"Milady, wait here."
Konny approached the priest on duty on Lara's behalf and asked where the records of the saintesses were.
"Lithographic stone no. 6 through no. 22 are all records of the saintesses."
"Thank you, priest."
Konny returned and told Lara the location of the lithographic stones.
The Temple of Glory in Hautean had a vast site that was comparable to that of the royal palace. Only after a long walk could the two of them stand before the lithographic stone no. 6.
The huge lithographic stone was full of inscriptions.
"Whew, I'm going to lose my eyes while reading this."
Konny, who followed Lara reading the records, grumbled with her lips pouting.
"Konny."
"Yes?"
"Be on the lookout for someone. I will read the records."
"Yes, milady!"
The sun was coming up in the distance. It was so early in the morning that there was no indication of a person being around.
Lara read and read the contents of the lithograph until sunrise. The same went for the next day and the day after that.
She didn't even think about reading the records back when she posed as a fake saintess.
The corrupt temple that wanted power turned blind eyes to a fake saintess. And after they claimed her to be true, no one ever doubted her identity.
"The key to call God."
Lara murmured in the carriage the day she returned from reading the contents of the final records.
A saintess was a messenger representing the voice of God, additionally, she was also a medium for calling God to the earth for humans.
And so, saintesses were always hunted by the demons.
It was an old relic so there was no way to know if it was accurate information. The contents were more like legends or tales, rather than records. Even though it was recorded in the temple, it seemed that even the priests did not believe it as it was.
"Anyway, it's not me."
"Pardon? Not what?"
"Nothing."
Lara became more certain after reading the records.
How could she represent the voice of God when she had never even met him. Lara was not a saintess. There was no way she was one.
If the existence who chose her was an absolute ruler of the world, he would be a demon, not God.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
After their conversation at dawn, which remained as burdens to both sides, Lara did not visit Demian for a while. After she stopped going to him, the two rarely met despite living in the same house.
Throughout both of her lives, it was the first time where she could not understand someone to this extent. To Lara, sometimes Demian felt so strange that he did not feel like the Demian Rhode Drake that she used to know.
While deliberately keeping a distance to organize her thoughts, a party invitation reached Lara.
It was from Eunice.
"Goodbye summer party?"
Lara was about to write a reply saying that she would attend the party without even reading the invitation.
But Konny, who opened the invitation card instead of Lara, tilted her head and said.
"But it's a partner party."
"What?"
Lara took the invitation card from Konny's hand and began to read it properly. The card was filled with Eunice's cute, round handwriting.
But not the content.
[Dear daughter of Isadora, Lara
This summer was so long.
A season had already passed since we cleared up the misunderstandings about each other, and have thus developed a deep relationship with each other.
A summer such as this will never come again.
Though we will continue to make new memories in the future, my tender heart does not want to send off our first summer away. And so I would like to hold a small goodbye party. I look forward to your attendance.]
The content was fine so far.
Lara, who finished reading the P.S. part at the back, made a groaning sound as she folded the invitation card.
"She's driving me nuts… Should I decline?"
"Why? Is it a must to go with a man?"
"She said if I'm going to come alone, just don't come."
"Don't go then."
"Then she said that if I don't come, it's the end of our friendship."
"What does she want you to do then?"
Tell me about it.
It seemed that Eunice and Ximena wanted to meet Demian, but he was so busy these days; he went out at dawn and only came in the middle of the night.
"Milady, do you have no man that you know?"
"Demian, Valentine, Sebastian."
"Milady… You're really no fun."
I don't think you're the right person to say that to me.
When Lara looked at Konny with a dumbfounded face, the bold maid pouted out her lips with a face asking Lara why she looked at her like that.
Konny was not exactly wrong either.
Lara did not have any men close enough to ask to go to the party with.
"Valentine still can't talk properly with me, Sebastian is busy, and Demian…"
"You had a fight with him."
"No, we didn't."
"Anyone can tell that that's the case."
"Anyway, nope."
"Okay then."
What should I do?
She could just attend alone because it was a party held by her friend, but she did not want to.
Lara did not want to lose her hard-earned notoriety.
At first, she started it to stay away from her father and the Prince's interest. But now, she had to remain a villainess for her own safety.
Because the black sorcerers were scouring Hautean in search of the saintess candidates.
She should not look nice.
She should not look innocent either.
Sacrificing herself for others was also a no-no.
She had to be a selfish and stubborn troublemaker who fooled around with any man indiscriminately.
Lara knew well that miracle that happened to her could look like God's will in someone's eyes. This absurd healing power should especially be kept secret.
At least in Hautean, it was better to be a woman who was different from a saintess.
"I still have a few days left. I can just get anyone in the meantime."
Lara wrote a reply to Eunice saying she would attend the party.
But contrary to her expectations, finding a partner was harder than she thought.
She could not just take someone she did not know. When she went to one of the men that she knew, he sneaked away as soon as he saw her.
"Valentine!"
"W-w-why?"
"I heard you already got your contract from Sebastian. Did you sign it?"
"I, I just got it. I will read it carefully tonight. He told me to read it at least three times."
"Do you…"
"I can't go somewhere like a party!"
Valentine ran away before Lara could say anything.
It was obvious that Konny had already tipped him off.
Am I that scary?
Lara looked at herself reflected on the glass with a sour face.
According to Konny's expression, Valentine was a mouse. On the other hand, Lara and Isadora were predators of the cat family. He said he was very grateful to Lara for saving his life, but repaying her kindness was one thing, and being close to her was another.
When she first heard it, she just laughed it off, thinking it was ridiculous, but when she saw Valentine running away quickly, she wondered if it could really be a different matter.
It can't be helped.
Having given up on Valentine, Lara went to Isadora's hotel and knocked on the door to Sebastian's office.
"Sebastian, I have a favor to ask of you."
He was willing to do most of Lara's favors.
But as soon as she saw hundreds of documents on Sebastian's desk, Lara just held her tongue.
"Milady? What's the matter?"
"Nothing. It seems that I'm interrupting you."
"No. I mean, not really… But you came at the right time. Would you please sit here and help me with this?"
He sat Lara down and let her check the figures on the hotel's sales books and reports to see if they were correct.
It was not difficult but it took a long time.
Lara sat without moving and focused on the documents that Sebastian had handed out.
In the middle of it all, Isadora came to Sebastian's office and saw Lara working hard. With a pleased look, she gave her pocket money before going out.