To the Church Headquarters (2)
‘Saintess.’ Sera mumbled the word to herself a few times under her breath.
……It didn’t suit her. No matter how much she thought about it, it felt like a term worlds away from someone like her.
The saintess in Sera’s mind was someone who wore dazzlingly white robes and bestowed blessings upon the people. Holy, compassionate, and… utterly pure, without a single blemish. Someone might smirk bitterly at that description, but at least that’s how it existed in Sera’s head.
“……”
Sera lowered her gaze to her own hands. Hands reddened and swollen from scrubbing tables with rags every day and washing greasy dishes. They were far too rough for a girl on the cusp of eighteen. But Sera was proud of these hands. She didn’t have to sell coquettish smiles to sleazy men or trade her purity to scrape by. As long as she could buy Elijah clothes with the money she earned herself, eat something tasty now and then, and fall asleep in the same bed with him, that was enough.
The calluses she felt when stroking Elijah’s hand as he slept gave her a strange sense of camaraderie. That’s why the word saintess felt all the more alien.
“Make way.”
A priest’s voice pulled Sera from her reverie. She looked up. Elijah had already stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
“…I’ve never heard of two saintesses appearing at once.”
Elijah was radiating a ferocious intensity that felt utterly foreign. Even so, his back somehow seemed warm and reassuring to Sera. She recalled the beam of light pouring from the heavens. The moment sound had vanished and her vision turned blindingly white. And…
‘…….’
She hadn’t told Elijah, worried it would only make him fret, but she could still feel it even now with her eyes closed. Something overflowing from within her. A power surging and sloshing inside her body like waves. She had no concrete memory of it, but that energy must have been what slew the demon and healed Elijah’s wounds.
……She felt an inexplicable certainty about it.
“Watch your words. Do you intend to defy the goddess’s will?”
The priest’s retort snapped Sera’s wandering mind back to reality. The room had grown thick with sharp tension. She spotted holy knights shifting their hands toward their swords.
‘No……!’
Sera clenched her fists without realizing it. No matter how strong Elijah was, he couldn’t take on a group of holy knights. And even if he did win, it would only spell trouble. The church wouldn’t let an excommunicated man who’d picked a fight with them walk away unscathed. Besides, wasn’t he already covered in injuries?
Sera didn’t want a single new wound on Elijah’s body. At that point, whether she was truly a saintess or not didn’t matter anymore. They looked ready to drag her away with Elijah out of the picture. So she had to stop that from happening.
Fortunately, Sera was quick on the uptake. Shrewdly so.
“……Everyone, stop.”
Sera quietly slipped down from the bed. She glanced at Elijah. Bewilderment was plain on his face. She stepped in front of the priest.
“I’ll go.”
“Sera!”
Elijah urgently grabbed her shoulder. Sera turned back with a faint smile.
“It’s okay, oppa.”
“But……!”
Elijah bit his lip and stepped back at her plea to trust her. Sera slowly turned her head and addressed the bowing priest.
“But I have a condition.”
“A condition, you say……?”
“You said I was chosen as saintess because of the light the goddess sent down, right?”
The priest had indeed said that. Everyone in the empire had seen the goddess’s light, and even the Pope had received a divine oracle. So.
“That light saved oppa too. Doesn’t that mean he’s part of the goddess’s will as well? There must be a reason she saved someone on the brink of death, right?”
The priest looked up.
“So if I have to go to the church, it only makes sense that oppa comes with me.”
“That’s……”
“What? Are you going to defy the goddess’s will now?”
Sera forced her trembling voice steady as she spoke. The priest, handed his own words back at him, promptly shut his mouth. He exchanged glances with the other priests before slowly replying.
“……Could you give us a moment to discuss?”
Sera nodded. The priests and holy knights filed out, closing the door behind them. Only then did Sera exhale the breath she’d been holding.
Honestly, she had no idea if this would work. It was pure intuition—a gamble. But the bewilderment blooming on the priest’s face was unmistakable. No matter what they decided, Elijah wouldn’t come to harm now.
Sera considered that more than enough of a victory.
“……Sera.”
“Eek!”
A low voice from behind her. Sera jumped like a startled cat.
“Y-you scared me, oppa.”
Calming her pounding heart, she turned—and froze solid.
‘Ah…….’
Sera swallowed unconsciously. Elijah wasn’t smiling or angry. He was simply gazing at her with eyes brimming with sorrow, as if he might crumble any second.
“……Why’d you do that?”
Elijah’s voice was low. His eyes stayed fixed on her, yet seemed to stare off into the distance. It was an expression he’d never shown her before. Sera averted her gaze without thinking.
“……We’re family, aren’t we?”
Her halting words dissolved into the air. Sera fidgeted with her fingertips, stealing glances at Elijah’s reaction.
“…….”
Elijah said nothing. The silence stretched longer than expected. In the end, he moved first. He approached her, matching her eye level, and stared for a long moment. A flicker of guilt passed through his eyes.
“……I’m sorry.”
An apology slipped from Elijah’s lips. His hand trembled faintly as it gently stroked her cheek. Sera shook her head—she didn’t want to hear it.
Why was he apologizing? She was the one who’d stubbornly pushed her own way. But seeing the deep turmoil in his eyes, Sera couldn’t muster a word.
The priests returned after night had deepened. The one in white robes spoke with a stiff expression.
“……His Holiness said the saintess’s will must be the goddess’s arrangement. He won’t withdraw the request.”
“Then……!”
Color bloomed on Sera’s face. Without so much as glancing at Elijah, the priest continued.
“However, the excommunication remains in effect. Once in the capital, he’ll be confined to a separate isolation zone under constant surveillance. The church will provide no meals or living necessities—handle them yourself.”
A declaration tantamount to imprisonment and slow starvation, dressed up in flowery words. Sera bristled to protest, but Elijah firmly pressed her shoulder.
“Understood.”
His voice was calm. Sera stared at his profile, but couldn’t fathom what he was thinking. The Elijah before her felt so different from the one she knew.
The church’s carriage raced on without rest for days. Sera barely touched the provided food. Her stomach churned at the thought of Elijah.
What was he eating, locked in the rear carriage? Were the knights tormenting him? Her worries spiraled endlessly as the scenery outside shifted. They left the small town behind, passed peaceful country roads, and entered the gleaming gates of the capital city.
People lining the streets knelt and prayed toward the carriage. Word of the new saintess aboard had them weeping, begging for salvation. Sera felt a pang of bitterness at the sight.
What faces would they make if they knew she’d been scrubbing dishes in a tavern just days ago?
‘Saintess.’
Still, no matter how she repeated it, the word didn’t fit her.
Before long, the procession climbed a hill. Sera gazed at the towering buildings lining the road, an inexplicable unease stirring within her. At last, the carriage halted.
Before the door even opened, Sera bolted out—and found herself before the pitch-black iron gates of the Imperial Palace. Beyond them loomed a massive church crowned with a golden dome.
Sera’s eyes flew to the end of the line. Holy knights were unlocking the latch on Elijah’s carriage. The door swung open, and he emerged in rumpled clothes. His face was gaunt, but his eyes burned with life.
Elijah squinted against the pouring sunlight, spotted Sera, and gave a nod. Only then did she exhale the breath she’d held.
“Saintess, this way.”
A priest blocked her path, gesturing toward the palace. Nobles in finery and high church officials crowded the grand entrance. And at the center stood a woman.
Jet-black hair cascaded softly over pristine white saintess robes. Amber eyes that seemed to pierce the soul, shrouded in mystery. Even the deep fatigue shadowing her face couldn’t dim her innate beauty. If anything, her fragile, breakable air fiercely stirred men’s protective instincts.
That had to be the saintess. Sera had never seen one before, but she knew it at first glance.
And with that realization, she found herself furtively checking Elijah’s reaction. His gaze was fixed on the woman too.
In that instant, Sera felt an indescribable sensation. As if she didn’t belong here, intruding on something.
The saintess approached slowly. Her eyes were on Sera, but Sera could tell they were aware of Elijah. For some reason, it irked her. Images of brothel women flashed unbidden—craving men’s affection, yearning for their favor. Strangely, they overlapped with the saintess in her mind.
‘No, what am I even thinking…….’
Sera shook her head slightly. How rude, imagining that about a stranger. And a saintess, no less. Someone lofty and noble, worlds away from filthy places like that.
The woman before her parted her lips.
“Welcome, goddess’s new daughter.”
Her voice was clear and crystalline. Yet for some reason, a chill raced down Sera’s spine the moment she heard it.
Sera met those impassive eyes head-on, feigning nonchalance. She plastered on an exaggerated smile.
“Nice to meet you, Saintess.”