Chapter 40 - Three Years, and a Revelation

Renée humbly admitted it.

At this rate, she was getting nowhere.

“Sigh...”

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

After giving Hella a vague answer, Renée once again propped her chin on her hands at the table and resumed her brooding.

Three years and one month had passed.

What had she accomplished by resolving to take her time and approach Bera with an easy heart?

Holding hands? They had been doing that already.

Names? That exasperating man had called her by her name for exactly one day, then gone right back to “Saintess” the next morning.

Time alone? As if they had any. At most, they walked by the flower beds for an hour or two each day, and even then, their conversations were always the same.

Really, she ought not to make excuses like this, but...

'... The Holy Empire is the problem.'

This blasted Holy Empire was the problem.

Nothing ever happened, and for years, all she had done was study, study, and study some more.

Their relationship needed some dramatic incident to move forward, but the Holy Empire was far too peaceful for anything like that to happen.

Her fingers tapped the tabletop twice.

'There must be a way...'

She needed a breakthrough.

Renée's expression grew utterly grim as she pondered this.

Terisa would have shaken her head at the sight.

Failing to realize that she herself was the biggest problem, she was looking for the cause elsewhere. Could anything be more pitiful?

People who had never been in love often shared a particular misconception.

Namely, that a relationship needed a dramatic incident to progress.

Renée was a girl so woefully ignorant of romance that she believed this misconception to be gospel truth.

Had Terisa been there, she would have immediately pointed out Renée's mistake. Unfortunately, since that month three years ago, Terisa had yet to return from her assignment.

If one had to identify the cause of this disaster, it would be that not a single person at Renée's side could correct her misguided notions of romance.

“All done, Saintess.”

“Oh, thank you for your hard work.”

Renée quietly acknowledged Hella's announcement that she had finished getting her ready, then picked up her cane and asked,

“Where's Bera?”

“He's waiting outside the door.”

“Good. I'll see you later, then.”

“Yes.”

TAP.

Her cane touched the floor. Moving with what was now well-practiced ease, Renée walked to the door of her quarters on her own and stepped outside.

The door opened with a creak.

“Good morning, Saintess.”

Bera's low voice followed.

Feeling that fluttering excitement—which had not faded in the slightest over the past three years—shake her once again, Renée gave a small nod and reached out her hand.

Warmth settled over her outstretched hand.

She clasped it firmly and spoke with a faint smile.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes. Allow me to escort you.”

His stiff voice reached her ears.

When she set her cane against the floor, a footstep tapped after it.

Holding Bera's hand, Renée began walking down the corridor, a distance of some twenty paces.

Today was her eighteenth birthday.

* * *

Her fourth birthday in the Holy Empire.

As she had for the previous three, Renée was celebrating with a small gathering in the Grand Temple's outdoor garden, inviting the apostles and a few others she was close to.

Amid the bustle, Rohan spoke.

“Well, congratulations, Saintess! Would you look at that—you're a young lady now! A young lady!”

“Watch your language. You're being disrespectful.”

“Huh? All I said was 'young lady.' What's wrong with that?”

“It sounds disrespectful when you say it. Just keep your mouth shut.”

“Hah.”

At Bera's sharp retort, Rohan let out a short, incredulous laugh. Listening to them, Renée giggled.

They apparently never tired of bickering like this whenever they met. Though it had startled her at first, Renée could now laugh and let their squabbles wash over her.

While Rohan and Bera were still arguing, another voice came from nearby.

“Happy birthday, Saintess. I am happy.”

“I congratulate you too. I am good at congratulating too.”

“Thank you, Sir Krek, Sir Marek.”

“That is correct. I am Krek.”

“Marek knows Marek's name too.”

Their words came in muffled voices.

The twins were immensely fond of Renée, the only person in the Holy Empire who could tell them apart and call each by the right name.

And so, hoping she would not be corrupted by the wicked Bera, they were trying harder than anyone to expose his true nature...

But whenever they went to see Renée, Bera was always guarding her side, leaving them unable to report the truth about him even now.

The twins did not like pain.

“Congratulations, Saintess.”

Trebo's greeting came next.

As he spoke, Trebo furtively shifted his gaze toward Renée's upper arm. Bera caught him in the act and dragged him off to a distant corner along with Rohan.

Listening to Bera's receding footsteps and the two voices shouting as they were dragged away, Renée sipped her tea, thinking they had gone off to tussle among themselves again.

A cool breeze stirred her hair, tickling her cheeks. The aroma of tea at her nose soothed her heart.

Taking in the sensations surrounding her, Renée let a small smile rise to her lips.

The relaxed atmosphere.

The people who had become so familiar that they were now part of her life.

Three years had been enough to make the Holy Empire feel like home.

Her relationship with Bera had not progressed at all, but everything else—her daily life, her way of thinking—had improved beyond comparison with three years ago.

She had not found faith. But she had learned to let go of her resentment.

She still thought she fell short as the Saintess. But even so, she had come to accept that title.

Time, mercifully, had taught Renée how to let go.

Of course, there were things she could not let go of.

“Saintess.”

At the sound of Bera's voice, Renée felt her heart thump once more.

He must have finished his tussle and returned already. Hearing his calm tone, she parted her lips slightly to answer.

“Yes?”

“His Holiness is coming.”

“Oh, is he?”

Renée carefully set her teacup on the table and took hold of the cane leaning beside her.

“You may remain seated.”

“How could I do that?”

“His Holiness would understand.”

“Bera.”

Renée spoke his name sternly at his overprotective words.

“... My apologies.”

“Again?”

Bera shut his mouth. Renée gave a little chuckle at his reaction and continued.

“I'm joking. Besides, there are such things as manners. How could I just sit here? I'm eighteen now. Aren't you treating me a little too much like a child?”

There was a hint of petulance in her words.

She liked Bera's unwavering attitude, but she could not help feeling peevish when he treated her like a child.

Couldn't he see her a little differently? That complaint was bound to slip out.

Of course, Bera had his side of the story too.

Looking at Renée as she spoke with a slight pout, he swallowed the words threatening to escape, his face full of unease.

'You are still a minor.'

Indeed. Across the continent, a person became an adult on their nineteenth birthday.

At eighteen, Renée was still a minor. In other words, a child.

Those three years had transformed Renée from a girl into a woman, allowing her beauty to blossom fully. Yet to Bera, she was still a naive child.

But he could not say that aloud, because she was certain to sulk again if he did.

It would offend Renée, who had recently become especially fixated on being grown-up.

Never dreaming that he himself was the cause of that behavior, Bera lowered his head once again and answered,

“... I shall rectify my conduct.”

“What do you mean, 'rectify'? You've gone and learned another strange expression already.”

Another grumble.

Wondering just how far his barrage of apologies could expand, Renée gave that reply, then turned toward the direction from which Bargo was approaching.

* * *

“Congratulations, Saintess. You're eighteen now, correct?”

At Bargo's words, Renée nodded. He chuckled as he looked at her smiling face.

Her long white hair had been neatly combed down. Her once-childish face had lost its baby fat, taking on the appearance of a woman.

When had she grown so much?

Thinking how swiftly time passed for children, Bargo continued in the same cheerful tone.

“Only one more year, and you'll be an adult too, Saintess. My, how quickly you grow.”

“I still have plenty of shortcomings.”

“Shortcomings? The only thing lacking in this Holy Empire is that gloomy brat.”

At this sudden disparagement, Bera's face crumpled into a scowl as he looked at Bargo.

“... To my shame.”

Of course, the words leaving his mouth were cloaked in humility. He could not let Renée see him being disrespectful.

Watching Bargo grin mischievously at him, Bera continued his thoughts.

A hypothesis he had once entertained had now become a certainty.

'... As I thought.'

Bargo would not die a natural death.

Having steadily grown stronger over the past three years, Bera had now reached a level where he could at least gauge the extent of Bargo's ability.

The divine energy flowing from Bargo's body was certainly not that of a man approaching death.

Growing deeper and stronger with each passing day, that divine energy held enough vitality to sustain Bargo's life for well over another ten years.

The inevitable question followed.

'Why?'

Why? What could possibly lead Bargo to his death?

It was a question Bera had wrestled with countless times, yet he could find no answer.

Bera still remembered it vividly.

Overwhelming strength that could send even Terdan, the Mountain-Pushing Giant, toppling backward. That strike, better described as erasure than destruction.

Bera could scarcely imagine anything capable of bringing death to someone with such power.

The only possibility he could think of was the Demon King, but the Demon King's rise came several years after Bargo's death.

The timing did not fit.

As his thoughts deepened, Bera's expression grew darker.

It was then that Renée spoke.

“Oh, Your Holiness. There's something I'd like to tell you.”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

Fiddling with her teacup, Renée pondered for a moment.

She had spoken because she felt it was finally time to do something she had been considering for so long—ever since she had come to the Holy Empire.

“I'm ready to receive my revelation now.”

The bustle stopped short.

Her noisy surroundings fell silent.

Everyone present turned their eyes toward Renée.

Among them, Bera stared at her with wide eyes.

“... Saintess.”

“It's all right. I've thought about this a great deal before deciding.”

A smile settled on Renée's lips.

Renée was no fool. She was perceptive enough to know how considerate the people of the Holy Empire had been, and how much they respected her.

Anyone who received a sacred mark had to receive a revelation.

It was one of the few rules in the otherwise free-spirited Holy Empire.

His Holiness, Bera, the other apostles, and the clergy...

Renée knew that although they were all aware of it, they had refrained from mentioning it in her presence.

“I'm all right now.”

She had chosen today because, if she was going to say it, she thought it best to do so in front of as many people as possible.

“You've all been so considerate of me. I'm telling you today because I wanted to thank you too.”

The smile on Renée's face deepened.

“Thank you all so much.”

Renée still did not understand faith. She did not believe in the glory of the gods or the greatness of their divine powers.

But she was ready to accept them.

She had reached a point where she could stop denying the sacred mark bestowed upon her.

Receiving so much kindness, being loved so dearly, she naturally wanted to repay it.

That desire gave Renée the courage to receive her revelation.

'There's that, and...'

Sensing Bera standing beside her, Renée let out a small giggle.

'... While I'm at it.'

Shouldn't she change up her daily life a little too?

Renée, a novice in love, was a naive girl who firmly believed that dramatic incidents brought about changes in relationships.