Side Story 1 Chapter 2

 ────── 〔✿〕──────

Charlotte did not admit that she had changed the water color of the fountain until her lips were swollen and became like carp.

‘She must be thinking I’ll give up if she continues to lie.’

But that was a great misjudgment. 

“Ugh, I’m telling you I didn’t do it! Do you have evidence?!”

Of course, I didn’t have anything like evidence.

Using Eredia's powers, I could sense that she was lying, but there was no way to show it to others.

‘That’s why I’m going to make her admit it herself.’ 

I raised my hand without hesitation and slapped her cheeky mouth because Dietrich tied her shadow so that Charlotte could not attack me.

“Why are you hitting me?! Who are you to hit me?!”

Charlotte raised her voice full of injustice without being able to remove the shadow that surrounded her ankle.

I stared at her still-white aura and let out a wry laugh.

‘Does she still believe that she’s good?’

It was obvious why Charlotte didn't admit her lies.

The moment she admits it, she’ll have to face the truth that she’s not the saint that the temple reveres. 

“There’s no one else but you, Charlotte. No one else can imitate Hella’s powers as if they belonged to God.” 

Hella was locked in a red jewel and sealed tightly, just like Vassago was in the distant past.

‘Her powers that have been scattered around the world must be slowly disappearing…’

Nevertheless, there was a faint smell of Hella coming from the fountain.

“I don’t know what basis you have for threatening me like this, Anissa.” 

Charlotte began to weep as she watched me sniffling for the smell of the aura from the fountain.

“Hic, why would I interfere between your marriage with His Grace?” 

I stared at Charlotte, who was shedding tears that were clear and thick, like chicken poop, and touched my side with a sigh.

“If Anissa really has the sage’s eyes who could tell the truth from a lie, you would know. That  don’t have an affection for His Grace.”

“Even if you didn’t like him, you wanted him.”

Because in this world, there exists a wicked feeling that though I didn’t want to have it, I couldn’t let other people have it.

Moreover, Charlotte was a person of character enough to bear such a base-bred heart. 

‘Though she seems to intend to deny it until the end.’

“Charl, you know originally, I had not intended to touch even the temple.”

Hella, whom the Empire looked up to as the sun god, disappeared, but those who believed in her still existed.

There must be some people who were comforted by believing that Hella was the sun god, so I didn't want to reveal the identity of the sun god to people all over the world.

“However, now that I see it, you don’t seem to have the head to reflect on yourself, Charl.” 

“.........”

At my absent-minded muttering, Charlotte turned her head away from me, biting her innocent lips. 

I walked through the arched door, leaving her to keep her silence near the fountain. 

The priest, who was afraid of Dietrich and couldn’t bring himself inside ran to me at once, fearful that I might have dared to harm the saintess. 

“Are you done talking with the saintess?”

“Priest.”

“Yes?”

“You said the divine power has disappeared recently, correct?”

He nodded hesitantly at my question.

“It’s not just the divine power of the High Priest that has disappeared.”

“Yes. The other priests are in a similar situation. I can no longer feel Hella’s breath which I had felt faint.” 

Except for Charlotte, who was a saint in the first place, the powers of the priests were just crumbs. 

‘That’s why they revered Charlotte like that.’

I tilted my head to the side as I looked at the anxious priest who said that something seemed to happen to Hella. 

“I think the power that protects the temple is still there.”

Although Dietrich, who was upset by the High Priest's declaration that he could not bless our marriage, broke everything and came in, it did not completely look intact, but the power of Hella was clearly felt in the round dome that protected the temple.

“Yes! It’s because Charlotte is staying in Vallandia.”

Pointing to the cracked red dome, the priest smiled proudly.

‘There's no way Charlotte has the power to maintain that dome….’

It seemed that a relic that was not mentioned in the Rose Wars of Men which Hermann nor Charlotte did not know, was asleep. 

I shrugged at the faint smell of Hella on the floor of the temple. 

“The dome isn’t maintained by Charlotte. That is because she lost her powers just like you.” 

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”

As I summoned the wide-eyed priests to gather, who couldn’t seem to believe my words, I throw the jewel in which Hella was sealed on the floor. 

“It means there is no such thing as a sun god from the beginning.”

There were priests who were enraged at my words, but there were also priests who were silent like the High Priest and stared at the sealing stone of Hella.

‘Those who used Hella’s powers, even just a little, would feel it.’

Because it didn't make sense for mere humans to seal the gods.

‘What if it was a demon? Was probably what they were thinking.’

I shrugged my shoulders while staring at the face of the High Priest, which was turning white. 

“So, in the first place, Lagrange and Euclid are not fundamentally different families.”

Both families were demonstrating their abilities by borrowing the power of the demons whom the temple claimed to be evil. 

“B-but how can a sealed demon maintain the dome?”

The High Priest who first grasped the situation opens his mouth with a stutter.

“Then, isn’t it proof that the saintess is really protecting us?”

“There’s still a relic left in the temple, isn’t that right?”

“How did you?!”

The aura of the High Priest shook greatly at my question.

Charlotte may not know of the relic because it didn’t appear in the book, but the High Priest seemed to know the existence of the holy relic. 

“How could the Princess know about the holy relic that only the High Priests secretly supervise….”

“Check if Charlotte recognizes the relic.”

“..........”

“If the demon I sealed isn’t the sun god you believed in, she would still have divine power and will recognize the relic.” 

As if my words were a death sentence, the High Priest’s blood-washed face turned deathly pale. 

The other priests didn’t believe me or they were angry, but he couldn’t completely deny me. 

“High Priest, don’t tell me you’re really going to test me, the saintess, just because of the Princess’ words?”

Charlotte, who at some point had come out of her restraints, sat on the marble chair at the top of the temple and opened her mouth with her fists clenched so hard that her veins swell.

I glanced alternately between her aura, which was fainter but redder than before, and the gloomy aura of the High Priest.

The High Priest’s gloomy gaze descended on the noisy temple thanks to the priests who raised their voices.

“Saintess, I’m truly sorry, but could please tell me which one is the relic?”

“High Priest!”

“At this time when the divine power suddenly disappeared, the Princess even showed us the sealing stone and so we had no choice but to check.”

After calmly speaking, the High Priest held his hands together as if praying and activated the artifact.

Then the pillars supporting the temple—except for those that Dietrich had broken—moved and the floor began to go down.

The basement of the temple was as deep as a cave and full of colorful crystals.

‘It looks like they did it to hide the relics.’

I could recognize the relics bearing Hella’s power at a glance but Charlotte didn’t seem to be able to. 

She violently sighed and glared at the High Priest and me as if unable to hide her irritation and anger as before. 

“How dare you test me, the saint?” 

“You’re not the only one who took the test, Saintess.”

The High Priest could no longer hide his gloomy smile like someone who already knew the outcome. 

I approached the High Priest while watching Charlotte who stuttered and caressed the crystal, even though she knew there was nothing she could tell even if she touched it.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you saying sorry for?”

“Because I’m about to deny the existence of the god to whom you dedicated all your life.”

“It’s just me realizing that the name of the god I believe in wasn’t Hella.” 

The High Priest’s aura felt bittersweet but also refreshing that I didn’t ask him further what he meant. 

“Why are you doing this to me?!”

“Doing what?”

“Vallandia doesn’t mean anything to you anyway, Anissa! Are you saying you’re going to be the saint instead of me?!”

“No. I’m not interested in the saintess’ position. I don’t want to live pretending to be nice like you, Charlotte.”

However, I didn’t want to see her live well by making up a fake god. 

Charlotte, who seemed to be buried behind the crystal, naturally didn’t hand to us a relic of Hella. 

Because the last relic of Hella was not the crystal but the temple itself. 

As I shook my head as if to give an answer, Charlotte threw the crystal to the ground as if screaming. 

The bright red crystal shattered with a roaring, loud noise.

Charlotte's aura, which was so white to the point it felt bad, was dyed red at the same time.

“Now, even if you can find the holy relic, you can no longer be a saint. Seeing that you messed up like this in front of the priests.”

Charlotte rushed at me at my low-pitched whisper but Dietrich’s arm blocked her and she eventually fell down.

I opened my mouth as I looked at the red heat rising from the back of her head, which was lying flat on the floor.

“Stop forcing yourself to take on that role now. In my opinion, Charlotte is a bit of a bad character.” 

────── 〔✿〕──────

If you can, please consider supporting the author of this novel by purchasing the original book. You can purchase or wait 12 hours to view chapter-by-chapter on KakaoPage or by volume on Ridibooks.

KakaoPage: https://page.kakao.com/home?seriesId=54347563

Ridibooks: https://ridibooks.com/books/3092010101