“Saintess, are you alright?”
Unable to tell whether it was reality or a dream, Elise blinked her eyes rapidly.
She bolted upright instantly.
Sweeping her sweat-soaked platinum hair back, Elise slowly surveyed her surroundings.
A room decorated in white marble and filled with holy relics.
Even Belle, the maid who had brought in the washing water right on time for her morning wake-up—everything was exactly as it had been.
“Why are you breaking out in such a cold sweat? Should I call a doctor?”
When Belle looked at Elise in puzzlement and asked, Elise met the maid’s eyes with a corpse-pale complexion.
“…Belle, what month and day is it today?”
“Oh, Saintess. It’s the ninth day of the Sixteenth Month, of course.”
At that casual answer, Elise’s mouth slowly fell open in utter shock.
The ninth day of the Sixteenth Month meant it was exactly three months before she was burned at the stake.
“…This can’t be.”
She groped at her side, where Leonhardt had run his sword through her. Naturally, beneath her thin robe, her side was completely unblemished.
“Saintess, are you really alright? You look terrible.”
Belle asked once more.
It was just a question born of worry, so why did it rouse such suspicion?
Elise lifted her head with a slight furrow in her brow.
It had been far too vivid to pass off as a mere dream.
‘Could it be… if this was a prophetic dream…?’
Her face drained of all color.
Those possessing immense holy power would sometimes glimpse the future in the form of prophetic dreams.
However, Elise had never had a prophetic dream before.
‘I need to learn more about prophetic dreams.’
Her eyes narrowed as her thoughts raced.
“I just… had a strange dream.”
Assuming that the dream she had today was the truth, her immediate priority was to figure out who she could trust and who she couldn’t.
She intentionally let out a heavy sigh.
“Phew…”
“What kind of dream was it?”
“It was a dream where everyone betrayed me. A nightmare.”
Soon after, pressing her throbbing temples, Elise gulped down the cold water resting on the nightstand.
And through the clear glass, she watched the subtle shift in Belle’s expression.
Eyes narrowing faintly. Pupils rolling as if pondering something.
She, too, was somewhat suspicious.
“Who betrayed you, Saintess?”
At the distinctly loaded question, Elise set the glass down with a sharp clack and smiled casually.
“No one in particular. Just one of those messy, nonsensical dreams, you know? Ah, one person I do remember was the Crown Prince of the Devlun Empire.”
“Gasp, that wretched villain?”
A wretched villain. Just when had Demian gained such notoriety as a lunatic and a villain?
“Then it must mean that man betrayed you! I heard he killed our knights at the border again recently!”
“He… did, yes.”
She stumbled over her words without realizing it.
Thinking back on it now, the ones who had crossed the Devlun Empire’s border first were always the knights of the Ariaton Empire.
“And despite that, he actually sent a reply saying he’d attend the upcoming Ariaton Spring Festival! There really is a reason people call him a lunatic, isn’t there?”
Belle chattered away smoothly, spewing information that was difficult for a mere maid to know.
Why hadn’t she found this strange in the past?
She brushed off Belle’s words with a dismissive laugh.
“Indeed. In any case, it was a strange dream.”
“My goodness, you must be weak because you’ve been using so much holy power lately. I’ll go ask them to prepare some restorative medicine for you. After all, you have to offer ‘Holy Water’ again today.”
At those words, Elise’s shoulders flinched.
‘Holy Water.’
Laughably, her blood was called by such a name.
Because it was several times more potent than Elise manually exerting her magic, Eshit and Ian frequently requested Holy Water.
Even though they knew full well how much pain it caused her.
“Belle?”
“Yes?”
Busy setting up Elise’s meal on the table, Belle answered without even turning her head.
Staring quietly at the back of her head, Elise tested her.
“Could you perhaps ask Eshit if I might rest today?”
“…Pardon?”
Her voice pitched high as Belle’s head snapped around in an instant.
Realizing in a split second that her reaction wasn’t normal, she quickly smoothed her expression, and the corners of her mouth curved into a soft smile.
“Do you mean… that you cannot provide the Holy Water today, Saintess?”
At the strangely stiff tone, Elise poured her all into acting.
“I’m feeling so, so unwell. Really, so unwell.”
Emphasizing that last word in particular, she slumped onto the bed.
Until now, she had never once refused to inflict wounds on her own body.
Because she believed she had to repay the three men who had saved her from the depths of hell.
Recalling the past for a brief moment, Elise’s expression darkened.
Seeing this, Belle tilted her head slightly to the side.
“Ah, you really must be feeling unwell. Your complexion does look poor. Hmm…”
She trailed off in dilemma, then offered an awkward smile.
“I will pass along your message for now. Though I think they will be flustered, since you’ve never done this before, Saintess…”
“I’m sorry for putting you in a tough spot, Belle.”
“Yes. Please just rest for now.”
Only after meticulously tucking Elise under the blanket as she lay on the bed did Belle slowly exit the room.
The moment the door clicked shut, Elise’s eyes turned sharply incisive.
Elise quickly changed into a dress and concealed an old robe under her skirt.
‘If I want to find out what’s going on, I have to move right now.’
Her footsteps, heavy with suspicion, slowly stepped out of the room.
The temple she resided in was a place Eshit had built specifically for Elise.
Because the cleaners and cooks were only permitted entry at designated times, no outsiders could enter except for Belle.
Thanks to that, she was able to leave her room without drawing anyone’s attention.
Walking out of the temple, Elise recalled the day she first met the three men who had brought her here.
“What is this…?”
If it earned money, she did anything.
Raised in an orphanage, brought up as a beast lower than human—the day her holy power suddenly awakened…
The very first person to come find Elise was Leonhardt.
“I greet the Saintess who will save the Ariaton Empire.”
He had washed and dressed her cleanly, then brought her before Eshit and Ian.
“I didn’t expect much since they said she came from the streets… but still.”
“…Greetings. I am Eshit, the Emperor of the Ariaton Empire.”
While Elise stood completely dumbfounded, Leonhardt knelt on one knee before her.
“From this day forth, the three of us shall forever be the knights who protect the Saintess.”
“Knights? But I’m a mage.”
“Let’s not be so overly precise. By that logic, I am the Emperor.”
Watching the three men bicker back and forth, Elise’s mouth slowly fell open as she came to be addressed by the title of ‘Saintess.’
‘Saintess.’
Shamefully, she had not lived a life worthy of being called by such a title.
To survive, she had to bow her head to the strong, so even while feeling guilt, she had no choice but to do whatever it took.
Her platinum eyelashes trembled finely, and her eyes gradually welled with red.
Before long, tears trickled down her face.
“If I… do that…”
“Hmm?”
At her words, all three men turned their eyes toward her.
“Can I live… like a human being?”
At Elise’s question, they exchanged glances with slightly surprised expressions.
“With this power, can I save people?”
Leonhardt slowly approached her. Then, he carefully took Elise’s hand.
Her hand was exceedingly rough. It was a texture that allowed one to gauge what kind of life she had lived.
“Of course. You will even be able to prevent massive disasters from happening in the future. All with your power, Saintess.”
“…I’ll do it. I’ll work hard.”
To atone for her past life and to repay the three men who made her a saintess, she had never once shown a trace of exhaustion.
Glancing back briefly, Elise immediately pulled the robe concealed under her skirt over her head.
Since the temple was built as close to the Imperial Palace as possible, the Imperial Palace where Eshit resided was within walking distance.
However, she had no intention of walking there on foot.
‘It’ll soon be time for the grocery deliveries to the Imperial Palace.’
Checking the time on a small gold watch, Elise hid behind a tree with the robe pulled completely over her head.
Since her face was her identity, entering the Imperial Palace itself wouldn’t be an issue.
However, the moment she did, Eshit and Leonhardt would undoubtedly realize she had visited.
She had to enter covertly to uncover their true intentions.
Hiding behind the tree, she waited for the time to come.
Soon, as 10 o’clock struck, the rattling sound of a supply wagon approaching from the Imperial Palace began to echo.
“Alright, everyone move the cargo!”
Shortly after, the men who climbed down from the wagon began unloading the supplies.
While everyone went inside the temple to carry the cargo, Elise slipped quietly into an empty wagon and hid.
Holding her breath, she waited for a long while until the voices of the men returned, and with a jolt, the wagon set off at a gallop.
Because the distance was short, the wagon arrived inside the Imperial Palace stables in no time.
Once she confirmed that the men’s voices had grown distant, she slipped quietly out.
‘Today is a week before the Spring Festival begins. If so…’
Dusting off her clothes, Elise pulled her robe even tighter. Then, she immediately headed toward the Emperor’s Conference Room.
Since it was one week before the Ariaton Spring Festival, Eshit was bound to be holding a meeting regarding the festival alongside Leonhardt and Ian.
‘They won’t just be discussing the festival.’
Wrinkling the bridge of her nose slightly, her footsteps moved faster than anyone else’s.
She had to sneak into the conference room before anyone discovered her identity.
Feeling her heart thumping violently against her chest, Elise moved swiftly. Before long, she arrived in front of the empty conference room.
Elise gently pressed her pendant against the round mechanism attached to the conference room entrance, then pulled it away.
This pendant, representing her status as Saintess, was a gift Eshit had given her while confessing his feelings, telling her to enter anywhere in the Imperial Palace as she pleased.
‘Though I doubt he ever imagined I’d use it for something like this.’
Soon, with a bright flash of light, a heavy clack sounded, and the door swung open.
Since she had never left without telling Belle, and because only the three men and she—who held the pendant—could enter this conference room, they would undoubtedly converse comfortably without a shred of suspicion.
‘Now all I have to do is wait.’
Inside the needlessly spacious conference room, there were more than enough places for a small-statured woman to hide.
She found a suitable spot, curled up, and hid.
How much time had passed?
“Now then, come on in.”
“What’s so great about a Spring Festival that we have to hold meetings for it every single day?”
“Do you not know how important the Ariaton Spring Festival is? For the prosperity and peace of the imperial citizens…”
“That is enough, Sir Leonhardt.”
Eshit cut Leonhardt off mid-sentence and added, trying hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from curling upward:
“Actually, if we truly care for the imperial citizens, there is one more thing we ought to discuss.”
Watching them from her hiding spot, Elise’s eyes flashed with sharp intelligence.
However, at the words he added next, she could not contain her utter horror.
“The great Saintess of the Ariaton Empire.”
Both corners of Eshit’s mouth curved upward in deep satisfaction.
“Regarding Elise’s burning at the stake.”
It was the exact expression he wore whenever he was truly pleased.
‘As I thought, it wasn’t just a dream…!’
Feeling goosebumps erupt across her entire body, Elise clapped a hand over her own mouth.
