Chapter 103

“Saintess, please…”

Frache wept and pleaded with the Saintess, who was healing her arm with ragged breaths, to stop and give up, but she didn’t hear him. And when the Saintess’s remaining hand, which had just stopped the bleeding and calmed the pain, reached for the sword, Keirhan walked resolutely toward her.

“Keirhan!”

She thought he was going to save her. Because he was Keirhan, the man she had dedicated everything to and loved above all others. The Saintess was ready to forgive Keirhan. She thought it was partly her fault that he had turned his back on her until now. So she thought that if he came to her now, they would forget everything that had happened and live happily together, just like they did in the book. The Saintess held out her remaining arm to him. She wanted him to take her hand now. After all, Keirhan would never betray her. Wasn’t he the same Keirhan from the book who had said he loved her and cherished her so much? Even if she herself had written the book from the first page to the last. The Saintess’s hand, held out to Keirhan, was trembling pitifully, but a faint smile blossomed on her face.

‘It’s okay that you hurt me, I can just heal it by gathering divine power again. All I need is you.’

To get Keirhan as quickly as possible, she had sent priests to many countries, including the Empire, and spread a plague. And since it was going to happen anyway, she had even fed Keirhan poisoned food. But she didn’t care because she could heal him. Because that incident was how Keirhan had come to have feelings for her. He had made a wrong choice, so to correct it, she had Berman Pasis try to kill Edelis. She used her followers to escape from prison and even mobilized priests, the Holy Knights, and assassins. She had done nothing from beginning to end that wasn’t for Keirhan, so she thought it was now his turn to repay her. Even with this tearing pain, she had no regrets, believing she would make the same choices if she could go back in time.

‘At the very end, as long as you come to me like this.’

But Keirhan, despite the Saintess’s desperate eyes, calmly plunged his sword into her heart. It was ironic that the Saintess, who had always wanted to be close to Keirhan, was only able to get close to him when his sword was plunged into her heart.

“Ke-Keirhan…? Why are you…”

She couldn’t believe that Keirhan, the man she had given everything to, was attacking her. She had barely managed to heal her arm, but now she clutched her chest in pain from the stab wound to her heart. She was gathering divine power to heal her heart, but it required a much greater amount of divine power than healing her severed arm. Keirhan pushed the sword deeper into her heart and whispered softly in her ear.

“You didn’t think it would end with just one arm, did you?”

“Cough!”

“Does it hurt? It can’t be. Heal yourself quickly. You can’t die from just this.”

“Kei…rha…”

“What a shame. I have to cut out the tongue of anyone who dares to call my name so casually, but I only have one sword.”

“Why…”

The Saintess looked at Keirhan with disbelieving eyes. Lehan was even more disgusted by it. How could she be so shameless?

“Your Majesty the Emperor!”

“Your Majesty, why would you…!”

Elderly priests called out to the Emperor and the Saintess in an agitated voice. Even if they thought they would be cast out of the temple, the Saintess was still the Saintess. To them, who had learned nothing but how to worship God in the temple their entire lives, the Saintess was an untouchable being. How could he take her life! It was not surprising that they were filled with shock and horror. But the Saintess was still clutching her stabbed chest, using her divine power to heal it. Her heart was torn, but she couldn’t die like this. However, Keirhan, who had no intention of waiting, cruelly pulled the sword out of the Saintess’s chest. An enormous amount of blood gushed from her chest. It seemed there was no possibility of healing that, unless God themselves appeared. But Lehan just sneered, as if he no longer cared.

“Ha! Saintess, my foot. Don’t you know what the Saintess, no, what Elaine Ryned has done in her position as Saintess?”

Edelis, who was watching Lehan, was startled. The scene unfolding before her eyes was very similar to the one she had seen in her house a few years ago. The only difference was that she was the one lying on the floor, not the Saintess. Even the words the priests and Lehan were saying were very similar to what the Emperor and his ministers had said in the past. Edelis’s heart pounded as she watched the Saintess, stabbed in the heart by Lehan’s sword, just as she had seen in the book, bleeding and dying. This time, in reality, the Saintess’s blood was so thick and copious it seemed like it would cover the entire floor.

“The Saintess has been summarily executed for attempting to murder the Empress. Her body will be left outside the city gates to be eaten by wild animals, and no one is to touch the corpse. Not until all that remains are bones that have weathered away.”

That was how he intended to set an example for others not to harm the Empress again.

“If anyone has a complaint, speak now.”

When Lehan pointed his sword at the others, the people who had just moments before were protesting “How could you stab the Saintess?”, all fell silent like mutes.

Seeing this, Edelis was finally certain that the ‘destiny’ the Saintess had so persistently talked about, which had been holding her down, had completely avoided her.

“Wh-what about Berman Pasis?”

“…He has passed away.”

“Good for him! He turned his back on the Emperor and Empress and even attacked Raiden!”

Sir Ferrin’s eyes were filled with tears, even though he tried to sound cheerful. Even though Berman had abandoned them, he had ultimately lost his life trying to protect the Empress. And since their time together in the Imperial Knights was not short, he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

“…Bury him in a sunny place.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Considering the charges Berman had faced before, this was an extraordinary gesture. It was rare for someone who had committed a crime tantamount to treason to be buried with their head still attached to their body.

“Clear this up.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Feeling that the situation was somewhat under control, Lehan commanded, looking around with piercing eyes, and the Imperial Knights responded loudly. The remaining priests and Holy Knights who had lost their divine power were at a loss for what to do, having lost both the Pope and now the Saintess, and were captured by the Imperial Knights without any resistance. Among them were also the assassins who had been ordered by Lorenz to escort the Saintess and kill the Empress. As they were being disarmed and dragged to the dungeon, the tension finally left Edelis, and she swayed, grabbing onto Lehan.

“E-Edelis.”

“Ah, Your Majesty. I’m sorry. My legs suddenly gave out.”

“…It’s alright.”

“And thank you for saving me. I’m a little late, aren’t I?”

As Edelis smiled brightly and bowed her head, Lehan hurriedly grabbed her.

“No, you don’t have to thank me.”

“No, but you saved me.”

“Didn’t I tell you I would protect you from anyone, in any situation?”

“…Lehan?”

“…Yes.”

Lehan’s usual confident voice was gone, replaced by a dejected one.

“Is it really Lehan?”

Lehan had never not been Lehan for a single moment. But the ‘Lehan’ Edelis was talking about now was the very same Lehan from before he lost his memories, the one she loved so much and who had cherished and loved her so much. And Lehan, who knew what she meant, nodded.

“Yes.”

“H-how…”

Edelis’s eyes filled with tears. Seeing this, Lehan became even more flustered, hugging and patting her.

“When the Saintess died, my memories came back.”

“So you remember everything now?”

“…Yes.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, from the first time we met, until before I lost my memories. And from after I lost them until now, everything.”

Lehan’s voice trembled as he spoke, and Edelis hugged him even tighter. Even when he had lost his memories, Lehan had only been cold to her at first, and later she could feel that he was fond of her. But Edelis, who had been overflowing with Lehan’s love, couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. It was even more so when she recalled the memories she had made with Lehan after they were married, all by herself.

“Lehan!”

As Edelis and Lehan were embracing and sharing the joy of their reunion, a clattering sound startled Edelis, and she pulled away.

“…Sir Frache?”

“Ah, no… I’m sorry. It’s almost all done.”

By then, most of the people who had been in the courtroom had left. The remaining people were a few Imperial Knights who had returned to collect the weapons. It didn’t feel like that much time had passed, but they had already escorted everyone away! The Imperial Knights, knowing the value of their lives, had left at the speed of light to not interrupt the affectionate scene between the Emperor and Empress. But moving the weapons inevitably made noise, and for the sake of the younger knights, the head of the knights, Sir Frache, and Sir Ferrin, who were less likely to die in the Emperor’s sight, came to move the weapons.

“…If you’re done, why don’t you get out?”

“Yes! Understood!”

“Did you just tell them to get out?”

“Ah, no, that is…”

Edelis was secretly shocked that Lehan would say “get out.” She had naturally assumed that Lehan would only use polite and beautiful language. On second thought, Lehan’s inner self was the very same Emperor she had seen in the book. As Edelis subtly distanced herself from Lehan, he was even more shocked.

“Your Majesty the Empress, please don’t be like that! We’re used to hearing things like that!”

“…You’re used to it?”

“Saying ‘get out’ isn’t that harsh of a word, still.”

“It’s not harsh?”

Sir Ferrin’s words, which were meant to defend Lehan, were all having the opposite effect. Frache had thought Ferrin would act as a shield for Lehan until he said, ‘Please don’t be like that!’ He never thought he would use that shield to smash Lehan with it.

“Why don’t you shut up and leave?”

“Shut up…?”

“Ah, no, Edelis. Wait a moment.”

Edelis left the courtroom, ignoring Lehan’s attempts to stop her. After she was outside, Edelis covered her flushed face with both hands and screamed inwardly. She had been so happy to see Lehan that she had hugged him without even caring about the other people watching. If she had been just a little happier, she might have even kissed him. Thinking about that made her face turn so red it felt like it was on fire. She felt sorry for Sir Ferrin, who would now be receiving all of Lehan’s resentment, but she couldn’t bring herself to stay there. Edelis left, ignoring Sir Ferrin’s cries for help from inside the courtroom, and returned to the Ruby Palace.

***

“…May I come in?”

“Come in.”

Lehan came to see Edelis while she was drinking tea to calm herself down in her room. She already knew he would come looking for her. How did she know? Because that’s what Lehan would do. Lehan hesitantly came in and carefully sat in the empty chair in front of Edelis.

“Are you feeling better now? I’m worried that I showed you a scene you shouldn’t have seen earlier.”

“If you hadn’t killed the Saintess then, I would have been the one lying on the floor.”

The shock Edelis felt was that the Saintess, not herself, had died in the exact scene she had seen before. The death scene was not surprising since she had seen it in her dreams several times after reading the book as a child.

“…If that’s the case, then it’s a relief.”

Lehan trailed off, seeming to have something else to say. But he just kept looking at her, unable to open his mouth. Edelis waited patiently, wondering what he wanted to say. A moment of silence passed, but Edelis didn’t mind it much. She was oblivious to the fact that Lehan’s mouth was getting dry and his heart was constricted during that silent time.

“Edelis.”

“Yes.”

“…Are you not going to speak to me casually anymore, like before?”

“Huh?”

Ah, now that he mentioned it, she was speaking formally to Lehan again. Since she had spoken formally to him when he had lost his memories, the habit had stuck. She considered going back to speaking informally but then, a mischievous idea suddenly sprouted in Edelis’s mind.

“You told me to speak formally, Your Majesty.”