She couldn’t deny it even if she wanted to. For some reason, Amelia Seraphin had the blood of the imperial family flowing in her veins. The statue of the Goddess told her so.

It seemed clear why the high priest personally came out to greet her. Kendrick’s era was criticized for lacking a saintess, the Goddess’s representative. They said it was because he wasn’t the rightful heir, that Goddess Elaina turned her back on them. And then she appeared. Except for the fact that she wasn’t from the imperial family, all conditions matched for her to be the saintess.

“What do you mean?”

“The oracle was supposed to be a secret.”

It turned out that Patrick, the first prince, was right. It seemed like she was indeed caught up in a mess.

“If you were the saintess, Your Grace the Grand Duchess, the temple would have noticed beforehand.”

“……”

“The temple has been eagerly awaiting the birth of a saintess. Could it be that you have shown some qualities of a saintess?”

Amelia shook her head. If she had shown any qualities of a saintess, Raphael would have been the first to notice. Everything seemed to fit, but… far from being a saintess, her life was in danger. She was someone who shouldn’t even be able to breathe and walk around normally since she completely lacked a mana core.

“I heard you’ve been unwell and receiving help from the priests every time. If the Grand Duchess were a saintess, you would have awakened the moment you received divine power.”

Then why would such a high-ranking official come out to greet her? Moreover, everyone acted as if a saintess had descended just by her appearance.

“It seems I’ve inadvertently caused a misunderstanding.”

“It’s okay.”

Like Enoch said, there was no chance she was the saintess. The real saintess was Sierra, and she knew this better than anyone else. Yet, she couldn’t understand why such an absurd hypothesis came to mind. The saintess was already born; she just hadn’t shown her qualities yet.

“I heard an oracle that a noble visitor would come. I cannot tell you the details but……”

Despite his smiling face, Amelia realized from Enoch’s defensive attitude that he would be saying no more information g. Moreover, although he tried not to show it, there was a sharpness in his eyes when he looked at Leonel.

“It seems we’ve seen everything we needed to.”

“Are you leaving already?”

She realized staying any longer wouldn’t yield any more information. Especially since Enoch’s attitude did not hide his caution towards Leonel at all. Unless she came alone, Enoch wouldn’t open up.

“It seems there’s someone waiting outside for me.”

Besides, Raphael Lloyd Siegfried, who was outside, was a ticking time bomb waiting for her. Given his nature, he couldn’t have stayed quiet. It was more reassuring to have him in sight.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes, Mother!”

More than anything, his gaze towards Leonel was unpleasant. How could they show such dislike towards a child?

“We probably don’t need to come to the temple anymore.”

The priests were all disappointing, just as the followers of such resentful goddesses would be.

“……Grand Duchess!”

When she was about to leave the prayer room with Leonel’s hand in hers, Enoch’s earnest cry came from behind.

“Please visit again!”

Despite his plea for another visit, Amelia walked out without turning back, Leonel in tow. That plea was meant for her to visit the temple alone next time.

“I’ll think about it.”

Once they left the prayer room, Leonel seemed a bit relieved. He pretended to be fine, but it must have been hard on him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Mother?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

Why did she think well of a god who cursed people for 700 years? She thought it might be different since She was called the Goddess of Peace. But it only made her feel worse and yielded no results.

“Let’s go home now.”

“Yes, I’d like that!”

The child’s bright smile made her feel even sadder. Until then, she hadn’t paid any attention to Raphael waiting outside.

“Raphael……?”

***

As soon as they left the temple, they were confronted by Raphael shaking down the coachman. The coachman looked so pale he might foam at the mouth any moment, which startled her.

“What happened!”

“Ah, you’ve come?”

Shaking someone down and then casually asking ‘you’ve come’ like that. She knew his nerves weren’t like ordinary people’s, but she hadn’t realized to what extent.

“We need to return to Siegfried too, but this guy ran away.”

“We could just call another… carriage.”

Then she remembered the coachman running away as soon as he dropped them off at the temple. She wondered how he managed to catch him but thought it best not to ask. Just looking at the coachman’s pale face gave her a rough idea.

“I don’t like other carriages.”

What could she do if Raphael said he didn’t like it? It wasn’t anyone else but Raphael who disliked it. She just felt sorry for the coachman.

“He might faint at this rate.”

“……”

“If he faints, we won’t be able to return, right?”

Only then did Raphael let go of the coachman, and Amelia sighed deeply inside. Maybe this was fortunate after all. At least he didn’t cause any other trouble and just brought back the coachman.

“Let’s return now.”

“Have you finished your business?”

Nothing had changed, but she just nodded vaguely. It was discrimination against someone who couldn’t even enter the temple for whatever reason. Others might question what discrimination against Siegfried is, but it’s about being denied rights that everyone else has.

“That’s just… how it was.”

“You should have prayed while you were at it.”

“She doesn’t seem like a god who would listen.”

It would have been fortunate if she just didn’t get cursed for not liking Her. And more than anything, she didn’t have the confidence to pray in front of a statue that resembled her.

“Yeah, you made a good decision.”

Why Raphael felt better because she didn’t pray was beyond her. The coachman quickly headed towards the driver’s seat once released from his grip.

“Ah…! I can get on.”

“It’s dangerous because it’s not a good carriage.”

“Instead of me, take Leonel…”

She was taken aback by his action of moving people around like luggage. Leonel was right beside her, and people were watching, but he seemed not to be embarrassed at all.

“You can get on, right?”

“Of course.”

Young Leonel was made to get on the carriage by himself.

“It would have been nice if we had called for a new carriage.”

“I’m a bit sensitive.”

A sensitive person riding in such a small carriage? It was clearly an inferior carriage to anyone who saw it.

“But… how did you bring the priests if you can’t enter the temple?”

The priests came every other day. They disliked the Siegfried family so much…

“Just send someone else. And it was okay because it was you receiving them, not me.”

“Could it be… Siegfried can’t even receive treatment from a priest?”

If he can’t enter the temple nor receive treatment from a priest, it was serious. What did Siegfried do to be so disliked?

“Siegfried doesn’t need to be treated.”

So, he can’t be treated after all. But they called the priests to the castle just for her.

“But now is not the time to think about something else.”

“What do you mean… Ah!”

Thud. The carriage shook violently, and her body lifted and then slammed down. It was natural to fall hard on the seat without any soft cushions.

“Why suddenly…?”

“I should have brought the family’s carriage.”

Of course, the Siegfried family’s carriage was in better condition, but it didn’t seem like this when we came…? It was just a carriage that felt a bit bumpy. It didn’t shake like a roller coaster this much.

“Ah!”

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t endure it. Her body kept bouncing up and down, and she couldn’t stop falling hard. It seemed like her tailbone would completely break. The problem was that only she was experiencing this. Somehow, Raphael and Leonel were fine.

The carriage was shaking just the same.

“Mother, are you okay?”

“Ah… Leonel, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m using magic…”

Magic? Is he saying he’s enduring with magic?

“Do you look like you need help?”

His voice was full of leisure, and because of his large body, Raphael didn’t budge, which annoyed her. On the other hand, every time she moved, her knees bumped into his, which was troublesome. It was as if she was rubbing her body against him.

“You’ll get hurt if you stay like that.”

“Then…”

It was true. She might hurt her tailbone before reaching the castle. She felt she had no choice but to ask for his help.

“Come here.”

The place Raphael pointed to was on top of his thigh. There was no room to move in this narrow carriage.