Chapter 37
“Even so, this is too much, Jenia.”
“Are you going to collapse again?”
“I didn’t collapse. I was just sick for a little while.”
“That’s the same thing! Do you know how worried I was while watching Eli lie there with a fever?”
It was around the time when the fifth winter since the season of betrayal was drawing to an end.
Although the harshest cold had already subsided, Eliza still could not take off her gloves and was struggling with them.
Jenia wrapped a muffler around Eliza’s neck, which was already covered with a scarf, and carefully inspected her with a hawk-like gaze to see if any part of her bare skin was exposed.
Eliza let out a deep sigh at her overprotectiveness. Showing Xenia that she was sick a few days ago had been a mistake.
However, she had shown her frail appearance from minor illnesses countless times over the past five years. Jenia should have been used to it by now, yet she still made a fuss whenever Eliza even coughed once.
“No, I wasn’t even that sick…….”
“My heart shattered into pieces just looking at Eli! You mustn’t get a fever again, so put this on and be quiet.”
“I think the fever is coming from being too hot right now.”
“It’s better to be hot than sick. Come on, let’s go!”
“I can’t see very well, Jenia.”
“Hold my hand.”
Jenia gently moved Eliza’s hand away when she tried to take off her hat and firmly grasped it herself.
The hat was lined with thick, fluffy fur and covered her ears as well. After failing to take off the hat Xenia had pulled tightly over her head, Eliza ultimately had no choice but to go outside wearing it.
‘I really feel like I’m going to sweat.’
Jenia even carefully watched the ground beneath her feet so that Eliza would not happen to fall.
Because she had failed to stop Xenia’s increasingly overprotective behavior from the very beginning, no one could stop her now. Not even her father.
“How is it? Wasn’t it a good idea to wear the hat?”
“……Yes.”
Eliza had learned that it was most comfortable to simply let things pass without giving much of a response.
The people around them had now grown accustomed to seeing Xenia fuss over Eliza as though she were a precious treasure, and simply passed by.
A cloth mask covered Eliza from the bridge of her nose downward, while thick-lensed glasses rested around her eyes.
Whenever the wind blew, her veil often fluttered, so these were glasses she had obtained at great expense to change the color of her eyes.
Jenia escorted her to the carriage before returning, and Eliza headed to the temple alone.
“You certainly are dressed quite remarkably today.”
“Priest Gesle, please don’t tease me too much.”
“Heh heh heh, I am a person who knows nothing of such things.”
When Eliza arrived at the temple and entered, Gesle, who had now become her dedicated priest, greeted her familiarly.
It was only after entering the temple that Eliza could remove her various cold-weather items one by one. Feeling lighter, Eliza stretched her arms out and yawned.
“How much do we have today?”
“There are twenty bottles of holy water. What about ‘that’?”
“I have a slightly large item today. I don’t know how much it will charge.”
Eliza and Gesle moved together with perfect coordination. For the past five years, Eliza had steadily volunteered by making holy water, while Gesle helped her charge Luo with divine power under the pretext of assisting her when she visited.
Eliza donated a large sum of money to the temple as a token of her gratitude. She also donated Luo to the Central Temple through Nancy, taking care to ensure that it would be used as beneficially as possible.
In sickbeds that the priests could not attend to, Luo sometimes kept a patient’s final breath from fading, lowering the mortality rate, and through the temple’s charitable work, it flowed into the lower places and purified the tainted energy.
As the temple became the place that used Luo most actively, there was now no disagreement that it was an object of God.
The fact that Luo had changed the world for the better, living up to its name, was one of the reasons Gesle had rightfully helped her over the past five years.
“A letter has arrived for that person.”
“What? From him?”
Even when Eliza began sponsoring Leopold by name, she did so through the temple.
At first, Gesle wondered why she had chosen to sponsor someone who was notorious for crimes involving the use of evil black magic and was therefore subject to surveillance and vigilance even within the temple.
However, over the years, he came to understand her choice and admire her foresight.
Because in just a few years, the name Leopold had become synonymous with a war hero.
‘How did Sister recognize him? Surely the Mother must be watching over her, so I must not dare ask.’
Although he never voiced it because of Eliza’s strong denial, Gesle thought of her as something akin to a Saintess.
The healing power sleeping within her. And the new divine substance she had brought.
On top of that, the man she had chosen was now the one who had slain the most monsters, stabilizing the border and allowing countless lives to live in peace.
Gesle handed her the letter that had arrived from the man who, thanks to this, had gradually begun to be called a hero, sent through the sponsor’s side.
Eliza accepted it with hurried hands, but hesitated and could not bring herself to open it.
“Could something have happened? He has never contacted me first before.”
She might not know that it was her, but this was the first contact she had received from him in five whole years.
Her insides were in turmoil with complicated emotions. She tried to steady her trembling breath as much as possible, but she could not completely conceal all her anxiety.
“I will give you some privacy, so please open it.”
Gesle noticed the greater agitation in Eliza’s reaction than usual and considerately left her alone.
Eliza stood there and stared intently at the letter. Of course, that would not allow her to see through the paper and read its contents, yet after standing like that for a long while, she finally opened the letter with trembling hands.
The handwriting inside was stiff but neat.
‘This isn’t Leopold’s handwriting.’
The tension slowly left her grip, which had become so tight that her hand had turned pale.
With the tension in her heart easing slightly, she began to read the contents.
And soon, the sheet of paper in her hand was crumpled miserably.
“What, what is this…….”
No, no. This can’t be.
Her vision turned pitch-black, then her face burned red with turmoil, and suddenly, her entire body grew cold.
The letter expressed gratitude for her support over the past several years and stated that Leopold had suffered an injury that would soon take his life, so she no longer needed to continue her sponsorship.
***
‘Could this really be true? Why am I like this, ……No, this isn’t the time to think about something like this― Ah, please. Oh God.’
Her clasped hands trembled violently. Eliza rested her forehead against her trembling hands and prayed frantically.
There were other people praying inside the carriage as well, so her behavior did not look strange.
Eliza was still wearing the priests’ robes, and together with the other priests, she was heading toward where Leopold was as part of the temple’s volunteer group.
“There’s no way. There’s no way he could get hurt…….”
“Sister Eli, please calm down.”
“I have to go. I won’t be able to believe it unless I see it with my own eyes. Haha, this makes no sense. Who would die…… That can’t be.”
Seeing how unusual her condition was, Gesle disguised her as an apprentice priest.
Throughout the journey to the front lines, Eliza’s anxiety was so apparent that it seemed to show even through her robe, and another priest encouraged her.
“Is this your first time going to the site, Sister? There is no need to be so nervous. May the Mother’s light shine upon you and watch over you.”
“……Yes. Thank you.”
Barely steadying her breathing, Eliza gritted her teeth. She had come all this way; she could not fall apart over a few words on a piece of paper.
It was almost time for the original story to begin. Soon, the female protagonist would go up to the capital, and Eliza had promised herself that once she heard the news, she would give him everything, including her.
‘I don’t believe it. Not until I see it with my own eyes. News that Leopold is in danger…….’
Her clasped hands tightened again. Unable to stop praying, Eliza finally reached the vicinity of the military camp where he was.
It was in the middle of a plain. A wide barricade had been erected to block the front, with tents set up behind the guards.
The tents where the priests would stay had been established in a safe zone away from where the soldiers were stationed.
The temple volunteers were scheduled to conduct worship services, offer prayers, and tend to the wounded soldiers who came to them there.
And as soon as the activities began, Eliza slipped away from the group and strode toward the tents.
“Stop. State your identity.”
“I came from the temple. I heard there were wounded people here…….”
“Ah, you’re a priest.”
When Eliza held out the necklace she had received from Gesle, the soldier lowered his spear. However, he did not step aside and said,
“This area is off-limits without permission.”
“Isn’t Leopold’s tent this way?”
“Have you come to see the commander?”
The two soldiers blocking the way exchanged glances. Then they hardened their expressions and looked down at Eliza.
“We have received no particular orders, so it would be difficult to escort you. Please return.”
