Chapter 8 (1/2)

A more ticklish feeling than when Astein moved his lips and spoke made my whole body tremble lightly. I felt like I had to pull my hand out, but I couldn’t even take it out, so I just stuck with him.+

To be honest, maybe it was because I like the feeling of the first touch.

Before the reversion, Astein never put his lips on the back of my hand, unlike other knights. At the official event, he only pretended to touch it, with a little scary face.

“Excuse me, Grand Duke. This is, uh…it’s a prayer room…”

It wasn’t until my hands were sweating that I managed to stutter out a word to him.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Lady Freya. This contact may have been uncomfortable, I apologize. If God is angry, I will accept the sin.”

“Well, that wouldn’t make the God angry.”

There was an awkward silence between us. So I asked him a question to overcome the awkwardness.

“But why is the Grand Duke so kind to me and unquestionably accepting my request? Even though I’m going to be a saint, I’m still the daughter of a static family.”

He frowned, wrinkled his nose. It seemed difficult to answer my question.

“Don’t worry, I’m not trying to take advantage of Lady Freya, to watch out for Marquis Futor or His Majesty.”

“….! That’s not what I meant.”

My eyes widened on its own. I thought it wasn’t an important matter. But Astein seemed to be uncomfortable.

“I know. You know I’m trying to be a paladin, don’t you?”

“But why do you want to be a paladin? Rather, if you swear allegiance to His Majesty, the opportunity must be….”

I closed my mouth to say that the Emperor was about to die. It was because I wondered if I could talk freely about the future of others.

“I’m sorry. I asked you something personal.”

Astein’s eyes were wide open. Then, he looked into the air with a faint look and slowly opened his mouth.

“I also respect and follow God and the Holy Saint. Of course, it’s not without purpose of avoiding the attention of His Majesty and other half-brothers. I’m a public enemy to everyone.”

He was a loner in a different way than I was. I felt the pain in his eyes that were looking into space, I felt sad with him.

“And there’s someone I want to protect.”

His gaze shifted to me. I could see my face filled his purple eyes.

What to expect, my face was already red.

A place to meet God in the closest place. There was an unholy desire growing in the heart of a woman.

“My Lady!”

Tok! Tok!

Sir Solar’s voice that came with a knock was heard.

“Wait a moment!”

Perplexed, I stood at the door. Unfortunately, there was no place in the prayer room to hide.

Astein would be in a difficult position if Sir Solar found out.

In my eyes, Astein quickly stuck to the wall with his feet. I took a deep breath and opened the door slightly. I faced Sir Solar with a face as casual as possible.

“Her Majesty the Empress has visited the temple. The Saint told you to come too.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I went out, tried to block Sir Solar’s view inside my prayer room. Immediately, after I escaped from the room, the door was closed tightly.

“I’d like to ask you to escort me, please.”

Of course he would follow me, but I was just asking him for formality.

This prayer room was usually open only for me, so other people wouldn’t come, but I had to leave it empty.

I turned around the door of the prayer room throughout my walk. However, the closed doors didn’t open. It was an opportunity for Astein to get out, but I was a little worried about him.

“I think there’s some good news for Her Majesty.”

“Her  Majesty? Did you hear anything about it?”

“It was her brightest face I’ve seen recently.”

I frowned and groped my memory. If it was a good thing for the Empress of this period of time…

“Pregnancy?”

“That would be great. It was Marquis’…”

No, that was….

The Empress was going to give birth. And right after I became a saint, she had a premature birth.

As a result, the Marquis came to the temple and grabbed my hair because I was useless. If I had sacred power, I would have saved the descendant of the Imperial family.

Then, after the Empress was suffering from the postpartum disease, the Empress’ contempt for the Marquis reached its peak.

After the Emperor died, he hated me even more. He said he missed the chance to become the new Emperor’s grandfather.1

“I wonder if there has been an example in the history of the Marquis. It was so good that the daughters of the Marquis become the Empress and the Saint. Ha ha ha!”

Sir Solar’s praise disturbed my heart.

In front of the Saint’s room, my face was hardly stretched with a heavy heart. I went in with a frown like this, the Empress or the Saint will say something.

“My Lady?”

“Oh, thank you for the escort.”

“Of course it’s my job. Would you like me to knock?”

“Yes, please.”

I took a deep breath and looked at Sir Solar knocking.

I never thought that knowing the future was such a heavy thing. I just thought of it as an opportunity to prevent the misfortune of someone precious to me.

It wasn’t pleasant at all to know the unhappy future of others around. Even if it was the daughter of the one who hated me.

“Come in.”

I could hear the warm voice of the Saint. Slowly, I went into the room.

There was a gorgeous woman sitting next to the Saint in a completely different mood from me. A beautiful woman with a red and gorgeous hair like Ellaner.

Empress Karencia, she twinkled her black eyes at me.

“How have you been?”

“I’m good, Your Majesty. Thanks to you, I’m doing fine.”

“You look so tired. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

“No, I’m not. Thank you for your concern.”

The Empress’ gaze at me was as relaxed and comfortable as she could be. She put her hand on her stomach naturally.

“Sit down, Freya.”

I sat down at the words of the Saint. The Empress poured the tea herself to me. The gesture was very calm and cautious.

The Empress, who was lovely and cheerful, changed.

“Freya, Her Majesty said that she has finally conceived the descendant of the Imperial family.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to your sincere prayers.”

“Because God knows the Empress’ earnestness. By the end of winter, a precious person will be born. I’m afraid I won’t be able to see you.”

Karencia’s face was blurred by the Saint’s words. She knew the day she would leave with wings. Anxiety slowly fell on her face.

“What should I do if my child doesn’t have an aunt when he sees the light of the world?”

“There’s Freya now, so don’t worry.”

The Saint looked back at me with glad eyes. I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t raise my head. Maybe it was because of the guilt of not saving the Empress’ child in the past life.

“Freya, can you use divine power?”