THE TRAGEDY OF THE VILLAINESS

Chapter 168

“The Grand Duchess regained consciousness?”

High Priest Joel asked with delight. The priest nodded with a happy expression on his face. But soon his complexion darkened.

“High Priest Jebelud must rest absolutely still.”

“Oh my…….”

High Priest Joel’s eyes also sank.

High Priest Jubelud was seriously injured. The holy knights who were with the High Priest found Lina, collapsed in the sacred tree land.

The demons were snooping around Lina, who had fainted, and they moved in a hurry. In particular, High Priest Jubelud was badly wounded because he tried to block the demons with his body.

The priests, who were stirred for fear that the Saintess might possibly receive a great shock, were investigating Lina’s case behind closed doors for now.

The matter was severe. Although it was being investigated in strict secrecy, there was more than a little hope that it was not. They wanted to compensate her greatly with even this sorry feeling, so please ….

“The priests told me to bring it to you.”

Lina looked up from her exhaustion.

The priest brought a bottle of ink and a pen that glowed in a variety of colors.

“It is called Coral Island Ink, and it is a luxury ink produced only in very small quantities in the south. When you write on paper with this, the letters sparkle.”

“Put it away.”

Lina mumbled weakly. The priest was at a loss.

“Don’t be too depressed, Saintess, take a look. It’s really beautiful….”

“Put it away!”

Lina shouted loudly. The priest bowed his head in surprise. Lina realized a beat too late, but the priest was already frightened.

In the end, Lina dropped her head.

Why did they bring ink? It was already hard when she recalled telling the people if they stabbed her, and all they got would be ink.

‘It would have been better if I were in a book.’

There Lina’s mind would have been more at peace than knowing that she was in a world where Seria had turned back time.

With empty eyes, Lina looked at the beautiful jewelry accessories the priests had left under her pillow. Among them, one of the accessories was a crescent moon made of sterling silver and sapphires.

Moon.

“The moon.”

Lina put the crescent moon ornament on her forehead and looked in the mirror. A hollow laugh broke out.

A forgotten truth rushed in. She was a fake. She was just an offering to keep the dead moon alive in place of the real one.

It all finally made sense as to why she hated with such disgust that she was Seria’s replacement.

Her real name wasn’t even Lina.

“It was Luna.”

It was Luna.

A name that meant moon.

It was natural. Liegel only wanted to keep the moon alive, so he took a mold from Stern, who had traveled to another world, and created a number of vessels.

But no one could become the real thing. Behind Liegel , numerous “Lunas” had died. Seeing that these Lunas he made up disappeared in golden dust, the living Lunas had no choice but to be horrified.

Lina wanted to live. She did not want to be abandoned. She didn’t want to be abandoned like one of the many Lunas.

She wanted to get rid of the meaningless name.

“Luna ……. I want to change my name to Lina, not Luna. Because that way my name is more like Stern …..”

Lina changed her name. It was the only different name among the many Lunas. Lina tried constantly. She prayed and prayed that she would not be thrown away.

In the first place.

All the memories she had of the other world were built on the foundation of Seria’s memories.

How could life be so cruel? Why should she be the only one so miserable?

Lina buried her face in her hands. She laughed and cried at the same time.

She threw the jewelry she was holding onto the floor. She held her head in her hands, screamed, and then shifted her gaze to the Stern insignia on the small altar.

It was the insignia that had temporarily been brought from the great temple, hoping for her quick recovery. The temple was concerned because they had turned down Lina’s personal request for the Stern insignia.

Crash!

Lina lifted the Stern insignia and threw it on the floor. This was unimaginable for Stern, but it didn’t matter to Lina now.

‘I am not Luna.’

She did not want to die as one of the many nameless Lunas.

She had to send Seria to Liegel. Only then would she be able to live. In the first place, Seria ran away from Liegel and turned back time herself. Because of her many Lunas died.

That was why.

“There is no time.”

Lina murmured, looking at the moon floating outside the window. Physical time was needed to dedicate Seria’s body to Liegel.

Before the Holy Knights woke up, before Seria came to the Great Temple.

An escape plan had to be created in advance.

Lina got up from her seat.

On her way to visit the High Priest Jubelud, the healing priest stopped her as she wandered around, saying the High Priest needed absolute stable rest. 

“It’s really urgent. Let me see him for a moment.”

”Saintess, High Priest Jubelud is in really bad shape. Why don’t you speak to the other High Priests?”

“Are there other High Priests…..?”

“Yes, Saintess. They will serve you.”

Lina followed the healing priest to the temple building where other priests were staying. It was a little scary because it reminded her of the old strict High Priest Amos. Thoughts filled her head as she hoped the other High Priests to be as warm and gentle as High Priest Jubelud.

“Saintess?”

High Priest Joel and Henoch stood up at Lina’s visit. They had already decided how they would treat Lina until the investigation was over.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why are you so pale?”

The slightly less stiff voice made Lina relax. She clenched the hem of her skirt with both hands and opened her mouth.

“I came here because I have a confession to make.”

“A confession?”

Lina gulped down dry spit.

“My body was invaded by Magi in the Tshugan Plains.”

“……!”

Lina left. The air around the high priests sank to the point of fright.

“…….”

The Great Temple had a long history. What Lina did not know was that the phenomena she mentioned were actually recorded in the Temple’s memorandum.

The Demons had been roaming this world for a long time.

Why has there never been a case where a priest with strong sacred power was not contaminated by demonic energy and it invaded his body? It was too rare a case, so the story was recorded in the temple’s memorandum.

But….. It was a rare case that appeared only twice in that vast memorandum. Moreover, in those cases, the body could not function as it should because of the struggle between the sacred power and the demonic energy within the body.

So in the end…

“They returned to God in less than 3 days.” (Died in 3 days)

“Yes, and I have never seen a single case where the two energies were not inseparable. The only record I could find was that distinctions were certainly possible with the naked eye.”

Lina was quite different from the cases recorded in the memorandum.

In other words….

“She already has Magi….”

High Priest Joel clenched both fists at Henoch’s murmur. It was complicated. Complicated, yet every nerve in his body stood on its end.

“I wish the Saintess had not said that in the first place…….”

“…….”

If Lina really has Magi, why on earth?

Why would she say something like that in the first place?

“Could it be that she is aware of the fact that Titania witnessed it?”

“It’s possible….”

Lina was an official Saint. And it was even announced that she gave birth to the sacred power.

The Great Temple was in the process of recovering the Garden of the Divine Tree, and the fact that it had collapsed there was kept thoroughly secret.

The Garden of the Divine Tree was in a remote place, so no one outside knew about the fiasco.

Titania’s eyewitness statements alone would not be enough to earn

her official canonization. It would be a serious matter, and if anything, the Temple’s merit and reputation would fall to the ground. Above all, they could not ignore the outside believers who were following the Saint. It could have ignited a great deal of conflict and confusion.

That said, they could not keep Lina locked up without a name. For one thing, it was only a matter under investigation.

High Priest Joel clasped his hands together anxiously.

“First of all,……the Saintess had testified in person that magi had invaded her body. It doesn’t matter how many amazing measurables you use on her, it’s useless.”

“Yes, because it is only natural that Magi would be detected.”

High Priest Henoch slowly opened his mouth.

“……Seria Stern has awakened.”

“Then she must know something about it.”

Both priests went silent at once.

An unofficial witness in such a serious matter would be driven into the arms of the conspirators. But if Seria were to be brought in officially, it would be a dogfight.

High Priest Joel spoke in a serious and decisive tone.

“We must settle this on our own. All evidence must be constructed by us. There must be at least one last testimony and we have to ask Stern for help.”

“Yes, we would have had a lot of trouble if we didn’t…”

Stern was not a priest. The priests wanted the Sterns to live freely and be happy the rest of the time, as long as they fulfilled the duties given to them. That was the basic idea held by the temple. They did not want them to be sacrificed in this mudslinging.

Apart from Lesche’s dislike of the priests, they were very serious about Sterns.

“Phew. …….”

It was time for the two High Priests to soothe their melancholy with a cup of tea. They heard the news that a knight from Berg had arrived, and gave permission to bring him here.

After a few minutes.

Suddenly the High Priests felt a chill down their spines.

High Priest Joel nearly dropped the cup he was holding. The other priests were very surprised, because in the silence, something pure white and sharp came gingerly into the vicinity of his neck.

“……!”

Looking back trembling, High Priest Joel breathed heavily.

“Sir Abigail Orrien….!”

It was Abigail. A beat later, he also realized that it was a fine envelope she held out near his neck.

Joel, who thought it was the sword of the assassin, asked tremblingly.

“What is this?”

“It’s a secret letter from my Lady.”

“……?”

To Abigail Orrien, the young lady she mentioned would be Seria Stern.

Abigail straightened her body. 

“I must leave now, then. Please keep it a secret that I came.”

“…….”

Bowing lightly, Abigail vanished again like the wind. A quiet summer breeze blew in through the window, which had been opened at some point. The priests stood still for a moment, then ran to the open window.

Naturally, no one was there. Only the Holy Knights patrolling could be seen occasionally.

“This is the second floor, how in the world…….”

“I remember the last time the priests were following Sir Abigail in wonder.”

The High Priests, shaking their heads, finally returned to their seats and opened the letter.

Gradually, the eyes of High Priests Joel and Henoch grew wider at the same time.

[I’m suspicious of Lina. So I’m going to purify Lina with my superior divine power. Please make a safe and informal meeting. Do not reply. If Lina suspects anything, it will be troublesome.]

“Purification…?”

The High Priests were speechless at the unexpected content. On the one hand, they recalled the purification that Seria had performed in the wilderness. Many nobles had vomited blood or collapsed….

High Priest Joel moved his trembling hands and placed the letter on the candle and burned it.

“….. Let’s get ready for now.”