Episode 126: Spread the Word (III)

“That won’t happen.”

“But…”

“Sir Paras has already left the temple. Give up your hopes for the temple.”

“It’s not just because of the temple. For the sake of peace in the empire, we will continue to need the protection of Espitos.”

Esther knew that the protection of Espitos meant the barrier that spread across the empire.

But even if it was selfish, she did not want to sacrifice her hard-earned life for others any more.

“I will only protect those who are important to me.”

“You won’t be able to turn away. I can tell just by today’s incident. If the barrier is broken, those precious people will be in danger too.”

“I’m going to leave now.”

Esther started walking again, pretending not to hear Paras.

She could sense him bowing deeply behind her, but she left the greenhouse without looking back.

As soon as she came out, she saw Dennis’ face. It appeared he was waiting for her to finish her business.

“Brother Dennis.”

Esther’s expression, which had turned dark for a moment, brightened again.

“There’s no need to listen to that. Let’s not bear too heavy a burden.”

“Yes. Let’s go home.”

Esther erased Paras’ words from her head. She just wanted to go back to her most comfortable home as soon as possible.

On the way home, they happened to meet Deheen and they moved into a single carriage.

Deheen sat down next to Esther, who seemed exhausted, and lent her his shoulder.

“Where did you go and what did you do?”

“I helped decide which books to put in the library. I chose based on what I read.”

Dennis knew more about books than anyone, so there was nothing to worry about.

“What about you, Esther?”

“I healed people. I also allowed holy flowers to grow.”

With a proud expression, Esther looked down at her hands, which had healed so many people.

“You have suffered. You must be very tired.”

“It’s okay… Dad, rather than that…”

“Huh?”

Deheen read the concern in Esther’s voice. He turned his head, giving her his full attention.

“Among the people I treated today, there’s someone with an infectious disease.”

Esther told Deheen everything about the letter she received from Noah and about the man she treated today.

Listening quietly, Deheen’s expression gradually grew serious, and a sigh leaked out of his lips.

“I’m afraid your responsibilities will increase.”

“Nothing will change.”

Esther answered boldly, digging deeper into Deheen’s shoulder. The sturdy Deheen was just right to lean on.

“The timing is not good.”

The combination of the epidemic and the temple’s closure was something Deheen hadn’t foreseen. It was already expected that public sentiment would become vicious.

“But wouldn’t it be okay if we just hang in there a little bit?”

“Yes.”

“Tersia will be fine.”

Tersia has holy water, holy flowers, and above all, Esther.

Deheen gently hugged Esther, who was still leaning against him, and brushed her long hair.

“And Dad, His Majesty wants to see me.”

“You mean a formal invitation?”

“I don’t think it is because it’s a letter from His Highness Noah… It probably has something to do with the saintess.”

“Do whatever you want. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to go.”

Esther thought about it for a moment, then shook her head, indicating it was okay.

“I want to see His Majesty again.”

“Shall I go with you too?”

Deheen’s voice lowered slightly. His guard was rising. Is the emperor coveting Esther?

“I’ll go alone this time.”

“…Instead, you can’t stay out overnight. You have to sleep at home.”

“Of course. I’ll see His Majesty and come back right away.”

While Deheen struggled to hide his remaining disapproval, Dennis, remembering their meeting with Jerome, called Esther.

“Esther, give Father that.”

“Ah, right.”

Esther handed Deheen the piece of paper in her pocket.

“What is this?”

“The Duke of Brions is looking for this person in our territory. I don’t know who this is.”

“Brions?”

Deheen unfolded the paper, and his eyebrows twitched.

“Do you know who it is?”

“…Hm.”

He pretended not to know in front of the children, but he immediately realized that the man in the picture was Lucifer.

‘It’s kind of strange.’

He felt something amiss when Lucifer said the name ‘Brions’, but it seemed like it wasn’t a coincidence that the duke kept getting involved in Catherine’s affairs.

‘They’re two people that I don’t think will ever be related, but maybe…’

‘Brions.’

Deheen decided to change the direction of his investigation into Catherine. Maybe he would meet Duke Brions in person.

“Huuu, huuu.”

On the long ride home, both Esther and Dennis fell asleep, leaning on Deheen’s shoulders.

“You guys…”

A soft smile appeared on his face, though he couldn’t move for fear that the children would wake him up.

After dinner, Esther returned to her room and looked around for Shur, who strangely did not welcome her.

“Shur, do you like that?”

She couldn’t help but laugh when she found Shur curled up on a sofa piled with snake dolls.

She sat down at the desk, looking at the cute Shur, who only fluttered his tongue in response, still snuggling the dolls.

Coincidentally, the ancient language book she had received from Dennis the other day was on the desk, and she opened it without thinking.

“Let’s see.”

Although the book is in an ancient language, it was not difficult to interpret. The title was unique, .

Tilting her head, Esther wondered what promise it was talking about, and began to turn the book. However, most of the pages in the thick book were blank.

“Why is there nothing?”

Thinking it was strange, she flipped through the book and finally found the page with the writing on it.

Happy to interpret the ancient language, she gradually fell deeply into its contents.

“Is it the promise the first saint made?”

Surprisingly, the contents of the promise made by the first saint, which was said to have not been recorded anywhere, were written.

There were only two pages of writing, so Esther couldn’t tell much, but those two pages gave her a pretty big shock.

“A saint is supposed to come out of the Brions family once every three generations…”

There was no word about this when learning about the history of the saint. The Brions family was simply known as a prestigious family that produced many saints.

Esther began to calculate the current generation of saints, and was startled.

Cespia was the 14th saint, which made herself the 15th saint.

“Then Rabienne must be the real saint…?”

Blinking rapidly, Esther put the book down. Bewilderment could be felt in her shaking eyelashes.

“The book is pure nonsense.”

The contents of the book might be a story someone made up. She wanted to read more and judge, but there was no writing. After flipping the pages a couple more times, she closed the book.

“15th… 15th.”

Lying on the bed and thinking back at the contents of the book in a daze, Esther couldn’t shake the thought that the number 15 was familiar somewhere.

Thinking idly, she suddenly figured out why she was so sensitive to the number 15, and she immediately jumped up.

Her expression hardened as she slowly folded her fingers one by one.

“I’ve regressed 14 times. This is my 15th life.”

After thinking this far, somehow, instantaneously, she felt goosebumps all over her body.

She was the 15th saint, and her life only changed in the 15th life.

Esther felt that there was some relation, but she couldn’t quite connect the dots, so she let out a sigh and buried her head deeply into the pillow again.

A week after Rabienne applied for an interview with the emperor, she received a call that an appointment had been made.

“Closing down the temple wasn’t enough, to treat us this way… Aren’t they really saying ‘let’s go at it’?”

“You have to be patient. We should listen to his thoughts.”

Rabienne and Lucas, both full of anger, arrived at the Imperial Palace and were immediately escorted to the reception room.

The emperor was going through the papers when he heard a knock and slowly stood up to greet the two.

“Welcome. Sit down.”

On the table was hot tea and unsweetened desserts prepared in advance.

“Hello, Your Majesty. It’s been a while since our last meeting.”

“Indeed. I was surprised that you suddenly wanted to meet.”

Although the emperor couldn’t have not known the reason for their visit, he smiled; it was a deliberate pretense.

“You know why we came. After closing over twenty temples…”

“Let’s have a cup of tea. The tea tastes very good.”

The emperor gently accepted Rabienne’s words and raised the teacup.

Unlike the nervous Rabienne, he was full of composure.

It had been a long time since he had shown such an attitude in front of the temple.

“I’m not comfortable enough to drink tea. Thanks to Your Majesty.”

Contrary to Rabienne’s soft tone, thorns were deeply embedded in the words.

“What a shame. This tea has a calming effect.”

“The scent is nice.”

Rabienne, who had only lightly touched the teacup with her lips before removing it, stared at the emperor. Her smile had disappeared.

A cool air flowed between the two. The emperor put down the teacup, directly meeting that gaze.

“I would like to hear the reason why the temples were closed without consultation. If there is any misunderstanding, I want to resolve it.”

“It’s a pity, but it’s not a mistake or a misunderstanding. I just sorted it out because I thought there were too many of them.”

“We cannot accept it. We ask for the return of the closed temples.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

Seeing the emperor sternly refusing, Rabienne’s hands tightened.

“Are you serious? It sounds like you’re going to completely turn your back on the temple.”

“How could that be? Don’t you know that the imperial family always wants to be the closest helper to the temple?”

The emperor who did not offer a solution or compromise but only beat around the bush made Rabienne more and more upset.

“If you keep avoiding us, we will not cooperate with the imperial family from now on.”

She went on a little harder.

“All celebrations and events in July will be held by the temple alone. I don’t know why I should pray for the well-being of the royal family to the goddess.”

“That would be a really big deal.”

Despite saying so, the emperor’s tone was very light. Wanting to stop it, Rabienne brought up the topic of the plague.

“Do you know? An epidemic is spreading around the border area right now.”

The emperor already knew, but he put on a serious and stunned expression as if he had heard it for the first time.

“An epidemic?”

“Looks like you didn’t know yet. It happened because His Majesty destroyed the temples. If this continues, the epidemic will spread further. How will you solve it?”

“Did it really happen because of the temples’ closure?”

“Yes. So please return the temples now. It’s not too late. We will stop it.”

Then the emperor touched his chin and smiled with only one corner of his mouth raised.

“It’s my fault. Then I’ll try to figure it out on my own.”

“What?”

Not expecting such an answer, Rabienne involuntarily bit her lip in agitation.

Ame: the nerve of Rabienne!!!!!!!! and it seems there’s a reason why Esther is on her 15th life? I apologise, author, for thinking that you threw in the number 15 just for shock value >_