‘Caught her eye?’

“I heard you used to serve my fiancé up close.”

Liana instantly read the intent behind Giselle’s gentle, smiling eyes.

‘She’s trying to gauge the relationship between Shed and me.’

Well, with the maids gossiping so openly, there’s no way Giselle wouldn’t have heard. Of course she’d want to see for herself—the reaction of any fiancée.

But the truth was, there was nothing about her and Shed that Giselle needed to worry about.

Liana quietly lowered her gaze. Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on Giselle’s spotless white shoes. They gleamed, shining brightly.

In contrast, Liana’s worn shoes, standing in the shaded corner, were scuffed and the heels were badly worn down. The line between saint and servant was starkly drawn.

Liana had no desire to come between Shed and Giselle. In fact, this was for the best. There was no better way to make things clear and clean up any lingering misunderstandings.

If she lowered herself sincerely before Giselle, Giselle would eventually realize there was nothing between her and Shed.

“If you’re the maid my fiancé chose to keep close to him, then I trust you won’t have any trouble serving those superior to you.”

“Thank you for this honorable opportunity, Deputy High Priestess Giselle Marlhein.”

Liana replied, bowing her head steadily.

‘At least it has nothing to do with black magic. That’s a relief.’

Giselle narrowed her eyes, watching the obedient maid.

From what she had heard through the servants’ gossip, Liana Serpens was supposed to be stubborn and ill-tempered. She hadn’t been there long yet had already caused a few incidents. Apparently, she had grown quite close to Shed and received special favours, yet she didn’t socialise with the other maids. She carried herself with a certain aloofness.

Rumour had it that Liana, with her pretty face, was just another ambitious girl dreaming of raising her social standing. Giselle thought that if Shed had feelings for such a woman, he must be shallow.

If Liana failed to know her place and dared to stick her neck out, Giselle was intent on putting her back in her place.

However, the maid before her was nothing like the rumours suggested.

She was calm and polite. If anything, she seemed eager to show that she was on Giselle’s side, lowering herself without groveling, simple and smart.

Her expression, her posture, even her tone—everything was composed and unassuming, nothing out of line. If she hadn’t heard the rumors about Shed, Giselle might have wanted to officially hire someone like her.

‘She must know I’m his fiancée…’

Giselle had dealt with all sorts of people, but she still found it difficult to read what went on in that small head of Liana’s. Well, time would tell.

After studying Liana for a moment, Giselle looked away and turned to go.

“I’m planning to visit the temple today.”

She announced, letting the maids help her into the deputy high priestess’s cape.

“The temple…?”

For a moment, Liana felt her heart plummet.

She had never set foot inside a temple before. As a child, her poor health had always prevented her from doing so. In hindsight, she realised it was probably her father, Felix Ideana, who had deliberately prevented her from entering the temple. Even after leaving Ideana, she had never dared to go inside. With the heart of a heretic inside her, she had been afraid — afraid of what might happen if she crossed that threshold.

“I am a deputy high priestess, after all. It’s my duty.”

Giselle murmured that, since Dietrich was busy chasing the heretic, it was only right for her to handle these matters herself.

Liana watched her carefully, wondering if this might be some kind of test. However, judging by the situation, she decided it wasn’t. After all, even Dietrich hadn’t realised she was practising black magic until he channelled divine power through her body. As long as she avoided contact, she would be fine.

“Let’s go.”

Giselle said, fastening her cape and slipping on her shoes. Suppressing her anxiety, Liana quietly followed in her wake.

The sun was shining so brightly it felt as if even the fruit on the trees might turn sweet from the warmth. As she set out for the city alongside Giselle, Liana thought to herself:

‘That’s right. This will be my first time going into town since coming here…’

“Soon, everyone will be leaving to hunt down the heretic. Our side is ready, so let’s keep an eye on the city.”

Giselle remarked. The time was drawing near. It was almost time to leave Faradel for good.

Before saying farewell, Liana thought she might as well take a look around the city one last time. She wondered how the repairs on the walls were coming along, what had become of the collapsed buildings and the city center, and how the Leche River, which once flowed from Ideana through Faradel, looked these days.

‘People say the city’s changed a lot since I first arrived.’

In just a short while, many more people had gathered; new staff had been hired, and laborers for rebuilding the city were gradually being added.

Walking after the deputy high priestess’s carriage, Liana drifted into thought.

When she’d first arrived in Ideana, the air had been cool, but now it was so warm she didn’t even need a coat. After walking for a bit, she could feel a faint heat rising in the air.

It was spring in full bloom.

Liana took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the scent of lemon blossoms. She couldn’t help but think that this might be the last time she’d ever experience this fragrance.

After about thirty minutes’ walk from the manor, the city of Faradel finally came into view.

Following the carriage along the short distance, it wasn’t long before she saw the city rising up in the distance.

The moment she took in the scene before her, Liana stopped in her tracks.

Her eyes—round and green as glass beads—widened in wonder, as if she were seeing the world for the very first time.

‘When I first arrived in Faradel, it was nothing but desolation…’

This land had once been ruled by death. It was the kind of place that no one would ever seek out, yet now it had been completely transformed.

People bustled everywhere, their conversations loud enough to make her ears ring. Horses and carts moved along the newly maintained main road and rows of makeshift houses had been erected in some semblance of order.

While it still fell far short of being a city, it brimmed with life.

‘I never imagined there would be so many people…’

Just then, the carriage stopped near the square.

“Let’s walk from here.”

“Yes, Deputy High Priestess.”

When the coachman placed the step down, Giselle alighted from the carriage. Liana followed after her.

Giselle strode confidently towards the central plaza, as though she had walked these streets a thousand times before. Liana, on the other hand, trailed behind her, feeling like an outsider in her own land, awkward and hesitant. It felt strange, like having a guest show you around your own home.

Somehow, her hometown had become unrecognisable. Liana felt utterly alienated, as if she no longer belonged there. This was no longer the Ideana she once knew. Or maybe it was Liana herself who no longer belonged in Ideana.

At that moment, Giselle glanced back and smiled.

“You worked for the Lester family, and yet you’re amazed by something like this?”

Liana must have looked a bit ridiculous, gawking around as if she’d never seen the world before.

She nodded awkwardly.

“When I first arrived, it was nothing like this.”

It had only been a month or so since she’d arrived, but so much had changed in that time. She’d never imagined it would be so different.

“When you first arrived, maybe it wasn’t like this, but now Faradell is the only place in Ideana protected by a sanctuary barrier.”

Giselle said, pointing to the sky. High above, the barrier shimmered, casting iridescent patterns across the blue sky. In just over a month, tens of thousands had flocked to Faradel.

“Because of the heresy in Ideana, this place was hell for so long. Only now are these people finally finding peace beneath the grace of God.”

The word “hell” stuck in Liana’s chest like a thorn.

“Look there—see the humble state of that temple.”

Giselle said, tilting her chin. Liana lifted her gaze and saw the temple standing at the front of the square.

“Who would look at that building and believe it was once the central temple of a prince-elector’s domain?”

Giselle’s voice conveyed a mixture of lament and anger. Liana looked at the modest temple. Back then, she’d never realised just how small it was. But after eight years of travelling the world, she finally understood.

Temples in other cities were grand enough to be seen from anywhere, with massive domes and soaring bell towers that woke the world with their music, and endless rows of marble columns stretching into the distance. In every great city, the temple was a symbol: monumental and awe-inspiring.

By comparison, the central temple of the Ideana province was pitifully small. It was little more than the size of a village chapel — the sort of place where apprentice priests were trained in the countryside.

Among all the other buildings, it was barely larger than an ordinary house, with only a simple triangular roof and a crude belfry set atop it.

“No wonder heresy ran rampant, when the temple was treated like this.”

She was right.

Faradel’s temple hadn’t always been so small. However, while researching black magic, Felix Ideana had deliberately shrunk it and driven out the priests.

‘Back then, I thought it was because of my illness…’

She’d once thought that her father had severed his ties with the temple because he blamed the priests for failing to heal her. When she was young, priests came to try to heal her, but they stopped coming after her tenth birthday.

In truth, Felix had simply used his daughter as an excuse to cut off all contact with the temple so that he could secretly pursue black magic.

Lost in her thoughts, Liana soon found herself standing at the entrance to the temple. She stopped just behind Giselle, who walked on ahead with practised ease.

At her feet were white marble steps leading up into the temple.

Liana looked up at the worn, battered façade before her. It was old and crumbling, and almost laughably small. Yet to Liana’s eyes, it was utterly overwhelming.

And then—

『 God created mankind in paradise.
But the devil cast a black shadow over paradise,
And so mankind came to know sorrow and rage, fear and hatred. 』

Those words from an ancient prophecy were still etched into the fragments of a broken stone tablet. She remembered that tablet—she’d seen it once, years ago.

Eight years ago, on the day she left Ideana.

Luise Ideana had stood before the blood-stained stone.