Chapter 8

Samuel clearly recalled the image of Anelli standing before him.

Frowning slightly, he continued walking with firm steps. His clenched fist refused to relax.

The look in her eyes when their gazes met for the last time was still vivid in his mind.

Those indifferent, cold eyes.

This was not a kidnapping.

She had not been surprised by the wyvern’s appearance. She had not tried to escape. Instead, she had climbed to a place where she would easily attract attention.

At that moment, she had not looked like a saint preparing for sacrifice.

If anything, she had looked closer to a villainess who did not care at all about the chaos she was causing.

Samuel was certain.

From the very beginning, she had summoned that wyvern.

So she could escape using it.

* * *

“Did you hear the news?”

A sharp voice echoed inside the study.

“Sit down, Frizian.”

“We need to find her first.”

“Sit.”

“Father!”

Despite his daughter’s urgency, the Duke of Rome remained silent with a stiff expression.

Frizian bit her lip before reluctantly sitting down.

The Duchess of Rome, who had arrived earlier, pressed her hand against her forehead with a tired expression.

“What in the world is this mess?”

“If those idiots at the temple couldn’t guard her properly, they should have handed her over to us from the beginning.”

Frizian muttered irritably through clenched teeth and leaned back in her chair.

The Duke of Rome stood with his hands behind his back, deep in thought.

The events of the past few days had left him unable to sleep properly.

First, the daughter the family had cast out was resurrected by God’s choice.

Then, before he could even meet her again, news arrived that she had disappeared once more.

“Did you see the image orb?”

“Yes.”

Someone had recorded Anelli with an image orb shortly before she was abducted by the monster.

The recording had reached the Duke.

Although the distance was far, the fluttering silver hair was unmistakably Anelli.

Until that moment, the Roam family still harbored some doubt.

But now they could no longer deny it.

Anelli Roam had truly become God’s Revived One.

The girl they had abandoned.

The girl had been sent to the execution platform.

The Duke of Rome glanced briefly at Frizian.

“The family registry?”

“I restored it. There was some opposition, but the overwhelming opinion was that the family cannot allow God’s Revived One to remain outside the house.”

After gathering the vassals and holding an emergency meeting, the name “Anelli Roam” had been restored to the family register.

The same people who had once insisted that the disgraceful villainess’s name be erased immediately were now united in saying the Revived One must not be taken by others.

Frizian shared the same opinion.

Her younger sister had always been the one who best carried the Rome name.

Even after being abandoned by the Crown Prince, she had managed to open a new path for herself.

The one who raised that girl was Roam.

Naturally, she should return to Rome.

“I’ll organize a search party with the family’s knights.”

At Frizian’s words, the Duke of Roam sighed quietly.

Then he asked slowly,

“What does Lilia say?”

“She says she can’t see anything.”

The Duke frowned.

The reason they had chosen Lilia instead of Anelli had not simply been because Anelli was terminally ill.

Lilia possessed prophetic abilities.

Compared to a daughter who was terminally ill and could no longer become the Crown Prince’s fiancée, that ability was far more valuable.

Yet now, when it was most needed, she could not use it.

“And what about the imperial family?”

“The Empress still calls for Lilia. But His Majesty…”

The Duchess of Rome shook her head with a troubled expression.

It was obvious what the Emperor was thinking.

He would try to seize the revived one before she returned to Roam’s grasp.

They had restored Anelli’s surname precisely to prevent that.

But if the imperial family secured her first, they would never hand her back.

“Did that child really not know God’s will before she died?”

The Duchess murmured softly.

When she first heard that Anelli had been resurrected, she had fainted.

Although it wasn’t as emotional as the rumors suggested, the thought that her own child had come back to life had brought her some happiness.

But as time passed and she regained her composure, another thought emerged.

Wasn’t it possible that Anelli had known all along?

“If there were no signs at all, that would be strange. If it were Anelli, she might have deliberately kept silent.”

Frizian shared the same suspicion.

After listening silently to their conversation, the Duke of Rome sighed deeply.

“What use is there in dwelling on the past? We must organize the search party first.”

Rubbing his tired face, the Duke muttered coldly.

“As always, what belongs to Roam must return to Roam.”

* * *

“This is an opportunity!”

The Emperor slapped the armrest of his chair in excitement.

Maxel calmly finished reading the temple’s official letter and nodded.

“I will send a reply saying we will actively participate in the search.”

“When the temple took the corpse, I was quite worried. But God has not abandoned the imperial family.”

The Emperor smiled with satisfaction.

Maxel stared quietly at the letter again.

It briefly described how the Revived One had been abducted by a wyvern.

Below that was a request for all citizens of the empire to cooperate in finding the Revived One.

Throughout the document, the person in question was referred to only as “the Revived One.”

It was likely intentional.

They wanted to emphasize that the resurrected woman was no longer merely a citizen of the empire but someone who existed only to carry out God’s will.

“Anelli.”

The name rolled off Maxel’s tongue stiffly, as if covered in thorns.

“It will be my honor to support Your Highness faithfully from now on.”

His former fiancée had always stood upright.

“As a future ruler, Your Highness must maintain clear authority when dealing with subordinates.”

She had always been rational and calm in every situation.

“She is the daughter of a fallen family. Do you wish to take her as a concubine?”

Even after receiving a terminal diagnosis and growing physically weaker, she had remained so cold and uncompromising.

“…Maxel. Our relationship may not have begun with love, but I believed we could grow to love each other.”

By the time she revealed those feelings, Lilia was already by Maxel’s side.

So her cold love had never seemed important to him.

“Didn’t she like you quite a lot? If you rescue her, she’ll surely be happy.”

The Emperor laughed and encouraged Maxel.

After a moment of silence, Maxel lowered the letter and spoke quietly.

“I already have a new fiancée.”

“Ah, Lilia Roam.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue with mild disapproval.

“I’ve always thought she seemed too fragile. Even if she bears the Roam name, her origins are different.”

The Emperor had once enjoyed Lilia’s gentle charm.

He had often made time for tea with her.

“Anelli is a woman revived by God’s blessing. If we bring someone chosen by God into the imperial family, the empire will grow even stronger. Even if not as crown princess, there must be a way to draw her into the imperial family.”

If necessary, she could even be adopted into the imperial family.

Maxel easily understood the meaning behind those words.

He bowed his head silently.

“Yes.”

* * *

Not long after my successful escape, I heard an absurd rumor.

Apparently the Revived One had bravely stood before a wyvern to protect the people and had been abducted.

I had been thinking this ever since I was resurrected, but the world had truly gone mad.

Worse yet, an image orb recording of me was circulating everywhere.

From now on, my silver hair had to be hidden wherever I went.

Since I had abandoned the temple’s artifact, I tried clumsily to dye my hair.

I had never done such a thing before, so my skills were terrible.

I had hoped for brown hair.

Instead, my hair turned into a strange patchy mess.

Still, it was better than silver.

“I don’t know who recorded that, but if I ever catch them, I won’t let them off.”

Search parties were being organized everywhere based on the image orb.

People admired the revived one who had boldly faced a monster.

They prayed for the revived one’s safe return.

Everyone was becoming more and more insane.

This must be what “evil spreading through the world” means.

[Anelli! My brother said to thank you!

“No, it’s fine. He ended up becoming a kidnapper because of me.”

I could no longer travel with the wyvern—it was far too noticeable.

Instead, as thanks, I told it about a small monster habitat.

It was a place where rat-like monsters lived.

Since the wyvern was a carnivorous monster that ate small monsters, I thought it was a suitable reward.

Judging from what the eagle said now, the wyvern seemed quite satisfied.

Well, it was probably better than eating a single human like me.

Thanks to the wyvern’s help, I had arrived in a rural area some distance away from the city with the grand temple.

Finding a place remote enough for such a large wyvern to land had taken effort, but we eventually managed.

Honestly, I had hoped it would carry me even farther.

But hanging on for that long had been exhausting.

Still, the countryside had one advantage.

No one here recognized my face.

Although my hair was dyed unevenly with cheap dye, it was still far from a proper disguise.

Even when I wore a hood, Samuel had recognized me instantly.

That meant there was clearly something about me that people could sense.

Soon search parties would try to predict the wyvern’s flight path and follow it.

Compared to them, I was moving far too slowly.

At this rate, I’d barely get any distance before they caught up.

There had to be another way.

“Eagle, do you know any other monsters?”

[Nope!]