The paladin quickly brought the priest who was snooping outside. It was the priest who had guided Leticia to the purification room earlier.
“I…greet the Saintess.”
The priest, who ran at the Saintess’ call, recognized the fallen Leticia and became contemplative.
At that, Dietrian narrowed his brows.
‘Is this really a priest?’
Him trembling like an aspen tree made it not believable at all.
It was strange when Josephina suddenly offered to treat her. It seemed that she brought in a false priest and pretended to treat her falsely.
Dietrian’s eyes twinkled coldly. She, too, refused to treat her, and just when he decided to take Leticia, Josephina said in bad temper.
“What are you doing without starting treatment right away!”
“Ah, I understand.”
The priest suddenly came to his senses and sat down in front of Leticia.
As his stubby hand rested on her shoulder, light emanated from it. Until then, Dietrian’s eyes widened as he suspected that all of this was the Saintess’ deception.
As the light penetrated, Leticia’s wounds began to heal. The pulse he felt at his fingertips also became more stable.
The strength drained from Dietrian’s tense shoulders.
‘The hard part is over.’
Seeing Leticia healed at least put his heart at ease. Still, doubts remained.
‘Why did the Saintess suddenly change her mind?’
It’s good that Leticia got out of the crisis, but since he didn’t know why, his worries remained.
Right then.
“Ugh…”
All thoughts stopped.
“The patient is returning to consciousness.”
Dietrian looked down at Leticia without blinking an eye.
His heart beat fast as his eyes touched on her lips.
Why Josephina changed her mind was still unknown.
What mattered was that she was coming back to her consciousness.
He had a mountain of things he wanted to ask when she woke up.
Are her wounds okay now? He wanted to ask if she’s really the one who saved Enoch because of his older brother. What is her name? He also wanted to say sorry and thank you.
“Then Prince, I will send this child back to the shrine.”
But right now he couldn’t do anything. It was because paladin under Josephina’s orders was approaching.
“Your Highness, please step aside for a moment.”
He never wanted to let go of her hand, but he had to get up.
As he took a step back, it felt like his heart had been pierced by her missing warmth.
Swallowing his dejection, he only clenched his fists tightly. He tried to check Leticia’s face, but even that was impossible.
The paladin carried Leticia over his shoulder, hiding half of her face.
‘This paladin dares.’
Dietrian gritted his teeth as he looked at Leticia, who was limp without strength. He felt like he was going to get angry at those who treated a sick patient like that.
He chewed the flesh inside his mouth, trying to calm his anger. He wanted to take her away and hug her right away, but he couldn’t do that now.
He had to wait. When the Saintess’ eyes couldn’t reach her, so that he could find her.
So that he could get her out of this hellish temple.
So for now, he just stared at the bracelet on her wrist.
***
Leticia didn’t come to her senses until she returned to the shrine. Her wounds were healed with divine power, but the shock her body received remained.
“What should I do?”
One of the paladins who brought Leticia asked cautiously. Josephina just glared at the limp Leticia.
“How dare you disobey my order, a bitch like a bug?”
After becoming a Saintess, everyone around her held her up. Even the Imperial family of the Empire gave her a hand.
Except for Julios, no one vomited at her words.
Even Julios died at her hands in the end. But Leticia, who has been treated like trash all her life, disobeyed her order for the first time.
‘Did she go crazy because she was afraid of Dietrian?’
It was obvious why Leticia left the bridal waiting room.
It must be to avoid her marriage. Didn’t she plead just two days ago while grabbing the hem of her skirt.
[Please, make the marriage a thing that never happened.]
Being alone in the waiting room must have made her reach the peak of fear.
“Did you think anything would change if you prayed to the Goddess?”
Leticia had been very religious since she was a child.
She hated how she looked. She couldn’t stand that praying stance and grabbed her hair to drag her out.
Then Leticia would beg for forgiveness even though she was not guilty of any crimes.
This time, as well, she wanted to rag her back with a whip.
‘I can’t do that because of the damn national marriage.’
Josephina agitatedly shook her head.
‘There is a limit to treatment after punishment.’
Divine power is the power of the goddess, but it wasn’t perfect.
Healing through divine power is, in the end, drawing on the patient’s life force. If she was treated with divine power several times in a short period of time, it was bound to show.
Josephina gritted her teeth and gave the order.
“Come on, get that thing out of my sight.”
“Yes.”
The paladins dragged Leticia out again. Josephina, who was looking at that back, said bitterly.
“Tell Noel to punish that bitch tonight. Be sure to tell her that that cheeky bitch disobeyed my orders.”
“Understood.”
When the priest walked backwards and left the room with his back bent, Josephina bad-temperedly grabbed her headdress. Her courtier, who was waiting for her, came quickly and put a chair behind her.
“I will do it for you.”
The courtier carefully untied Josephina’s headdress. Leaning against the back of her chair, Josephina closed her eyes.
After a while, the masseuse silently approached and gently pressed her scalp. Someone removed her shoes and wrapped a warm towel around her feet.
As if someone had lit a scented candle, a fragrant scent crossed her nostrils. Josephina’s expression, which had been crumpled up, finally relaxed.
“Feels so good.”
The tense muscles loosened and a feeling of drowsiness spread throughout the body. She felt a little better today after feeling bad all day.
‘Yes, everything will be over within half a year anyway.’
Leticia will never disobey her orders. So within half a year at the latest, Dietrian will die.
‘The dragon’s descendants will completely disappear from this world.’
The dragon can’t stop her. Because he couldn’t intervene with the public. Just as she killed Julios, he couldn’t appear before her unless she moved her hand.
‘If you break the rules and show up in front of me again, you’ll suffer for violating the law of causality.’
It was for this reason that Josephina decided to use Leticia.
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