When I first heard those words a few days ago, it felt as if I had gained all the happiness in the world.
The dim lamplight seemed like splendid fireworks, and the sound of the insects was as sweet as a symphony. I will probably never forget that moment until the day I die.
[Will it be possible in six months?]
She asked shyly, smiling. At that moment, he almost confessed his true feelings to her. If only you would allow me, not in six months, but from today I would do everything to fulfill your dream.
‘But then…’
How can he best fulfill that dream? Since that day, he had been isolating himself for a week.
The reason why he was living apart from Leticia was because she was staying with his mother, Mano.
The first time he saw them together in Heden, they became close like mother and daughter within just a day.
How affectionate they were, to the extent that the entire Principality delegation was surprised to see them.
Watching his two most precious people in the world happy, he too was initially happy… and he still was.
The problem was just how much he missed the times when Leticia would hug him to sleep.
‘It’s all because I still haven’t confessed my love.’
If they could cling to each other during the day instead of sleeping apart at night, there would be no problem.
The problem was that it wasn’t possible.
Although they stuck together whenever they could, there were limits because it was all ‘acting.’
‘Maybe I should just confess my love honestly.’
Suffering from Leticia withdrawal symptoms, Dietrian began to seriously contemplate confessing his love.
‘Let’s just endure it a little longer.’
Things would definitely get better once they reached the royal palace.
They would share a bedroom, which would surely ease the withdrawal symptoms.
He decided to soothe his intense loneliness by boasting about his relationship with Leticia to others.
“Yulken. Have you ever received a proposal?”
“Me? No?”
Yulken looked at Dietrian with a puzzled expression.
“Of course not. I was the one who proposed. You even lent me the royal garden for my proposal.”
“Right. That was it.”
Dietrian nodded and then said quietly,
“I really am lucky.”
“…What?”
“I’ve been thinking, and I do seem very lucky.”
Dietrian said solemnly,
“You’ll find out soon. In six months… No, maybe even sooner.”
Thus, Dietrian tried to alleviate his loneliness with what was to others an incomprehensible boast.
* * *
“Ahwin!”
Ahwin turned slowly toward the voice as he waited for Josephina’s door to open.
“Noel Armos.”
With that gentle call, the corners of his mouth lifted as if painted. His red eyes were filled with unmistakable affection.
“There haven’t been any problems at the temple, have there?”
“No, of course not. As you instructed, I have been taking good care of the saintess.”
Noel felt tears well up, but she held them back and managed a brave smile. She had been careful, as there were many eyes watching.
“The banquet a few days ago ended successfully as well. As per the saintess’s orders, I even demonstrated the power of the wings. The saintess was very satisfied.”
“That’s good to hear. Well done, Noel Armos.”
Seeing him smile, Noel clenched her fists tightly. If it weren’t for all the eyes around, she would have hugged him tightly. Ahwin spoke to the people around them.
“I have something urgent to discuss with Noel Armos. Everyone, please leave us for a moment.”
“Understood.”
The courtiers bowed and withdrew. Noel felt as if her heart would burst. It seemed to take an eternity for them to move away.
“Ahwin…!”
As soon as they were far enough away, Noel ran to Ahwin.
She plunged straight into his embrace. His strong arms enveloped her as if they had been waiting. They clung tightly together. Feeling his warmth, she whispered,
“I missed you.”
“Me too.”
“I thought I was going crazy missing you.”
“Me too, I felt the same.”
Noel breathed a trembling breath. It felt like she could finally breathe. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much time.
Soon, Josephina’s door would open.
They needed to discuss something important quickly.
“Ahwin, Prince Calisto might be a Wing of the Goddess.”
“Prince Calisto?”
Ahwin looked down at Noel in surprise. Noel quickly spilled everything that had happened with Calisto.
“The prince asked me how to escape the pain of the oath, claiming he was Josephina’s first wing.”
“Do you think what he said was true?”
“It felt like it. But I’m not sure yet, I haven’t told him anything about Lady Leticia.”
Noel whispered. After a moment of thought, Ahwin spoke.
“We need to find a way to bring Prince Calisto face to face with Lady Leticia.”
“Will he recognize her as Leticia’s Wing?”
“If he is indeed her Wing, yes. If not, he won’t feel anything.”
“We need to find a natural way to send the prince to the Principality.”
They couldn’t bring Leticia to the empire. Both knew how dangerous that would be for her.
“We need to persuade Josephina. It would be better if one of us stepped forward. Josephina trusts both of us.”
Ahwin listened quietly, then whispered,
“You should handle this, Noel.”
“Me?”
“Tenua’s body has disappeared.”
Noel flinched. Shock was evident in her eyes. Ahwin grimaced.
“I found out not long ago. A very sophisticated illusion was left behind. We’ve been deceived.”
Frozen in shock, Noel spoke with a trembling voice.
“Now that you mention it, Josephina has never spoken of Tenua.”
“It’s one of two things. She was either involved in Tenua’s resurrection, or she doesn’t know about Tenua’s death.”
“If Tenua had died, Josephina wouldn’t have stayed quiet. She screamed about being attacked by a dragon recently.”
“A dragon attack?”
“It’s a long story. Lately, Josephina has been very sensitive, worried about losing her powers. That’s why she commanded me to demonstrate the power of the Wing at the banquet.”
“She wanted to showcase her well-being.”
“Josephina didn’t know about Tenua’s death. At least until a few days ago.”
“If Tenua died before Leticia crossed the Principality border, and Josephina doesn’t know that, then.”
“It’s proof that Josephina is a fake.”
Noel whispered.
“There’s another piece of evidence that Josephina is a fake.”
Someday, these pieces of evidence would come together to lead to Leticia’s victory. Ahwin brushed back Noel’s hair, whispering,
“You’re right. But we have a problem to solve until then.”
“A problem?”
“Someone has to face Josephina’s wrath.”
Ahwin whispered, pressing his lips against Noel’s temple.
“If she finds out about Tenua’s death, Josephina won’t just stay put. Especially now that the body that could have justified his death is gone.”
There was only one path left.
“No matter what happens, I will handle it alone. So no matter what happens, do not intervene, Noel.”
* * *
After parting with Noel, Calisto immediately went to the palace where the royal family stayed.
Standing at the entrance, talking to a knight, the princess asked in surprise,
“Cal? What happened?”
Calisto ran up the stairs as if he hadn’t heard his sister’s words.
“Sir Velcrose, we’ll discuss this later.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
Sensing the unusual tension in her brother, the princess quickly followed after Calisto.
Calisto strode to his room and frantically searched through his drawers for a stack of documents.
His fingers trembled slightly as he recognized the familiar handwriting.
“Cal, what’s wrong? Why such a terrified expression? Did you go to the saint again? Did you have a fight with her? Are you hurt?”
Instead of answering, Calisto rapidly flipped through the documents. He had planted spies in the Divine Palace years ago.
Thanks to them, he had been quite well informed about the happenings at the Divine Palace. Recently, he had received reports about everything that had happened.
‘Noel Armos. If my memory serves…’
The document he was now looking at contained information compiled by his spies about Noel.
‘Noel Armos has been a Wing for some time, but even recently, she has often been criticized for not being very Wing-like. I thought so too.’
‘Being from the slums, unlike other Wings, she was unpretentious. She was also kind to those around her and was well-liked.’
The report contained quite a bit of information. One sentence caught his attention.
‘Unlike other Wings, in the last six months, she has been very wary of Josephina. She even failed to carry out Josephina’s orders a few times.’
Josephina’s orders were to kill innocent people. The report stated that Josephina had been very angry with Noel for her inability to carry out these orders, criticizing her as a deficient Wing.
Initially, he thought the spies had relayed incorrect information.
The Noel in the reports and the Noel he had personally encountered at the banquet were completely different.
At the banquet, Noel had been anything but wary of Josephina; she seemed almost too eager to please, and the accusations of her lacking ability didn’t seem to fit at all. But now, looking back, he saw it differently.
‘If Noel Armos didn’t fail in her duties due to lack of ability, but deliberately disobeyed orders.’
Like he shuddered at Josephina’s evil deeds, perhaps she too could not accept those wicked acts. It made sense why Noel had failed to carry out several orders.
‘Suffering from criticisms of inadequacy, Noel Armos suddenly became Josephina’s favorite.’
It happened suddenly after a pledge of loyalty a while ago.
‘And that was around the time the Divine Palace was destroyed.’
Her sudden display of overwhelming power, unimaginable for the Ninth Wing, had caused a great uproar.
‘Josephina went around claiming that it was all because her own powers had grown.’
If his suspicion was correct, Josephina was completely mistaken.
‘Because Noel Armos isn’t using Josephina’s powers.’
Because.
[In the past, as now, according to the will of the Goddess, though I am insufficient, I live to protect the weakest and lowest.]
[Just like my only true master saved me.]
Noel Armos’s true master was not Josephina.
“…Sister, how would you feel if I suddenly declared my loyalty to Josephina?”
“You? Pledge loyalty to the saint?”
The princess looked at Calisto in surprise.
“Not a fake pledge of loyalty to start a fire in the temple, but one that looks genuine to others, kneeling before Josephina.”
The princess glanced at Calisto cautiously.
“Why pledge loyalty? Have you… decided to do so?”
Calisto said nothing, only looking at his sister with flickering eyes. Filled with ominous thoughts, the princess grew fearful again.
“Cal, what’s really going on? Did Josephina threaten you? That she would attack the royal family unless you pledge loyalty immediately… Did she?”
“Why would you think that?”
“You wouldn’t change your mind without reason. Josephina must have done something.”
“That’s right. There’s no way I’d pledge loyalty without reason.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
“Kneeling and kissing the hand of that devil is impossible unless there is a reason compelling enough to override my beliefs.”
For instance, to protect someone far more precious than one’s convictions.
And finally, he found it. Calisto’s heart raced as he looked somewhere in the documents.
The very day Noel Armos pledged loyalty to the saint.
There was another person there.
The saint’s daughter, Leticia.
The woman who had lived her life under the stigma of being a murderer was bleeding from an attack by Josephina.
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