***
“If you want to cut your limbs, I’ll do it painlessly.”
Devan lightly turned the sword he was holding, then threw it to the floor.
It was a motion that wasn’t anything special, but it was graceful without any unnecessities.
On the sword’s handle, he raised his hands and stared at me intensely.
Of course, his eyes were covered with a cloth, but I could feel his murderous intention somehow.
“If you’re thinking of threatening me with your treatment as a hostage, you’re mistaken.”
I flinched. He seemed to have misunderstood what I was doing. I had taken the preemptive step of harming myself, hoping that I would find out about my collapse during treatment yesterday.
“I know what you misunderstood, but it’s not that. I had to test my divine powers.”
“A test?”
I touched Devan’s chest slightly. Then I closed my eyes and focused.
I felt an outpouring of divine power. A few moments passed, when I opened my eyes, the scar on my palm had disappeared completely.
My body was also fine.
My head didn’t hurt like it did when I treated Devan, and I didn’t break out in a cold sweat. There was some discomfort, but that was all.
Why did I faint yesterday?
If there was a problem with lifting his curse, I was in trouble.
The ten years I had endured might become useless.
“Humph.”
Devan frowned as he put his sword back in place. The smell of blood was unpleasant.
I shrugged my shoulders. It seemed that I acted too impulsively. I should have done it outside or in the bathroom. There was blood on the floor and my clothes were a mess.
****
“I heard the temple was looking for me.”
As soon as I sat down at the dinner table, I asked. Devan took a sip of the soup in front of him and frowned.
“Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?”
He pretended to be unconcerned and started eating again.
“I’m sorry, I can’t send you home. Not until you lift my curse…”
“What? You’re sending me home?”
I opened my eyes wide and looked at him.
“The temple is looking for you. I thought you wanted to leave.”
“No, of course not. Never, never, never send me home. Don’t tell me the temple already knows I’m here.”
“…… I don’t think so.”
I let out a small breath. It wasn’t the worst situation.
I thought slowly as I tossed my fresh-looking salad to the side.
‘How can I hide from the temple completely?’
No, it didn’t even have to be completely. Come to think of it, all I had to do was hide until Devan’s curse was lifted. After that, I would leave the empire anyway.
I didn’t know why the temple was looking for me, but I was sure they wouldn’t follow me to other countries.
“Excuse me.”
Devan’s eyebrows went up quickly with my cheeky tone. But it wasn’t time to care about that.
“Please be careful.”
“What?”
“I heard that you sent out a notice to the estate looking for maids. What rumors do you think it caused in the territory?”
“What rumors?”
He really didn’t seem to know. I was embarrassed to talk about marriage myself.
“You don’t have to know that. Anyway, there are many rumors that a young woman has entered this castle. If the temple hears the rumor.”
“I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”
“I’m worried. It’s my job!”
Devan put his hand on the table and rested his chin on it.
“I’m really curious now. If you need money, wouldn’t it be faster to ask the temple for it?”
I clenched my mouth shut. Because the temple would never give me money.
The external image of the temple within the empire was perfect.
|They gave a place to sleep to those who didn’t have a home, food to those who didn’t have food, and medical treatment to those who were injured.
So no one would believe me if I told them what I went through there.
How the temple treated children with even the slightest amount of divine power, how many children had to labor without rest to treat the injured, and what finally happened to those children….
No one knew the other side of the temple.
Except us, the scapegoats.
“…… You can’t do that. For starters, we made a deal. I will do everything in my power to break His Highness’ curse. So you must help me to leave this empire. Do you understand? You must never let anyone find out that I am here. No one.”
“Even Count Diego?”
I opened my eyes wide.
It couldn’t be, but he was on target, as if he knew something.
When I did not respond, he shook his head lightly.
“As I said, I don’t care about anything as long as you lift my curse. But if you can’t…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“
I felt like I was about to say something deadly, but Devan spoke first.
“When I saw you collapse yesterday, I couldn’t help but worry.”
“… That’s because I haven’t done that in a long time. But you saw it earlier”
I waved a palm with a completely healed wound in front of him.
Oh, but he can’t see. I put my hand down again.
“Are you talking about the smell of blood?”
“Yes. There’s no blood now.”
“Are you familiar with wounds?
“…… No.”
I didn’t have to tell him that I had been beaten by the Count.
I just wanted to be a Goddess in a perfect prophecy.
“In the future, let’s refrain from such ignorance. I don’t even want to smell blood in my house. If you really want, leave it to me.”
Devan gave me an uncomfortable look.
“Next time, I’ll do it in the bathroom.”
“Please don’t.”
I bit my lips in frustration.
“Okay.”
Whatever I was going to do in the bath alone, there was no way he could understand, so I said okay.
“From now on, the maid will help you with your path.”
Devan said as if I smelled bad.
How on earth would he do this if he didn’t like the smell of blood?
I glared at him and at the old butler standing beside him.
“By the way, are you sure there isn’t a single servant in this big castle?”
“We have. There’s your maid.”
“Not her.”
“I don’t like too many people.”
He said casually as he put down his tableware.
“Why? But, it’s uncomfortable. In many ways.”
I wanted to tell him that he was blind, but it would be rude, so I held back.
“It’s hard to remember the sound of footsteps when there are so many people.”
“Oh…”
I made a careless sound and squeezed my mouth shut.
A somewhat awkward silence enveloped the hall.
I wondered what life would be like without eyes. I felt pity for him now and couldn’t help but chuckled bitterly.
Why would I need to feel sorry for him?
At least he wasn’t destined to die under threats and torture. Who would feel sorry for whom?
I raised my head, because I felt that this was really not the time for me to feel sorry for anyone.
“So, if this isn’t important, why is the temple looking for me?”
“I thought you knew…”
“Me?”
Devan slowly cut the meat and put it in his mouth.
“They said they needed you. They want to announce it throughout the Empire.”
The Empire at large?
That was quite unexpected.
It’s been a long time since they sold me out to Count Diego. The entire empire knew about it.
Even if it wasn’t in a negative way like mine, at least they all knew that the Temple hadn’t spoken to me in over a decade.
“What is it? There must be a reason they’re looking for me like this….”
“It must be your power.”
But I didn’t use my power for eight years, and the temple knew that.
If I hadn’t used my divine power for such a long time, the temple would have thought that my divine power had bottomed out.
There weren’t one or two children who had divine power and bottomed out.
I held the fork in my mouth and frowned deeply.
This sudden situation was completely unexpected, and I had no idea what the reason was. I assumed that I was the child the temple had already abandoned. I refused to tangle with them any longer.
“In fact, I was curious about it myself.”
“What is it?”
“Why would the temple suddenly look for you when Count Diego is keeping quiet?”
“So?” What did you find out?”
He put down his fork and knife.
Devan’s plate, was clean and empty, was now full of blood from the meat.
“A certain girl is sick. That’s all about the recent events in the temple.”
“A girl….?”
I felt as if time was slowing down. Devan spoke.
“She has tremendous abilities, just like you. It seems that the temple kept her hidden well until now. I think her name is Cordelia.”
…… What?
I lost strength in my hand without realizing it. The fork fell down and made a loud clanking sound.
The name that came out of Devan’s mouth had a lot more repercussions than I thought.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I’m ….. I made a mistake.”
I swallowed a few times.
The old butler rushed over to clear the dishes. I couldn’t even say thank you, my lips trembled repeatedly.
The butler looked at me with a worried expression.
“You don’t look well, Miss.”
“I’m fine.”
Devan frowned.
“Do you know the name? What does that girl have to do with finding you in the temple?”
Suddenly, I trembled.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you….?”
“Um, I should go into my room now. I’ll come for the treatment in the evening.”
After cutting off Devan’s words, I ran out of the dining room.
Cordelia.
It was her, the female protagonist of this novel.
Unlike me, she was the true protagonist of the prophecy.
…..Cordelia. Her name echoed in my head.