"Your highness?"
'What is going on?'
'Where had things gone wrong?'
"I apologize for coming to the Confessional to see you like this. I had no choice as I was trying to avoid people's gazes."
Something had ended up wrong. Something had ended up very wrong.
Things would not end up like this if that was not the case.
'Did I make a mistake? When?'
"I don't have much time, so I will just give a short explanation of my mother's situation."
My body was fine but I felt as if the world was spinning.
My heart was beating wildly and my palms were sweaty at the thought that I finally met 'her.'
No, I was not feeling love at first sight.
"...Are you young lady Christelle de Sarnez?"
"Excuse me? Yes, your highness. I was in such a rush that I forgot to even introduce myself... Please excuse me. My name is Christelle Olivier de Sarnez."
That glimmer of hope that it might not be her crumbled in front of my eyes.
Of course, everything that made up Christelle as a person made it almost impossible for it to be someone else.
The main character truly was the main character.
I could tell that she was a beautiful woman, even in this dark Confessional, because of her flushed cheeks and long inner eyelashes, and her figure had a way of drawing people's eyes toward it as well.
Overall, she looked quite similar to the girl on the cover art of < I quit my job and ended up as a noble young lady in another world > but different as well.
First difference was the large eyes looking at me.
They were not the bright sky-colored pupils I remembered, but blue-gray in color that gave her a more intelligent and serious feel.
'Wait a minute... Hold on. She doesn't seem intelligent at all.
"Young lady Christelle, is 'Olivier' your middle name by change?"
"Ah, hull." (TL: Hull is a Korean slang for when a person is shocked. It remains hull because of the sentence that comes next)
She let out a Korean phrase that would not exist in this world. I clenched my teeth to maintain my poker face.
She must not be too adept at the 'rules' of this world because it hasn't been long since she transmigrated into this body.
"I will pretend that I did not hear it, as your middle name is something you should only share with people important to you."
"...Thank you very much."
I kind of mumbled while clenching my teeth and she brushed her hair back with her hand and sighed as she responded.
It seemed as if both of us were finding this to be quite difficult.
'Why the heck do I need to know the main character's middle name already?!
Isn't this moving too quickly?!'
This situation was too painful for me since I had no plans whatsoever for anything to progress between us.
"Please leave if you are not here to confess. I will pretend that this meeting never happened."
I firmed my resolve and looked forward. I cannot be nice to her.
In the novel, Jesse Venetiaan, unlike Imperial Prince Cédric, was always nice and warm to Christelle.
That was the reason Eunse said screw the Imperial Prince and supported Jesse, and also the reason Christelle's heart was shaken by the second male lead multiple times.
That meant that I had to do the opposite.
I wondered who in the world would want to be hated by someone, but apparently I was that person.
I needed to be hated by her in order to not be involved in that crazy love triangle.
I needed to do that to survive.
"Your highness, I just need a moment of your time. You see, my family..."
"I do not wish to hear it."
"My mother wishes to confess. However, she wishes to do it privately and not in the temple. It is because..."
"I guess I have no choice. I will call the guards."
"Please wait a moment!"
– Splash.
I heard the sound of water. I looked toward the picnic basket to my left out of reflex.
The glass bottle filled with peppermint tea did not show any signs of movement. I got the chills.
– Splash, splash.
The sound was coming from the right, from the area past the wooden window to my right. I turned my head very slowly.
My body seemed to be creaking like the tin man when he wasn't oiled properly.
"It is because of this."
There was an orb of water the size of an apple floating on top of Christelle's small hand.
The water inside the sphere that made me think of her eyes was causing small waves as it moved.
I could only blankly stare for a bit.
I had no idea about how to understand what I was looking at and the current progression of things.
"What..."
"The divine item that my family has been protecting, the 'Blessing of the Blue Sea,' does not exist anymore."
My eyes opened wide. Too many things were slamming into my mind at that moment.
The Blessing of the Blue Sea, the Sarnez Duchy, the divine beasts, and the little boy with the orange-colored eyes.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's exactly as I mentioned. The Blessing of the Blue Sea does not exist anymore because it was absorbed into my body."
My mind couldn't process it quickly despite hearing the explanation.
I opened and closed my mouth without being able to say anything.
Something like that was not possible. The Blessing of the Blue Sea was an item that appeared on the cover art of 'QNW.'
It was a blue jewel that resembled a sapphire.
That divine item that seemed as if it would play an important role between Christelle and the Imperial Prince…the fact that that divine item disappeared from the beginning of this story was hard to accept.
However…
– Splash...
This sphere that was spinning on top of Christelle's palm, as if it was mocking me, was definitely a water attribute power.
And, as described in its name, the Blessing of the Blue Sea was a water attribute divine item.
'Christelle is using aether?'
I never heard Eunse mention anything about Christelle using superpowers.
This story was the typical cliché of a girl who is with a guy because of a political marriage and turns from hating him to becoming his lover.
That would be the one sentence description of the QNW story. At least that should have been the story…
"...It is probably better to go ask Her Eminence, Cardinal Boutier for an attendance instead of with me."
That was the most logical answer I could come up with right now.
I couldn't come up with any solution to this problem.
"Going to see her Eminence would be seen as a political move. At least, that is what my mother thinks. She wishes to confess to you, your highness, as someone who has come from the Holy Kingdom, so that she could confess without holding anything back even subconsciously."
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"Young lady Christelle, I..."
"There is a story about the divine item that disappeared from the Temple of Vigilance as well."
"What did you say?"
– Clunk!
I heard the dull thud of the main door opening.
The 'real' penitents seemed to be coming in.
Christelle flinched and pulled her robe over her head again.
She clenched her hand into a fist and the water orb instantly disappeared.
"As the bell rings to announce 9pm at the Spring Ball in two days… Please come to the farthest right balcony of Strauder Palace. Please, I beg of you, Prince Jesse."
She quickly left the Confessional without even waiting for my response.
Everything she said was making me anxious.
The moment I debated whether I should stop Christelle or not…
– Riiiiiiiip!
"Ah fuck."
I heard the sound of something ripping before I heard her quietly swear.
She must have stepped on her dress and ripped it.
'She is cute and easily adapts to any situation, but is slightly clumsy.'
Her personality seemed to be exactly the same as the one Eunse liked.
"Ho..."
I heard some quick footsteps and felt her disappearing to the back of the temple as I blanked out over this giant tsunami that struck me head on.
I then heard the cautious steps of the penitents from the direction of the main entrance.
I tried my best to calm my mind that was going wild.
'What the hell is going on right now?'
I canceled my afternoon confession plans and headed back to Juliette Palace once Christelle left.
I finally used the 'I'm sick' excuse in order to organize my thoughts.
'I wasn't saving it to use it like this… damn it...'
"Lady Isabelle de Sarnez is young lady Christelle's stepmother. Duke Simon de Sarnez remarried after his wife passed away."
Benjamin explained while standing in front of the table.
I already knew this, but I motioned to him with my gaze to continue.
Ganael was the one who continued.
"Lady Sarnez does not participate in the Beau Monde much and rarely leaves the Duchy. That is why there are not many rumors or gossip regarding her. Some people gossip about how she is your typical stepmother while others praise her for being a graceful and elegant person, but... There are no nobles who are close enough to her to know the truth."
I nodded my head and quietly looked down at the April 1st issue of the < Biweekly Riester > that I had opened on top of the table.
The headline, 'The treasure of the Sarnez has awakened' was written in large letters.
This was the issue that did a special coverage of how Christelle had woken up from her three year slumber.
< ...It looks like Lady Isabelle de Sarnez has not given up hope despite the bleak situation. According to the information going in and out of the Duchy, she has shown a strong desire to, 'get my daughter back no matter what I have to do. >
< There are talks of the couple being unable to hold back tears for a long time as soon as young lady Christelle opened her eyes. Lady Isabelle was crying so hard while saying, 'I committed a grave sin.' It was to the point that even the attendants couldn't help but get teary eyed as well. Instigators believe that she was apologizing for being cruel to the young lady prior to her incident. >
I have subscribed to the < Biweekly Riester > and had already read this article about nine days ago.
But every sentence looked different after that almost heart attack inducing meeting with Christelle.
Lady Sarnez claimed that 'I will get my daughter back no matter what I have to do.'
The divine item, the 'Blessing of the Blue Sea,' has disappeared.
Christelle has woken up.
She talked about how she 'has committed a grave sin.'
It seemed like I was forcing things a bit, but this kind of image popped up as I put the pieces of the puzzle together.
This might not be the order of events, but this seemed to be the most likely, based on what I knew right now.
Basically, Lady Sarnez used the treasure of the family to save her daughter who looked as if she would never wake up.
Putting aside the question of 'how' she did it... She made her daughter's body absorb the divine item.
Christelle then woke up from her unexplainable slumber and was able to use the attribute of the divine item as aether.
If I was right about all of this, then why would Lady Sarnez wish to confess to me?
"I guess using a divine item for personal reasons would be a grave sin?"
Ganael's eyes opened wide after hearing my sudden question.
They looked like they would pop if I gently tapped on them.
"Wouldn't that be the case? Divine items are treasures that the Almighty God has personally bestowed down to the continent."
"Are there laws about how to punish such people?"
"I do not believe there is. However..."
Benjamin's voice became lower after taking over.
"The people of the families guarding the divine items…they all have a lot of pride whether they are in the Empire or in the Holy Kingdom. They believe that they are in the forefront of the Almighty God's will. They are all people who would put their lives on the line to protect the divine item from people pursuing them for their personal greed."
"So they will probably riot if someone used a divine item for personal reasons."
"I believe so. But I believe that the Almighty God would send his will down first even if nobody steps up."
I kept thinking about what Benjamin just said.
In such a situation, I could see why Lady Sarnez would wish to receive forgiveness from a religious figure.
There were too many pieces so I wasn't too confident, but...
It at least seemed true that the Blessing of the Blue Sea has disappeared and I had proof of that.
"Those divine beasts… Where would they have gone if they didn't go to the Sarnez Duchy?"
The three red pandas had been unable to detect the divine item even after passing the border of the Imperial Capital and entering the Sarnez Duchy.
Then there was the little boy who was leading the three little animals.
If the Blessing of the Blue Sea had already been destroyed by then, it made sense why Cédie and the divine beasts would have been lost.
Benjamin did not get anxious and responded to me, despite my sudden change of topic.
"If not the Sarnez, then... The second closest divine item to the Imperial Palace would be the 'Sword of Wisdom from the Flaming Star' in Marquis Duhem's territory." (TL: The literal translation could be the sword of wisdom from Mars, but not knowing the layout of this world, I am going with Flaming Star, which are the two Chinese characters used in the word for Mars)
"How long would it take to get there without using any portals?"
"If someone was to run without stopping, it would probably take about two days and four days at most."
I bit down on my lips. Four days. That was the same as how long Cédie and the red pandas had been gone.
It seemed oddly too spot on for it to be a coincidence.
'Then let's assume that Cédie took the red panda trio and headed toward the Duhem March...'
"Benjamin, Ganael."
I cautiously called for both of them.
The two of their expressions became even calmer, as if they noticed the change in mood.
I needed a lot more help now. The main character suddenly fell on top of me from the sky.