TVIOWHFW 107

To protest the disturbance that occurred at the Imperial Palace, I returned to Duke Blanchet’s residence. I haven’t stayed long at the palace, but I feel as if I’ve returned to my hometown.

As soon as I entered, I tended to the blooming rose garden.

“Being with Eden Rose makes me feel better.”

And indeed, the trees also said that it’s better for Eden Rose to bloom with my power, as it’s a flower that sprouted thanks to me.

While I was admiring Eden Rose, Betty ran over eagerly, carrying news from the palace.

“They say the Saintess is still lying down, claiming to be ill.”

It seems the situation hasn’t changed since I heard about it yesterday.

“Where exactly does the Saintess say she’s hurting?”

“Well, the exact diagnosis hasn’t been given, but they say she’s too weak to attend the Imperial Court trial. Apparently, she’s also unsure how to perform the purification ritual.”

Of course, the Imperial side didn’t explicitly say this. That would be openly challenging the emperor.

Initially, they asked for the trial to be postponed until the Saintess recovers, but later, it’s said she even wrote a letter to the emperor, claiming to be ill because of the “Imperial Court trial.”

The weather had been hot recently, but now it was comfortably cool.

While enjoying the breeze, I asked Betty.

“Betty, do you really think the Saintess is genuinely ill?”

“Oh, of course not! That’s obviously a lie! The emperor offered to assign palace attendants, but she refused. If she were truly sick, there would be no reason to refuse palace attendants. Many others think so too. People aren’t fools.”

“Aren’t there many fools who think that way?”

“…Sometimes I can’t believe I live in a kingdom full of fools. Are we some kind of new species without brains?”

I thought he was joking lightly and chuckled, but Betty’s face remained serious. I rolled my eyes and spoke to her.

“Maybe her faith runs too deep?”

“If you go by that logic, then religion should have disappeared entirely from the world, right?”

Betty spoke earnestly.

“Seeing the Saintess these days makes me rethink the very meaning of the Kingdom of Saints.”

“Is that so?”

“Not all of the priests of the Kingdom feel that way, but I feel the same about women sent as Saintesses by the gods, or priests who blindly serve them.”

The Athea faith is very strong in our empire.

Even people who are not believers tend to believe subconsciously. Come to think of it, I heard Betty once believed in the Athea gods too.

‘If that’s the case, the Saintess should be more cautious from now on.’

Of course, my current concern was about a different matter.

‘How did Yestella become Saintella?’

I asked the trees or Isidor, but I never received an answer regarding Saintella herself. After all, a person who was supposed to have died coming back to life is impossible to explain.

‘Could I have seen it wrong?’

I felt a familiar self-denial, but I steeled my heart as I reflected on what the trees told me.

-Your eyes are the eyes of truth, no one else’s.

-No matter how unbelievable it is, what you see is real. You have to believe that.

At the time, I thought it was an out-of-nowhere remark.

But now that I think about it, it was exactly what I needed to hear.

‘If I live like that, will I gain some divine power?’

I casually touched Eden Rose and spoke to Betty.

“Please continue to investigate how the Saintess moves, what she says, who she associates with, and what she does.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

“Shall we go inside soon?”

Betty and I entered the mansion together. As soon as we stepped inside, she said with an excited expression.

Lady, you’re going to see the little prince now, right?”

“Yeah. It’s about time he wakes up.”

Though he looked similar to a human baby on the outside, the spirit child definitely had many differences from humans.

Spirit children are only awake about an hour a day and sleep most of the time.

-When they sleep, just watching over them is enough. Who could harm a spirit?

Sometimes, when they’re feeling well, they stay awake for a few more hours. But then, they look tired, so I put them back to sleep.

Lately, perhaps because I see the maids so often, the spirit child no longer fears strangers.

‘If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be able to leave him.’

As soon as we entered the room, I tried to see the child, but there was a guest.

It was John.

Sitting by the head of the bed, John was gazing at the spirit child dressed in a sleek suit. The cold, handsome appearance suited him perfectly, and he looked quite impressive with the child.

John had a gentle smile on his face as he looked at the sleeping baby with affectionate eyes.

You could tell just by that.

‘John will be a good father.’

Perhaps this current scene was his true self, hidden behind the cold mask of a villain. The 모습 he would have had if the Blanchet family hadn’t fallen.

John slightly raised his hand to greet me as he sat on the bed.

“Estelle, you look quite surprised.”

“That’s because I didn’t expect John to be here now. When did you arrive?”

“Just now.”

John slowly unfastened his tie with his long, elegant index finger. The loosened collar revealed a handsome throat.

“I came because I thought it was about time our baby woke up. I suppose you’re here around now too.”

“Aren’t you overwhelmed with the Saintess right now?”

Honestly, the purification ritual isn’t an urgent problem for the empire. The Peskallos Forest is more about reputation and prestige.

But once issues related to reputation reach a certain level, they become very serious.

The emperor has already announced that he will hold purification rites throughout the entire empire. And not just any time—during the most popular summer festival.

‘Now, the purification ritual has become a matter of the emperor’s dignity.’

John nodded with a meaningful smile.

“It’s quite a problem.”

His long, slender finger poked the chubby cheek of the sleeping baby.

“The demands from the Saintess side are quite eccentric.”

“Why, what are they?”

“They want to change the royal court trial, which was publicly held among the nobles, to a closed session. They say the exposure to the public is making the Saintess uncomfortable.”

Wow, his tactics are so obvious it’s hard to believe there’s any ulterior motive.

‘So the trial is becoming more disadvantageous now.’

I sat beside John and asked.

“Is there anything else?”

“Not much for now. But who knows? If she’s not satisfied, she might collapse again claiming to be sick.”

John shrugged sarcastically.

“Thanks to that, the situation is getting quite interesting. It looks like the emperor will soon take up arms against the Kingdom of Saints.”

“The Kingdom of Saints? Is that okay?”

“No matter how blessed the Kingdom is by the gods, it’s still a place where humans live. Nothing is impossible, right?”

John carefully stroked the soft black hair of the baby. Though peaceful and tender, somehow it felt chilling.

‘If nothing happens, it seems like he’s planning to do it himself.’

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing for me. I nodded in agreement with John’s words, then subtly brought up the Saintess again.

“By the way, John, have you done any investigation on the Saintess Stella?”

“No.”

His red eyes suddenly shone.

“Why? Is there something bothering you?”

“It’s not something I need to worry about.”

After learning that the Saintess was Yestella, I had tried to investigate her identity on my own. But with my abilities, I couldn’t find out much.

‘But John must know more.’

Of course, I must not let John find out that I already know her true identity. Since I can’t reveal my abilities, I can’t explain how I know.

“I saw that the Saintess left some cryptic words last time.”

“Saintess?”

John asked in a lofty tone.

“What did she say that made you concerned?”

His voice was flat, without much emotion, but I was sure he was paying close attention to what I said.

“I feel like there’s some past connection between you and her. Of course, she seems to know about me too. But I’m not entirely sure because she didn’t explicitly say so…”

As I stroked the baby, John’s hand paused.

“Keep talking.”

“I somehow feel like her words are true. So I asked if John knew her, but John said he’s never seen her before, right?”

Honestly, I was curious about that myself.

‘Why does Yestella keep approaching John?’

From his attitude, there’s some secret involved, but I couldn’t quite grasp what it was, which frustrated me.

‘What can I do about it?’

If I can’t do it myself, I might have to borrow the clever darkness’s hand to find out.

“I do know that it’s usually not allowed to reveal the Saintess’s origins.”

Until now, her background had remained hidden.

The reason was simple: the Kingdom of Saints believed that she was reborn as a Saintess, having awakened anew. Therefore, her past before becoming a Saintess wasn’t the same person.

“But strangely, I keep feeling uneasy about it. So, could you look into it? There’s no need to push yourself.”

“Of course, if it’s bothering you, I’ll check.”

Suddenly, John’s red eyes gleamed with a chilling light—like a predator discovering prey.

“It’s a bit interesting for me too.”

He smiled faintly.

“Displeasing, though.”

It seemed John was also annoyed by the fact that he was unaware of some secret.

“Who would have thought that some woman I don’t even know keeps hanging around? And now she’s even spreading nonsense to my wife.”

…That wasn’t the part I was concerned about.

“This is my mistake. I don’t know how I should take responsibility.”

“Oh, there’s no need to call it responsibility.”

John’s voice was so serious I couldn’t help but smile softly. But John didn’t seem to agree with me.

“Why isn’t it my problem?”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve been a fool for not handling my issues, and I caused trouble for you.”

Just then, the spirit baby woke up, staring at us with bright, curious eyes.

“Eh?”

The spirit child flailed its tiny arms and eagerly reached out to both of us. Seeing that, my heavy worries suddenly felt lighter.

By the way, John, what should we name the spirit baby?”

No matter how important a name is for a spirit, I was a bit troubled about not giving one yet. John lightly said a word.

“Run.”

“…Run? That’s the name you’ve been thinking of?”

“Quite a long time ago.”

John spoke with a nostalgic tone.

“When I have a son, I’d like to name him that.”

Somehow, my heart ached strangely.

‘When?’

But I kept my expression neutral and asked the spirit baby.

“How about the name Run? Do you like it?”

The spirit child nodded and smiled happily.

“Kyaa!”

“You like it?”

“Yaa!”

John gently picked up the spirit child in both arms. Now called Run, the spirit baby smiled brightly at John.

-What! You just decided on that name?

The trees roared loudly.

-We’ve been holding a contest to come up with a suitable name for the spirit baby for days! And now? All that effort was pointless?

-Does the word ‘Run’ have some special meaning? Is it an ancient language? Or just the common tongue of the empire?

-I don’t remember. It’s not a bad name, though…

-Hey! It’s not like it’s the best name either! Honestly, I’ve disliked that kid from the start!

It looks like the trees and John will never get along.

~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~

Saint Stella slowly approached the emperor.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“There’s no need to thank me. I’m just grateful that you’re fulfilling your duty first. Hopefully, there will be no further delays in the purification ritual?”

Saint Stella smiled gracefully.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will purify the Peskallos Forest immediately.”

After speaking elegantly to the emperor, she left the audience chamber. As soon as she exited, Stella clenched her jaw and bit her lip, her expression tight.

‘Not enough yet.’

Prince Carlos, who seemed to be of help, ultimately did nothing.

At that moment, I saw Chancellor Ortega approaching from afar. Stella gave a gentle smile.

“Oh my, Chancellor Ortega.”

A better aide was needed.

“I, um, wanted to help, so I decided to proceed with the purification ritual first.”

“Weren’t you feeling unwell?”

“I’m fine.”

Stella lowered her long lashes and smiled.

“I want to show a better side of myself.”

“A better side?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to say that out loud…”

The Chancellor Ortega smiled kindly at the Saint.

“Is there something on your mind?”

“If Chancellor Ortega keeps his promise, I will tell only you. Can you keep this secret?”

“Of course, I am your guardian after all. Secrets are to be kept.”

“Actually…”

Stella blushed as if embarrassed.

“I have fallen in love with Duke Blanchet.”

~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~

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!!