Be Fascinated

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Chapter 40

“Didn’t he have someone watching me?”

“What? Who?”

“The Grand Duke, to me.”

Bianca gave a puzzled look.

“From what I understand the Grand Duke was unaware of your whereabouts, Miss Philia.”

“…….”

“Her Majesty Empress said that. He kept locking himself up in that mansion without even trying to find out.”

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“…….”

“If he had sent someone to monitor you, Miss Philia wouldn’t have been subjected to that kind of thing by High Priest Irik.”

Philia opened her eyes wide. That’s what it was. If Claude had really watched Philia, he wouldn’t have let Irik do that.

“He must have lost his mind when he heard that you were in danger. So he must have gone looking for you. Even though he knows you will hate it.”

At Bianca’s words, Philia remained silent for a long time.

“That mansion, you mean that he has been locked up in the mansion I was in?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t watch her, but he didn’t let her go. Philia finally understood what that meant.

Claude would have painted Philia alone in the mansion, simply because of his longing for her, without monitoring Philia.

Spending time alone in that prison-like place for Philia. Claude’s words that he knew what longing was, came to her mind.

“I… see.”

She couldn’t figure out why it had such a bitter aftertaste. Philia sighed.

“I am sorry about the incident caused by High Priest Irik. He hasn’t really caused any problems lately, so I wasn’t paying attention. But he suddenly disappeared, and only a note to avenge the immorality remains…”

“Yes.”

“It’s my fault for not keeping an eye on him properly.”

“You shouldn’t.”

Philia found this conversation difficult. Why did Bianca suddenly come and do this? Philia decided to end the conversation.

“So is the funeral for the Grand Duke ongoing? Can I go?”

“What?”

Bianca gave her a weird look. Philia put on an expression that even did not understand the topic.

“A funeral?”

“Isn’t he dead?”

“No.”

Bianca’s eyes widened as she shook her head.

“Oh my God, the Grand Duke is in the capital now.”

“The capital?”

“Yes. Laying down, half-dead in the capital.”

“Did you know he drank poison? He must have collapsed because of it.”

Bianca said with Philia’s expression asking for an explanation.

“Because he’s resistant to it, the effects were lessened. We tried antidotes, but we didn’t know what kind of poison it was, so all we could do was weaken the poison. So he was taken to the capital. All the doctors are trying to cure him.”

“…….”

“In my personal opinion, I don’t think it’s easy to cure the poison created by High Priest Irik.”

“…….”

“Perhaps he won’t last long.”

That was so. The conclusion did not change. Claude didn’t die—the situation just changed to ‘he will die’. She was not sad, not relieved, not happy.

“What are you going to do?”

Bianca asked.

“What are you talking about? Are you telling me to go visit him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to say it, but…. I didn’t want to say it for the rest of my life.”

“…….”

“But if I don’t tell you for the rest of my life, I think I’m going to hate myself too much.”

“What do you mean?”

“I cannot stand by you.”

What does the reason for having to go to Claude have anything to do with standing by? Philia got a headache trying to interpret Bianca’s difficult words.

“We, had a big misunderstanding.”

Bianca seemed hesitant, then she said.

“It’s not true the oracle was manipulated… When I found out that it was a fake, I found the relic left by the high priest who received the real oracle. It was in his grave.”

The book of prophecies Irik found. It was something new that he had found with difficulty.

“The real book of prophecies was hidden.”

“…….”

“The content of the prophecy is the same. In the north, where red flowers bloom in winter, the saint will come. But after that, there was an additional text.”

“An additional text…?”

“It was an ominous oracle that said, ‘The saint will defile and throw away the hands serving God.’ So the High Priest was probably hiding the oracle. For the honor of the temple.”

“…….”

“But we needed a saint. The high priest and other priests had brought the saint. It doesn’t matter whether she will become Kshamil’s concubine for the sake of peace or not.”

Philia could only look at Bianca’s lips. So, the prophecy that was said to be fake was actually real, and there was something more to it? Then…

“You are the real saint.”

Bianca’s mouth clearly revealed her truth.

“Lies. How many times now! You made fun of me with this problem?!”

“I am not lying. A white divine light shone from the holy water you immersed yourself in. I didn’t even touch the side you dipped.”

“Lies!”

“Philia, this book of prophecies was, unfortunately, true. It is a fact that both of the priests have come to the conclusion.”

“…….”

“Are you that resentful of the Grand Duke?”

Bianca asked, but Philia couldn’t answer. After all, that position was hers from the start?

“I know you are confused. However, it was something no one knew about. You are the only real saint.”

“Then… then!”

“The position of the saint, if you want it back, you can have it back.”

Bianca said as she looked down. When she thought both of them were fake, she took Philia’s place without hesitation, but if Philia was the ‘real’ one, she had no reason to take this place from her.

In fact, Bianca also suffered and anguished every day. But when she found out that Irik had died doing this, she realized that Philia was a desperate victim. Bianca then decided to abandon her greed.

The Empress said so, too. To Philia, who had always been deceived, let’s ask her and give her a chance to make her own choice.

“Philia. So you have the right to choose.”

“…….”

“Because you have divine power.”

“…….”

“Are you going to say you have no power? Didn’t you vaguely notice?”

“…….”

“Did anything strange happen? Whether your wounds healed by themselves…”

Philia opened her eyes wide. There was such a thing. When she was in the mansion, the wounds she had on her fingers had disappeared twice.

The same was true of the clothing store, where she worked after breaking up with Claude. When she accidentally cut herself on something, her wounds stopped bleeding quickly. The light ones went away after a few minutes.

She thought it was just an illusion.

“Ah!”

Philia looked at her own shoulder at the thought that flashed through her head.

There was no need to look into the distant past. Philia raised her hand and stroked her shoulder. The wounds Irik had inflicted disappeared so naturally that she had forgotten.

Philia saw the flesh between the torn clothes. It was still white and smooth. As if there were no wounds in the first place.

“You can choose. Are you going to find your place again, or are you going to live your life as it is?”

“…….”

“Also, are you going to save the Grand Duke? If you save the Grand Duke and return as a saint, no matter how hard the Grand Duke may be, he will not be able to reach out to you. Of course, there are ways to get revenge by letting the Grand Duke die untreated.”

To take her place as the saint. She had no intention of that. She knew that the temple was not for her. If she had been the same old Philia, she would have returned as a saint again, that she should do her duty without hesitation. But she was different now.

She hated the temple and its people. When she sees the change again, she might get nauseous.

“No. I’m not going back to being a saint. You hold the sainthood.”

Bianca smiled in relief.

“And Grand Duke Piast…”

If she were to save him, he may press Philia again. He may also possess her and cling to her in a wrong way.

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