“Don’t worry, no one will look for you if you disappear. Our eldest brother who went down to the territory won’t be coming back for a while, and since classes have ended, we can just say you entered a convent in a distant province. Since becoming a saintess was originally your dream, no one will find it strange.”

She was right. With Ludwig gone, even if Florencia suddenly disappeared, no one would find it strange. Even Joseph, who hadn’t particularly tormented her, might secretly think it was for the best. For a moment, Cassian came to mind, but when she realized he would be helpless too, tears welled up in fear.

“Geoff, you’re early.”

Just then, the door of the old wooden building opened, and a slender man wearing a brown hood appeared. Several other men were behind him.

“Hey! Aaron, you’re too late!”

“Sorry, sorry. The wheel of the carriage gave us trouble on the way.”

The man called Aaron smiled amiably at the roughly complaining Geoff and examined Florencia lying on the floor from various angles. Seeing her trembling violet eyes, he smiled with satisfaction.

“Hmm, you brought her as promised. I quite like her.”

“Aaron, is it true that in Lugarn, purple eyes are considered high-grade and sell for a high price? And that slaves of noble origin are more preferred?”

“Yes, of course.”

Aaron laughed, saying he would pay well as promised, so not to worry. He took out a rather heavy leather pouch from inside his wide sleeve and handed the money to Geoff. At that moment, the string tying the pouch got tangled, causing his robe sleeve to rise, and Aaron quickly lowered it. When his eyes met Eriendna’s, he smiled charmingly, narrowing his slender eyes.

“Here, check if the amount is correct.”

“……”

Something was off. Even though noble-born slaves might sell for high prices in foreign countries, they could tell that it was an excessive amount of money even for that. Geoff’s hands, holding the money pouch without saying a word, could be seen trembling slightly even from a distance.

“Why don’t you count it, young master?”

This time, Aaron urged with an amused expression.

“……I don’t need to count it, it must be correct.”

“Hey, we should go back now, it’s getting too late……”

“Y-yes! It’s almost midnight……”

Eriendna urgently pulled Geoff’s arm, saying they should leave.

“Yes, as you say…… it’s almost midnight.”

Aaron, who had been watching them with an interesting face, gradually smiled cruelly. His earlier amiable attitude had completely disappeared. The men in black hoods who had been standing behind him moved like shadows and blocked the door.

“……I thought about just letting you go, but……”

“……W-what are you doing?”

“You saw this, didn’t you?”

With a frightening expression, he suddenly rolled up his sleeve to his elbow. Before the pale-faced Eriendna’s eyes, the inside of his arm bore a dark mark of heretics who worship demons and sacrifice humans.

“It’s midnight, prepare the ritual.”

When the man in the brown hood coldly commanded, the rest of the men quietly followed his instructions. A large, messily drawn formation appeared beneath the pile of dirty cloths, and candles placed on both sides flickered frighteningly, illuminating the dark building.

“Cute young lady, you look surprised. Don’t worry too much, it’s not that difficult—just lie still and it will be over.”

Aaron spoke rather gently as he removed the dirty cloth gagging Florencia’s mouth.

“I feel bad seeing you tremble like that. Isn’t it better to go nobly as a sacrifice than to live with family who would sell you into slavery? I’ll properly take care of your body and bury it well.”

“N-no……”

Florencia looked up at him with terror-stricken eyes.

“……Please, let me go…… I beg you……”

“That’s difficult, miss. It’s already midnight, so we can’t delay the ritual any longer. Besides, such beautiful purple eyes are rare, so even more so…… My god likes that color.”

“……You won’t gain anything from a heretical ritual sacrificing to an evil demon. Holy power is bestowed only upon those chosen by God……”

At those words, Aaron’s expression froze coldly as he approached right in front of her. He struck her cheek so hard that Florencia’s head turned completely. The soft flesh inside her cheek must have torn, as clear blood flowed out between her lips.

“If you want to go with a little less pain, you’d better not speak carelessly. From now on, it would be better to ask for mercy from my god.”

He grabbed the screaming Florencia by her hair and dragged her like baggage, throwing her into the formation drawn on the floor. At Aaron’s signal, a subordinate in a black hood brought Geoff.

“P-please, Aaron! Just let us go! Please spare us! I won’t tell anyone!”

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to kill you.”

He spoke bluntly, took out a sharp dagger from inside his clothes, and forced it into Geoff’s hand.

“It would be the worst to let scum like you go free, but it would be troublesome if eliminating all the children of a noble family caused problems. Instead, you’ll have to become accomplices, if only to keep your mouths shut.”

Aaron pointed at Florencia with his chin.

“Offering the eyes and heart of a living sacrifice is the beginning of the ritual, Geoff. Since it would be pitiful to gouge out the young lady’s eyes first, start with the heart.”

“Aaaagh! I-I c-can’t do it……! Please……!”

The sharp blade reflected the candle flames fiercely. Geoff held it, trembling violently. Though he had a cruel temperament and enjoyed tormenting others, he lacked the courage to kill Florencia with his own hands.

“Then would you like to be the sacrifice instead? It’s a shame it’s not purple eyes, but I’ll offer both of you instead.”

“Geoff! Just say you’ll do it……!”

Eriendna jumped up in terror as the heretic’s eyes turned toward her. Aaron sneered at the sight.

“You should have done that from the start.”

“……!”

He took out another knife from inside his clothes and approached Florencia. No! The sensation of the sharp blade cutting through the upper part of her nightgown made her skin crawl, and she struggled, crying. Aaron precisely exposed the area where her heart was located. As part of the cloth covering her body was cut away, her snow-white skin, exposed to the cold air, trembled pitifully.

“You seem to believe in a different god than I do. Why don’t you try praying to your god to save you?”

“……Please…… sob……”

Aaron gazed ecstatically at her amethyst-like eyes, transparently reflecting the terror of death. Soon, he brought Geoff closer and sharply urged him, poking his back with the tip of the knife.

“Begin, hurry!”

“Ugh……. I’m sorry, Florencia! Don’t blame me!”

Geoff closed his eyes tightly and raised the dagger. The sharp tip was aimed precisely at Florencia’s heart. The terrible pain of the cold blade piercing her heart seemed to be felt in advance. The moment Geoff’s raised arm fell downward, Florencia screamed with tears.

“……Sob, High Priest Ludwig……!”

It was at that exact moment when a blindingly bright white light tore through the space, causing the old wooden building to shake as if it would collapse.

“Aaaaargh!”

Eriendna, who had briefly fainted from the earth-shaking impact, regained consciousness at Geoff’s piercing scream. She saw the shocking sight of his arm that had been holding the dagger now severed, and Geoff rolling on the floor in agony.

‘That, that person is……?!’

Eriendna’s eyes gradually filled with shock. He approached Florencia, who seemed to have fainted from the shock, carefully covered her with his outer garment, and then slowly turned around, surveying the surroundings with a cold gaze.

A chilling sensation swept through as if a midwinter wind was blowing from somewhere. Eriendna trembled, curling up as much as possible under the tremendous pressure that made it impossible to even stand.

The heretics dressed in black also stood frozen in place as if their feet were stuck. Aaron quickly muttered something and produced gray smoke, but the priest narrowed his brow as if annoyed at seeing it.

“……You’re doing something unnecessary.”

“Kugh……!”

In the blink of an eye, both of Aaron’s arms were severed. His detached right arm lay on the dirt floor alongside Geoff’s, spewing fading gray smoke.

“First…… I should gouge out all those eyes that dared to see her n*ked flesh.”

At the scene of slaughter where the heretics’ eyes were plucked out with blood splattering and their limbs torn apart like pieces of paper, Eriendna couldn’t help but retch. It was remarkable that she hadn’t lost consciousness. After a while, when the heretics’ bodies had turned into dark red lumps of meat and their souls had completely left the earth, he finally turned his attention to Eriendna and Geoff. The expressionless face looking down at them was so cold and detached it was hard to believe he was a clergyman.

“P-please spare us……”

Eriendna clasped her hands together in prayer, more terrified of this high priest with an angelic appearance than of the heretics who worshipped demons. The gentle holy priests were said to send even heretics to God’s side in a merciful way without pain when executing them, but what she had learned in theology class was all lies. Tears streamed down her chin in fear that she might be accused of heresy and killed.

“Father…… We truly didn’t know…… that they were heretics……”

“I don’t care whether you are heretics or not. What matters to me is the fact that you tried to harm her.”

An irritated light flashed across Ludwig’s neat brow.

“Why are you so foolish? Despite the head of the family’s efforts, the House of Count Hazel will close in this generation.”

“I-I was wrong! I won’t bully Florencia anymore……”

“I won’t kill you. However, you attempted to kidnap and sell a person, and collaborated with heretics to participate in a dark ritual, so you must pay a corresponding price.”