Chapter 4

“Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”

The furrow between Theophista’s brows deepened.

“Duke Reinach brought in the next Saintess, you say…”

“Isn’t he someone who would be unlikely to resort to such a scheme?”

Cullen asked. Theophista did not answer. Instead, he flicked the reins again, and the clopping of the horse’s hooves resumed.

Theophista, who was riding ahead of Cullen, muttered under his breath.

“He isn’t the sort to do something like that.”

“Indeed, he isn’t. I’ll have to find out for myself what on earth has gotten into him.”

While the Crown Prince and his entourage were drawing closer to the Imperial Palace with every passing moment…

“Saintess, please raise your arm just a little higher. If I don’t fasten the harness chain properly, His Majesty the Emperor will be furious.”

“How am I supposed to raise it any higher…?”

“Just a little more. Yes, that’s perfect.”

Good grief, how can putting on a single outfit be this complicated?!

Thin chains that sparkled brilliantly wherever the light touched them hung from Carnike’s shoulders all the way down to her ankles.

After having several—no, several dozen—fine gold chains draped over her entire body, she began to wonder whether she would even be able to walk properly.

“I have something I want to ask.”

“Yes, Saintess. Please ask.”

“I’ve never worn clothes like this before. Why do I have to wear something like this today?”

Even Carnike thought it was a rather foolish question, but Lia, the maid who was always at her side, answered in an extremely polite and obedient manner.

“When the Saintess enters Chellis to receive an oracle, she must present herself before the God Elkiel in a modest and pure appearance. That is why these ornaments are not used.”

“Then does that mean I’m not going into Chellis today?”

“That’s right, Saintess. Today, you only need to deliver words of blessing to His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince and his entourage, who have returned from their tour.”

Lia, the maid whom Duke Reinach had specially assigned to Carnike, was quick-witted and eloquent.

Having been informed of Carnike’s circumstances by the Duke, she knew what Carnike was dealing with, and because of that, she usually made sure not to attract attention.

Even when she happened to encounter other maids, she never joined in their chatter. She simply kept her head quietly bowed as she went about her duties.

Yet whenever Carnike needed her, Lia would appear from somewhere as if by magic and smooth over whatever situation had arisen.

If it hadn’t been for Lia, Carnike would have made a hundred mistakes by now whenever she met priests, other people, or even the palace servants.

“Words of blessing…”

When Carnike trailed off, Lia comforted her as though telling her not to worry.

“The journey through the northern territories is long and arduous. Even so, His Imperial Highness has returned safely. What else could it be but the protection of the God Elkiel?”

“I see.”

Carnike quietly nodded.

In other words, she did not need to fabricate a lie today as she normally did.

All she had to do was congratulate the heir to the Imperial throne for returning safely under the protection of the divine.

“Saintess, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince has arrived in front of the main palace.”

“Understood, Priest Fellis.”

With Lia’s assistance, Carnike carefully began walking, making sure not to tangle the long, dangling chains.

To get from the temple within the Imperial Palace to the main palace, they had to pass through a long corridor.

As Carnike walked alongside Lia and Priest Fellis, her face concealed behind the lace of her white robe, she heard several nobles snickering.

They were not exactly pleasant things to hear.

“That woman is the Saintess? Just look at that vulgar hair color.”

“And what about her eyes? I hear they’re a disgusting shade of purple, like poison.”

“All those descendants of the Zervizan bloodline look like that. Just looking at them makes me uncomfortable. His Majesty the Emperor certainly is generous.”

“No kidding!”

The loud, boisterous laughter continued.

Just as Carnike was about to turn her head and glare at them, Priest Fellis whispered from behind her.

“Saintess, they are not worth your attention. Please keep walking.”

“…Hearing people say things like that makes my blood boil.”

“I’ve memorized their faces. I will give them a proper reprimand later.”

Fellis said it like that, but Priest Fellis was a gentle man.

Ever since Carnike had gotten to know him, she had never once seen him say anything unpleasant to anyone in public.

Carnike did not expect Priest Fellis to exact some satisfying revenge on her behalf, so she merely let out an irritated sigh and continued toward the main palace.

Good heavens, what is going on with all these people?

The Emperor’s throne room itself was no different from usual, but the circumstances surrounding it certainly were.

With her head lowered, Carnike furtively glanced around and swallowed nervously.

Until now, whenever she delivered an oracle, the only people in the throne room had been the Emperor and around twenty bureaucratic nobles.

There were sometimes a few more or a few fewer people, but this was the first time she had ever seen the area packed with people all the way outside the throne room.

“Saintess, you must walk carefully. It would be disastrous if one of the chains broke.”

Lia straightened Carnike’s clothing one more time, whispered quickly, and stepped back.

At the same time, the Emperor’s attendant called out from inside the throne room.

“The Saintess shall come forward before His Majesty the Emperor and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince!”

The chains kept catching on the tips of Carnike’s feet, but fortunately she managed to enter the throne room without stepping on one and breaking it.

Through the veil, Carnike quickly examined the Emperor and the unfamiliar young man standing beside him.

He was a striking man with hair as black as polished ebony, a sturdy build, and an impeccably straight posture.

There was no doubt about it.

He was the Crown Prince.

For some reason, I feel like he’s glaring at me…

She was certain of it.

She could not see his face clearly, but she could feel his piercing gaze.

He was staring at her so intensely that her shoulders prickled as though she were being stung by bees.

Ironically, the person who rescued Carnike from this uncomfortable situation was the Emperor.

“My son has returned from his arduous tour of the northern territories. This is surely proof of the God Elkiel’s protection.”

“Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince!”

The bureaucratic nobles and knights shouted in unison.

Carnike flinched at the sudden, thunderous noise, and the Emperor spoke again.

“Give the Crown Prince a blessing for his safe return to the Imperial Palace.”

At that moment, Duke Reinach gave a small cough.

Carnike immediately understood what he meant, quickly bent her knees, and bowed.

Then she turned toward the Crown Prince and spoke politely.

“Long live His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, who shall become the foundation and light of the Empire. His Imperial Highness has personally traveled to the northern lands and returned after tending to their soil without regard for the hardships of the journey. This is the joy of the God Elkiel and likewise the joy of His Majesty’s subjects.”

Carnike had memorized the blessing word for word the previous day with Priest Fellis’s help, and she had not made a single mistake.

She felt secretly proud of herself as she delivered the final words.

“May the great and benevolent hand of the God Elkiel caress the wings of His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Long live His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince! Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”

The moment she finished speaking, a knight standing close to the Crown Prince led the chant.

Only after everyone else followed him in shouting “Long live!” several times did the commotion finally die down.

The Emperor, wearing a broad smile, gestured for Carnike to leave.

The day after Carnike had delivered the oracle about the color of his tack, the Emperor had brought down a huge sable with a single arrow.

That evening, the Emperor had bestowed countless precious ornaments upon Carnike as gifts.

Furthermore, simply because he was in a good mood, he had held banquets for two full days, eating and drinking until the Crown Prince arrived today.

His son looks exhausted from his tour, while His Majesty has enough grease shining on his face to light a lamp… Well, what does that have to do with me?

Carnike obediently bowed at the waist and carefully backed out of the throne room.

After escaping both the eyes of all the people watching her and the Crown Prince’s razor-sharp gaze, even the countless thin chains wrapped around her body no longer felt bothersome.

The Crown Prince never took his eyes off Carnike as she walked away.

Only after she had completely disappeared from sight did he turn toward Duke Reinach and speak.

“I heard that the person who recommended the new Saintess this time was Duke Reinach.”

The Duke lowered his head with an inscrutable smile.

“Recommended her, Your Highness? That is far too generous a description. The Saintess is chosen by the God Elkiel. How could a mere human possibly decide whether someone is worthy of such a position?”

At first glance, it sounded like an ordinary conversation, but anyone perceptive enough could sense the strange, tense atmosphere between the two men.

Theophista and Duke Reinach continued staring at each other in silence, as though probing one another, when—

“Duke Reinach is correct. Why does the Crown Prince dare to invoke the name of God in vain?”

“Imperial Father.”

“The God Elkiel shows Haven only the right path. The Saintess listens to the voice of God and guides the Empire correctly, so what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

The corner of Theophista’s mouth tightened slightly.

Cullen, his commander of knights and trusted aide, gestured for him not to do so, but Theophista did not notice.

“Imperial Father. No, Your Majesty. I beg your pardon for saying this, but it is the Emperor, not God, who must lead the Empire on the right path. How can you entrust the future of the Empire to the Saintess’s oracles?”

“Theo, you insolent boy!”

“On my way back from the northern territories, I saw countless people starving to death. Imperial Father, if you leave them as they are, a great calamity will befall us in the future.”

“A calamity?!”

“The north is always cold, but summer will come regardless. Once the piles of corpses begin to decay, we cannot rule out the possibility of an epidemic spreading.”

“Silence! If such a thing were going to happen, an oracle would have been given!”

The Emperor slammed his fist against the armrest of the throne and shot to his feet.

All the officials and knights hurriedly prostrated themselves at the Emperor’s feet.

It was a tense moment in which it seemed certain that something terrible was about to happen.

Suddenly, a haughty, murky voice pushed its way between the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

“Your Imperial Highness, successfully completing your tour of the northern territories is certainly worthy of praise. However, if what Your Highness witnessed is truly happening, then God would have informed us of it beforehand, just as His Majesty says.”

Theophista’s eyes flashed.

“So that is what you think, Marquis Kiryof.”

“Would I be the only one? Everyone would think the same. Yet the God Elkiel has never once given an oracle concerning an epidemic or starving people.”

The marquis’s narrow, drooping eyes, made thinner by the wrinkles surrounding them, shifted slyly.

“Not once in more than twenty years.”

“That is because all of you—!”

“Your Imperial Highness!”

The voice that cut off the enraged Crown Prince was that of Duke Reinach.

Theophista, who looked ready to strike Marquis Kiryof at any moment, turned toward him with a blade-sharp gaze.

Both the Duke and the Crown Prince knew that every woman the nobles had brought in and presented as a Saintess had been a fraud, and that every word they had dared to proclaim as an oracle had been a lie.

“Your Imperial Highness, please restrain yourself.”

The Duke deliberately spoke in a stern voice and slowly shook his head.

I understand how you feel, but now is not the time.

Theophista understood the meaning behind the Duke’s gaze, and his eyes seemed to boil like molten lava.

At that moment, the Emperor spoke in a rigid voice.

“Theophista, listen carefully. Even if you are my only legitimate son and the heir who will inherit the Empire someday, you cannot be forgiven for making seditious remarks.”

Theophista’s lips, pressed tightly together like a seashell, trembled faintly.

“This Haven was founded under the protection of the God Elkiel, and it is a nation that has prospered under His name to this day. Remember this well: anyone who forgets that can never sit upon this throne!”

After loudly reprimanding the Crown Prince until the entire throne room rang with his voice, the Emperor left without saying another word, taking his attendants with him.

Once the Emperor had departed, the bureaucratic nobles cautiously rose and exchanged troubled glances.

Normally, the proper order of things would have been to hold a banquet for the Crown Prince, who had endured a long and difficult journey, and to bestow a new title upon him—even if merely as a formality…

“All of you, return to your duties. His Majesty the Emperor appears to be tired today.”

Theophista spoke to the murmuring officials.

Those who met his golden eyes, which gleamed like the sun, flinched and stepped backward as though they were criminals.

“We shall obey your command, Your Imperial Highness.”

“Please rest well.”

As several officials began leaving one after another, those who had been watching the situation carefully bowed hurriedly, barely managing their farewells, and rushed out of the throne room.

There was only one person who did not move until everyone else had left.

Duke Reinach.

The Crown Prince did not question why the Duke had failed to follow his command.

Instead, once everyone else had left, he ordered several soldiers to close the doors of the throne room.

“Duke Reinach.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I am extremely relieved that you have returned safely.”

“Indeed, it is fortunate. However, I heard some rather unpleasant news on the way here.”

An enigmatic smile appeared at the corner of the Duke’s mouth.

Theophista spoke.

“It seems I have quite a few things I need to hear from you. Shall we have a cup of tea?”

“If Your Highness summons me, I am always prepared to come running. However…”

“However?”

The Duke slightly narrowed his handsome eyes and spoke gently.

“Your journey has been long, and you must have accumulated considerable fatigue. Please concentrate on recovering from the journey today. If you summon me afterward, I will come to see Your Highness without delay.”

Theophista snorted.

“You’re trying to slip away like a snake crawling over a wall. Seeing you do that makes me want to keep you here even more.”

“Please rest today.”

Duke Reinach did not miss the opportunity and politely bowed before the Crown Prince, who was younger than himself.

The throne room was now empty, leaving only Theophista, Cullen, and several soldiers.

Standing before the ornate window frames and tapestries, Theophista was a beautiful man who looked as though he had stepped straight out of a painting.

Yet his contemplative expression was dark, as though he were thinking of something cruel.

Cullen spoke.

“Your Imperial Highness, shall I bring Duke Reinach to your residence?”

Theophista, who had been looking toward the throne room door left slightly ajar, shook his head.

“There’s no need. If there is a road that leads straight there, why bother crossing a bridge?”

“Pardon?”

“As you said, I am rather exhausted. Let us return for now.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

Cullen bowed and followed Theophista as he rose from his seat.

As Theophista headed toward his residence, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the moment Carnike left the throne room and returned to her quarters in the temple, she immediately threw off the suffocating outfit.

Once she had removed the chains, then taken off the scratchy, thin robe and dress one after another, she felt so liberated that she almost wanted to scream.

After finishing putting away the clothes, Lia approached with a hairbrush.

“I’ll brush your hair, Saintess.”

“I think it’s fine like this.”

“No, it isn’t. According to the teachings, a Saintess can draw even closer to the God Elkiel simply by keeping her hair neat.”

As if that could possibly be true.

Carnike laughed inwardly.

Lia had worked in the household of Duke Reinach since she was young, and although she had now entered the Imperial Palace to attend to the Saintess, she also had an innocent and pure side to her.

She was a clever and kind girl.

That was why Carnike liked Lia.

“All right, I understand. If you say so.”

“You made the right choice.”

Carnike sat up straight, and Lia knelt beneath the chair and carefully began brushing her long hair.

“You don’t have to kneel like that, do you?”

“With hair this long, you have to start brushing slowly from the bottom. Otherwise, it tangles very easily.”

At times like this, Lia had an attitude that made it clear she would not back down no matter what anyone said.

Carnike gave up trying to persuade her and quietly closed her eyes.

The gentle sound of the bristles parting and passing through her hair soothed some of the anxiety in her heart.

“About earlier…”

“Yes? Earlier?”

“Yes. You were beside me when we were going to the throne room earlier. I mean what those nobles were saying. You heard them too, didn’t you?”

Only then did Lia seem to understand, making a small sound of realization.

Carnike worried that Lia might look troubled, but contrary to her expectations, Lia merely scoffed.

“There’s no need to pay attention to the words of such vulgar people, Saintess.”

Carnike swallowed hard and suddenly turned around.