Chapter 50
After that, the two began to move secretly for several days.
During the day, Elise went back and forth between the Imperial Palace and the temple, passing the time with a calm expression as if nothing was wrong. At night, Damien would appear, take her with him, and disappear.
They searched everywhere they could find records about the temple and the Saintess.
However, almost all the records about the Saintess were similar. The descriptions were the same as well. The chosen one. The blessing of God. The light that protects the continent. Such flowery expressions filled the pages.
“Haa……”
The same days repeated themselves for several days.
Elise pressed her tired eyes firmly.
The place Damien had brought her to today was one of the temples that had been closed down long ago.
It was a place Esit had hidden extremely well, so there was a chance something might be hidden here.
“Are you all right?”
Damien, who was sitting beside her and examining an old book, snapped his index finger and thumb.
At once, a steaming cup of warm coffee appeared in front of them.
“Here.”
“Oh, thank you.”
She closed and opened her eyes widely, then smiled softly.
When she wrapped both hands around the warm cup, the heat spread throughout her body. Her fatigue seemed to fade a little as well.
Elise happily took a sip of the moderately sweet coffee.
Having a magician by her side was really useful.
Especially when that magician was the greatest in the world.
“How are you even good at making coffee?”
“There’s nothing I can’t do.”
“You found this place for me too, Damien.”
She chuckled and took a few more sips of coffee.
If it weren’t for Damien, she would never have found this abandoned temple.
No matter how much of a Saintess she was, there was very little she could actually do inside the Imperial Palace.
Feeling helpless, Elise pressed her lips together.
Since she was receiving Damien’s help, she desperately wanted to find at least the clues herself.
To concentrate again, she lightly slapped her cheeks twice.
I need to focus. I have to find a clue somehow. Before the execution by burning.
Elise pulled herself together and began going through the old documents about the Saintess one by one.
At that moment, the white fingers that had been flipping through the pages for quite some time suddenly stopped.
“Hmm?”
Damien noticed the change in her movements and turned his gaze toward Elise.
She quickly scanned the document.
The old manuscript, whose cover had almost completely worn away, contained traces of something that had been deliberately erased.
“This was definitely erased recently.”
“You’re right. There are traces of erasure.”
“Hmm……”
Elise narrowed her eyes slightly.
She began examining the context before and after the erased section, following the traces.
Eventually, the hand that had been hurriedly turning the pages stopped again at one particular passage.
‘A secret doctrine concerning the Vessel of God…?’
Elise’s eyes turned toward Damien.
Reading her thoughts, he quickly recited a spell.
Immediately, every old document, manuscript, and book containing the words Vessel of God, Vessel of the Saintess, and secret doctrine flew toward them and settled in front of the two.
“They couldn’t have erased every single one of these books without missing anything. Ian is……”
Thinking of the Archmage of the Ariaton Empire, who was always busy admiring and maintaining his own beauty in front of a mirror, Elise let out a mocking laugh.
“He isn’t that meticulous.”
“Let’s look. I’ll help too.”
The two simultaneously reached toward the books.
Then they quickly began searching through their contents.
One. I only need to find one single clue.
Her violet eyes moved rapidly.
Then—
“Huh?”
Elise tilted her head to the side for a moment.
“This is……”
She examined a book written in an unfamiliar language.
It was definitely an ancient language.
“It’s an ancient language.”
“An ancient language?”
“Yes. I don’t know it very well, but……”
Back when she had been with Johnny Walker, she had briefly learned it for a mission.
“A woman who knows an ancient language.”
Damien’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“It’s nothing special. I don’t know it very well. I can only interpret bits and pieces.”
Elise, realizing that he was staring intently at her, blinked rapidly in embarrassment.
“There’s barely any material left about it anyway. Even I can only barely read individual words.”
“Ahem……”
Elise did not particularly want to bring up her time with Johnny Walker to Damien.
She cleared her throat for no reason and changed the subject.
“Anyway, there might be a clue, so I’ll read it. Of course, neither Esit nor Ian…… probably knew even a bit of ancient language.”
Elise narrowed her eyes and began reading the book.
“The Vessel of the Saintess…… is determined according to the will of God.”
Her eyes gradually narrowed as she painstakingly read the letters.
“The power contained within it…… is sealed by purity.”
“Purity?”
Damien unconsciously repeated the word.
“I’ll read a little further.”
With a much more serious expression than before, Elise let out a deep sigh. Then she began reading again.
“The Saintess belongs to the temple, and at the same time…… she must not become anyone’s wife.”
She must not become anyone’s wife?
Elise tilted her head to the side.
Purity, and the statement that she must not become anyone’s wife meant……
For a brief moment, silence fell between the two.
As if she had forgotten even how to breathe, Elise stared blankly at the book.
Damien also realized the meaning and muttered a low curse.
“Crazy.”
Elise slowly closed the book.
Now everything made sense.
Why they had tried so hard to control her.
Why Leonhardt, who clearly loved her, had never touched her even once.
He had known.
He knew that if the Saintess lost her purity, she would lose her divine power.
Therefore, Leonhardt naturally could not touch her.
The moment he lost his self-control, the chance to save the Ariaton Empire would disappear as well.
If I lose my purity, my power will…… disappear.
Wasn’t that exactly what it meant to be a Saintess?
Elise slowly raised the corners of her lips.
Damien stared at her.
“Did you come up with a good idea?”
With her fingertips resting on the book, Elise quietly smiled.
“Yes, of course.”
A cold light appeared in her violet eyes.
“A truly despicable and perfect idea.”
Hearing that, he also pulled up the corners of his lips as if he were pleased.
“Tell me. What other despicable idea did you come up with?”
She smiled playfully and slowly shook her head.
“I won’t tell you yet.”
“Not even me?”
“Of course not. It’ll be more fun that way.”
Damien clicked his tongue softly, but soon pulled Elise by the waist and drew her into his arms.
“Now that I think about it…… aren’t you a villainess rather than a Saintess?”
“You only realized that now?”
“That makes me like you even more.”
As he said that, he lightly pressed his lips against her forehead before pulling away.
Elise slowly closed her eyes as she nestled comfortably in Damien’s large embrace.
A single picture was becoming clear in her mind.
Three men who wanted to use her divine power and the strength it contained.
The chaos that would occur the moment she lost that power was obvious.
And that power……
She slowly clenched her fist.
Is in the palm of my hand.
When she opened her eyes again, a sharp light sparkled within them.
