“Oh! There is some!”
A small amount of liquid remained at the bottom of the Holy Grail.
Though there was no way to confirm whether this transparent, clear liquid was water or holy water, at least something was there.
Just as Selene was about to set the Grail down with a sigh of relief…
The holy water surged dramatically.
Then the water in the Grail slithered, moving as if it possessed consciousness like a living being.
“Huh?”
Before she could react, the holy water poured down over her head.
Selene couldn’t even scream, covering her mouth with her hand.
If she woke the holy knights, an even bigger problem might arise.
Hastily donning her cloak, Selene fled back to Eleanor Palace.
She couldn’t even remember how she had returned.
*** *** *** *** ***
“Saint! Saint, are you in there?”
Selene opened her door to the sound of someone knocking hard.
There stood Mia with a tearful expression.
“Saint! If there was no answer this time, I was going to break down the door!”
“I’m sorry, Mia. Did I oversleep?”
“Yes. It’s already eight-thirty in the morning. When you didn’t come to the dining hall no matter how long we waited, I came to check…”
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t get up.”
Selene coughed lightly.
“Saint, what’s wrong? Are you feeling ill?”
“Yes. It seems that way.”
“Oh my! Please lie down for now!”
As Selene staggered weakly, Mia supported her and helped her lie down on the bed.
“You were perfectly fine just yesterday! How did this happen overnight!”
“Well… I prayed more fervently because the sins of the faithful were too heavy…”
“But you pray every day, why yesterday specifically… Ah! The Blood Wolf!”
Mia was referring to when Kirien had visited the confessional for the first time instead of the purification room.
The truth was different from Mia’s assumption, but Selene couldn’t correct her.
Who could she possibly tell that she had not only snuck out of the temple but also secretly entered Arthenian Hall and spilled all the holy water?
“Are you in a lot of pain? Should I call a healing priest?”
“It’s fine. I can’t trouble busy people to come and go. I’ll be better after some rest.”
“Just rest for now. I’ll inform the High Priest and come back.”
After Mia left, Selene pulled the blanket over her head.
The truth was, she wasn’t actually sick.
She was just tired from doing too many things throughout the night.
Yet she deliberately feigned illness.
Because she needed an alibi.
If the Holy Grail hadn’t refilled, and if the High Priest had discovered this.
She needed an alibi that ‘the Saint was ill and stayed in Eleanor Palace all day.’
That’s why she hastily pretended to be sick.
She had considered turning herself in.
But she decided to wait and observe for at least one day.
Just in case, by some chance.
The Goddess Libertas might take pity on Selene and refill the holy water.
Let’s wait until dawn tomorrow, then go back to Arthenian Hall.
And check if the holy water has been replenished.
If there’s still no holy water then…
Let’s leave that to tomorrow’s me.
Today’s me needs to establish an alibi first.
At that moment, the communication crystal flickered.
And on the screen of the crystal appeared an elderly man with graying hair and a dignified build.
It was the High Priest, Alejand.
―”Oh, Saint. I heard you’re unwell.”
“Yes. I’m feeling quite ill.”
―”Even so, it’s problematic to take a day off without prior notice.”
Selene felt inwardly flustered.
She had assumed that if she said she was too ill to work, they would allow her to rest.
So after nine years, she finally took sick leave, but she hadn’t expected it to be refused so outright.
This couldn’t go on.
That would ruin her plan to secure an alibi.
What should she do? Should she push even harder?
“High Priest, I’m sorry for suddenly declaring that I need to rest. But I really just can’t go on.”
―”Saint, then can you at least see Viscount Declan? He is one of our temple’s most esteemed devotees.”
The High Priest spoke in a firmer tone than usual. Despite her earnest protests, her words didn’t seem to affect him at all.
After a moment of hesitation, Selene decided to change tactics.
In a sudden outburst, she said.
“High Priest. If you claim someone is ill, shouldn’t you first ask how severely and where exactly they are hurt?”
Her tone, unexpectedly sharp, made the High Priest widen his eyes in surprise.
For the first time, a bit of his white sclera, usually hidden by his hair, became visible.
At that moment, from behind the High Priest, Edin suddenly appeared.
With his brown hair and emerald eyes, and a handsome face combined with a gentle personality, he was very popular among the priestesses.
Moreover, ever since his recent promotion to high priest, his popularity had soared even higher.
―”Saint, you’re absolutely right. High Priest, you’ve truly gone too far. Isn’t that so? Saint, are you in significant pain?”
“Yes, Edin. It’s even hard for me to get up from my seat.”
―”My goodness. Shall I get you some potion?”
For an instant, Selene’s face almost twisted awkwardly.
Using such a precious potion for feigning illness!
It might become even more valuable in the future!
“Is it proper for a priest responsible for healing to casually use such potion? I will humbly endure this pain.”
It seemed the High Priest wasn’t listening at all.
―”Saint, I’ll send you the potion, so please come out this afternoon. It’s troublesome if you rest all day.”
If this continued, her alibi might be compromised.
There were already rumors that she was so ill she took a potion and even attended confession. If that got out, people might pity her even more.
Yet, Selene couldn’t let the High Priest’s unilateral decision slide.
“Why?”
―”Huh? Saint, what did you just say?”
“I asked why it has to be that way. Even an apprentice priest is allowed at least one day off per week. Why do I only get one day off per month?”
As a saint, she tried to hold back her indignation.
But in truth, she was curious.
She had always wanted to ask.
Why only me? Why am I the only one who isn’t allowed to rest freely?
“Other priests can go out whenever they wish, but why is it that I may only leave the temple on the prescribed day?”
Once the bottled-up discontent burst forth, it flowed like a torrent.
Selene herself was unaware of how deeply her grievances had accumulated over time.
―”All the other saints felt the same.”
“Then, from now on, let’s change things.”
At Selene’s sudden declaration, both the High Priest and Edin were left speechless in astonishment.
In truth, Selene was even more startled.
What… did I just say?
Am I really allowed to speak so bluntly?
Yet she did not betray her surprise.
Instead, Selene narrowed her eyes resolutely.
Somehow, she had the foreboding feeling that if she backed down in this verbal confrontation, there would be no second chance.
“Tradition evolves with the times. Whatever remains unchanged as the world shifts is merely outdated. Isn’t it about time for the Arthenian National Church to change as well?”
Up until this moment, Selene had harbored no particular feelings toward the High Priest—simply a sense of closeness from encountering him frequently.
She neither particularly liked him nor disliked him.
But now, seeing his eyes, hidden in wrinkles, dart about in agitation, she realized that from now on she ought to be a bit wary of him.
For in his gaze toward Selene, there was not a trace of affection.
―”In secular matters, that might be acceptable. But the National Church cannot change for the sake of a single saint.”
Selene paused her barrage of remarks and then, in a noticeably calmer tone said.
“That may indeed be true. But, Alejand—”
At the mention of his name, the High Priest’s body visibly flinched.
“You have no authority to command me.”
― “……”
“Our positions are equal.”
In the end, the High Priest took a step back.
He left off with a word urging her to rest and then switched off the communication crystal.
Wow.
Selene swallowed an unidentifiable expression of awe silently, covering her mouth in disbelief.
My, oh my—standing up to the High Priest!
Ordinarily, Selene’s schedule was managed by him.
He was even the one to decide whose confession a noble would attend.
She had long harbored resentment over her tightly controlled schedule, yet she had never once voiced it.
After all, the age difference between the High Priest and Selene was like that of a grandfather and a granddaughter.
She worried that she might find herself in trouble later on.
But above all, it felt incredibly exhilarating.
*** *** *** *** ***
Selene, laughing with a sense of achievement at her first successful act of rebellion, unknowingly drifted off into a deep sleep.
In her dream, she saw a hill bathed in the bright light of a full moon, as vivid as day, with flowers blooming in colors that mirrored that very light.
The scene was so surreal that she soon realized it was a dream.
At the center of the hill, Selene saw a woman.
This woman was both familiar and strange.
Her facial features were reminiscent of the Goddess Libertas as depicted in the murals, yet her short, bobbed hair, sun-tanned skin, and muscular arms and legs did not match the image of the gentle and demure Libertas Selene had been taught.
Selene had learned that the Goddess Libertas was pure and modest, a woman with long silver hair, violet eyes, ample bosom, and a slender waist.
[Ah, finally, we meet.]
The smiling woman’s smile was so exquisite that Selene didn’t even entertain a doubt, surely this could only be the Goddess Libertas.
[This is the first time I have met someone in person. It has been worth all my long efforts.]
The Goddess laughed heartily.
Selene could only watch in a daze.
[The truth is, we cannot speak directly with humans. We only provide guidance through revelations.]
“Yes…”
[Receiving a prophecy is no easy task. It requires immense power. Yet my long struggles have borne fruit. This is how I came to meet you.]
Until now, Selene had experienced only one prophecy from the Goddess Libertas—issued on the verge of executing the Fourth Saint, Felia.
“Did you, Goddess, perhaps use all your might to protect Sister Felia?”
[Indeed. That child simply followed the call of her heart, and it is so tragic. Oh! You know that child, don’t you?]
“Yes. Thanks to you, she married someone she met at the temple and had three sons together. She was always grateful.”
[Indeed. I too heard her prayers.]
The conversation with the Goddess felt somewhat odd. There was something in her tone…
” Goddess Libertas, is it possible for a saint to love?”
That is how it sounded.
Leave a Reply