Chapter 86……………………….
After returning to the banquet hall, the only thing I did was stick close to the cardinals and smile obediently like a well-behaved child.
How ridiculous.
The fact that this was all Melissa wanted from a saint—and the fact that I was doing exactly that even while knowing it.
I had no right to criticize them. I was here for my own reasons as well: to see what Melissa intended to do with the holy relic.
I was willingly acting as Melissa’s puppet because I wanted to discard the title Daughter of God as quickly as possible.
I casually scanned the banquet hall, but the princess was nowhere to be seen.
Only after serving as a spectacle for the nobles for a while was I able to leave the hall.
I walked down a quiet corridor.
Where could I go to finally breathe again? I found myself thinking useless thoughts in the night air.
Even though I knew this wasn’t the time for it.
It was disappointing that the path back to my room wasn’t very long.
No matter how slowly I walked, the distance to the room given to me was too short to sort out my thoughts.
When I arrived, I let out a long sigh and opened the door.
Contrary to my expectation that it would be empty, Amy came into view.
Perhaps she had been waiting for me to return from the banquet; she had fallen asleep leaning against the sofa.
My feet wouldn’t move easily.
It felt like my chest was tightening again. The girl who once made me feel the most comfortable no longer did.
Should I be wary of you now?
I suppose I should.
I guess I shouldn’t give my heart to anyone.
A bitter smile formed on my lips.
Perhaps sensing my presence, Amy rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them.
I quickly erased my expression.
“Saintess!”
“Why didn’t you go rest?”
“I was waiting for you, Saintess! Hehe, helping you is my job. How was the banquet?”
Forcing my reluctant feet forward, I stepped inside.
“It was fine.”
She smiled brightly.
“See? I told you the Saintess wouldn’t be nervous and would do well.”
“Yes, it’s thanks to you saying that, Amy.”
She laughed shyly, then suddenly widened her eyes.
“Ah! I’ll go prepare the bath right away!”
“Amy.”
“Yes?”
“You should go rest now. I can handle that myself.”
“No! I’ll help you!”
When I firmly shook my head, she blinked in surprise.
“It’s fine. Go get some rest.”
Watching my expression carefully, Amy slowly walked toward me.
“Did something happen?”
“Hm? No. Nothing happened. I just want to rest quickly.”
As I patted her shoulder and walked past, Amy hesitated.
“Th-then please call me if you need anything!”
“Alright, I will.”
Only after I heard the door close did I stop walking toward the bathroom.
I had sent her away because whenever I saw her, I didn’t know what expression to make. But my heart still felt heavy.
As the bath filled, I crouched beside the tub and stirred the rising water with my hand.
Even when the tub filled to the brim, my thoughts remained a mess.
I stepped into the bath and submerged myself completely.
The sensation of being underwater, unable to breathe, felt strangely unreal.
It was a moment where I couldn’t breathe—yet it felt like I finally could.
Setting priorities would be the most important thing.
One by one, I began organizing what I needed to do right now.
* * *
The moon of dawn faded and the sun rose, but Alec did not come to see me.
It probably wasn’t easy to come to the imperial palace—rather than the temple—while avoiding the eyes of so many people.
Even on the way to dine with the imperial family, Alec was nowhere in sight.
Since the emperor’s palace allowed only cardinals and the saintess, Jace wasn’t with me either.
I wondered if they had successfully taken the holy relic.
Not knowing what had happened made me feel somewhat anxious.
Still… it was Alec.
I could trust him.
“Saintess.”
At the cardinal’s voice beside me, I turned my head.
“Yes, Your Eminence.”
“You seem deep in thought. I called you several times, but you didn’t respond.”
“Oh. Did you? I must be a little nervous.”
“You don’t need to feel so burdened.”
“I’ll try not to. After the meal, are we leaving for the next pilgrimage?”
“Yes. It isn’t very far, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
I nodded faintly with a small smile. The cardinals’ faces showed no concern at all.
If the relic had been stolen, perhaps they hadn’t noticed yet.
The attendant guiding us opened a large door.
Both the emperor and the princess were there.
The princess seemed to have regained some composure. The glance she threw at me was clearly different from before.
Had she reached the starting line for her future? Perhaps the reason she hadn’t appeared yesterday was because she had been searching for allies who shared her intentions.
“Ho ho. Come in.”
“We greet Your Majesty.”
“It’s a shame that today is already the day you leave.”
I quietly pulled out a chair and sat down.
In truth, the only voices heard at the table were the emperor’s and the cardinals responding to him.
The meal didn’t last long, but the trivial conversation with the cardinals continued.
After watching for the right moment, I spoke to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, if it is not rude, may I be excused first?”
“Ho ho. You must have many preparations to make. It seems I’ve been taking up your time.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty. Then I will excuse myself first.”
I rose from my seat with a faint smile.
The gaze on me wasn’t only the emperor’s. I met the eyes of the empress and the crown prince and gave them a brief nod.
The princess didn’t look at me.
But no one commented on it.
Since she hadn’t hidden her hostility yesterday, perhaps this behavior suited her better.
When I stepped out through the door, someone bowed toward me.
“I will guide you back to your room.”
I glanced briefly at the closed door behind me and smiled lightly.
“Yes, please.”
It was someone different from the attendant who had guided me to the emperor’s palace earlier.
The moment I recognized his face, my body tensed.
He was the man who had stood behind the emperor yesterday—the one who knew about the relic and had handed it to Jace.
Was this the emperor’s intention?
I couldn’t tell whether this escort held some hidden meaning or not.
The man walking two steps ahead of me suddenly stopped and called out.
“Saintess.”
“Yes, what is it?”
He turned around and our eyes met. I forced the corners of my lips upward.
Instead of speaking immediately, he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket.
I watched him carefully.
A letter?
The moment I saw what he pulled out, the corner of my lips trembled slightly.
As if it were simply his duty, he held the letter out to me.
Within the imperial palace of the Bandola Empire, the emperor certainly wouldn’t be the one sending me a letter.
When I didn’t take it and only looked up at him, he said,
“Her Highness the Princess asked me to deliver this to you.”
“The princess… to me?”
“Yes.”
So the princess had used this man to send me a letter.
The ally she had found was someone belonging to the emperor.
“I know what you are worried about, but you don’t need to be.”
“Very well.”
I accepted the letter and asked,
“Did Her Highness have any message for me besides the letter?”
Looking down at the letter in my hand, the man replied,
“No. She said the letter contains everything.”
“I see. Thank you, then.”
I gazed down the long, quiet corridor stretching past his shoulder.
“I know the way from here. I’ll go alone.”
“Understood. Please take care.”
The man passed by me, but then called out once more.
“Saintess.”
Standing close beside me, he lowered his voice and said something quietly.
At his words, all I could do was bite my lip without replying.
The man glanced at me briefly and then began walking again.
Until the sound of his footsteps—returning the way he had come—faded away completely, I couldn’t even move my eyes.
