Chapter 4 (2/2)
As expected, the
Yuna quietly lowered her weary eyes, and there was no one anywhere to notice her state Soon, two e her clothes and they appeared all the more relieved when they saw that Yuna was silent She could read in their thoughts that they had found the things she said yesterday to be unbearable
After she changed and finished her breakfast alone, she went to Linus’ room the same as she did yesterday
“Morning, Celia Did you sleep properly last night?”
Yuna silently shook her head
“That’s no good It was surely because you’re so serious and brooded over quite a few things”
“Hey, Linus, has the matter with the Holy Jail really been handled properly?”
“Of course I never make a blunder”
“The people ere i conditions?”
“Well, there are those in precarious states But if you’re just talking about their lives then I was told that everyone is safe”
“…… there are people whose spirits were broken, huh And there must be people who have become disabled too”
“However, Celia, it’s not so to have such a bleak look If you hadn’t pardoned those people yesterday then not one of those people there would have been saved”
“But…”
“It’s best that you don’t identify yourself with Celiastina too much Listen, because you are not Celiastina”
“But right now I am Celiastina”
Linus frowned slightly as he looked at Yuna, who muttered this like a spell But that was just for a ained his usual calave a small shake of his head
Linus approached the young girl, as leaning towards the , and gently embraced her delicate body
“It looks like you’re somewhat depressed Let me comfort you”
“Ack! –I-I don’t need that kind of weird kindness!”
“At any rate, you’re surprisingly intelligent Last night, since I promised “that”, you seee”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“It’s alright, you know? You don’t have to force yourself to use infore”
“Geez! Stop joking and let o!”
“Oh o, it was an everyday occurrence for Celia and I to exchange hugs, though? To reject me now isn’t like you, Celiastina”
Inside the widely sled
“I was right! You two have a shady relationshi+p……”
“Co sad too”
For a moment, Yuna quieted down, but then she suddenly came back to her senses and used both hands to force his arms back
“N-now’s not the tis”
“That’s rude, calling this a du”
“Linus, take me to where all the people ere i”
In the moment she said that, a stern look appeared in Linus’ eyes
“That is not possible”
“Why?”
“You ht be someone different inside but your outward appearance is that of Celiastina It wouldn’t be good for you to appear in front of those ere har I’m sure I said yesterday”
“But–“
“It would be a huge shock to them There is also a fear that they could cause harht rush to attack you, the source of everything, when they see you”
Even being told that though Yuna could not accept this
“Ah, just in tist the people ere released yesterday, there are those who are terribly agitated For the ti nursed, but this is just in case I would like you to remain obediently in your room for a short while until the situation has calmed”
“…… By that you ?”
“That’s right”
Linus declared this without hesitation
“I don’t want to! I saw those people suffering with nore that!”
“Please stopme repeat this To those people your presence itself is like a poison There are those ould lose their oing there”
Refused so bluntly and coldly, Yuna could do nothing but lower her eyes
“What would you even do when you’re there? You are C-e-l-i-a, no? Doing anything with Celia’s appearance like that will just be taken as an act of deception and betrayal, won’t it?”
“…… That’s…”
Yuna wasn’t able to respond
Linus gave a single nod as he looked at Yuna, who kept silent
“Then, now that you’re calm, we should head to the ceremony of worshi+p This is a rare cereather, so it is best not to be absent Once this ceremony is over, return immediately to your room, understood?”
The atmosphere in the ceremony of worshi+p’s rooe, and she was able to relax to some extent
It was a welco within herself and could just listen to the words of blessing from the head priest and offer up prayers to God However, due to her position, there was a special seat prepared for her in the front row At the time she noticed that she was dumbfounded, but it was about time she became accustomed to that kind of treatment
The seats, around 50 people, werenobles of the country Afterwards, she just needed to walk to her designated seat in a dignified e of entering froe Actually, this room of worshi+p was built like a theatre and Yuna was to enter fros
Yuna sucked in a breath and then took a step The moment she did, she saw a hu, and she reflexively felt her body stiffen There stood Asyut, with his unchanging look of dissatisfaction Yuna was filled with the desire to turn her back on hihten her back and arrive at her seat Now that she looked, she could see that it was a seat for two people While feeling disgusted at herself for just noticing that now, Yuna kneeled and assu position at that seat Asyut, as already beside her, kneeled in the same way It looks like it was just this cereht to attend together
Yuna secretly took a peek at Asyut, but the other didn’t spare her a glance and only stared straight at the altar Yuna sighed inwardly at how indifferent he was, as usual
…… If possible, she would have liked to tell him this That she had ascertained the faults of Celiastina with her own eyes That she wasn’t saying this to ask for his forgiveness But that she’s saying this to let him know that she won’t run away She won’t try to turn it to nothing, like it never happened That she would face it properly– this reality
Yuna returned her line of sight to her hands They were Celiastina’s beautiful hands, pale without a single scratch Now that she looked at theht of the sun, she could see that it was coh and scratched hands She gently clenched those hands –Right now, these hands werefirmly under her will, as Yuna She was Yuna, but at the saain
Suddenly, there was a cos of the altar that tickled at Yuna’s ears When she raised her head and looked over there, she saw several soldiers stand in what looked like a circle and whisper to one another One of the soldiers pointed at the ground and shook his head At their feet was a black lu that she saw during that time at the river; the one that, when she first woke up as Celiastina, she instinctively brushed off because it was crawling on her knee Even the royal palace had these poisonous bugs? Yuna watched them idly
Come to think of it, she was re tio A story about a boy oke up and realized he beca, he woke up and beca that everyone detested– it was just like her right now, Yuna thought What happened to the boy in the story at the very end? Did he regain his original forain? Or did he……
The soldiers exchanged a few more words after that but, shortly, one of the underfoot The foot, which was lowered without hesitation, stole that bug’s life all too quick
(They killed it)
An unpleasant feeling gradually spread inside Yuna Certainly, the insect had carried poison but wasn’t it also so that held a life? Were none of those soldiers conscious of that? If it had been Yuna’s father, he surely wouldn’t have killed it and would have returned it to so as it wasn’t provoked then it wouldn’t have attacked anyone
(It is easy to kill living things in this place, isn’t it……)
Eventually, the overture an to flow Yuna closed her eyes and lost herself to that music
It was obvious, but when the ceremony of worshi+p finished, the room of worshi+p which had emptied out became completely and utterly silent
Yuna was allowed to remain behind alone after she asked a reluctant Linus She wrapped the reo, in a handkerchief and buried it behind the building She felt like she had to do that
(Though it’s not like that had any )
When she looked up quietly at the high, high ceiling, she could see race
(…… O’ God, Vida)
This time Yuna was alone when she kneeled once more and prayed secretly to God
(Please hear my prayers After my own life had come to an end, I was entrusted with a new life for the ti And I was convinced that I couldn’t let anyone realize that this saint’s body had passed away Yes, I thought that I would pass the time in the same way that the past Lady Celiastina did until, one day, the past Lady Celiastina was returned to her body)
–But
(Is that really all I should do? Inherit this heinous and feared heart of Lady Celiastina, and then once again hand it over like that? What would be the ht last night being troubled over And I haven’t found an answer to that But, I realized in the end that noand leave it like this Moreover–)
Yuna suddenly raised her head
(I suspect that Lady Celiastina too does not wish for that Why did the Lady Saint end her own life? When a person ends their own life, it is at a ti Surely, Lady Celiastina herself had those thoughts Because she terribly detested herself and her heart, and those deeds co that heart And so surely, isn’t it because she wanted to forsake herself that she did such a reckless action like co this as if I know the truth, but I am fully aware that there’s no way currently forthis, I don’t want to leave things to their natural course in ignorance I airl, and even now that fundaed But I want to spend this life, entrusted to ht I willon this path that I believe in That’s why, O’ God, Vida……)
Yuna squeezed her clasped hands tightly
(Please watch over me I am sure that my conviction will be likely to crumble many timesl, but even so I am who I am Even if I’ve lost my past name, lost ed and is still me)
She strongly, strongly prayed silently So that her ould not waver
And then Yuna quietly stood up and opened her eyes
–At that ht shone in