Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Conflict (3)
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Evan Lane and her—their official first meeting had, after all, taken place in the Hespania Mountains.
Four years ago, when the ten-year reign of the 37th Saint and Saintess came to an end. The first banquet of the year when the selection process for the next generation's candidates began.
"It's an honor to meet you, Lady Heresia. I'm Evan Lane."
Evan had been just sixteen back then, still a boy. Of course, Lete had been equally young...
As far as Lete could recall, he had been the only one at that banquet unable to mingle with the others.
His attire was neat and tidy; he didn't look like a commoner at first glance. He must have been dressed up with help from the First Apostle, Israfeel Hael.
The problem was Evan’s background. Nobles, with their inherent sense of superiority, openly scorned the lone commoner among the Saint candidates.
And the boy that day, fully affected by those gazes, had been subtly shrinking back.
A timidity hard to imagine now, thinking of the current Evan. But back then, it had been real.
That's why Lete had approached him, hoping to offer even a little help to his pitiful state. Though she had no choice but to let him greet her first due to their difference in status.
"Why call me so stiffly? Just speak comfortably. We're the same age, after all."
At the very least, because Lete had acted that way back then, the Evan of today existed. Though whether as a backlash or something, he'd turned into a somewhat rude man...
'Already five years have passed.'
In truth, there was one thing she still hadn't mentioned about that "official first meeting."
Lete wandered the main temple grounds with a wry, self-mocking smile. An aimless stroll, simply following wherever her feet led.
The streets bloomed vibrantly with lush greenery, signaling the arrival of spring. A walking path on the outskirts, slightly off the route to the central plaza.
'...Does that guy even know?'
The first meeting Evan remembered with Lete Heresia was undoubtedly the banquet four years ago.
But not for her. She had seen Evan Lane five years prior.
She briefly wondered if he'd noticed, but skepticism quickly replaced it.
As if the man who had offered her insight as a sacrifice to receive the Goddess of the Sun's divine blessing would notice.
The fact that he had never mentioned it even once meant he had likely forgotten completely. It had been too fleeting an encounter to even memorize a face from.
So, this memory was hers alone.
'Hmm.'
That thought made her mind scatter strangely. A fragment of the past remembered and cherished only by her...
It wasn't a bad feeling.
Lete drew a quiet smile and soon sank deeper into reminiscence.
It had happened when she was still a fifteen-year-old junior priestess, dispatched to the swamps in the west of the Cabensier Empire on a mission from the Church.
A secret report claiming low-grade black mages were arrogantly attempting communication with the demon realm.
The situation was urgent, but the report's source was unclear, and the evidence scant.
It was during the height of the holy war with the Necromancer King. Moving inquisitors recklessly carried too many risks.
Lete's father, the head of the Heresia family, decided to send her to the swamps.
If the report was false, it would be a journey to gain experience. Even if true, lowly black mages posed no threat to one blessed with divine power.
A decision to grant his daughter appropriate merit without real danger.
It was a complacent choice. The family head's judgment was critically wrong in two ways.
One, the report was true.
Two, the black mages attempting demon realm contact were far from lowly.
'...I still remember it. That disgusting goat—I don't even want to recall it usually.'
Lete shuddered at the goosebumps rising. Just reminiscing threatened to shatter her mental barriers—the demon's manifestation.
Its thunderous roar unleashed demonic energy that blanketed the swamp skies in sticky darkness. Most of the junior priestesses dispatched with her lost control of their bodies from that bellow alone.
It was that powerful a demon. A grotesque duke of hell, Orthus, with a human body and goat's face.
Even a bearer of blessed talent was merely a fifteen-year-old girl then.
What could she do before such a "daringly" great existence?
Not losing her mind was praiseworthy in that dire situation. Against the monster rampaging to overturn the swamps, Lete could barely protect the surrounding priestesses.
Her skillfully erected divine barrier held for quite some time, but...
There was a clear limit.
"Cough...!"
Soon, the barrier shattered under Orthus's tail, and Lete vomited blood from the backlash of overusing her divine power.
She had pushed her abilities to the limit. Yet she couldn't stop the demon's rampage and was on the verge of death from mere debris.
Looking back, it was reckless bravado. What confidence had allowed her to hold out so long before a demon duke?
"Mm... Ungh."
Lete flushed her cheeks at the fresh embarrassment.
Well, she had done her best to protect the unconscious priestesses. In such urgency, who had time to weigh odds?
Anyway, the important thing was that Lete Heresia hadn't died that day.
Though she had spat thick black-red blood and nearly seen her life flash before her eyes.
"Ah..."
In the end, her struggle bore fruit.
Evan Lane at that moment proved her efforts weren't in vain.
Just as the demon, noticing Lete, tore open its eyes with a horrific laugh and swung its tail—crimson holy flames pierced space.
Lete still couldn't forget those sacred flames. She never would.
An intensely searing memory, branded in a corner of her mind like a red-hot iron.
Orthus's tail, reaching Lete, burned away effortlessly. From a single clean punch by Evan.
Evan landed between Lete and Orthus, glanced at her once, then erected a divine barrier.
A makeshift shield to protect her bloodied, wretched form and the priestesses behind.
"Don't come out. Unless you want to get caught up."
Crude compared to hers, but Lete had no strength left for more.
Awkwardly nodding, she watched Evan charge at Orthus—
"Gahk."
...and like her, he lasted less than ten minutes before crashing to the ground.
Quite an undignified end for such a stylish entrance.
Regardless, they succeeded in buying time until Israfeel Hael arrived.
True to her status as Apostle of the Sun Church, she dispatched the demon duke cleanly.
After that, nothing noteworthy. The swamp disturbance ended, and Lete returned to the Hespania Mountains with imperial army aid.
A year later, encountering him at the Saint and Saintess candidates' banquet—she'd been shocked.
Shocked by the reunion, and that he didn't even remember her.
Though her appearance then had been drenched in blood, unsightly—very unsightly...
"...Ahem!"
Lete stopped with a cough. After wandering the temple endlessly, she'd arrived—coincidentally—at the central plaza of the First Parish.
A lone, oddly placed bench in a rather secluded spot.
A place with quite deep meaning for her and Evan, those two.
"..."
Lete paused, gazing down at the bench.
'Why... of all places...?'
Had her feet instinctively led her here, or was it pure chance?
It didn't matter either way... But the former felt disconcerting, so she dismissed it as the latter.
'...Anyway.'
Now emerging slightly from deep reminiscence, she sank into shallower thoughts.
Lete was a girl who rarely tolerated disrespect from others.
That strict rule applied equally to the five sacred noble families, so even Kazan, with their long bad blood, couldn't treat her casually.
Did Evan know he alone could treat Lete Heresia so intimately?
And if he did, did he know why she granted him that special treatment?
"Haa."
From the moment he didn't remember their true first meeting, it was a vain hope.
Her forehead stinging oddly, Lete absently sat on the bench.
What use dwelling on useless past?
It was just her shadowy memory game, soon to become futile anyway. Even looking back four days ago...
"My consideration must have felt bothersome and intrusive to you, Evan Lane. Oh dear, what should I do about feeling so sorry?"
"You said it in a way that made me react sensitively..."
"Haaaah."
A depressed sigh escaped naturally. Lete buried her face in her hands, drowning in regret.
'Why say something unnecessary.'
It was avoidable, unnecessary. She hadn't even had solid grounds to nitpick at him.
Swayed by personal feelings, she'd let jealousy—not quite jealousy—slip out. That fact confused her endlessly.
'...Really, why.'
Lete weakly swept her face down, biting her lower lip hard. A faint taste of blood came, but self-loathing pinned her down.
They'd always bickered like that with Evan—four years of it.
There was no reason now to react so venomously.
"Why act like that, you idiot..."
Her bitter murmur mixed self-reproach with self-mockery.
And inwardly, she scolded herself to correct the delusion.
Evan was just a friend, nothing more. At most, a reminder that he'd always be just a physical partner.
A woman jealous of her friend's romance was pathetic, shabby. Lete didn't want to admit that was her four days ago.
Whether Evan slept with Eliya Ruben, shared bodies, or even developed an ideal relationship afterward—what did it matter?
What did it have to do with her?
'...I should talk first.'
So she steeled herself. This cold war had dragged unusually long, but one approaching would melt the resentment quickly.
Even if it looked a bit uncool.
Even if it felt a little pathetic.
"...Sorry for being naggy, say it like that... I have to say it..."
Her gloomy, rambling mutter cut off midway.
Something welled up unexpectedly. Her vision blurred suddenly; her lips quivered uncontrollably.
"...Ah, ha. Hoo."
A weak laugh escaped, but it was also a sigh.
Swept by inexplicable emotion, Lete felt on the verge of bursting into tears right then.
Her damp eyes felt cruelly raw. Looking up did nothing—the tears intensified, clouding the sky.
Wiping them roughly with her sleeve, Lete twisted her lips into a smirk.
Of course, that mockery was aimed at.
"...I see."
Today, at herself.
Lete chuckled limply.
Thanks to a newfound realization.
An unwanted realization.
She hadn't wanted to know. Hadn't wanted to admit. But now that she did, her heart ached as if tearing.
That vile outburst four days ago, the jealousy, the envy, and the secret dark desire blooming within.
She could no longer deny it.
She had become aware of the cause...
"I liked you, didn't I."
Once aware, she caught the unstoppable tears with her hand. Lete hiccuped intermittently, forcing out an absurd laugh.
'Ahh.'
So it was romantic feelings after all.
She'd thought not.
Had fervently denied it.
But her ardent affection now crushed that denial. This massively swollen desire could no longer be evaded.
"..."
Soon, facing her own emotions squarely, Lete slumped like a corpse in reaction.
Half-burying herself against the bench backrest, she simply closed her eyes.
'Fuck. I don't know anymore.'
Now not even repulsive, but almost familiar profanity. Well, perhaps explained by that saying about liking someone making you pick up their habits?
Lete snickered, starting her belated, clumsy corpse play—
"Lete...!"
"..."
...only to snap her eyes open at the familiar voice from behind. Sleep fled instantly.
The presence felt was undoubtedly that of the man who pleased her heart.
Naturally, her face paled, but the approaching figure, panting roughly, ignored it and spoke his piece.
"Hoo, hoo... I had a feeling you'd be here."
"..."
"Hey, Lete."
Evan finished his final deep breath and gently grasped Lete's shoulder.
"Let's talk."
"...Ah..."
Lete let a cracked voice slip unwittingly, her face flushing pomegranate-red from that oh-so-familiar touch alone.
Even with clothes between them—his hand made her body stiffen like she'd been shocked.
'What do I do... really...'
Thump, thump!
Lete could no longer deny the arrhythmia possibility.
Her pounding heart battered her ears violently, as if about to burst.
Her whole body heating up, vision spinning, the electric thrill and fullness from touching Evan after so long.
Perhaps even down there had gotten wet in that instant.
This emotion could no longer be dismissed as mere sympathetic nervous system activation.
"...Ha, haha."
Lete closed her eyes with a self-mocking laugh.
The sturdy gates had finally fallen.