Chapter 2. The Villainess’s Stage

Tailian extended his hand to her with care.

Ella accepted the courteous escort willingly. Her ankle was hurting, after all.

“Thank you, Sir Martis.”

He must have felt the weight in her grip. Tailian asked with concern.

“Is your ankle all right?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

“……So the oracle was true.”

Ella looked up at him as if to ask what he meant.

“I heard that you are bearing the evil god’s energy within the Empire entirely on your own. And that your holy power has become unstable because of it……”

“Ah, you mean my healing ability. Yes, that’s right. My self-recovery has been slow because of it.”

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that, Sir?”

Tailian was not a man who showed much expression, but right now he was different. Something had softened in his face, and emotions like guilt and gratitude flickered briefly across it.

He bowed his head.

“As a citizen of the Becarto Empire, I wish to express my gratitude for your sacrifice, Miss Mariella.”

Ella laughed softly.

“It is a saintess’s duty. Thank you.”

“Then allow me to have the head maid of the crown princess‘s palace summon the imperial physician……”

“I’ll handle that myself. So please say nothing to anyone about my injury.”

Tailian opened his mouth at her refusal, then gave a short answer.

“As you wish.”

“Thank you. Please take me to the reception hall, then.”

Ella smiled, her eyes curving warmly.

The arm Tailian was using to escort her tensed for just a moment. The tips of his ears seemed to have gone slightly red.

“Sir Martis? Are you warm?”

“N, no.”

His words came out flustered despite his composed expression.

Ella tilted her head.

‘What was that?’

Tailian was someone accustomed to concealing his emotions.

The only time she had seen him lose that composure in her memories was in the council chamber when Marian’s execution was decided.

‘Her Highness has been falsely accused! If you grant me the authority to reinvestigate the matter……’

He had been dragged out before he could finish, stripped of his position as knight commander, and assigned to manage a remote knight training academy under orders to reflect on his conduct.

For someone who had held the rank of knight commander, it was a genuinely humiliating treatment.

Ella was about to speak to him again when a voice cut her off.

“Miss Meriella, you’ve arrived.”

The voice made her skin crawl, and Ella’s mask slid back into place. She turned to Zikhart with a measured smile.

“I greet the Empire’s small Sol.”

Tailian bowed with proper respect, yet kept the arm escorting her in place.

Zikhart’s gaze landed precisely on that point.

He spoke in a cool tone.

“Sir Martis, you may stand down. Well done.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

At the same moment as his answer, Ella’s hand was gently released.

As Tailian stepped back, Zikhart extended his hand to Ella.

“I’ll escort you from here, Miss Meriella.”

Ella smiled in answer and took his hand.

Fortunately, it was less revolting than the first time. There would be far more contact ahead, so that was at least something.

Laughing inwardly, Ella glanced back at Tailian.

“Thank you for bringing me this far, Sir Martis.”

“Not at all, Miss Meriella.”

“Please let me offer you a cup of tea sometime.”

“Ah…… it would be…… an honor.”

Zikhart showed a flicker of displeasure at the easy familiarity of the exchange.

But the two of them were looking at each other and didn’t notice.

“Shall we go, Miss Meriella? His Majesty is waiting.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

At Zikhart’s prompt, the exchange of glances was cut short.

Ella and Zikhart headed toward the reception hall. Tailian, however, did not move from where he stood.

His gaze was fixed on the platinum hair that swayed with each step Ella took.

“……”

Watching the two of them walk away side by side, Tailian quietly ran his hand along his own arm.

The spot where Ella’s hand had rested just a moment ago.

***

“Saintess Meriella has arrived.”

The chamberlain’s announcement was followed by the opening of the reception hall doors.

Ella stepped inside with her hand in the crown prince’s.

The reception hall, decorated in milky white marble and gold, was overwhelming in its sheer scale. It was grand enough to make anyone who entered for the first time instinctively shrink.

It felt like the ugliness of the Estrada imperial family dressed up in splendor.

Hypocritical. Artificial.

Ella walked toward the emperor’s dais, five steps above the floor.

“I greet the Sol and Diana of the Empire. May glory fill you within the chief god.”

Ella’s etiquette was flawless in a way it had never been before. No nerves, not a single falter.

Noble and graceful in every way.

Everyone in the reception hall was taken aback. The Emperor and Empress were no different.

“Saintess Meriella. So the rumors were true.”

The Emperor spoke with a pleased expression, and the Empress beside him added her own words.

“She really does seem like a different person. I thought it was just gossip…… Lady Cladis, the saintess‘s etiquette teacher, truly is remarkable. One could believe she was the daughter of a noble house.”

“Ha ha ha, surely it isn’t all down to Lady Cladis? It is thanks to Saintess Meriella’s own efforts.”

“That goes without saying. It seems you have not been idle in your diligence, Saintess. To think we would see such a perfect crown princess…… what a relief.”

Hollow praise poured toward Ella from all sides.

Ella kept her smile throughout.

‘Playing both sides so masterfully, aren’t we.’

That was exactly what she thought. The skill with which they wrapped a subtle dig at her origins in the form of a compliment was worthy of those at the very pinnacle of the nobility.

The Emperor asked with a grave tone.

“Now then, I heard the contents of the oracle from the priest the Grand Temple sent. The evil god’s energy within the Empire is said to be strongest inside the palace itself.”

“That is correct, Your Majesty. Which is why I have come.”

“I also heard that your holy power is in an unstable state. Will you be able to manage the consecration rite throughout the palace alone?”

Ella made the sign of blessing and clasped her hands like a devout saint.

“All of it is the will of the chief god Solea. She said my suffering purifies the evil god’s energy. Once everything has stabilized, my holy power will recover, so please do not worry, Your Majesty.”

Zikhart, who had been silent beside her, cut in abruptly.

“You said suffering? Yours, Miss Meriella?”

He looked as though he were hearing it for the first time. He seemed genuinely shaken.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Are you…… in pain even now?”

Ella nearly let out a hollow laugh. The concern readable in those green eyes was so absurd it was almost funny.

And the fact that he was carrying on like this over nothing more than a single day’s worth of interest was just as ridiculous.

‘Did Marian really have no taste in men whatsoever?’

She almost wanted to ask her, if they ever met again, how she had given her heart to someone like this.

“I’m all right at the moment. It tends to be worst after the consecration rite is performed……”

“What do you do when the pain is severe? Would the imperial physician be of any help?”

“I appreciate the thought, but sacred pain cannot be treated by medicine, Your Highness.”

“Then……”

Zikhart looked genuinely troubled.

Ella decided to offer a convenient answer.

“Usually, a prayer of purification within the chief god’s embrace is enough, but I understand there is no prayer room here. So I was simply going to manage in the crown princess‘s palace……”

“There is one, actually.”

Zikhart’s gaze moved to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, I will give the order to have it restored.”

“What place do you mean?”

“I’m referring to the chapel at Lake Wellea.”

“That place hasn’t been used in quite some time, has it.”

Ella’s eyes brightened at the exchange between father and son.

‘Lake Wellea……’

It wasn’t far from the crown princess‘s palace.

A small chapel that had fallen into disuse and stood abandoned, surrounded by overgrown brush along a small lakeside.

It was also the place where Marian had gone to cry without restraint.

‘I suppose I have the trash to thank for this.’

If that place was designated for her purification prayers, no one would be able to interfere.

Once it was officially announced as the saintess‘s space, she could visit as often as she liked without raising any suspicion.

‘Perfect.’

There was a secret hidden there.

Even Marian had only discovered it a full year after becoming crown princess.

“What about building a prayer room within the crown princess‘s palace instead? Tell me your thoughts, Saintess.”

At the Emperor’s question, Ella pretended to consider it briefly, then produced a convincing answer.

“……Even a chapel long left unused is a place where the chief god’s energy gathers. I would prefer that one, Your Majesty.”

“If that is your wish, so be it. Adviser Kiser.”

The middle-aged adviser waiting at the Emperor’s side bowed his head.

“Have the chapel at Lake Wellea restored. See that it is completed as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The adviser who received the order left immediately.