembling shoulders and slender figure that was held in Ziken’s embrace, her shifty eyes that kept glancing at me were strange. It wasn’t a gaze that stemmed from fear or cautiousness, but a vigilance that came from envy and jealousy.

A phrase flashed in my mind.

<[Meliara] “It’s not me, Your Highness! No matter how jealous I am, I won’t do something so illogical or senseless!”>

At that time, I had brushed past that line with the thought ‘The villainess is speaking nonsense again’, but now it sounded a bit different.

 One after another, all the other ‘evil deeds’ that were commited by Meliara in the original novel suddenly came to my mind. Even the line that Meliara shot back every time.

<[Meliara] “Did such a thing happen? But what do you mean it’s my fault?”>

I had only thought that she was extremely shameless back then, but what if that was actually the truth devoid of lies…?

<[Meliara] “You know what the truth is, Saintess! So why are you saying something else instead?!”>

My head began to throb as if I had been hit hard in the back of my head by the line that was full of Meliara’s pent up anger. My heart began to pound. 

Olivia is…?

‘Since when did she…’

I didn’t know when or where it started. But at some point, everyone would single out Meliara and attack her ceaselessly whenever something happened to Olivia. They even sometimes swore at her without even considering the logistics of the situation, to the point where it even felt a bit excessive. 

I had thought it was natural since she was a ‘villainess’, but what if everything was actually someone else’s well-crafted scheme? And if Meliara had only been stuck in that framework…?

[Ara] “Ha.”

A bitter laugh escaped from my mouth. 

So this is how it felt to be played. It was the moment when everything in the original novel that I had believed in flew away in an instant and returned to being a blank canvas again.

It was already confirmed that the male lead was an absolute disgrace unlike the original novel, so it wasn’t exactly that strange for Meliara to not actually be a vicious villainess either.

But the fact that the female lead was blackened and was actually the secret mastermind behind it all hit me harder than I expected. The sense of betrayal was different to when I found out about the male lead’s true nature.

‘No, Ara Lee. Let’s not jump to conclusions. Nothing has been confirmed yet.’

I could feel my fury bubbling up inside, but I managed to correct my thoughts. I had a hunch, but not any actual evidence. The only thing that was telling me to find out the truth was just a ‘feeling’.

[Ziken] “This should be enough evidence, right? Don’t make things any bigger than they are and just come with us obediently!”

Coming to my senses at Ziken’s roar, I took a deep breath in.

[Ara] “I’m not going.”

[Ziken] “What?”

[Ara] “There’s still no solid evidence that I did it.”

I lifted my head up stiffly and started to act shamelessly.

[Ziken] “There isn’t any evidence that’s more solid than this medicine coming out of your bag!”

At Ziken’s protest, I began to speak, my eyes glued to Olivia.

[Ara] “I told you, that’s an unknown bottle I’m not aware of. Maybe someone put it in there to frame me.”

She avoided my eyes when we made eye contact, just as I expected. Although it was an action that could be interpreted in a variety of ways, my doubts continued to grow.

[Ziken] “Th-That immoral woman is making that sort of speculation again…!”

Ziken swore at me again, but I didn’t yield to him. 

I couldn’t help it. If I allowed myself to be arrested just like this, then I wouldn’t have enough time to investigate the truth as well as what was going on with Olivia. I couldn’t leave such an important matter to someone else, so all I could do was thoughtlessly refuse to cooperate with them.

[Ara] “I won’t go with you until you’ve finished your investigation.”

[Ziken] “Say something that makes sense!”

At my unreasonable stubbornness, he became so angry it seemed like he was about to collapse from high blood pressure at any moment now. 

There was a heavy tension that lingered over the confrontation between those who defended me and Ziken’s knights. There was a long bout of silence.

A long shadow suddenly drifted past Ziken and Olivia.

[Ziken] “Hic!”

[Olivia] “Kyaaa!”

At the appearance of the shadow of a person, Olivia screamed in surprise while Ziken also naturally jumped in shock.

[Ziken] “Wh-What?!”

Ziken, who had belatedly discovered the identity of the shadow, stumbled over his words before demanding.

Butler Tanma, who had appeared from who knows where, looked sharply at Olivia and Ziken, who had suddenly screamed and jumped in surprise. With an expression that seemed to think that they were ridiculous, he nodded perfunctorily at them before walking toward Lecht. All of his actions were so natural and normal that I wondered if this space was still the one that had been filled with tension until recently.

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

[Ziken] “What the hell were you guys doing until he came nearer to you!”

[Knight] “I-I couldn’t feel his presence at all.”

[Knight] “I couldn’t see him…”

[Ziken] “How could you have not seen such a tall man?!”

Ziken shouted at the knights behind him. They all looked extremely wronged. 

Truthfully speaking, I was extremely surprised as well. Even though I was looking toward the entrance, I hadn’t even seen the butler at all. Coming back to my senses, I noticed that the butler, like a ghost, had already passed Olivia and Ziken.

‘As expected of the second in command of the demon realm…’

When I looked at the butler with a look of admiration, the butler smiled at me before turning to Lecht.

[Tanma] “I’ve found the place where the false rumours of Miss spreading the disease started, just like you’ve ordered.”

His words drew the attention of everyone here. Ziken, who was scolding the knights, and the knights, who were being scolded unfairly, all looked to Tanma.

[Lecht] “And the result is?”

[Tanma] “All of the rumours lead back to a single man.”

At that moment, a quick glance was exchanged between Tanma and Lecht.

[Tanma] “He’s said to be a man with an appearance that is estimated to be in his late 20s and early 30s. He also has bizarrely pale skin.”

Everyone swallowed dryly at the description of the one who started the rumour.

[Tanma] “He’s said to have extremely charming sky blue eyes which resemble a winter lake. His hair is about this long, and…”

The more he explained, the deeper I frowned.

[Tanma] “Apparently, his hair is a rare style that is a mix of black and white hair. But most importantly of all… he’s apparently so charming that all who see him fall in love at first sight, regardless of their age and gender.”

This… is clearly Frody. No matter how many times I heard it, it was clearly Frody, with the only description missing being his ‘horns’.

[Ara] “Lecht, this is…”

I tugged at Lecht’s clothes slightly and whispered inaudibly to others to him. Lecht nodded slightly, as if he was saying that it was the person I thought it was.

It’s Frody? The source of that rumour…? I had definitely thought it’d be Olivia though…

I turned my head to check on Olivia. Sure enough, her face had turned a pasty white and her pupils were shaking violently. As if a big secret of hers had just been revealed. But why was Olivia so flustered when the source of the rumour is Frody…?

Ziken, who had no time to check on Olivia’s condition, interrupted Tanma.

[Ziken] “What you just said, are you sure?”

[Tanma] “Yes, I discovered it by contacting the majority of the people who were in the area who had heard of this rumour. I can call them over myself if you don’t believe me.”

Ziken didn’t question it, perhaps because the person speaking was an aide to Grand Duke Arvis.

[Ziken] “So where is that man now?”

[Tanma] “That’s what I’m talking about right now…”

Tanma let out a huff and rubbed his chins softly.

[Tanma] “I couldn’t get a hold of his whereabouts.”

[Ziken] “What did you say?”

[Tanma] “I don’t know if he’s able to freely use some sort of teleportation magic, but he can be at the 24th Street at one moment, then appear on the 7th Street 5 minutes later.”

[Ziken] “There’s no way that’s possible! Are you sure it’s the same person?”

[Tanma] “Everyone gave the exact same description.”

It was also quite unlikely for various people to have such a unique appearance. Unless several people had predetermined to do so and dressed up exactly the same.

[Tanma] “Oh, they all said that as well. When they were with him… he smelled strongly of flowers.”

[Olivia] “Oh.”

Olivia was the first to react to Tanma’s last comment. A shaky sigh escaped her lips. She seemed to be shocked that she had made a sound and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. But her erratic gaze and trembling hands couldn’t be covered.

[Ziken] “Livi? What’s wrong?”

[Olivia] “Oh, that’s…”

Olivia finally opened her mouth to speak after only repeating the words ‘uh’ and ‘um’ for a long time, her voice filled with fright.

[Olivia] “To think someone actually tried to frame the Princess… I can’t believe such a terrible thing has happened…”

Ziken looked at her ardently at her trembling words.

[Ziken] “You were so worried about the woman who tormented you to that extent? Haa, what should I do with you when you’re so full of kindness?”

I almost let out a jeering laugh at the sight of him hugging her tightly, as if he was going crazy due to his love for her. 

Do those actions really seem like she’s ‘worried’ about me? There should be a limit to how blinded by love you can be. 

She was no pushover. How would you react when you find out that the woman in your arms has, in fact, pushed all those false accusations onto that woman you thought was evil with her schemes and acting?

‘This situation should also be Olivia’s fault… so why is Frody appearing out of nowhere?’

Don’t tell me they’re working together…? If it wasn’t for that, there’s no way she would have reacted like that to Tanma’s explanation. To be fair, if I knew about Frody, then it was rather close minded for me to assume that Olivia didn’t know as well. What remained of my little doubt was only whether or not she knew Frody was a demon. 

Feeling another incoming headache at the thought of how to figure this out again, I opened my mouth.

[Ara] “You’ve cleared me of all suspicion and charges now, right? Then could you please step back? There are still many sick people waiting to be healed.”

[Ziken] “You haven’t been absolved of everything yet! How do you explain the bottle from your bag?!”

[Ara] “That’s obviously been planted by someone in order to frame me…”

[Ziken] “And the proof that that was the case.”

[Ara] “…”

[Ziken] “See. The charges against you haven’t been lifted yet.”

It was when I was feeling suffocated by the suspicion of the persistent Ziken.

[Ziken] “We can just catch that guy and ask him.”

Ziken made a wise choice but came to a stupid conclusion.

[Ziken] “If he’s the one who claims you spread the disease, then he’s one of the two. Either he’s trying to frame you, or he’s seen you use the bottle.”

Even while he was speaking of both possibilities, he was still putting more emphasis on the latter. Looking at me while raising one corner of his mouth sardonically, he commanded the knights.

[Ziken] “Go and bring the person who started the rumour.”

He looked arrogant, as if he were whispering, ‘I’ve got you now’.

But does he know? Just how pale Olivia, who was in his arms, is right now?

[1] The proper proverb is ‘planting green beans will yield green beans, planting red beans will yield red ones’ the meaning being ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ or ‘you reap what you sow’. But Meliara has mixed them together to show the inconsistency of the story line.

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ziken try not to get angry or raise your voice challenge,,, also ziken had WAYYYY too many lines in this chapter fr :/

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

I asked Lecht cautiously after sending back the ghostly pale Ziken.

[Ara] “Lecht, you weren’t actually being serious… right?”

[Lecht] “What do you mean?”

[Ara] “About accepting the challenge.”

Although I tried to quell my anxieties, my efforts were futile in the end due to Lecht’s reply.

[Lecht] “Of course it’ll be a war if he touches you.”

[Ara] “No…!”

I stopped him in a hurry. The only one who could stop this man, whose everything started and ended with me, was me.

[Ara] “That foolish Crown Prince was obviously just saying that to show off his ego. So how could you just take it as a challenge…!”

[Lecht] “…” 

[Ara] “The empire will be destroyed if you truly raise your sword against it, Lecht!”

Lecht didn’t open his mouth, even at my scolding. Just as I was contemplating how to overcome this troublesome situation, I suddenly heard the sound of Lecht trying to stifle his laughter.

[Ara] “Why are you laughing?”

[Lecht] “I just didn’t expect for you to have that much faith in me.”

Seemingly in a good mood, Lecht looked at me like I was adorable. 

[Ara] “No, it’s not a matter of having faith in you, rather, it’s just a fact.”

I saw it in the original novel. Of you completely obliterating this place.

[Lecht] “But it isn’t to the point you’d believe that it’s a ‘fact’ without a single flicker of doubt.”

Although I could be sure of it since I had really seen such a scene in the original novel, Lecht seemed to look at it differently.

[Ara] “No, I mean…”

He spoke up just as I was about to protest that that wasn’t what I meant.

[Lecht] “There is no fixed outcome to any war. A moment of carelessness can result in a backstabbing, and a small mistake can wipe out an entire army.”

[Ara] “…”

[Lecht] “Even I have never been 100 percent certain that I would win. But you’re already even more sure of it than I am. To the point where you can firmly say that it’s a ‘fact’.”

What he said was right. The war I had witnessed in the original novel was a war that began due to the withering of the rose, where Lecht was completely beside himself and not in his right mind. It was clear that if a war broke out this time, both the quality and the circumstances would differ from that war since the reason for this war would be due to Ziken’s provocation. 

[Ara] “But… no matter how I look at it, I don’t think Lecht would lose though…”

But aside from that, I still thought it’d be Lecht’s victory by a landslide anyway. He’s the Demon King… Demons were fundamentally more durable and stronger than humans. And they would use demonic creatures too. No matter how you look at it, it’d be Lecht’s victory for sure. 

As I murmured softly while scratching my cheek in embarrassment, Lecht reached both hands out to my face. He cupped my face with both hands and bowed his head slightly. With his forehead now touching mine. The warmth from his body lingered around me.

[Lecht] “I know you hate when I talk about the past. But in my eyes, in both the past and the present, you were and still are…”

[Ara] “…”

[Lecht] “You see through my true feelings even when I find myself doubting them, and flood me with your baseless trust and faith.”

His slightly muffled voice was affectionate. The feeling of his thumbs stroking both of my cheeks was earnest, as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer. 

Although I found myself once again comparing myself to the me 100 years ago, the sentiment sweeping through my heart was different. In the past, whenever he told me about myself 100 years ago, I’d only feel burdened, and honestly, a little jealous too. 

But I didn’t feel that sort of burden anymore. There was only a gentle breeze in my heart now. It tickled, so I lowered my gaze and started fidgeting with my fingers for no reason. 

This wasn’t what I meant to say… What was I going to say again… 

The words I was going to say disappeared from my mind, with only butterflies filling my stomach. The skin that was touched by his hands seemed to be extra sensitive as my heart started to beat faster and faster. 

[Tanma[ “Ahem.”

It was the butler’s needless cough that brought my mind, which had been absorbed in a world where only the two of us existed, back to reality.

[Tanma] “I wouldn’t interrupt the two of you if I didn’t need to, but I will dare to interfere since the situation right now is quite particular. We still have a lot of work left to do.”

The place where he jerked his head towards was filled with people who were looking at us with shining eyes. They weren’t the gazes of those who were waiting for a doctor, but resembled those who were watching a sweet play instead. 

Realising that we were doing such a thing in public, I stepped away from Lecht.

[Ara] “Then, shall we finish our work?”

Turning my body stiffly since I couldn’t bring myself to look back at Lecht due to my sheer embarrassment of it all, I spotted a dash of pink at the end of my field of vision.

[Ara] “Oh.”

Already far away from me, Linden was walking away. That pink hair gradually disappeared around the corner at the end of the road. 

My heart, which had only been feeling ticklish, suddenly started to tingle slightly. It felt as if I had just applied an extremely potent salve on it. I felt like I seemed to know what this uncomfortable feeling was. 

Kelber dug into my hand as I continued to stare vacantly at the place where he had disappeared.

[Kelber] “Hing?”

He tugged slightly at my sleeve with his teeth, as if he was saying, ‘Let’s go and heal them, quickly’.

[Ara] “Mmhm, we should get to work.”

I turned on the heel of my foot with a heavy heart.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

I poured my energy into healing the influx of sick people. Lecht led the people adeptly whereas I had no idea where Tanma had gone. 

It was around sunset when the Priest Trio appeared, causing a commotion in the peaceful clinic as they arrived.

[Priest Trio] “Saintess! There’s a big problem!”

Every one of them was saying the exact same thing, unlike how they usually always quarrelled.

[Priest Trio] “You must leave right now!”

There was an urgency in their voices as they ran towards me, trying to avoid the crowd of sick people. Surprised, I briefly asked the people I was dealing with for their understanding and went to greet them. Beads of sweat were dripping down the foreheads of all three of them.

[Ara] “What on earth has happened for all of you to run here with your faces so ghostly pale?”

[Lunarism Priest] “You should escape right now!”

[Ara] “Why?”

[Lunarism Priest] “The Crown Prince, that man has finally burst into action.”

I frowned. Not much time had even passed before I had to hear Ziken’s name again. Don’t tell me you’re really going to go to war?

[Ara] “What did that person do? Take your time to explain…”

Before I could even finish asking them to explain the situation, the sound of clanking armour drew nearer, and the door that the Priest Trio had just come through swung open once again. 

[Ziken] “There you are.”

With a triumphant expression on his face, Ziken strode in with a group of knights. Olivia was also by his side.

[Kelber] “Grrrr…”

The Priest Trio blocked his way and stood in front of me while Kelber was by my side guarding me. Lecht, who had been on the opposite side of the room, was now standing next to me before I knew it.

Ziken pushed the sick people who were blocking the way in front of him to the side and scoffed jeeringly as soon as he saw me.

[Ziken] “Drag that woman out.”

The knights stepped forward at his command. Flinching in shock, I stepped back and bumped into Lecht, who was standing next to me.

Without another word, he wrapped his arm firmly around my shoulders and pulled out his sword. Kelber also raised his hackles and enlarged his size while the Priest Trio didn’t budge an inch from where they were standing, as if they were about to have a fistfight with them at any moment now.

[Lecht] “Are you going to go down this path after all?”

I swallowed dryly at Lecht’s words. 

Ziken, are you really choosing to go to war?

[Ziken] “Please step back if you don’t wish to be an accomplice, Grand Duke.”

[Ara] “Accomplice…?”

Ziken pulled out a small bottle at my question.

[Ara] “What is that?”

[Ziken] “The cause of this epidemic.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. 

If that’s the cause of this epidemic… does that mean that that’s what caused the disease?

His next words were even more absurd.

[Ziken] “This came out of your bag.”

[Ara] “What sort of nonsense…”

It was my first time seeing the glass bottle, which still had a few drops of its blue contents.

[Ara] “This is my first time this.”

[Ziken] “You’re even feigning innocence right now. It came out of your bag.”

[Ara] “It’s an object I’m not aware of. More importantly… don’t tell me you searched my room? Without even a warrant or any notice at all?

Even if you’re the crown prince, can you even rummage through other people’s rooms too?

[Ziken] “It was standard procedure to conduct an investigation due to the rumours of you spreading this plague.”

[Ara] “Do you think it even makes sense to conduct an investigation based solely on rumours?”

[Ziken] “There is no smoke without a fire¹.”

[Ara] “You should notify the other party if you were thinking of conducting an investigation. This feels more like a secret background check in order to nitpick and find a fault to incriminate with more than an actual investigation.”

[Ziken] “Well, it turned out to be a wise thing to do in the end, didn’t it?”

I let out a sigh automatically. What he had determined about this serious situation as a result made me feel like shit, and above all, his final conclusion was wrong as well.

[Ara] “That isn’t mine.”

[Ziken] “It came out of your bag so stop pretending.”

[Ara] “How am I meant to know if it actually came out of my bag, or if Your Highness just showed up holding it and insisted it came out of my bag?”

[Ziken] “Are you even accusing me of lying right now?! Me, the Crown Prince?!”

[Ara] “Then you’re saying that I’ve done something so extensively damaging to the people? Me, the Saintess?”

Ziken frowned when I returned what he had said to me, tit for tat.

[Ara] “Besides, if I really did that, then why would I have to struggle so hard to heal all these people one by one?”

[Ziken] “You’re dissatisfied with the fact that Livi is the Saintess of the Sun God and has everyone’s love all to herself, so you’ve staged your own self-fabricated scenario to expand your influence.” 

Even though I’ve always thought so, I was always shocked at how imaginative this guy is with his narrow-minded thinking.

[Ara] “And also. Isn’t it strange for me to use a bottle that contains a liquid that is apparently the cause of the disease and put said empty bottle back in my bag? Isn’t that pretty much admitting to being the culprit? So why would I do such a stupid thing?”

[Ziken] “…”

Even if I really did that, that’s way too sloppy. It makes more sense for me to dispose of the bottle to where it can’t be found after I use it. Whether it’s shattered or buried in acid; even throwing it in the trash makes more sense, but you’re saying that I just kept it in my bag?

[Ara] “Obviously someone is trying to frame me.”

It was also very pathetic seeing Ziken run to try and arrest me after thinking that he had found the reason for the disease without my detection. I was very worried about the future of the empire, and wondered whether such a pathetic guy could really become the next emperor of this empire.

Ziken’s face turned red, perhaps because of the thought that he had been caught in someone else’s conspiracy and been deceived by their scheming.

[Ziken] “I didn’t know that your tongue could be so poisonous and sway someone, even when you’ve already been caught doing something!”

I shook my head at him, who always just kept raising his voice.

[Ara] “You’ll find out if my tongue is poisonous or if I’m just telling the truth after you conduct an actual investigation.”

[Ziken] “…”

[Ara] “Don’t tell me you didn’t even think to do a proper investigation? You scoured my entire room over some baseless rumours for nothing and you’re just going to accept this inconsistent situation?”

Ziken was speechless when I shot back at him. As he stuttered and floundered for an answer, Olivia, who was beside him, interrupted him.

[Olivia] “It’s because you’ve committed something this openly before in the past.”

[Ara] “…?”

[Olivia] “After you said that you’d give me tea in front of everyone, you actually sent me the tea you talked about.”

She was talking about her own birthday, where all the nobles who wanted to get in line with the Crown Prince sent Olivia a bunch of expensive gifts. The original novel’s Meliara had expressed her jealousy of Olivia by offering to send her tea. It was a statement that belittled her, meaning that, ‘You’re only worth a cup of tea’. And she had actually sent the tea as well.

[Olivia] “And there was also poison in that tea.”

Her words left me speechless. Now that I was thinking about that incident, it was also extremely similar due to its overlapping points of extremely shamelessly announcing ‘I’m the culprit’. It meant that since there was a precedent, then it was reasonable to think that I would have done so.

[Ara] “Saintess, that’s…”

That situation was different to the current one since it was me, but also not me at the same time. But how was I supposed to explain that?

Ziken decided that now was the time for him to add something as I lagged behind a bit.

[Ziken] “To think that you shamelessly chose to send chamomile tea since you knew that Livi enjoys drinking chamomile tea before bed every evening…!”

He clicked his tongue, saying that it was extremely wicked of me to do so. Although his words were aggressive, I felt a sense of oddity to them.

[Ara] “Wait. Chamomile?”

I quietly repeated the question in a slightly foolish voice.

[Ziken] “That’s right. I was suspicious of why you sent it on purpose, but the gentle Livi…!”

He kept chiselling away at me with his highly temperamental voice. But I was no longer listening to him. 

I didn’t have any memories from when that incident happened. But one thing was for sure.

<Meliara chose to send chamomile tea among the various teas. It was one of Olivia’s least favourite teas.>

Meliara hadn’t given Olivia chamomile tea, but peppermint tea instead. 

A cold sensation starting from my feet started to wrap itself around me.

[1] rumours and gossip have some truth to them

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how is a crown prince so stupid like fr how is he going to govern the empire in the future make linden the crown prince atp HGSDLKFJFDSJSF

like this is the most obvious evidence planting and framing i’ve ever read HGSLDFKFJD

and you’re saying you searched her room without even telling the other party, let alone without a warrant ???? IMMEDIATELY JAIL LMAO THAT’S ILLEGAL