The Most Curious News
"My daughter, what are your thoughts?"
"As I mentioned before, Father, I'm prepared to follow whatever you say."
"……."
In the midst of this desperate and urgent situation, he'd momentarily forgotten. What state Ferne was truly in now.
The Saint King gazed at Ferne, who stood veiled and motionless like a golem awaiting her next command, before shifting his eyes forward.
"Hoo... Truly, nothing about you from beginning to end meets my approval."
His grip tightened unconsciously on the armrest. All those priests he'd sacrificed, even his own daughter, to erase from the continent the subtle reputation that the Holy Kingdom of Harennes relied solely on the remnants of its past glory and prestige.
The Saintess Project they'd launched with such resolve had produced nothing more than a doll—one that had lost nearly all sense of self, obeyed only its master's words, and wielded divine power dozens of times greater than a cardinal's. Not even worthy of being called a lump of holy power.
And even the miracles of the Saintess, once used to sway countless kingdoms and factions, had now completely run dry.
"Hoo……."
Saint King Benedict let out another soul-deep sigh, pressing his throbbing temple as he stared silently at the round table hurtling toward catastrophe.
The sight of them tearing into each other just to survive was both laughable and utterly pathetic. Yes... no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't entrust the Holy Kingdom's future entirely to these fools.
To these trash, blinded by petty power and concerned only with saving their own skins, he couldn't possibly seek a solution.
In that case, in this situation, there was only one being who could provide him a way out.
Benedict slowly turned his gaze once more to the doll standing rigidly at his side—Ferne.
'I have to use this child somehow.'
His daughter, whom he'd forced under strict orders into a lover's relationship with Kail for the revival of Harennes and the perfect downfall of the fake hero.
No matter how she'd been discarded as a fake hero and filled with venomous resentment.
If the woman who'd once shared his bed and given him her heart begged him, that man would surely waver in the end.
'I can just cut ties by saying the ugly alliance with the demon clan was the arbitrary decision of those barking idiots over there.'
If he pretended he'd been ignorant of the truth to the end, portraying himself as a noble yet powerless Saint King caught in the conspiracy of the archbishops and cardinals, surrendering in that guise... there was surely a path to evade the Empire's wrath and preserve his life.
Having finished his calculations, Benedict masked his face with a gentle smile and slowly opened his mouth.
"Enough. Doesn't the Cardinal of Judgment have a point? With the Holy Kingdom's preservation as our top priority, withdrawing to the rear could indeed be one option."
To outward ears, it sounded utterly benevolent and mild, but hidden within was a cunning spark.
The archbishops' faces flushed red and purple as they erupted in fierce opposition, while the cardinals grew even more arrogant, emboldened by the Saint King's apparent support.
Confirming that the rift between the two factions had widened to an irreparable chasm, Benedict let out a quiet chuckle inwardly.
"Since we can't narrow our opinions, let's end today's meeting here. God's will shall guide us."
As if he had no intention of stooping to their mudslinging any longer, he rose from the throne.
Ferne followed silently in his shadow, mirroring her father—no, her master's—movements.
It was just as the Saint King turned toward the grand doors of the council chamber.
"Your Holiness!"
An elderly archbishop, blissfully ignorant of the Holy Kingdom's dark truths, rushed forward desperately, blocking Benedict and Ferne's path.
With eyes brimming with desperation, he looked up at Benedict—no, at the pristine veiled Saintess behind him—and pleaded.
"When, oh when, will the Saintess's new miracle bloom again? If only her miracle were here, we could draw back even those heretics who've sided with the Empire into the Holy Kingdom's embrace...!!"
"……."
Benedict paused at the archbishop's earnest plea.
Then, perfectly concealing his true feelings, he offered a smile more serene and compassionate than any in the world—one so merciful it could be mistaken for God's own proxy.
"Don't worry too much."
Benedict patted the archbishop's shoulder lightly and whispered softly.
"At the latest, within a month. I'm certain we can manifest the power of the Creator God itself within that time... so please, hold firm for just one month without worry."
Leaving behind consolation laced with lies and deception, Benedict brushed past the archbishop without a second glance.
Soon, the sound of the council chamber doors opening and closing echoed, and Ferne, bearing the names of Saint King and Saintess, vanished completely.
Four days had passed since leaving the Einiss Magic Kingdom and heading toward the Jeres Kingdom, which was in the midst of being annexed by the Failer Empire.
In that time, we'd undergone some fairly significant changes.
Well, the carriage interior, which had felt awkward with just Selina and Raysilla, was a bit less awkward now? Or perhaps because White Purification had grown another step while treating Adelin, the practice runs using Selina as a test subject—preparations to fully sever the Demon King's fragment from Raysilla's soul—were progressing nicely?
Those were meaningful changes, of course, but the biggest one was undoubtedly this:
Thanks to Adelin, who wielded Jewel Magic stronger than any spell, Raysilla was now perfectly safe from any threat.
...So, yeah, I owed her a proper thank-you for that.
Lost in thought while blankly gazing at the moonlight from inside the emerald, I turned my head to look at Adelin, who was reading her grimoire.
"…?"
Sensing my gaze, Adelin lifted her eyes from the book and met mine right away.
She stared at me wordlessly for a moment before tilting her head slightly and asking,
"Do you have something to say?"
"…."
For a split second, I hesitated inwardly. The timing felt off for a direct thank-you, and more than that, the words wouldn't come easily.
In the end, I awkwardly shifted my gaze to the thick book in her hands.
"Nah. Just wondering what grimoire you're reading so seriously."
It was a light small talk tossed out to ease the awkward air.
Adelin relaxed her expression at my words, stroking the cover of the grimoire.
"Oh, this? I'm trying to analyze the All Corruption Fall curse spreading through the Dersian Kingdom in advance…."
It was just as she started to explain the grimoire's contents in earnest.
Thud, rustle.
"Big brother, we're back."
Raysilla and Selina, arms full of firewood for the campfire and fruits gathered from the forest, entered the emerald's entrance.
Raysilla flashed me a bright smile, then turned to Selina, who was grunting behind her as she shifted the load, and issued commands like she was ordering a pet cat.
"Put the fruits down carefully so they don't get squished... over there... stack the firewood... ah, without kicking up dust."
"Yeah, got it…."
Whether she'd already been trained or not, Selina obediently placed the fruits and firewood on the floor, ears drooping slightly like a deflated cat, without protest.
Raysilla came straight to my side and sat down, glancing between me and Adelin before asking,
"What were you two talking about? I wanna join."
With Selina naturally joining in too, we kindled a campfire in the center of the massive emerald hideout Adelin had created and sat in a circle around it.
It had been so long. It felt almost like an illusion, back to those hero party days of camping and getting to know each other from scratch.
Crackle, pop.
Over the sound of the burning wood, the three women's voices overlapped.
Selina tried her best to join the conversation, watching for cues; Adelin responded calmly; Raysilla chimed in occasionally while munching deliciously on an apple.
But as I watched that peaceful scene, my insides grew steadily colder.
'….'
From a corner of my heart, the black, sticky emotion I'd barely managed to forget began to creep up slyly.
Memories of being thoroughly used and betrayed. The despair and isolation of being abandoned on the Tarnas Ice Plains.
I felt a surge of anger disrupting my breath. But I couldn't let it show. If I scowled or snapped here, Raysilla—who looked happier than usual—would notice right away.
So, I rose naturally from my seat.
"Gonna hit the bathroom real quick."
Confirming no one suspected my calm excuse, I stepped out of the emerald hideout.
The night air was refreshingly cool. Chilly, but just right—not quite short-sleeve weather.
Leaning against a tree trunk a short distance from the hideout, I watched the silhouettes of the three chatting warmly beyond the transparent emerald wall for a moment.
The campfire's red glow flickered, warmly illuminating their faces.
Gazing at that serene light, one person's face suddenly flashed through my mind.
The party priestess who'd first taught me what it felt like to like someone. And the overwhelming emotion of love—Ferne.
I slowly turned my head toward the direction where the Harennes Holy Kingdom lay.
'Why, of all things... do you bring no helpful news before or after that day?'
The intel network info Selina had passed me earlier, and the details Adelin had separately investigated and given me in the Einiss Magic Kingdom, were chillingly identical.
The shocking fact that she was the Saint King's own daughter.
And that, from a very young age, the girl named Ferne had lacked her characteristic lively, free-spirited vibe.
Back then, the Holy Kingdom's internal assessment had been a complacent guess: that she'd simply matured early as a priestess.
But what bothered me most was the final piece of intel.
After that day when I was branded the fake hero and fell... Ferne hadn't appeared in any official capacity even once.
Rumors even swirled in some circles that she might have an incurable disease.
"Are you really dying? Do you carry something dangerous inside you, like Adelin or Selina?"
The murmur that slipped out unbidden scattered futilely into the night breeze.
I continued staring blankly at the dark sky for a long while. Countless thoughts churned my mind, but they were questions with no answers.
"Sigh... haa."
Finally, I took a deep breath in, then exhaled long and slow, steadying my rattled mind.
'No, whatever it is... I'll meet her one more time and settle everything.'
Whether it be a toxic bond, hidden deception, or another despair—it didn't matter. The period at the end of the story I started had to be placed by my own hand.
'And the same goes for them.'
I peeled my back from the tree trunk and turned toward the emerald hideout again.
Beyond the transparent gem wall, I could see Adelin and Selina chatting animatedly with Raysilla.
"… What choice will I make in the final moment?"
Right now, even that had no clear answer. The rage and hatred that had bound my entire body moments ago had subsided once more….