FERDINAND
I didn't like what was going on. The plague was worse than described and now, Winifred was sick after just a day of helping cleanse the plague. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to do this, to use my adopted daughter for my own selfish wish of obtaining the throne. Now, it was going to backfire badly.
"Thank you for waiting, your highness. Tea would be brought right away."
I couldn't believe he had the audacity to sit before me and offer tea like he had not deceived me. Never mind that he was a king, my sword was itching to drink his blood. I should've known something was up when father asked that I go.
"Let me blunt, your majesty. We can't help you any more than this."
There was finally a crack in his expression. How else could we explain a calm king in the middle of an epidemic? He was still living in opulence, having the leisure of drinking tea while his people suffered. Such a person didn't deserve help.
"Your highness, with all due respect, this is the will of his imperial majesty. At the very least..."
"I've already sent a letter of report to father. He'll understand if I were to pull out now. Putting our future saintess in danger is regarded as treachery in our Empire."
"Your highness, I beg of you. You cannot abandon us."
"It is not my wish to abandon you. Instead, I'll be returning to my kingdom with the saintess. I will not allow you to endanger her any more. In her place, more priests would be sent."
"I heard something about your highness but I didn't think it would cause such a problem," he said, sighing. My hackles were raised immediately and the itching to separate his head from his body increased.
"I would prefer such words be kept to yourself, your majesty. If you declare treachery with your own words, it won't work in your favour."
"I understand the future Saintess is your highness's adopted daughter. However, this is something that is good for her future. Having such merits would boost your reputation as a prince, your highness. It's not a secret that you wish to ascend the throne. Is that not why you've surrounded yourself with the people you brought along?"
"Pardon me?"
"I'm asking us to work together, your highness. This is for the good of the Empire."
The bastard was more audacious than I thought he was. I was wondering why they would go so far to try to assassinate him but now, I knew why.
"Thank you for your offer but I decline," I say, rushing from my seat. I had listened to his nonsense for far too long. It was a good idea to bring troops to keep an eye on him. If he was wise, he wouldn't do anything stupid.
"At least wait for tea, your highness."
"I couldn't be bothered to."
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WINIFRED
I didn't think we would leave so soon. We had accomplished everything we came here to do but I thought his Highness wanted to gain merit. It was strange but I was glad to be able to go back home safely.
I wondered just when I had began to consider that place my home.
"Your complexion looks a lot better than it was yesterday. I'm so glad we're returning. It would've gotten harder to nurse you here."
"You sound a lot more relieved than I thought you would be, Lady Freya."
"Of course. I don't like this place, my lady."
"Well, that makes two of us."
The preparation for the journey back carried on without me. I couldn't really remember a day in my life that I had done domestic labour. My mother was skeptical about letting me help with chores so she left me to fill up the dishwasher or load up the laundry. When I went with my father, he had maids do it all for me. Now that I was not only blind but a Saintess, I wouldn't have to lift a finger. For some reason, I felt guilty.
"A human must work for their living after all," I mused to myself.
"There isn't a single child who thinks about working. You're still a child, dear Saintess," Nathan interrupts my thoughts and brazenly lays his hand on my head. I shrug it off immediately.
"Stop reading my mind, you pervert."
"I'm not doing it intentionally. Plus, your thoughts are really interesting. I did a lot of labour as a child and even in my adult years. I did tell you I was a guard for an ancient library, didn't I?"
"I worked as an adult. I was a journalist. Well, how do I explain it? It's like the king's scribe. I journey around the land to collect information and publish it for the people. Where I come from, the people are more important."
"It sounds like an interesting job."
"It was. It gave me freedom from my father and the opportunity to meet several different people. It was also incidentally the reason I found out about the true nature of my fiancé."
"You have a fiancé?"
"I had. He was the kind of bastard that treated women like objects to be admired and tossed away. My father was an incorrigible bastard who decided such a man was good enough for me. In the end, the ex-girlfriend of my fiancé ended my life."
"I have never met the man and probably never would but I wish to end his life for some reason."
"You and me both, my friend."
"I'm pleased to be a friend of my lady."
"Don't sound so delighted, pervert."
When they were done packing, Nathan informed me of this. He also did the honours of carrying me off the bed towards the carriage while Lady Freya and Darryl were nearby. As we drew closer, that horrendous stench expunged my sense of smell. I gagged, alerting the ones following me.
"This aura...Lady Freya! Darryl! Hide behind me!"
I couldn't see it but I could smell it. It was the worse concentration of the plague I had the misfortune of smelling. It smelled exactly like what I thought a land of rotting corpses would smell like.
"I will hide you for a bit, okay? Do not worry about his Highness as well. He would be under the protection of his patron god," Nathan said with a reassuring smile. He handed me over to Lady Freya and was gone before our eyes in a flash.
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NATHAN
I knew the phenomena from the day before would attract the attention of a god but I didn't knew it would draw the attention of the god of misfortune. He normally wouldn't descend to check out such a small area full of his aura but if it was accompanied by something more powerful, it would draw him. I had no intentions of protecting this nation but I had no other choice but to do it.
He came in like a tornado and I was getting tired of being tossed around by natural disasters. In his wake, ordinary humans fainted as they could not stand his aura. With a little holy power, they would recover. The god of misfortune didn't care much for humans. He was heading straight for me or rather, where I was.
The sky darkened as he descended right in front of the palace. Most gods wouldn't dare trespass on Oriel's blessed territory but the god of misfortune was indifferent to such things.
{I recognize that wretched aura. Of all the places to be and all the people to see, why am I cursed to see the son of chaos?}
"Such a great reunion, don't you think?"
{I should've known. You're the only one who can pull something like that. Did you plan to get rid of my remnants?}
"Shouldn't you question why your remnants are here in the first place?"
{I was drawn to the great darkness lurking here. Where is it, Son of Chaos?}
"Unfortunately, it is no longer here. Please leave. I would not like another spar with such an important god. It would be a great loss if we were to lose the god of misfortune over such a minor thing."
{You can't possibly be threatening me, can you?}
"I would never."
{I see. I would leave today.}
"Thank you for being so understanding."
{It is nothing. After all, I think the other gods would be interested in knowing that there's a new god in our midst, overflowing with chaos.}
What a sly bastard.