Amelia grabbed Leonel’s hand tightly as it slipped through her fingers. She didn’t understand what was so dangerous. Leonel was more important to her than Enoch, who had suddenly appeared.

“So the solution is to receive power from a high priest every day?”

“That is correct.”

She couldn’t understand what Raphael was thinking. It wouldn’t have been strange for him to be angry, but his serious questioning felt unfamiliar.

“I will provide a room.”

“What?”

Provide a room? Was he really suggesting that Enoch stay at Siegfried Castle? He must have gone mad. Siegfried was ignored by the temple. And yet, he was offering to lower himself first?

“Thank you for the offer, but I cannot live in Siegfried.”

“……”

He was trying his best to hold onto Enoch.

“But I can visit daily. I cannot ignore someone in distress.”

She had expected him to drive Enoch away, but he didn’t. Instead, he offered every convenience. So, Enoch began visiting Siegfried Castle daily. His purpose was to provide her with holy power.

“……”

“You don’t need to make that face.”

Everyone had already been won over by Enoch’s sincerity. Ann and Jane didn’t say anything, but they waited eagerly for Enoch’s visits.

“I don’t think you need to come every day.”

Why did Raphael believe Enoch’s words without any suspicion? Normally, he wouldn’t have accepted it so readily.

“If I don’t come, Your Highness could collapse at any moment.”

Strangely, she didn’t like Enoch. To be precise, she couldn’t trust him. She couldn’t like someone who openly disliked Siegfried. Moreover, she felt an inexplicable sense of rejection. Even though a high priest who served the goddess was supposed to be trustworthy.

“Could it be your imagination? I haven’t been sick at all since then.”

Perhaps because she was continuously receiving holy power, her condition was excellent. Honestly, it was hard to believe Enoch’s words that she might die at any moment. And the biggest problem was that Leonel was avoiding her.

“I’m glad you’re healthy.”

“Why do you go through the trouble of coming to Siegfried every day?”

“Because it is the goddess’s command.”

Every time he spoke, it was all about the goddess’s will, the goddess’s command. It only made her more resistant.

“You hate Siegfried, and yet…”

“Your Highness is not a Siegfried.”

Although her headaches had disappeared thanks to the holy power, meeting Enoch seemed to bring on a different kind of headache. She could guess how much the goddess disliked Siegfried. It was evident just by looking at Enoch, her devout follower.

This was almost like brainwashing.

“I told you before, I am still Amelia Siegfried.”

He avoided answering difficult questions like this. She couldn’t understand the concept of being a vessel chosen by the goddess. What made her angry was that Leonel couldn’t come near her because of Enoch.

“And… it would be better if you avoided contact with the Grand Duke, for the time being.”

“That’s not something you need to worry about.”

Since she collapsed, Raphael seemed determined not to be seen by her, not even a strand of his hair. She didn’t need to sneak into Leonel’s room at night to avoid him. He didn’t come into her room. But that didn’t mean he didn’t sleep with her.

She could sense someone else’s presence. But in the morning, he would disappear without a trace. Initially, she stayed awake out of frustration, but it was useless. If she didn’t fall asleep, he wouldn’t come.

“So, I have to receive holy power every day to stay alive?”

She couldn’t rely on Enoch for holy power forever. Although he was taking care of her now under the goddess’s command, that could change. She didn’t believe in the goddess Elaina. Despite being called the goddess of peace, she was far from peaceful.

A vessel chosen by the goddess? It sounded suspicious. She didn’t think the goddess would be kind to her forever.

“Enoch, you are no longer ill, right?”

“Yes, because I became a high priest.”

Enoch’s illness disappeared when he became a high priest. That meant she would have to become a priest to survive.

“Then I…”

“No, Your Highness does not need to become a priest.”

Today, Enoch was unusually responsive and didn’t leave immediately. Usually, he would leave quickly as if he didn’t want to stay longer.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a little over a week since I started coming to Siegfried.”

That week had been like hell for her. Except for the maids, she couldn’t meet anyone. Strictly speaking, everyone was avoiding her. Leonel only watched her from a distance, and if she tried to approach him, he would run away.

“What exactly is a vessel?”

“A vessel is determined from birth.”

Her face frowned at the blocked answer. It meant she had no choice in the matter.

“Are all members of the imperial family vessels?”

Amelia might be someone from the imperial family. No, she was definitely part of the imperial family. And it was publicly known that they were descendants of the goddess Elaina. If the goddess chose her descendants, it would make sense. At least the bloodline was connected.

“I cannot tell Your Highness everything.”

He kept his words restrained due to the restrictions placed on him. Enduring it was only possible for so long. Raphael and Leonel avoided her, and she had to continue receiving treatment even though she wasn’t ill.

“I can’t keep undergoing treatment without knowing the reason.”

“But…!”

“Ever since the High Priest came, Leonel has been avoiding me.”

If this continued, she wouldn’t be able to achieve her goal of divorcing Raphael and leaving Siegfried with Leonel.

“If I can’t be a priest or a saint, then what am I?”

“I do not know the will of the goddess.”

“The high priest clearly said that if I were a saint, I would have awakened the moment I received holy power at the temple.”

But even after receiving holy power for over a week, she didn’t feel any changes in her body. The warm energy spread throughout her body but soon dissipated. It seemed like there was no space to contain it. It was practically disposable. She understood why Raphael believed Enoch’s words immediately. According to Enoch, she was in a dangerous state without daily holy power.

Of course, she didn’t feel that way at all.

“And you said Siegfried couldn’t enter the temple. But Leonel could.”

She remembered clearly. Raphael couldn’t, but Leonel could. If that was the case, then Leonel wasn’t as dangerous as Raphael, was he?

“Leonel isn’t as dangerous as Raphael, right?”

“……”

“You said a high priest isn’t present at every temple. There are only a few in the empire, so it’s strange for someone like that to come every day just for me.”

Enoch was certainly high-ranking. It didn’t make sense for someone like him to come to Siegfried every day just for her without another reason.

“What’s your real purpose?”

She could tell from what Enoch did here. Besides treating her, there was something else important to him.

“Why are you trying to separate me from Raphael?”

“……Can Your Highness abandon Siegfried?”

Abandon Siegfried? She wasn’t sure if he meant Raphael or the position of the Grand Duchess of Siegfried.

“If it’s the position of Grand Duchess…”

She had already asked Raphael for that once.

“I’ve observed for a week, and Your Highness hasn’t left Siegfried Castle.”

“That’s because I’m not well.”

There was no need to let Enoch know that she was in a state of quasi-imprisonment. He was a suspicious person with many secrets.

“When I asked if you could abandon it, I wasn’t referring to the title of Grand Duchess, but to His Grace, the Grand Duke, and the young duke.”

As expected, he wasn’t just asking about the title.

“I will help you leave Siegfried.”

From the beginning, Enoch’s goal was clear: to separate her from Siegfried.