CHAPTER 70…………………………
Alec stepped out of the building.
The late afternoon sun cast long, limp shadows across the ground.
He had intended to go to the Saintess, but he stopped at the sound of someone’s voice.
“Commander of the Temple, are you coming back from meeting Her?”
When he turned his head, Philip entered.
“Yes. How was the meeting?”
“It went according to the Saintess’ wishes.”
Alec had already inferred this from overhearing the cardinals’ conversation, but he asked to confirm it for certainty.
He was about to nod briefly and continue walking when Philip’s gaze fixed intently somewhere. Alec unconsciously followed the line of sight.
The spacious courtyard was quiet, and a young woman walking briskly caught his eye.
Alec’s brow furrowed automatically.
“Is that girl Amy?”
Her face was far too youthful to call her a woman. Alec nodded briefly.
“Yes. That’s right.”
She was one of the Saintess’ people. A child the Saintess treasured in this temple.
Alec assumed the Saintess had few people she could trust in Melissa, so even this child was someone to be cautious of.
But it seemed he wasn’t the only one; Philip’s eyes also stubbornly followed her steps.
The girl, with a flushed expression, headed to a tree tucked in a corner.
After glancing around, she pulled a piece of paper, folded small, from her skirt pocket and slid it into a crevice in the tree.
Then she leaned against the tree as if nothing had happened.
She tapped her shoe tips on the ground and peered around one side, looking like she was waiting for someone.
Alec and Philip silently watched the suspicious girl. Not long after, she broke into a bright smile.
Whether she laughed unconsciously or deliberately, she quickly covered her mouth with both hands and hurried along her path.
She glanced back repeatedly and, at times, blushed as she tried to calm herself with her hands.
A smirk sounded beside him. Alec turned to Philip, who still had the corners of his mouth upturned.
“I had unnecessary doubts. Well then, I’ll go ahead.”
Philip turned his gaze away from Amy without hesitation and walked off.
At Philip’s words, Alec looked back at Amy.
Her face looked unmistakably like that of a girl in love. Standing in front of the tree where she had lingered was a man, a Paladin—Jace.
He wasn’t exceptionally skilled with the sword, but in terms of seniority, he had been in the order longer than Alec.
Their ages were similar, but among the current Paladins, he was the most experienced. He had grown up in this place for a long time.
When Alec became the commander, he had offered Jace the position of vice-commander.
Jace had declined, claiming he knew his own capabilities. He had never shown greed or insecurity, and got along well with others.
He hadn’t stood out before, so Alec realized this was the first time he had stared at him for so long.
Jace took the paper the girl had hidden and unfolded it.
Her smirk made the situation predictable at a glance. Yet, Alec felt a strange, uneasy sensation.
The man, apparently satisfied after checking the contents, pocketed the paper and walked toward the training grounds.
Alec pictured the two disappearing.
If she was close to the Saintess, she might even know the nature of their relationship.
Perhaps, as Philip had said, Alec had been needlessly suspicious.
Alec erased the image of them from his mind and was the last to leave the spot.
“…Did you hear everything they just said from there?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
The person who came to me in the prayer room, which only the Pope and Saintess could enter, was Alec.
It seemed he had come here after checking the room just in case.
He told me that Aria intended to leave Melissa.
Since it was what I had requested, I thought he had come only to relay that message.
But that wasn’t all. Alec also recounted a conversation he overheard while waiting for Fabian.
Fabian, naturally, had been present as well.
I wasn’t unaware that they were hostile toward my actions, which differed from previous Saintesses. But knowing the topic left me with an unpleasant feeling.
To them, the Saintess was just a puppet, and they had acted accordingly. That made me bitter.
Unlike me, Alec seemed to think they were merely blustering.
The rest of the conversation was full of unexpected developments.
“Are the ‘offerings’ they mention referring to relics?”
“Given the circumstances, that’s the most likely possibility.”
They intended to use relics as offerings. Among the temple members, the number of those susceptible to brainwashing was increasing.
“Has Lady Aria ever used the altar?”
“No. Except for rain prayers, never.”
There had been a long period without rain, and the temple held rain prayers. I had watched from afar before.
But what they were talking about was not a rain prayer. There had been no object considered a relic during the rain prayer.
If there had been, I would have heard about it at least once.
“Was there anything else?”
“After that, the Commander of the Temple sent the cardinals out, so no.”
“I see.”
I even began to wonder if the god they worshiped might be different from ours.
“Saintess?”
Alec grasped my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I looked up at him.
“Oh, yes.”
“Are you all right?”
I nodded faintly, trying to steady myself.
“I’m fine. That said, since the Commander of the Temple directly said he wants Lady Aria dead, he might keep an eye on the commander.”
“Yes. That seems likely.”
The reason for ordering the death of a Saintess whose usefulness had ended.
I remembered that previous Saintesses had distracted people if they appeared in public.
I bit my lips tightly.
Regardless, we could disguise Aria’s death as initially planned.
But since Alec had been ordered to kill Aria, Fabian would surely send another of his men.
The problem was that there were very few people in Melissa we could trust. Could Aria make it to the Kingdom of Nicholas alone without being discovered?
“Shouldn’t we ask if His Highness the Third Prince could send someone?”
“…Has the letter arrived?”
He pulled letters from the inner pocket of his jacket—two more letters were handed to me.
I took the letters, moving my lips slightly.
Another request.
Others might not face such difficulty, but why did it have to be so hard for me?
There was no other way.
“I’ll try to speak with him.”
“Understood.”
After Alec left, I closed the prayer room door.
When I turned, the statue of God, filling my eyes, felt strangely unfamiliar.
Unable to approach, I awkwardly stood there, then forced my heavy steps forward to stand before the statue.
I sat by the statue, resting my dizzy head against it. The cold, hard surface brought my tangled thoughts to the forefront.
I blamed my ignorance. I felt pathetic for not questioning the strangeness around me.
Of course, I wasn’t the only one living by Melissa’s natural order. Others also lived by it, sometimes unaware of its oddities.
In the past, Alec would not have known Melissa’s hidden side either.
So had we been brainwashed all this time? What vile acts were being carried out here?
I clutched my chest, suffocating under the pressure. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe.
The overwhelming emotions surged out of my mouth before I realized it.
“…It’s too much.
