Part 2, Chapter 29
Part 2, Chapter 29
Translation: godsn
The corridors of the Valdina Detached Palace.
Even at this late hour, the lights of the Detached Palace remained lit. Celebratory guests and palace attendants bustled endlessly through the halls.
In an unseen blind spot at the far end of the corridor, where none could spot them, two elongated shadows stretched across the dimly lit floor.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Theo."
Saya was the first to speak.
A badge denoting her affiliation with the Valdina Royal Family was pinned to her chest.
"You said you were going to the Holy Kingdom. It seems things turned out as you said."
"...Yeah. Saya, you look well. That's a relief."
A voice deeper than it had been three years ago flowed out.
The lamplight cast shadows across the face of the knight clad in cream-colored uniform.
Three years ago, the young boy who had shouted rebellion amidst the ranks of the rebels had now reappeared—as a member of the Holy Kingdom.
And not just any member, but as a Holy Knight sworn to protect the Saintess.
Saya gazed at her twin brother, who had grown taller and sturdier.
The young and beautiful Holy Knight exuded an aura of devoutness and strength.
"I heard the Holy Knights mainly hunt Magic Beasts."
"That's right. In this barren land abandoned by the Goddess, it is our mission to protect the people and eradicate evil in Her stead."
"......"
"Just as you chose to stand by the Princess's side, I, too, have found my purpose. I intend to dedicate the rest of my life to this place."
Theo calmly recalled the days after he had left Saya behind.
"Don't rationalize yourself through me!"
"Should I be grateful that you valued my life over your fake rebellion?"
Three years ago, when his only sister had pointed out his contradictions without holding back, he had been unable to shake off the shock for a long time.
'What was I even trying to do?'
Amidst his faded dreams and surging regret, he had staggered out of Valdina.
But the road to the Holy Kingdom was treacherous.
The sweltering heat, the scorching sun, and the Magic Beasts that appeared without warning—all sought to tear at his flesh and sink their fangs into his throat.
Yet, not even the threat of death could torment Theo. He was already in hell.
Closing his eyes, he remembered.
The severed head of the Rebel Army leader, spurting blood as it fell. The rebel soldiers swept away like withered leaves.
And clearest of all—the Princess's all-knowing, all-seeing green eyes gazing down at him.
That chilling gaze still felt like a noose tightening around his neck.
'What do I even have left now?'
He had run without rest, yet his breath was ragged, his throat parched. He had never once paused, yet nothing remained in his hands.
Not the revolution, not his convictions, not even his only flesh and blood.
He wandered aimlessly. Like a buoy adrift in a boundless sea, he had no idea where to go.
'Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just disappear like this.'
The moment the gaping maw of a colossal Magic Beast opened wide to swallow him whole, he felt, if anything, a sense of relief that the end had come.
"Are you awake?"
"Where... is this...? Why did you save me? Why, when I never asked for it—!"
By chance, the Holy Knights, on their way to exterminate the Magic Beasts, had found him and taken him in.
"Young one, what weighs so heavily on you? You still have the vigor of youth. If you suffer, offer yourself to the Goddess. She will not forsake you. You are not alone."
"Ugh... Ughh...!"
The Knight Commander had recognized the glimmer of potential in Theo's hollow, emaciated face—his eyes still luminous despite his wretched state.
"And in Her stead, you will protect the suffering humanity of this land."
And so, Theo joined the Holy Knights.
By day, he fought Magic Beasts and waged holy war. By night, he sought answers in scripture.
'I will offer everything to the Goddess.'
The tormenting anguish, the inescapable regret, the burning thirst of unfulfilled desires—all of it.
'Yes, what need was there to search for a reason?'
The Goddess would surely show him the way.
And so, he willingly shouldered the new mission bestowed upon him.
Thus, religion became the new driving force that sustained Theo.
"Saya."
He lifted his head to look at the sibling who had grown slightly since he last remembered her.
"I'm fine now. I've shaken off that day. So you should forget about it too."
"......"
"I won't cling to you anymore just because we share blood."
Saya, too, remembered her brother's face from three years ago—twisted beyond recognition.
The devout holy knight before her now had changed so much that it was hard to imagine he was the same boy who had once uttered such anguished words.
"Only now can I fully understand what you said back then. Perhaps... the paths we were meant to walk were different from the very beginning."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Saintess is the one who will save this world. Assisting her is the Goddess's will—the mission bestowed upon me."
Just as Saya had found her place beside Medeia, Theo too had found his own.
"Wait, Theo—"
Her brother's demeanor resembled that of High Priest Paolo, who blindly sought to ingratiate himself with the Saintess.
Saya frowned.
"Doesn't this seem strange to you? You were at that banquet too. The Goddess's will? How can you be so sure? The Saintess—that woman is a bit—"
"Enough! Do you think I don't know that Princess Valdina—your precious mistress—deliberately tried to corner the Saintess?"
Theo shot back sharply. Saya didn't hold back either.
"Corner her? Do you even realize that Saintess was trying to frame Her Highness? That woman—!"
"Saya, if you're trying to sow discord, stop right there. No matter what you say, our faith won't be shaken."
"Theo!"
"One thing is certain: the Goddess has chosen the Saintess. She is the one we've been waiting for—the only one who can save this world from destruction."
Saya faltered.
Her brother truly, firmly believed that the Saintess was the savior sent by the Goddess.
What difference is there between that and the convictions of those rebels you once believed in?
Saya swallowed the words that threatened to spill out.
"So go and deliver this message. If your precious mistress dares to scheme against the Saintess again—if she tries to shake the foundations of our Holy Kingdom with her deceit—"
Theo paused, his gaze turning icy as he looked at his sister.
"You, and she, will pay the price without fail."
As if his business there was concluded, he left without hesitation.
Watching her brother walk away, Saya felt a momentary dizziness.
Still, he was her only flesh and blood.
Even if their bond had been severed, she couldn't deny the faint thread of affection that remained.
It was unsettling enough to see her brother again after not knowing whether he was dead or alive—but to see him place such unwavering faith in that utterly sinister Saintess...
"Theo, just what in the world...?"
Saya's long sigh dissolved into the thick twilight settling over the land.
But she didn't know.
Contrary to his cold dismissal of their reunion, Theo's face was a portrait of utter turmoil.
It was the Princess's doing.
Theo, too, had witnessed the Goddess Statue suddenly weeping tears of blood in the banquet hall.
While others gasped in shock and horror, his eyes had immediately sought out Medeia.
Medeia. That woman orchestrated this.
Then the First Prince of Kazen appeared, and the situation shifted in an instant.
In the worst possible direction for Saint Rachel.
"No... this can't be. It's a fake. She wouldn't reject me. I'm the Saintess, how could—"
It was as if a spider's web was tightening around Rachel, strand by strand.
That was when their eyes met.
"......"
The moment he met those piercing green eyes that seemed to bore coldly into him even from a distance, Theo became certain. That this entire situation had been meticulously calculated by her fingertips.
Because he knew. Because he had experienced it firsthand.
Three years ago, when he'd been torn between the rebels and his sister, had he too turned as deathly pale as the Saintess now?
Princess Valdina did not avert her eyes.
She remained unshaken, as if it made no difference whether Theo realized the truth or not.
No—had his very existence ever held even the slightest influence over that woman to begin with?
In the end, he was the first to look away.
His fingertips trembled. A long-forgotten fear surged up within him.
It felt as if he—not the Saintess—had become the one ensnared in the spider's web tightening around them.
That was why he could do nothing. Despite all his reverence for the Goddess and worship of the Saintess.
His devout faith, built over three years of walking the razor's edge, had ultimately failed to overcome the colossal wall that was Medeia.
He felt ashamed of his own weakness—and simultaneously enraged.
Why, of all things, could he never free himself from Medeia's influence?
Then, and now.
'I mustn't waver. I can't let that woman shake my life again.'
Theo bit his lip.
He struggled desperately to erase that tiny, vividly etched face that refused to fade from his mind.
"Theo, you're just in time. I must meet with the High Priest now, so you'll escort the Saintess back to her quarters."
Leonor, commander of the Holy Knights, spotted Theo and beckoned him.
In truth, attending to the Saintess was a duty reserved only for veteran knights of the order.
That she entrusted this role to Theo—some seasoned knights recognized it meant the commander saw him not merely as trustworthy, but as a potential successor.
"I'm counting on you."
Unaware of Theo's hesitation, the commander patted his shoulder. He swallowed a sigh and nodded.
"Yes, Commander."
The whirlwind of confusion in his chest was hidden beneath the young knight's devout and expressionless face.
"I leave it to you, Sir Theo."
Rachel smiled faintly at Theo.
Her golden hair shimmered in the sunlight. Her pale skin glowed with an even more sacred radiance.
A dazzling halo seemed to envelop the Saintess like a rising sun.
'Who could deny she is the Goddess's Representative?'
Theo felt a rebellious impulse rising in his chest—along with faint guilt for ultimately turning away from the Saintess out of fear of the princess.
"Yes, Theo of the Faith. I shall serve the Saintess until my dying breath, in accordance with the Goddess's will."
Rachel's eyes widened slightly in surprise, then she beamed.
"Thank you, Sir Theo. I too shall protect the people of this land and convey the Goddess's will until my dying breath. No hardship or thorny path will ever make me falter."
Perhaps recalling recent events, her eyes glistened briefly with moisture. But she blinked away the tears and spoke resolutely.
"That is... the mission the Goddess has given me. The reason I stand here as 'Saintess.'"
"...Yes, Your Holiness. I will stand with you."
'O Goddess. I shall not waver again. I will walk solely in Your path.'
In that moment, Theo made a silent vow.
Never again would he recall those emerald eyes. Never again would he tremble before that silent aura.
But as always, human vows were fickle things, and the future remained shrouded in chaos where not an inch ahead could be seen—such was the law of the mortal realm.