A few days ago.
On a dark night, Lina quietly lit a candle and poured holy water inside Stern's barracks. Then she put her hands together and closed her eyes.
It was a prayer for the dead.
Lina sincerely hoped that their sacrifice would not be in vain.
On the other hand, there was also a practical disappointment.
It would have been nice if she had some support. Seria had cut off all her connections, so Lina had to struggle amongst the shortage of manpower.
Silence flew coolly in the night breeze.
"Did someone you knew die?"
A voice suddenly broke the silence. Lina turned around, startled. Her eyes widened.
“High Priests…?"
High Priest Henoch and High Priest Joel had come to the barracks. They said, while looking at the candles and holy water placed in front of Lina.
"I guess that's how you honor the dead in your world."
It was a moment, but Lina's heart throbbed. Her world.
It was a lonely world where she originally belonged. She had no good memories apart from memories of her being abused, but even that was fake created on the basis of Seria’s memories.
While Lina kept silent, the High Priests approached the altar.
Then they knelt down as Lina was doing.
“High Priests?”
“In this world, when we honor the dead, we cut off a bit of hair.”
As if prepared in advance, High Priest Henoch took a small pair of scissors from his pocket, cut off a bit of his hair, and placed it in front of the candle. Then High Priest Joel also accepted the pair of scissors and cut his hair. Lina also tried to get the scissors, but the High Priest refused to hand them over and said,
"You don't have to cut it."
They just stared at Lina. She was strangely horrified by their appearance.
Was it her imagination?
No, in the first place, why…..
"…Why did you come here so suddenly?" (Lina)
The High Priests, having finished praying to the deceased, raised their bodies.
“Saintess.”
“You must return to the Great Temple now."
“What? Why?"
"If you go back, you'll get a divorce right away."
At that moment, Lina felt as if High Priest Henoch's voice had punched her in the cheek. The words hit her head like a bomb.
Slowly grasping her trembling hands together, Lina was finally able to pull the knowledge out of her head.
"But isn't Stern's divorce like a wedding, with a fixed date and time?"
Otherwise, her sacred power would go out of control and her life would be in danger. That reminded her of her many injuries in Berg territory.
“Saintess.”
Seeing Lina's bloodless face, the High Priest slowly opened his mouth.
"The Marquis of Haneton made his own choice."
"The Marquis, under the authority of the seventeen families, has filed for divorce himself."
***
“Saintess!"
It was unknown with what spirit Lina got out of the carriage. She was in a state of oblivion to the fact that the huge great temple was quieter than usual and even colder.
Lina half walked half ran through the main room, and slowly stopped when she spotted the back of Kalis.
A figure dressed in red.
Kalis’s dark blond hair was wet as if he had poured holy water on his head for the ritual. It was unfamiliar.
Lina could not say anything. Her lips wouldn’t open.
Perhaps Lina had a hunch.
While Kalis did not come up from the Haneton estate, he did not reply to any of Lina's letters. The same was true at the emperor's hunting grounds.
Both eyes of Kalis followed only Seria. As usual ….
“Kalis.”
Kalis turns back at the voice calling him. Both his eyes sink into Lina. Immeasurable, indifferent. It was the eyes that showed no warmth, like a piece of pottery thrown in the middle of a snowbank. Therefore, for Lina it was the first time in her life that she had ever come across this expression.
“You didn't even respond to my letters." (Lina)
"……."
“You were preparing for a divorce even after all this time? Why?" (Lina)
‘Why?’ She asked in a questioning tone, but she understood.
Kalis was completely out of Liegel’s power.
She had not noticed him in the hunting grounds because he was contaminated by Magi. But now he was different. After standing this close to him and exchanging long glances, she noticed.
There was no more Magi left in Kalis’s body.
He had only a little bit of divine power left as one of the heads of the seventeen families….
‘…When did Seria use her sacred power on him?’
Wasn’t Seria disinterested in Kalis? Wasn’t she fed up with him? So when?
Lina understood that at the moment Seria’s strong sacred power struck Kalis’s whole body at the hunting ground, Seria's divine power made even the Magi planted by Liegel disappear.
Liegel’s power, which remained from past times, disappeared in a few moments. That's how people turned their back on Lina.
No one knew, though, that this fact made Lina even more miserable.
If it wasn't for Magi, she wouldn't be important to anyone.
The moment she came up with that much, she felt the black flame that had been burning in her heart for so long flare up. It was suffocating, like she was choking under her neck, and her feet felt like they were crashing into the endless underground.
"Do you think this way you could marry Seria again?"
"……."
“Seria hates you, Kalis. Seria has a man she likes. You and I both know who that is! Kalis, you are…!"
“Lina."
Kalis cut off Lina’s words.
"Why did you use Cassius Kellyden to hurt Seria?"
"……."
For a moment, Lina was stunned. She clenched her fists unconsciously. She seized her trembling body and managed to squeeze out her voice.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't know what could happen in a society if you lose your status as a Saint.”
Kalis’s reply made Lina lose strength.
‘You mean what happened on the hunting grounds.'
On the one hand of reassurance, ….
‘…that's what it's all about, isn't it?’
Lina couldn’t believe Kalis wanted to divorce a Saint just for that reason.
Kalis's sincerity in Magi’s absence was painful to Lina. He was her only friend, he was so clear about the direction of his true heart that he considered her a family member.
“I’m ready." (Kalis)
Lina didn't accept a word, but the divorce ceremony had already been halfway through. Lina thought something was strange.
"No way…"
She finally saw Kalis’s clothes and opened her eyes wide. She had wondered why Kalis was dressed in a red outfit for a person performing the ceremony in the Great Temple.
Kalis’s clothes were covered in blood. He deliberately chose to wear red clothes to hide the bloodstains. Now she understood why the scent she smelled was strong.
The ensuing divorce ceremony was terrible.
The blood falling without rest from Kalis’s body looked like a living hell. It was like being tortured. Blood stains pooled in circles on the floor.
Lina could not stand it at all.
Time for a little rest to change the holy water used in the ritual. Lina rushed to High Priest Henoch, who was in charge of the ceremony.
“Please stop this. What if Kalis dies?”
“He won’t die.”
High Priest Henoch was bitter.
“Because when it is over, it won't be even half of what Seria Stern went through.”
"……."
The hellish divorce ceremony ended nearly an hour later.
"With this, Kalis Harneton will permanently lose his status as Stern's spouse…."
Kalis staggered back.
Is this really the end?
Is this really the end?
Lina reached out, wanting to grab Kalis.
It was at that moment.
Both of her eyes widened. This was because blood flowed along the back of Kalis’s exposed hand along with the feeling of a spark.
Lina involuntarily backed away. Kalis looked down at his blood-stained hand in silence.
“I guess you’re not clean either. I see the spark phenomenon occur in contact with the Saintess.”
"……."
Left alone, Lina looked blankly at the divine sign hanging on the wall of the main room.
Seria turned back time, but the demonic power that remained on people's bodies did not disappear completely.
The same was true for Kalis. Cuts remained on his body.
But ….
Kalis did not completely cover himself with Magi. There wasn’t much left.
Lina didn't know at the time, but she knew now. Even if it wasn't Liegel’s power, Kalis, who took care of her, was really precious to Lina.
“I…"
‘You can't love me, because I’m magi?’
Lina wrapped her arms around herself. Tears streamed down her face.
A saint living with the power that Liegel had infused into her. That was who she was. Should she still infuse Magi into Kalis again? If she did that….
She wanted to scream. Until now, Lina had never looked at Liegel’s power. She had been hesitant. She was horrified that she would admit that she was really a monster, not a human being. She was the magi whom everyone rejected.
But she came so far.
“Do you need more pride?"
Lina gritted her teeth.
She believed Seria a little when Seria asked if Lina knew how to get away from Liegel. But Seria had secretly used divine power on Kalis without her (Lina) knowing.
It was such a horrible thing to do to abandon her (Lina).
It was Seria who had put Lina in such a corner. She had to pull herself together. There was really no one on her side.
“Saintess."
Holy Knights and Priests suddenly appeared in Lina’s blurry vision. The two High Priests standing in front of the crowd, Henoch and Joel, approached Lina.
High Priest Joel suddenly bowed deeply to Lina and grabbed her hand. It was an oddly cautious action.
"High Priest?"
It was the moment.
Lina's eyes widened. The silver tree branch with a sharply pointed tip went straight into the back of Lina's hand.
"……!"
The faces of the priests were stained with shock. A large amount of demonic energy spewed out.
