Aren, I'll Avenge You.
By the time training ended and we returned to the mess hall, Ariel had already claimed a seat.
Normally she'd have been focused on her food, but today she was studying a newspaper she'd never seen before with unusual interest.
"What are you looking at?"
When I sat down across from her, Ariel folded the paper back and held it out to me.
"They say the Empire has a new Saintess."
✦ A SAINTESS APPEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A CENTURY ✦
A radiant golden sun with outstretched wings — the sacred mark emblazoned across the top of the page. Beneath it, in bold letters, ran the announcement: a new Saintess had received the Goddess's revelation.
At the top of the page was a drawing of a brilliant golden sun and wings, and beneath it, a large headline proclaimed that a new Saintess had received the Goddess's revelation.
A Saintess, born once in a hundred years.
She is said to be a member of a ducal house…
I read down through the article, then handed it back to Ariel without much feeling.
"So?"
"What's with that reaction? It's the first time in a hundred years a Saintess has appeared."
"She's got nothing to do with me."
I'd only read it on the off chance that Seria had awakened as the Saintess — but the moment I saw those words about a ducal house, I lost interest.
Ariel seemed satisfied with my answer, because she broke into a bright smile.
"Doesn't it seem strange to you, though?"
"What does?"
"Why is there no information about her at all? Normally knights and heroes have their status and origins published for everyone to see."
It was then that Cassian, sitting beside us, answered.
"A Saintess is one who has offered everything to the Goddess. She must be purer than anyone else, and in her heart, no one may hold a place but the Goddess herself."
Ariel looked at Cassian as if she couldn't understand.
"Why…?"
"The Goddess who blesses the Saintess… values chastity above all else."
"Tch. Poor Saintess. Sounds like no fun at all."
"It's not good news for us. The Saintess will soon be an enemy, too."
I didn't exactly sympathize with the Saintess's circumstances, but I couldn't say Ariel was wrong either.
I knew how painful it was to love someone and still be unable to stay by their side.
"Commander, when will I be able to go out on missions?"
"Two years. Once you two come of age."
The capital of the Arcadia Empire.
The moment I stood before the doors of the Great Cathedral, the voices of thousands washed over me.
Nobles, clergy, and the faithful who had flooded in from every corner of the capital — all of them waiting to lay eyes on the new Saintess.
And yet to Seria, their cheering felt impossibly distant.
"Are you nervous, Saintess?"
The Pope asked with a benevolent smile.
"A little."
"There is no need to be afraid. The Goddess herself will watch over you."
Watch over me.
The instant she heard those words, Seria nearly laughed.
The Goddess hadn't even protected the one person she had begged her to protect.
"Today will be recorded in history. It has been a hundred years since anyone received the Goddess's revelation."
Seria reflexively clutched the wooden ring hanging from the chain at her neck.
Its shape was crude, its surface rough — a ring that looked ready to crumble at any moment — and yet it was the most precious treasure she owned.
"Do you still think of that boy?"
At the Pope's question, Seria tightened her grip on the ring.
"…Yes."
"I won't force you to forget. Only… do not remain held fast to your grief for too long."
The Pope's voice was endlessly gentle.
"Those who go before us would never wish for the Saintess to keep suffering so."
The one who went before.
Every time she heard that phrase, her breath caught in her throat.
She still couldn't accept a world without Aren.
Every morning, it felt as though he would push the door open and stroll in as if nothing had happened.
She kept expecting that they would rest together on the hillside, or eat dinner together, reminiscing about the day.
Aren…
Her only remaining family — the person who had promised to spend the rest of his life by her side.
Her only happiness had vanished before her eyes… how could she possibly forget him?
It was utterly impossible.
"Your Holiness."
"Speak."
Seria brought up the question she had asked so many times before.
Even knowing the answer would never change, she couldn't stop herself from asking.
"Did Aren truly die?"
The Pope's smile faded, if only slightly.
"Yes. Not only the Empire, but our own Holy Order searched Eden Village many times over."
"But… you told me his body was never found. If, if that's true… then he could still—"
Aren's body had never been found.
Which meant there was still a chance he might be alive, somewhere.
Seria was clinging to that single straw for dear life — so desperately that only by holding it could she keep her sanity at all.
"Saintess."
The Pope gazed at her with an expression of pity.
"A large-scale purification spell leaves not even a trace of the people caught within it."
"…"
"That boy stood at the very center of the spell. It pains me to say it, but there is no possibility that he survived."
The Pope laid a careful hand on Seria's shoulder.
"That boy protected you until his very last breath… so you must not let his sacrifice be in vain."
The words drove into her chest like a sharpened blade.
The memory of that day — the one she could never forget no matter how she tried — came flooding back into her mind.
The golden magic circle that blotted out the sky. The blinding white light that swallowed the village.
Aren, holding her in his arms, telling her with a shaking voice that everything would be all right.
"Truly…"
Seria forced the words out through the ache in her throat.
"Did the Empire have to use that purification spell?"
No matter that the spell had been meant to defeat the monsters, she couldn't understand it.
That light hadn't distinguished between monster and human.
"Saintess, how many times have we explained this…?"
The Pope answered without a moment's hesitation.
"By then, the Magi had already contaminated the entire village. You yourself know how dangerous Magi is, do you not?"
"…Yes."
She knew.
Anyone who drank water tainted by Magi slowly lost their reason, becoming no different from a monster.
And Eden Village, the Order had said, had been deeply saturated with it.
Even if Aren had escaped the spell, the Order had explained again and again — he would have succumbed to the Magi poisoning and died in agony regardless.
But Seria didn't want to accept that truth.
"Had the purification not come in time… the Magi would have spread to the neighboring territories."
The Pope's voice grew heavy.
"Tens of thousands of lives, at the very least, would have been lost."
"But… there were still people alive in Eden Village. Even if they were exposed to the Magi, there are treatments that could—"
"Saintess, that is impossible. Those tainted by Magi cannot be saved by any means."
The Pope bowed his head with a sorrowful expression.
"The Empire did not make that decision willingly. It was an unavoidable choice, made to save more of its people."
An unavoidable choice.
To save tens of thousands, Eden Village had to be abandoned.
Seria couldn't say those words were entirely wrong.
But neither could she accept them.
Why did it have to be Eden Village?
Why had demons appeared there, of all places?
Why did Aren — Aren and no one else — have to die?
The tears she had fought so hard to hold back finally spilled over.
"Why…"
She would never see Aren again.
That truth shredded the deepest part of her heart to ribbons.
"Why…"
Once they started, the tears wouldn't stop, and the voice she had held down so long tore out of her like a scream.
"Why did you have to take Aren too!"
Seria cursed the reality that had spared her alone.
She despised herself for letting Aren die while she lived.
And she hated the Goddess who had turned away from her prayers.
"He was everything to me…"
Seria remembered the exact moment the second light of purification had fallen.
Aren hadn't run.
He had pulled her by the hand, folded her into his arms, and turned his back to take the light in her place.
Seria thought of the promise he had made — to protect her.
He had sworn that even if he became a hero and set off into danger, he would stay by her side his whole life, guarding her.
And so, for the first time, she had prayed to God.
Please, spare Aren's life — take mine instead.
She had begged, offering even her soul, if only Aren could be spared.
But when she opened her eyes again, Aren was gone — nowhere in the world.
"Ha…"
A dry, broken laugh slipped through Seria's lips.
"Haha…"
Was this some cruel joke?
She looked down at the mark engraved in her palm.
The Mark of the Saintess, blazing in brilliant gold.
The longer she stared at that light, the more it seemed the Goddess was laughing at her despair.
At that moment, a priest standing nearby stepped cautiously forward.
"Your Holiness, Saintess — it is time. We must go out soon."
"Saintess, I know this is difficult right now, but…"
"Yes, I understand."
The priest stood before Seria and unfolded a thin white veil.
Woven with the Goddess's emblem in golden thread, it settled over her silver hair.
Once the fabric draped down past her eyes and veiled her face, no one outside could read Seria's expression.
Then a deep hood was drawn over her head, and even her silver hair vanished from sight entirely.
"The veil must not be lifted until the enthronement is complete."
Beyond her blurred vision, Seria stared at the great doors of the cathedral, closed fast.
The Pope nodded, and the massive doors began to open, slow and solemn.
Dazzling light poured inside.
Bells hanging from the ceiling tolled in unison, and the choir's song filled the Great Cathedral to its vaulted heights.
She had something she needed to do.
That was the reason she had accepted this hateful power.
Wiping away the tears streaming down her face with her sleeve, Seria walked after the Pope.
On either side, countless worshippers knelt and turned their eyes toward her.
Some wept; some clasped their hands together, crying out that they had witnessed a miracle of God.
But Seria met none of their gazes.
She hadn't stood here to become the Saintess they were hoping for.
There was only one thing Seria wanted.
To make those who killed Aren pay the price.
When they reached the altar, the Pope turned to face the congregation.
"On the day Eden Village was trampled beneath the hands of demons, a girl received the Goddess's revelation in the depths of her despair."
The voices that had filled the cathedral fell silent.
Thousands of gazes converged on Seria all at once.
She slowly lifted her head.
"Even in the moment her own life hung in the balance, she prayed to save the lives of others."
The Pope raised a silver crown that rested upon the altar.
"And at last, the Goddess bestowed upon her the miracle of light."
The cold crown settled onto Seria's head.
"As the representative of God, I hereby proclaim—"
The cathedral bells rang out once more with the Pope's voice.
"A new Saintess has been born unto the Arcadia Empire."
The Great Cathedral erupted with a roar of celebration.
"May the blessing of God be upon Arcadia!"
Seria slowly raised her eyes to the ceiling.
A colossal statue, carved in the likeness of the Goddess's face, looked down upon her.
She did not look away from its gaze.
And before she opened her mouth one final time, Seria clutched the wooden ring one more.
Seria had resolved to become the Saintess.
She had wanted to erase this hateful mark — but there was something she could do only as the Saintess.
The extermination of the Demon King.
Because she could never forgive the ones who had made the person she loved most in the world die.
"The monsters destroyed my home."
Seria's voice rang out across the entire cathedral.
"They took my family and my neighbors, and they killed the person I treasured most in this world."
Her throat tightened again, and she nearly broke into sobs.
But she gritted her teeth and held on.
Aren had smiled to reassure her until his very last moment.
Then she had to be strong, too.
"I will pass judgment upon every monster that exists in this world."
The Great Cathedral shook with cheering, but Seria heard none of it.
Clutching only the wooden ring, she called out one person's name in her heart.
Aren, just wait a little longer.I'll kill every one of the demons who took you from me.And when it's all over… I'll come back to your side.I'm sorry I couldn't keep our promise.So until then, just a little… just a little longer, wait for me.
