Chapter 50
After the procedure, the imperial family returned to the palace with happy faces.
The Empress held her daughters tightly in her arms and kissed them without dignity throughout the journey, while the Emperor firmly held the two princesses' hands.
Even after returning to the palace, the four remained inseparable as one unit.
"My beloved daughters. Beloved Iomene. Almene."
The two princesses smiled faintly at the Emperor's unrestrained expression of love.
"I love hearing those words of love."
"Please say them a lot to Iomene, Father. She must have been very lonely."
"I'll say it a hundred, a thousand times more. I love you, Iomene. I love you."
Iomene quietly looked at her old father and then snuggled into his arms.
The very person who had ordered her to be tortured for 16 years.
But now that she had inherited Almene's memories, she understood.
How much the Emperor had suffered during that time.
And what it meant for the ruler of the empire to choose her over the empire.
Iomene carefully nestled between her father and mother and acted spoiled in all the ways she couldn't before.
"I want to eat dessert."
"I'll let you eat any dessert you want, all of them."
"I want to walk barefoot around the garden."
"As much as you want! You can walk around all the gardens in the imperial palace as much as you want!"
"Tell me you love me every day from now on."
"I will do so, Iomene. This father will grant you anything you want," the Emperor said with tear-filled eyes, hugging Iomene tightly.
Anything you want.
Iomene silently looked at Almene at those words.
Almene's expression reddened for a moment, then she nodded slightly.
Iomene, having received permission from her other half, looked at her father with a happy face.
"Father. There's something I really want."
A casual speech that a princess should never use.
Although it seemed undignified, the Emperor didn't seem to mind.
"What is it, Iomene? Tell me anything."
"A son-in-law. Can I choose?" Iomene said that with an innocent, expressionless face.
And of course, the Emperor…
"Of course."
…smiled and gave permission.
***
Iomene and Almene left.
Now the two would live nobly as princesses and holy women from now on.
Rather, it was good.
Now I could quietly prepare to leave alone.
There was still some time left while Tower Master Yorgen finished tuning my psychic amplifier.
The time in between would be my last moments as a saint.
I healed those who came sick and injured to accumulate good deeds to be forgiven by the Goddess.
As promised, Tower Master Yorgen visited me in between tuning the amplifier, observed my healing acts by my side, and then left.
"How much longer do you think it will take, Tower Master?"
"I'll try to do it somehow within 5 days. I'd like to do it faster for you, but this is such a delicate antique."
5 days.
That was enough.
During those 5 days, I looked for a city to disappear to, a big city with little influence from the order but decent public safety.
Erpha no longer came to see me.
Why would she come see me when she was practically rejected to her face?
My heart ached every time I thought of her, but this was better.
She should hate me so she wouldn't miss me after I disappear.
Now I think I could leave really lightly.
Lightly...
I was trying to leave, but.
"Saint! We're here!"
"Saint! I missed you!!"
One morning.
The twin princesses suddenly ambushed me.
Just the two of them, without His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress, with minimal guards.
"Your Highnesses. Are you well?"
Now that their selves had recovered, I should correct my speech that was like talking to puppies before.
When I carefully said that, Almene and Iomene burst into laughter simultaneously.
The two quietly approached me and snuggled into my arms at the same time.
"When it's just us, call us by our names."
"What Your Highnesses? Name. Call us by our names."
The two looked up at me.
Their expressions were full of mischief.
"Iomene. Almene."
I followed their request.
"I'm glad you've gotten better. I hope you'll only have happy things from now on."
The two snuggled into me even more tightly at those words.
But I carefully pushed them away.
"I'm busy with work today. I don't think I can be with you. You two must be busy too, why did you come here?"
At those words, Iomene silently took out a bottle of alcohol from the bag she had prepared.
"Let's have a birthday party! Saint!"
"We wanted you to celebrate our birthday, Saint."
A birthday party? What does that mean?
"The day you saved me was our 19th birthday. I thought alcohol would be perfect for a birthday party that also serves as a coming-of-age ceremony. Don't you think so, Saint?"
It was something to celebrate.
But I was someone who would disappear in 5 days.
What was the use of building such memories?
I didn't intend to return as a saint ever again after I disappeared.
Sweet memories with people I'd never meet again would only make my heart ache.
So I tried to refuse their request.
In the coldest and most disinterested tone possible.
"As I said, I'm busy today. I'd like you to return to the imperial palace. A birthday party would be much grander and better at the palace...."
No.
I saw Iomene's eyes.
An expression of sadness with tears half welling up.
I suddenly felt like I had become an irredeemable piece of trash.
"No? Really?"
"We were so exhausted from the procedure, Saint."
"It's nothing grand, we just wanted to talk while drinking. Saint, it's not a big deal, right? Just for a moment. We won't keep you long."
"Iomene has never had a birthday party even once in 16 years. This is her first birthday party ever, Saint. Is it still not okay?"
The two princesses pressured me very systematically, as if they had prepared a script.
Damn it.
This shouldn't happen...
The words that she had never had a birthday party even once in 16 years weighed heavily on my mind.
Moreover, I knew well how lonely Iomene was staying alone in the separate palace.
A child who had only been lonely and in pain all her life was asking to celebrate her birthday for the first time.
Worry.
Anguish.
Wandering.
And finally, the words that came out of my mouth were, "Just for today. Don't come after today."
The two's faces immediately brightened.
"Saint, we really like you so much!!"
"We're so happy!"
Looking down at the two snuggling into my arms, I ended up smiling bitterly.
"If you had a party at the imperial palace, it could have been much bigger and grander. His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress would probably have held it very splendidly, right? I couldn't even prepare gifts."
At my words, Iomene shook her head.
"Your very existence is a gift to me. Moreover, as time passes, Almene and I will have banquets to the point of being sick of them."
"Iomene is right. I want to have a small party with just the three of us too. It's atmospheric and nice, isn't it?"
Well.
What can I do?
I should do as the birthday girls want.
"Okay. Let's do as you two want."
And so the drinking party began.
Iomene and Almene had come thoroughly prepared.
Simple snacks and even glasses were set up in an instant.
And the three of us started sipping high-quality alcohol with quite a high alcohol content.
"This alcohol is quite strong."
"It feels like my throat is burning."
"My head feels a bit dizzy too. Haha!"
Despite saying that, both Almene and Iomene looked perfectly fine.
On the other hand, I was starting to feel tipsy, my face turning red.
I didn't expect this from you two, but this alcohol is really damn strong.
"I want to know about the Saint."
When the glasses had been emptied and refilled a few times in the soft atmosphere.
Suddenly, Princess Almene asked in a soft and fluffy voice as if doing some ASMR.
Want to know about me.
What is there to know about me?
I'm really nothing special.
"Jericho Amael. The incompetent youngest son of a prophet family who can't prophesy. A lucky unfortunate guy who suddenly went to the slums one day to treat sick people and ended up here. That's me. Nothing more, nothing less."
"I'm curious. Isn't it hard for you to treat and help people? I think I wouldn't want to do it because it's hard," Iomene asked in a casual tone distinct from Almene's.
Is it hard?
No.
It's not hard.
Rather, it's rewarding.
Seeing people get healed and be happy.
That's not hard.
It's only painful because I don't know why the Goddess said she would send me to hell.
"It's not hard. It's just hard having to be somewhere I don't want to be."
"Then where does the Saint want to be?"
This polite speech was Almene's voice.
The two had the same voice, but they could be distinguished by whether they used casual or polite speech.
By the way, where I want to be.
"A peaceful place."
A place where I didn't have to worry about going to hell.
A place where I didn't have to worry about a future where those who bowed their heads in gratitude to me would turn cruelly against me the moment they realized my secret.
I wanted to be in such a place.
"Isn't it peaceful here?"
"It's not peaceful for me."
The bottle of alcohol was already quite empty.
I was feeling tipsy.
I could instantly remove the tipsiness with body modification, but I didn't.
Alcohol entered my body after a long time.
Conversation partners who calmly listen to my words.
And the depression of having to leave behind a woman who loved me, whom I wanted to love too, soon.
Because of all those situations, I felt like my tense and resentful mind was being comforted.
"You still have something to do?"
"Yes, I have something to do, Iomene. Something I must do."
Quitting being a saint and running far, far away to live like a dead mouse.
That's what I have to do, dear.
"The witch with four arms. Her name was Erpha, right? Is she the Saint's lover? I saw through Iomene's memories that you were kissing each other."
Was it because they're 19-year-old girls? A love story fitting their age came up.
At Almene's words, I had to smile bitterly.
"No, Erpha and I are not lovers."
"If you're not lovers, why did you kiss?" Iomene asked with a slightly emotional tone.
Why did I kiss?
"Because I'm a cowardly weakling."
"The Saint is not a coward!"
A festival of polite and casual speech.
Almene exclaims, flaring up like that.
But you're wrong.
Almene.
I'm more of a coward than anyone else in this world.
"No, Almene. I'm a coward. I'm such a coward that I can't accept the feelings of a woman I like and try to leave after ambiguously playing with her heart."
I liked Erpha.
I wanted to stay happily with her for a long, long time.
But I was in a position where I couldn't do that.
Because if she stayed with me, she'd eventually meet an unhappy ending.
"I have to leave soon."
Was it because of the alcohol?
Or was it because for the first time since coming here, someone appeared who listened to my story so seriously?
The story inside me flowed out.
"I have to leave here and go far, far away. But how could I accept Erpha's feelings? How much would she suffer being left alone? So I had to push her away, but I didn't want to hurt her. So... So I kissed her. I hoped she wouldn't be hurt. It's contradictory, isn't it?"
It was contradictory.
Even I thought it was a foolish contradiction that made me sigh.
If I really didn't want her to get hurt, I shouldn't have kissed her in the first place.
I should have acted coldly and cruelly to make her heart turn away.
But I couldn't do that.
I was truly an indecisive fool.
"I see."
"So that's how it was."
I smiled bitterly at their words.
"I'm trash. Indecisive and weak trash. I'm a man who doesn't deserve to be by Erpha's side."
Tears welled up suddenly.
The two princesses approached me and hugged me tightly.
They patted me just like I did for Iomene.
"You have to leave to face the evil remaining in this world, right? As a foreseer, you must have seen the world's misfortunes in advance."
"You can rest for a while, Saint. You must be scared because you have to leave to deal with evil god worshippers and demons. I understand. You can sleep comfortably now."
I wasn’t leaving to deal with evil god worshippers and demons.
I was going into hiding to avoid going to hell.
Ah...
My tongue was twisted and words weren't coming out well.
Moreover, being comforted made me feel like all the emotions inside were bursting out at once.
Before I knew it, I was crying in their arms.
The feeling of fearing going to hell.
The fear of being killed by people.
Being in human arms makes me feel a little better.
After crying for a long time.
The combo of alcohol on top of the first comfort I had received since reincarnating made all the emotions stored inside pour out, and then extreme fatigue washes over me.
"Come here, Saint."
"We'll help you."
The two's hands pull me and lead me to the bed.
"Don't worry, Saint."
"You helped us, so we'll. Help you too, Saint."
"You can leave anytime. Go and do what you need to do as a saint."
"Don't worry about Miss Erpha's problem either. We'll solve it for you."
I didn't understand well what they were saying.
My mind, hazy from alcohol, was just saying that this whole situation felt warm and comfortable.
The voices of the two princesses come from above like a dream.
"We love you, Saint."
"And I'm sorry, Saint. We came with a plan to deliberately make you drink today. Dullaneer's stigmata. It's convenient. We could use the miracle that removes the effects of alcohol, so we kept using it on Almene and me."
"We felt like you would never accept our feelings unless we did something like this."
"I'm sorry. But this is the Saint's fault too."
"It's the Saint's fault for taking all our hearts and saying you'll leave. It's all the Saint's fault."
Something soft, warm, and happy started to be felt all over my body.
I'm sleepy.
They must have covered me with a blanket?
"Wait, Iomene. If you put it in suddenly like that... Ah…♥ Uh♥"
"Since the sensations are shared, it feels like doing it with two Saints. How interesting."
I'm too tired.
I've been through too much mental suffering.
Goddess.
I've really worked hard treating people all this time, haven't I?
And now I'm trying to quit being a saint and live quietly in hiding.
So just for a moment.
Can I sleep for just a moment?
With that thought last.
My vision turned dark as if the film had been cut.