Translator: Wawaa
“Let’s go.”
The banquet would begin soon. Tarragon was a huge Empire and Eunice and Ximena were the nobles of a weak country. In addition to that, they both had no reputation whatsoever and were not properly known to the nobles there. It was only natural for them to be nervous. Eunice stood at the entrance of the banquet hall and gulped out loud.
“Now that I’m here, it’s really no joke.”
Compared to the Emperor of Tarragon’s, the banquet hall of the Hautean Royal Family seemed like a village hall.
This year's banquet hall, opened to the public by the Emperor, was not only wide enough to the point where one could not see the end properly, but it also had dozens of chandeliers and hundreds of magical lightings. The lights embroidered the building splendidly even in the middle of the day, making people feel overwhelmed just by looking at it.
The same went for the interior of the building. Various weapons, statues of heroes, and myth-recorded paintings that symbolised the Tarragon Empire came together to the now-magnificent ceiling.
There were also many nobles. It was indeed an overwhelming number. No matter how splendidly they dressed, they did not think they would stand out among those people at all. Since there were so many people, it felt like an open square rather than a noble banquet.
Eunice muttered with a face saying that she was fed up with the situation.
“He said this place makes you feel like a sitting duck. In a crowded place like this, there must be wild dogs and sons of b*tches walking around pretending they were normal. We have to stick close to Madam Isadora.”
“Who said that?”
“Acerus… I mean, the Crown Prince.”
Eunice was about to call the Crown Prince by his name before she stopped herself. Ximena, who was quickly approaching Isadora, stopped walking and pulled Eunice’s forearm roughly. Then, she whispered into Eunice’s ear.
“Hey, don’t tell me… How far did you go?”
“Where would I go? I’m not going anywhere.”
“I heard you went to the Crown Prince’s castle to drink and didn’t return to the hotel that day, you crazy…”
An extraordinary curse poured out of Ximena’s mouth. Eunice did not deny her friend’s words and just smiled.
“That could easily happen when a young man and woman were left alone and got drunk.”
“Is it over with just a one-night stand?”
“What? Of course. I want to live in peace. Even if I were given the seat next to the Crown Prince, I won’t take it. How can I live when it’s that suffocating?”
“For real?”
“It’s too bad though. Still, there are still so many men with huge pecs in this world so it’s fine.”
“Crazy bish.”
They whispered in a small voice, heard only by each other. They stopped chatting only after standing next to Isadora.
“Fuhh…”
Isadora was looking at the high platform on the inner part of the hall with a hardened face. Her scarlet eyes were full of worries. She must be anxious about Lara’s future, who would soon be labeled as a saintess by these many people. Eunice and Ximena also calmed down and looked only at one place with her.
“Ladies and gentlemen, bow!”
The Emperor appeared then.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Lara stayed in the waiting room, used only by the Imperial family. She was to appear with perfect movement with no less than perfect timing.
“We will make the halo twice. First, when you appear, and second, when you stand next to His Imperial Majesty. Don’t ever forget it. You must be at the appointed place. The aides will open the way. Then, your body will shine during the twelve beats of your heart and it will gradually decrease while going up the platform. And…”
Lara listened and listened to the explanation with a serious face. Just like her, even the sorcerers were nervous. They went back and forth in the room checking the magic spell whenever the Emperor’s aides checked the time and looked around.
“Saintess, this way.”
The aides gestured to Lara. befitting their status as the Emperor’s acolytes, they were people whose emotions were not revealed in their faces and eyes. However, Lara knew. None of them thought of Lara as a real saintess. They just thought that the Emperor made the symbol called the saintess to create comfort for his subjects ahead of the great demon war.
“Lara.”
Demian approached her and reached out his hand. Lara stood up holding his hand and walked out to the hallway where aides and knights were fiercely on guard. Lara’s fingertips were as cold as ice. Demian looked at her with a surprised look.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you would do this without blinking…”
“That’s also what I’d initially thought.”
“But?”
“It’s because of Crown Prince Acerus.”
“What’s with that bastard?”
“He said that I have to be someone who gives courage to all those people…”
Lara had lived numerous days as a saintess in her previous life. However, until now, that title had never felt so scary.
The last bastion. The belief that God loves and cares for humans. That was what a saintess was. The words that Acerus had said before he left for the battlefield did not leave Lara’s ears all throughout the preparation for the banquet.
‘Can I do it?’
She came all the way there with the determination to change the future for her people, rather than thinking of protecting the world. But now, she really had to be the one who saved the world.
God’s vicegerent. A symbol of a miracle.
“Those people will definitely love me just because I’m the saintess. Why then, did I not know how scary and burdensome it was?”
People would put meaning to her actions, even to something as minuscule as a mere blink. Each and every word of her’s would have an influence. She could comfort someone just by breathing and everything she came close to would have power. The Emperor wanted to put Lara by his side to prevent the influence from heading to the corrupted temple as much as possible.
“It’s okay.”
Demian gently swept her back.
“You have me, you have your lazy God, and you also have your mother. There’s the 2,000 Barbarians, your friends, the young princess who is waiting eagerly for your news in Hautean, the skillful maid, the genius alchemist, and there’s also the Crown Prince who follows the saintess like a madman.”
“When you list it like that, it really is no joke.”
Lara managed to laugh.
She never wanted to be a saintess. She did not even remember being happy after being a saintess. That did not mean that she respected, obeyed, and followed God. Lara thought that she was perhaps the most disparate being in the world.
“Please get ready.”
A cold-faced aide glanced down at Lara and pointed at the door. The eyes of the aides were filled with distrust, the eyes of the knights were mixed with worry and contempt, and the eyes of the sorcerers were filled with pity for her.
It was a fascinating thing. When she was a fake saintess, she was respected by everyone, even when she did not do anything. But now that she was a real saintess and had decided to do everything, she received distrustful looks. Lara stood there and took a long, slow breath. A faint warmth had been conveyed from Demian’s hand. Her hands were cold, but as Demian’s hand was warm and dry, she now felt a sense of pleasantness.
Soon, the door opened.
Between the doors, Lara could see the platform where the Emperor stood. He called her name, his voice so loud that the wide hall resounded with a hefty rang.
“The great God has sent his vicegerent. Welcome the saintess!”
The door was wide open. A huge wooden door, similar to the castle gates, had opened silently. Lara’s stiff body moved automatically. When the sorcerers were about to cast their spells, the people were shocked.
“No way.”
“That is the saintess?”
When Lara appeared, the whispers grew louder and louder. She did not think they would accept wholeheartedly with a single word from the Emperor, but the distrust for God that had accumulated in the nobles was deeper than she thought.
The story of God abandoning the humans, of his absence in this land, and of the priests no longer being able to use God's power─it had long been famous in the Empire. It was understandable that they regarded the existence of a saintess with the equivalent of a crook.
“What is the Emperor up to…”
“Is it another war…”
Numerous speculations came and went. No one was openly pointing fingers at the Emperor for fear, but all kinds of insults and lies were created where he was not present. Demian’s low monologue flowed into Lara’s ear as she broke through the sharp noise and moved her feet toward the appointed position.
“What kind of God is the God of Fate? If he already made her the saintess, shouldn’t he give her some kind of miracle? Anyhow, all Gods are incompetent and selfish.”
The God of Fate, bound by karma and unable to do anything, would be the most frustrated being at this moment. So Lara was determined not to blame him or whine.
Lara proudly raised her head in the sharp gazes pouring on her.
Then, she felt a familiar energy somewhere. A being that was kind but cold-hearted, and had seemed to be endlessly good but had a frightening darkness to him. It was the God of Fate.
“…!”
Lara’s God was looking at her. Not looking at her from a distance, but right near her. Unlike before, when only she could feel his existence, he exuded a tremendous presence so that everyone there could know. God spoke to all of them from above Lara’s head.
<Listen.>
It was a very dreamy and mellow but heterogenous voice that gave people chills.
<Don’t doubt my child. Don’t even test her. You do not yet have the right to do so.>
The formerly buzzing banquet hall became as silent as death.
