“……I was supposed to protect her?”

The moment she heard those words, thoughts of God and saintess disappeared from her mind.

He nodded at Erina’s question.

“Why?”

At Erina’s question, the priest looked at her with interest, as if he had heard something quite amusing.

“Saintess, don’t you know the world without her?”

……The world without her?

Erina opened her eyes wide and stared at the priest. The priest smiled again and asked.

“You must have been very confused?”

Erina quietly recalled the world where Reibella did not exist.

Certainly, after her death, a great war broke out in the empire, and Louvindisi was left in an irrecoverable state due to the volcanic eruption.

It was a world where a bloody scent wafted with every breeze.

“How is it now?”

Following his words, Erina looked at the world beyond the window.

The carriage had already passed through the city gates, and the world beyond was quiet. Everywhere illuminated by moonlight looked peaceful. It was certainly different from before.

The eruption of Mount Entike was a case in point. It could be prevented because it was ‘Reibella’ who commanded dragons and spirits. Also, the plague that had spread throughout the empire in the past, taking countless lives, could be passed through smoothly because of the medicine Reibella developed.

Besides these, countless other incidents came to mind.

‘The world with Reibella’ and ‘the world without her’ were this different.

“It’s quite different, isn’t it?”

As she was about to nod at his words, she suddenly felt a sense of dissonance.

How does the priest know about the regression?

“……How.”

As Erina muttered in a small voice, he answered readily.

“Because God told me.”

“God did?”

“Yes, Saintess.”

God knows everything?

“I know that you have memories of your past life, Saintess.”

After a moment of surprise, Erina asked back.

“But why am I the saintess?”

If Reibella is so precious to God, shouldn’t she be the saintess?

Reibella frowned slightly and asked again.

“Could it be that Reibella also has memories of her past life?”

Certainly. If that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t make sense. Her brilliance, her judgment—could it be that she also has ‘memories of a past life’?

“If you mean memories of the ‘vanished future’ that you know, Saintess, then no. Only you know about that.”

“Why?”

“Well, because she is ‘loved’ by God.”

The priest spoke as if it were obvious and added.

“After all, wouldn’t parents not want to see their children suffering?”

“……Not want to see them suffering?”

He meant that past life memories could be painful and difficult for Reibella.

Come to think of it, in her previous life, Reibella had died in the north. The cause was said to be Liam.

The priest’s words meant that God was concerned about Reibella remembering her own death and suffering because of it.

God didn’t want to give her painful memories, so instead created a ‘saintess’ with those memories to help her avoid the same death.

A hollow laugh escaped Erina’s lips as she realized the truth.

Everything had seemed like her world.

But the premise had been wrong from the beginning.

The protagonist of this world wasn’t her. It was Reibella.

“Does Reibella know this too?”

“No. None of us would tell her that fact.”

“To not even give her small hints that could remind her of the past?”

The priest smiled benevolently. That was exactly it.

“So I was just used by God.”

Erina muttered in a hollow voice.

“Why me of all people? I would have been better off not knowing.”

“Because at the final moment, you wished to return to the past more than anyone, and you thought deeply about her. God believed that you, as a saintess, would protect her preciously.”

“Me, protecting Reibella……?”

Looking back, she had thought about Reibella just before returning to the past. She had thought that she wanted to live such a blessed life, that she wouldn’t have lived like her.

Was that the mistake?

“I wish I had never met her. If I hadn’t known Reibella, I wouldn’t have felt such misery.”

“How you live in this world is your own choice, Saintess.”

He added, looking at Erina.

“Though everyone may not know it, everyone in this world has received two chances.”

Although Reibella was God’s precious treasure, she wasn’t the only one who received special treatment. Everyone was the same. Everyone had a second chance.

“It’s just that you, Saintess, despite receiving a more special opportunity than anyone else, made the worst choices at every moment.”

Among them, Erina had received the most special opportunity. She had thrown away her chance to live a different life.

The truth she heard from someone who knew all the circumstances was truly painful. As Erina lowered her head with a pained expression, the priest looked at her and then turned his gaze to the distant sky.

“You will have to ruminate on your regrets for a long time to come. You’ll have plenty of time. After all, you’ll be spending the rest of your life alone in a small room with nothing.”

After the priest’s final words, the sound of hooves filled the quiet space.

Following the vigorous movement of the horses, the carriage disappeared into the pitch-black darkness. Like an actor leaving the stage after a passionate performance.

* * *

In a flower bed in the forest where moonlight dimly shone. Amidst beautifully blooming purple flowers, a man and a woman were sitting on a large stone.

They were Reibella and Calyx.

“I wonder if Royan saw her off well?”

Reibella turned her gaze from little Leon, who was flying around with spirits in the center of the antidote herb, raffle, to Calyx. Calyx looked at her with fervent eyes, as if he wouldn’t take his eyes off her for a moment.

“I deliberately let him win.”

When Calyx particularly emphasized the words ‘let him win,’ Reibella giggled.

Reibella also knew that if the two were to compete in skill, Calyx would have a slight advantage. And that Calyx had lost this time because of Royan’s request.

“She will never be able to come out for the rest of her life.”

“Yes, I heard.”

“Aren’t you unhappy with the disposition? I should have told you in advance, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I was the one who said I wouldn’t care about it in the first place. And I know you thought about it a lot.”

As Reibella said, Calyx had agonized over Erina’s disposition.

At first, he thought she should receive appropriate punishment through a public trial, with her crimes widely known.

But the problem was that despite efforts to keep things quiet, her crimes had spread to the world, and even though it was known that Erina was the main culprit behind the volcanic eruption, there were still those who supported her.

Moreover, as she had once been loved by many, there was a possibility that publicly exposing her could mislead the public and create another disturbance.

So Calyx gave up on a public trial and decided to deal with her secretly.

He decided to announce to the public that she had gone missing and then kill her.

That’s when the temple intervened.

The temple said they would transfer numerous rights to Calyx for a certain period if he handed Erina over to them.

Among them was something for Reibella.

‘We know the place where Lady Reibella Vicheravali’s birth mother is buried.’

Upon hearing this, Calyx decided to accept their offer.

However, he didn’t just give permission. Calyx presented them with three conditions.

One of those conditions was that she should never be allowed to leave her room for the rest of her life. Another was that only three people would be allowed contact with her, and one of them would be an imperial observer.

Lastly, they should neither give nor release unauthorized information.

It literally meant keeping her confined in a small room, living alone for the rest of her life.

But the temple’s response was unexpected.

‘Of course we should do that. It is our duty to handle the messenger who received God’s mission. Please don’t worry.’

They responded as if they would have done so even without being told.

There was also a sense of puzzlement.

‘There will be nothing to interfere with what Lady Reibella Vicheravali does.’

They seemed eager to act for Reibella’s sake. When asked why, they just laughed, which made it suspicious, but he decided to hand her over.

After all, they had subtly informed him that they would ‘handle’ the ‘apostle.’

It was known that the punishment for those who went against God’s will was quite cruel. So she would pay for her sins in her own way.

However, Calyx did not tell Reibella these facts.

Because she was spending her days smiling and enjoying herself.

“I’m already so happy just to have found my mother’s grave.”

“You said you’re going to visit your mother tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

The grave of Reibella’s missing mother, Diana Felicity, was said to be in a monastery at the border. The temple said they had rescued her when she was swept away by rapids, but she couldn’t hold on and died.

Afterward, since her identity was unclear, they considered her unclaimed and buried her at the monastery.

How happy she was when she heard the news.

“I want to take my mother and go to Reliccarve with my father. I want to bury both of them in the family grave.”

“Should I come with you?”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“It’s about you.”

Reibella smiled slightly.

“I heard Roger has been threatening to resign lately.”

“He just says that. He’s too ambitious for honor to ever quit.”

At his words, Reibella looked a bit tempted but then shook her head with a regretful expression.

“I’m afraid not this time. Dad said he has something to tell me.”