The Tragedy of The Villainess

The Glick empire was turned upside down.

This was because the amount of sacred power that Seria showed them made everyone speechless.

It basically took years to clean up the contaminated land. The priests did not rest, gathering sacred power and sending priests and holy knights to work on purifying the land.

This enormously costly and time-consuming task was completed in a matter of minutes by Seria.

The nobles had to keep their mouths shut because they thought it was preposterous that Seria Berg, the wicked woman, was a holy Saint. The nobles, who had witnessed Seria's divine power before their very eyes, were in an uproar of excitement.

"She's a Saint. I saw it firsthand!"

"In just a few minutes, she had purified a vast land. Is that a myth?"

The problem flew in the other direction.

There was another Saint in this empire.

Lina.

"If the Grand Duchess is that good, the sacred power of the other Saint must be similar enough."

"Of course. She is the one who was sent from God, so she might be stronger."

Among the admiring nobles, another question emerged.

"But why has the Saintess never shown such a miracle?"

No one could answer immediately. A step late in the silence, a mouth was opened.

"The Grand Duchess has fallen ill."

"Oh, I heard that too."

"Yes, that's right."

If Seria had not fallen ill, there would have been a flood of requests and bribes to purify the family lands…. It was a shame, but still terrific.

"Since the Saintess is pregnant with the child of divine power, I doubt she can show us the miracle of purification right now. What if she falls ill like the Grand Duchess?"

"Right."

The positive conviction did not last long. One noblewoman opened her mouth with a frown.

"It's a little different from what the Saintess told me."

Both ladies, who recently became members of Lina's tea party, belonged to a good family with strong connections.

And Lina once told them how much land she could purify and over how long a period of time. It was a story based on a memory she had read in the book.

The Ladies were astonished. The reason was that the power of Lina was so much greater than that of the high priests. The ladies eagerly boasted about Lina's abilities to the people.

The power of Lina was astonishingly great.

But compared to the enormous purification Seria did that shook the empire, it was a disappointing divine power.

Silence frayed once.

"Why is the divine power so different when she is the same Saint?"

One sincere nobleman frowned severely.

"Don't say that. She's carrying a child of divine power."

"But…have not some of the saints who had also given birth to children of divine power?"

"Isn't that even more amazing?"

The nobleman who defended Lina also stopped talking. But it was a burden on everyone to keep referring to the sacred power of the Saints recognized by the Great Temple and to drive them into negativity.

The topic changed, and the Saint and Stern were no longer mentioned. But everyone who was present could not forget the conversation that had just taken place.

***

"Seria?"

Lina was at the Great Temple, so she was a little late to discover this tremendous news about Seria. She was perplexed. Lina didn't immediately know how big the land was that Seria had purified. She could only be surprised when the priest showed her a map.

"Can I do this, too?"

Lina's foundation was the fact that she was a Saint. She had inwardly wished she had a stage where she could prove her overwhelming divine power before the eyes of many.

But the High Priest's reaction was unexpected.

"That's difficult, Saintess."

"……What?"

Lina was shocked.

The question of how Seria could be more sacred than herself was filled with disappointment. The moment High Priest Jubelud heard the complaint, he suddenly wondered.

"Could it be that the Saintess wants to push Stern?"

"Why?"

There shouldn't be a single reason to do so.

Seria had done nothing wrong to Lina. Rather, it was the other way around. In a sense, it was the last act of mercy that Seria, who said she would not leave Lina alone, sent a letter in advance.

Thanks to that, the High Priest was able to bring Lina to the Great Temple like this and protect her.

"Saintess, the Grand Duchess, by the grace of God, discovered the Constellation Gold Mine and received the blessing of the stars. So the latent divine power exploded."

"Yes…"

"I'll have to take the Saintess to the High Temple after the social festivities are over."

So far, Lina had always done what she pleased.

But now Lina must have misdirected her thinking. Stern was not her enemy, but her closest ally.

If it was simply because Seria was a prominent member of Glick imperial society with status and prestige, and if Lina was hostile to her….

High Priest Jubelud seemed very disappointed in Lina.

On the other hand, what was strange was his own feelings. Although he thought that Lina would never do such a thing, he could not ask Lina directly about it. This was out of character for him.

In other words, he had already guessed the answer that would come out of Lina's mouth.

It was also the one that disappointed him the most….

With mixed feelings, High Priest Jubelud drank the tea.

Still, Lina was the one whom God had sent. She was a Saint with strong divine power. He believed that if he took care of her, she would become good again.

It was on that night that an unexpected secret visitor arrived at the Great Temple with a complicated heart. It was Kalis Haneton's immediate aide. He asked if he could take one of the priests with strong healing sacred power.

Since Kalis Haneton was Lina's husband, of course, it was possible. The problem was…

"Please don't tell the Saintess."

"…the Saintess? Why?"

"I cannot tell you right away, but it is the Marquis's wish. I have asked him several times to explain the situation, but he said he would explain it later."

"I see…. Take one as soon as possible."

"Thank you. High Priest."

***

"Then, Grand Duchess, I will come back in the evening."

Berg's doctor bowed his head and left.

This was Berg's mansion in the capital. It was such a fantastic and good thing that the travel time was drastically shortened.

And she was incredibly proud that the technology belonged to her wizard.

"Grand Duchess."

Susan wiped Seria's hands with a warm hand towel. The sweet smell of the perfume oil made her laugh.

"You know I'm not sick, Susan."

"I know. But do you know how big the land is that the Grand Duchess purified?"

"That's nothing. Really, I'm alright."

Susan let out a laugh.

After showing the people the purification ceremony, Seria pretended to be terribly sick and just laid in bed.

However, Susan and Ben made a big fuss as if they had been waiting for such a moment. 'Why am I taking supplemental medication?' Seria nodded her head when they said, "If you're going to act anyway, why not act perfectly?"

Ben didn't even go out. He sat down in a chair in the corner of the bedroom and began to play his little harp. It wasn't any other music he was playing. It was a lullaby for babies. Seria only laughed because Ben smiled shyly saying that that was all he could play.

In addition to this, even Susan sat in the chair next to the bed and embroidered. It made Seria wonder again.

They were both senior employees with proper private rooms, so why were they here ….

'Did they want to see my face?'

It was true that recently she had been very busy preparing for the purification rituals, so she had not been able to get a good look at their faces.

Seria leaned her back against a stack of pillows and pulled the thin comforter up to her waist. She thought as she listened to the sweet, peaceful harp sounds that drifted into her ears.

'Kalis….why did nothing happen? How could he be so healthy?'

Of course, she thought he would have the most serious injuries. There was no sign of anything. She had seen Lina's slaves react extremely abnormally when they were exposed to the divine power. Why was Kalis so different?

…like the Lesche of the other day.

She was suspicious of Kalis. She really felt the need to check it out.

With that thought, she leaned her head back.

"……."

When she opened her eyes again, it was pitch black everywhere. Then she also felt the hard, familiar arms holding her body.

'When did he come…?'

When did he sleep holding her so tightly in his arms? Lesche's lips were attached to her forehead. She wanted to touch his cheek, but the problem was that this man would wake up right away, even if he was asleep. For some reason, he seemed to wake up as soon as she made the slightest sound.

Eventually, while pretending to be asleep, she carefully held his waist. This man's body, muscular and finely detailed, was very satisfying in terms of volume. It made her smile.

Meanwhile, she remembered the thought that had been bothering her since the purification of the contaminated land.

'Should I tell Lesche about Kalis?'

Perhaps he had already heard that Kalis came to the wilderness uninvited. Since there were knights around.

But it was a little too much to say that Kalis was nothing like the other slaves. It was uncomfortable to tell Lesche about Kalis in detail. Lesche didn't seem to like hearing about him.

'An unscathed Kalis was an unexpected outcome, and I had to see Kalis at least once. Preferably in a neutral area, like the Temple.'

But…She didn't want to meet Kalis in secret without telling Lesche.

'I have to say it's not a big deal.'

Pretend it's a passing story, tell him hundreds of other stories, and then tell him about it vaguely.

It was quiet all around. It was true that she used a lot of sacred power, and her eyelids soon became heavy. Seria soon fell into a deep sleep.