The Holy Woman Sent from Heaven
Yes, she had indeed been revered by that name.
It was not only her beautiful appearance. The deep public affection she had built through her steady charitable works was so profound that she had been called the holy woman sent from heaven. When she fell ill and withdrew for recuperation, even the common people had rushed into the streets, weeping in sorrow.
When she returned after shaking off her sickness, she was greeted with fervent welcome—as a saintess who had overcome her affliction by divine grace and had once more come forth to watch over the destitute masses. She was respected not only within noble society but even by the very lowest of the low.
The version of her I saw was nothing but a single facet.
Would things have been different if we had never met as rivals over one man? She had only wanted to reclaim her rightful place. The methods had simply been petty and ugly. To Lerusha she had been a villain, but everything is relative.
What would she be like when they faced each other in an entirely different body, under entirely different circumstances?
“Odellett will be delighted you’ve come back. You two were truly close when she was little.”
“...Really?”
“When Odellett was very young, she used to accompany me to visit you. She stopped coming at some point, but she always looked regretful about it. I’m certain she’ll be overjoyed to see you.”
“If she’s out volunteering at the orphanage, it will take time before she returns.”
Could she overcome the dissonance born from the mismatch between body and soul? If, as Blair said, Odellett was an incomparably kind and good younger sister, could she truly drag the karma of her previous life before the girl and demand atonement without hesitation?
While she was lost in thought, Mathias, who had been waiting beside her, tapped her hand gently. He then pointed to the sealed letter resting on the table.
“Ah.”
It was the letter she had written to deliver to Blair. Odeliana picked it up.
“I was just about to have this sent to you. Since you came in person, you’ve saved me the trouble.”
“A letter?”
“I was worried because we hadn’t been in touch. There’s also something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Ask away.”
“I need one more servant—someone quick with their hands and competent.”
“Are the servants you already have insufficient?”
“...The children here all work well. It’s simply that I cannot trust them.”
“......”
“They all belong to my parents. They watch my every move and report it to them daily. I’d like to have someone who is mine alone, not tied to the family—like Mathias.”
“I’ve actually been looking for someone who can watch over you in my place. As you know, I cannot visit you frequently, so I thought I needed eyes and ears of my own. Finding an outsider has taken longer than expected. Please be patient just a little longer. I’ll have the child’s textbooks delivered through them. And…”
Blair frowned as though troubled, paused for a moment, then spoke in a careful, cautious tone.
“I know this is all a misunderstanding, but there’s no need to give others ammunition for criticism, Odeliana. Besides, the difference between man and woman is clear. Keeping that child too close doesn’t look proper even to me. Our parents will worry a great deal as well.”
Yes. Those parents had been so worried about their daughter that they had personally begun supplying her with contraceptives.
She could not fathom what they were thinking, treating a child this way. Wouldn’t any normal parent first verify the truth? These people had clearly convinced themselves that Odeliana was dragging a young minor into bed and indulging in obscene acts.
“I’ll be careful.”
“Good. Your brother trusts you, Odeliana.”
Blair rose with obvious reluctance, lingered for a long while as if his feet refused to move, then finally left. His retreating back looked quite forlorn.
“My only protector is powerless in this place.”
At Odeliana’s murmur, Mathias gazed at the door through which Blair had departed and nodded.
“He is not as useful as he appears.”
“It can’t be helped. What power does a second son have before parents and an eldest son who wield absolute authority? His naturally kind and gentle temperament seems to make him an even easier target. The world always takes advantage of those who are good.”
Still, the eldest son of Grusewald had personally come to shake things up, and thanks to that, the turmoil in her heart had settled.
“I’ll need to consult several physicians.”
“Bringing doctors here is impossible, so Master will have to go out herself.”
“Do you think it can be done?”
Mathias turned to look out the window. Five knights could be seen guarding separate sectors.
“It won’t be difficult.”
“It must be done in secret. No one can know that I left and returned.”
Mathias smiled softly, as if her concern were unnecessary, and answered.
“I will prepare everything.”
After midnight, Mathias—who had left to make preparations—slipped into Odeliana’s room through the window like a mouse. She had half-suspected he might be a spy, but the tension left her shoulders the moment she saw his beautiful face bathed in moonlight.
“You startled me. Why come through the window when the door is right there?”
“Doesn’t this feel more authentic, Master?”
“......”
“It’s also faster to exit through the window.”
Mathias fetched her outer robe, helped her into it, then wrapped her in a large blanket and lifted her carefully into his arms.
“Are you trying to turn me into a caterpillar?”
“The night wind is still cold. You must dress warmly.”
“This isn’t dressing warmly. This is rolling a person up like a scroll.”
“It makes carrying you much more convenient.”
He leaped straight out the window and headed toward the pond attached to the annex. A towering wall stood directly beside the water. A rope hung down from the barrier, which looked easily ten meters high. Mathias must have set it up during the afternoon.
He went to all this trouble to conceal his identity.
He could have transformed into his true form and cleared the wall effortlessly, yet the fact that he chose to use a rope revealed his firm resolve to keep his real self hidden.
With Odeliana secured firmly on his back, Mathias grasped the rope and began scaling the wall. No matter how light she was, she still weighed at least forty kilograms; she worried whether holding her with one arm while climbing with the other would be too much.
Yet he ascended with practiced ease, showing no sign of strain, and settled atop the wall. He was just as gaunt from lack of food—where did such monstrous strength come from?
When he slid down the rope on the other side, a horse stood waiting in the darkness. Mathias seated the blanket-wrapped Odeliana on the horse first, then mounted behind her. One arm wrapped tightly around her while the other took the reins.
“Your disciple is holding you securely, so relax and rest easy.”
It had been a long time since she last rode. The horse seemed terribly tall and intimidating. Even though in her previous life she had ridden enough to form calluses on her thighs and backside, the height and the unfamiliar sensation against her legs and hips felt strangely new.
It was not only her lame leg; without the necessary core muscles to brace herself, she could not stay balanced in the saddle. Had Mathias not held her waist firmly, she would have toppled helplessly.
A knight who had once swept across battlefields, now afraid of falling from a horse. How absurd.
How long had they ridden while she depended entirely on Mathias? A dark marketplace street finally emerged. Well past midnight, no shops showed any light, and not a single soul—not even a stray dog—could be seen. They passed through the gloomy, deserted lane until a small wooden building on the verge of collapse appeared.
“This is the abandoned warehouse you ordered me to purchase. The physicians are gathered inside.”
A faint light leaked from the warehouse. Mathias lifted Odeliana from the horse, carried her in his arms, opened the door, and stepped inside.
An elderly man, a middle-aged man, and two young women who looked to be in their mid-twenties rose to their feet.
“Is this the patient you spoke of earlier today?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Let us examine her.”
The doctors took turns assessing Odeliana’s condition before beginning a thorough examination. They employed various diagnostic instruments for precision. They even used byproducts from beasts that reacted to heart conditions, and jewels that changed color upon absorbing tainted blood.
After exhausting every method commonly used to diagnose cardiac disease, the physicians reached a unanimous conclusion.
“The heart is perfectly sound. The pulse, the condition of the blood—none of the symptoms that ought to appear in a patient suffering from heart disease are present.”
She felt a brief wave of relief at the doctors’ shared verdict that it was not heart disease—only for a new question to surge forward.
Then why did the Grusewald ducal house provide medicine that is good for the heart?