Chapter 079…………………….
The dim light of dawn that had lingered briefly faded, and I stared coldly at the sunlight slipping through the curtains.
Unlike the bright sky, I felt as if the world had been trapped in gray since yesterday.
Knock, knock.
“Saintess.”
It was Marsha’s voice. I lifted my body, which had been perched on the bed.
When I opened the door, Luna, whom I had seen yesterday, was standing beside her.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
I turned and walked into the room first, and they followed behind me.
Luna, stepping ahead with brisk steps, looked at my face and slightly lowered the corners of her eyes.
“Saintess, is something wrong?”
Seeing her ask worriedly, I forced a small smile at the corner of my lips.
“No, nothing at all.”
“You don’t look well. Are you feeling sick?”
I shook my head, and Marsha stepped forward to ask me.
“Would you like to have your meal in the room?”
“No. I’m not thinking about eating right now.”
Anything I ate would surely sit heavy in my stomach. Marsha didn’t press further and said:
“Then I’ll help you get ready immediately. Luna, please prepare the Saintess’s clothes.”
“What? You’re not eating?! Why?”
Luna asked, tilting her head to the side, but Marsha stopped her.
“Luna. Enough.”
“Phee.”
It seemed Marsha noticed that I was uncomfortable. I had sensed it since yesterday—she was quick to read situations.
It was hard to read her expressions, but whatever her intentions, it was clearly for my sake.
Thanks to that, I was free from her uncomfortable gaze.
After finishing my preparations, I stepped outside and Amy ran toward me.
“Saintess!”
“Amy, careful, you’ll trip.”
My voice must have been a little low, because Amy furrowed her brow.
“Saintess?”
I let out a quiet sigh, unnoticed by anyone, and smiled again.
“Amy, did you rest well?”
She tilted her head at the tone of my voice and then nodded.
“Yes! And you, Saintess? Did you sleep well? Did you eat properly? Are you uncomfortable in any way?”
With so many questions, I finally felt my face relax a little.
“I rested well.”
Perhaps unsatisfied with my answer, Amy pouted slightly.
I raised my arm to pat her head.
“Captain, the knights are ready.”
At the voice behind me, I whipped my head around.
I looked at the man speaking to Alec. My brows twitched in recognition.
Jace.
A knight named Jace.
The man Amy had feelings for. And I realized: he was the voice I had heard yesterday outside the storage with the Cardinal.
“Saintess?”
Amy leaned slightly to look up at me as my gaze lingered. When our eyes met, she smiled brightly.
“Why are you staring like that?”
“Nothing. Really.”
“Saintess, did the sisters help you get ready?”
Perhaps because her task had been taken from her, she looked sulky.
My wandering hand accidentally touched her soft hair.
“Why? Don’t you like it?”
“Well, it’s not that… But today is the day we arrive at the Empire, so I wanted to help you get ready.”
I smiled faintly to reassure her.
“After we reach the Empire, it will need adjusting anyway. Will you help then?”
“Yes! Of course!”
“Alright. I’ll ask for your help.”
Hearing the conversation beside me, I turned my head almost instinctively.
“Heh heh. If there’s another opportunity, please do visit again.”
“Well, if the opportunity arises, I suppose so.”
I made eye contact with the Verche High Priest who was exchanging greetings with the Cardinals. I looked away first. After finishing his greetings with the Cardinals, the High Priest approached me.
“Amy, please board the carriage first.”
She glanced between me and the High Priest and reluctantly nodded.
There was nothing special about the conversation. Here, surrounded by these people, I couldn’t bring up what happened yesterday.
I didn’t respond to his remark about visiting again.
He bowed his head and added quietly:
“Whenever you need me…”
“Saintess.”
Alec approached me, and the High Priest couldn’t finish speaking. I gave him a brief smile and greeted him.
“Thanks to you, I was able to rest well. I appreciate it.”
“Good to hear. Then travel safely. May God’s blessings always be with you.”
“…May blessings also always be with the Verche High Priest and the Verche Temple.”
“Saintess, shall we go now?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
I walked toward the carriage with Alec. It was a short distance, but I called him over to tell him something I had realized.
“Captain.”
“Yes. Speak.”
I needed to let him know that Jace was affiliated with Fabivan. I glanced at where Jace had been, almost unconsciously.
By chance, or because he had been watching me all along, our eyes met.
A chill ran down my spine, and I felt stiff.
“Saintess?”
“…”
“Saintess?”
When Alec stopped in front of me, I finally regained my composure.
“Ah. Yes.”
“Didn’t you have something to say?”
I couldn’t bring myself to speak under his persistent gaze.
“It’s nothing.”
No matter what I said, it felt like he could hear it, like he could read my lips.
When Alec furrowed his brows, I laughed awkwardly.
I endured that piercing gaze until we boarded the carriage.
When I had heard his voice earlier, I couldn’t help but look for too long.
Once the carriage started moving, I exhaled softly.
I happened to glance up. For a brief moment, Amy was looking out the window, blushing.
When our eyes met, she flinched. The slightly awkward situation felt strangely unfamiliar.
“Amy.”
“Yes? Y-yes, Saintess.”
“When did you start liking Knight Jace?”
How had I not noticed, with it being this obvious?
But that wasn’t the important part.
I worried about Amy—what if her feelings were too deep?
“You probably haven’t had many chances to meet Knight Jace. I just wanted to know when you started liking him.”
Amy straightened her shoulders, still tense, and bit her lip.
Perhaps thinking of the one she liked, the corners of her lips curved gently.
“To be honest, I don’t really know either. I don’t remember exactly when I started liking him. But… it’s been quite a long time.”
I knew nothing about Jace’s background.
“I thought he just recently joined the Knights.”
I muttered quietly, and Amy’s eyes widened.
“What? Jace? He’s the most senior among the Paladin Knights!”
I turned my gaze to Alec outside the window.
“More senior than the Captain?”
“Of course! He joined the Knights at a young age! He was the first, Melissa!”
I had thought he had only recently joined the Knights.
But hearing Amy, it became clear: being from Fabivan, he had simply tried not to stand out.
He must have been watching me all along.
I tore my gaze from Alec and looked at Amy. She stiffened as if something was wrong.
“Amy?”
She bit her lip.
The expression suggested sudden realization—not that her feelings for him had been revealed, but as if she had spoken a forbidden truth.
No, it can’t be.
I tried to deny it, but suspicion spread instantly.
I don’t remember the end of this child. How much do I really know about Amy?
I had never thought she wasn’t mine.
Yet I don’t even remember how she first came to me.
I remember her beginnings, though.
When she left the orphanage, when she began staying by my side.
I don’t know.
I can’t remember.
Was it because the memory was old and the moment not intense?
Or is this, too, brainwashing disguised as natural order?
The spreading suspicion made me bite the soft flesh inside my mouth.
It tasted metallic.
An unusual silence stretched between her and me.
I hoped it wasn’t just me.
I prayed it was my unfounded fear.
Otherwise, I feared I wouldn’t be able to endure.
In desperation, I unconsciously sought God.
“Ah.”
“Saintess?”
Amy had already erased her expression, tilting her head as if nothing had happened. Then, as if nothing had changed, she began to chatter again in her pleasant, easy voice.
