C169
Due to the Inquisition being held privately, I couldn't attend, but I could hear the general story from Arsia's mouth.
"She made no defense. She stood still like a puppet whose strings had been cut."
Among them, Arsia's expression when describing Liena in court was impressive.
It is said that Liena remained silent from the beginning of the trial until the end.
Even when the judges asked her questions, she didn't even utter cliché excuses.
It was a different story from ex-Cardinal Morton, who fled first and was captured and tried alongside Liena.
Morton insisted to the end on the claim that nobody believed, that he had simply been used by Liena and even had his mind controlled by witchcraft.
Arsia said that being alongside Morton made Liena's attitude of looking down at the ground with fascination even more noticeable.
"She has probably lost the will to live."
After hearing the truth from the goddess, Liena, who had been criticizing me like a wounded animal, appeared before my eyes.
That was when I realized that Liena had been holding on only with the belief that the goddess loved her.
She was expelled from Cassius, broke up with Mikhail, was criticized by the entire nation, and lost everything she had built. There was no way I could feel good about it.
However, the basis of Liena's persistent refusal to give up was probably the hope that she, loved by the goddess, would someday be resurrected.
But the basis of that was an illusion from the start.
The reason she has been able to win until now is simply because she was lucky and the side effects of excessive use of her blessings appeared late.
Now, all that was left for Liena was to fall. A fall called execution.
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"It's all your fault, Viscountess Lucibiou."
Today, when there were five days left until the scheduled date for Liena's execution, I had an audience with the emperor.
"Now not only do you have the highest-level magic stone mine, but also the Miella Church in your hands."
The Emperor knew that the Divine Beast followed me after hearing from Terence when the Empress tried to steal my magic stone mine.
Therefore, I had no choice but to reveal to the emperor the truth surrounding this sanctity verification.
However, the emperor understood my choice to empower Arsia through Lucy in a different way.
"Currently, Saint Arsia has gained overwhelming support and a strong voice from the people thanks to her divine powers. Even the Holy Father cannot move. And you can wield great influence over the Saint."
Although he uttered the word "influence," it simply meant that he had captured Arsia's weakness.
In other words, currently, Arsia rules the temple, I move Arsia, and the emperor controls me....
"Oh, this is a different story, then, when do you two plan to get married?"
I had a great plan in mind to connect with Terence.
"She's such a calculating person."
Until this happened, the emperor didn't show much, but he didn't like our relationship very much.
It's not that I didn't understand it at all.
What emperor would welcome the idea of his son, whom he expects to ascend to the throne in the future, dating a divorced woman from a low-born family?
Perhaps, if she hadn't been the owner of a first-class magic stone mine and the master of the divine beast, the emperor would have ousted me from Terence's side long ago.
However, the situation changed with the majestic appearance of a divine beast on the sanctity verification stage.
Until then, from the emperor's perspective, the divine beast would have been a difficult card to use.
If the existence of the divine beast is prematurely known and the temple denies it or claims that the temple owns the divine beast, it would be a headache.
In that sense, the sanctity verification was the best opportunity to reveal Lucy's existence to the world.
Without the temple having time to respond, many people are clearly aware that Lucy is a divine beast.
Furthermore, Arsia, revered as a saint by the people for a long time, guarantees this fact.
There was no place for the temple to fit in anywhere.
"I'm not urging you, but it's just a personal curiosity of mine. I also want to see my grandchildren soon."
Now, within the emperor, it seemed that I had transformed from a person who was difficult to oppose as his son's companion to someone who would be welcomed.
"Father."
At that moment, Terence, who was by my side, smiled and opened his mouth.
"I understand what you're saying, but we'll take care of our own affairs."
It was a polite but strangely sharp and decisive attitude.
"No, I mean..."
The emperor must have felt this too; he seemed embarrassed, but quickly changed his expression.
"...Well, now that I think about it, I guess I was too responsible. You have always taken care of yourself. Besides, I'm not in a position to interfere with you in matters of dating."
Soon I realized why. It was because of Terence's mother.
Although Terence didn't often show it, there was no way he didn't resent his father for neglecting his mother.
So, regardless of other issues, he didn't like the idea of the emperor getting involved in matters related to love.
The emperor also seemed to refrain from speaking because he felt sorry for Terence.
"Perhaps this was the reason why the emperor hadn't said anything."
With those thoughts in mind, I ended the audience and returned to the annex with Terence.
Terence was the same as ever, but his expression was subtly dark.
Was it because he remembered what happened to his mother?
I wanted to comfort him, but I hesitated on whether to address delicate family matters first.
So, instead of opening my mouth, I sat next to Terence and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"Ethel?"
Terence seemed somewhat surprised.
This was almost the first time I clung to him in broad daylight.
I declared immediately.
"I'll name you as my pillow."
He smiled and adjusted my posture so that my head rested on his knees.
"It's an honor. How does it feel to use me like this?"
"It's a bit hard, but that's why I like it."
"That's a relief."
Soon Terence's hand gently stroked my hair, I closed my eyes and felt his touch.
It was a moment of peace.
It was too silly of me to even call it comfort, but fortunately, he seemed to feel much better.
Meanwhile, Terence saw the basket on my room table and said softly.
"They're raspberries."
"Oh, I bought them because I suddenly wanted to eat them on the way to the temple."
I went straight to the main topic in the morning because I had something to discuss with Arsia.
"Because it's a species that bears fruit in winter, it was cultivated purely in nature without any kind of magic."
"Yes. I didn't know you liked raspberries."
"Well, I like what I like, but I used to eat them a lot when I was young."
To be precise, the real Ethel, not me, used to eat with her best friend.
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Underground prison of the Grand Temple.
How many days have passed since I got trapped here?
Liena, crouched on the cold floor, tried to count the time, but soon gave up.
What does it mean? My time stopped that day.
"I never thought I was special."
That day, Ethel's words to me at the end kept echoing in my head.
How can she speak so calmly and as if nothing had happened?
The fact that she wasn't special to the goddess and that she wasn't loved.
It was impossible for Liena. Liena was nothing unless she was loved.
She wanted to be loved by people. She had been using the blessings given by the goddess to her liking to be loved.
There was always a doubt in a corner of her heart: "Is it really love that I received through blessings?" but the desire to be loved dispelled that little doubt.
She believed she couldn't be wrong since she did it because she was loved by the goddess.
But she was wrong. As a result, everyone who loved Liena left her side.
The love Liena believed in was an illusion or a false love built by the blessing.
No one had ever truly loved Liena.
Duke Cassius visited Liena twice even after she was imprisoned for fraud, but it was definitely a remnant of the blessing.
If it weren't for her blessing, as well as her two brothers and Mikhail, he would never have loved Liena in his life.
"Ah, I wish the execution date would come quickly."
There's no point to a life without love.
At that moment, the prison door opened through a hole in the floor with a rattling sound.
The guard standing in front of the door said something, but Liena, who was half-conscious, could only understand a few words.
The merciful saint gave her a special meal, a gift, especially before the execution....
I guess I don't need it. It seems like I'm going to die and I'm not loved, so what's the point of having food?
It's been a long time since I felt hungry.
Just as Liena was about to pay attention to the new item that appeared in her domain.
A sweet and sour aroma tickled Liena's nose.
Her gaze turned towards the contents of the basket.
They were raspberries. A very red and delicious-looking raspberry.
That's what she used to eat on the mountain behind the orphanage when she was young.
Even when they were hungry enough to stick to their stomachs, they always shared it together.
It was something the two of them even decided to use as their own password.
Although the appearance was slightly different from before, the fruit in front of Liena was definitely a raspberry.
Liena quickly realized that the person who sent her these raspberries was not Arsia.
Hot tears welled up in Liena's eyes.
"... There was only one person."
There was only one person in this world who loved Liena, who had no blessing, when she had no flashy background or an invented personality.
And Liena betrayed that person.