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Chapter 26
Helena carried a tray laden with snacks, generously provided by the princess, as she stepped into the hallway.
She felt incredibly heavy, partly due to a restless night and partly because of the strange sensation she had experienced for the first time when the princess held her hand.
‘𝘖𝘩, 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥……’
To make matters worse, she had a dreadful dream last night; the monastery crumbled, and the Empire fell.
Of course, she was merely a maid, not a nun……
‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?’
Curious, she sought out Melotz early this morning, but seeing the monk’s face full of anticipation for the upcoming pilgrimage, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦……’
The face of the prince from yesterday’s outburst and the beaming face of Melotz, rejoicing over the rare visit from the Imperial family, flashed alternately in her mind.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴……’
Before she saw the prince in person, Helena could never have imagined that crimson eyes could be so captivating.
‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬…….’
That was what confused her the most.
It felt too absurd to call it a prophetic dream, yet it was too vivid and long to dismiss as meaningless.
Helena shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
It was the day before Sabbath, and she had much to do.
Balancing the tray in her hands, she hurried down the hallway, only to collide with the Mage Tower Master as she turned a corner.
When she saw him, her heart skipped a beat, but it was not out of fear.
‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵……?’
When she had met him the day before, it had not been like this, but now she felt as if a strange aura, unlike anything she had ever felt before, was emanating from the Mage Tower Master’s entire body.
It was an utterly bizarre feeling.
The energy was neither visible nor audible, yet it clearly resided within him.
—Thump-thump, thump-thump…
Simultaneously, she felt the two heartbeats from the princess pulsating against her palm.
Helena gasped.
The Mage Tower Master walked past her as if she were invisible.
“Ah……”
A sharp, piercing headache struck her like a bolt of lightning.
Her grip on the tray loosened, and it slipped from her grasp.
—Crash!
With a deafening clatter, Helena collapsed.
🔹🔹🔹
Sabbath arrived.
Even as Phoebe and I took turns embroidering in our small room, the monastery bustled with activity.
‘𝘓𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭.’
Clinging to that hope, I spent most of the day in bed.
As the sky outside turned a fiery red, Melotz came to see me.
“Your Highness.”
She stopped me before I could rise from the bed and bowed respectfully.
“How are you feeling?”
I smiled sheepishly.
“I apologize for causing concern. Are you leaving now?”
The nun smiled wryly at my question, remembering that she had said she was going on a pilgrimage on the Sabbath.
“Actually, I came here about that. This pilgrimage is a meaningful and glorious journey in which only one person is selected from each monastery throughout the empire to travel to the Holy Land of Goldie in the Muassaq border region. ”
Muassaq was another small nation that Lurick had annexed into the Empire after three years of war.
“Ah, I see.”
If my response sounded indifferent, it was only because I had no idea what Melotz was about to say.
The nun continued.
“I had been waiting for this opportunity for so long, praying for our victory…… but in the end, I had to relinquish this pilgrimage to another.”
“What?”
A wave of unease washed over me, and my gaze wavered as I looked at the nun.
Melotz took out a thin letter and handed it to me.
“Though our time was brief, I feel she has gained spiritual enlightenment during her service to you, Your Highness.”
My eyes fell upon the neatly written name, ‘Helena Garnier’, on the letter.
I gasped in astonishment.
“Are you saying that Helena is going on the pilgrimage in your stead? But she’s just a maid……”