CHAPTER 49……………………………………………….
What came into view as I drew closer was an ash-gray flower, its color so faded it looked as though it would crumble at any moment.
A flower I naturally assumed wouldn’t exist.
A flower blooming in a place that wasn’t even a forest—and it was already withered.
“I had my doubts, but I can’t believe it actually exists.”
Raymond bent one knee and crouched down to examine the gray flower.
I agreed with him.
“Why didn’t we notice it until now?”
Raymond tilted his head, frowning.
“Do you think the Grand Duke came this far as well?”
“If it were him, he definitely would have.”
Then why hadn’t Cardin found it? Of course, if he had searched this vast place alone, it was possible he simply missed it.
“Saintess.”
“Ah, yes.”
At Raymond’s call, I brushed away my stray thoughts and sat beside him, focusing on the energy emanating from the flower.
Would it be right to call it a malevolent aura? I wasn’t sure. It felt different from that of monsters.
If monsters carried an energy opposite to mine, then the flower’s energy felt more like emotion—and those emotions were varied.
There was no trace of divine power in the flower.
“Is this really the god’s flower?”
“No.”
“I thought as much. Then why did people call this the god’s flower?”
Raymond spoke with puzzlement. It didn’t look sacred at all—if anything, it looked pitiful.
Cardin had said it wasn’t visible when he searched for it.
For a moment, I wondered if it might be a monster. But if that were the case, wouldn’t it have attacked him instead?
Raymond brushed off his knee and stood, calling out to the others searching nearby.
As Cardin and Alec approached, the petals fluttered slightly, even though there was no wind.
Had I imagined it?
Slowly, I brushed my fingers across the petals.
The flower, which I thought would crumble, suddenly emitted a faint glow.
[Give yourself to me. He is coming.]
“What was that just—”
The voice beside me wasn’t Raymond’s. Nor was it mine.
Raymond, startled at the sight of me suddenly falling backward, bent down in alarm.
“Saintess, are you all right?”
“Your Highness… didn’t you hear that voice just now?”
“Pardon? What voice?”
Was it a human voice? Or something like one?
[He is coming. Give me your life.]
“…!”
I heard it again.
But once more, it seemed only I could hear it. Raymond called out to me.
“Saintess?”
One petal turned a silvery blue.
[Give me life. Give me your life. He is coming.]
“The flower—”
“Yes?”
When I pointed at it, his eyes followed my fingertip.
Raymond also seemed to see the change, his expression one of disbelief.
“What in the world—did you pour holy power into it?”
I shook my head.
“I touched the petal.”
[Hurry!]
At the piercingly high voice, I frowned.
“You mean the petal?”
“Yes. You really didn’t hear anything, Your Highness?”
“I didn’t hear a thing.”
It sounded insane, but no matter how I looked at it, the flower seemed to be speaking.
The flower, once heavy with resentment and longing, was now growing frantic.
It made no sense, but that was how it felt to me.
[He is coming. He’s coming to me. I don’t want him to see me like this.]
As the footsteps of Cardin and Alec drew nearer, the flower grew even more desperate.
[I need it. Life. Give me life.]
That was when—
“Have you found the flower?”
At the sound of Cardin’s voice, Raymond reached out his hand toward the flower.
“Don’t!”
I hurriedly grabbed Raymond’s arm and pulled him back.
But I was too late. He had already grasped the stem.
[More. I need more. Adorn me. I must welcome him.]
“Your Highness, let go of it!”
His eyes were unfocused, as if he were entranced.
Raymond didn’t respond to my shouts.
The flower gradually gained color, even beginning to glow faintly. I sensed danger immediately.
“Cardin!”
He rushed over and pulled Raymond backward.
Raymond collapsed limply.
“What’s going on?”
[Dave is here. He’s come to me. He’s come to take me away.]
I hurried to Raymond’s side.
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
One of his arms was changing, as though its vitality were being drained. I had seen something like this before.
Remembering the pope who had been losing his life force, I poured holy power into Raymond.
“What in the world is this…”
Raymond didn’t wake up. My panic deepened.
I poured healing power into him as if flooding him with it, and gradually, color returned to his face. My hands trembled.
“Saintess.”
“……”
“Saintess!”
Cardin grabbed my hands.
“His Highness is fine now. He seems to have merely lost consciousness.”
Just as he said, Raymond’s color had fully returned.
My strength gave out, and my arms dropped.
“What exactly happened here?”
Meeting his gaze, I explained everything—from the petals changing color onward.
I spoke in a rush, and I thought it might be hard to follow, but thankfully, the two of them quickly grasped the situation.
“Then this flower is…”
“A monster?”
Alec finished the thought.
It wasn’t an ordinary flower. If anything, calling it a monster made more sense.
[You came to take me, didn’t you? Take me with you, Dave.]
The once-withered flower, after draining Raymond’s vitality, now glowed softly, transformed.
“Did the flower just speak?”
“Just now, that voice—”
I had expected only I could hear it again, but I quickly turned to them.
“Did you hear it?”
Cardin frowned deeply as he replied.
“Did it just say to take it along?”
“Yes. It did.”
Alec nodded as well.
The voice of the fully bloomed flower was heard by all three of us. When it had been withered, only I could hear it.
Somehow, the person the flower called “Dave” seemed to be Cardin.
[I was tending myself for you. You liked my light, didn’t you?]
Looking at the unconscious Raymond, Cardin spoke.
“Judging by this, it seems this monster is what took the villagers’ lives.”
“Yes. I think so too.”
Alec agreed.
“A monster that takes the form of a flower…”
If it was a monster, perhaps we could deal with it using holy power, like yesterday.
A flower that stole human lives.
A flower so obsessed with its own light that it could bewitch others to take their vitality. Its emotions were dangerously intense.
If it truly was a monster, it had to be destroyed.
But how?
Should I call down divine punishment like yesterday? If I did, the sky might change again—and the people of Fabivan, who were on their way here, might see it.
[Dave, you have no intention of taking me with you.]
Suddenly, the flower shook and grew larger.
I immediately raised a protective barrier and drew up my holy power.
“Purification.”
May your heavy emotions be cleansed.
My holy power touched the flower. A crackling sound rang out. Astonishingly, the flower blocked it.
Just as I had raised a barrier, the flower surrounded itself with energy to protect itself.
Was it really a monster? Every monster I had seen so far was weak against holy power.
But this flower was unaffected by divine energy.
[Dave. Dave. I waited for you. I kept waiting. You can’t do this to me.]
“The person you’re looking for isn’t here.”
[Don’t spout nonsense! Dave is right in front of me!]
“It seems you’ve mistaken me for someone named Dave.”
Cardin appeared to sense it as well.
As the flower swayed, silvery-blue light scattered around it like dust.
In that instant, the powder clung thickly to the outside of the barrier.
It looked like ordinary pollen, but it felt as heavy as the emotions the flower carried.
If I absorbed that flower’s emotions, could I purify them with my holy power?
As cracks began forming in the barrier, Cardin spoke to the flower.
“What do you want from me?”
[I want you to suffer as I did. To be just as sad. To long for me just as much.]
“Saintess.”
Cardin called to me.
“Stay here and maintain the barrier.”
My eyes widened in shock.
“No. You can’t—where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back.”
My vision trembled. Those were words he shouldn’t have said.
At that moment, I heard the sound of the barrier shattering. I immediately cast another barrier around Alec and Raymond.
“Captain. Please take care of His Highness.”
Cardin’s eyes flew open. I bit my lip tightly.
This time, let’s go together. Wherever it is.
Silvery-blue pollen swept over Cardin and me.
