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‘Besides, I’ve experienced a purification ritual myself, thanks to Bael.’

It happened during our expedition to hunt the Mad Dragon. I had been poisoned and was on the brink of death, but Bael had saved me with a purification ritual. My experience had been just like everyone else’s—it was incredibly refreshing.

I thought back to the purification ritual I had witnessed in the temple with Eugene. Surrounded by priests, Eugene had looked absolutely miserable.

‘That purification ritual…’

What if they were trying to remove something that shouldn’t be cleansed? That could explain the intense pain as a reaction to the process. It was just a theory, but it seemed plausible.

‘I need to discuss this with Bael.’

If it’s about temple rituals, there’s no one more knowledgeable than him.

‘And I should keep this suspicious flute safe.’

I thanked Eugene with a polite nod and carefully tucked the flute into my pocket. Eugene, flustered by my gesture, bowed his head as well, and our heads bumped together with a soft “thunk” in mid-air.

“Ouch!”

“Ah!”

We both yelped in pain, causing Leonid, who had been watching with a look of exasperation, to click his tongue in disbelief.

“Please don’t make me despair. I’ve finally found people I can actually talk to, and it would be tragic if they turned out to be fools.”

* * *

After a while, Eugene and Leonid headed back to the Ivory Tower. To be precise, it was mostly Leonid who did the talking.

‘He went on about all sorts of strange knowledge… Sigh…’

And when I expressed concern that they might get caught on their way back…

〈Like I said earlier, I’ve memorized the layout of the Ivory Tower and the Elpinard estate, as well as the guards’ schedules.〉

〈Enough! Just go already!〉

‘I could tell he was about to launch into another long explanation, so I quickly shooed them away.’

I sighed deeply and collapsed onto my bed.

‘Dealing with kids is exhausting.’

Though, to be fair, I was technically a child myself right now.

‘Ah!’

Suddenly remembering, I pulled out the flute I had tucked away. I hadn’t been able to examine it closely earlier in front of Eugene for fear he might notice something strange.

‘Hmm…’

I looked it over carefully, but nothing seemed unusual. There was no trace of magic or divine power. No suspicious aura emanated from it.

‘But Eugene said it helps alleviate pain when played…’

How could an ordinary object have such an effect without any magical or divine properties? I was tempted to blow the flute right away, but the memory of the chaos caused by carelessly using that awakening potion was still fresh.

Suppressing my impulse, I carefully tucked the flute back into my pocket.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

Despite the fact that the flute didn’t seem to possess any particular power, the sense of unease I felt just by looking at it suggested that my legendary intuition was sending a strong warning. 

‘I should show this to Axel and Bael.’

This was a significant development. As the saying goes, “Better safe than sorry.” Normally, I wouldn’t have the patience to carefully tap a stone bridge before crossing; instead, I’d be the type to stomp on it loudly as I crossed, only to fall into the water when it collapsed, with Servian and Kirke rescuing me. Axel would be the one to look at me with exasperation, while Bael would be the type to dry me off with a towel.

“Yawn…”

I yawned deeply and closed my eyes. Listening to Leonid’s long speech had the effect of ten lullabies, and sleep was overtaking me.

‘Looks like Axel isn’t coming tonight either.’

With that thought, I started to drift off to sleep, feeling relieved. 

Creak.

The sound of the door opening again made me snap my eyes open. This time, I was certain it was Axel. I mustered all my strength to lift my heavy eyelids.

And there, standing beside my bed, was someone who wasn’t Axel.

‘What…?’

The guest wasn’t Axel this time either.

“Um…”

The Duke, frozen in mid-reach toward my bed, was staring down at me with his mouth tightly closed.

“D-Duke…?” I called out cautiously, and he flinched slightly, slowly retracting his outstretched hand.

‘What was he about to do?’

I tilted my head in confusion, then quickly bowed as a thought struck me.

“Duke, I’m sorry. The household has been so noisy because of the Church, and it’s all because of me. If it’s too much trouble, you can send me away.”

Now that I had endured the side effects and gained divine power, going to the temple wouldn’t be a big issue. I could undergo verification and finally rid myself of the label of a fake saintess.

‘Although judging by how things are going, the verification might not be entirely fair.’

But I wasn’t too worried about losing to the scheming priests of the Church. If my intuition was guiding me in the right direction, I could likely resolve things with the temple quickly.

As I envisioned my future, I heard the Duke’s voice above me.

“Is that… what you want? To go to the temple?”

The Duke’s face was as expressionless as ever, but there was something in his eyes that seemed almost… regretful.

“If you want to go, then that’s what should happen. But if you don’t… just stay here.”

“Stay… here?”

“Yes. You’re my daughter.”

His firm words left me wide-eyed.

‘My daughter.’

Every time those words came out of the Duke’s mouth, I felt a mixture of surprise and confusion—a lot of confusion. There was no blood relation between us, and I wasn’t particularly useful to this family.

The Duke of Elpinard was a man of great stature. I knew that people like him always weighed the benefits to themselves and their family when making decisions, and I didn’t think that was a bad thing.

‘People like him have a lot to protect.’ 

It’s natural for someone like the Duke to see the world through a calculated lens. As someone who was born with nothing and lived through the lowest rungs of society, I couldn’t fully understand that perspective. However, if I dared to use that kind of reasoning, the existence of Reshia Elpinard didn’t offer any tangible benefit to the Duke.

‘Did he make some deal with the Pope in exchange for adopting and raising me?’

That would make sense. But listening to the Duke, it didn’t seem like that was the case. If it had been a deal, he would have insisted that I stay away from the temple, yet he was willing to send me there if I wanted to go.

Noticing the confusion in my eyes, the Duke reached out and lightly tapped my forehead.

“There’s no need to overthink it. I promised to accept you as family, and having made that declaration, I have an obligation to take responsibility for your life.”

“But… I’m not really your daughter.”

“Even so.”

The Duke nodded slightly, his voice firm and sincere. There was no hint of falsehood in his words.

“But… I’m not much help, am I? I keep being called a fake saintess…”

Even though I had gained divine power now, before this, I really was a fake with not a trace of divine power.

“No one adopts a child because they’re useful or needed. If they do, they aren’t real parents.”

“You didn’t take me in because the Pope asked you to, right?”

“What?”

The Duke, who had been speaking so calmly, suddenly furrowed his brow for the first time.

“Who told you that?”

What a ridiculous question. Who told me that? 

“Well… everyone says that…”

“Everyone says that?”

The Duke’s eyes flashed dangerously. The sudden shift in his demeanor made me shiver, but just as quickly, he softened again.

“…It’s true that the Pope asked me. But it wasn’t a demand. That much is certain.”

“Then why…?”

Why does everyone say that?

Why didn’t you deny it?

Why did you leave me behind?

My emotions swirled chaotically inside me.