INST 06

Chapter 6

“Hey! What on earth do you think you’re doing?!”

I had been staring blankly at the crowd, but finally came to my senses and demanded an explanation.

The lion swished its tail and replied in a casual voice.

“Come to think of it, I’ve spent over a thousand years living in that cave. I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

“What do you mean you have nowhere to go? Just go back to where you originally lived!”

“Even if I returned to my hometown, all my friends would be dead by now. Wouldn’t it be terribly lonely to live in a place where you don’t know a single person?”

“Seriously? You spent a thousand years holed up alone in a cave, and now you’re worried about being lonely? And if you’re that lonely, just make new friends!”

The lion snorted at my words.

“What kind of friendship could I possibly have with children so much younger than me? No, I think I’d rather stay with you, someone I can actually have a conversation with.”

Then it added something that nearly made me faint.

“You dragged me out of that cave, so it’s only right that you take responsibility for what happens next. Don’t you agree?”

“Hah! What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that? I never led you out of the cave in the first place! How could a mere human like me possibly break the restrictions placed on you by the Goddess?”

I tried desperately to reason with it, but the lion lowered its head to the ground and covered both ears with its paws.

“I don’t care, I don’t care! We came out together, so you’re responsible for me!”

Like a seven-year-old child throwing an unreasonable tantrum.

I was so dumbfounded that I could only stand there with my mouth hanging open.

Meanwhile, the crowd continued to plead with me.

“Saintess, please save us!”

“Lift the calamity that has befallen this Empire!”

Even amid the deafening cries that threatened to burst my eardrums, I could only blink blankly.

Because at that moment, there was only one thing on my mind.

Damn it. This cursed lion. Maybe I should shove him into a ****** and ****** him and then ****** altogether!

Profanities.

And more profanities.

Nothing but curses filled my head.

* * *

While I was busy cursing, the situation only grew bigger.

Even the Emperor, who had been holed up in the Imperial Palace and never showed his face, rushed over after hearing the news.

“Lady, what in the world is the meaning of this? Is it true that you have been chosen as the Saintess?”

Supported by attendants as he painstakingly climbed the cliff, the Emperor asked urgently before he had even caught his breath.

Thinking I had to set things straight while there was still time, I quickly opened my mouth.

“Your Majesty, that isn’t—”

But once again, I was unable to finish.

Grrrrr!

The damned beast lying at my feet suddenly sprang up and let out a thunderous roar.

As if it were reminding everyone of its existence.

Apparently, the tactic worked.

The Emperor’s eyes widened.

“T-That is the lion said to be the Goddess’s representative?”

“It would appear so, Your Majesty,” the head attendant answered.

The Emperor stared at the lion with awe.

“Incredible… I had long heard that a lion over a thousand years old lived in this cave, but this is the first time I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

The lion puffed out its chest proudly and began rubbing its enormous head against my leg.

The Emperor could not hide his admiration.

“Oh! The representative seems truly attached to you. As expected of a woman chosen as the Saintess.”

Despair washed over me at how completely convinced he seemed.

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…

At this rate, I was going to be stuck as a fake Saintess.

I have to do something. Fast…

But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a way out of this crisis.

When a lion known as the Goddess’s representative was deliberately staging a performance like this, who would believe my side of the story?

No, Your Majesty. This damned beast is acting. It wants me to take responsibility for its retirement plan…

Just as I was lamenting my situation internally, the Emperor looked at me with sparkling eyes and asked,

“But how did you become the Saintess?”

“…Pardon?”

“If you were truly chosen, there must have been some sign. I heard that the hailstorm stopped when you emerged from the cave, but we do not know whether it has completely ceased. And we cannot declare you the Saintess merely because that lion is fond of you.”

…Good heavens.

I instantly covered my mouth.

In truth, everyone had already been shouting about the return of the Saintess merely because the lion had lain at my feet.

No—simply because I had emerged from the cave alongside it.

So I had naturally assumed the Emperor would react the same way.

But an Emperor was an Emperor after all.

I’ve always called him a stupid and incompetent ruler… I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It seems I misjudged you.

My eyes even began to glisten with tears of gratitude.

Before this golden opportunity slipped away, I hurriedly opened my mouth.

Or rather, I was about to.

“Saintess? That is utterly impossible, Your Majesty!”

If not for another voice speaking before I could.

What? There’s another sane person here?

For a moment, I had thought the entire world had gone mad.

Relieved, I quickly turned my head—

But then—

“You… bastard.”

My expression instantly turned cold.

Because the owner of that voice was none other than garbage itself.

In other words, my biological father.

What is that man thinking?

There was no way he was stepping forward with good intentions.

As I narrowed my eyes and tried to gauge his motives, he continued.

“That unfilial—no, that girl—no, that child is a Saintess? Nonsense, Your Majesty!”

“Nonsense?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty! I can assure you that child possesses no such power. If there had been signs of sainthood, how could I, her father, have failed to notice them?”

While passionately arguing, the piece of trash shot me a bloodshot glare.

“She was clearly afraid of dying and fled in disgrace. That child is not a Saintess—she is the shame of the Empire, Your Majesty!”

I actually laughed in disbelief.

If someone chosen as an offering to the Goddess fled because they feared death, the Empire would never let it slide.

The fact that he was making such a claim meant only one thing:

He intended to see me dead, no matter what.

How can a father…

To calm my trembling body, I clenched my fists tightly.

So tightly that my short nails dug into my palms and drew blood.

Yet my efforts were futile.

The trash continued his speech.

“This is a sin that should never have been committed by a daughter of the Empire and a former heir of House Veloce. I beg Your Majesty to make her pay for her crimes!”

As if that weren’t enough, he added the pathetic excuse that he could not ignore such disgrace as the Duke of Catalon, even if she was his own daughter.

That behavior finally severed the last thread of restraint I had left.

Fine. So that’s how you want to play it.

Then I wasn’t going to sit here and take it.

Blinded by rage, I began speaking in a gentle voice.

“Your Majesty. I, Shaen Veloce, have received a revelation from the Goddess Hedel.”

“What? A revelation?”

The Emperor, who had been listening to my father’s accusations in confusion, widened his eyes.

I nodded slowly.

“Yes. The beloved Goddess personally accepted me as her daughter and entrusted me with the glorious mission of aiding this crumbling Empire.”

“Oh! Is that truly so?”

“It is, Your Majesty.”

I smiled warmly at him before continuing with a grave expression.

“And the merciful Goddess also explained why the position of Saintess had remained vacant.”

“Is that true? What reason did she give?”

“Well… it is so horrifying that I scarcely dare speak of it.”

I covered my mouth as though unable to continue.

The Emperor urged me impatiently.

“What could possibly be so terrible that you cannot speak of it? I am prepared. Tell me at once.”

Even then, I repeatedly opened and closed my lips, drawing out his anticipation.

Only after a long pause did I finally speak.

“The Goddess said that it was because she was enraged by the corruption of the Saintess’s bloodline.”

“What? The Saintess’s bloodline was altered? Then are you saying that you are not truly of ducal blood?”

The surroundings fell silent.

And for good reason.

I possessed one of the most noble bloodlines in the Empire—second only to the Imperial Family itself.

To claim that bloodline had been altered was shocking beyond words.

As everyone stared in astonishment, I slowly shook my head.

“No, Your Majesty. No matter what anyone says, I am unquestionably of ducal blood. The one whose bloodline was changed is not me…”

I paused for a moment.

Then, with apparent difficulty, I raised a finger and pointed at someone.

“It is that man.”

At once, question marks seemed to float above the heads of the crowd.

Because the person I was pointing at was none other than the piece of trash—

My father.