Secret Wardrobe Of The Duchess

“Oh my, we don’t have any spare clothes. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you will have to wear your clothes again for some time.”

After a bath, he could feel how smelly his old clothes were. She had endured the smell to be with him. He didn’t even know her face, but he admired her for that. In the past… no, even now, he wasn’t sure he would be able to do such a thing for others.

“Sister Rubica, Priestess Lefena wants to see your new friend.”

“Priestess Lefena?”

“Yes, she received a sign this morning that an important man would come to us today.”

“Hmm, I didn’t know she had such a gift… Arman, I will go with you. Let us go.”

It took him some time to realize that he was Arman. He could feel her offering a hand, but he was so ashamed of his own smell that he took a step back. It made her hand stop in the air for a second, but then she didn’t hesitate to take his hand.

“We must go up the stairs now.”

She became his eyes for him, just like she had done earlier the day. He could feel his face heating up. He had never felt like this. He enjoyed it, but at the same time, he wanted to run away. However, he didn’t have a way to get away from her and leave.

“Priestess Lefena is a little strict, but she is a nice person.”

She was probably a little worried, as she didn’t stop giving him advice until the moment she knocked on the door.

“Priestess Lefena, it’s Rubica. I’ve brought Mr. Arman.”

“Come in.”

He went into the room with Rubica’s help. Then, he bowed toward the direction where the voice was coming from. Priestess Lefena asked him to sit down, then she told Rubica to leave as she must have a lot to do.

She hesitated as she didn’t want to leave him. Nevertheless, she did have a lot to do.

“I’ll come back for you later.”

After the woman, who he had known only for a few hours but felt like he had known for years, left silence filled the room. His blindness was now being a disadvantage.

The priestess had to be watching him, examining him, but he didn’t know anything about her. He couldn’t even tell if she was hostile or favorable toward him, which was the most painful.

“Have you ever heard the voice of gods?”

“No…”

“Some of us priestesses can hear the words of gods. About one out of a thousand. It is a huge blessing only the most faithful of us can experience. I thought it would never happen to me. But this morning, I had an extremely special experience. I heard the voice of Hue.”

He had to try hard not to yawn. Confession of one’s faith was so boring to those who didn’t believe in that deity.

“As it is my first time, I don’t know how to explain it. Anyway, Hue said his own son would be coming here today.”

What on earth was she trying to say? Was she bragging about getting the gift of hearing a god’s words?

Cool water and a place to sleep in weren’t free, after all. Maybe he was going to be forced to listen to such teachings every day, but it was much better than wandering around on the streets alone. As the price for what he had received, he tried for an awkward smile.

“And he said… his son is blind.”

It took him some time to understand what she was saying.

“No, it isn’t me.”

He really wanted to say it was absurd, but Lefena was deadly serious.

“He said he would introduce himself as Arman.”

“Please do not use me to get fame as a priestess who can hear god’s voice.”

Actually, he wanted to yell he wasn’t going to be used for such a scheme. He had heard there were some frauds who used religion and faith to steal other’s money.

He had been relieved to be at such a nice place, but he hadn’t known it was run by such a liar. Attention was the last thing he wanted since there were still many who wanted to find him and use him.

“He said his former name was Edgar.”

But what Lefena said after that made him sit down again. However, he was still in doubt. Maybe his name was written on what he was wearing.

“One who was cursed by his mother for his father’s sin.”

His heart ached. Only himself, Carl, and the king knew about that, and those two had already died. Even his torturers hadn’t been able to find out about it.

“Duke Claymore.”

“Please, stop this nonsense.”

He tried to deny it to the end. After he escaped, he had found out what kind of destruction Stella had brought, at least to some extent. Many despised the name Claymore. Admitting his true identity now could get him killed immediately.

“He told me to help you.”

His lips quivered, and rage boiled deep in his heart.

“He told me to hide you and take care of you.”

“Why!”

He knew he had to deny it to the very end to live on in this abbey, but he couldn’t help yelling.

“Why didn’t he help me earlier?”

He recalled what he had been through. The light of his past was even clearer because he lived in darkness.

Why was the god of love calling him his son? If the god of war had said that, he would have accepted it. However, love had never been in his life.

“He could have told me not to make that wretched thing. Just one sentence would have been enough. Why did that god give you a sign and not to me? And he even says I’m his son!”

Hot tears came down from his eyes. He wanted to kick the god and curse him if only he could meet him. If he was capable of giving signs, why hadn’t he said a single word to him?

“Do you… believe in Hue?”

“No.”

Edgar simply said no, even though he had come to Hue’s Abbey seeking for help. He believed in several other gods, but he didn’t believe in the god of love. He was the most meaningless and useless deity of all. His life had been full of pain because of filthy love. Therefore, he despised every person who dared to talk of love.

“Then there’s nothing Hue could have done for you. He can give signs only to those who believe him.”

His heart ached even more. The priestess was saying what was only logical for her, but he felt like he had just heard the most ridiculous thing in the world.

“Are you saying if I had believed in Hue, he would have sent me a sign to tell me not to make Stella?”

“Yes.”

A clear yes. Not even probably. Just yes. His rage didn’t know what to do at the face of that clear faith. He felt like his path was being blocked by a wall called faith.

“Then, what did the other gods do?”

“I don’t know, do you believe in any other god?”

No. He hated faith. His life had always been full of suspicions and it had powered his work and research. And it had destroyed the world.

“Ha.”

He didn’t know what to feel. Was the priestess saying none of this would have happened if he had just believed in any god? He couldn’t believe what he had been doing. If he had believed, he would have gotten a sign?

“How easy.”

“It turns out to be easy. But in fact, it’s not easy at all. What else can be as hard as having faith?” Lefena replied coldly. Moreover, she sounded like someone who didn’t believe in gods.

“So, what else did that Hue say? Is there a way to resolve this crisis?”

The world had almost entirely fallen by those who snuck away with his weapon and used it. The long war for mana stone and the Golden Land. He hadn’t meant for it, but he brought it.

He felt responsible for it.

If the god had sent a sign to this priestess, at least he would have given her a clue to change things.

“He just told me to help you live a life full of love.”

“Bastard.”

In the end, he cursed the god, not caring he was in front of a priestess.

Lefena didn’t respond as she also blamed the god for giving such an order to her. While she knew the god wasn’t guilty, even she couldn’t help but hate him.

It would have been much better if the god had ordered her to save the world with him. However, she just decided to accept it as another test from god.