The Proof of Love
Her heart was beating—uselessly fast. The pulse thundered in her ears until she could scarcely make out a word the High Priest was saying.
A shaft of light fell from the window cut into the ceiling. This was the moment of blessing. The sanctuary had gone still, as if holding its breath, and the High Priest's voice rose like a faint echo.
Reading out the final verse, the High Priest lifted his hand and blessed their marriage.
Ah. Without meaning to, Odelli remembered the wedding she had held in the life just before this one. The High Priest had read the very same verse then. That was why her fingers, all on their own, sought the pendant at her throat—Ludville's ring, more precisely, hidden out of sight beneath the dress.
She seemed to stand there blankly, lost, and then—
"Ha."
From right beside her came the sound of Ludville's hollow laugh.
Startled, she looked up. One corner of his mouth had crooked upward. It was an expression she had not seen in some time: a face twisted hard with displeasure.
Catching herself, Odelli dropped her hand.
Did he notice?
She had changed the chain for something delicate enough to match the dress, and the ring itself was covered. It should not have been visible at all. Yet Ludville's gaze stayed fixed, as if nailed there, on the place at her chest where her hand had rested.
An unaccountable anger rose in him, slow and seething. Thoughts leapt like sparks and began to consume him.
Why bring that ring all the way here and wear it at her throat? The token of a man she clearly could not forget? Today, of all days. In front of me, of all people. Even at my own wedding. If she had stepped into this place still cradling that memory of the past……
His heart lurched as if something had clenched around it. Jealousy, desire, the hunger to possess, and a longing he could not name tangled until he could no longer tell them apart.
"And last, before God, the proof of love……"
In the next instant, Ludville moved. His hand seized Odelli hard about the waist and pulled her in. Her eyes flew wide.
Without the slightest warning, his mouth came down over hers. It was the kind of kiss that seemed ready to steal even her breath.
The bells announcing the blessing mingled with the guests' startled, stifled hush. Too sudden, too fierce—perhaps even too rude. And yet to anyone watching from outside, it would have looked like nothing more than the kiss of lovers burning for each other.
In truth, it was a brand, pressed into her once more to confirm that she was his.
What began like a predator taking its prey gradually slowed. And deepened. As if to make certain. As if to hold her fast against him.
Don't run.
Don't forget.
You are marrying me. Right now.
Every movement, endlessly hungry for her, seemed to say as much.
For an instant, Odelli's eyelids trembled.
But this ring is yours……
The absurd misunderstanding only sank deeper, and the misery of it was that she could not explain it to Ludville—that there was no way to explain it at all.
Just then, as if the sun had shifted, a single beam falling through the stained glass wrapped the two of them like a blessing.
After the wedding, the guests waited, still wrapped in the afterglow of the blessing, for the warp portal to be prepared. At last they were to move on to the reception laid out at the Archducal Castle.
Damn it. What in the world went wrong?
Gawin slipped quietly away under cover of the confusion in the sanctuary. He approached a priest still lingering on the grounds and spoke in a low voice.
"During the ceremony, I sensed a strange reaction of mana near the magic circle. The cause ought to be confirmed. Would you guide me for a moment?"
"A-a mana reaction? Is that true?"
"A very faint one. It is quite possible I was simply being oversensitive. Still, one never knows."
The authority of the hero house's eldest son—and, beyond that, his reputation as God's messenger and savior—gave him a pretext that could hardly have been better. The priest showed a moment's hesitation, then bowed his head with careful courtesy.
"Then I must ask you to look into it."
Most of the guests had already gone. Outside, a long line stretched before the warp portal; inside, priests hurried about, drawing back the draperies and putting the ceremonial props in order.
With perfect composure, Gawin followed the priest's guidance toward the corridor behind the altar. Belowground lay a small ritual chamber that managed the magic circle—the very place where, for this wedding, Cardel had hidden a Sacred Relic in order to make Odelli appear unstable.
Ordinarily, only the senior priests of the grand sanctuary were permitted to enter that area. Today, however, on the pretext of preparing the wedding, all control had been temporarily delegated to Exepsion. Cardel, moreover, was the bride's house. On a day like this, the watch was bound to slacken a little, and the priest—complacent in the thought that Cardel, of all houses, would never approach the altar unbidden—opened the way without so much as checking.
"I will go in first."
Gawin continued, perfectly calm.
"There is a chance, however small, that the magic circle truly is unstable. It might even run wild, so I will confirm that it is safe myself. Would you wait outside? It will only take a moment."
The priest, who had been about to follow him in, wavered. But faced with that earnest manner, he nodded and stepped back.
"……Please. I will be waiting just outside."
Leaving the priest behind, Gawin hurried down the stone steps. Whatever had gone wrong, he examined the ceremonial magic circle in urgent haste—and then—
The relic…… is still here.
The Sacred Relic secretly set into the magic circle remained exactly as it was. The Chaos-Tuning Stone: a disruption device that warped the flow of a Purification Ability User's purification power.
House Cardel had spent decades developing the Chaos-Tuning Stone in order to control the Purifier. Its purpose was twofold—to keep the Purifier from turning against the house, and to suppress the purification ability should it run wild past a certain point, so that it would not affect the barrier.
If Exepsion had noticed anything, they would have taken this relic away at once.
Was the Chaos-Tuning Stone not the only relic capable of controlling a Purification Ability User? Even granting that he had married the Purifier out of genuine love, there was no reason he would leave untouched the Chaos-Tuning Stone—her one and only weakness.
Gawin dropped to his knees and looked closely. On the surface, nothing seemed amiss. There was no sign of damage. Then why on earth had it failed to activate?
Puzzled, he bent lower for a closer look, and in that instant a vein stood out on his forehead.
……One of the formulas is missing.
The intricately tangled circuit of formulas linking the relic to the magic circle looked complete at a glance, but one decisive axis was gone. More precisely, a single junction meant to amplify the reaction. Because that part had been omitted with such cunning care, the entire circuit had been rendered powerless.
One ridiculous mistake.
Belloa, you stupid thing…… You couldn't even manage the most basic inspection?
Gawin ground his teeth in fury. Belloa was only the architect of the plan; she had not installed the device on site herself. But as always, his anger sought the easiest target.
In any case, one thing had become certain. The mistake had come from inside Cardel.
He rose slowly, muttering as if he were chewing the words and spitting them out.
……There is still one more chance.
The reception remained.