CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

Serita Gorge

When the Saintess appeared at the full moon banquet to personally clarify the malicious rumors, the public opinion that had been ready to drag her from her position immediately subsided like cold water had been poured on it. After a few days, most people even hesitated to bring up the matter. Since almost none of the imperial citizens had refrained from participating in those rumors or criticizing Bellota, they all felt awkward.

They naturally began acting as if nothing had happened, and Bellota’s name no longer circulated in people’s gossip. Unlike their previous dramatic uproar, it was an anticlimactic ending.

However, another rumor took its place and began burning hot. Of course, it was about Geril. The revelation that the rockdragon heart Geril had brought actually had no connection to rockdragons, and was even Viscount Cadlack’s family heirloom, shocked everyone quite deeply. Moreover, Geril had dared to try to win the Saintess using stolen holy artifacts.

So perhaps it was natural that suspicions spread rapidly that Geril must have been the source of those malicious rumors surrounding Bellota. But the problems facing Geril were far more real than such low-grade rumors. As Van had said, Viscount Cadlack had placed a sealing magic on where he hid the holy artifact that only the Pope could unlock, and when it was unlocked, the real holy artifact appeared. Since Van’s testimony matched perfectly, Geril could not escape the charges of attempting to steal Viscount Cadlack’s holy artifact.

“I know nothing about this. I simply happened to discover this holy artifact by chance. And since it was in the Forbidden Land, I thought it was a rockdragon’s heart. Is that a crime?”

However, even during questioning, Geril continued to deny the charges. He absolutely would not admit to the charges of disguising the fake holy artifact as a rockdragon’s heart. He simply paid an enormous amount of gold coins as bail and holed up in his mansion for days.

Since the most crucial witness, Lady Margaret, had not yet woken from her comatose state, and Butler Van’s testimony alone was insufficient to prove the charges, this was possible. There was nothing more the temple could do.

The imperial family did not get involved, as if all of this was a separate matter that had nothing to do with them. While this was considered turning a blind eye to Geril, it also implicitly meant they would treat it as if nothing had happened, so they could not push Geril any further.

However, with this incident added to the hunting festival incident, the imperial citizens no longer believed Geril’s explanations. They harshly condemned him as if even their criticism of the Saintess had been all his fault, but that was all. Geril’s power was still too high to bring him down in one go, and they had not yet found clear evidence to bring about his downfall.

Compared to how hard Seiden had fought, it was an unsatisfying conclusion, but there were clearly things that had changed.

“Saintess, hello? Good morning!”

When someone brightly greeted Bellota, she was startled and lifted her head that had been habitually looking at the ground to see who it was. She saw believers smiling brightly at her. Some of them couldn’t properly meet Bellota’s eyes out of guilt and fidgeted with apologetic expressions while biting their lips. Bellota soon gave them her usual gentle smile.

“Hello.”

Only then did relief appear on the faces of those who had been anxious. They all held Bellota’s hands to exchange greetings before turning away with relieved expressions and disappearing while chattering. As they moved away, Bellota silently continued walking.

Not only had the rumors about Bellota completely disappeared after that day, but everyone felt terribly sorry towards her. Many people donated large sums of money as if to atone for their sins, and they flooded into the temple to apologize for not trusting the Saintess, a child of God. Thanks to this, the empty temple became crowded with believers within days and regained its former vitality.

However, there remained an unresolved problem.

“But the rumors about the Holy Knight Commander must be true. Why else would he refuse marriage with Her Imperial Highness?”

Heading to the library, Bellota quickly hid when she discovered believers whispering nearby. Several young noble ladies were gathered in a circle in front of the library, having a heated discussion about Seiden’s rumors.

“Plus he didn’t even come to the banquet that day. If it were me, I wouldn’t have missed such a golden opportunity to appear and strongly deny all the rumors.”

“Well, there are quite a few strange things indeed. Remember how everyone was shocked when Sir Seiden declared he would become a holy knight?”

“That’s exactly what I mean. Why? Why would he endure all that hardship as a holy knight while refusing all those honors? It all makes sense if he’s been in love with the Saintess!”

Bellota just silently stared at her feet while holding her breath.

After that day, while the rumors about Bellota had all subsided, sadly the rumors about Seiden hadn’t diminished at all but rather blazed even more fiercely as if oil had been poured on them.

“If it wasn’t true, he would have denied it, but look how he’s still saying nothing!”

“I know. Even with people calling for him to be banned from approaching the Saintess, he still hasn’t given any explanation. But Emily, why are you sniffling?”

The sniffling young lady answered.

“Isn’t it so moving? A man who chose to become a holy knight because he loves the Saintess. It’s been seven years since Sir Seiden became a holy knight. He endured all that time with love, oh my……”

The other two young ladies shook their heads as if they couldn’t handle her.

“You’re crazy. If all this is true, Sir Seiden will receive divine punishment.”

“That’s nonsense! Why is it okay for a duke but not a holy knight? Karen, you even supported Duke Lylester!”

“What? That’s……”

Karen tried to rebut Emily’s retort but couldn’t find the right words. She could never admit that she had secretly been in love with Seiden herself and was just being contrary because the rumors linked him with the Saintess instead of her. Besides these ladies, many other young noblewomen in the capital were either deeply hurt or angry about the rumors between the Saintess and Seiden.

“Ah, anyway, it can’t be! Let’s hurry and go!”

Bellota watched the three young ladies bickering as they walked away, and only after they had completely disappeared did she let out a deep sigh.

“……”

Since that day, Bellota hadn’t faced Seiden. Because of reasons like those, she simply couldn’t bear to see his face. Bellota was doing her best to avoid him.

Bellota hadn’t anticipated things turning out like this. She had naively thought it would quickly die down like her own situation. However, the rumors about him weren’t dying down at all but rather burning even more fiercely as if they had been stirred up with kindling.

As the young ladies had just discussed, there were even people demanding that Seiden be banned from approaching Bellota. Though they were a minority, some believers were even raising their voices saying he should be stripped of his position as holy knight. It was too harsh a reward for saving her from Geril and defending her from all those accusations.

Bellota desperately waited for Seiden to step forward himself and explain that all the rumors were false, but no such news came. She had considered going to him directly to urge him to do so, but she didn’t have the nerve for that.

Moreover, Bellota was afraid to face Seiden again after how kindly he had comforted her that day. Since she couldn’t even think of how to face him, she had no choice but to keep avoiding him like this.

“Ah……”

Letting out a small sigh, Bellota walked into the temple’s large library. The young ladies from earlier must have been the last visitors, as the library was empty. This was fortunate. She didn’t want to exchange greetings with believers seeking her forgiveness even in the library.

After circling through the large library, Bellota stood in front of a corner bookshelf in the third floor reading room, searching for a book she had wanted to read for several days. After a moment, Bellota’s eyes lit up clearly as she finally found what she wanted. Just as she was straining on her tiptoes and stretching out her hand, struggling to reach a book that was much higher than her height, a large shadow fell over her from behind and a long arm reached out to pull out the book she had been trying to grab.

“Ah, thank you……”

As Bellota turned around to thank the unknown person for their sudden kindness, she froze. Standing behind her and looking down at her with an indifferent expression was Seiden.

“……”

Bellota’s breath stopped when she saw Seiden. She clearly hadn’t sensed his presence at all. However, Seiden casually examined the old cover of the book he had pulled out.