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I told the prince that I had a moderate encounter with him.

“Anyway, that’s how it happened with the crown prince. Suddenly, a magic circle like a magic array activated and started chasing me. It was scary, but John saved me, so I survived.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m not sure if I explained it well.”

John looked dissatisfied even after hearing my story. However, he nodded gracefully.

“I understand everything. So, that prince is the problem.”

…It seems some part was omitted.

‘But well, it’s true that the prince is the main issue.’

“Exactly. That’s right, John, you understand correctly.”

“We can’t leave that bastard alone.”

John spoke with an excessively disrespectful attitude toward the imperial crown prince.

“…I thought imprisoning him in the palace as a precaution would make him straighten out.”

Did he really do something like that?

‘As expected, the dark scheme is different. The crown prince is a lost cause.’

Even though the crown prince is surrounded by many privileges as the sole heir, he still caused trouble. It looks like John will handle the prince’s issues well from now on.

“John, do you understand how this happened?”

“I have some rough guesses.”

‘I thought I moved because I was a fairy.’

It seemed John was also speculating in his own way.

‘Impressive.’

I looked up at John with sparkling eyes.

“Really? What is it?”

“That’s a secret.”

John chuckled playfully.

“It’s no fun if I tell you everything now.”

“I never said that. And I find it more fun if I tell you everything from the beginning.”

I pulled John’s arm and kept asking persistently. John shrugged his shoulders and started walking in another direction.

‘So he’s going to pretend not to know?’

But this is a matter directly related to my survival.

‘I’ll show him how persistent I am.’

John had already distanced himself quite far with his long legs. It really made me notice how big John was.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

I ran quickly behind him, asking non-stop.

“I told you everything about the crown prince, and this is how you respond?”

“…”

“Why don’t you want to tell me? That only makes me more curious.”

Normally, if I pressed like this, he would tell me everything.

John was pretending not to notice me and was walking ahead, looking straight ahead. Still, he was walking in sync with my pace, which was strange.

‘Does he have something he can’t tell me?’

Normally, John would tell me within a couple of tries, so I was more suspicious.

‘Or is he just teasing me?’

Sometimes, he would say ridiculous things just to tease me, so I couldn’t quite figure out his true intentions.

“Just tell me what you’re guessing, even if it’s not exact. What is so important that it’s making you act like this…?”

John suddenly stopped walking.

I nearly tripped on the uneven stones of the cave. At that moment, John reached out immediately and grabbed my body.

My gaze naturally fixed on John’s face. John smiled with a half-moon-shaped eye and chuckled.

“Be careful.”

Feeling a sudden flush on my face, I pouted and turned my head away. At that moment, I realized where John had arrived.

“Is this the place where I first fell?”

“Looks like it was here after all.”

John sighed softly and replied.

“I didn’t want to think of it so badly.”

His serious reaction made me swallow nervously.

“Why, is there some big problem?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of problem…?”

The light of the magic circle, which had previously glowed ominously as if about to devour me, had quieted down.

John looked at the magic circle and spoke slowly.

“Because the sacrificial magic circle isn’t completed.”

“Is it such a big problem if it’s not completed?”

“When the magic circle isn’t complete, it means more sacrifices are needed. And in the case of that kind of magic—”

John raised one eyebrow as he was about to explain. I, who had been gazing intently at the magic circle and tilting my head, asked John.

“Does it have to be a sacrifice for it to be completed?”

“Why?”

“No, I was just thinking that maybe it’s because the arrangement of the runes on the magic circle is a bit off. If I could just fix that, maybe it wouldn’t be incomplete?”

John looked at me with a sharp, distorted expression. After glancing back and forth between the magic circle and me, John asked.

“…Empty space? Do you see the writing on that magic circle?”

The question surprised me even more.

‘Was it originally supposed to be unreadable?’

But despite that, the writings inscribed in every corner of the magic circle were very clear and without broken parts. I tilted my head and asked John.

“John, you can read ancient languages too, right?”

“Yeah, I can read them.”

“Then it shouldn’t be that difficult.”

I learned ancient languages at the Duke of Libertan’s estate. If they could summon a teacher for me there, John should be able to do it too.

‘If the dark scheme can’t do something, then it shouldn’t be happening.’

“Ah, does John not see them? Or are there some parts that look a bit blurry?”

The ancient language inscriptions on the magic circle consisted of several sentences.

‘No wonder the magic circle looked familiar. It’s from the Bible I studied during my hardships in Libertan.’

[O human, prove your desire.]

[Realize how insignificant your sacrifice is before the divine.]

[The divine has descended with angels to protect humanity from evil—how glorious and blessed is this.]

Those are verses from the Bible.

‘Now that I think about it, it’s pretty interesting that the runes in the magic circle are written in biblical sentences.’

Rather than explaining, it might be faster to show through actions.

The part of the magic circle engraved with sentences was designed to resemble a stone tablet. I picked up one of the stone tablets.

‘It’s pretty light.’

-“The very top inscription is the last verse of the scripture, so it seems right to put it at the end. Like this.”

I placed the stone tablet in the last slot.

‘It seems to match the scripture’s verses if I do this.’

As if the stone tablet found its place, the magic circle started glowing again.

“John, I think I did something, but it’s not serious—”

Just as I turned my head to look at John.

In that moment, an unusual light shone from the magic circle around me, and the surroundings suddenly changed drastically.

~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~

It was a distant place, like a dream.

I was lying in a strange underground room. Although my limbs weren’t tied, I felt exhausted, unable to even move a finger.

“Darling, so what should I do now?”

“Don’t ask me one by one, just do what you usually do. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

Before me stood the Duke and Duchess of Libertan.

They looked at my lying figure with serious expressions and muttered quietly. The Duchess of Libertan frowned and slammed the whip she held onto the floor.

“Then, do I just beat them like I do with other slaves?”

Crack—

Just the sound of the whip hitting the floor sent a chilling echo into the air.

‘Have I ever experienced something like this before?’

But it was absurd to be dragged into such a place and forget about it.

‘The Duke and Duchess of Libertan rarely hit me openly…’

Duke Damian of Libertan furrowed his brow deeply.

“That’s definitely a problem. If they’re too obvious about it, it might lead to false hopes and go wrong…”

“That’s what I’m saying. If they die like other unruly ones, what do we do? I already have a weak body, so it might cause trouble.”

“Then maybe we should leave them alone until they get stronger? There’s not much time anyway.”

Damian’s words made Rosaria purse her lips tightly.

“Would that be okay? She just caught a cold recently, so it’s better to recover fully first.”

Damian was about to hold me, stiff as I was.

“…Father?”

Suddenly, the light illuminating the basement flickered.

“Why are you holding that fake?”

I couldn’t see clearly from afar, but I recognized the sobbing voice.

“Did you really think of that fake as your daughter instead of me?”

Rosaria threw away the whip she was holding and immediately ran to the girl. My head turned white as if I were going to faint, and I felt suffocated.

“There’s no way. How could that girl ever replace you? Why do you say such upsetting things, Mom?”

“But at least for a moment, that fake is occupying my place. I saw her bothering the fake just now too.”

Finally, the girl burst into tears.

“Now, am I just a daughter who’s dead and thrown away by Mom and Dad?”

That’s when I finally realized who the girl was.

‘Yestella.’

Yestella is alive, but the Duke and Duchess of Libertan genuinely mourn her death. They’re not good at acting to fool me.

‘Then what am I seeing now? Am I having another strange dream?’

At that moment, Duke Damian threw me onto the floor. I screamed as I hit the ground.

“Oh. Didn’t I tell you we’d do anything to save you?”

“But…”

“After all, that fake exists only for you.”

Damian picked up the whip Rosaria threw onto the floor with a calm face.

“Her recent actions were meant to cause her the most pain—”

Just as the whip was about to strike me.

I broke out in a cold sweat and opened my eyes wide.

“…Erich?”

In front of me appeared Erich and the priests. The priests who saw me cheered loudly.

“Madam, you’re awake. Are you alright?”

~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~

Inside the imperial prison.

Duke Libertan clutched his pounding head and stood up. The battered Duchess of Libertan asked him.

“…Darling, what’s going to happen to us now?”

“What’s going to happen? We only have Estelle. She’s the only one. Surely, the fact that she’s alive now is because she couldn’t let us die—”

At that moment, Duke Damian groaned and hit his head against the wall. Rosaria, surprised, called out to him.

“Are you okay, dear?”

“No, something strange just came to mind.”

Duke Libertan’s stomach churned, feeling nauseous.

“Why do I keep remembering our dead Stella…?”

“Stella?”

Rosaria looked puzzled.

“Why are you bringing up the story of the sadly deceased girl, like Duke Libertan? That girl…”

At that moment, Rosaria also fell silent, as if something had just occurred to her.

~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~

I don’t know what I just went through.

‘Is it similar to that strange dream I had last time?’

I probably need to talk to the trees more.

‘Anyway, that’s that.’

Seeing the priests flustered and Erich annoyed, I roughly guessed what had happened after I collapsed.

‘As expected, our family is a pain.’

When I was on their side, they were so reliable. Cardinal Simon carefully asked as I drank warm water.

“Is there something that happened with Saintess?”

“Saintess?”

“Yes. Lady was walking alone with the saintess and suddenly collapsed. We were so shocked.”

Erich’s calm words conveyed how serious the situation was.

“If the lady doesn’t wake up, we plan to declare war on the Holy Kingdom officially.”

“What?”

“We invited the Duchess of Blanchet’s lady openly, and she met her unfortunate fate. Naturally, there must be a price to pay.”

The letter that invited me was stamped with the seal of the Holy City. And the Holy City itself is a powerful entity, almost like the governing authority.

‘Given that, there’s responsibility…’

But still, declaring war! Seeing the priests looking so exhausted made more sense now.

‘How much did Erich torment her…’

The saintess said she had come and checked on me several times in the meantime.

“Fortunately, she woke up this time as you said, Saintess. Do you feel any pain anywhere?”

“Yes. I don’t feel any pain now.”

Despite suddenly vomiting blood and collapsing, my condition was surprisingly fine.

‘Maybe the saintess healed me with her divine power?’

It might be connected to my secret as a fairy.

“Did something happen with the saintess? Is that why you acted like that?”

Cardinal Simon asked with a very earnest voice.

“The saintess said that Lady suddenly felt unwell, pushed her aside, and vomited blood.”

So that’s how she explained it, huh?

‘She said I pushed her.’

Suddenly, I understood all the artificial things that had happened just then. Like being pushed down by someone, as if I had tripped over a stone, or the people rushing in as if they had been waiting.

‘The saintess probably planned to frame me.’

She might have prepared other things, but she must have been flustered when I collapsed.

‘Still, if she lies so blatantly, it will cause problems.’

It seems the saintess doesn’t really know what kind of trouble she’s stirring up.

“Did the saintess say that herself?”

I lowered my long eyelashes as if sad. Cardinal Simon glanced at my eyes and asked in a low, cautious voice.

“Is there anything different from what the saintess said?”

“Honestly, I’m very sorry, but I was so in pain at the time that I don’t really remember what happened.”

Erich immediately took my side.

“Isn’t that natural? Lady vomited blood! And yet, you’re just spreading the story that you fell on the floor… How could you do that?”

“Baron Blenou.”

“Why do you call me? Did I say something wrong?”

Erich’s sharp response made Cardinal Simon flinch.

‘It’s so comforting to have someone on my side.’

I rubbed my head as if dizzy, just like the saintess often did. Seeing that, all the priests looked shocked and examined my condition.

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“Archbishop, about the Holy Power of Duchess Blanchet…”

“I’m fine.”

I nodded and forced a weak smile.

“Thinking about what happened with the saintess just now, I suddenly felt dizzy.”

Cardinal Simon widened his eyes.

“W-what happened…?”

It seemed obvious he was worried because he hadn’t heard the full story from the saintess. I opened my mouth with a sad voice, leaning on the bed.

“The saintess suddenly called my husband’s name and…”

At that moment, Erich suddenly stood up and shouted.

“Did that saintess do something strange again, mentioning the master’s name? Like she did at the Duke of Blanchet’s place? What does she think of married men?”

The expressions of the priests turned ashen. I pretended to be surprised and denied the situation kindly.

“Oh no, Erich. I can endure it. The saintess is innocent and just doesn’t know about the outside world…”

“If she has no ill intentions, can she do such things?”

Leading the priests, Cardinal Simon and the others fell silent and looked at each other. Even I, who knew nothing, could tell what those expressions meant.

‘Ah, the saintess caused another trouble.’

Of course, that’s what he wanted me to think.

~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~

Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉

Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

~~~Next Chapter~~~

Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.

See you then!!