***
A few days later.
It was a fine afternoon when a new storm blew into the Great Temple, which was in turmoil over the matter of the Saintess.
The priests were trembling with fear.
Boom!
A large desk made of thick mahogany wood split in half precisely. It was none other than the knight of Stern, Abigail Orrien, who had done it.
Abigail Orrien was on death row. That was, until Seria Stern saved her life. Perhaps that was why Abigail was so quiet in the Great Temple. She kept her head down like a prisoner of sin, and obeyed it silently after being told that was the way to repay Seria Stern for saving her.
In the Great Temple, Abigail was always without expression. It was more shocking to see the force of that explosion now because she had lived as if invisible. Half of the priests had their mouths frozen in surprise at Abigail.
"Priests."
And they could hear Stern's voice with a venomous look on her face.
"Yes….Stern."
The priests shuddered.
Every time Seria Stern approached, the sound of her shoes could be heard. It sounded like a blade striking their necks, it rang in the quiet temple.
"Perhaps, instead, you would like to see me go mad in front of you?"
"Huh…. How is that possible? Calm down, please."
"Calm down?"
Seria Stern's eyes shone with madness. At least that was what all the priests here were seeing.
"After telling me that the Saintess might have a child because of my husband's divine power, you tell me to calm down?"
Boom!
At the same time as Seria's words fell, something broke. The Priests looked behind them and were noiselessly shocked to see the sword inserted straight into the stone floor.
They had expected Seria Stern to be angry, but as soon as she walked in, things broke instead of greeting?
However, Seria's momentum was too harsh for them to protest. The priests' hands were shaking.
Seria, sitting on the couch, crossed her legs and said.
"I can't marry a man with children."
"What…?"
The eyes of the priests widened.
"What do you mean?"
"Stern?"
"Within a week, if you have no definitive results as to whose divine power Lina's child is."
Seria crossed her arms and said with a cold face.
"You have to prepare for Stern's divorce."
"...!"
The priests couldn't believe their ears for a moment.
"It's not just anyone else's child, it's the child of the Saintess who had bad incidents with me. So don't force me to understand."
"That's …."
The priests were speechless. But what a divorce! It was absolutely unacceptable.
It wasn't simply a matter of divorce. No, of course divorce was a problem, but more importantly, would Grand Duke Berg meekly accept the divorce?
The man?
They were sure he would never do it.
It was just recently when the Priests went to Berg's mansion in the Capital of the Glick Empire with Marquis Kalis Haneton to deliver the Stern Insignia.
They paid attention to the attitude of Marquis Haneton, but they also had to watch the reaction of the Grand Duke Berg.
Grand Duke Berg would never let Seria Stern go.
It was the behavior of a man who had fallen in love.
But the problem was that Seria Stern's character was also tremendous. Even the priests knew that she was known as a crazy dog in the Great Temple, and even in Imperial society. What they knew, they understood.
And Seria's request was reasonable, so they couldn't even say no to it.
So where would the anger of Grand Duke Berg go after the loss of his wife?
To the Saintess or the Great Temple.
To the priests or the Saintess.
"...."
As one of the heads of the seventeen families, Grand Duke Berg, the guardian of the demon tomb, had a particularly important position in the Great Temple. Offending such a man was absurd.
The priests' faces naturally turned pale. No wonder Grand Duke Berg didn't show up with Seria, but Seria Stern came first…
"Open the holy vault. Right now."
"Stern…..Why the holy vault?"
"I'm told there's one secret relic that can give you readings within a week. Am I wrong?"
"How did you know about that?"
"Open it and get it out now. Unless you want to see me go insane."
Seria's eyes were filled with just such madness.
"...."
In the end, the priests hurriedly summoned High Priest Jubelud and began the process of opening the holy vault, which they would prefer not to open, after much worry.
Seria was right, there was a hidden holy relic in the deepest part of the Great Temple's holy vault.
It was a holy relic that was used privately and only once to record the sacred power of Saints for generations. It was also correct that with that elaborate object, the speed of measuring sacred power could be reduced to a revolutionary level.
Aside from how Seria knew such details about this secret artifact, why didn't she think of taking it out before?
The priests hoped it would be the child of Marquis Hanneton, otherwise the mudslinging would start from then on...….with Stern, with Grand Duke Berg, with the Marquis….
However, there was a reason why it was not easy to bring out the sacred relic.
"Stern, It takes too much divine power to use it. I just can't take it out, all the priests might faint…."
The priest, who was assessing Seria, gasped. He clasped his hands tightly together and said.
"I don't know but the Saintess's condition is, uh… not normal."
"...."
He couldn't ask Seria to take the Saintess's health into consideration. He just couldn't open his mouth.
The priests were well aware of that extent. They knew it didn't make sense to ask Seria Stern to be considerate of the Saintess.
Seria glared at the priests without saying a word.
The cold, steely look in her eyes made the priests want to cry. Who in the world leaked information about the hidden relic to Seria?
Already the pregnancy of the Saintess had thrown the temple into chaos.
Even Seria Stern, whom they thought had become different, was turning into a crazy dog of the past. The priests were afraid that Seria would not be able to shake off her past notoriety again and turn even more. Their faces were losing blood…
It was at that moment that they were scared that Seria would grab the Saintess by the chest and threaten to use their divine power.
"I'll take care of the divine power you need. Go and take out the sacred relic and set it up." (Seria)
***
"Huh…Stern?"
High priest Jubelud could not help but be perplexed. But he quickly made a decision.
"First, take out the holy relic and set it up."
"Yes, High Priest!"
The deceased High Priest Amos was worried that Seria Stern and Lina would come into conflict. Moreover, Stern's fiancé, Marquis Haneton and Lina, had already hurt Stern beyond repair…
High Priest Jubelud had the same worry.
"Do whatever Stern asks. That's how it should be."
However, the only thing that was questionable was that Seria Stern would handle the divine power alone. That would be impossible with Stern's divine power…
"Stern….seems to be invisible at the moment."
"Where is she now? Just in case, please coordinate your movements well so that the Saintess never meets Stern."
He heard that Lina had been avoiding Kalis for the past few days… High Priest Jubelud hurried to his feet.
***
'"Bibi, I think you broke the desk."
Abigail tilted her head as Seria spoke, leaving the frightened priests behind.
"I broke a lot more than just the desk."
"What else?"
"I'm especially good at breaking shin bones, Miss."
Seria smiled faintly. It was worth it to keep the timid Linon away.
"You're good at breaking things. But you were always quiet before."
"I was on death row, so I had to keep silent."
"...?"
Seria stopped dead in her tracks. She looked back at Abigail and asked.
"What….so that's why you have been quiet?"
Abigail nodded. Seria wondered what this meant again. Abigail was usually quiet, so she thought it was her personality.
"You're a knight of Stern. Did someone say something to you?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Naturally, I don't intend to leave them be!"
Seria knew this because the priests didn't like Abigail, but that and directly telling her to be quiet were two different matters.
However, Abigail stared at Seria and asked an unexpected question.
"How come you don't blame me, young lady?"
"Why would I blame Bibi?"
"I was a criminal. The priests don't like me."
"You didn't kill anyone. You killed only trash, and that makes you a hero."
"Am I a hero?"
"That's what I see."
"What's the Lady's standard?"
Seria nodded, and Abigail smiled in an uncharacteristic way. Then suddenly, Abigail held Seria's hand tightly and leaned forward. She whispered in Seria's ear.
"I have no one but you, young lady."
Seria opened her eyes wide, a little startled. Abigail stepped back with a dark smile on her face. After staring at Abigail for a while, only blinking, Seria opened her mouth, scratching her chin gently with her finger.
"Well then… don't be quiet anymore. Be loud."
"Should I scream loudly?"
"The more you pretend to be angry, the better."
Abigail nodded, and suddenly unsheathed her sword. As soon as she lightly kicked the sword up with the top of her foot, her hands covered Seria's ears. The sword that flew from Abigail's feet in a blink of an eye smashed the window while making a loud shattering sound.
"...."