Chapter 86
I couldn't hide my bewilderment at Ruen's words that she would follow me.
Unlike Siren, there was great danger in Ruen, who held the position of Saint, coming along.
So I asked Ruen with concern, "Will you be okay?"
"Yes. There's something I want to do."
I asked what she wanted to do, but she seemed unwilling to answer right away and just smiled brightly, avoiding the answer.
I looked at Ruen like that, conflicted for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then stick close to Loraine."
"Okay!"
Ruen looked at me with a beaming smile, happy that I had given permission.
Looking at Ruen like that, I sighed lightly and said, "So you're not going to tell me why you want to come along?"
"Please wait a little. You'll know soon."
Deciding to leave it be if that's the case, I was nodding when I noticed Siren looking at me with a sullen expression.
She had become quite jealous lately, so that expression was quite chilling, but all I could do for now was pat her head, so I silently patted her head.
"Mm..."
Fortunately, it seemed her anger was soothed even by this small skinship.
Siren looked at me with a more relaxed expression than before, nodding.
Deciding to leave it like this for now, I was patting Siren's head when Daisy, who was riding on my shoulder, also tapped her own head, demanding something.
"Myeong!"
After becoming an intermediate spirit, she had grown much bigger, so I was thinking it was convenient that I could pat her head with my palm instead of just a finger, when Liana looked at us and chuckled, saying, "Then we should depart right away. If we're too late, it might become difficult to meet."
At those words, I nodded and decided to go find Elisia, then moved my feet.
***
What emotions should one feel when learning that everything was an illusion and a lie?
Elisia quickly changed her expression as she realized that everything was the work of the eldest son's forces and black mages.
She had no idea how to react in that complex and subtle sensation that was neither anger nor sadness, nor even frustration.
...Everything feels so empty.
She learned that the “revival of the North”, which she thought was her belief and purpose, was actually just a means to prove her own worth.
The pain I felt for so long.
She learned it was an illusion arising from others' torment.
...In other words,
It meant that everything constituting herself was a lie.
“…”
Though she hadn't achieved everything yet, it was inevitable that excessive skepticism hit her after learning all the truths.
Just as she was thinking that any further effort would be meaningless, suddenly, a warm breeze blew in through the window.
...Damian.
The only one who had shown sincerity to her in this world where everything was a lie.
Though she still couldn't understand why he had liked her so much, he was the only one who had shown her goodwill in the North full of lies.
...It stood out particularly in her memory because everything else was full of lies.
As she was thinking it was strangely imprinted in her mind, one of the maids approached her with a document.
"Grand Duchess, a letter has arrived from the church side saying they will visit here."
"..."
Thanks to obtaining warmth and bringing great wealth and rights to the North side, the incident was smoothed over by sending an official signed document to the church side using the North's speaking power.
But it seemed the church side couldn't forgive the fact that she had ruined the hero appointment ceremony, so they were continuing to try to hold her accountable for this.
And to put it another way.
There was an extremely high chance that the core figures of the eldest son's side would use this to suppress her, so it could be seen as not a very good situation.
So after pondering for a moment, she decided to grasp under what pretext they were coming here as she picked up the document.
Investigation of the source of rift occurrence.
Though it was written that it was to understand why the rift occurred, it was laughable because anyone could see they were obviously coming to target her.
So as she was pondering what to do while looking at this, a question suddenly occurred to her.
Isn't it too late to come after me now? Moreover, the benefits have largely disappeared by now.
Moreover, if the purpose was simply pressure, they could send an official document or use the church existing in the North, rather than sending people.
It didn't make much sense to deliberately send an archbishop from the central city.
Moreover, seeing that it's Archbishop Mikhail, not another archbishop…
She frowned, thinking there was a high chance they weren't simply coming to target her.
Then what could be the reason?
Thinking it didn't seem ordinary since they were bringing troops, she narrowed her eyes.
Then she sighed and calmly approached the window.
Though warmth filled everywhere thanks to being able to emit warmth, the scenery before her eyes was so devastated it could be described as completely crushed.
She looked at this expressionlessly, then sighed and said to the maid, "Please prepare to receive Archbishop Mikhail."
"Understood."
She sighed, thinking she didn't know what kind of outcome she would face.
***
A few days after receiving that letter, Archbishop Mikhail came to see her.
To be precise, it would be more correct to say she had invited him, but…
He visited the mansion with an eerily nonchalant attitude, so it felt more like he had visited rather than being invited, which is why she expressed it that way.
"It's been a while, Grand Duchess Elisia."
He greeted her with a smile no different from when she saw him in the past.
She felt a strange oddness at that reaction as if nothing had happened, but calmly nodded and continued speaking, "Yes. I hope you've been well too, Archbishop Mikhail."
"I've had no particular troubles."
"I'm glad to hear that. Then please come this way."
Since they weren't in a relationship that required great formality, after briefly exchanging greetings, they immediately headed to the reception room.
As they entered the reception room, Archbishop Mikhail snapped his fingers, emitting a massive amount of holy power all around, and said, "The reason I've come is to convey one thing."
She silently looked at the archbishop at those words.
Archbishop Mikhail sat down on the sofa with a bright smile and said, "I've come to tell you that the church's coming here is absolutely not to capture Grand Duchess Elisia."
Though she had avoided the worst-case scenario she had assumed, if they hadn't come to capture her... it meant there was an even bigger problem than she had expected, so her worries deepened even more.
So just as she was about to speak to probe this, Archbishop Mikhail smiled brightly and said, "So there's no need to be too wary of the church side people."
"That's a relief then."
Realizing she hadn't even properly served drinks because her worries had deepened, she was about to hurriedly order drinks to be brought when the archbishop suddenly stood up and walked towards the window, saying, "It's warm. I heard this warmth was brought about by Grand Duchess Elisia, is that true?"
The moment she heard those words, she suddenly felt as if all the blood in her body was flowing backwards and her body grew cold.
She realized the strange sense of déjà vu was connected to this “warmth”.
So as she was silently looking at the archbishop, he carefully opened the window and continued speaking, "I'm not sure if you know, but this warmth actually doesn't belong to the Grand Duchess."
It was something she had vaguely sensed.
Logically speaking, it didn't make sense for such a massive ability to suddenly appear without any reason.
So she knew there must be some reason entangled with obtaining this ability, but she hadn't known the archbishop would know about this.
"Normally I shouldn't say this, but... actually, this warmth doesn't belong to the Grand Duchess, but is one of the powers created by black mages and the North."
Why were black mages mentioned, and why was the North entangled with them?
As her mind was becoming complicated, one thought suddenly occurred to her.
Artificial sun.
As the artificial sun that black mages had tried to give her came to mind, her thoughts suddenly raced.
If that artificial sun had somehow entered her, she could clearly understand where this ability originated from.
Realizing this, she thought "surely not" and asked the archbishop in front of her,
"...You mean black mages?"
"Yes, in the North's laboratory... Ah, it seems the Grand Duchess didn't know. The ability you're using now is an artificial sun created jointly by black mages and the North."
"..."
"I heard it was incomplete, but I guess they somehow completed it."
Hearing those words, she silently looked down at her hands.
To check how the situation had unfolded, she was grasping the general context and reviewing it when suddenly someone started knocking on the door.
A somewhat rough sound.
At the knocking different from usual, sensing that the one knocking wasn't a maid, she frowned and flung open the door.
"Long time no see, Elisia."
The completely unexpected figure of... Damian stood there.
He looked at her with an insane bright smile, then naturally came inside and plopped down on the sofa.
Nonchalantly putting his feet up on the table, he made one proposal to them.
"I'll give you 1 minute. Tell me why I shouldn't kill you."