Chapter 77. Nightmare

“That’s right. Only a saintess can fix holy water. If there really is a problem with it.”

“What do you mean…?”

Percos let out a quiet sigh with a stern expression.

“There’s nothing wrong with the holy water.”

“…But isn’t it true that the holy water is drying up?”

“No. The vessel containing the holy water itself has been changed.”

Theo fell silent at this unexpected revelation.

The priests, overwhelmed by the fact that the holy water was drying up, hadn’t closely examined the vessels containing it.
Percos continued calmly.

“Both the Phaenyx Temple and here at the Sebran Temple are the same. The holy water isn’t drying up without reason; someone has taken the holy water itself.”

“……”

“I’m looking for those who stole the holy water. We need to know what they want to protect the saintess.”

“I see.”

“Someone who needs such a large quantity of holy water at once must be involved with more than just the Empire.”

Percos closed the book with a cold expression.

“We’ve known for a while that the Bios Empire has been hiding behind the temple, concealing prophecies about the ‘saintess’ and trying to steal her power.”

“Yes. The prophecy stone is in the Bios Temple after all.”

The prophecy stone was a divine object where the words of Goddess Daphne were inscribed.

It was kept only in the Bios Temple in the imperial capital.

“But you speak as if this prophecy isn’t the first one.”

“That’s correct. The prophecies about the ‘saintess’ aren’t new.”

“Not the first?”

“Prophecies about the ‘saintess’ have been coming steadily for quite some time. They said to help when the ‘saintess’ is found.”

Percos stroked his chin with a peculiar expression.

“But this latest prophecy contained specific methods for humans to find the saintess’s power… I wonder why Goddess Daphne would give such a prophecy.”

He flinched as he muttered.

“I’ve said too much. Let me ask you something as well, Your Highness.”

Percos stared at Theo with an unreadable expression.

“You also know who the saintess is and how to take her power, don’t you?”

Theo raised his head at his words.

“Why do you think that?”

“You came all the way here to ask me about the saintess. That means you’re certain of her existence.”

“……”

“Also, when I talked about the Bios Temple’s prophecy, Your Highness just listened quietly.”

“……”

“And you just as good as admitted you don’t know about the other prophecies about the saintess.”

Theo raised one corner of his mouth bitterly as he met Percos’s steady gaze.

“You seem to know everything I know.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then why have you never visited the Black Mansion?”

“It’s not yet time to find the power. If the ‘saintess’ finds her power too early, she’ll be exposed to that much more danger.”

“……”

“I need to find those who are seeking the saintess’s power before the saintess herself. That’s why I gave information to Delkan.”

Percos faced Theo with an impassive expression.

“My job is to find and eliminate the divine objects needed for the sacrifice, and quietly investigate who wants to offer the saintess as a sacrifice.”

“So you’ve judged that’s more important right now. As you said, to protect the saintess, we need to know why they want to steal her power.”

“Yes. If we approach the saintess rashly, it could raise suspicion.”

Theo nodded in agreement.

“So Your Highness the Grand Duke should continue pretending to know nothing and protect the saintess. Then I will help Your Highness as well.”

Theo tilted his head at Percos’s words.

He only came here to obtain the information Percos had about the saintess.

“Help? Me?”

“Your Highness must want to bring down the Bios Imperial family.”

“What?”

“Preventing them from stealing the saintess’s power would be one way of revenge, wouldn’t it?”

Theo frowned as he looked at Percos.

Percos seemed to have figured out the plan Theo had when he first learned of Yuelina’s existence.

However, the current Theo was quite different from back then.

Theo wasn’t keeping Yuelina by his side to get revenge on the Bios Empire.

He was moving purely with the single-minded determination to protect his wife.

Who dares to take my wife away?

And who dares to ask me to protect her?

Theo felt increasingly irritated.

He didn’t need a life-binding divine oath.

Even without such a thing, Theo would have gladly given his life to protect Yuelina.

But Percos, completely unaware of this fact, raised his voice in warning.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke, those who break divine oaths die.”

“……”

“Keep that oath in mind and protect the saintess. You must protect her.”

“I will.”

Percos bowed briefly, sincerely grateful for Theo’s firm and clear response.

“Thank you for your cooperation. I’ll visit your territory once my investigation is complete. I now trust Your Highness.”

“……”

“Ah, and Your Highness. Since you used a divine object, you should have divine power remaining in your body. If you hear the voice of god, please ask for the world’s blessing.”

Theo rose from his seat without responding to Percos’s gentle words.

Blessing my as$.

If there was one more thing Percos didn’t know, it was that Theo had no intention of letting ‘anyone’ take Yuelina away.

Yuelina was his wife who absolutely had to stay by his side.

He already felt ashamed that they hadn’t even held their wedding ceremony yet.

Moreover, he hadn’t properly used any of the many terms of endearment like ‘honey, darling, mommy, daddy.’

In this bleak and frustrating situation, who dared to talk about taking Yuelina away?

His wife was already naturally kind-hearted.

If Percos came and asked for help talking about saintesses and such, wouldn’t she feel compelled to go?

Where would she go?

She’s not going anywhere.

Theo didn’t care whether it was the Senior Priest or even a god who tried to take Yuelina away.

He had no intention of letting anyone take his crow-tit wife away.

* * *

The next day, Theo ordered his party to prepare to depart immediately for the north.

Thanks to this, Ulysse and the others had a busy day canceling all their remaining schedules and packing their belongings.

They hurriedly left the Sebran region.

The carriage carrying Theo rushed northward without rest day and night.

Two days passed quickly like that.

He tried to catch brief moments of sleep in the jolting carriage.

Even catching short naps in the carriage would become impossible once they properly entered deep into the mountains.

After disposing of the carriage at a small village they would reach in a couple of hours, they would begin a forced march of climbing mountain paths continuously.

And Theo, finally falling asleep, had a dream after a long time.

Actually, it wasn’t a dream but a buried fragment of memory.

The sharp fragments of shattered memories always pierced Theo sharply.

“Mother.”

The memory fragment always started with Karenrose lying cold in the snow field.

In that place where the snow never stopped, Theo kept wiping Karenrose’s face.

He would wipe again when snowflakes touched her face, and wipe again when they touched her face.

However, the ice crystals that had accumulated before wouldn’t fall from her face.

“Wake up, Mother. I came to get you.”

“……”

“You said you’d come right away.”

“……”

“Let’s go together. I came to get you, didn’t I?”

Theo carried Karenrose on his back.

It was impossible for fifteen-year-old Theo to move forward through the snow with the lifeless Karenrose.

Theo fell many times, and each time he fell, Karenrose’s body bent strangely.

It was a place where the snow never stopped.

The cold that came with the blizzard constantly choked Theo’s breath.

The accumulated snow caught Theo’s ankles and made his hands callused.

Theo felt his limits. Felt his uselessness.

He surrendered again and again to his infinitely helpless and worthless situation.

The dream always ended like this.

In the dream, Theo collapses beside Karenrose, giving up everything.

And when he wakes up, Theo always feels deeply that he is a powerless and insignificant person.

“You need to wake up. This isn’t a place for you to come.”

But then, someone’s soft voice was heard.