“Goddess Libertas! How could you do this to me? To take away my divine power!”
At Heath’s sorrowful cries, Selene stopped in her tracks.
She couldn’t even bring herself to offer words of comfort.
Mia approached Selene, who stood there blankly, and whispered in a small voice.
“Holy Saint, it seems Heath has lost his divine power too.”
“It does seem that way.”
“Do you think he’s lost his memory as well?”
“Probably. Everyone who’s had their divine power diminished has had memory issues, haven’t they?”
Six months ago, a priest from the Grand Temple lost his memory.
He couldn’t recall anything from the past month.
Aside from the memory loss, he was in perfect health.
But out of caution, they measured his divine power and found that it had been reduced by half.
“Isn’t Heath the fourth one now? Why does this keep happening? I’m so scared.”
Four people in six months.
That was by no means a small number.
What on earth was happening in the Grand Temple?
As they watched Heath being carried away on the stretcher, only one thought filled the minds of Selene and Mia.
Please, let it not be me.
*** *** *** *** ***
Even after entering Theberon Palace, Selene couldn’t calm down.
Perhaps because of seeing Heath, she felt inexplicably anxious.
It felt like something was bound to happen.
“Oh right! Holy Saint, today it’s the confessional, not the purification room.”
“What?”
“Duke Kylos. He’s waiting in the confessional today.”
Her ominous premonition became reality immediately.
Selene recalled the sins of nobles who had passed through the confessional.
Adultery, infidelity, illegal gambling, rape… murder.
She had read somewhere in a book once.
That truly bloodthirsty killers are quiet in their daily lives.
They can even appear to be very good people.
Was the Blood Wolf’s composed demeanor all just calculation?
What truth was he planning to reveal?
“Holy Saint… are you alright?”
Mia asked with a worried face.
Only then did Selene realize her hands were trembling.
“I’m fine. Hearing confessions is my duty, after all.”
Selene spoke with affected nonchalance.
After lecturing Mia about not discriminating against devotees, she couldn’t now say she couldn’t do it.
“Then I’ll come back later to escort you.”
“Yes, thank you, Mia.”
Selene took a small deep breath before entering the confessional.
Through the cracks in the wooden wall, she could see a man’s silhouette.
The tall stature, broad shoulders, and glimpse of black hair with a bluish tint confirmed it was Kirien.
“Confess your sins before Goddess Libertas.”
Selene kept swallowing dry saliva.
Try as she might to calm her nerves, her hands wouldn’t stop trembling.
Somehow, she felt he was about to reveal some deep, dark secret she had never heard before.
“I confess my sins to Goddess Libertas.”
While Kirien’s voice was calm, Selene was not.
So terrified of what might follow, she squeezed her eyes shut.
“I dare…”
The truth that finally escaped his lips was something she never expected.
“I have discovered your secret, Holy Saint.”
Thump, thump.
The sound of her hammering heart echoed loudly in Selene’s ears.
So loud that it nearly drowned out Kirien’s voice.
“I know that you are the Bluebird. What should I do now?”
She should deny it.
She should play dumb and ask what this Bluebird business was about.
“Please don’t try to deflect with obvious denials like ‘I don’t know’ or ‘It’s not me.’”
But no words would come out.
“You go out on the first of every month, don’t you? Most of the Bluebird letters were sent around that time.”
He was right.
During her outings, Selene would find begging children and pay them gold coins to deliver the letters.
She thought she would never be caught.
She wore an enchanted cloak and took voice-changing medicine.
But Selene had been foolish. She had only thought about concealing her face, not considering the pattern of dates when she sent the letters.
“Though you mixed divine power and magic to make the spells harder to identify, it only bought you some time.”
“……”
“Be thankful no priests were among those who witnessed the letters. You would have been discovered much sooner.”
Ah. She hadn’t thought of that either.
She thought it would be enough to enchant the letters so only the intended recipients could open them.
“Didn’t Baron Lippe already come by? There must be others who suspect you.”
Selene had been relieved when she saw Baron Lippe leave without incident.
She was confident she could fool anyone else who came with suspicions.
But that had just been luck.
If someone like Kirien had come instead of Baron Lippe, her act wouldn’t have worked.
How naive had she been?
“So it would be best if you stopped with these Bluebird letters.”
She had thought him like the night sky.
She believed him to be gentle and proper, like the quiet night.
Selene hadn’t known.
How dangerous the night could be.
That the night harbored sinister and deep darkness.
“If you don’t want to be exposed as the Bluebird, you’ll have to grant me one request.”
Creak.
Suddenly, there was a loud sound of wood twisting.
Just as she thought she saw a dark shadow flickering through the loosely fitted wooden wall gaps—
The door flew open, and Kirien revealed himself.
“Tomorrow night, you’ll need to come somewhere with me.”
His face was familiar yet completely unknown at the same time.
“Don’t think about running away.”
The glossy black hair with a bluish tint, pale skin, and deep navy eyes that seemed to pull you in were all familiar.
“As you know, being a wolf, I have a rather good sense of smell.”
But she had never seen that seductive smile with one corner of his mouth turned up.
“Then I’ll come back tomorrow to escort you.”
He left with that smile still on his face, but Selene remained standing there, dazed.
In her mind, only those piercing navy eyes remained, like an afterimage.
*** *** *** *** ***
Selene hurriedly returned to Eleanor Palace.
She cleared away the bedside table and pressed a hidden button on the floor.
The wall behind the bed moved, revealing a passage large enough for one person.
Selene ran down the stairs leading underground.
This space was called the ‘Secret Chamber Known Only to Saints,’ or ‘Saint’s Chamber’ for short, where treasured possessions of past Saints remained.
“Sisters, we have a big problem!”
At Selene’s cry, the spirit of Third Saint Giana emerged.
From a very detailed and intricate collection of erotic art.
“Sisters, please help me. What should I do?”
Hearing Selene’s tearful voice, the spirit of Fifth Saint Nora emerged from a twelve-volume set of romance novels.
Novels that minors weren’t allowed to purchase.
Soon after, from an engraving plate depicting male anatomy, the spirit of Sixth Saint Bella emerged.
This engraving was so detailed you could feel the texture of the muscles by touch and covered all parts of male anatomy.
However, due to frequent handling, the surface had become polished smooth and could no longer function as an engraving plate.
Which parts were most worn down…
We’ll leave that unexplained.
Shortly after, from a bronze statue of male nudity emerged the spirit of Eighth Saint Daphne, and from an erotic scroll emerged Second Saint Miriel.
“Our youngest. What’s wrong?”
The past saints called Selene ‘our youngest.’
Selene liked it and would visit this room when she wanted to act spoiled or when the nobles were being particularly difficult.
Being in the Saint’s Secret Chamber made her feel like she was with a reliable family.
Since the criterion for selecting Saints was ‘the maiden most resembling Goddess Libertas,’ they all looked similar, like real sisters.
“Sisters. I think I’ve made a mistake.”
The spirits of the past Saints gathered around Selene.
When Selene explained about the Bluebird letters, Fifth Saint Nora began to scold her.
“My goodness, youngest, you’ve grown too bold. What were you thinking doing something that could get you caught?”
“Sister. I’m sorry. I really… didn’t think I’d get caught.”
Selene immediately lowered her head.
Being scolded by her sister made her suddenly fearful, as if she’d done something terribly wrong.
Sixth Saint Bella flared up at Nora.
“No, sister. What did our youngest do wrong? It’s those nobles who misuse their lower halves who are at fault.”
Seventh Saint Hannah agreed.
Though she hadn’t shown herself, it seemed she had been listening from the start.
“That’s right. Those noble bastards should all be XX and XX until they’re completely ruined.”
Bella and Hannah were known for their quick tempers and rough speech.
That’s why they often argued with the nagging Nora.
“Still, what the youngest did wasn’t right.”
“Sister Nora! The youngest was trying to stop a husband who not only secretly raised an illegitimate child but was trying to sell them off!”
“That’s right! Youngest, you did well! Next time that bastard comes, XX XX and XXX him!”
The spirits of Bella, Hannah, and Nora began squabbling amongst themselves.
“So this man Kirien asked to meet you tomorrow night?”
Third Saint Giana asked in a low voice that only Selene could hear.
She seemed unfazed by the quarrel, as if used to it.
“Yes, sister. What should I do?”
“Will it be alright? What if he tries to blackmail you with those letters?”
Hearing those words made Selene suddenly fearful.
Seeing Selene’s stiff expression, Giana tried to reason with her in a gentle tone.
“Youngest, wouldn’t it be dangerous to go alone?”
Just as Selene was about to nod in agreement, Nora suddenly burst out.
“That’s right! Don’t go! Who knows what might happen! You know what happens when a Saint loses her purity!”
Everyone in the room simultaneously looked at one mirror.
It was the mirror of Fourth Saint Felia, who had been banished after losing her purity.
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