Chapter 99

The Saintess changed into a new priest’s robe as soon as she arrived at the temple. She did not want to wear the one with the torn sleeve. She changed into a new priest’s robe with gold embroidery, receiving Lorenz’s attendance.

“When will the children be ready?”

“They promised to be ready by tonight.”

The same report as before creased the Saintess’s brows.

“Faster.”

“…That’s impossible.”

“If that’s impossible, you becoming the Pope will also be impossible.”

Lorenz was irritated by the Saintess’s firm words. But for now, he had no choice. He could tolerate a little annoyance to become the Pope. If he made a mistake, he could end up like the ‘ex’ Pope he saw this morning, stripped of his divine power and left on the streets.

“Understood. I will prepare immediately… What is it!”

Before he could finish his words, knights burst into the room. Wearing the Imperial Knights’ emblem, they immediately filled the room and lined up. The last one to enter was Johannes Frache.

“Sir Frache…?”

“It is His Majesty’s order to bring the Saintess for tomorrow’s trial.”

“A trial? On what charges? If it’s about today’s events, it was the Empress’s misunderstanding…”

“The previous charge of attempted murder of the Empress.”

“Didn’t His Majesty already acquit me due to insufficient evidence?”

“A trial was never held because you disappeared before it could be. Furthermore, new evidence has been added.”

To be precise, it was a testimony, not evidence. But Frache did not specify this to her.

“How can you do this to me, who came with good intentions for the Empire?”

“If your innocence is proven, we will apologize for our rudeness to both the Holy Empire and you, Saintess.”

“…”

“You won’t be able to escape before the trial this time.”

“…You’ve changed a lot from before.”

The ‘before’ the Saintess was referring to was the night before she escaped. Frache’s eyes trembled as he recalled that day.

***

On that day, when no one was allowed to visit, Frache was able to enter to see her thanks to his position as the commander of the Imperial Knights. It was an opportunity he gained by persuading the guards outside, telling them he would take all the responsibility, and also by threatening to send them to the front lines of the battlefield. The guards, begging him to make it a quick visit and promising not to allow it a second time, let him in. When he opened the door, the Saintess looked at him, surprised by the unexpected visitor. As soon as Frache saw the Saintess, his eyes turned red as if he was about to cry.

“Sir Frache… Did you come to get me out?”

Frache, who had been approaching the Saintess step by step, collapsed in front of her as soon as he heard her words.

“Saintess… I’m sorry, Saintess.”

“…What do you mean?”

“This is all I can do, just to see you once…”

Frache’s tearful voice grew fainter. He was ashamed to face her.

“I even thought about committing treason like Keirhan, but I just couldn’t…”

Keirhan had also taken the throne to get Edelis as his Empress. So, if Frache committed treason and took the throne, getting the Saintess out of jail for the charge of attempting to murder the Empress would be nothing. If the rebellion succeeded, Edelis would no longer be the Empress, and Keirhan and Edelis could be publicly executed as an example. Moreover, Frache was the commander of the Imperial Knights and the young duke of the prestigious Frache ducal family, so he had a large army at his disposal. But he just couldn’t do what Keirhan had done.

“I cannot betray Keirhan… I’m truly sorry, Saintess.”

Unable to do either, Frache ended up confessing his anguish to the Saintess, as if in confession. He had agonized a thousand times: between the woman he adored and the brother-in-arms who had shared his battles, his life. She was the Saintess who had never once looked at him, but who had taken all of his heart.

“Sir Frache…”

“Yes.”

As Frache knelt in front of her and wept, she stroked his head and called his name. At her call, Frache had to raise his head, knowing he had no shame. And as the Saintess and Frache’s eyes met, she smiled gently.

“It’s alright, Sir Frache.”

The Saintess spoke in a soft voice, even in the dire conditions of being imprisoned in the palace. Her words of reassurance intensified Frache’s guilt, as if his heart was being squeezed.

“I never had any expectations of you.”

The Saintess said, still with a soft voice and a smiling face.

“I only asked just in case.”

“…”

Frache wondered what he had just heard. Her voice was still soft, but what she said was not soft at all, it was very cold. She said it was alright because she had no expectations. What was all his anguish for? A guard standing outside called to Frache, who was sitting there stunned, not knowing what to say.

“Captain! You have to come out now!”

“Sir? I think you should leave now.”

“…”

“Would you please leave? Don’t make things more difficult for me by staying here.”

Her voice was still soft, but the content was so cold that Frache forced himself to stand up on his trembling legs. As he stood up, the Saintess turned her eyes back to the window, where she had been looking before he came, as if she had lost interest. Her gaze remained fixed on the window until Frache left the room. Frache walked out of the palace where the Saintess was imprisoned, his steps heavy.

***

Frache, who had recalled that memory, closed his eyes and then opened them.

“If I had known I would see you again, I would have spoken a little more kindly.”

“…”

“But even then and now, it doesn’t matter much.”

The Saintess’s face, which tilted her head and chuckled, no longer looked beautiful to Frache. But he wondered how the Saintess who had taken all his heart had changed so much. Or was she always that kind of person, and he just didn’t know? The person she had shown herself to be was so different from her now that he couldn’t believe it. But he was not a person who would be bogged down in the past and forget what he had to do.

“Take the Saintess!”

“Yes!”

The knights surrounded the Saintess. They each grabbed one of her arms and dragged her away as if arresting her. The Saintess tried to shake off their hands, saying she would walk herself, but her slender arms could not get the knights off her.

“Lorenz!”

“Yes, yes!”

“I’ll see you at the trial tomorrow.”

“I… I understand.”

Lorenz understood the Saintess’s signal and nodded. She was telling him to send his subordinates to her trial. If he sent assassins to the trial, their lives would be as good as gone. 

But as Lorenz had heard, if the Saintess was brought to trial on the charge of ‘attempting to murder the Empress,’ it would be impossible for him, her closest aide, to become the Pope. 

So he had no choice but to trust the Saintess and send his assassins. Losing his subordinates was painful, but a small sacrifice to become the Pope was unavoidable. And even if things went wrong, he could claim that he had only gone to see her trial as her closest aide. The assassins would either be killed on the spot or captured and commit suicide anyway, so it would have nothing to do with him. So Lorenz watched the Saintess disappear with the Imperial Knights.

“…I just need the trial to go well tomorrow.”

The Saintess had taken the divine power of so many priests, and finally even the Pope’s, so she was going to do something. He thought that even though he was the one who raised the assassins, the Saintess who used them without any hesitation couldn’t have no plan.

“Haa…”

He couldn’t stop himself from sighing. He rubbed the back of his head as it ached and sighed, when he felt a gaze from somewhere.

“What is it?”

Lorenz looked around, trying to find where the gaze was coming from, but he couldn’t see anything. He was bothered by the fact that he had clearly felt the gaze, but since the Saintess was being brought to trial, he decided to deal with that first and left the room.

“…”

Berman, who had been watching Lorenz leave, put the dagger he was holding in his pocket. He didn’t care what happened to the empire, and he was going to deal with the Saintess himself, but the Imperial Knights had already arrested her. He regretted leaving the Imperial Knights at a time like this. If he were still a member of the Imperial Knights, he would have gone into the Imperial Palace and settled things. But he would see her at the trial tomorrow anyway… He could settle things there. Berman cautiously got up and headed for the Duke Frache’s mansion. He knew they would come to him to tell him that the trial was tomorrow.

***

Morning had dawned. Since all members of the Imperial Knights were mobilized at the palace where the Saintess was imprisoned, the same kind of unfortunate incident as before did not happen. Half of the knights surrounded the palace, and they entered in groups of two every hour to confirm her presence. The remaining half were on rotation, maintaining a strict guard.

“…Lehan.”

It was a sudden trial, and the subject was none other than the Saintess. The charge was none other than the much-publicized abduction and attempted murder of the Empress. The nobles, even though there was still a lot of time left until the trial, rushed to the Imperial Palace in their carriages as soon as the morning sun rose.

“It will be fine, so you don’t have to worry, Edelis.”

“What if you lose your memory again?”

“…Don’t worry about that either.”

Lehan had neatly written down all the events that had happened so far in preparation for the what-ifs. He had signed it, stamped it with his personal seal, and put his fingerprint on it, telling her to show it to him if he were to lose his memory. Still, Lehan, who remembered the words and actions he had directed at Edelis, understood her anxiety. Anyone would be worried if the way he acted towards her changed overnight. He, too, would be flustered if Edelis suddenly acted like the Empress in his memories.

“Your Majesty, the preparations for the trial have been completed.”

“I understand.”

At the chamberlain’s words, Lehan held out his hand to Edelis.

“What you were worried about will end today.”

“…”

“Worrying about the Saintess killing you, and worrying about my memories disappearing, all of it.”

“…Will it?”

“Of course, the Saintess won’t succeed.”

Lehan’s confident words put Edelis at ease a little.

“If she looks like she’s going to, I might just behead her.”

“Yes, do that. I will take full responsibility for the aftermath.”

Edelis chuckled.

“Say I ordered you to.”

“Can I?”

“No. I can’t let you get your hands dirty. If you look like you’re going to draw your sword, I will run over and behead her first.”

“…It’s a promise.”

“Yes, of course.”

Lehan also did not have a good feeling about the Saintess because he had experienced losing his memory twice. There was no guarantee that the Saintess was the cause, but she was the one who benefited whenever he lost his memory and became confused, so it was only natural for him to suspect her.

“Let’s go.”

Edelis nodded and, receiving his escort, headed to the courtroom.