The next morning, Selvia quickly finished preparing to go to the temple.

Because she informed Ratius in advance, she could use a portal that led directly to the temple.

Upon arriving at the temple, Selvia tilted her head back again to look up at its magnificent appearance.

“No matter how many times I come, I can’t get used to this building.”

The holy power seemed even more intense than before.

Selvia carefully steadied her breathing and cautiously entered.

Just as she was wondering how to get to where Amon was, she saw a welcome face.

“I’ve been waiting.”

“High Priest Amon.”

“Have you been well? You don’t seem to have any other unusual symptoms.”

Selvia nodded lightly.

“I’m fine now. But where are the other priests?”

“I heard from His Majesty in advance…… but you truly exceed expectations.”

“What wouldn’t a desperate person do?”

A heavy silence fell again at Selvia’s words.

Amon glanced at Selvia and smiled with a face more energetic than before.

After bringing her to the High Priest’s room, Amon immediately brought warm tea.

“I prepared it thinking you might need it. Have you not been coughing up blood lately?”

“I haven’t been coughing blood, perhaps because of the holy water. However…… I came today without taking the holy water.”

“Is there a reason?”

“I have something to confirm. So don’t be too surprised if I cough up blood today. It’s natural.”

“……I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Has there been any new prophecy?”

“I’ve been looking into it, but nothing new has come down.”

“……I see.”

“I’ll keep searching. By the way, do you need anything else from the temple?”

“No, I don’t. Shall we move quickly? Being in the temple is somewhat draining due to the strong holy power.”

Amon immediately stood up.

“Then I’ll bring them. Please rest for a moment.”

Selvia nodded and watched his retreating figure as he left the room.

When Amon returned to the High Priest’s room again, he wasn’t alone.

Selvia stood up and looked at the priests.

“It’s an honor to meet you like this.”

The priests seemed to have already heard about Selvia. She bowed her head in greeting and responded.

“I’m also grateful that you made time for me.”

When Selvia glanced at the shadow at her feet, it was rippling slightly.

The shadow seemed afraid of the unexpectedly large number of priests.

It was natural to be scared since the shadow shared the burden of the impact she received.

Though it was a crude method, nothing could be more certain than this.

“I’m ready.”

Selvia gathered her resolve and stood up.

“Ready for what?”

The priests wore puzzled expressions at her solemn face.

“It’s simple, you all just need to stand in a line and release a little holy power. Very simple, right?”

Amon’s smile as he patted the priests’ shoulders while beaming seemed frightening.

Selvia remained calm as she extended her hand to the priests, but the shadow wavering weakly at her feet seemed scary.

It was shaking unstably as if it might swallow her body at any moment.

They had been lured here with the promise of meeting the child of prophecy, only to become involved in something unexpected.

The priests felt that if something was wrong, it was seriously wrong.

* * *

“Where’s Selvia?”

“She went to the temple.”

“……Why are you here instead of going with her?”

“Because I need to assist Your Majesty with work today.”

Belrocan shrugged at Ratius’s question as if it were obvious.

“You knew she was going today anyway, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“She said she had something to confirm, so I didn’t accompany her. Didn’t you already discuss this with her?”

Ratius pressed his lips together. He was the one who gave permission, and he was the one who opened the portal for her to easily access the temple.

But now that he had sent her, he felt uneasy.

He worried about what that snake-like Amon might say to Selvia.

Though he had reasoned with him well then, there was no guarantee that effect would last long.

“He better not say anything unnecessary.”

“What would High Priest Amon say? He said he would take good care of her, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Did she not take a priest’s robes this time?”

“There’s no need for her to go around like a fugitive. Since we notified them in advance, other people are prohibited from entering today.”

“I know.”

Ratius immediately stood up.

His eyes turned sharp as he swept back his hair.

A thought occurred to him. What if there was a priest who didn’t trigger a rejection response?

Could it mean that Selvia might be able to receive help from others besides himself?

Perhaps she wouldn’t need him specifically.

An inexplicable anger rose along with a thirst.

“What’s the remaining schedule?”

“A dinner with the nobles. Missing this would be a big blow to Lady Selvia.”

Various rumors about Selvia continued to spread throughout the Empire.

The rumors were diverse, and there were quite a few lies based on facts.

Moreover, today’s meeting was to discuss Selvia. The agenda was about granting her a noble title.

“Haah.”

“Don’t tell me to handle it because it’s bothersome. This isn’t something I can handle.”

Belrocan’s expression hardened as he grimaced. Ratius let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face.

Though he hadn’t intended to, he shook his head lightly and returned to his seat, slumping down in his chair.

“……You know me too well.”

“Well, someone has to know Your Majesty, otherwise who would stay by your side and assist you?”

“Once that schedule is done, everything will be finished, right?”

Belrocan nodded.

“Alright, lead the way.”

Ratius immediately headed toward the dining hall where the nobles would be waiting.

His steps becoming increasingly hurried was unavoidable.

‘Damn it, maybe I should have stopped her from going to the temple.’

At that moment, Ratius recalled the day of training with Amon.

He was already worried that she had been pushing herself lately, and now he was concerned she might be doing something strange at the temple.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Selvia, but he was anxious about what unpredictable things Amon might do.

Or perhaps Ratius simply disliked the situation of Amon and Selvia being alone together.

* * *

As Selvia made contact one by one with the priests who were releasing holy power, sparks flew continuously.

The priests also looked surprised at the repelling force.

“Are, are you alright?”

“This much is fine.”

Selvia dusted off her hands as if it were nothing, though she felt her fingertips tingling.

Her body was gradually accumulating strain.

“Let’s try one more time.”

She had already finished making contact with all the priests belonging to the temple.

But Selvia wanted to confirm a bit more.

How could it be that not a single person triggered a rejection response?

“Are there no other priests?”

“No, there aren’t.”

This made it certain.

Her body was rejecting everything except Ratius’s power.

“Let’s try one more time.”

“I think you should stop now.”

Unable to watch anymore, Amon stepped in to stop Selvia. The priests also wore unpleasant expressions.

Finally remembering her promise to Ratius, Selvia withdrew her hand.

“……This seems to be the normal response after all.”

“The rejection response certainly seems severe.”

Amon dismissed the priests.

“You should rest for now. You look very tired.”

Selvia sat in a chair and let out a shallow breath.

“You’re not coughing blood even though you didn’t drink the holy water.”

She showed no unusual signs other than fatigue.

“Yes, I seem to be fine for now.”

“I’m sorry. It seems I can’t be of help to you.”

Amon bowed his head deeply with a gloomy expression.

As the High Priest, he felt uncomfortable about not being able to help the child of prophecy.

“However, I will definitely find a solution.”

Amon made his resolution. He would definitely help Selvia’s dying body.

The divine surely wouldn’t only give trials.

“There must be a way.”

“Thank you for thinking about it. We seem to be narrowing it down, so I think we’ll find it soon.”

“Just in case, I’ll try infusing holy power when we meet occasionally.”

Selvia nodded.

Feeling she had been in the temple for quite a while, she stood up.

Her vision spun after just a few steps.

When Selvia’s body swayed slightly, Amon immediately supported her.

“Are you alright? It seems you overdid it earlier.”

Amon’s worried gaze fell on Selvia.

“……Selvia.”

A voice that shouldn’t be heard here rang out.

Both her and Amon’s heads turned simultaneously.

“Your Majesty?”

“You two seem quite close.”

Ratius’s blue gaze, who had walked over with large strides, turned toward Amon. Receiving that gaze, Amon instinctively stepped away from Selvia.

“I wonder why this feels so familiar.”

Ratius immediately approached Selvia’s side and examined her condition.

“Why did you come here suddenly? I was about to go back.”

Selvia looked up at Ratius naturally.

“Quite some time had passed, so I was worried you might be overdoing it.”

“Hmm, you mean you were worried, right? You look like someone who rushed here.”

“No.”

Ratius answered immediately. Yet he didn’t withdraw his gaze from Amon.

“Did you confirm?”

“Yes, it seems my body rejects everyone’s power except Your Majesty’s.”

The corners of Ratius’s mouth twitched at those words.

Fortunately, what he had worried about didn’t seem to happen.

Perhaps if she knew what he had been thinking, her view of him might change.

He felt relieved that the fact that he was her only savior remained unchanged.

“Then, there’s no need to stay here any longer.”

“……For now, that’s true.”

Ratius immediately lifted Selvia in his arms.

“Your Majesty, I’m fine.”

“I saw you stagger earlier. We should head back for now.”

This seems too overprotective.

Whether he knew her thoughts or not, Ratius withdrew his gaze from Amon and immediately walked to the portal.