And shortly after, Leticia’s fingertips trembled as she put down the paper. Her heart felt like it was about to burst.
‘This is a divine oracle from the goddess.’
It was the very oracle given to her by the goddess on her wedding day.
‘The record of the oracle remained. Someone had copied it down!’
On her wedding day, Leticia had only one wish.
That she might have the strength to protect her beloved.
Tears welled up in Leticia’s eyes as she looked down at the oracle.
‘That day, the goddess answered my prayers.’
A sharp, piercing emotion surged through her solar plexus. At the same time, anger flared within her.
‘How dare they ignore and distort the goddess’s oracle. Josephina, how evil will you become?’
There was something else on the white paper besides the oracle given to Leticia. It was the oracle received by Josephina.
“This is a warning only for you.”
The oracle began with these words and ended with a prophecy of Josephina’s doom.
‘Knowing it was my oracle, she pinned this ominous prophecy on the entire Principality.’
Her hands trembled with rage at such wickedness.
‘I will never forgive her. I will make sure everyone knows the truth of the oracle. The real enemy of the empire is not the Principality but Josephina, Josephina is a fraud!’
Leticia turned swiftly.
There was no need to waste any more time.
As she moved toward the window, her black hair briefly turned blonde, but Leticia did not notice.
Opening the window, she saw a gray sky heavy with pouring snow. Leticia’s eyes blazed as she looked towards the black castle walls.
Although obscured by other buildings, she felt their presence distinctly.
The black castle walls and the desert beyond, and the demons that dominated that desert.
‘The sole representative of the goddess commands. Answer my call right now. There is something you must do for me.’
Just thinking was enough. Like the time her whispers had brought Valenos to its knees, the goddess’s energy surged within her. It quickly darted towards the desert.
Although massive energy drained away from her, Leticia did not even blink. Like the sea whose waters are endless no matter how much is drawn, merely alerting the nearby demons of her presence had hardly felt like an exertion.
Leticia’s gaze grew icy.
‘Josephina, watch closely. See what your lies will bring.’
If Josephina had spread rumors that calamity had befallen the empire because of the Principality. The Queen of the Principality herself would become that calamity, appearing right before Josephina’s eyes. Leticia vowed.
* * *
“Ah.”
Upon seeing Leticia, Noel froze like ice.
[Lady Noel! This is Leticia! She looks different, but it’s definitely her! I’m sure of it! I felt her energy just a while ago!]
Behemoth, who had guided her, said excitedly.
“Noel, it’s really me.”
Noel could not respond and merely moved her lips. Tears swiftly filled her eyes, and she collapsed, which Leticia quickly supported.
“Noel!”
“Lady Leticia.”
Noel, unable to properly breathe, burst into tears, which contained all the sorrow she had endured. Leticia, embracing Noel’s frail back, felt her own eyes heat up with tears.
[*Squeak.*]
Tears formed in Behemoth’s eyes as well. The silver wolf nuzzled against the two of them, whimpering softly.
With tears streaking her face, Noel finally stopped her loud crying and said,
“Lady Leticia, ah, Ahwin.”
“I know. That’s why I came to the empire.”
“Le-Leticia, you’re al-also in da-danger.”
Even as she wept bitterly, Noel was worried about Leticia. She wiped her tears and whispered soothingly,
“You don’t have to worry about me. The one who sent me here promised to protect me.”
“How did you even get here?”
“Only my soul has come here. If danger arises, I can return to my original body.”
“Who exactly—”
“Don’t be alarmed.”
Leticia said gently, smiling.
“The Dragon, Lord Sigmund, who founded the Principality, is helping me.”
“Si-Sigmund?”
Noel paused, still crying.
“Come to think of it—”
“I’m listening. You can speak slowly.”
“Josephina said something strange. A long time ago, she claimed that a dragon was targeting her.”
“Back then, there was a purple pattern in the air. I tried to ask the prince about it.”
“Noel.”
Noel was crying so bitterly that it was hard to make out her words.
Leticia hugged Noel and stroked her back in a comforting manner,
“Take your time. We have plenty of it. I’ll be here until we save Ahwin.”
“Lady Leticia.”
Noel tried to stop crying, but it wasn’t easy.
The despair of watching her beloved die after enduring the loneliness of the empire for over a month and the long wait gnawed at her still.
“Noel, Ahwin is alright. I can feel his energy, can’t you trust my words?”
“Yes, yes.”
Noel nodded, sobbing heavily. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Ahwin will never die. And Josephina wouldn’t kill him.”
If Josephina had intended to kill Ahwin, she would have done so already.
There was no need to issue a command to ‘prove your loyalty by stabbing yourself in a vital spot with your own hand.’
She would have simply thrown him alive to the monsters she kept.
“But she didn’t do that.”
She even treated Ahwin. Although Leticia hadn’t seen it with her eyes, she could sense it.
‘Ahwin’s energy has strengthened since he was first stabbed with the dagger.’
Ahwin’s energy, which had seemed on the verge of extinguishing, had grown stronger.
It was still dangerous, but it was better than when he had been hovering between life and death. It seemed Josephina intended for Ahwin to maintain this condition.
‘This way, she plans to prove Ahwin’s loyalty.’
Not just to Ahwin, but to everyone in the capital.
To show that the power over life and death of such mighty wings was in her hands.
“Lady Leticia, I knew Ahwin hadn’t died, because…”
Noel collapsed into Leticia’s embrace, sobbing.
“I treated him.”
“What?”
“To keep him alive just enough… that’s what Josephina commanded. I treated him. I used my holy power.”
Leticia’s eyes widened.
“Josephina told me to leave the dagger in Ahwin’s chest, to just leave it there, so I couldn’t pull it out. I… treated him.”
The moment of treating Ahwin in the dungeon was still vivid. Treating him while leaving the dagger inside worsened his pain as his flesh swelled and the wound expanded.
Knowing her holy power was causing Ahwin pain, Noel still had to follow Josephina’s commands.
“Ahwin wanted it that way…”
* * *
[Lady Leticia, are you really going to the Temple yourself?]
“I must. The only way to persuade him is for me to go personally.”
Leticia gazed down at Noel, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion after crying. Her heart ached at her reddened eyes.
‘I can’t leave Noel in the empire any longer.’
She resolved to take Noel and Ahwin to the Principality once this matter was resolved.
“Behemoth, if Noel wakes up before I return, make sure she doesn’t leave this house.”
[I will follow Lady Leticia’s command, but…]
Behemoth looked down at the sleeping Noel with a worried expression.
Noel was a wing, and Behemoth a spirit; normally, Behemoth could not stop her.
But now, Leticia’s will intervened.
“If Noel is stubborn, relay my command. Tell her not to step outside until I save Ahwin, and she must not come looking for me. This is an order from the goddess’s representative to a wing.”
If Behemoth relayed Leticia’s command, Noel had to obey.
Even if she tried to defy it, Behemoth would be there to block her.
[Still, wouldn’t it be better if Prince Calisto met with Lady Noel?]
“No, I’m enough on my own. If the prince truly recognizes me as his master as Noel suspects, he’ll know who I am the moment he sees me.”
The reason Leticia was heading to the Temple. To meet Prince Calisto, Josephina’s first wing as Noel had mentioned.
‘He could perfectly heal Ahwin.’
Prince Calisto, considered the next great master of the magic tower, was a possessor of immense magical power.
Surely, he could heal even a fatal wound.
‘Originally, my plan was to meet the Wing of Healing.’
Long ago, Ahwin had advised her to meet Kaylas, the Wing of Healing.
She intended to reveal her identity to her and ask for Ahwin’s treatment.
‘But there’s no guarantee that Kaylas will help me. She might be using powers similar to those of Tenua.’
Rather than the uncertain Kaylas, it was better to meet Calisto first. Leticia had decided that.
‘Besides, Calisto is the master of Yerina. It’s better to meet him than the Wing of Healing.’
Before Noel arrived, Leticia had found clues proving her identity on Yerina’s desk.
Surprisingly, Yerina had been an agent planted by Calisto in the Temple.
“Behemoth, please take good care of Noel.”
[Leave it to me.]
Behemoth responded confidently. Leticia smiled faintly and stroked his fur.
“Thank you. And one more thing. Please take care of ‘that task’ I asked you to do earlier.”
[Of course!]
With Behemoth’s farewell, Leticia headed towards the small fountain in Yerina’s yard.
She bent down and dipped her hand in. The water, clear enough to see the bottom, was as cold as a slab of ice.
But as soon as she thought this, warmth spread through the water touching her fingertips.
Like in Rozantine, the droplets in the fountain recognized Leticia and welcomed her.
“Thank you all. I’ll be counting on you.”
Leticia whispered softly with a faint smile.
The surface of the fountain shimmered lightly. Straight lines began to appear on the glistening surface.
The droplets of the Temple were revealing a secret to her—a map containing all the secret passageways of the Temple.
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