Chapter 2 (1/2)

Astein was trying to walk back to the path of death. Should I run and stop him right now?

“Well, I hope that doesn’t change your mind.”

“Don’t worry. I believe you and will come back.”

“Yes, our next meeting will be at my funeral.”

I forgot about that. The real saint could foresee his or her last day approaching.

The saint told this to the Marquis, because it was a very sensitive matter. I supposed to get and use my divine power before she passed away, but I didn’t get it.

“Don’t say that. You must hold on more.”

Originally, only the temple had to know the day when a saint would pass away. Even the Marquis shouldn’t know about it. However, she told Astein about it.

“Living and dying must be left to God’s will. God probably doesn’t intend to keep me in this world any longer. I’m only a grown-up adult who lacks in many ways.”

The voice of the saint was a little weak. In fact, she had a shorter life span than other saints. She used to say it was her own fault.

“Saint…”

“Aren’t you supposed to go back?”

“Yes, I think I should go. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

“Well. Good luck.”

I felt his steps were getting farther away. As always, it was a neat and constant sound without any clutter. It was always solid when it followed me.

I heard it as a way to calm my mind when I was full of tension and anxiety. I couldn’t miss it. I wanted to go after his step like I used to. He also had to be warned not to become a paladin.

At least if I found out about his family, I could figure out what to do next…

“Saint!”

“Freya. What are you doing in the temple without a message?”

I automatically lowered my head to the face of the saint who blocked my way. It was an instinctive fear. It was because I met someone who had been as hard on me as my father.

Of course, the admonition of a saint was different from my father’s. There was always warm in the harsh words.

“That… I came to pray…”

“Freya, what do a saint should do?”

“…We should communicate clearly with dignity and clarity.”

“Yes. What about the eyes?”

Instead of speaking, I answered by looking straight at the saint. Then, she looked at me with warm and gentle eyes.

“Did you tell the Marquis that you’re coming to the temple?”

“No. I came out in a hurry because I was anxious about the dream I had at dawn.”

“What was your dream?”

I couldn’t answer that easily. How could I say I dreamed of dying because it turned out that I was a fake saint?

“It was a dream about my future. I think it was because I was in a position where I was too anxious.”

“I see. I understand your mind. So did you get an answer from God?”

She looked at me with anxious eyes. The tender and warm eyes filled my heart.

“I’m not sure yet.”

“So Freya, would you like a cup of tea with me?”

༻✿༺

In the reception room, I had to drink tea with meaningless conversation. However, I became nervous as I kept thinking about one person.

“Apologize for my rudeness. But, who did you met a while ago?”

I had to live under my father’s control and never had to be in a social gathering. So there wasn’t much I knew about Astein, perhaps he’s a member of a high-ranking noble family.

“Freya, paladins and saints are the closest, but you know it’s a relationship that needs to be distanced?” she said a little firmly.

There was no way I couldn’t understand the meaning of the remark. I supposed to be a saint who had to look at the God Thea and He would guide me for all my life. In return, I was required to perform miracles on people with the divine power I received.

“So don’t pay attention to him. Don’t you know what will happen if the Marquis finds out?”

If I happened to talk to a guy I didn’t know, I would get locked in the attic for days. Ate curse.

“I know. I just wanted to ask as someone who is deeply touched by the fact that someone’s become a paladin despite family’s opposition.”

And the stories about praise and faith toward God continued again. Unlike when I wanted to become a saint by any means, I wasn’t strangely focused.

“Did you hear when I will leave?”

However, I had no choice but to concentrate on the current story. It’s the day the tragedy begins.

“Yes….”

“Is there any change in divine power?”

I couldn’t answer. Right before the reversion, the divine power that came to me was a miracle and scattered. I didn’t even know if the divine power was mine.

When I didn’t answer, the saint sighed.

“When you were young, you’re obviously born with divine power… That’s why you became a member of the family. But how did it happen?”

The memories of my past life that had been brought back to life just before my death filled my mind again.

I was misunderstood and kicked out of the streets of the slums for strange powers. Someone took me to the Marquis’ orphanage, and because of the divine power I used, I became Marquis’ stepdaughter.

Since then, I was raised in harsh training to become a saint.

Until now, children from Marquis Futor were born to become a saint. But I was an exception. That’s why I was hated and abused more.

“On the day I leave, I will pass on all my divine powers. That will prove you’re the next saint, and you’ll be able to last a long time.”

I was quite respectful and fond of the saint. But I wasn’t a saint after all. So I was only telling the same story. The saint took my hand when I didn’t answer, exactly the left wrist that was wearing the silver bracelet.

I waited quietly because I thought I might be caught and I’d took the bracelet under the cuff.

“So be a real saint. Not a fake, a real saint.”

My heart was hurt to the voice.

“It’s only God’s answer you haven’t heard yet, so you don’t have to be anxious.”

The words of the saint who said things that couldn’t be done had struck my wounds of the past. Even then, I borrowed the divine power from the saint, but it’s still impossible.

“Can you last two more years?” So I asked.

In just two years, the real saint, the illegitimate child of the Marquis Futor, would appear. Then there was nothing left for me than became a fake saint.

“My death isn’t my choice, is it?”

Though it was a fact that I knew, despair came when I heard it myself. I thought I might not be able to change the future.

“Saint, if I come to find a true saint, who has divine power, will I find freedom?”

But I couldn’t just stay the same. I shouldn’t let go of the opportunity that was given to me.

The saint looked at me with a slightly stern face.