– Chapter 21……………………………………
You Are Dead
The next day, an unexpected visitor came to see me. I looked up at the man standing before me.
“Did you come looking for me?”
It was Harold, the Cardinal of the Melissa Temple. In all my previous life, this was the first time I faced him alone.
He was a man who rarely spoke even during meetings.
Harold, with his seemingly rigid appearance, lifted his monocle and opened his tightly closed lips.
“I have a request for the Saintess.”
His stiff tone and expressionless face did not suggest he would be asking for a favor from anyone.
It seemed that even this situation was unfamiliar to him. He let out a small sigh through the thin line of his straight lips.
I tilted my head and asked in return:
“Was your request so urgent that it made you come this early?”
Harold’s eyebrows twitched.
“My apologies if I caused you any discomfort.”
“Please, come in first.”
If he came to see me at this hour, it must mean he came secretly.
I opened the door and stepped aside slightly. Harold hid his surprise and entered.
“Please, have a seat here,” he said, pointing to the sofa.
He lowered his gaze and walked to the sofa, sitting down.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. There was still enough time before Amy arrived.
“Would you like some tea?” I asked.
“No, thank you.”
I nodded slightly at his answer and lifted the corner of my lips in a faint smile.
Sitting on the sofa, I folded my hands on my lap and fixed my gaze on Harold.
What kind of request would he have that made him come to see me without any prior notice?
“I would like the Saintess to meet His Holiness,” he said.
It was an unexpected statement.
No one found it strange that I didn’t visit the Pope lying in bed.
I tilted my head and feigned ignorance.
“I thought the High Priest was already monitoring His Holiness’ condition,” I said.
One reason no one else interfered when I didn’t visit the Pope was that only the High Priest attended to him.
Next to the Saintess, he was the most spiritually influential. Naturally, he alone had that role.
Harold was silent for a moment.
Seeing that he seemed unsure of what to say, I spoke again.
“Is His Holiness very unwell?”
“Yes. I was concerned and hurried here, despite the impropriety,” he replied.
Although he answered as if he had been waiting, his expression did not show worry for the Pope. I stared at him carefully.
Was Harold truly loyal to the Pope? Even recalling my old memories, I couldn’t remember.
One thing was clear: this man was not deeply involved in the affairs of Melissa Temple.
Moreover, he had not been seen since leaving Melissa before my tenure as Saintess ended.
Yet now he had come to me, asking to meet the Pope.
He had only been looking at the table, but when he raised his head, I smiled faintly.
“Yes. I will.”
“Thank you.”
Harold rose from his seat, having said all he needed to. I followed suit.
“I will visit His Holiness today.”
“Please do.”
He muttered shortly, placing a hand on his chest and closing his eyes for a moment before opening them.
I watched his back as he left the room, performing a solemn farewell.
I wondered what he was thinking.
Harold—since I didn’t know this man well, I was cautious. And apparently, he had been cautious of me as well.
Just as I began thinking about what Harold wanted, there was a knock. The morning sunlight streamed into the room, and Amy knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Amy opened the door carefully and entered, calling me with her usual bright smile.
“Saintess, when did you wake up?”
“Just a little while ago.”
“Oh, shall I help you get ready?”
“Yes, please, today as well.”
I smiled faintly and sat at the dressing table.
Though I was looking into the mirror, my reflection didn’t appear; the recent events lingered like an afterimage.
It was a good thing life didn’t follow the same path as before, yet I felt as if something was missing.
“…What could it be?”
“Pardon?”
Startled by my own words, I shook my head.
“It’s nothing.”
“By the way, have you decided on the next pilgrimage?”
“No, not yet.”
Soon, there would be another meeting.
After finishing my preparations, I left the room and walked along the path lined with round pillars. The building where the Pope was located was quite far from my quarters.
The restrained sound of my shoes changed slightly as I stepped inside the building. The echo seemed to be the only sound in this quiet space.
After a brief pause, I continued once I confirmed that no one else was around.
Harold hadn’t specifically asked me to come secretly, but I didn’t want Fabivan to know I was here.
I glanced up the stairs.
Perhaps because I had never gone up there in my previous life—or maybe because it was the way to the Pope’s chamber—my heart was beating rapidly.
Taking a deep breath, I ascended the stairs.
Recalling the last image of the Pope, I soon arrived at his room.
Knock, knock. Despite his stern expression, my knocks sounded clear and lively.
Hearing no reply, I slowly turned the doorknob. The wooden door creaked as I opened it.
I stepped inside and bowed my head briefly at the entrance.
“I have come to see His Holiness.”
No reply came.
Raising my head, I looked directly at the Pope lying in bed.
Step by step, I walked closer until I reached his side.
Standing beside the bed, I looked down at the frail man.
“It’s been a long time, Your Holiness.”
Even looking back to my past life, the last time I saw the Pope was when Aria held the title of Saintess.
He died one year after I became the Saintess.
Even then, he was bedridden and had never seen me as the Saintess.
“I once wished to see Your Holiness. I also wanted to help you in any small way while you were unwell.”
I thought that the comfortable life I had after being taken in by Melissa Temple was thanks to him.
I didn’t remember which country my parents were from, but I had crossed the border under the protection of the sanctuary and arrived at a small village.
I came alone. My parents had already died.
My faint memories included a scene of someone holding me by the shoulder, telling me not to look back and to keep running.
I must have already been near the sanctuary, for I arrived there after running continuously.
My parents, who had promised to follow, never came.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they could not come.
Maybe they knew they were about to die.
Perhaps they didn’t want to show death to their young daughter.
I wandered the streets while waiting for them.
Fortunately, it was neither freezing cold nor did I have to scavenge for food. Occasionally, villagers would share food with me, an orphan.
That’s how I lived. Dirty, but no one pointed fingers at me.
The villagers, themselves under sanctuary protection for various reasons, might have been generous to me.
Melissa, to the young me, was a place deserving the highest praise in the world.
So I naturally believed in the deity Gloria. I may have even prayed to be reunited with my parents.
Just as I thought that God would never hear the voice of an orphan, I met the Saintess who had come to the village.
“Child, are you alone?”
“My mom and dad aren’t coming. They said they would…”
At that moment, I think I already suspected my parents wouldn’t come. The Saintess reached out to me.
“Will you come with me?”
I couldn’t bring myself to hold her clean, fair hand with my filthy one, so she took my hand first.
That’s how I came to Melissa.
I thought that these people had come for me, in place of my parents who never arrived.
It might be a glorified memory after all this time.
I convinced myself that I had not been abandoned.
The Pope, who saw me brought by the Saintess, had also smiled warmly and patted my head.
“Alright, what’s your name?”
Whether I didn’t remember or never had one, I shook my head. The Saintess then named me Shalen.
“Shalen…”
“Yes. From now on, your name is Shalen.”
“It seems you like the name given by the Saintess. Haha.”
“I like it!”
“Yes, yes. It’s a beautiful name.”
Though I now know how harsh the world can be, for my younger self, it was a sweet memory.
That’s why, standing before the Pope now, the moment felt somewhat bitter.
