Chapter 7
I stood in front of the door to Favicon’s office.
I took a short breath and turned the doorknob.
With a creak, the door opened, revealing Favicon inside.
As I stepped in, our eyes met. I forced the stiff corners of my mouth upward.
“I heard that Your Excellency was looking for me.”
“Ho ho. It seems our saintess is rather impatient this time. I summoned you because there is something I need to tell you. Please, have a seat.”
We sat across from each other at the table. As he poured me some tea, he glanced over me as if measuring something.
“Your Excellency, please go ahead.”
“Ahem. Now that you have officially become Saint Melissa, I wish to speak to you about the duties you must fulfill.”
I nodded slightly.
“One of them is traveling to places where the saintess is needed and bestowing blessings.”
It was something I already knew. Here, that duty was called the Saintess’s Pilgrimage.
I replied calmly.
“Where is the first place I must go?”
“The Kingdom of Helen. An invitation has arrived for the appointment ceremony of their crown prince.”
Was it because I had been a mere puppet, doing only what I was told without understanding anything back then?
Or because it was a memory from such a long, distant past?
Until the head of the temple mentioned it, I hadn’t remembered that Helen Kingdom had been my first destination.
It felt as if my breath caught in my throat. My eyes trembled slightly.
“Saintess?”
At the voice calling me, I erased my thoughts and looked back at Favicon.
“Ah, yes.”
“Will you go for us?”
I didn’t want to hear anything they had to say—but if it was the Kingdom of Helen, it was different.
“Of course.”
“I look forward to working with you, Saintess.”
After meeting with the head of the temple and returning to my quarters, I trudged over and collapsed onto the sofa.
What kind of expression did I have back then, standing before him?
I don’t know.
“The Kingdom of Helen…”
Would Cardin come?
Well, if it’s the man I know, he might not attend.
In this life, it would be better not to meet you.
Then why do I feel this lingering regret?
Even if we were to meet, we wouldn’t exchange a single word. We’d be nothing more than strangers.
The memories we shared exist only within me.
Until I meet him and finally let go of my lingering feelings, I feel like my emotions will remain tangled.
My expectations were not wrong.
Even as I desperately pressed down the emotions that surged every time I thought of him, wishing for time to pass quickly, a part of me wished it would stop altogether.
Even now, inside the carriage heading to the Kingdom of Helen.
My wandering hands fidgeted with nothing but the white dress.
Seeing the road etched into my old memories made my heart pound even more violently.
“Saintess?”
When I lifted my head at the voice calling me, Amy tilted her head as she looked at me.
“Saintess, are you feeling very unwell?”
“Hm?”
“You’ve been frowning this whole time. Ah! Is it because this is your first official schedule as a saintess? Are you nervous?”
At her words, I lifted one corner of my mouth and gave a small laugh.
“…Maybe so.”
“Oh come on! You didn’t even look nervous when you were appointed as a saintess! And you won’t be going alone—others will be accompanying you, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Yes, thanks to you, I do feel a bit more at ease.”
Representing the Pope, not only I but several high-ranking priests were traveling to the Kingdom of Helen.
Since the banquet would continue late into the night, we would likely stay there for one night.
This time, it would be a night I spent sleeping alone.
Before long, the carriage arrived at the main gate of the imperial palace of the Kingdom of Helen.
Seeing the long line of carriages, the reality of it finally began to sink in.
Even at this moment, my eyes wandered on their own among the lined-up carriages, searching for the grand duke’s carriage.
“…It’s not here.”
My disappointed inner thoughts slipped out of my mouth without me realizing it.
“Yes? What isn’t here?”
“Ah. It’s nothing.”
The carriage entering the palace grounds gradually slowed to a stop.
When I stepped down, the sky—still not fully dark—welcomed me.
A maid approached me.
“Saintess Melissa, was your journey tiring? Since the banquet hasn’t begun yet, I will guide you to your room.”
I nodded and smiled.
“Then please do.”
It wasn’t the room I had shared with you, yet even so, I found myself sinking into memories of you.
“Then I will come to escort you when the banquet begins. It will start late, so please rest comfortably until then.”
“Yes. Thank you for your kindness. May the grace of God be with you.”
Once inside the room, I immediately sat down at the vanity.
They told me to rest comfortably—but even so, with a faint shred of hope, I looked into the mirror. I examined my hairstyle, my snow-white hair braided and pinned up, from every angle.
Without realizing how much time passed, I did nothing but stare at my reflection.
When I turned my head to look at the sky, darkness had already descended. It was a night sky that reminded me of his eyes.
“It’s not time yet… should I take a walk?”
I stood up, opened the door, and stepped out. Then, with familiar steps, I headed toward the garden.
Like someone chasing after old nostalgia.
As I reached the garden, his voice brushed past my mind.
‘This place is good for a walk. No one really comes here.’
‘Is that so? It seems you often take walks here.’
‘Yes. I absolutely hate crowded places.’
At the familiar tone of his words, the corners of my lips curled up softly on their own.
“Who is it?”
Why was the voice I had kept only in my memories now flowing into my ears?
I slowly lifted my head.
A man with eyes like the night sky and golden hair reminiscent of starlight was walking toward me.
Tilting one eyebrow, he spoke again.
“Ah, are you Saintess Melissa?”
Tap.
Tap tap.
Drip, drip.
I thought he wouldn’t come.
You didn’t exist in my memories, yet you existed even on this day. I simply hadn’t seen you.
Oh God.
Are you only now answering my desperate prayers to see him, even just once?
With blurred vision, I looked at you as you walked toward me with a furrowed brow.
If I were to see you, I wanted you to see me looking beautiful.
But perhaps my wish would not be granted—my tears would not stop.
As I hurriedly tried to wipe them away, he held out a handkerchief.
“Ah… thank you.”
Dabbing at my tears with the handkerchief, I finally opened the lips I had been biting tightly and introduced myself to you.
“And… it’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am the Saintess, Shallen Melissa.”
With tears still clinging to my lashes, I smiled brightly.
At my smile, which must have looked quite ridiculous, the man—his face flustered—also opened his mouth to introduce himself.
“I am Cardin Lord Ferdian.”
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