You Have Died,
Chapter 27………………………………………………
I told him I would become his hope, so he should become my person and help me.
It sounded incredibly arrogant, but just as I expected, Harold needed someone to be his hope.
He chose me. We were still wary of each other, but our goals were the same.
“Your Excellency. In exchange for the pilgrimage route, is there something the Temple of Melissa receives?”
Wouldn’t he know, of all people?
“I can’t be certain right now, but I’ve seen it on a pilgrimage route I once followed.”
“A holy relic?”
He raised one eyebrow and looked at me.
“You’ve seen it?”
“In the records of the previous Saintesses’ pilgrimage routes, several holy relics were mentioned.”
He looked quite surprised, as if he hadn’t expected me to have researched it.
“And what else did you see?”
“There was information about me, and about the pilgrimage route as well.”
Before Harold could reply, the door to the prayer chamber opened.
He frowned and turned his head. I followed his gaze to Alec, who had entered after us.
“Saintess. It would be best for you to attend the funeral mass now.”
It seemed the High Priest’s sermon was nearing its end.
“Thank you.”
I rose to my feet and looked down at Harold.
“I have documents that contain transcribed records. I’ll show them to you later.”
“So even the Commander follows the Saintess’s will.”
When I nodded briefly, he spoke again.
“I understand. I’ll come to see you again next time.”
This time, he would be the one coming to me.
I walked along the path stretched out between him and me. Alec watched me carefully as I walked a road I hadn’t chosen myself.
“Shall we go now?”
“Yes. I’ll escort you.”
Alec guided me to the courtyard in front of the central temple, where the funeral mass was already underway.
“There are more people than I expected.”
Countless people dressed in black filled the space. Between the two waves of black, Fabivan was delivering the sermon as their representative.
“For decades, His Holiness imparted wisdom to us, and now the Daughter of God, Saintess Shallen, sees him off…”
Perhaps he was using divine power—his voice rang clearly even to Alec and me standing far away.
“Saintess.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Has Cardinal Harold decided to follow the Saintess’s will?”
“Yes. We need someone who knows Melissa well.”
“Does he know?”
Alec’s gaze was fixed on the High Priest.
“Yes. He does.”
Only after hearing my answer did the tension fade from Alec’s face.
As we drew closer to the plaza, people’s faces became clearer.
Amid the somber mood of mourning, I spotted Cardin at once.
Among so many people, it was as if he alone was shining. Even without trying, my eyes were drawn to him.
Noticing the change in my expression, Alec examined my face.
“You should avoid overexerting yourself today. It would be best to simply show your face and then return.”
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
As I turned my head slightly, I felt someone’s gaze cling to my face.
It seemed people had noticed me; they couldn’t take their eyes off me. Among them were Cardin’s eyes as well.
When I faced forward again, without realizing it, I looked at Cardin once more.
At that moment, my steps stopped.
Because of a man standing beside Cardin, speaking to him and turning in my direction.
Red hair. Red eyes.
Why was that man here?
Why was he standing next to Cardin? It felt as though my mind had stopped working.
I stared silently at the man beside Cardin.
From the moment I left the room, I had sworn that no matter what, I wouldn’t waver when I saw Cardin again—that I wouldn’t reveal any emotion.
Yet the instant I saw that man, I became a widow who had lost her husband.
It felt as though I had returned to the day Cardin was brought to me as a cold corpse.
Raymond de Nicolas.
The third prince of the Kingdom of Nicolas—and the man who had killed my Cardin on the battlefield.
It had been an unavoidable war, a reckless battle. Even so, to me, he was simply the man who had killed my husband.
No matter how often I told myself it wasn’t his fault, I hated him.
I knew that in this life, as I traveled the pilgrimage route, I would see him again—but with the changed future, I thought this too would be different.
If not, perhaps it was something I had failed to notice at the funeral back then.
Even if things were exactly the same as before, this was the first time I had ever seen Raymond and Cardin together with my own eyes.
Suddenly, strength left my legs. Perhaps I truly wanted to collapse right then.
Fortunately, Alec caught me as I staggered.
“Saintess.”
At Alec’s voice, color returned to the world around me, and other people’s faces came clearly into view.
“Ah… I must be very tired. I keep doing this.”
For this moment, the fact that I hadn’t eaten or slept for three days became a very plausible excuse.
“If it’s too much, please say so.”
“I’m fine now. Let’s go.”
Alec slowed his pace, wary that I might stumble again.
When the High Priest’s voice finally ceased, I stood among the black waves of people.
All at once, their gazes converged on me.
Some of those who had come to mourn even reddened their eyes upon seeing me.
So, wearing the mask of the Saintess they desired, I slowly walked toward where the Pope lay in repose.
She was the Saintess.
Her complexion was still pale. She looked drained, as though she hadn’t been eating properly.
Our eyes met.
But she avoided my gaze again. It seemed deliberate. Why?
I hadn’t seen the Saintess for long, yet she felt unlike herself.
As questions began to rise—
“Grand Duke. What are you staring at so intently?”
Raymond, standing beside me, spoke up. He had already been pestering me about where I’d gone earlier, so I was about to turn away, annoyed.
“The Saintess?”
At Raymond’s voice, Cardin’s gaze returned to her.
“It looks like she’s looking this way. Or am I mistaken?”
It wasn’t a mistake. The Saintess, who had avoided my eyes, was looking in this direction.
But her gaze wasn’t meant for me.
It was for Raymond.
“Cardin, do you think I’m imagining it too?”
“Yes. You are.”
I lied without realizing it. I didn’t know why.
The Saintess was looking at Raymond, yet it felt as though their eyes hadn’t met.
Even though Raymond was looking at her as well.
There was a gaze being sent—but none being received. She did not accept Raymond’s gaze.
“I thought she was looking at me.”
Raymond turned away first, sounding regretful.
“There are many eyes watching.”
“Yes, yes. I understand, Grand Duke.”
As I cautioned him—someone who usually spoke casually when we were alone—I cast another glance at the Saintess.
She staggered again. My body tensed instinctively.
“It seems you’re quite interested in the Saintess, Your Grace?”
“Nonsense.”
Cardin cleared his throat and straightened himself. He withdrew his gaze from her, but it wasn’t long before he looked again.
Around the time the noisy voice of the High Priest cut off, the Saintess walked along the long red carpet.
Her face looked as though she were comforting those mourning the Pope’s passing.
It was an expression that suited a Saintess perfectly, yet there was a strange sense of dissonance.
Black eyes followed her slow steps.
They were unhurried, composed steps—but Cardin’s eyes moved restlessly, worried she might fall.
“I’ve never heard that the Grand Duke believes in the God of Gloria.”
“I don’t.”
“A man who doesn’t believe in God attending the Pope’s funeral.”
At the teasing tone, Cardin frowned.
“I believe I’ve heard that Your Highness also does not believe in God.”
“Well, I just came to see an expensive friend one last time.”
“……”
Raymond spoke while watching the Saintess kneeling before the Pope’s coffin in prayer.
“Seems that friend had a purpose other than mourning.”
