“I suppose I should make a generous donation at the Grand Temple’s upcoming prayer festival.”

“A donation?”

Zikhart nodded.

“Let’s call it a husband’s duty to a wife who is a saintess.”

His gaze moved across her face as though tracing it.

“It’s the only thing I can do for you right now.”

His eyes came to rest on her slightly parted lips.

Zikhart’s tongue slipped out briefly, wetting his dry lips, then disappeared. As though kissing her from a distance.

‘Revolting.’

Ella fought with everything she had to push down the nausea rising in her. The mere contact of his gaze triggered an instinctive refusal.

A reaction she had never had with Haven.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

“Take care, Your Highness.”

Zikhart smiled faintly at her immediate reply.

“It seems like you’re trying to get rid of me. Am I imagining it?”

“Yes, you’re imagining it, Your Highness.”

“I’ll choose to believe that.”

He rose slowly as though reluctant, then stopped abruptly. His gaze had landed on the small table beside the bed.

Zikhart picked up the glass bottle packed with dried leaves and asked.

“What is this bottle?”

The stopper was already open, as though someone had removed it.

‘Why is that open?’

It was unmistakably the bottle the imperial gardener Joi had given her.

While Ella hesitated briefly over her answer, Zikhart brought his nose to the small opening.

“The scent is distinctive. What kind of leaves are these?”

“……An herb that helps with sacred purification.”

A reasonably convincing answer came after a moment’s thought.

“Ah, I see.”

He set the bottle down without any particular suspicion.

Having lost interest in the bottle, Zikhart rose from his seat.

“Rest now, Mariella.”

Zikhart offered his farewell, looked at her once more, and turned away.

The moment he left, Ella picked up the bottle from the side table.

Her eyes wavered.

“Why is this here……”

She had definitely put it in the drawer.

Ella couldn’t guess who had taken it out and opened the stopper.

“Come to think of it, I don’t remember how I got here either.”

Her consciousness had cut out in the glass dome house. The last person she had seen was Joi.

Through the hazy, fog-like gaps in her memory, that much came back clearly.

‘He carried me all the way to the crown princess‘s bedchamber?’

That made no sense. An ordinary imperial gardener couldn’t have carried the crown princess designate all the way here.

“Did he ask someone else for help?”

If anyone had seen those grotesquely visible veins……

Her heart began to beat erratically again.

Just then, a dry grass scent drifted faintly from the open bottle. Similar to the scent that had come from Joi.

“……Hm?”

She pressed gently against her left chest, near her heart. It felt strangely calming.

The rampaging mana seemed to have gone back to sleep as well.

The body that had felt so heavy a moment ago seemed considerably better. It was strange.

As the unstable state settled a little, the reasoning that had stopped began to move again.

“Breathing in this scent, the memory is coming back clearly.”

Joi rushed over, a similar scent flooding her senses.

The urgent questions he had thrown at her like accusations.

‘What did you do with the sleep aid I gave you.’

‘You haven’t used it even once?’

And those eyes, gleaming gold like a beast’s, all of it.

“He’s definitely suspicious.”

Deep in thought, the last thing she had heard from Joi drifted past like a ringing in her ears.

But Ella couldn’t be certain what it was.

“……I feel like I heard something important.”

Everything else was coming back clearly, but that alone wouldn’t surface.

Knock knock.

A sudden knock at the door.

“Miss Mariella, it’s Jenith.”

With someone she needed to ask appearing at just the right moment, Ella answered quickly.

“Come in.”

The door opened and head maid Jenith entered.

But she wasn’t alone. A maid followed behind her.

The maid, head bowed low, was carrying a silver tray. On it sat a steaming cup of herbal tea and a gold-domed dish.

“Jenith, I didn’t request a meal.”

“His Highness instructed us to see carefully to your meals as he left.”

“But my stomach is unsettled. Please take it away.”

“He asked that I confirm you eat.”

“Will you be in a difficult position if I don’t eat?”

Jenith was silent instead of answering.

Ella let out a small sigh and nodded.

“Give it to me.”

Jenith placed the bed tray before Ella as though she had been waiting. She set the domed dish and herbal tea on it in turn.

“I prepared something easy to eat.”

Jenith lifted the cover to reveal a gently simmered vegetable stew.

A hunger-stirring aroma rose in soft wisps, but Ella had no appetite at all.

Perhaps because she had spent the day in such tension that she couldn’t even feel hunger.

Ella took only a few mechanical spoonfuls.

“Jenith, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

Ella set down her spoon and spoke.

“Please ask.”

“I remember losing consciousness from the sacred pain, but I have no memory of getting here…… did someone bring me?”

At Ella’s question, Jenith’s eyes widened slightly.

“……Pardon?”

“The person who brought me here.”

“I’m not sure what you mean……”

Jenith looked genuinely puzzled.

“You came here on your own, Miss. You collapsed onto the bed the moment you arrived, and I and several maids helped clean you and change your clothes.”

“I came…… alone?”

“Yes. After that, I informed the main palace and called the imperial physician. I knew it wouldn’t help, but your condition looked so serious……”

I walked here alone?

Ella had absolutely no memory of it.

But if not just Jenith but other maids had seen it too, then it must be true.

In that case, there was nothing more to hear.

‘I need to go find Meivia first.’

She was the only person to discuss this with.

“Are you all right, Miss Mariella?”

“Ah, yes. It seems the sacred pain caused a temporary confusion in my memory.”

“……”

“Thank you, Jenith.”

Ella pushed the tray aside and continued.

“I need to go to the Wellea chapel now. I must purify my holy power as soon as possible. This purification prayer will likely take a little longer, so I’d like no one to disturb me until morning.”

“Yes, Miss Mariella.”

Jenith, who had seen Ella’s condition up close, agreed immediately.

How shocked she had been at the sight of the saintess covered in blood.

‘And her body isn’t even well……’

For the first time, Jenith felt genuinely worried about the saintess. To think she would sacrifice herself like this for the safety of the Empire.

Jenith found herself feeling something close to reverence.

***

As always, no one followed on the path to Lake Wellea.

Anxiety weighted Ella’s steps.

The darkened night forest narrowed her field of vision. To make things worse, raindrops began to fall from the deep red sky.

Her clothing began to turn translucent, but she paid no mind to getting soaked.

After walking for some time, Ella finally arrived at the chapel.

“What if Meivia isn’t here?”

The worry came late, but Ella opened the chapel door anyway. Even if tonight turned out to be a wasted trip, she still needed to get out.

She had no other choice.

“Miss Ella!”

Ella stopped just as she was about to step inside.

The voice from behind belonged to someone who shouldn’t be in this palace.

“Meivia?”

Ella turned around.

It really was her. The very person she had been desperately hoping to see was standing right there.

In a maid’s uniform, no less.

Ella’s eyes went wide.

“Is it really you, Meivia?”

“Is there anyone else in this palace who knows your name? It’s me.”

Giving a somewhat lengthy answer, Meivia came toward Ella.

“Your body isn’t even well, what are you doing walking so fast.”

“Meivia, how did this……”

Ella was so glad and surprised that the words wouldn’t come.

As though reading her feelings, Meivia explained the whole story herself.

“How do you think it happened? I’m Haven’s dedicated mage, and I’m here.”

“……”

“When a superior says jump, you jump. You know that too, Miss Ella……”

Meivia’s finger pointed to the Solea statue in front of the chapel.

“While you’re doing what your superior tells you.”

Meivia’s words, spoken without knowing Ella’s situation, made Ella laugh softly.

“Haven ordered me to enter the palace and attend to you, Miss Ella. He said he couldn’t bring himself to leave because he was so worried about you.”

“So it was because of Haven.”

“What could I do when he said he couldn’t join the main force otherwise? I had to come. Ah! I received a message a few days ago that Haven has joined the main force.”

It was welcome news to hear.

‘He finally……’

Forgetting even her anxiety, Ella’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“So I used a confusion spell and re-employed myself here as a maid. It’s been two days, but everyone here will think I’ve been a maid here all along. A maid named Meivia, belonging to the crown princess‘s palace.”

Meivia curved her lips into a grin.

She gathered her black skirt and bent her knees. It was a reasonably convincing imperial court curtsy.