Vol 2 Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5

Light Beyond ~ Chapter Five ~

The nice weather continued and, even this night, she could see the stars gliht sky

While walking back through the quiet corridors, she unconsciously looked up at the sky in fascination The night sky, which could be seen past the breaks between buildings, was like a framed picture Thanks to the full ht were relatively bright Even without the lights that dotted the length of the corridor, she wouldn’t have been uneasy about her footing

Doing soht was foolish, even she knew that But still, Yuna slipped out of her room Because she wanted to talk alone with Linus

She heard casually from her maid, Nasha, that occasionally Linus left his rooht In the past, it seemed like Celiastina often stood beside him, and this sounded like a subject she shouldn’t touch but since Nasha became her maid – and since Yuna became Celiastina’s substitute – this hadn’t happened even once, which was thought to be strange

She didn’t know if Linus was going to be in the courtyard tonight If he wasn’t there, then she decided she would visit hiain tomorrow Why she didn’t just do that from the start was because, if she visited hi that Linus would take off his usual mask and show his true intentions a little

Either way, she didn’t have the tierous for her to walk alone, but she didn’t want anyone to see her actions as a rendezvous And so, naturally, Yuna’s pace quickened towards the gardens

The royal palace had arden was coarden, where the ht into it and hoas surrounded by the corridors, looked ical

But, in this courtyard where only the faint sound of insects could be heard, she could not see the person she was searching for She tried co here on a chance, but it looked like she ed to meet here, so she had been too optimistic Yuna’s shoulders fell

Right at that moment

“Celia”

Hearing a voice suddenly call out to her, Yuna’s body startled and then stiffened When she turned around, there was so in the hallway atrium

It was Linus

Realizing this, Yuna became flustered She took a risk tohiuilty and her mind became blank

“What are you doing here at this time? I was surprised when I saw you from my room”

Linus approached the courtyard at a calm pace

It appeared that theirwasn’t by coincidence, and that Linus had noticed Yuna and went out of his way to come and see her Come to think of it, his room was close to the courtyard

“Walking alone late at night… you’re being too careless”

“I’m sorry”

Linus gently draped the stole he had been wearing over Yuna’s shoulders His actions and his voice were very kind and, before her surprise, Yuna felt an unbearable thought well up He ht be hard to deal with, but he was certainly a person she couldn’t hate

“I… wanted to talk to you no matter what, Linus”

“Talk?”

Yuna bit her lip and nodded If she told him she wanted to learn about Celiastina, what kind of reaction would Linus show?

Either way, she couldn’t run away at this point

“I was taken to the historical archive b

y Asyut today There, I learned all about the personal histories of the saints up until now”

Yuna, careful not to let her composed voice crumble, continued on

“I had thought that though the saints looked glamorous they had it hard, but it was actually even ht? Today, in those documents I saas the first time I learned that everyone suffered a lot I’ve co anything”

Linus remained silent and stared at Yuna

“I really don’t know anything Not even about Celiastina And yet, recently, I’ve been passing the days feeling satisfied and not even trying to learn about anything in the first place”

She had just pretended not to feel the aching guilt deep in her heart

“–But, you kno that I’ve had a chance to touch the history of the saints today, I feel like my head is a bit clearer”

Yuna stared directly at Linus His gaze, as she made contact, held no war away But still, she overca at Linus

“I want to learn more about Celiastina”

She couldn’t say that she had cootten over her doubts and hesitation But she had a feeling that learning about Celiastina was so no one else but her was supposed to pursue However that was a co painting of Rhodiani overlapped with Celiastina’s for to face Celiastina

“Hey, Linus, when Celiastina came to the royal palace, there were too many people who died, wasn’t there? Moreover, there were a lot of people included who Celiastina didn’t order the death penalty on What does thathappen to Celiastina? What happened in the two years that she came to the royal palace? Linus, you would know a lot about Celiastina’s past, right? Please tell me”

Her intent was to convey her honest feelings There was no way bargaining would ith Linus and, in the first place, she didn’t have anything to bargain with All she had were her feelings and right now there was nothing Yuna could do except for conveying those directly

For a while Linus did not speak Maybe he was looking for words to dodge around the issue? Or,doords to refuse her Either way, there was a silence that bit at Yuna

“What will you do when you learn about Celia?”

Linus suddenly whispered with a smile

“I have an interest, a pure one By knowing Celiastina’s past, will that becoy for you? Or for Celia?”

“I–“

S, Linus shook his head and interrupted Yuna’s words

“You don’t have to say anything I can tell just by looking at you this tiht, then just as you wish I will tell you a little It’s not the type of story that would replace a lullaby though”

If only I had the Holy Mark on my neck

There werethe only special person as chosen in this world, being subli as someone as blessed and worshi+pped by everyone and anyone That hat the saint was to those girls However, in actuality, they didn’t have such glaements and rules for the saint as there were stars in the sky, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that their lives were restrained Even the Holy Mark that the girls longed for was a “rule”– it would disappear when death was close– and was this not a cruel fate?

Even at the very moment of the previous saint, Malveneska’s, premature death, the people accepted this fact calmly At any rate, her death had been known since the Holy Mark disappeared several years ago, and everyone had resolved themselves

However, it was impossible for people to have been prepared for the new saint to be absent for fourteen years–

When news about how the long absent new saint had been found ran around the country, the people were first dumbfounded, and then immediately decided that it was nonsense That was everyone’s first reaction

During the fourteen years when there was no saint, the people started to live their lives seeing it as their lastfor the saint at every ly or not There were three tiirl with the Holy Mark did not appear in fifteen years And that hy everyone knew That an overwhel over their futures However, there was nothing they could do but know this There reive up and accept their future– there was only that

Under such circumstances, even if it was suddenly declared that the saint had been welcomed into the royal palace, it was natural that the people weren’t able to accept that upfront Inside the hearts of the frowning populace, the saint being “alive” was already long gone

Then, what changed theirother than the existence of the saint herself

When Celiastina first appeared before the people, they were rooted to the spot by her mysterious beauty No one was able to think that she was an ordinary girl that they could have passed on the streets just yesterday Instead, she was like an angel sent by God, with a beauty that no sculptor could capture

She didn’t even have to show the Holy Mark on her neck All the people rejoiced loudly, were in an uproar, and welcomed from the bottom of their hearts their Goddess of salvation who had appeared at last Celiastina did not respond to the as the saint, she became everyone’s support

Practically all the people in the royal palace who came in contact with Celiastina welcomed here But because she had an atet close, they watched from a distance Quiet and expressionless, no one knehat she was thinking about– that was how everyone described Celiastina in their hearts but, because she had been brought up to this age at an orphanage, the majority sympathized with Celiastina’s attitude

Yes, Celiastina was not a girl someone would ever hate Actually, those ere in positions close to Celiastina wracked their minds on how to open her heart sohtest expression of happiness, the maids would enthusiastically report to everyone that it was like obtaining 5 years worth of happiness Whenever the tutor received a question fro how she was such an excellent student When Celiastina, who had picked at her food like a bird, ate all the cooking without leaving anything behind for the first time, the chef and all their staff would be extreh quality Like that, Celiastina cluradually fit herself in with the people around her

And then, at that time

The maid who Celiastina had started to open up with died She suddenly fell ill

It was a maid who had never been sick with an illness to that extent before, and so everyone was surprised She had been healthy just a while ago– those were ordinary expressions, but they could only say that to this sudden event Celiastina also see time, was in low spirits

However, that was only the beginning of these frequent and abnormal accidents in the royal palace

After some time passed since the first maid died of illness, another ain, she was also a maid that attended to Celiastina

That anize the garments of the previous saints, which were stored in the east tower They thought that if they showed a few of these to Celiastina she would surely receive them with enthusiasm At the east tohere people seldom went, the maid appeared to have accidentally fallen when she opened a badly builtto air the place out

Those ere visited by this type of “sudden an to appear little by little

Of course it wasn’t like these things didn’t happen up until noever, it was clear that the nuht that because Celiastina interacted with many people, these events were an unmistakable heartache to her Just when Celiastina had started to make friends in the royal palace, she started to create distance between herself and others again unexpectedly

These abnoran to settle after a year and a half For a period of time, a whirlpool of uneasiness had enclosed the royal palace but once it caler anyone who cared From the start, those were accidental deaths or deaths from an illness It would be another story if they had died due to assassination but, if that wasn’t the case then people decided there was no point in arguing about it No, actually there was a small rumor that flowed about these “series of events that involved Saint Celiastina” Because the majority of those who died had contact with her However, a sudden death by illness was so she couldn’t have done and, above all, she herself appeared to be greatly pained by the deaths of those close to her And so there wasn’t anyone who deeply pursued that

The situation was supposed to be settled without incident like that but–

Celiastina suddenly acted

She declared for everyone around who served her to be dismissed

This order, which careatly surprised not only the people ere dismissed by everyone around her too, and threw them into confusion When asked about the reason Celiastina would never answer The only thing she added were unreasonable and merciless words about how anyone who disobeyed her orders would all be executed

If it was an order fronored As she ordered, all the servants that had even the slightest bit of interaction with Celiastina were dismissed Everyone around Celiastina was replaced but this time she didn’t open up to any of them, not even a little Even when spoken to she would barely reply, and her expression would not , no one was able to know

“It was soon after that Celia started to pass down terrifying orders onto the servants She would punish servants for trivial things, so them to capital punishment In those days, everyone trembled”

Linus continued to talk indifferently, as if it were none of his business

“The reasons why Celiastina suddenly changed is probably so no one knew No one could ask the person herself, and so ti no one could touch But, it wasn’t as if there were no clues Like you said, the suspicious deaths that occurred around Celia were not unrelated”

“And the one who noticed that was Asyut”

Linus quietly nodded

“Asyut was one of the few people who acted seriously to calh, because the saint’s authority is absolute, Asyut would have to give in at the end, no matter what he said That’s why he didn’t remonstrate her as a temporary measure and instead searched for the reason as to why Celia suddenly changed”

“And so he turned to the ht that Celiastina did it herself, didn’t he?”

“I do not believe he was convinced, but siht know soht that if they couldthat shrouded everything would clear”

“Then Asyut went to ask Celiastina directly: what happened in the first place? And why did everyone who came in contact with Celiastina die one after another?”

Nodding, Linus was as calm as always and she was unable to sense how much of the truth he knew