Chapter 2 (2/2)

“Freya, are you really a saint? Have you already forgotten my words that you should be a real saint?”

“But it’s obvious that I can’t use the divine power, I’m sure there’s someone who can be the real God Thea’s surrogate.”

“If the real saint really exists, wouldn’t it have been known among the people already?”

I was a little disappointed by the way she said it firmly. I was convinced that I had been through the future, but what would happen if I said I wasn’t a saint who had divine power and listened to the word of God?

Well, I didn’t know that at all.

“Freya, I consider you as my real nephew. The most urgent task is to find divine power quickly for the sake of the family and for yourself.”

The friendly speaking lady touched my hand. But as she passed the comfort, my heart became heavier.

When I returned to the carriage, I calmly recalled the future. The reason I and Asteindied, it seemed, no matter how much I thought, was because I became a fake saint.

“Ellaner…”

The real saint, I had to find her. If the real saint appeared, the Marquis still wouldn’t release me easily. I knew the secret that made me a saint.

If the Marquis found the real saint to keep the noble name of him and his family, he would try to kill me. So I had to get her first and put the real saint in front of everyone at the coronation of a saint and then I ran away.

At least, Astein wouldn’t repeat the same future.

While I was thinking about it, the wagon moved towards the Marquis’ mansion. I hurriedly opened on the window and told the horseman.

“I will stop by the slums first.”

Finding Ellaner in the slum was a clue to change to the future. It was the only thing I could do to change the future.

It was a chance to find her traces now.

“The Marquis may be angry.”

“There’s a word of God. My father will understand.”

“I understand.”

The face of the horseman was full of complaints. I sat down and thought about how to stop Astein from becoming a holy knight.

First of all, I had to find out about his identity. Could I go to the temple tomorrow and asked the holy knights?

“Kyaa!”

However, after some time, the carriage suddenly stopped. Even it was tilted.

“My Lady, what should I do? The wheel is missing in the mud. You have to come out for a while until we get the carriage out.”

The sight of the carriage on the outside was terrible. It wasn’t in the sludge, the wheel was warped. It seemed that it was forced to turn and try to avoid a large rock and then fell.

“You asked me to change direction, so I was in a hurry.”

The horseman narrowed his eyes a bit to rebuke me. Despite his impolite attitude, I couldn’t be angry. I could hear people’s sighs because I blocked their carriages and passerby unintentionally. It was exactly an accusation against me.

“Aren’t you a prospective saint from the Mansion of Futor?”

“That’s right. Then you can perform miracles with your divine power and remove the rocks.”

My face was red at the unflattering gaze toward me. To people, divine power was regarded as a function of the ability to do anything. I didn’t have the power to do that.

“Sacred power isn’t used for this little thing. I’ll put the rocks away.”

Then a dignified low voice rang. And the voice was the one I missed.

Astein!

He came out in front of me on a big horse. Like a prince in a fairy tale.

“Please wait.”

Astein didn’t look back at me. He just silently approached the rock. I didn’t know if I knew what I was watching, he was just as sincere as I remembered.

He stood in front of the rock with a large sword he had tied to his horse. Then, with a precise and quick hand, he carved the rock.

In the temple, Astein was the best knight. Maybe no one in the continent could beat him. So I was always able to trust him as my escort.

He lifted the rock that had fallen off and moved it. As I watched his back full of muscles, my heart began to beat. He was still trustworthy.

Only after he finished clearing the rock pieces and confirmed that the other carriages were free to pass, he came to me.

“Thank you.”

“You’re the Lady from the mansion of Marquis Futor, aren’t you?”

There was no warmth in his eyes that looked at me, it’s a clerical and mechanical look.

The first meeting with him was different from that time, the last one kept hurting. The guilt of last night’s dream kept crushing me.

The fact that I shouldn’t be in love pinched me even more.

“I’m Astein.”

He didn’t reveal his last name. Like in the past, he wouldn’t let me know who he was.

“I’m Freya Futor.”

“I know it well.”

Ironically, I didn’t know people in the world, but everyone in the world recognized me. Was it because of being trapped in a cage? I had always been a spectacle, a fool who doesn’t know people or the world.

And then I fell for someone who had been kind to me and drove him to death.

“….Thank you for your help.”

Fortunately, I didn’t get choked.

“The carriage doesn’t seem to be ready to use right now. What do you think?”

“I think I’ll have to wait for the repair to finish.”

It seemed wrong to go to the slums. I was going to drop by while I was sneaking out. The carriage from the Marquis would never send me anywhere else.

“My Lady, I’m sorry, but it won’t be fixed easily.”

At the sound of the horseman, Astein’s forehead was gathered slightly. After a while, he gave me a suggestion carefully.

“Then, would you like to take my horse and return to the Marquis?”

He looked at me as he spoke. He still had a troubled face with his eyebrows raised.

“Yes?”

“I know you’re going to be a saint, but I think you’ll be waiting forever. I’m planning to go there because I have some errands near Marquis Futor’s mansion.”

I had no choice but to hesitate. If the Marquis saw me rode a horse with a stranger, I knew exactly what the Marquis would do.

But when I saw Astein reached out to me with a big, solid hand, the desire that was hiding in me woke up. I wanted to stay close to him.

“Then, I’ll ask you to.”

Was it my illusion that I felt that Astein’s face, which was still businesslike, was briefly glowing?

Astein got on the horse first. Then he reached out a large hand with calluses on it.

“Hold my hand.”

When I held his hand, I felt like I could fly to his arms. In the arms of the person I missed the most.

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