Chapter 11 – The Child of God (Part 1)

The three men, who heard the news through the knight sent by Knox, arrived at the Marquis’ residence shortly thereafter. Having rushed there, they burst into tears upon seeing Ria, just like Cherta had earlier. Their sobbing, repeatedly apologizing in their haggard state, didn’t easily subside, to the point where Ria, who was also on the verge of tears, was the first to stop crying and comforted them by patting their backs.

“How can you be so tearful?”

Her sleeves, used to wipe their wet cheeks and eyes, quickly became soaked and clung to her skin. As Ria continued to wipe their tears with the opposite sleeve, she eventually burst into laughter. The sight of the three large adults with teary eyes was quite endearing.

“Crybabies.”

Seeing her smile for the first time in a while, they also lifted the corners of their mouths in response. Although their smiles contrasted sharply with their tear-streaked eyes, they were more natural than ever.

After sharing a moment of reunion joy, the outside had grown dark. Timely, Ennie brought in dinner trays prepared by the Marquis, with portions for all four of them. 

If it were any other day, Ria would have insisted she could eat alone and taken the fork, but today, she accepted their service without complaint. After the meal, Letban visited. He hesitated for a moment upon seeing the four people occupying her side, but soon entered nonchalantly and gathered the medicinal herbs.

“Your face looks better than in the morning.”

“Does it?”

Ria glanced at the four of them before turning back to Letban with a smile. Letban slightly lifted the corners of his mouth, relieved at the gaze that conveyed it was thanks to them, but quickly returned to his usual expressionless face when the four of them frowned at him.

Once Letban finished his checkup and left, only they remained in the room. Although the Marquis had said he had prepared separate personal rooms close to where Ria was staying, none of them considered going to their rooms. They didn’t want to be apart from Ria.

It seemed the same for her. She kept initiating conversations to prevent any pauses.

“How are Serena and Katrina?”

“They’re fine. They weren’t hurt.”

“They tried hard to find you too.”

“Then they must be really worried… I should ask the Marquis to send a letter tomorrow. Oh, did you meet the Countess?”

“We came straight here after hearing from the Countess.”

“That’s a relief. You arrived safely without any issues. Oh, then…”

“Miss.”

Kahin gently interrupted her voice, which was quickly adding more questions, by carefully tucking her hair behind her ear.

“You can ask slowly. We’ll be here for a while.”

“…”

“We’ll stay by your side.”

Ria’s eyes widened at how accurately he read her mind. When her small hand gripped the hem of his clothes tightly, Kahin gently held that hand and kissed it.

When he attempted to provoke further, Eden, who was watching from the side, lifted Ria’s body and sat her between his legs, hugging her tightly from behind. 

Kahin’s neatly arranged eyebrows rose in displeasure at the sight of him seemingly protecting something of his own. He had glared at Letban for the same reason earlier, yet he felt a peculiar jealousy even in this situation.

Seeing him like that, Eden confidently laughed and buried his face in Ria’s shoulder, inhaling deeply. As Ria chuckled at the ticklishness and gently stroked his hair, he rubbed his face and acted playfully.

A sigh escaped the lips of the three men who filled the familiar vacant space. However, the corners of their mouths slightly curved upward.

It was a precious everyday life, no different from any other day, which they had barely regained.

＊  ＊  ＊

Ria, who had been chatting with them throughout the night, fell asleep in Eden’s arms as dawn approached. Eden, who had been holding her tightly as she slept soundly clutching his sleeve, gently laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket. 

He stayed by her side throughout the night, worried she might have nightmares. Even after the household staff woke up and started moving, he remained there for a long time. Fortunately, Ria, who had found great emotional stability after meeting them, slept deeply with a peaceful face, without even a slight frown.

Relieved, they left Kahin by her side and went to the Marquis’ office. Knox, who had started his work early in the morning, was puzzled by the visit of the three men but soon realized the reason and guided them to the sofa.

Cherta, seated at the head, immediately brought up the main topic as soon as Rune and Eden, who sat opposite each other, joined him.

“There must have been someone pursuing Ria, right? She must have fallen off the cliff while escaping from him.”

“That’s correct. We captured him after he crossed the northern border following the young lady.”

“I want to meet him.”

“…That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

Knox paused to choose his words. How should he convey the situation accurately? It seemed best to tell the truth, even if it might be hard to believe.

“While the young lady was unconscious, we interrogated him. He had been skirting the border and transporting people for a long time, so we had been targeting him for a while. Such people, when faced with situations like this, know well enough to value their own lives, so the interrogation proceeded smoothly. However, there was an issue when we asked about the mastermind.”

“Issue?”

“The moment he opened his mouth to reveal the mastermind, black liquid spewed from all his holes, and he melted away. The sticky black liquid left on the floor emitted a terrible stench.”

Black liquid? Stench? The unexpected information made the three men’s expressions slightly grimace.

“However, we did gain something. The mastermind behind the kidnapping and the transportation of people is the same, and although there’s no physical evidence, we have a strong suspicion about who that mastermind is.”

“Who is it?”

“…”

“Marquis, even if it’s just a suspicion, it doesn’t matter.”

Despite Rune’s urging, Knox didn’t easily open his mouth. After a long pause, deep in thought, he finally spoke, but it was a question instead.

“Is the young lady truly a Child of God?”

His voice, much lower than before, was serious. However, the intention was unclear.

“…Marquis, what are you suddenly talking about? I don’t think this is the time for jokes.”

“This is not a joke. I’m asking seriously.”

“That’s nonsense. The Child of God is something from mythology…”

Cherta, who was hiding his agitation and pretending to be unaffected, stopped mid-sentence as a thought struck him. To know about the Child of God, one must first know the mythology known only to them. In other words, the Marquis already knew about the mythology. How?

“You must answer honestly. Only then can I tell you.”

“Are you threatening us now?”

“Threatening? Absolutely not.”

Even in response to Cherta’s sharp voice, Knox maintained the same demeanor. Rune, who had been watching him, asked.

“What made you think that, Marquis?”

“Astina.”

“There must be a reason for such words.”

Eden tried to stop him, but Rune ignored him and continued to demand an answer from Knox. Knox met Rune’s gaze, then stood up, unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk with a key, and retrieved something from inside.

“You must be aware that there was originally a temple in the North. It was closed shortly after the previous Emperor ascended the throne.”

He placed old documents in front of them. Knox waited for the three to finish reading before speaking again, meeting their slightly widened eyes.

“After the previous Emperor ascended the throne, he visited the North and demanded that the then-Marquis close the northern temple. Naturally, the Marquis couldn’t accept this. Without a spiritual refuge in such a barren land, how could people endure? But after hearing what was said, as recorded in those documents, he had no choice but to change his mind.”

The previous Emperor demanded the closure of the northern temple and asked the Marquis, the owner of the North, to monitor the place. If he agreed to this condition, the Emperor promised that as long as he lived, the Holy Kingdom would always side with the North, and he also promised to send priests regularly from the Holy Kingdom to bless the people of the North.

Who could refuse such an offer? It was an enormous benefit, incomparable to praying at the temple for days.

“At that time, the North was not closed off like it is now, so it was impossible to distinguish between Northerners and ordinary imperial citizens. Therefore, the Emperor created a mark with divine power. A mark that only appeared on Northerners. It was a mark that couldn’t be seen by anyone except the Emperor, the priests who regularly came to give blessings, and other Northerners.”

“So that’s how Northerners could immediately recognize outsiders.”

Outsiders wouldn’t have the mark.

“Yes. However, after the previous Emperor returned to the embrace of the gods and the Holy Kingdom closed its doors, the exchange of blessings ceased. In other words, only Northerners can see the mark now. But.”

The three seemed to know what would follow.

“The young lady saw it precisely. The Emperor once said that if there was a being with a power stronger than his, they could discover the mark.”

It’s evident without needing to mention that Ria, possessing the power of the gods, likely has a power stronger than the Emperor, who was closest to the gods. The Marquis had perfect evidence to support his question.

“…If Ria is said to be a Child of God, what changes?”

“A lot changes. Many things.”

Knox took out a small but brilliant golden key from his inner pocket, placed it on the document, and spoke as if casting a spell.

[Reveal the hidden truth.]

Then, light emanated from the key, and several characters floated up from the document, forming new sentences. The content that appeared dealt extensively with a particular event.

“This is about the tragedy of the previous Child of God.”