Chapter 45
And he acted as though even holding her hand was something he had no stomach for.
‘I am his only purifier.’
More than that, the people of the whole empire believed Edward and she were soon to be married…
The murky state of things, as if he were hers but not, went on and on. It drove Sepina to the edge of madness.
She felt that once she had him just once, she wouldn’t care what came after.
If Edward died someday hunting demonic beasts, she could simply marry another fine man, and that would be that.
No. She was the saintess, praised and loved by all. Couldn’t she also live without marrying, keeping a number of men instead?
And as it happened, there was the holy power transplant her father was working on.
‘If only that succeeds.’
If it did, and she became a true saintess, she could live as a woman above even her father the Pope, taking all that she pleased.
‘…And yet I haven’t even been able to start!’
She had to marry Edward first. Only then could she move on to the next step.
Sepina let out a fresh rush of bitter words.
“When will you get me the stigmata? You said you would send the marriage proposal!”
“Hmm.”
“Without the stigmata, they can’t slip away. This time, the marriage has to…”
“Speaking of marriage, Sepina.”
The Pope made a soft, gentle smile, as if to soothe her.
In truth, he had his own plan in mind.
If anything, Edward’s rash actions had only made it easier to corner him.
“As it happens, I had an express carrier pigeon just moments ago.”
Using magic far more costly than common carrier pigeons, an express pigeon could reach any part of the empire in a single day.
The Pope soon drew out a letter and gave it a wave.
On the envelope, the name Count Mora shone.
Since Sepina didn’t know the name, he was surely some country noble tucked away in the provinces, not the capital.
“What does some backwater noble matter?”
Sepina spoke, her tone sullen.
“This noble happened to hear something.”
“…”
“And if we play this well, it seems we can push the marriage through. Even without the stigmata.”
“What? How…”
The Pope bent his head and whispered into Sepina’s ear.
As she listened, Sepina’s eyes went wide.
Soon, a deep smile spread across her pretty lips.
* * *
Flutter, flutter.
The golden wings Edward had spread scattered light in every direction beneath the sun.
Tepe and Gorgo were trailing from the ground, ready to tear their remaining scrolls to match Edward’s arrival.
“…Wow.”
Maybe it was because this was her second time.
Her curiosity now greater than her fear, Lucy clung tight to Edward and bravely looked around below.
And she marveled, truly.
‘It really is something.’
Below them stretched the wide lands of Thesseron.
High castle walls and huge city quarters stood here and there.
It wasn’t the cold, bare landscape that came to mind at the thought of the north. There were markets thick with people, and a vast harbor where goods beyond counting came and went.
Pieces of what she knew drifted up in Lucy’s mind.
‘They say the only port in the north that never freezes is in Thesseron.’
The duchy was said to be rich, always, thanks to the magic stone mines, the other many mines, and that harbor.
Since it never froze in winter, trade went on all year. And they could trade freely, with no need to pass through the empire’s other sea routes.
Not just with other territories. Trade with the northern kingdoms was said to be thriving too.
Maybe that was why.
‘It’s so much more alive than I thought.’
The Duchy of Thesseron was a place bursting with life.
If not for the huge, high walls built to keep out demonic beasts, one might have thought this was the capital itself.
‘Not that I ever saw the capital from the ground. I was stuck in a dungeon.’
That was also why the Emperor was said to be all the more anxious.
Because the dragon incarnation had no need to lean on the capital or the Emperor. And there was not a single weak point to grip.
Which was why they used every means they had, or so it was said, to try to hold onto Edward.
‘Well. That’s their affair.’
Tangled political matters were no worry of Lucy’s.
Seeing people move about freely lifted her mood for no clear reason.
Even in the last memories of her old life, she had never once seen people out and about like this.
She had been lost in watching the city below for a long while whenâ
A soft laugh sounded from above.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
