230. The One Who Crowns
230. The One Who Crowns
- 1 -
Moonlight shining in the night sky illuminated her golden hair.
Her blonde hair, naturally pale in saturation, shone as white as silver.
"Huu..."
She drew a deep breath.
Though it hadn't been long since she'd escaped the Duke's ballroom, the stifling air already felt impossibly distant.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"Think nothing of it."
Nevan—no, the woman who had revealed her true name as Evangeline—had answered, but Esther wrestled with her own foreboding.
Was following these strangers truly the right thing to do?
Yet her soul was whispering that this path was the correct one.
And, indeed, she began to feel something.
"Something is..."
In her white eyes tinged with holy light, a strange gleam arose.
"Do you feel it?"
"...Yes."
Esther nodded, slightly awkwardly, to Yuran, who had interjected as if she'd been waiting.
It was something she couldn't deny.
After all, she had a strong intuition that she was now approaching the source of the 'revelation' she had failed to find even after scouring the capital for days.
The reason she felt awkward, however, wasn't because of Yuran's attitude, but something else.
"It really was here..."
She had held a prejudice about what 'divine revelation' meant.
A fantasy that the source of the revelation would, just as Esther herself had when she became a saint, be a being who shone highest from the lowest place.
But that fantasy had been utterly shattered.
'So that's why I couldn't find it.'
Now she understood why—because the closer she drew to the street lined with noble palaces and mansions, the stronger the pull of the revelation grew.
In a way, the source of the revelation was actually the being most suited to her fantasy, but the Esther of this moment couldn't know that.
"Now that I think of it, you were a Countess, weren't you..."
At Esther's words, Yuran gave a playful smile.
"Actually, it's a bit different."
"What do you...?"
"You'll know once you enter."
Evangeline said, taking the lead.
Her consistently courteous and gentle attitude would win anyone's favor, but Esther had been sensing it intuitively.
That she was someone who could become even more treacherous than those nobles.
A type of person the old Esther had been thoroughly sick of.
Yet, oddly enough, she felt no particular dislike for what lay beneath the surface.
She knew the reason for that as well.
'A person loyal to one master.'
Because Evangeline's heart depicted unwavering devotion.
"We're here."
This outwardly quiet woman who harbored a storm within was the same.
The reason this woman, who seemed as if she would dye her surroundings in flames and blood if things went wrong, could calm her heart and maintain composure was just one.
'Who is it?'
The more she learned who the recipient of that devotion was, the more curious she became.
What kind of person could command the affection and loyalty of so many capable women?
"Let's hurry... The Master is waiting..."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Hurrying her steps, which had slowed without her realizing it, Esther felt a corner of her heart fluttering with excitement.
It was an emotion she originally shouldn't have harbored.
She was a saint who spread the teachings of the Holy Kingdom and offered prayers every single day.
Yet here she was, her heart racing as she deviated from the direction the Holy Kingdom desired.
But right now, her instincts were overtaking her reason.
"It's truly strange."
"What is?"
Shue quietly asked back.
Her eyes silently gazed at Esther.
"That I am trusting you all, and going to meet your master. But oddly, I'm not afraid."
Evangeline's green eyes held a faint smile.
"It can't be helped. You are..."
She stopped speaking and pointed ahead.
In the dark shadows, a mansion emitting a soft light came into view.
"We've arrived."
The mansion didn't look very large from the outside.
Compared to those of other nobles lining the street, it felt a bit modest.
A noble from outside likely wouldn't have been able to buy a very large mansion.
Even so, to her now, it somehow felt immensely large.
"Huu..."
Esther took a deep breath, feeling the sensation of the 'revelation' pounding even more fiercely.
- Kkaak
At that moment, a crow perched above the main gate flew down and landed on Evangeline's shoulder.
"Mary. Where is the Master?"
- Master. Waiting.
Hearing the cute voice flowing from the crow's beak, Esther's face hardened.
There was something she had only just now properly recognized.
"A demonic beast...?"
Feeling the deep and dark aura of power, Esther drew a sharp breath.
The power the crow possessed was far too vast to dismiss it as a mere beast.
"And the power filling this mansion is... Oh my. How was I failing to feel this power...?"
"Is that so important? Ash."
A hand gently gripped her shoulder.
Esther felt her shoulders flinch and rise.
Because of that gentle and affectionate touch, and the demonic power she felt beyond that soft tone.
"You people... were demons? How did you fool my eyes?"
"We didn't fool you."
"We merely concealed it."
As the women walking beside her began to release the power they'd hidden, a suffocating feeling washed over her.
If she unleashed all her own divine power, she could pass judgment, but this was the middle of a noble district.
There was no telling how many casualties there would be.
"You can't fight here anyway, can you? Ash. Come on. Let's go."
Now, she felt as though she wasn't going to meet a long-awaited presence, but sinking into a quagmire.
But it was already too late.
She looked at the mansion's main gate opening without a sound before her eyes, and felt the 'karma' welcoming her from beyond it.
- 2 -
As the main gate opened, the demonic power slumbering within leaked out.
Black power, and a faintly flowing purple light.
'This is...'
Her heart throbbed.
Instinctively, she drew upon her holy power.
A sacred light tried to flare up inside her body.
"Calm yourself. Ash."
But that power somehow lost its momentum in the face of Yuran's gentle patting.
Ordinary people, whenever they saw pure demonic power, could only feel it was 'black'.
But to the eyes of a cleric who had reached enlightenment like her, the true nature of that power was visible.
'The power of Gluttony... terrifyingly powerful.'
It was deeper and denser than any demonic energy she had witnessed until now.
Pure darkness itself, on a completely different level from the power of accursed demon tribes.
She had to purify this in the name of God.
But her steps were moving forward, as if drawn by the darkness.
"This way."
Evangeline took the lead.
Seeing Yuran and Shue take positions beside her, Esther steeled her heart.
She had followed the 'revelation' here, but no matter how she looked at it, the current situation seemed like she had walked herself to her own grave.
'They are not weak. No, they are strong. They possess a certain 'strength' that can't be measured by quantity of power alone.'
Gauging them with the power God had granted, Esther moved her feet, which refused to falter.
As she was a 'Saintess', it wouldn't be an insurmountable obstacle, but this place was already demon territory.
To overcome this situation, she would certainly have to endure considerable damage herself.
Her own death wouldn't be a problem, but the countless innocents in the vicinity...
'No, were they truly innocent?'
Recalling the gazes of the nobles who had watched her—gazes filled with greed—Esther felt her resolve waver for a moment.
But still, she could set her mind straight again.
Regardless of the nobles, what crime had the countless servants living in their mansions committed?
'It's too late to back down.'
If so, she had to witness the truth of this darkness, and deliver the most powerful blow she could to its source.
That was the duty of a saint...
'...At this moment, am I truly meant to uphold that duty?'
Once again, doubts and suspicion swirled in her heart.
Immediately after, she clenched her hands in front of her, steeling her heart once more.
Deciding to base the standards of her heart not on the Holy Kingdom, but on her own convictions.
Protecting the weak and safeguarding life was not for the Holy Kingdom's sake.
It was because she was a saint.
"Ash. Please don't be like that. We have no intention of harming you."
"Countess."
Yuran was watching her with regretful eyes, but now, in Esther's eyes, even that appeared to be a deceitful performance.
A performance so elaborate it could even deceive the 'Eyes of the Saintess'.
"Yuran. Don't mind her too much..."
"You're being too cold, Shue. How could I not mind?"
Shue encouraged her in her own way, but Yuran deflected it with a somewhat sharper tone, turning worried eyes toward Esther again.
Esther didn't know it, but Yuran was closer to her than the other comrades were.
So she couldn't help but worry.
'...Is it genuine?'
Seeing that, even Esther felt her heart sway somewhat.
No matter how she looked at it, what Yuran was sending her way was sincerity.
A sincerity so pure she would have fallen for it instantly, had she not encountered demon-like beings capable of faking sincerity as a Saintess.
"Don't just stand there, look at this place. It's a temporary residence, but it's been decorated with quite some care. Isn't it a shame not to look at these pretty things?"
At Yuran's words, Esther failed to stop her gaze from turning aside without realizing it.
It felt like if she looked at her face, she would genuinely be 'taken in'.
But seeing the mansion, she inwardly harbored admiration as well.
'It's superior to most nobles.'
On the walls of the hallway they walked through, several paintings were hung.
With every step she took, her heart grew heavier.
Everything inside this mansion was shaking her.
Even the paintings on the walls.
Paintings from which anyone, even the ignorant, could feel 'something'.
They were too perfect to have been painted by human hands, and too familiar to be the work of demons.
'Just like this mansion.'
Esther couldn't tell where her steps were heading.
The further she advanced, the more her sense of self as a 'Saintess' wavered, and within that wavering, another self was revealing its form.
"Some of these were brought from the Demon Realm, but there are also human works among them. Our Master loves beauty without discriminating its essence."
"Beauty, you say..."
Esther muttered cynically. A demon discussing beauty, of all things.
But that sarcasm didn't last long.
A single painting hanging at the end of the hallway seized her gaze.
"This painting is..."
Before her words could even finish, something resonated from deep within her heart.
Like an ancient bell tolling, a deep and distant resonance.
[Your anger is justified. Come to my side. You don't have to hold back.]
'A memory...? No, this is...'
Her mind twisted.
Scenes she had never seen before crashed in like waves.
Sensations not her own, yet so vivid she couldn't ignore them.
Someone's hand was stroking her head.
A gentle, low voice lingered in her ear.
[Ahh... my, my...]
And she... was weeping, kneeling before her.
As reality and memory overlapped, Esther's vision wavered.
"Ugh..."
Her footsteps lost their balance. Yuran swiftly grabbed her arm.
"Just a little further."
"No... this, is..."
Yuran's voice sounded distant. Esther's vision began to blur.
Deep within her, 'something' was awakening.
'Libertas.'
A word she didn't know was being etched into her mind.
It was then.
"Master."
Evangeline's voice was heard.
Esther raised her head. And she saw her.
A garden bathed in moonlight.
At its center, a woman draped in darkness as if it were a cape.
"Ah."
Esther's vision instantly receded, then became clear again.
And in that moment, she realized.
The true identity of the 'revelation' she had sought.
The form of the 'truth' she had so desperately longed for.
'That's right... this was it.'
She knew. No, she didn't know, but her future self knew.
That the holiness of God was falsehood, that everything she had believed in was an illusion.
That while God's power was real, His providence was a lie sweet on the lips.
But she hadn't found a truth to replace it.
So she had continued to spread the Holy Kingdom's teachings and fulfill the duties of a saint.
Even refusing marriage with the Duke, and being excommunicated from the position of Saintess.
"My..."
Esther's lips trembled.
Memories were flowing in.
Memories of 'herself', yet not hers.
Memories from the future.
The loyalty and love she had dedicated to this woman resurfaced.
Along with the infinite trust and affection this woman had bestowed upon her.
"Why are you crying."
Her 'Master's' voice resonated softly.
"You are no longer alone."
Esther fell to her knees on the spot.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Master..."
Her soul screamed out.
"At last... I have returned."
Esther's voice and eyes shook turbulently.
No further words were needed.
Because her tears, and her soul, were saying it all.
The joy of meeting once more the true Master she had failed to protect.
"I have been waiting."
The Master greeted her with a smile.
Midnight, as the day changed. She regained everything.
The darkness was not a target to subjugate.
It was a cradle.