Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Beg
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Damn it.
The sacred relic of the Holy Kingdom, brimming with holy power, floated gently into the air.
As all eyes locked onto the reverent and mystical object for a brief moment, the relic soon began emitting an immense light.
Whaaaaaaaa——!!
As the light faded, a tremendous surge of holy power erupted from one woman.
A reverence incomparable to that of the relic itself, a sanctity that compelled the body to bow involuntarily. Hainkel the Cardinal, present there, was like a mere flickering candle compared to the newly born Saintess.
And the woman at the center of it all...
'Me, a Saintess...?'
Unable to hide her bewilderment, Sena frantically scanned her surroundings.
Everyone nearby had their mouths agape, eyes cast downward in prayer. Even her own family.
On the other hand, the only ones staring directly at her were Hainkel the Cardinal from the Holy Kingdom, the imperial royals, and... her former fiancé, Yujin.
Flinch—
The moment their gazes met, Sena hurriedly averted her eyes.
"…"
Becoming a Saintess was bewildering enough. But right now... that wasn't what mattered. From the instant their eyes had locked, a thick wave of guilt and self-loathing had overflowed within her heart.
It stemmed from a story she'd heard from her friend not long ago.
"…What?"
Sena stared at her friend, wondering if she'd misheard. It had been ages since she'd last seen her friend, and she'd been recounting everything that had happened in the meantime.
That naturally led to talk of the recent string of incidents, and from there, to Yujin.
"Yeah? So all those stories swirling around Marquis Banus were total fakes."
"Fa...ke?"
"Yep. Not that it's my place to say, but that's just how our noble society is. Chasing power, looking down on illegitimate kids or commoners. And in Marquis Banus's case, that disdain was way too harsh. All sorts of malicious rumors got piled on him."
...Malicious rumors?
Sena sensed something was off and stiffened her expression.
"Malicious rumors...? Yujin killed innocent people too..."
"Huh? Killed an innocent? The Marquis? When...?"
Her friend looked genuinely baffled.
"During the war? But that's just how war is."
She shook her head and recounted what she'd witnessed as a child—Yujin killing someone in a narrow alley. Bashing the man repeatedly with a brick until his whole body was drenched in blood.
At that—
"Sena, you didn't know? That's a pretty famous story."
"A famous story...?"
A famous story?
Sena couldn't comprehend what her friend was talking about. From that moment, she definitely knew something was wrong.
It felt like... everyone else knew, but she was the only one in the dark.
And that meant she hadn't paid proper attention to her own fiancé.
A blatant failure on her part.
"Yeah. That was the Marquis as a kid, saving Lady Arkabella. And get this—he had zero connection to her at the time? He jumped in purely to save one person. After that, tons of ladies secretly started admiring him..."
"...How do you know that...?"
"It's pretty well-known among the gossip crowd."
Of course, someone like you probably wouldn't care—
"—And that's not all. If you look into it, there are quietly a lot of good deeds. Like personally stepping up for an orphanage tormented by vicious loan sharks..."
She went on with several more examples. Every single one had been twisted into malicious rumors solely because he was a bastard child.
"Ah..."
Only then did it click for her.
Why Irene—a girl she'd barely met—had always given her cold stares at social gatherings or small events. And why engagement rumors were now swirling between Irene and Yujin.
Irene had harbored feelings for Yujin, the one who'd saved her life all those years ago. To her, the fiancée who tormented that man was utterly unforgivable.
'Ah...'
Only then did she realize she was just another run-of-the-mill piece of trash.
Captured by prejudice, refusing to see the whole picture, fixating on a tiny fragment and calling it truth. Or hypocritically tearing others down without evidence while convincing herself she was superior. Sena despised that sort of thing.
People were all just people, after all.
But...
'I, I...'
What had she done?
What on earth had she done?
'Ahh...'
So how was she any different from the people she'd so despised?
She wasn't.
Not even a little.
"...Sena, what's wrong all of a sudden? Something happen?"
As her expression darkened and her hands began to tremble, her friend urgently grabbed her shoulders and shook.
Flinch—Sena looked up at her friend with quivering eyes.
...Should she say it?
...
No, she had to.
The wrong had already been done, and she'd realized it far too late. Confessing her immorality to her friend was one thing, but correcting her mistake came first.
"You know... I..."
She slowly laid it all out.
Believing the malicious rumors around her while never bothering to hear his side. Keeping her distance from her fiancé Yujin because of it, hurting and isolating him. Never trusting her fiancé, ultimately breaking off the engagement in the absolute worst way without even a single conversation.
...The breakup had been handled by her parents on behalf of the family, but she'd been just as complicit by standing by.
And even after their relationship ended so horribly, he'd saved her life—yet she'd never once thanked him.
Her friend, having heard it all—
"How could you do something like that?"
—shot her a cold glare.
She'd always seen Sena as pure and lovable. She'd been drawn to her kindness and innocence herself.
But...
"You totally screwed up. You know that, right?"
"Yeah..."
"If you know, then why the hell did you do it! You hate prejudice and looking down on people...! How could you...!"
She felt betrayed by Sena. She felt revulsion. But even so, she worried for her sincerely. Sena was her one and only friend.
She just hoped this wouldn't break her.
That's why she hurled even harsher words. She wanted Sena to feel the guilt to her bones, to never repeat it.
"Sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Marquis Banus."
The one Sena had sinned against was Yujin—Marquis Banus.
A marquis, no less!
One of the empire's true power players—if he wanted, sending Sena and the entire Marilsian Count family crashing into ruin would be child's play.
"Setting all that aside, you two were clearly engaged back then! You'd promised your futures to each other...! No matter how it started, he was your fiancé—why didn't you even try talking to him!?"
"Sorry, I'm sorry... It was my fault... I was the one who messed up..."
"Sigh... And why no thank-you? Whatever his past, you'd clearly been helped by him. Isn't basic human decency to at least say thanks? Or were you ignoring him like those idiotic nobles just because he's a bastard?"
"No, that's not—"
"What do you mean 'no'! You already swallowed every malicious fake rumor about him hook, line, and sinker just because he's a bastard!"
"Hic..."
Tears began falling one by one.
But her friend didn't stop the reprimand. Comforting her now wouldn't help.
What Sena needed wasn't a kind word—it was a harsh wake-up call.
She had to make her realize she was a clear-cut sinner.
It was a prerequisite, whether for becoming a better person or for atonement—acknowledging her wrongs unequivocally.
"Beg."
"Yeah...?"
"Go beg like a dog! Rain or snow, apologize and plead for forgiveness!"
"W-Will he forgive me if I do...?"
"Forgive you? No chance."
Her friend gave her a frigid stare, as if she'd asked something absurdly obvious.
Flinch—
"If it were me, I'd never forgive it. It's as good as betrayal from your most precious person. And he saved you without even a word of thanks. You think the Marquis is any different?"
Sena's chest throbbed with pain.
'What have I... what have I done...'
She'd committed an unforgivable sin against him. She'd ruined what could have been something precious in the worst possible way.
Guilt, self-hatred, regret—all tangled together inside her.
"...Hic... guh..."
"What you need to do is apologize and reflect—unconditionally. Whether he forgives you or not. Got it?"
"Hic... Y-Yeah..."