Chapter 72. Won’t She Disappear?

“You’re an elder priest, and from the main Daphne Temple at that. Shouldn’t you have different information than other priests?”

“People call me an elder priest. But I’m only twenty-five.”

At the elder priest’s words, Ulysse furrowed his brow.

With his white hair and wrinkles around his eyes, he undoubtedly looked like an elderly man.

The elder priest smiled at Ulysse’s incredulous face.

“Time flows differently in the ‘Eye of the Storm’ than it does here.”

“……”

“I am not an elder priest, and I don’t know information that other priests don’t. I left my memories behind when I came down from the ‘Eye of the Storm.'”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not is Your Highness’s choice. I’m just saying that I couldn’t bring everything I saw and heard in the ‘Eye of the Storm.'”

The elder priest’s attitude was clearly guarded against Theo.

He also seemed unwilling to easily share the information he knew.

If that was the case, Theo needed to share what he knew first.

Only then would there be progress in the conversation.

“Did you come to Sebran Temple because the holy water disappeared?”

At Theo’s words, the elder priest’s face hardened for the first time.

“You already know.”

“And that’s related to the saintess.”

The elder priest moistened his throat with tea from his cup.

Theo stared at him intently.

“If the holy water disappeared, that means Goddess Daphne has weakened, right?”

“……”

“Is that related to the appearance of the saintess?”

The elder priest stood up and pulled out a book from a worn bag behind him.

“The saintess is Goddess Daphne’s messenger. That doesn’t simply mean delivering ‘messages.'”

What he placed on the table was a forbidden book only allowed to priests.

Theo slowly processed the elder priest’s cryptic words in his mind.

“So if there’s a problem with the holy water, the saintess could manifest her power to fix it?”

“If that’s Goddess Daphne’s message.”

“How does the saintess use her power?”

“There must be a reason why the saintess is depicted in the forbidden book. The saintess cannot find her power on her own.”

“So she needs help from priests.”

The elder priest didn’t answer. Theo looked at him.

“Then if the saintess finds her power and fixes the holy water, does her power disappear?”

The elder priest shook his head at Theo’s words.

“That can’t be guaranteed.”

“What?”

“Rather than the power disappearing, the saintess who has fulfilled her duty might disappear.”

“…What did you say?”

“After Goddess Daphne first stepped into the world, the saintess naturally vanished.”

“……”

“If a saintess appears this time, won’t she disappear after fulfilling her duty?”

“Are you sure?”

“This is just my speculation. The forbidden book doesn’t mention what happens to the saintess afterward.”

Theo’s expression hardened grimly.

He had thought that if Yuelina manifested her power to fix the holy water, and if her power disappeared afterward, the Bios Empire would have no reason to covet her.

But now they’re saying she might disappear after using her power?

Theo’s heart sank.

“Your Highness. This is all the favor I can offer you.”

“What?”

“A saintess may exist. The signs are showing. You came to confirm this, and I have given you an answer.”

The elder priest stood up and looked down at Theo.

He was a unique priest with an old man’s face at the age of twenty-five.

Like his appearance that didn’t match his age, his expression of knowing everything about the world was truly peculiar. He showed not even a hint of fear towards Theo.

“Murderer. War Demon. These are the titles that follow the Grand Duke.”

“…Priest.”

Ulysse, who had been observing the situation, spoke for the first time.

However, the elder priest continued calmly.

“I do not trust you, Grand Duke. I merely granted a favor because I have one to repay.”

“You’ve never met me before, what favor do you owe me?”

“Not to you, but to Madam Camilla.”

Camilla Haines?

Theo frowned at the sudden mention of the name.

“Why is that woman being brought up here?”

“Your grandmother is also my friend. I owe her many favors.”

“……”

“Your Highness. The power of the saintess is something humans should not obtain. Do not be greedy.”

The elder priest looked straight at Theo as he spoke.

“This is my last favor and a warning.”

He opened the door wide while maintaining a gentle smile. A cool breeze swept through the interior.

It was a signal to send Theo and Ulysse off.

Almost as if being chased out, Theo and Ulysse silently walked down the slope.

Ulysse glanced at Theo’s hardened expression.

“It seems the priest thinks Your Highness is after the saintess’s power.”

“……”

“Should we go back in and tell him that’s not the case?”

“He said he had a favor to repay. To Camilla.”

“Y-yes.”

“Let’s go see Camilla. That would be faster.”

“You’re going to meet Madam Camilla first?”

Theo nodded briefly.

* * *

Madam Camilla sat in the reception room, repeatedly picking up and putting down her teacup.

“Are you sure it was him who contacted us?”

“Yes, madam. I clearly heard it was Theo de Phaenyx.”

She had received the butler’s message right after lunch.

The butler had rushed in to report that the Grand Duke from the north wanted to meet Camilla.

Theo de Phaenyx.

The last time Camilla saw her grandson was five years ago.

It was when he had his severed arm reattached at the Bios Temple after being tortured in the war, and had barely regained consciousness.

Camilla had slapped Theo’s cheek when he said he would return to the battlefield immediately.

“Have you really become a murderer like people say! What runs in the imperial blood! After it killed my son… now you’re trying to kill yourself!”

Even knowing the words would hurt Theo, Camilla had spat them out anyway.

She had desperately begged her son not to go when he said he would marry the Grand Duke of the North, and had even gotten angry with him.

Don’t marry into the imperial family, she had said. Their blood flows with ambition. If you get caught up in that ambition, you’ll suffer too, she had warned.

Her son had always been frail. He found joy in tending gardens and reading books.

She worried whether he could endure in the harsh, cold winter land.

Especially since the Northern Grand Duke, Karenrose, was practically her brother, the Emperor of Bios’s right hand.

Yet her son insisted on going. He left her side, saying he would spend the rest of his life with Karenrose.

Even when Camilla threatened to pretend she had no son, he didn’t look back.

And ten years later, she received news of her son’s death.

It was an inevitable outcome for her frail son.

Camilla tried to steel her heart.

She deliberately tried to brush it off as the death of a son she had already decided to pretend didn’t exist.

After her son’s death, Camilla heard even less news from the Phaenyx Principality.

This was true even when Karenrose died and Theo shouldered the principality alone.

Theo felt awkward about her existence as his grandmother, and Camilla felt the same way about having Theo as her grandson.

Both were accustomed to living as if erasing each other’s existence.

But Camilla occasionally kept her ears open for news about Theo.

Camilla had aged too. As time passed, her past anger transformed into regret and grew larger.

If only she had gotten along well with her son who had married against her wishes, and with his wife Karenrose.

Then perhaps Theo might have chosen a path other than war.

Regret comes late, and Camilla lacked the strength to narrow the gap with Theo.

Besides, what about their last meeting?

She had only spewed bitter words, unable to contain her anger.

Yet now, Theo, who seemed unlikely to ever see her again, had come to her mansion.

Camilla couldn’t believe it.

“Madam, the Grand Duke has arrived.”

Just then, the butler opened the door and guided Theo into the reception room.

Camilla stood up and looked at Theo.

Theo looked healthier than five years ago.

He had grown even bigger and had a more mature air about him.

Camilla tried not to show her feelings as she gestured to the seat in front of her.

“What brings you here?”

Camilla asked while offering Theo a teacup.

Theo gently touched the outside of the teacup before speaking.