The man clicked his tongue as he watched Noel’s receding back.
“Wow, her face has halved in just two days.”
“It’s because she saw a wing stabbing his heart with a dagger right in front of her. Could you stay sane after that?”
“It wasn’t his heart, that’s why I’m telling you!”
“Anyway. Next time, it could be her turn. How can she endure that?”
The woman shivered.
“I really can’t understand it. Ahwin has, no, Ahwin did so much for the saintess. How could she order those loyal wings to stab their heart with a sword?”
“What’s even more unbelievable is that he actually stabbed. Seriously. Where can you find more loyalty than that? And then they lock him up in the dungeon and forbid treatment. It’s like telling him to die.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. You wouldn’t even do that to a dog you raised at home, no matter how big the crime…”
Leticia listened to their words, looking downcast. Her insides boiled as if she had swallowed a fireball, knowing how Ahwin must have felt following Josephina’s orders.
‘It was to protect me.’
Ahwin had chosen to remain silent even though he could have justified Tenua’s death.
He did it in case Josephina sensed something strange and Leticia got hurt.
‘He tried to bear everything on his own. That’s really too much.’
Leticia felt resentment towards Ahwin rather than gratitude.
‘You promised me. You swore never to take dangerous actions!’
He had asked her to become his child’s godmother, and then he himself stabbed his chest.
Her insides hurt so much she felt like she would go mad.
Knowing that Noel had witnessed it all from right beside him made it worse.
‘Noel, just wait a little longer.’
Leticia clenched her fist as she looked in the direction where Noel had disappeared.
Then, with blazing eyes, she glared at the temple.
‘Josephina, I won’t let you get away with this.’
She had sworn when she learned that Tenua was targeting the Principality’s delegation.
To take everything from Josephina in order to protect her people.
She had briefly forgotten that vow.
She had been too intoxicated with the comfort of the Principality.
That shouldn’t have happened.
Noel and Ahwin, the two most important people, were walking a dangerous tightrope.
‘Josephina, I will take everything from you. You will regret messing with those two until your death. I will definitely destroy everything about you this time!’
She hadn’t thought about how dangerous this resolve was.
Hadn’t the goddess and the dragon promised her repeatedly?
That a bright future was reserved for her.
No, even if there had been no prophecy, her choice would have been the same.
While she was here, she would spare no means to bring despair to that devil.
With that vow, Leticia glared at the black castle walls.
In her vividly flickering green eyes, the huge castle walls were reflected.
Beyond the castle walls, she recalled ‘those things’ that existed scattered across the desert.
At the same time, the energy of the goddess filling her body writhed.
Her will began to move.
Leticia, who had been glaring at the black castle walls, turned around.
There was still one more thing to do for her plan to succeed.
“But you two, doesn’t it seem strange?”
Leticia spoke, perfectly hiding her emotions.
“The third wing was punished by the saintess. No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. Why would the third wing be responsible for Lord Tenua’s death?”
“Miss, you don’t understand.”
The man clicked his tongue as he spoke.
“Ahwin was the chief of the guards. It makes sense that Ahwin would be punished for something that happened within the guards.”
“But it was Lord Rozantine who killed Lord Tenua. Moreover, it was Lord Tenua who provoked it.”
“The reason doesn’t matter. A wing died. Specifically, the second wing died. Can you imagine how shocked the saintess must have been? With her personality, do you think she would just let this go? Someone had to be punished.”
The woman next to him joined in the conversation.
“Exactly. It ended this way because he was a favored wing. If it had been someone else, their head would have been cut off long ago. We might have had a pile of wings’ corpses in front of us.”
“They wouldn’t have even found the body. It would have become food for the beasts raised by the saintess.”
“That’s why it’s even stranger.”
Leticia whispered.
“I understand that the saintess and the wings are closely connected. I also get that Lord Tenua’s death was a huge shock to her. But aside from that, he died a long time ago. So why did the saintess only feel shocked now?”
Leticia looked straight at the two of them.
“The saintess knew that Lord Tenua had died a long time ago, right? Isn’t it strange that she suddenly feels shocked now?”
“That’s because…”
The man started to respond reflexively but paused, a look of confusion on his face. The woman’s expression mirrored his.
“Right. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“It is strange, isn’t it? Hmm… Could she have known but pretended not to know?”
“Really? Could it be? Just a few hours ago, the saintess ordered preparations for the guard’s welcome banquet. If the saintess knew about the wing’s death, would she have done that? Would she have tolerated welcoming the one responsible for killing the wing?”
“Miss, are you suggesting…”
“That the saintess didn’t know about the wing’s death?”
“I’m just speculating. What do you two think?”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
The man spoke as if he was being choked.
“A saintess who can’t sense the death of a wing? That’s not an emissary of the goddess!”
“Sir! Please be quiet!”
Startled, the woman slapped the man’s back.
“Are you crazy? This is in front of the temple! Do you want to be dragged away and killed?”
She then clasped her trembling hands, turning pale.
“Yerina, if what you say is true, could that rumor also be real?”
“What rumor?”
“There are rumors that Josephina is deceiving the oracle. A few days ago, it was said that the oracle contradicted what Lady Josephina claimed, suggesting that it might harm her.”
“What do you mean by ‘oracle’? Tell me more!”
“Well, the rumor that circulated was that…”
As Leticia intended, the two talked at length about Josephina’s power.
While listening to their conversation, Leticia looked around.
In front of the temple, quite a few people gathered in small groups.
Leticia’s gaze grew cold as she watched them.
‘All I need now is time.’
The seeds of suspicion Leticia had sown among the two people.
Those seeds would soon burrow into their hearts.
And would spread throughout the capital soon after.
A woman shivered and said,
“I need to go home quickly. I can’t live in fear like this. The saint might not be the divine representative of the goddess. Ugh, it’s creepy.”
“If you want to live, watch your mouth. The best among us are dying trapped in prison. If something happens, we won’t even be able to squeak before we die.”
“Yerina, you also be careful. It’s better not to look for your brother for a while. If you catch Josephina’s eye as uncle said, you might end up mourning.”
“Thank you for your concern. I’ll keep that in mind.”
It turned out the woman lived next to Yerina.
Thanks to that, Leticia easily found Yerina’s house and quickly closed the door.
She leaned against the door and took a deep breath.
‘I need to observe Ahwin with the spirit of the wind.’
Soon, her hair began to flutter.
Feeling the wind grow stronger, Leticia slowly opened her eyes.
She gasped at the familiar figure floating in the air.
“Behemoth?”
Behemoth, who was supposed to be monitoring the Lord of Rozantine under Ahwin’s orders, was right in front of her.
[Who are you?]
The silver wolf, not recognizing Leticia, bared its teeth.
[How dare you summon a high spirit?]
The threatening aura seemed ready to bite Leticia’s throat at any moment.
But Leticia saw it.
Deep despair was embedded in Behemoth’s eyes.
“Behemoth.”
[Who are you, to know my name…!]
“It’s me, Behemoth.”
Leticia suddenly hugged Behemoth.
Startled, Behemoth’s eyes widened.
[How… could it be, Lady Leticia?]
“Yes, it’s me.”
[Lady Leticia!]
Behemoth burst into tears.
The fierce aura dissipated in an instant.
Leticia, fighting back the urge to cry herself, comforted Behemoth.
“Behemoth.”
[Lady Leticia! It’s terrible. Ahwin has fallen! He was stabbed in the chest with a sword!]
Behemoth, who had been monitoring the lord, was immediately summoned to Ahwin’s side as his life was in danger.
However, he was quickly repelled by Josephina’s energy.
He was desperately wandering outside the temple, looking for a way to reach Ahwin.
“Behemoth, don’t worry. I’m here now. I promise you, I will save Ahwin.”
[Lady Leticia…!]
“We need to find a way into the temple first. I’ll use the power of water. Ah, I need to meet Noel first. Do you know where she is?”
[Yes, sob. I met her just a while ago.]
“Ah, Goddess, thank you.”
Leticia continuously offered prayers of thanks.
“Behemoth, we don’t have time. Go to Noel right now and tell her I’m here, and ask her to come to me. Can you do that?”
[Yes! I will do that!]
Now, there was only one thing she could do.
Wait for Behemoth to return.
Leticia bit her lip anxiously, then paused.
She looked around the unfamiliar house, a strange thought occurring to her.
‘Why did I end up borrowing Yerina’s body?’
Her soul had entered Yerina’s body because of Sigmund.
He wouldn’t have chosen Yerina for no reason.
‘I wonder if there’s something in this house that could help me.’
Leticia, as if entranced, moved toward the desk.
In the corner of the neatly arranged desk, she noticed a stack of white paper.
‘Blank papers, why?’
Curious, Leticia picked up the paper, her eyes widening.
‘What is this?’
The paper was definitely blank, but she could feel embossed marks on it.
Leticia carefully ran her fingers over the indentations, her eyes narrowing.
‘Something is written here.’
It seemed like something had been written on another piece of paper and pressed down heavily, leaving an imprint on this blank paper.
It appeared that the same marks were repeated on several sheets, as if someone had repeatedly copied something onto them.
Leticia quickly grabbed a pencil that was lying on the desk.
She then began cautiously moving the pencil over the surface of the blank paper.
After a moment.
“What’s this?”
Under the graphite marks, strange characters she had never seen before began to emerge on the paper.
“What in the world…”
It felt odd.
Though she had never seen these characters before, she could understand their meaning.
The meaning flowed directly into her mind.
Unknowingly, Leticia began to read the characters aloud.
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