LADAD Chapter 14

In the end, Ivan never came before the bell announcing midnight rang. Even after waiting long past midnight, it was the same. That night, Amelia had to return to her bedroom without any harvest.

"..."

'Why didn't he come?'

Four more days had passed since then, but Amelia still couldn't understand the reason. Ivan had been the first to suggest meeting again next week. Of course, Amelia herself had been planning to say the same thing, but Ivan had beaten her to it.

"Holy Maiden."

If that was the case, didn't it mean Ivan also wanted to see her again?

"Holy Maiden?"

Amelia, who had been lost in thought while chewing her nails just like that dawn Saturday when she returned without meeting Ivan, was startled and looked up.

"What were you thinking about that made you so surprised?"

Louise asked in a puzzled voice. It was natural, as it would be incomprehensible behavior.

"No, nothing."

Amelia mumbled and trailed off.

"Don't bite your nails. You're supposed to be a model for this temple."

Louise's subtly sharp gaze touched Amelia and then fell away. It meant she shouldn't behave improperly in a place where everyone was watching.

"Okay."

Amelia replied obediently and turned her gaze forward. Then, she saw numerous priests on the path leading to the prayer room in the west wing where only nobles gathered.

"..."

'Could Ivan be among them?' With that thought, Amelia's gaze busily searched among them. But even by the time she reached the prayer room door, Amelia couldn't find Ivan.

"The Holy Maiden has arrived."

'We're in the same palace, so why is it so difficult to see his face?' That thought occurred to her, but actually, it was quite natural when she thought about it. Ivan was a 'fallen' priest in the temple's eyes, someone who liked to go out and frequent taverns enough. He wouldn't faithfully attend daytime services.

"Holy Maiden."

Even while thinking this, it was hard to stop searching for traces of Ivan with her eyes. Until Aaron, who had been watching her, quietly called to Amelia.

"Are you looking for someone?"

"Ah, no."

Amelia hurriedly denied it. No secrets should be discovered by Aaron, of all people. Especially if Ivan was a novice priest whose life could hang in the balance with just one decision from him.

"Let's go in."

Aaron's voice pushed against Amelia's back. Amelia walked calmly past the nobles who were watching her.

The Holy Maiden usually offered prayers to God alone, but occasionally she would pray together in both the commoners' prayer room and the nobles' prayer room. Of course, that was just a facade. Most of it was either purposeful theater or meant to show off the Holy Maiden's presence.

"There's a sick child."

Finally, Amelia climbed the steps leading to the platform and turned around. At the same time, a young child burst into tears. The parents had either twisted the tender flesh or the child had burst into tears from some shock.

"Come here."

The child's mother approached Amelia. Amelia gazed down at the small baby cradled in her arms. She could see red spots scattered across the face.

"..."

It was fake. Nothing more than realistically painted spots. Unlike the fever of that child Amelia had once voluntarily placed her hand on and prayed for health.

It was natural. Today's performance had been staged for that very purpose. The blessing she had previously bestowed upon a commoner baby wasn't particularly beautiful to look at, and there were hardly any eyes watching except for the priests.

"In the name of Chief God Merif."

'We don't make you do anything that would threaten your health. We don't even consider worthless beings who won't be helpful as people. We don't care if they die and disappear at any time.'

It was a disgusting mission.

"Health and blessings..."

Amelia raised her gaze. Her eyes met with Aaron's softly smiling face. It was a satisfied expression at seeing Amelia move like a puppet with bound limbs, following the scripted play.

"Why didn't you go to meet the Holy Maiden?"

Rodan asked. Ivan, who had been casually turning pages of a book, glanced at Rodan.

"I wasn't in the mood."

He answered simply. Since Ivan was somewhat impulsive by nature, it wasn't an incomprehensible response.

"Do you plan not to go this week either?"

At Rodan's words, Ivan slowly rolled his eyes. Last week, he simply hadn't acted impulsively. Whether he would meet Amelia this week or not was something he hadn't considered.

"Who knows."

Ivan said briefly. Go if he felt like it, don't go if he didn't feel like it. That was about the extent of his feelings.

"Isn't it time to wrap things up?"

Rodan spoke quietly. As Ivan's servant and the Emperor's subject, he couldn't let him work only when he was in the mood.

"Wrap up?"

"The Holy Maiden's existence."

Rodan had no desire to take any more risks. While Ivan seemed to be letting his guard down, reasoning that his existence had never been discovered, Rodan couldn't help but worry about the one-in-a-million chance. It was time to avoid any full-scale conflict between the temple and the imperial family.

"Since it doesn't have much meaning, it should be something you can easily discard. If that's the case, wouldn't it be right to wrap it up now?"

Contrary to what Ivan had said so confidently, he hadn't obtained any particular information from Amelia either. That's how it had been so far, so there was no reason future events would be different. Rodan didn't have high expectations. Probably, having come this far, Ivan's sentiments would be similar.

"I'll send someone at the time you were supposed to meet the Holy Maiden. I'll choose someone who won't leave any loose ends."

'Maybe she just got the urge to kill from all that divine oracle chatter.'

"..."

Rodan believed his guess was not wrong. Ivan, who usually had clear opinions, didn't oppose his words. He even showed signs of deep thought.

"Handle it as you see fit."

Ivan replied belatedly. In the end, it meant to do as Rodan wished.

"I'll prepare."

Rodan bowed in greeting and left Ivan's office. Left alone in his office after even Rodan departed, Ivan stared at the closed door as if glaring at it. He felt like objecting to Rodan's words. He even felt somewhat reluctant about the decision he had made.

Ivan's gaze moved to the book lying on the table. It was a compilation of diaries left by previous emperors.

[Escliffe Calendar Year 30, July 31st, a woman claiming to be God's representative appeared.]

The day the Holy Maiden first appeared. And the moment she expanded her influence and seized control of Escliffe. When divine oracles came to pass. The woman who healed the sick and survived alone even among plagues. The mythical stories of saving people on the brink of death.

[We sent assassins to kill the Holy Maiden but failed. Public sympathy for the Holy Maiden arose and the number of believers increased, so it cannot be called anything but a painful mistake.]

The Escliffe Imperial Family sent assassins to eliminate the threatening Holy Maiden. However, the moment stories of the imperial family sending assassins repeatedly began to circulate secretly in whispers on the streets, the imperial family lost public trust.

'The pitiful representative of God. The Holy Maiden persecuted by the imperial family blinded by power.'

As long as what the Holy Maiden held in her hands was faith in God, it was an unfavorable structure. From that point on, the imperial family had pretended to maintain an appropriate relationship with the temple. They couldn't kill her carelessly. But perhaps because that peace was to their liking, midway through there even appeared imperial family members who actually believed in the Holy Maiden's existence.

"If you were going to do that, you should have converted to religion entirely."

Ivan made an irreverent comment, thinking of the 8th Emperor and his wife. The 8th Emperor had given authority to the temple and the Holy Maiden. Like a fool in love.

The temple didn't miss that moment and burrowed in, spreading like a spider's web throughout the imperial family. That influence continued to this day. Successive emperors suffered from feelings of powerlessness and even lost control, with the result that quite many people remained under the temple's shadow. Originally, the temple should have been regarded only as a power opposing the imperial family, or at most a force that kept them in check.

[We must eliminate this source so that such a thing never happens again.]

Ivan's gaze stopped at the last sentence left by the 14th Emperor, his father and the previous emperor.

"Ivan."

At the same time, Ivan reflexively recalled the face of the harmless woman who had smiled at him.

"It can't be helped."

But that face didn't influence his decision-making. The only thing that influenced his decisions was his own thinking.

"..."

He suspected that his brief hesitation just before was due to not being able to use Amelia as he had intended. Surely it was regrettable not being able to exploit her as planned.

But however the Holy Maiden's existence disappeared, that would be enough. Those who falsely claimed God's will would lose their focal point and naturally decline unless they put forward someone else. In that case, it would be better to kill the Holy Maiden when there was an opportunity, while pretending the imperial family was not involved.

"I was glad to meet you."

Ivan deliberately made noise closing the thick book's cover, as if to erase the whispered voice that had reached him.

"After all, we couldn't live under the same sky anyway."

If Amelia died, that tragedy could be nicely labeled as a conspiracy between a wayward novice priest and a heretic.

"..."

That would be the end of it. It wasn't such a big deal.

'He had definitely thought that way, so why was he here?'

Ivan exhaled with a tired expression. That breath was mixed with confusion at not understanding why he was opening the prayer room door.

"Ivan."

Just as Ivan had closed the prayer room door, a familiar voice greeted Ivan warmly.

"You came...!"

Amelia, who had been sitting on the platform, couldn't contain her joy and sprang up from her seat. Then she walked toward Ivan. With each step, divided light poured down. Ivan cast a meaningless gaze at her cheerfully smiling face.

With each step Amelia took toward Ivan, the hem of her white dress rippled and swept across the floor.