Tag: I Became a Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel

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

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Tanma paused at Ara’s words. “In any case, it should be fine since you’re the saintess, but… you might receive some backlash too.”

“Because it’s also considered to be forceful?”

“No. They should be used to obeying the strong.” 

In other words, Ara was a ‘child of god’, so none of the demons would be able to go against her. The only position that could be compared to hers would be the demon king, who also used the power of god.

“It’s just that since Miss has been with His Majesty the whole time, others may speculate that you acted on his behalf.”

“So they’re going to make an issue out of it since I still haven’t gone to the demon realm and greeted the council of nobility there yet.”

“Yes. They would be quite full of complaints.”

“I was thinking of going after the proclamation ceremony as soon as this situation has been cleared up though…” It was completely beyond her as well since her return was delayed for too long. Tapping her chin and mulling it over, she suddenly opened her mouth again. “What if I had justification to do so?”

“Justification?”

“A justification for me to break the contract.”

Tanma was silent for a moment. “Do you have anything in mind?” 

Ara’s eyes lit up. 

“No matter how many times I think over it, there’s simply no reason for Olivia to touch the Grand Duchy. And at the same time when she’s dealing with the capital as well.” 

If she was going to do it, then she would’ve done it at a time when she could’ve gone there herself to exert her own power and influence. There was absolutely nothing for her to gain by going now.

“Are you saying that it’s an independent move made by Frody?”

“It could be.” Ara kept the smile on her face as she said those words. “And even if the contract is with a human, the fact that he hurt one of his own kind? They won’t be able to let this go easily.”

“That’s for sure… but these are the demons who often engage in territorial wars of their own anyway.”

“No, this isn’t a dispute between demons, rather it’s ‘accepting a human’s request’.” Ara took the demons’ own pride and the fact that they wouldn’t be able to accept that into consideration. “Whether it was his own independent act or an order from Olivia, wouldn’t that be enough for us to forcibly break the contract and summon Frody back to the demon realm?”

At her voice that seemed to even be somewhat playful, Tanma smiled. “I’ll return to the Palace of the Demon King and definitely make that the justification.” Ara’s smile deepened at Tanma’s resolute response to her.

“But did you find a way to break the contract?” It wasn’t that he meant to look down on her, but he just truthfully didn’t think that Ara would be able to pressure him like Lecht. 

That was when Ara opened the book she was holding and showed it to him. “Although the contract is forbidden magic, books written about the contract aren’t.”

It was a book about summoning demons and signing a contract with them. You could see how old it was just from seeing the paper, which was dry and crumbling. 

“If you know your enemy and yourself, you can fight a hundred battles and win.”

The page she had flipped to detailed the importance of the ‘summoning medium’ that was used to make the contract.

* * *

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:

Thanks to Tanma, who had returned from the Palace of the Demon King after making sure that it was a probable cause to do so, I was able to forcibly break Olivia’s contract immediately thereafter. 

“Miss Olivia, would you be able to give us an explanation? Why would a demon come out of your necklace?”

Being able to guess that the medium for the contract was the necklace was all thanks to Meliara as well.

—If it’s something she carries all the time, then… a necklace. It’s probably that necklace.

“How do you know?”

—The Saintess Olivia that I know has always insisted on wearing accessories and clothes that are of the latest trend. But she hasn’t changed that necklace ever since the day I first met her. And it’s just my gut feeling, but… it never seemed to match Olivia’s preferences.

“Then if that’s definitely the case…”

That was how we put all pieces of the puzzle together, and how the situation right now came to be.

“I-I don’t know! I said I don’t know!” Olivia continued to deny everything I said.

As she continued to deny it, I had no choice but to open the book I had brought and place it in front of the emperor. “The necklace just now was the medium Olivia used to make the contract with the demon. By breaking it, the contract is forcibly terminated.”

Although the emperor seemed to be shocked at the sudden appearance of a demon, he quickly regained his calm composure. He took a quick look at the book I showed him.

“No, Your Majesty. She’s trying to frame me! You must have done something to the necklace!”

“How could I possibly tamper with a necklace that you’re always wearing?”

“Right now! You’re clearly snatching the necklace right now!”

Olivia shouted urgently, but I simply continued to speak at a leisurely pace to the high priest. “Please go and confirm it. There shouldn’t be any of that vast ‘power’ you felt in her previously anymore.”

“G-Get away from me!” Olivia screamed and clung onto Ziken as the high priest began to move towards her at my words. However, the emperor’s knights had also moved at the emperor’s command.

“Your Highness, you also know that they’re setting me up right now! Your Highness, please help me!”

“Li-Livi…” Ziken was unable to do anything for his screaming lover. Since they were the emperor’s very own knights. 

Olivia, who had been pretty much pushed into the hands of the high priest, kicked up a fuss trying to escape his grasp, but it was no use.

“Heok! Th-There’s really none left…!” The high priest of the Solar Religion stumbled backwards in shock. 

You came here already knowing that she wasn’t the real saintess, so what are you acting so surprised for? 

Although I felt rather apathetic toward it, I looked at the emperor after receiving a small nod. “I beg Your Majesty. On the fact that she summoned a demon with the forbidden magic and used the power she contracted as a sacred power to deceive others. On the fact that she pretended to be a saintess with her false power, tarnished the Solar religion’s name, and deceived all the nobles in the empire, including you, Your Majesty.”

“No… No!”

“On the fact that she couldn’t stop there, and unleashed a poison that originated from the demon realm against the citizens who loved her, causing countless people to fade away with the disease, driving them to death—I accuse her. As a result of her actions, half the capital was immobilised, causing both direct and indirect damage to many people.”

“Shut up! I said it’s not me!”

“And, furthermore… on the point that she framed me, Meliara Darchez, numerous times in order to obtain the position beside the crown prince, who was originally my fiance.” 

I listed off all of her false accusations against me thoroughly. From the fact that I was accused of stealing something all the way to the fact where she had tried to shift the blame for the epidemic onto me.

“I carried the prejudice of having attempted to poison people, the reputation of the Darchez Duchy was seriously damaged, and even an imperial marriage was broken.”

“…”

“I desperately beg of you to mete out punishment for all of these malicious deeds.” I placed my hand slightly above my heart and bowed my head. 

Although Olivia was still screaming, everyone else was now looking at me silently. Olivia, who had been shouting that it wasn’t her for a while now, gradually became quieter in the silence. Bent at the waist, I remained unmoving.

“To think that the damage caused by the lies of a single person would escalate to the extent of it being a national tragedy. How pathetic.” Letting out a long sigh, the emperor pressed his fingertips to his forehead and tried to speak calmly. 

But I could see the fury that filled his eyes. It was a fury that was directed at the fact that one person could fool the entire empire, including himself, the emperor. 

“Drag the ‘fake’ saintess, Olivia away.”

“Your Majesty, I’m not the one at fault! It’s not me!”

“We can investigate that little by little. Just how far you truly went with your little ploy.” The emperor looked at Olivia with a cold look in his eyes. The time where people thought she was the Solar religion’s saintess was over. All that love had now been returned as betrayal and anger. “I will investigate this down to the very detail of it all.”

Was it that difficult for him to make his ruling right now, even with how clear the evidence is right now?

Feeling a bit disappointed, I nodded slightly, but the emperor said something I hadn’t expected at all. “It isn’t to determine if that person is guilty or not. In any case, she’ll receive the death penalty for pretending to be a saintess with the help of forbidden magic.”

I didn’t hide my confusion at his words that were directed toward me. “Then why investigate…”

“It’s to make sure that those who were affected by the culprit are adequately compensated.”

“Oh…”

It was a promise to expel all the false accusations from Meliara Darchez, the original owner of this body. In addition to the other victims such as the messenger and the temple maid, who were standing behind me right now. 

‘How reliable.’

I was able to laugh carefreely for the first time since this situation erupted. “Thank you.” And bowed my head.

“No! Argh!!”

I turned my head toward the still noisy Olivia. As she was being dragged away, Olivia’s eyes met mine. All I did was just stare at her, yet her face turned red as she looked at me. “You’re looking down on me again, aren’t you?! Again! Ahhhhhh!”

With her current appearance, no one would be able to associate her with the word ‘saintess’.

* * *

The ‘fake’ saintess incident that had erupted out of nowhere had caused the emperor to be quite busy. We vacated the place at his words that expressed he was sorry, but we should catch up casually over tea another time. The high priest of the Solar religion also went back in a hurry since it was necessary for him to sort out the temple. 

And Frody, of course, had resumed his humanised state at the command of Lecht. 

“I didn’t expect that you’d break it, Saintess. That’s a violation of the regulations though.” Frody said with a smile.

“What violation.” I didn’t pay any attention to him. I looked back at Tanma, ignoring him.

“In any case, it seems like it all fortunately went quite well, huh?”

“Because rather than the disciplinary action, everyone just wants to see the saintess as soon as possible instead.” 

Tanma told me about what had transpired when he returned to the demon realm.

*

At an emergency council meeting in the demon realm that was held at the request of Tanma.

“I thought the saintess would be coming since he said it was an emergency, but even His Majesty hasn’t arrived yet?”

“Just what the hell is taking them so long?! Isn’t he stopping us deliberately? I’m telling you, he’s taking advantage of the fact that we can’t cross over into the human realm without his permission first!”

The nobles who had gathered as a council after a long time were busy placing bets. 

A few months ago, the story of the saintess appearing started to circulate throughout the demon realm. It was only natural, since Muso had spread rumours all over the place, saying that he had become the exclusive servant of the saintess.

Ever since then, all of them had put in a request to be granted an audience with the saintess, but Tanma continued to block them by saying that the saintess still had issues that she had to resolve in the human realm.

The nobles, who had brushed over it at first, started to complain when it lasted for several months. 

“I’m saying, why the hell would the proclamation ceremony be held in the human realm first? Isn’t Lunar the demon realm’s god in the first place?”

“The Lunar religion wouldn’t have spread all the way to the human realm if His Majesty hadn’t stayed in the human realm in the first place.”

No matter how much they thought about it, it felt like their demon king was trying to hog the saintess to himself by using one excuse or another. 

“The proclamation ceremony in the human realm was the saintess’ choice.”

“…”

After silencing them with words they couldn’t refute first, Tanma said, “But even that is being delayed.”

“Why is that?”

“I knew it, he’s obviously doing this on purpose…”

“It’s because of Sir Frody’s interference.” 

The conference room suddenly became quiet once Frody’s name was brought up. A chilling tension hung in the air.

“Everyone is aware that he signed a contract with a human, right?”

“Is that the problem? Even if we know, the regulations…”

“Yes, the contract is fine. However, he used it as an excuse to hurt His Majesty’s people.”

“…”

“The bigger problem at hand is that their return to the demon realm is being delayed since the saintess is currently handling it. Because of what Frody did under the pretext of the contract.”

“Ahem, ahem…!”

All of them showed an unpleasant expression, just like he expected. 

Making sure that all of their arrows were being pointed at Frody, Tanma said, “So the saintess is going to forcibly terminate the contract.”

“…!”

“So that she can come to the demon realm as soon as possible. Oh, and there will be a grand welcoming ceremony that will be held when she comes.”

All of them shut their mouths. Disciplinary action or whatever aside, their biggest wish was for the saintess to come back as soon as possible. 

“Is there anyone who opposes this?”

Although Tanma’s smile seemed extremely hateful in their eyes, no one dared to raise their hand.

“Then I’ll let the saintess know your exact words. I’ll see you all again with the saintess.”

That was how the emergency meeting ended.

*

“Things went well thanks to Tanma’s efforts.”

“It’s my honour for me to be of help to you.”

“Gosh, I really should rush to the demon realm as soon as the proclamation is finished. I didn’t know everyone had been waiting for me like that.”

Although Muso had always told me, maybe I hadn’t been able to believe him wholeheartedly since it was him who was telling me…

“When you return, come and see me too–”

“Tanma.”

“Yes, understood, Your Majesty.”

Frody tried to take advantage of the gap in conversation to call out to me, but Lecht and Tanma immediately cut him off. 

“Regardless, I made a huge meritorious contribution this time…”

“Shouldn’t you think about what you’ve done so far?” I turned around after spitting out a harsh remark to Frody.

Although my work wasn’t completely finished yet, now that the emperor was moving too, all I really had to do was wait. I was rather pleased that I was able to make it to the deadline of the proclamation ceremony by a narrow margin.

“Then, let’s go and prepare for the proclamation ceremony! We only have two days left!”

It had been a long time since I had last been able to laugh carefreely without my feet feeling heavy.

*

However, another stumbling block came to find me sooner than I expected.

“Meliara. Can I talk to you for a bit?”

It was Alion Darchez.

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i have a sneaking suspicion that this won’t be the last time we see our fake saintess,,,

also why does it feel like meliara’s fan club just seems to grow larger and larger with every passing chapter (ofc the priest trio and muso are the presidents of said fan club GSDFLKDFJ)

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

t/n
just a disclaimer since i know there will be quite a few more readers due to the recent manhwa adaptation: i’m not in any way a native speaker. i’m just someone who has somewhat of a grasp on korean grammar structures so this is technically all just edited mtl aided with the little knowledge i have of korean, so this is in no way a perfect translation!

just something to put out there in case this does get an official adaptation from naver (highly likely with webtoons) and so you don’t start comparing my tl with the official one HGLSDKJDFJDFS

i substitute a few words here and there and paraphrase as well to fit the novel format better as well so pls bear with me QAQ

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I shook my head and drank my tea at the sight of Ziken dragging it out without being able to lower his head to us. 

Upon the gradual reddening of the crown prince’s face, the emperor clicked his tongue as if he could read what he was thinking and said, “I’ve explained many times before that there’s a difference between maintaining your authority and inflating your own pride.”

It was obvious why he was criticising the crown prince so openly in front of us. It was a request to pressure us by saying, ‘I know my son did something wrong as well so look, I’ll scold him in front of you’. Well, I didn’t intend to receive an apology from the crown prince in this sort of situation anyway, so I didn’t bother to nitpick anything.

“And you, Saintess Olivia.” 

The shoulders of the crying Olivia who was still at the emperor’s feet flinched momentarily. 

“I cherished you quite a lot, Saintess…” 

The emperor’s gaze swung toward the High Priest of the Solar religion. Since the two of them never really got along in the beginning. 

“It’s quite troublesome that your naivety has ultimately caused you to be unable to distinguish which line you shouldn’t cross.” Those words were meant as a reproach to the Saintess, but his eyes were staring directly at the high priest. In other words, it meant, ‘Shouldn’t the Solar religion teach at least these basics to the Saintess?’

Obviously, the high priest wasn’t going to just take that sort of remark lying down. “Your Majesty, that woman is doing that sort of thing on purpose!” 

In any case, this was the high priest who had abandoned Olivia and suffered a severe defeat before coming here. But for the Solar religion to be cursed and humiliated because of her? Of course he couldn’t stand it. “All the rumours circulating the capital are true!”

“High Priest, what exactly are you saying?”

“That woman isn’t the saintess! She’s fake!” 

I was almost certain that his voice was so loud it not only filled the drawing room, but also the corridor outside. 

“W-What are you saying?! Your Majesty, he’s trying to frame me!”

“Stop trying to trick everyone! You used the crown prince as a shield to stop me from coming to the imperial palace and exposing the truth about you!”

“Only because you’ll make up lies like this…!”

The two of them began to fight. 

“Then what did you do to cure a disease that can’t be cured by the divine power of the Solar religion? It’s poison, and our divine power clearly can’t neutralise poison!”

“I-It was a delusion! Those people all deluded themselves into thinking they got better! You can seek them out again and find out for yourself. None of them are fully healed yet…!”

“Do you think I don’t know that you just tried to find them and poison them again?!”

“Silence, both of you!”

Wow. It’s a complete mess. The situation began to worsen on its own so much that I rather regretted that I didn’t have popcorn here with me. I lifted my teacup as I listened to all the audacious and horrendous past deeds of her being exposed. 

As I sipped the sweetly bitter black tea, the emperor said to me, “Princess, didn’t you say that you knew who the real culprit was earlier?”

“Pfft.” Suddenly being thrust into the situation, the black tea I had been drinking was caught in the crossfire. “Cough! Cough!”

“Ara!” Linden took out his handkerchief in surprise, but I already had Lecht’s in my hand.

As I covered my mouth and choked, Lecht patted me gently on the back.

“My apologies.”

“No, I apologise instead.” The emperor cast a glance at Olivia, who was the main culprit of this chaotic commotion, and her ‘lover’ and his son, and sighed quietly. “Go ahead and finish what you said earlier. About knowing who the real culprit is.”

Olivia opened her sharp eyes and glared at me. The high priest had a triumphant expression on his face that seemed to urge me to speak quickly, while Ziken still seemed to be pent up with annoyance. 

Although it was a little burdensome for me to receive this much attention… I calmly wiped the corners of my mouth with the handkerchief and opened my mouth. “I don’t know much regarding the forbidden magic and the demon.”

At my words, Olivia’s eyes widened while the high priest seemed a bit flustered. 

“What I was going to tell you was the truth behind who framed me.”

“Oh.” The emperor looked unsatisfied, perhaps because I was talking about something that was unrelated to this case. 

Nevertheless, I went on calmly. “You remember what I told you earlier about the characteristics of the person who spread malicious rumours about me, right?”

“Yes, I remember.” The emperor’s expression eased when I started talking about the demon that had been mentioned earlier. 

“He also makes an appearance in every instance where I’ve been framed.” At the emperor’s nod to continue, I asked the maid to call in the people who were being protected by the knights outside. 

“Wait, that child is…” The high priest of the Solar religion also recognised one of the people among them. But I placed my index finger on my lips as a gesture to remain silent.

Among those who entered the room timidly, the messenger boy bowed first. “Greeting the Empire’s Sun. My name is Ross, and I worked as a messenger boy for the Darchez Duchy until a few months ago.”

“He’s the one who was in charge of delivering the tea leaves I gifted to Saintess Olivia,” I added onto his self-introduction. 

At my nod, he began to speak in a trembling voice. “The rain was especially heavy that day, so I remember it quite clearly. Miss told me to wait in the room while she prepared the present. So I saw her choose the gift and package it herself…”

The fact that the maids hadn’t done it and she had to do it herself would be both refreshing, yet heartbreaking. Though I didn’t know if this would help very much.

“For the Saintess, miss…” The messenger glanced at Olivia and said, “Gifted peppermint tea to her.”

“What…?” Although it was obvious, Olivia’s eyes grew round at the words that she had heard for the first time. “T-That can’t be! What I received was chamomile tea!”

“I think it’s strange too. I clearly saw Miss packing peppermint tea and personally delivered it myself, yet why did it suddenly become chamomile tea when it came into the hands of the saintess…”

“Are you saying I’m lying?! No, you must have switched them! Yes, so you poisoned…!

“The person I delivered the tea to at the time had the same appearance as the person who spread the rumours!” The messenger hurriedly added as soon as the arrow of criticism seemed to be directed at him. 

At the silence of the people who were drenched in shock, I continued to speak, “The person standing next to him is a maid who once belonged to the Solar religion. After seeing the saintess vomit blood and fainting, she apparently quit her job due to the shock from the traumatic incident.”

“That’s…” The maid’s eyes flitted apprehensively toward Olivia and the high priest. 

However, at my slight smile when our eyes met, she clenched her fist and started to speak. “This isn’t the man who said he was a messenger from the Darchez Duchy and whom I received the tea leaves from.” She said, pointing to the messenger beside her. “It wasn’t this man, rather… he had the same appearance as the man in the rumours.”

At her words, it was silent this time. It was heavy.

“They were switched…” At the emperor’s murmur, I could see Olivia’s eyes darting here and there. 

I said what I had to say before she could say anything else. “There are more incidents like that. Shall we continue?” I said, pointing to the people who were standing further away. 

The emperor waved his hand. Since he was able to tell that even if he kept listening, the results would most likely be the same. “So that person is definitely the culprit.”

“Yes. As I’ve said earlier, we presume that he belongs to the demon clan.”

“Hmm.” A groan leaked out of the emperor as he glanced at Olivia and Ziken.

“Your Majesty, the demon is the one at fault, so Livi is innocent…”

“What a peculiar situation. I, the Princess, and the people present right now, were all just talking about how the demon was involved in so many of these situations, and that we had to find the contractor of the demon in this empire, yet…”

“…”

“I wonder why the crown prince and saintess suddenly appeared saying ‘The saintess isn’t the contractor’.” Since there had never been mention of a saintess throughout our entire conversation.

When Olivia’s shoulders flinched violently while Ziken was stunned speechless, I discovered that Tanma had opened the door gently and entered the room. He seemed to have finished the task I had asked him to complete. When our eyes met, he gave me a cold smile and nodded. I signalled with my eyes and made Lecht and Linden aware of his presence as well.

Receiving my signal, Linden opened his mouth immediately. “This is hurting my conscience.” The usual tender softness to his voice was gone, and was replaced by a clear and cold voice.

“Linden, just what are you talking about…!”

Ignoring Ziken’s outburst, Linden asked Olivia, “Olivia, why did you go to Zabotsa village, the village where the epidemic broke out a few months ago? And in secret from the temple as well?”

“…!”

“Turns out you arrived just one day before the epidemic broke out. And on top of that… you had company with you as well.”

Olivia’s face gradually began to pale. I started to slowly get up from my seat.

“I-I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“The man’s appearance was extremely… peculiar at that time, so I noted it down.” Linden said as he tapped the paper in front of him. 

In the meantime, I walked slowly around the table. Lecht followed after me quietly. 

“Skin as white as snow. Hair down to his neck that was mysteriously both black and white… Eyes like the winter sky…”

“I don’t know such a man!!!”

At Olivia’s shrill cry, I asked, “You really don’t know?”

Distracted by Linden’s words, Olivia, who didn’t know that I was now behind her, almost collapsed in shock. 

“Princess, just what are you doing right now…!” 

Ziken tried to grab me, but Lecht blocked his path. The emperor sat quietly on the sidelines watching.

“I asked if you really don’t know.” Looking down at Olivia, I bent slightly at the waist and asked Olivia once again.

“I-I don’t know! I don’t know that man!”

“Then what’s this?” I yanked at a necklace that was hanging from the neck of her, who was screaming.

“Ah…!” 

She tried to reach for me in a hurry, but… crack. The necklace had already been thrown to the floor and shattered under the heel of my shoe. 

“No!”

At Olivia’s devastated voice, a dark blue energy burst from her necklace. Then immediately with a puff, a wind burst in as the whole room was filled with the scent of gold osmanthus. 

“Gosh, seriously. What did your ‘fake’ saintess do like an amateur this time? Didn’t I say that our contract would be broken if this shattered?”

A man appeared in the black whirlwind. He had the same appearance as the ‘man from the rumours’ that had been mentioned over and over again today. And with the additional horns on his head, he was that very problematic demon we had been talking about.

“Oh? You aren’t by yourself today? You only ever call for me when you’re alone though.” Frody swept a glance through the crowd of people gathered and raised the corners of his mouth. “Damn, judging by the atmosphere, this is just like …”

He crinkled his eyes into crescent moons and laughed, as if he enjoyed this chilly atmosphere. He crossed his arms prettily and poked the tip of his finger into his cheek with a hehe and whispered perversely, “My Saintess, seems like they found out you were fake, huh?”

Bingo. This time, it was my turn to raise the corners of my mouth.

* * *

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 few days ago, when Ara had disappeared and said she would come back after confirming something while she was contemplating on how to catch Olivia. She returned with a book in her hand.

“Butler. I’d like to ask you a question.”

“Yes, go ahead Miss.”

Although Lecht was also with him, asking him instead of Tanma would obviously be in violation of the demon realm’s regulations.

“You said it was against the regulations for Lecht to force anything onto Frody, right? That includes breaking the contract.”

“Yes.”

“Then what if I do it?”

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finally exposed !!

ALSO NAVER HAS ADAPTED IBVIAAN INTO A MANHWA !! NO ENG TL YET BUT THERE SHOULD BE ONE UP SOON FROM SCANLATION PAGES WOOOOO

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

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The emperor greeted us upon our arrival at the imperial palace. To tell the truth, I had actually already told him in advance last night that we’d be visiting him today. I also further explained how we would need to have a discussion on what was making the capital so chaotic recently. 

If I looked at it from his perspective, there was no reason for him to refuse. Above all, he probably already knew that Lecht would be by my side too. So in the end, he’d still greet me, even if it was just out of mere curiosity.

“Just how long has it been since the Grand Duke has last visited the imperial palace?” Naturally, he was also the most sensitive to Lecht’s mood as well. 

“I’m relieved to see that you look healthy. Everyone, please sit.”

I could see that the table he prepared for us was a round table, as if he had been conscious of overcomplicating the situation by deciding who would sit at the head of the table. 

The five of us, who sat on the opposite side of the emperor. This included the High Priest of the Solar religion. However, contrary to the emperor’s expectations, Lecht ended up taking a seat that was one away from the centre instead of the centre seat. Although his expression afterward seemed to convey that he was already used to me taking the middle seat, the emperor looked a bit flustered. 

Though of course, that expression soon vanished from his face and was replaced with a smile that was directed at me. “I wasn’t aware that the Princess was this familiar with the Grand Duke. Hoho.”

Lecht opened his mouth before I could reply, “She’s the reason I founded this empire.”

The eyes of the emperor, who was aware of Lecht’s real identity, widened suddenly. “So it was actually true that the Grand Duke stayed here in order to wait for someone…” Not able to hide his face filled with regret, he added, “If I had known it was Princess Darchez in advance, then…”

“Furthermore, I didn’t know that the Princess was this close to Linden.”

The expression of Linden, who had received the emperor’s attention, was extremely complicated. Just how long had it been since he had last sat face to face with the emperor? It was probably his first time ever since he last left the imperial palace. Naturally, the gaze that the emperor directed toward Linden wasn’t exactly comfortable either.

“It’s because we get along well with each other.” I said lightly, knowing that Linden wouldn’t bother to say anything. 

Nodding his head, the emperor asked Lecht, “Seeing as how we’re talking about the story of how this empire was founded, I’m guessing this child knows about it all already.”

“There was no reason for him not to know.”

“Haa, gosh.” The emperor, who couldn’t have possibly been unaware of what Lecht’s words meant, sighed slightly. 

His gaze swept over Linden and I, and even Lydia as well. “The Grand Duke has completely ruined the life that I’ve built up so far.”

He deserved to feel that way. He discarded me like a card in order to maintain his relationship with the Solar religion. He even humiliated me by dissolving my engagement in such a high profile way.

However, it turned out that I was the reason why Lecht had originally decided to stay in the human realm. What’s more was that the emperor now knew that Linden was aware of the whole truth about Grand Duke Arvis, which was a discussion that was only had between the former emperor and his heir. 

So with such a variety of significant issues, the emperor had no choice but to feel despondent.

“So, Princess.”

No, why are all of you humans calling me a princess? I’ve already given up that title. Although I wanted to point that out, there were more important things to discuss so I let it go for the moment. 

“Why did you want to see me in such a hurry?” 

“You must’ve heard about the recent rumours running rampant throughout the capital these days.”

“Is it the talk about the plague?”

“Yes.”

The emperor’s gaze landed on the High Priest of the Solar religion. Although they were only talking about the ‘plague’, the recent rumours had also included talk of the Solar religion’s saintess.

“Regardless, it seemed to be a rather grave issue, so we decided to come and find you all together.”

“Do you know something?”

“This epidemic is caused by a poison called pestis.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a poison before.”

“It’s a lethal poison that was originally from the demonic realm.”

The emperor’s brow twitched slightly. “Is that true?”

Lecht nodded at the emperor’s startled remark. 

“It was mixed into waterways that were used by a small number of people. The results of the investigation show that there were no traces of someone forcibly tampering with the facility.”

“Are you saying that someone has intentionally spread this epidemic?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

“However, there’s also a rumour saying that I started it. Of course, it’s obviously a false accusation. The symptoms of pestis show up almost immediately, so I wouldn’t have had time to spread it. Anyone who was at the night market can testify for me about that.”

At that point in time, I had spent all day being encircled by countless numbers of people, and of course, Lecht and Linden as well. 

“It was strange, so after further investigation, it was revealed that only one person had been behind the malicious rumours that had been spreading about me.”

“Was he trying to spread the poison so he could frame you, Princess? Ha. What a troublesome bastard.”

“Yes, but that’s the problem.”

“Problem?”

I relayed the explanation Tanma had told me to the emperor who had asked. Naturally, about flashing from the east and then to the west in an instant. All the way to the details about his unique appearance and the scent of flowers that always lingered behind them. 

“How could he show up in two completely different places at the same time?”

“It would be one of the two. Either he’s an extremely talented mage, or he’s a demon.”

“I’ve re-checked it several times, but that guy isn’t someone who’s obtained a mage’s licence either.” Linden added an explanation to my words. A mage like that would’ve had some sort of record somewhere. But there was nothing.

“So there was only one conclusion that we could come to.”

A demon. The emperor understood without me having to spit it out. 

The emperor thought for a moment before his gaze moved to Lecht. “Grand Duke.”

“He isn’t someone who has crossed over with my permission.” 

The emperor’s face darkened at Lecht’s firmness, perhaps because he desired an explanation from Lecht.

“…Grand Duke, don’t you know that summoning demons is forbidden throughout the entire continent?” As an emperor, he was also aware of the regulations that were put into place after the war between the demons and humans. Although the general public may forget, he as an emperor, could not.

“I’m saying that someone broke it.”

The emperor eventually let out a deep sigh. “This isn’t a case that will end with a simple epidemic.”

“I have more to say regarding him.” I added at his worried murmur.

“Tell me.” He spoke in a voice that didn’t seem to want to hear anything else. He must have had a hunch at this moment that anything I’d say would only make the situation even more severe.

“This incident is also related to when I had my engagement broken off.”

“Princess, that… wait, you’re saying that the demon and the forbidden magic is also related to that attempted poisoning incident?”

“Yes. And do you remember the tea party that Her Majesty the Empress hosted last year? It ended chaotically with an incident of theft, didn’t it?”

“I remember. But back then, the results of the search were clearly…” The emperor stopped talking after a while and looked at me, since I had ended up as the criminal in that story. 

“Yes, that’s also related to this situation. There are also many other cases apart from these ones.”

“Princess. I don’t quite understand how to relate those cases to this.” The emperor asked me in an extremely solemn manner, as if he thought that I was taking this opportunity to restore my reputation by weaving irrelevant matters into it.

Since I had expected at least this level of opposition, I laughed and said, “I stayed quiet until now, since I wasn’t able to point out who the real culprit was, even if I myself knew that it was only a false accusation.”

“So you’re finally setting things straight now that the real culprit has shown themselves?”

“Yes.”

The emperor’s blue eyes were fixed on me for a long time. It was a deep gaze that seemed to be able to see through me. I had nothing to hide, nor did I have anything for me to be conscious of, so I received his stare head on.

“Then if that’s the case… both I, and many other people have wronged you too much.”

“…”

“But Princess. As you can see, the culprit is a demon. He’s also someone who has escaped from the Grand Duke’s grasps. It isn’t clear whether we can catch him.”

In other words, ‘I’m sorry, but it’ll be hard to solve this case’.

Obviously, this wasn’t the problem. Since I knew who the culprit was.

“Your Majesty.” I called out to him as I took a deep breath in. Pointing out the saintess—who was loved by everyone—as the culprit was something that I absolutely had to do. To top that off, we had a lot of bad blood between the two of us, so regardless of how much evidence I gathered, it was still a dangerous act. “The truth is…”

It was when I was cautiously opening my mouth. 

Bang!

“Your Majesty, they’re all lies!”

“You can’t go in–”

“You seem to have a lot to say when I’ve already given her permission to enter!”

The door of the sitting room suddenly swung open violently as Olivia, Ziken, and the guards that were standing guard at the door rushed in.

“Your Majesty, it’s not true! I’ve never done something like that in my life!” Olivia collapsed at the emperor’s feet and grabbed onto the emperor’s chair.

“Saintess Olivia? Just what are you doing right now…”

“Hic hic… It’s not true, you can’t believe that woman’s words…!” 

Even the emperor cast a look of absurdity down at Olivia, who had come in rudely without permission and was now shedding tears.

Misinterpreting the silence, Olivia cried out tearfully, “How could I have done such a terrible thing? Hic…!”

“That’s right, that woman is trying to frame Livi. You know just how kind and tender-hearted Livi is too, right Father?!”

“Hic hic… I really didn’t do anything bad…”

“How could a child like that possibly sign a contract with a demon?! How does that even make any sense?!”

…Damn. I hadn’t even started tattling on them, yet they suddenly barged in, piled on a heap of straw, set fire to it, and then blew themselves up to self-destruct? It was so absurd that I couldn’t even find the words to respond.

The emperor’s cold voice that was dripping with frost filled the drawing room as he looked at them with a sour expression on his face. “What… did you just say?” 

I was a bit worried that he’d misunderstand me driving Olivia into a corner as a result of the personal feud we have with each other. 

“I asked you what you just said!”

Seems like it was a useless worry though?

I couldn’t stand the urge from the corners of my mouth to curl up, so I resorted to covering my mouth with the teacup in front of me. 

Slurp.

Today’s bitter black tea almost tasted as sweet as honey.

   

* * *

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 main part of my role afterwards was merely to watch from the sidelines. 

“That’s why it’s slander– Father…?” Ziken finally seemed to sense that there was something wrong with the emperor’s expression. 

He looked at the emperor, and then at us with a belatedly flustered look on his face. Me, who was drinking tea with an emotionless face, and Lecht, who was handing me a handkerchief. As well as the dumbfounded expressions on the rest of the others. 

“W-Wait… what’s going on…”

In any case, it was the appearance of having run only believing in Olivia’s words… I guess this would probably be the time to use the expression, ‘blinded by love’. 

“Crown Prince.” He had clearly only said his title, but it was so overbearing that even I, who was unrelated to this, got goosebumps. As expected, the emperor was still an emperor in the end. 

In my head, I had thought he was a little insignificant since he had been the emperor of an empire that had been overthrown by Lecht in the end… But even so, isn’t he still the man who holds the most power in the human realm?  

“Did you just say that the saintess has dipped her hands into forbidden magic?”

“Father, that’s…”

“Crown Prince.”

It was obvious why the emperor had called Ziken ‘Crown Prince’ instead of his first name. In other words, it was telling him to take responsibility for making such remarks that couldn’t possibly be ignored at such a gathering of important figures. 

‘In any case, he’s already upset about the fact that Linden knows everything about Lecht that only emperors are meant to know, but to think that such a remark has now come out of the crown prince’s mouth too…’

I’m sure the emperor is going out of his mind right now.

“Your Majesty, it’s because of the incredulous rumours that have been circulating the capital recently.”

Was it because he had already been the crown prince for a long time? Ziken’s mind turned quickly while he stood in front of the emperor. He talked calmly, as if he hadn’t just forcibly entered the room. 

Olivia also shut her mouth, as if she had finally noticed the atmosphere. I even had the impression that I could hear her eyes darting to and fro even from where I was.

“I said those words in order to inform you not to believe such rumours because they’re not to be trusted.”

“Did you rudely enter a place where guests had gathered just to say that?”

“…My apologies.”

“I’m not the one you should be bowing your head to in this place right now.”

It might have been a little different if the emperor was alone in his office right now. But now, we were discussing a major event with the emperor as his guests. It was embarrassing for the emperor to do this to the crown prince in such a place, and at the same time, it revealed the crown prince’s weakness and allowed it to be seized. 

He had to apologise right away in order to settle the matter immediately. The problem was that the people Ziken had to bow his head to included both Linden and I; people who he had looked down in contempt at for his whole life. 

‘There’s no way that brat can accept that.’

I happened to make eye contact with Ziken as I was setting my teacup down. I smiled readily. Ziken’s face crumpled at my smile. Normally, such blatant displeasure from him would’ve made me feel bad as well. 

But that wasn’t the case at all right now. There was no reason for me to feel bad when you just went ahead and self-destructed like that. 

I was able to smile even wider with an extremely relieved and happy heart.

---

crown prince ziken is seriously a pig teammate… like he actually unintentionally just straight up ruins all of olivia’s plans LMAOOO

one thing i don’t like abt this author’s writing style though is just their tendency to add huge chunks of dialogue randomly into the story,,,

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

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A mysterious rumour that began with the ‘disappearance’ of a messenger.

“Did you hear about it? Apparently, the divine power of Solarism can’t normally cure infectious diseases like this one.”

“Then what was Saintess Olivia doing during the day?”

It started at a tavern that was located in a corner of the capital. The tavern was so small that only close acquaintances knew that it was owned by the Ezzarson Guild.

“So… you’re saying that Saintess Olivia is a fake?”

“What…?”

An even more terrifying image was added onto the already dangerous rumour of how ‘Saintess Olivia is a fake’.

“Then what was that power?”

“You didn’t hear? Apparently it’s forbidden magic.”

“What? F-Forbidden magic…?!”

The bad news travelled quickly. Within a few days, there was no one within the capital that hadn’t heard of that rumour.

*

Around the time when the rumour spread and eventually reached inside the Great Temple of the Sun God.

“W-Where did that sort of nonsense come from…!”

“You think it’s nonsense? Just go and ask that woman and you’ll know.”

It was Lydia, who had appeared at the front steps of the Great Temple without even so much as a sound. 

The words she relayed to the High Priest, who was trying to understand the circumstances of the incident, gave him quite a huge shock. “I’m saying that the power you’ve been worshipping until now is one that belongs to a demon.”

In any case, he had been rather frustrated at the fact that Olivia refused to open her mouth for whatever reason she had. But to think that the words that slowly came out would turn his world upside down like this…

* * *

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:

“Damn it…!”

After Lydia’s visit, the High Priest of Solarism couldn’t even eat properly, let alone sleep due to his anxiety.

‘Forbidden magic? Demonic contract? Damn it all!’

The words she had said had explained everything that had remained unexplainable until now. 

The High Priest tore at his own white hair and gnashed his teeth. 

‘Is that woman crazy…?! And all while she had the name as a saintess too!’

He swore at Olivia, who he had sincerely respected as a precious saintess just last week. The most intolerable of them all to him was the attitude of the High Priestess of Lunarism.

“The power you’ve been worshipping until now is one that belongs to a demon.”

He had known earlier that she was a half-demon. 

Sixty years ago, the passing Lydia had chanced upon him while he was doing odd jobs. She had told him that he had a unique ability, and showed him how to release his divine power. Thanks to this ability which was greater than expected, he became the high priest at a young age. He tried asking around for her so he could express his thanks, but she had disappeared like the wind.

Then, he met her again ten years ago. When he heard that there was a woman who could hear Lunar’s voice, and that she had become Lunarism’s High Priest, he went to meet her. 

But the moment they met, he knew. What she was at that time. And that she wasn’t a normal human being. 

His grateful feelings and whatever else he had for her disappeared, and he was only appalled and disgusted at her appearance which didn’t age. 

He then informed the emperor of this. But what was more surprising was the emperor’s reaction. The fact that he had said there was no law that dictated or opposed half-demons from becoming high priests, so what exactly was the problem? At that response, he concluded that the emperor and the Lunar religion were one in the same boat. He thought that the emperor saying he was a believer of Solarism was tantamount to just a political act.

Ever since then, he has bumped heads with the emperor again and again to try and overthrow the Lunar religion. Although he wasn’t happy at the fact that the crown prince and the saintess were dating, he also used that fact to poke at the emperor’s sore spot. 

Furthermore, the moment the crown prince’s fiancee touched the saintess, he immediately inflated the situation in order to put pressure on the emperor. It seemed like the dissolvement of the engagement between the crown prince and the Princess of Darchez would deal a huge blow to the emperor’s power, so he gloated over that quite a bit as well.

But he didn’t expect that same exact Princess of Darchez to return as the Lunar religion’s saintess! And to top it all off, to think that their own saintess was a fake…!

‘If the emperor hears about this…! Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

Angry, his eyes glistened as they darted around the room.

‘No, I’d rather… yes, if it’s like this, then there’s only one way.’

He found a loophole he could use to survive.

‘Let’s knock down our own athlete¹’

As he opened the door to leave, he saw that the paladin who was standing guard by the door looked shocked. 

“Where is she?”

“She…? Ah, are you talking about the saintess?”

Saintess? What a disease. His irritation rushed to his throat, but he managed to hold it in. 

“Where is she?”

“She’s with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

What a malicious woman. 

After the incident that burst out in the square, he had asked her a few times how that had happened. However, she had said she didn’t know and cried with a terrified expression on her face. It was obvious he had only asked her a question, yet she had made him bewildered by making him out to be some shameless old man. 

What was even more infuriating was that the crown prince ended up falling for her actions and started to protect her. After Lydia’s visit, it was as if she had suddenly forgotten how to leave the crown prince’s side. As if she knew what had been said and fled. It was an action that showed she understood that the High Priest couldn’t possibly touch her while she was next to the crown prince.

“Where? The garden?”

For her to be in such a visible place also bothered him, as if she were deliberately teasing him. After confirming with the paladin, he strode leisurely to the garden and discovered Olivia, who was fussing in the arms of the crown prince. 

“Saintess.”

The crown prince’s knights blocked him as he took a step forward. When the crown prince’s knights turned their blades towards the High Priest, the Paladins also naturally protected the High Priest in turn.

“Your Highness. Who was the one who gave permission for these knights to be brought into the temple?” Normally, no one other than the paladins were able to be armed in the temple. But now, with the permission of the High Priest, the knights of the crown prince were given special permission to be allowed within the Great Temple.

“And just who was the one who reached out for help since the Paladins couldn’t touch the civilians recklessly?” Ziken retorted at the High Priest’s remarks. Just like he said, the disturbance in front of the temple these days couldn’t have been stopped without the crown prince’s knights. 

There was palpable tension between the two of them. 

“Saintess. I’m thinking of going to the imperial palace.”

Ziken wasn’t the only one who was surprised by the sudden change in the High Priest, who was normally respectful to the saintess until just a few days ago. The Paladins didn’t seem to understand the situation either and alternated their gazes between the saintess and the High Priest. The rumours that were circulating the capital began to slowly creep into their heads.

“I plan to make it clear that I’m the biggest victim in this incident.”

“…!”

Olivia’s breath stopped at the words of the High Priest, as if she already knew everything.

“Whether you want to run and hide or ask for His Majesty’s forgiveness—it’s all up to you.” He remarked coldly before heading to the main entrance.

“Then the Solar religion won’t remain unharmed either!” Olivia shouted at his receding figure. When the High Priest stopped and turned around, she added, “Have you ever thought about what would happen to the Solar religion’s prestige if the information about me was leaked outside?”

The High Priest scoffed at her words, as if it was ridiculous. “It’s already ruined. I’m just looking for a way to reduce as much damage as possible right now.”

Of course, this was the High Priest who valued his pride and prestige above everything else. But Lydia also knew. So if both she and the Saintess Meliara—who had a severely bad relationship with the Solar religion and that woman—knew, then there was no way they could be let off so easily. 

It was only a matter of time before the emperor knew about it. Even though the emperor didn’t have much animosity with the demons, he couldn’t let go of people who dabbled in forbidden magic.

Thus, the High Priest intended to abandon that woman immediately and try to appeal to the fact that he and the Solar religion were the victims in this situation. That way, even if rumours spread, they could at least receive the protection of the emperor and create a public image where ‘The Solar religion was the unfortunate scapegoat for that witch’.

“I can’t just stand and watch while the Solar religion collapses because of you.” With his words that seemed to indicate the end of the conversation, he turned around to leave.

That was when the urgent voice of Olivia sounded out. “Everyone, catch the High Priest! That guy is about to betray the Solar religion!”

“What…?”

“Huh?”

At her cry, the crown prince’s knights rushed toward the High Priest. Although the startled Paladins blocked them in a hurry, they all wore expressions of confusion. One was the High Priest while the other was the saintess—both of whom they had an obligation to protect. 

“What is that woman saying?! The traitor must be you!”

“None of you believe me, do you?” 

At Olivia’s face that seemed to have been dealt a huge shock and the trembling of her shoulders, the tip of the Paladins’ swords trembled slightly. They all knew about what had happened in the square as well. As well as the mysterious rumour that had spread throughout the capital. Naturally, they were more inclined toward the High Priest’s words than hers. 

Nevertheless, her charming appearance and the tears in her eyes were also huge weapons against them. Their judgement was easily shaken. 

“If you don’t catch that person… my life might be in danger…! Hic…!”

There were many of them who decided to become paladins with just a glance at the saintess. Even if they hadn’t, not one of them hadn’t received her helping hand. As if they were possessed by something, they all slowly lowered their swords and opened a path for the crown prince’s knights.

“W-What are you all doing right now?! That woman is clearly a traitor!”

The approaching sight of the crown prince’s knights striding toward him seemed as insurmountable as a forest fire devouring a tree. It was when he stepped back with a pale face. 

“Now, now~. That’s enough.”

He ended up bumping into someone behind him, as the extended hand of the crown prince’s knight was then shoved away by a firmer hand. 

Although the voice was mixed with a bit of mischief, it was still quite grave. 

The one who had struck the knight’s hand was Grand Duke Arvis, and standing right next to him was the blue-haired Princess of Darchez.

* * *

“Princess, I’m sure I told you not to leave the temple!” The first person to react when I appeared in the Great Temple of the Sun God was naturally Ziken. 

“Oh, that? His Majesty the Emperor has rescinded that order.”

“…!” 

Ziken paused when he heard that the emperor had touched the restriction that he had personally imposed himself. He must have also heard the rumour that was circulating around the capital. But he probably thought it was just a false rumour and brushed it off. He believed in Olivia, thinking that there was probably a reason why this was happening to her. He was a fool that was blinded by love. 

But… to think that the emperor would meddle in this? It was clear that something was starting to become even more complicated. 

“High Priest? I’ve come to escort you. I’ll bring you to the imperial palace safely.” I smiled at the High Priest, leaving behind the crown prince who seemed to be swamped by layers of confusion.

To be honest, it didn’t matter what happened to the High Priest of the Solar religion. But I did it deliberately since I knew how much it’d provoke Olivia if I decided to side with him at this moment. 

“How do you know that I’m going to the palace…?”

“I just do.”

I swept my gaze over Olivia, who was in the crown prince’s embrace, the knights of the crown prince who were trying to grab the High Priest, and the absent-minded Paladins who had stepped down. My gaze lingered a moment longer on Olivia specifically.

“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed since this went too according to my expectations. I wish you had a more original response.” 

At Olivia’s trembling appearance in his arms, Ziken naturally raised his voice without fail. “What do you think you’re doing right now, Princess? You don’t have the qualifications to insert yourself into this situation!”

As Ziken started to talk about qualifications again, I snorted as if it were ridiculous and pointed at Olivia. “Just how much has that woman over there done to me so far?”

“Done to you…?”

“…!” Olivia’s breath stopped at the words I added. She chewed her nails so thoroughly that her thumb began to bleed.

The expressions of the knights also appeared to be mixed with confusion and astonishment.

“Mis Olivia. I’m thinking of going to the palace now. And I will be telling His Majesty about everything you’ve done so far.”

“W-What do you mean things I’ve done? Just what are you talking about…”

“What are you asking for when you’re the one who knows better than I do? Oh, and of course, I’ve prepared all the evidence needed as well.”

“…!”

“So you have two options right now. One, you can go with me to the imperial palace to confess your sins, ask me for forgiveness, and plead for mercy in front of His Majesty the Emperor.”

Our surroundings became chilly, as if it had been splashed with icy water.

“Or two, be dragged away by force, watch all of your past misdeeds being brought out, and then be punished accordingly with your crimes.”

“…!”

“I recommend taking the former option if you still have your future in mind, but honestly, the latter isn’t too bad either.”

“…”

“What do you want to do? Miss Olivia, the ‘Saintess’?” I could hear the sound of Olivia swallowing dryly all the way over here. I noticed that she had already been completely caught in the trap I had set. 

“Y-You have no right to drag me away…!”

Oh, you weren’t fooled. What a shame. 

I smiled and said, “Yes, you’re right. I can’t drag you away by force.” What right did I have to do that? I was simply here to declare war on Olivia. My only purpose was to provoke her. 

A wave of relief washed over Olivia’s face at my words. She collapsed onto the floor, perhaps because her legs had gone weak, as Ziken hurriedly took care of her. 

As I was about to turn around with a small sigh at that appearance of hers, Linden had a bewildered expression on his face as he asked, “Are we really going to leave like this?”

“Just one minute is enough for me to dispose of them.” Lecht said affectionately, as if he thought I was going to keep a low profile instead of dealing with them.

“No, it’s not like that.  Even if it’s the Solar religion, this is still a temple. There is no need for us to spill any blood, nor do I want to.”

No matter how different a god was, as a saintess, I didn’t want to cause a disturbance at another god’s base. 

“I can’t help it since you didn’t like the two options that I gave you. There’s no choice but to go with the third option.”

“Third option?”

When the two men asked me simultaneously, I spoke clearly enough for me to be heard by Olivia. “Whether that woman comes or not, I’ll just do what I have to do.”

“Aha.” Linden nodded as if he understood what I meant immediately.

“It doesn’t matter if that woman is there or not if I just reveal everything in the first place.”

A sharp scream sounded out when I tried to walk out. “No…! We have to catch that woman! She can never leave!”

It was Olivia’s final move. 

However, it wasn’t the Paladins or the knights of the crown prince that moved at her words. It was the huge number of knights behind me. 

Private mercenaries that were owned by Linden as the Head of the Ezzarson Guild. Although they were private mercenaries in name, their ability was just as good as any other imperial knight. A part of the knights from the Grand Duchy had also come over a few days ago. Of course, only those who could humanise themselves came. And the Paladins of the Lunar religion that moved at Lydia’s command. They were people who were willing to lay down their lives to protect me, their saintess.

As soon as they heard Olivia’s shrill cry, they transformed from waiting quietly to putting their hands on their weapons and surrounding me. From my point of view, they were like a wall that couldn’t be broken through unless all the knights that were directly under the emperor’s command were dispatched. 

I turned my back on them and only turned my head, looking down at Olivia who was collapsed on the floor. With a gaze that was devoid of hate and ridicule—eyes that contained nothing.

“Just who is catching who?”

Olivia’s face turned pale at my words.

[1] knocking down someone on your own team, friendly fire.

---

olivia is proof that pretty privilege is alive and well

also can we talk abt the fact that lydia literally paved the way for the high priest of the solar religion (and tbh in my head i pictured him as having a phat ass crush on lydia but that’s just me LMAOOOO) but the moment she’s a half demon NOOOOO sounds a lot like fragile masculinity and low self esteem to me ://// NOT TO MENTION THE PREJUDICE BUT YEAH

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

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Olivia’s behaviour which clearly broke the bounds of her own position after the commotion broke out in the square ignited the situation immediately. Because of that, the patients had no choice but to turn their eyes to the Lunar religion for treatment, causing the Great Temple of the Moon God to become busy without even having any time to rest.

‘I had wondered why I was so free, but it was because the people didn’t feel the need to come here since Olivia had been healing them.’

Didn’t I say that it was weird for not even one person to come until now? 

I wanted to run over there immediately to protest, but I held it in. Unless there was a way for me to prove that her ‘strange power’ came from Frody, there would be nothing for me to reap if I ran there right now. 

I needed a surefire way to prove that everything she had done in the past, including this epidemic, was all her doing, to be more exact. Because for those who didn’t know the full story, Meliara’s false accusation and Olivia’s ‘strange power’ were both two completely separate events. 

“Is there no movement on the Solarism side yet?”

Linden shook his head at my question. He stood by my side publicly, while he secretly moved his subordinates to observe the situation. “Apparently there’s been conflict between those who have been requesting an explanation right in front of the Great Temple of the Sun God and those who don’t want to doubt their own saintess—it’s chaos out there.”

“Heok… Did anyone get hurt?”

“I heard that Older Brother’s order of knights in the surroundings made a move before it got too heated…”

“So only the Crown Prince has moved, but the temple remains silent.” I clicked my tongue. “What I need to know instead is whether or not the High Priest is in on their plan so I can formulate a plan of attack.”

When I only heard about what happened in the town square itself, the High Priest seemed to have nothing to do with it. However, I thought it was another bump in the road when I saw that the Saintess was staying in the Great Temple even when things had gotten to this point.

“By the way, Ara, do you know exactly what power that woman uses?” Linden asked quietly so that no one else would hear. “No matter how much I investigate it, I can’t tell what it is… but you seem to know.”

Linden naturally failed to conclude that she had a contract with a demon since he didn’t know much about demons.

I snuck a glance at Lecht. When our eyes met, he nodded slightly with an expression that said it was okay. It was a sign that meant I could tell him.

“Regardless, I was actually thinking of telling you later. When Lydia comes back…”

Just as I was about to speak, the teleportation portal opened beside us as Lydia appeared in the light. Despite the rumour that using the teleportation portal would cause severe motion sickness, Lydia approached me with her usual expression on her face.

“I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.” I welcomed her back happily. 

When the incident first broke out, I had first sent a letter to her through Lu, the messenger bird of Lunarism. 

“I didn’t think I could afford to waste any time when I read Miss Ara’s letter. Don’t worry. The Grand Duchy has all been put in order.”

“Thank you.”

It was incredible that Lu had arrived at the Grand Duchy in half a day with a letter, and the fact that Lydia was able to put the whole place in order in only a day was also incredible. 

Nodding at Lecht in greeting, Lydia swept a glance around the temple. 

“Now then, since even Lydia has arrived, shall we go over there to talk for a while?” 

I requested for the rest of the priests to heal the remaining patients and headed to the parlour. With both Lecht and Linden of course. Tanma had left to do another favour of mine. 

The parlour I had entered was where I had met both Alion and Meliara.

Meliara was waiting for me. I nodded in her direction, then sat down on the couch next to where she stood. 

“A teddy bear? It’s something that I’ve never seen before.” 

Lydia looked at it with a suspicious gaze when she found an object that she had never seen before in the temple.

“It’s a gift from the Little Duke to his little sister.”

“Oho.”

Nodding, Lydia tilted her head and looked up at me.

“The little sister you’re talking about is yourself, right Miss Ara?” she asked, perhaps because it felt strange for me to use the expression ‘little sister’.

Lydia’s help was essential in helping us determine whether or not the High Priest of Solarism was in cahoots with Olivia. Now that I knew Lydia was a half-demon, I was able to tell her everything without any reservations.

“To be more exact, I’m actually not Meliara Darchez.”

*

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 was able to finish the explanation a lot more concisely, perhaps because I already had the experience of telling Lecht and Linden before. But of course, this time, it also contained the whole story about Olivia and Frody’s power. 

Lecht listened quietly since he already knew the whole story, while Lydia listened without much of a reaction. The one with the biggest reaction was Linden.

“Haa, slow down for a moment. I heard it all properly, right?” Linden asked again, sweeping his hair back with an incredulous expression on his face. His eyes darted back and forth between Lecht and I. 

“It’s the truth. Lecht is hiding his appearance as the Demon King, and… Olivia has dipped her hand into sorcery and signed a contract with a demon.”

“Haa.” Linden pressed his finger against his furrowed brows, as if he had a headache. 

“His Majesty the Emperor also knows about Lecht.” 

At my additional comment, Linden sighed. “So that’s why His Excellency the Grand Duke said that to my Older Brother at the funeral ceremony.” 

“The fact that you don’t recognise me… It seems like the emperor hasn’t fully recognised you as the next emperor yet.”

Linden now understood that the Emperor would have told Ziken the story behind Lecht if he had truly recognised Ziken as the next emperor. Because the story of how Grand Duke Arvis was the Demon King and telling them not to provoke him recklessly was always a conversation that occurred between the previous emperor and their heir. 

While Linden tried to sort out his muddled thoughts, Lydia laughed quietly.

“You don’t seem that surprised though, Lydia. I expected it with Lecht’s identity, but… I thought you would be shocked at the part where Meliara and I were two different beings.”

“I was guessing.”

“…Don’t tell me it’s that obvious?”

“No, it isn’t. It’s just that…” She seemed like she was about to say something, but then smiled after a moment of thought. “Lunar told me. Not to be fooled by the next saintess’ appearance.”

“Not to be fooled… No, why did Lunar say it in such a weird way…”

Lydia was the only person who could hear the voice of Lunar apart from me, the saintess. As the saintess, I could only hear it in the temple on the night of a full moon, while Lydia could only hear it on a night with a red or blue moon. 

‘I’m starting to have even more questions. Then did Lunar know that I was coming?’

While I was absorbed in my own conjectures, Lydia suddenly pulled me back to reality. “If that woman’s power comes from a contract with a demon, then it’s highly likely that the High Priest isn’t aware of it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Since he’s the type of fellow who thinks the demonic clan is a race that’s lower than humans.”

“A lower race?”

“Yes. That’s why he considers Lunar to be of a lower class than Sol; because it’s a god that is worshipped by demons.”

“Lower class? But they’re both gods though?” I couldn’t help but sigh. There were naturally people who liked to discriminate and create a division between factions, wherever they went.

“That’s the fundamental reason behind why the Lunar and Solar religions are unable to forge a closer relationship with each other.”

“So that’s why you’re sure that the two of them aren’t on the same side, because there’s no way a person like that would appoint Olivia as a saintess if they knew she was in a contract with a demon.”

“The real question now is whether that old man’s pride will allow him to reveal the truth after he knows the truth behind the saintess.”

He himself would receive a shock when he realised that he had been serving a woman who was entangled with a demon all this time. Then, he’d probably feel betrayed. 

But regardless of that, the High Priest also might choose not to reveal this matter since the honour of Solarism was also at stake. 

“Although he didn’t know before, there’s a high possibility that he’d try and cover it up now that he knows.” 

Olivia’s weakness was the fact that her power was fake, while the High Priest’s weakness was to hide it to protect the honour and reputation of Solarism. It was a fake and hypocritical relationship. It was a relationship that made me tired just from hearing about it.

“Then we should make our move before the High Priest of Solarism tries to officially cover it up for Olivia.”

Now that I knew that Olivia’s sorcery wasn’t related to the High Priest, I sorted out my thought process right away. 

“Everyone, huddle toward me a bit closer.” 

I beckoned over Lydia and Linden and relayed to them the plan that I had in mind. 

It was a scheme that would be unveiled while we continued to cure the patients in the afternoon.

*

“Wait, then won’t you actually need the Little Duke’s help?” Linden asked with a frown after everyone had heard what my plan was.

However, I turned my gaze toward Meliara, who was sitting next to me. Despite her eyes still being red, she nodded toward me with a determined look on her face. 

I suddenly thought of my conversation with her.

—I’ll try and convince Older Brother.

A calm Meliara told me a few minutes after Alion had left.

“How? He can’t see or hear you at all. As you can see, it seems like it’s almost impossible for you to get back into this body.”

When her soul tried to enter the body, it just ended up floating through me. It seemed like the body didn’t even want her back in the first place.

—Ara can tell him my words for me…

“It won’t be convincing enough. No matter how much I act, in the end, it’s still just acting.”

—I want to get rid of these false accusations against me.

“…You’ve changed for the better. I didn’t think you could even overcome it before.”

—Now I know that Older Brother was taking care of me. I wouldn’t be able to be cleared of these false charges if it weren’t for Older Brother.

I agreed with that statement.

—I think I know. The place where Older Brother hid the messenger.

“Really?”

—We have a villa. I know that he always goes there whenever he wants to avoid other people’s gazes.

“Would he hide them in such an obvious place?”

—Because Older Brother is the most familiar with the saying it’s often the darkest right underneath the lamp¹.

It was extremely heartbreaking to see the appearance of Meliara who had said those words. It sounded like a saying that accurately represents the relationship between the two of them.

—There’s only one other way if Older Brother doesn’t give him to you. Just steal it from him.

I smiled widely at her resolute expression. 

“I thought you were just a gentle young miss, but you’re even more daring than I thought you were.”

—Clear me of my false charges and punish that woman for me. And… please relieve the burden weighing down on my Older Brother’s shoulders for me.

“Then, shall we knock out your older brother by hitting him on the back of his head to relieve him of his burden?”

—… 

It was the same expression as that older brother who cherished his little sister, yet never expressed that affection to her.

“Alright. The timing of those two people who keep stepping out of line to the point where it’s tiresome. I’ll try and rewrite that destiny that’s full of terrible luck.”

—…Thank you.

“What do you mean thank you? Since I’m now a saintess, that’s the least I should do.”

I should help if Lunar loves me. Despite the fact that they’re different gods, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to punish a woman who is tarnishing a god’s name. That was how our deal was sealed. 

However, both Linden and Lydia’s help was essential for us to be able to fix a net so secure that not even loaches would be able to escape from it.

“Don’t worry and just trust me.” I smiled at Linden who looked at me anxiously. 

All the puzzle pieces were being put into place. All that remained for us to do was to take action. 

I was going to use the Solar religion as a shield to hurl that woman—who used Frody’s power to wield a false power—down into the abyss. Since she had been so disgraceful, this was something she had to endure.

* * *

Clouds filled the night sky and blocked the rays of moonlight on a dark night. 

An incident was quietly unfolding at a villa on the outskirts of the capital, owned by the Darchez family.

“Urk.”

“Keu.”

The two figures in black who were wearing deep hoods blended into the shadows as two guards quietly fainted. The figure used the wooden beam to climb the walls to avoid the hallways where they were most likely to bump into other people. The figure with the larger build landed easily on the veranda located on the third floor with a more slender figure in their arms. 

The two of them peered through the window to check. People who appeared to be maids were seemingly taking care of a man. The man continued to show signs of discomfort, as if he wasn’t used to such treatment. Then, they let out a noticeably long sigh as soon as the maids left the room.

The hooded figure outside of the window moved, as if that was what they were waiting for. The window was opened silently without a sound as the two of them entered the room like flowing water. 

“I’m grateful for your protection, but it’s uncomfortable…”

It was the messenger who was the only one who knew that the tea sent by Meliara wasn’t chamomile tea.

The smaller figure slowly approached him, who was still muttering. 

No matter how brightly the lamp had been lit, the messenger was still frightened when something black suddenly appeared in the already dim room. “Heok, w-what…!”

“Shush!” The shadow covered the man’s mouth before he could even scream in shock. The voice that flowed out from underneath the hood was faint, and the hand that was touching his mouth was small and tender. It wasn’t hard for him to realise that the person was a woman.

The thick clouds cleared just in time as the moon appeared from behind them. The moonlight flooded in through the window and illuminated the hooded figure. 

“…!” The shocked man’s eyes grew even wider. As soon as the woman lowered her hand covering the man’s mouth, the man immediately let out a shaky voice. “Y-Young Miss?”

The woman in the hood had the face of Meliara Darchez, the young miss he had been serving until just a few months ago. The large figure behind her was Grand Duke Arvis, but the messenger was unaware of that fact.

“Young Miss, how could you…”

“Shush.”

Although he had a lot of questions, the man shut up when she placed her index finger on his lips. 

“Ask questions later. Shouldn’t we get out of here first…?”

The three of them disappeared after a while without a sound. All that remained was a slight trace of her divine power. 

It was the first incident where a person who had been protected within the villa of Duke Darchez was ‘abducted’ by the Princess of Darchez. And this incident, which not many were aware of, was in fact, the starting point of everything.

[1] 등잔 밑이 어둡다 it’s often difficult to see what’s right under your nose.

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i really hope the og meliara finds happiness somehow QAQ

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!

---

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