WSGP 29

Chapter 29

“Ah.”

Fireworks.
Lying there, blankly staring at the ceiling, Ren muttered softly.
They had said there would be fireworks in the evening.
Ren curled onto her left side like a fetus, pulling the blanket up to the top of her head. A lazy sense of peace wrapped around her.

She didn’t want to get up.
She didn’t want to think.
She didn’t want to open her eyes.
She wished time could just stop like this.

As she was silently wishing that, a small, timid knock shattered her slumber.

“Saintess…”

It was not the usual bright voice but a subdued one.
When there was no reply from inside, Fernandez hesitated, unable to bring himself to knock again.
Pani and Tina, standing beside him, glanced at each other with troubled looks.

“Should we… try one more time?”

Fernandez looked at them carefully as he asked. It was less a request for permission and more a plea for help. The girls, unable to speak, gave him the most encouraging smiles they could manage and nodded vigorously.

That was when—

“Sorry. I’m way too late, aren’t I?”

Before Fernandez’s hand could even touch the door, it opened, revealing Ren with a blanket draped over her shoulders. She brushed aside her messy silver hair—tousled from lazing about in bed—with a sheepish look. Her cheeks flushed faintly, perhaps embarrassed to face the three of them.

“Today… is today the right day?”

Ren glanced at Pani as she asked. Her large eyes were shimmering with tears.

“D-Don’t cry!”

Before Ren could try to comfort her, Pani pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and quickly handed it over. Caught off guard, Ren took it and read the uneven scrawl aloud.

“Are you feeling… all right?”

Ren gave a small laugh and nodded as she returned the paper.

“Thanks to you all, I’m feeling much better.”

Just that one sentence was enough to make the three of them look like they were about to burst into tears. Flustered, Ren’s mind went completely blank on how to calm them—when a savior appeared.

“You’ll be late. Get ready.”

Hatasha tapped her cane firmly against the floor. All the scattered attention instantly focused on her at the single sound.

“Today is an important day.”

When the four of them turned toward her, Hatasha spoke in her usual indifferent tone. Only then did Pani and Tina nod and usher her inside.

Before Ren could protest, she was swept along and seated in a chair.
Pani quickly folded the blanket and began arranging something on the bed.
Tina took a comb and began tidying her wavy silver hair.
Fernandez went outside and returned carefully carrying a basin of clean, clear water, not letting a single drop spill.

“Did you sleep well?”
“Uh… yeah, sort of. I slept fine.”

Ren answered Fernandez awkwardly. It wasn’t exactly a lie—ever since the time in the bath until morning, she remembered nothing. She didn’t really know whether that counted as sleeping well or just losing time. But to avoid ruining the peace they had worked so hard to restore, she pretended she’d rested well.

“It’s finally today!”

Fernandez, washing her face with pleasantly warm water, sounded excited. Just then, Pani—who had been fussing around the bed—came toward her with a flushed face. Tina stopped brushing and helped Ren to her feet.

“What’s all of a sudden—”

Ren froze when she saw what was laid out on the bed.

On the white bedspread lay clothing even more brilliantly white, faintly shimmering. It wasn’t the cumbersome ceremonial dress they had said the Saintess must wear. It was the very outfit Madam Dalia had crafted from the sketches Rix had drawn.

Pani draped the final piece—a blue sash—across her right shoulder to her left waist. It was a gift from Dalia, who had worked hard to match the color to Ren’s eyes.

The stark white uniform, in perfect contrast to Rix’s black one, was too beautiful to simply call beautiful. Ren hadn’t even found the right words before Fernandez, looking far too pleased for something that wasn’t his, urged her on.

“Hurry and get changed!”

Knowing that hesitating only slowed things down, the boy darted out like a fairy and shut the door behind him. Ren could only laugh helplessly.

With sparkling eyes, Pani picked up the top, and Tina had already begun helping her out of her nightclothes.

“W-Wait a sec!”

Their hands moved faster than Cinderella’s fairy godmother’s, leaving Ren completely flustered.

It felt like being backstage at a concert—except here, a long red carpet stretched from somewhere unseen all the way to cover the platform.

Mabel told her it began from the palace where the Emperor was, and that the princes had already ridden from there to arrive early.

In truth, Ren wasn’t sure she had heard her correctly.

There had been no rehearsal. The new clothes made her feel like a rusted robot.

The ceremony would go like this: after the Emperor’s proxy gave his speech, Hatasha would step up and announce the new Saintess, and then the princes would… what was it again?

Ren blinked.

“You’re late!”

Before she knew it, Mabel had rushed out of the carriage into the crowd. The place was packed with people, but one voice rang clearly.

“Do you remember the light that appeared to us in our hardest, most fearful days?”

It was the deep, resonant voice of a middle-aged man, warm yet powerful, like a skilled actor delivering a speech.

Ah, that must be the Emperor’s proxy—they had said His Majesty was unwell.

Just then, Mabel, breathless, addressed someone.

“I’ve brought her!”

Ren turned—and three red-haired men all looked at her at once. She froze. The first to meet her gaze was Rix, who said flatly,

“You’re late.”
“My apologies.”
“So this is the famous Saintess.”

Another red-haired man behind Rix suddenly stepped forward. His hair was a darker shade than Rix’s, his eyes black.

Before Rix could speak, yet another redhead approached.

“I was curious. Finally meeting you—Hatasha kept you well hidden.”
“Ah, but Rix got to see her, right? You lived at the temple as a kid. Practically your hometown.”

The man who called Rix “hyung” also had red hair, though duller, and black eyes.

Ren remembered reading that the imperial bloodline always carried red hair. But Rix stood out among them like a black swan among white ones—his shade was deeper, more vivid.

These were really Rix’s brothers? She was about to ask when Rix cut coldly,

“Shut up.”

Ren flinched. That icy tone didn’t feel like the Rix she knew—it was unfamiliar.

“Isn’t it unfair that only hyung got to meet her?”
“Yeah, the youngest actually has a point for once.”

Rix’s elder brother ruffled the youngest prince’s hair. The three seemed to have their own world, one Rix neither entered nor seemed to want to.

Ignoring them, Rix strode toward Ren and pulled her closer, whispering in her ear.

“Your body—?”

A short, blunt question, but in the familiar tone she knew. Relaxing, she answered,

“I’m fine.”
“You remember the plan?”
“More or less…”

His golden eyes pierced her like a blade, suddenly making him feel like a stranger.

“‘More or less’ isn’t good enough.”
“Sorry—”
“You’re holding the biggest turning point of my life right now.”

So hard…

The change in him hit her harder than she expected. Straightening, she quickly nodded, picturing the plaza in her head. Thankfully, the places he’d pointed out came to mind at once.

Rix glanced over her in the white uniform—it suited her even better than he’d imagined. Exactly the image he’d wanted.

Then, a sudden cheer erupted. Startled, Ren lost her footing. Rix caught her arm.

“Ah!”

It wasn’t much force for him, but she seemed unsteady, so he quickly let go. Another stepped in to catch her.

“Careful—what if our precious Saintess got hurt?”

It was the prince who had first greeted her with a sly smile. Before she could answer, another prince slipped in between her and Rix, asking if she was all right.

Unable to get a word in, Rix stepped back—and then turned away entirely.

In an instant, the princes surrounded her like flames, blocking her view of him.

She wanted to tell him she was fine…

While she floundered under their barrage of questions, Hatasha moved to stand beside Rix. At the base of the stairs, with the proxy’s speech still droning on, they spoke.

“Today is the day Your Highness has long awaited.”
“…All Ren has to do is play her part.”

Rix’s voice was cold. Hatasha let the sharpness slide off her, giving a faint smile.

“Since the Saintess lost her power, disasters have struck—droughts, floods, plagues, every kind of natural calamity. And the number of monsters has risen drastically.”

They didn’t look at each other, yet their words flowed quickly.

“What are you getting at?”
“That the people’s hopes for the Saintess are that high.”
“So are mine.”
“Then allow this old woman, just another small person placing her hopes on the new Saintess, to offer one word.”

At last, their gazes met—his downward, hers upward. The angles differed, but the strength in their eyes was equal.

Hatasha spoke, her voice cold as ice.

“Your Highness will be the one to break the Saintess.”