Secret Love Affair between a Former Saint and a Dark Hero - Chapter 123 - I Won't Fall for the Same Trick Twice

“How much longer must we continue living like this, Your Eminence?!”

At the young man’s impassioned outburst, shame washed over the High Priest’s face.

A Saint was one born with the greatest power of prayer and miracles, a being who was destined to exist in this world. Naturally, there could only be one Saint in each generation, blessed by the gods before entering the world. Except for extraordinary cases such as this one, there had always been one—and only one—Saint.

The problem lay with those who possessed powers similar to a Saint’s. The beings the founding Emperor of Hyrn had named “scum.” They continued to be born into the world.

But not a single Emperor throughout the Empire’s history had tolerated their existence. Whenever their powers awakened, a prophecy would appear, and it was used to hunt them down. One after another, they were killed.

Every last one of them.

“Do you know how many we’ve already killed?”

“Adis, calm yourself.”

“There has never once been a prophecy stating that every Saint throughout history must marry the Emperor! We… just how many people have we deceived? How are we supposed to face the Saints who lived and died like puppets? And now, once again, we have to push an innocent Saint into that abyss!”

Every word that rang through the chamber struck the High Priest like a hammer. The young man was not wrong. This prophecy was even crueler than the ones before it. Because there were two people who fulfilled the qualifications of a Saint.

Which meant one of them would inevitably die. But what were they supposed to do?

Perhaps this was the punishment the gods had chosen to inflict upon those who had manipulated the prophecy.

It was right then. Craack— Something split apart, and both the young man, who had been raising his voice, and the weary High Priest turned their eyes toward the stele at the same time.

It was the sacred stone upon which the gods’ prophecies were inscribed, the very one that had stirred when Arcanda and Iora were born into this world.

It also stirred whenever scum possessing miraculous power appeared.

“N-No… don’t tell me… another one?”

The High Priest’s voice trembled like the leaves of an aspen tree. With unsteady steps, he hurried forward, almost stumbling as he reached the stele before anyone else.

Was another tragedy like the one that had befallen the House of Elrah years ago about to be repeated?

His hand, gnarled like a piece of old wood, brushed away the golden sand. As it did, new letters slowly began to appear across the cracked surface of the moving stele.

The High Priest read the words of the prophecy in a faltering voice.

“<I have already opened my eyes……>”

“Your Eminence? Surely…?”

The eyes of the High Priest and the young priest met in shared horror. They could not yet know exactly what it meant. But it was anything but ordinary. And of all times…

Now.

The High Priest bit his lip, and the young priest, seeing the conflict on his face, dropped heavily to his knees without caring that they struck the floor.

Then he seized the High Priest’s sleeve so tightly it looked as though he might tear it apart.

“This… this may be the will of the gods. It may be our last chance to atone.”

“You….”

“Are you going to be a coward again? I… I can’t do that.”

“……”

“Are we priests, or are we murderers?!”

He couldn’t bear it. Truly, he couldn’t bear it. Such was the idealism that came with youth.

The High Priest let out a bitter smile as he recalled that he had once worn that very same expression.

Back when the Emperor had still been the Crown Prince, he had rebelled just like that and had his leg slashed. Years ago, when he tried to conceal the tragedy that would befall the House of Elrah, he had nearly died by the Emperor’s sword. In the end, he had bowed his head before the blade and survived. He had survived, but…

“Very well.”

His eyes met those of the young priest, Adis, who had been standing there with his head lowered. And with that, he finally brought the decision he had long postponed to an end. It could be delayed no longer. It had opened its eyes. They had to learn what that meant.

“Contact them.”

“Your Eminence…?”

“Tell them… that we’re willing to join forces with them.”

* * *

“If it’s really true, that’s the worst. Doesn’t she have any pride?”

“They say plenty of people saw it. Isn’t she shameless? She never showed her face before, so why do you think she came today? Isn’t it because she heard that Lady Arcanda was meeting with His Highness the Crown Prince today? And despite that… honestly!”

“How can she do something like that when she’s supposed to be His Highness the Crown Prince’s betrothed?”

Iora took a sip of the steaming hot tea.

The Saint’s mansion had many spaces set aside for the Saints, among them a terrace where they could rest for a while after their lessons. She had never really taken advantage of it before, but today, she was sitting there leisurely, drinking tea.

The tea wasn’t particularly good.

Shana had happily brewed it for her, but that didn’t change the fact. Come to think of it, ever since she had truly awakened in this world, everything she ate had either been completely tasteless or had felt like chewing on paper.

There had only been one exception…

Vigros.

The moment she thought of Vigros, the corners of her lips curved into a faint smile. Now that she thought about it, the ice cream they had secretly slipped away from class to eat had been delicious too. Was it because she had eaten it with Vigros? It wasn’t as if he possessed some kind of magic that made food taste better. It really was strange.

Just then, the voices of the maids, who had been buzzing in her ears the whole time, reached her once more.

They sounded thoroughly indignant, as though they simply couldn’t stand the sight of her smiling.

“Has she lost her mind? Look at that creepy smile!”

“Is she really that happy about meeting His Highness the Crown Prince? Doesn’t she have any pride? His Highness only has eyes for Lady Arcanda!”

“Exactly. She wants to fool around with another man, but she still doesn’t want to let go of His Highness the Crown Prince. Isn’t that obvious?”

Shana stomped her foot and glared in their direction. Iora gently stroked her arm in an attempt to calm her down, while the girl with broccoli-like hair looked as though she was about to burst into tears from sheer frustration.

But this was all part of the plan.

A satisfied smile spread across Iora’s lips. It looked like the rumors were spreading nicely.