Chapter 15
The child who was even younger than me struggled to open his eyes.
"Tada! I'm here to save you!" I purposely talked to him in a bright voice.
"… An angel?" Harel asked me in a quiet voice as if he were dreaming.
"Yes, I'm an angel!" 'From this moment on, I'll become your guardian angel!' It really was from this moment.
I then quickly looked over Harel's body. In the novel, Harel died and became a beast. He had finally met his end at the hands of the male lead, who had arrived too late. 'I can't let that tragedy happen.'
Due to the beast's poison, Harel's condition was rapidly worsening. 'He'll die at this rate.' I hurriedly started reciting all the prayers I knew for healing and purifying. I had learned them for something like this!
"It has to work." The prayer I was reciting had come from the Pope himself, but Harel's body was so small and weak that it got colder and colder without showing signs of healing. I couldn't cure the beast's poison with just my divine power.
"Ludwig! Help me!" I dragged Ludwig as quickly as I could, but the paladin's weak divine power did nothing to help. 'Is he going to die like this?' I had a bad feeling. The thought that I wouldn't be able to save him…
'No, I can save him.' I held onto my shaking heart as Harel struggled to breathe. This little boy who was barely five years old was doing his best to live. However, his situation had started to get worse.
'Is my power not enough?' I could only think about how it would have turned out if Priscilla was here instead of me. 'She would've saved him easily, right?' After all, she was the real saintess.
"Saintess, I don't think…" Ludwig held onto me. His words meant that Harel didn't have a chance. I bit my lip. Harel was still breathing; I couldn't give up here. Suddenly, I choked up. 'Why does Harel need to die? Is it because he died in the novel? To make the male lead's past tragic?'
"To hell with that!" 'He can't die!' "I'm going to save him."
I wasn't doing this just because I wanted to avoid Daddy's death flag or to block the male lead's resentment. I could never forgive myself for letting a kid die in front of me.
'I'm the saintess! Even if I can't revive the dead, can't I at least save the living?!' I started thinking. There had to be a way to save him. 'Anything!'
"Ah!" An idea suddenly came to me. I wasn't sure if it would work, but it was the only option I had.
'Resurrection magic.' It was a high-level magic spell that healing and purifying couldn't compare to. The amount of divine power needed to use this spell was also unmeasurable. Priscilla had succeeded in using resurrection magic only once throughout the whole novel.
"Will I be able to do it?" Even though I felt some doubt, I tilted my head. I didn't even have time to think about them.
"I won't know until I try!" 'Since I am Priscilla, I can do it too!'
I quickly closed my eyes. The most important thing when reciting a prayer was having a calm heart. I recalled the prayer Priscilla had recited when using resurrection and calmed myself. "Merciful and holy God, your child is looking for you. Please save this precious life…"
I instantly realized something. I had messed up the order. As soon as I realized what had happened, I flinched at the thought of failing. However, a hand grabbed my small flinching hand. "Please bring your warm breath."
I recited after Sofia the part of the prayer I had forgotten. As I opened my eyes and looked to the side, I saw Sophia nodding at me while shining as brightly as the holy sword.
"As you pray, think about how much you want this child to live."
'How can I do that?'
"So that God can hear your prayer."
I didn't know how to pray with my whole heart or put my whole self into my prayer. I simply put my hands together, closed my eyes, and begged and begged. 'Please save this child.'
Boom!
My surroundings turned bright.
* * *
Miltiades wiped out the bandit's hideout and learned that there was another location to look for in the area. While he was getting rid of the beasts coming out from an underground passage, he saw something in the corner of his eye. "Why is that kid here?"
Kais followed after Miltiades and was in his vicinity. "It looks like he followed us," he said.
Miltiades's expression minutely froze at Callian's words. 'Should I kill him?' If he killed Kais here, then he could say that the bandits killed the kid. However, Miltiades felt that if he did that, Amelia would start crying. He put away that thought and said, "Chase him away."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Just as Callian walked toward Kais…
Boom!
A huge beam of light engulfed the area. It was an intense, blinding light that made everyone stop in their tracks.
"This light…" Out of everyone in the area, only Miltiades knew what was going on. 'There's something downstairs.'
All the beasts had disappeared with the appearance of the light. The corpses as well. Miltiades seemed to realize something, and he ran toward the light. Kais ran after him. The underground prison, the broken lab, the huge glass tubes, and… Amelia.
No one could speak. They felt that everything would disappear once they did.
The light turned golden. In the golden light, Amelia was sitting and clasping her hands. It was a holy scene that looked like a masterpiece honoring an angel.
Then, Amelia opened her eyes. Miltiades didn't know how she knew, but Amelia turned toward him and smiled. Before she could move her lips, however, she lost her strength and collapsed. But, Miltiades was faster.
"Saintess!" Ludwig looked at her in shock.
After confirming that Amelia was okay, Miltiades looked around. The light purified everything it touched. 'This is the power of a saintess." As he looked at the small, thin body in his arms, Miltiades realized what jewel he had received as a daughter.
There was a reason the old men in the holy empire praised this little girl as a saintess. She was a light that shone brightly in this era where the priests who served God were drying up.
It was a huge and miraculous light that made it hard to believe it came from a kid.
"Callian."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Contact Achillios." Miltiades's arms, which were holding Amelia, grew stronger. "Tell him that the Rahel Empire will welcome a new princess."
Callian's eyes grew wider.
* * *
Dark blood slowly flowed forth. Priscilla breathed in the cold air and balled up her fist. The retainer in front of her helplessly looked at her.
"Run…" she couldn't say anything else and stopped talking.
Someone yelled behind her, "Run away!"
Another retainer fell while running toward her, and his ruined body lay stretched toward her on the ground. The ground around the corpse turned red.
In the big, deep cave, Priscilla looked up at the stars through the tiny hole in the ceiling and felt as if it were all a dream.
'What is this?' It was my body but it didn't feel like it. 'Is this a dream? Or… a memory?'
The 'me' in the dream couldn't do anything and was in despair. 'Ah! I remember!' This was when Priscilla's powers as the Saintess were stolen from her, and she was chased out.
Priscilla's memories. It was a strange feeling. I had only read and imagined this situation, but it was happening in front of my eyes right now. Everything was too realistic to be called a dream.
This Ludwig as well. "Please run away, Saintess."
"What about you, Ludwig?"
Ludwig adjusted his holy sword and said as his eyes shone, "I will protect you until the end."
He was talking while his arm was bleeding. It was hard to tell how many people he was up against or how injured he was because his body was battered all over.
Priscilla regretted it. It was too late to tell him to run away. She was grateful and happy, but also sorry and upset. Ludwig was in this situation only because of her. If only she were alone. She could've died right then and there.
"Please don't cry. It's not your fault."
"I'm sorry, Ludwig."
Ludwig shook his head. There was still something the two of them had to do. They needed to take back Priscilla's divine power, and get rid of her dishonor as a witch.
Everyone who had followed Priscilla had met death. The only one left was Ludwig. Ludwig said on the final road, "If we survive this safely…"
The Ludwig reflected in Priscilla's eyes smiled brightly. "Please live only for yourself."
Priscilla's eyes wavered.
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"That's the only thing we want."
She teared up because of an unknown emotion. With her trembling lips, she couldn't say anything. Ludwig moved her to the entrance and turned around as if he wouldn't let anyone get past him.
Priscilla choked down her tears that flowed because of her overwhelming emotions and walked down the road alone. And then I opened my eyes.
"…Priscilla." I felt all of Priscilla's loneliness, solitude, and pain. I cried in the darkness. I couldn't tell if they were my or Priscilla's tears.
"It's okay, Priscilla." The things you dealt with would never happen again. I was going to make sure of it..