THE TRAGEDY OF THE VILLAINESS

Chapter 179

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It was not until the next day that Seria visited the Great Temple.

“Grand Duchess!”

The high-ranking priests, who had come to the place where the carriage stood and was loitering, approached her in a group. Seria got out of the carriage, escorted by a holy knight. The moment she stepped out of the carriage, her legs started to wobble involuntarily.

“Oh, are you all right?”

“Your body doesn’t seem to be in good shape, is it safe for you to use your divine power?”

“Yes, I am fine. Where can I go?”

She just felt pain and tingling below her waist. She walked inside the building, urging the priests.

“As you can see, this is the only supply and demand of divinity this year.”

It was just as the priests had sadly explained. The big holy relics that gather the sacred power of the High Priests were filled with only 70% of the sacred power of previous years.

It was because of Lina and the catastrophe caused by Cassius. It was easy to see how busy the priests had been.

Seria devoted almost a week of her sacred power to them. She did not miss a single moment. So much so that on the last day, all the Priests of the Great Temple visited and held her hand with tearful eyes.

It was a look that naturally reminded her of the time when she went to the Berg territory to check on the glacier every day while she was engaged to Kalis. The Berg vassals and treasurers had that exact same look on their faces.

“High Priest Henoch.”

“Yes, Grand Duchess?”

“May I see the holy relics in the basement?”

“Of course! Look as much as you want to.”

High Priest Henoch, who had become quite thin, said he hadn’t laughed in a long time and took Seria directly to the underground sanctuary.

In a place as cool as a wine vault, there was indeed a dizzying array of properties.

Normally, her heart would have been pounding due to Stern’s characteristics, but now she was preoccupied with finding a replacement for Lesche’s heart, which Tuban had mentioned.

“High Priest, are you short of donations these days?”

“Huh? Not at all…”

High Priest Henoch asked back with a serious look on his face.

“Could it be that our hospitality has been neglected?”

“No, it can’t be. I was just curious.”

‘D*mn it.’

If the High Priest had said that things were a little difficult, she would have been more open to a donation. Even though Lina turned out not to be a Saint, the Great Temple was always full of faithful believers.

‘I have to say I’ll give you the entire crystal mine.’

She could give them the ownership of the crystal mine if they let her have a good holy relic. The High Priest was also gracious enough to accept Seria’s request to pray with a holy relic.

Seria selected 11 holy relics that were red, small, or associated with the heart or blood, and brought them to the private prayer room. She then pressed them gingerly on the Stern insignia that she had brought all the way from the mansion. However, Tuban showed no signs of taking it.

She stood up with a sigh. There were still many unidentified holy relics left, but if they didn’t work….

Seria was depressed. Suddenly, she felt the presence of someone behind her. She thought it was a priest, so she turned around and saw a face that caught her eyes.

It was Kalis.

“…….”

She was inwardly surprised. Kalis was really wounded. His whole body was wrapped in white bandages, and there was also a piece of gauze cut and pasted on his cheek. The left side of his head was also wrapped in a bandage.

Kalis had divorced Lina.

Seria knew that both marriage and divorce to Stern, who did not keep time and date, would be a great strain on the body.

She turned her gaze without staring at Kalis for a long time. After placing the magical seal on the Stern insignia again, she raised her bent body, but a somber voice penetrated her ears.

“Seria.”

Seria was going to ignore him and leave, but she paused for a moment. She had to because Kalis faltered and knelt before her.

Silence fell over the prayer room.

“I’ve come to apologize.”

“…….”

“And…there is also something I need to know.”

Kalis slowly raised his head. He asked,

“Why did you let me live?”

“…what?”

“Did you not resent me?”

I didn’t resent you? …. Seria stared at Kalis and opened her mouth.

“It’s too late now.”

“…yes. It’s too late now.”

Kalis’ eyes slowly became wet.

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“I am so sorry, Seria…”

She noticed that the demonic shadow was missing from Kalis’s body. Since Kalis no longer had the demonic shadow, will he no longer move according to Liegel’s will? Then…

Was Kalis being sincere?

“I hurt you and wished that you would stay with me all along. The funny thing is… I still hope so.”

Kalis dropped his gaze. His voice flowed as if he was trying to squeeze out.

“… do you love him?”

Kalis did not mention a name. But they both knew who “he” referred to.

With tearful eyes, Kalis asked again, 

“Do you love that man? Seria.”

Seria silently stared at the man who was once her fiancé. She really liked Kalis. The time when she fell into this world and was filled with nothing but fear, the hand he held out to her felt like a dream, even though she was confused.

There were times when she thought that perhaps it was a rescue.

She once thought that they were destined to be together.

She always tried to hope that Kalis would never hate her. There were times when she held him in her heart with a pleading heart, begging him not to hate her, not to see her as the Seria she used to be.

Such was the case.

As a final courtesy to the man she had loved at one time, she slowly let out the feelings she had kept hidden in her heart.

“I love him.”

Tears streamed down Kalis’ golden lashes.

“…Because he saved you?”

“No.”

Seria slowly lowered her lashes.

‘’For reasons you don’t know.”

She said this to Kalis to draw a line, but she herself didn’t know exactly either. When did she come to love Lesche? But it was not because Lesche had saved her in the Berg territory. Because at the time she was still afraid of him.

Yeah.

Since when did she fall in love with him?

But looking back was not something she could do in front of Kalis. She left him and walked out. It was at that moment that she opened the heavy door of the prayer room.

“Bibi?”

Seria couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Abigail.

“Why are you here? I heard you are joining the tracking group.” (They formed tracking groups to track Prince Jun)

“I just wanted to check something, and they said the young lady went to the Great Temple.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

“I don’t want to leave the Lady alone.”

Abigail’s words brought a smile to Seria’s face. She saw a priest passing the prayer room. She gestured to him and he rushed over.

“Stern?”

“Go inside and take the Marquis of Haneton with you. He’s bleeding.”

“…Bleeding?”

The priest, his eyes rounded, went inside and was quickly astonished. Abigail, glancing inside, opened her mouth.

“My lady. But I didn’t come alone.”

“Huh?”

Abigail pointed with her chin at the wall next to the door. The prayer room was constructed by digging through a thick wall, so the wall, like a corner, supported both sides.

Puzzled, Seria stepped toward it.

“Lesche?”

Seria blinked. Lesche was standing with his back leaning against the wall right next to the prayer room door.

“When did you get here?”

“Not long.”

“And your work?”

“I finished it.”

Seria didn’t quite understand at the moment. Abigail was at the door, but why was Lesche here? Seria frowned and grabbed Lesche’s hand.

‘He knew Kalis was inside.’

“Why didn’t you come in?”

“If something had happened, I would have come in.”

“If something happened?”

She thought Lesche was a little strange. Normally he would have come in and stayed before anything happened. Why did he wait at the door as he was?

“Why didn’t you come in?”

Lesche said, looking down at Seria’s hand.

“I thought you wouldn’t like it.”

“What?”

It was probably not her imagination that those words sounded very strange. Frowning, Seria asked, wondering if it was possible.

“Why would I not like it? Is it because the Marquis of Haneton was my fiancé?”

Lesche did not openly accept it, but his silence was affirmative. While his temper was cold, the bottom of his neck shook. His weak appearance made her heart ache for no reason.

“How could I not like it?”

Seria felt a little sick. She bit her lip and tried to remember the conversation she had with Kalis.

“We didn’t talk much inside. What we talked about was….”

“Seria.”

Lesche said, looking her straight in the eye.

“Your knight told me all about it, about the conversation in the prayer room.”

“…What?”

***

Earlier.

“Did you not resent me?” (Kalis)

Abigail put her ear to the door and listened. A voice that was quite similar to Kalis Haneton’s. Abigail was an assassin-like person who specialized in mimicry. Seria and she used to play with this a lot in the past.

“‘It’s too late now’, the young lady said.” (Abigail told Lesche)

Lesche, who unintentionally eavesdropped on the conversation in the prayer room, tilted his head slightly.

“Did she tell you to tell me that?”

“No.”

Abigail said proudly.

“But the Lady didn’t tell me not to tell Your Highness either.”

“…….”

Lesche lightly clicked his tongue. Abigail shrugged.

‘He listens to everything he needs to hear….’

But Abigail decided to keep an open mind and understood. She was not the least bit interested in Lesche Berg’s detailed change of heart, but she could still predict the one thing that was still the same. 

He (Lesche) wants to slit Kalis Haneton’s throat.

And why wouldn’t he, when he has the ability and the competence to do so?

Abigail once did not cut Kalis’s throat because someone she liked stopped her.

She put her ear to the door and listened, and she was sure Lesche was very curious too.

Lesche stared into the air as he leaned his back against the wall.

After handling the business about Prince Jun, Lesche immediately headed for the Great Temple.

On the surface, it had to be the Imperial Kingsguard, not Berg, who directly captured Prince Jun. In any case, the second Prince was a direct member of the imperial family. However, the pursuit team had already been joined by the holy knights and priests.

Perhaps Prince Jun would be dead or crippled. The condition was not normal from the Imperial Palace. Berg’s knights, including Alliot, followed quietly. It was because of the information that the place where Prince Jun was headed to was the central territory.

Lesche did not expect to see Kalis Haneton kneeling down before Seria as soon as he came to the building where Seria was.

From the moment Seria stopped and looked down at Kalis, Lesche waited with his back to the wall next to the door without looking any further.

It was a fact that always kept him on his toes. In any case, the fact was that Kalis was his wife’s ex-fiancé.

It was not his job to attack without permission and grab the corpse-like Kalis Haneton by the chest. But it was because of Seria that Lesche was waiting in a way that was unlike him. He thought she would not like it.

Who’s the one scared….

“The Lady said she loves Your Highness.”

“….”

Lesche, whose whole nerves were focused on the inside of the prayer room, felt like he was hit on the head for a moment.

He thought he must have misheard it.

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