*Lina’s POV*
***
"As expected, Seria is a wicked woman….”
In the banquet hall’s lounge, Lina pressed her wet eyes with her hands . Every time she did, her eyes would blur. The truth was, Lina hadn't been able to sleep properly for days.
There was no other reason. It's just that….
"Did you see her just now? The Saintess."
Lina's hands stopped.
She was sitting in the chair closest to the entrance of the lounge, and for a moment she could hear the noise outside. Lina put her ear to the wall.
"How could she call the Grand Duchess a thief right then and there?"
"Isn't she actually the thief?”
“She seems to have forgotten the scandal that had the whole social circle buzzed.”
“Did you see how strange the atmosphere was just now?”
Lina's hands went cold. She stood up quickly. Then she opened the door. She saw the young noblewomen who had been talking about her passing by. As soon as they saw Lina, their faces turned pale.
"Ah, Saintess…!"
Lina didn't shout or get angry. She just glared at them, as Seria had done earlier. Quiet and expressionless, as if memorizing their faces.
The young nobles faltered, apologizing incessantly. Lina returned, slamming the door behind her, and sat down in her chair again.
They have friends, so they can talk with each other and bully people. They have roots here, they have family, they have people to rely on. So they have nothing to be afraid of.
I couldn't even be an extra.
I couldn't even get a name.
The word "extra" made Lina laugh, cry, and suffer. Duchess Howard also changed the sound of the music as soon as she sobbed.
Lina trembled as she rolled up the skirt of her dress with her hands slightly. They were low heeled shoes. The exposed top of her foot was wrapped with a bandage.
She habitually held her stomach. Lina slowly ruminated on the shocking memory that had kept her from sleeping for the past few days.
"…I am the main character."
***
A few days ago.
When Stern and the others had all left, Lina didn't want to be in the battle any longer. She felt like a fake Stern.
Under the condition that she was always accompanied by a high-ranking priest, Lina was able to go to the Haneton mansion in the Imperial capital. On the way, though, Kalis had to go down to the Haneton estate for something urgent.
At the priest’s suggestion that they should go together, Lina shook her head.
“I can't ride a horse. It would be too late for Kalis to arrive at the estate."
Before leaving, Karis repeatedly asked Lina to only stay at the mansion.
Lina liked the Haneton imperial mansion. Especially the room of the Marchioness where she was staying, which was even prettier with its pure gold decorations in the same shape as the Stern insignia.
But after a while, she learned that this beautiful room had been prepared for Seria.
With a pained look on her face, Lina asked for a different room, then she sat on the bed and hugged her stomach.
It was a total coincidence that she heard about the Garden of Silver trees.
“Is it for Seria, too?”
The maid of the Haneton mansion looked puzzled. Lina stood up.
"Show me. I want to see it.”
There was no one who could stop the Saint of the Great Temple, at least not here in the Haneton mansion.
The Garden of Silver tree was beautiful. Filled with shiny silvery tree branches. There were no people. Just a peaceful, quiet little hill.
It was there that Lina met Eoles, who was said to be in charge of the Garden of Silver trees. Being from a mixed race of spirits, he was as mysterious as an elf. And he was thrilled that he was actually seeing Lina, the Saint and Stern.
Lina also felt at ease. She had no reason to dislike someone who liked her so much.
But…
The more she looked at the man, the worse it made her feel. Soon Lina succeeded in guessing the cause of this chilling feeling. Lina held out her palm to shield the eyes of Eoles.
“Seria….”
Lina's eyes trembled. Eoles’ eyes were that blue. When she glanced at the color of his eyes, she immediately thought of Seria…..
Lina looked disappointed. She felt sorry for Eoles rapidly.
“You must be Seria’s replacement too. You and Seria had the exact same eye color, which is why Kalis brought you all the way here.”
“No, Saintess. The Marquis didn't even know what I looked like. It was just a coincidence that I came here."
Lina felt a moment of anger at the words that seemed to soothe her.
"How dare you lie to a Saint?”
Eoles dropped like he was scared, but when Lina saw those blue eyes, she couldn't help it. Why was she angry?
The former Lina would have believed Eoles’ lies. However, Kalis once said that he wanted to raise the child of the divine power that Lina gave birth to, purely because it might be mixed with Seria’s divine power.
Kalis.
The Kalis in Lina's eyes….
When Seria was involved, Lina couldn't come to her senses at all.
Kalis was her only friend and family.
If Seria took away even that Kalis, what would she really have left? Why Seria has many things….
"Saintess, please don't cry. I'm sorry. It was my fault…."
Eoles didn't know what to do. The moment Lina shook off his hand that was constantly trying to wipe her eyes.
The branch of the silver tree, which Eoles had sharpened to check its growth, fell on the top of Lina's foot.
This was the moment when it accidentally hit her.
"……!"
Dark smoke flickered from the top of her foot. At the same time, the scene in the Tshugan Plains that she had somehow forgotten about hit her hard in the head.
It was the black smoke that was absorbing into her body. It was something Seria was surprised to see when Lina was running away…
‘How could I have forgotten this?'
Lina couldn't continue her thoughts any further. Because Eoles was looking at her and his hands were shaking. It reminded her exactly of Seria on the Tushgan Plains, and Lina was frightened. She fainted.
Then Lina had a dream. It was a very strange dream.
Seria was sitting alone, reading a book.
But after a while, Seria put the book down, went somewhere and disappeared, and Lina went there, picked it up and read it.
(*Rememer Seria had the same dream when she was reading the book and met Tuban.)
Lina's eyes grew wide.
‘What is this book?'
Gasp!
“Saintess! Are you all right?”
“Doctor! Doctor!"
Lina broke into a cold sweat as she recalled the contents of the book. The book was thick and full of words, and she remembered them one by one as if she had read it before.
In the world of the book, Lina was the main character. And the man she was going to marry was the Grand Duke Lesche Berg.
Lina was sick for many days after that day. When she woke up, she could not believe it.
‘All those people calling me ‘Saint' and worrying about me, but they're all characters in a book?’
And the thought that she had to see Seria filled her head. In a dreamy state of mind, thinking that maybe she was crazy, she went to Duke Howard's mansion.
There, Lina felt very clear.
Grand Duke Lesche Berg, whom she was terrified to even make eye contact with, was not cynical about her. It was clear. The man really hated her.
The nobles of the empire didn't like him because he didn't show his face much. But that Grand Duke seemed to be standing on some other level.
‘How could a man like that come to love me?’
It was truly outrageous…
…And Seria.
"Hic hic…"
Lina held her face in her hands and sobbed. Seria was too cold hearted. She didn’t have to treat her coldly like she was a sinner, even when there were so many people around.
There was no Kalis by her side.
Or rather, did Seria ignore her more because Kalis wasn’t here?
If not…..that was probably Seria’s true nature.
A wicked woman. In the book, the wicked Seria tried to kill Lina the Saintess.
"…Seria might kill me."
This was real. It really was real.
Lina and Seria. They could never have been friends in the first place.
Because this is inside a book.
Seria was a beautiful, evil woman, and she (Lina) was a fool who only wanted to be close to her without knowing anything about her.
‘…I'm done acting like such a fool.’
Lina got up and headed for the banquet hall. She saw the nobles looking at her with surprise in their eyes when she reappeared, having thought she would not return.
"……."
Lina picked up a champagne glass. She walked over to the young nobleman, who was one of the people she saw in the corridor of the lounge earlier. The nobleman’s eyes colored with bewilderment.
"…Saintess?"
Lina poured the champagne on the man’s face.
"Oh my God!"
“Saintess!"
In no time at all, everyone around her was buzzing. But Lina only stared into the man’s shocked eyes. The man flinched.
“Don't go around and talk about me. This is the only time I will let it go.”
Lina did not want to die at the hands of the villains. She would never shudder at the thought of buying their favor again.
"You will only get ink when you stab me…”
She was sick and tired of being beaten by such people.
Clank!
The empty champagne glass rolled on the carpet. Lina turned away with tears in her eyes.
***
"Bibi?"
It was that night.
Abigail lifted her head after trying to gently pull her dagger. Seria looked at her with a shocked expression on her face.
She quickly walked over and snatched Abigail’s wrist. The dagger fell to the floor.
“What are you doing? Linon's in big trouble too, his wrist is all torn up!”
“Why does that Chief Aide rant and rave so loudly in the mansion when he's so quiet outside?”
Seria chuckled. Abigail stared at the red blood on her fingertips.
"What’s wrong, Bibi?”
Abigail smiled, "I was just wondering if ink would really come out if it poke it.”
"…What?"
Earlier.
In the banquet hall of Duke Howard's mansion, Abigail was watching Lina closely. Originally, she should have been closely observing Kalis, but he was not here today.
"You will only get ink when you stab me…"
Abigail heard Lina murmur clearly. Still, Lina was a Saint, so Abigail thought Lina was making a prediction. Because when the human body begins to produce ink instead of bloodstains, it will change the way they manage their sword blades.
So Abigail pricked her fingers when she came back to the Berg imperial mansion.
“…Ink?” (Seria)
Abigail didn't expect her Lady's expression would be so stiff.
