Watching their daughter who wouldn’t listen, the parents scolded her even more.

Jacqueline took a sigh here and mentioned that her additional story would intertwine with what she had prepared.

“What was it, Jacqueline?” I asked.

Jacqueline answered my question, “It was a record that came out during the investigation of the Warei family. When we first discovered that Kirie might be the culprit, we couldn’t have imagined it would overlap with the stories in the myth.”

The story Jacqueline brought up was astonishing.

The founder of the Warei family, Warei Viscount, in other words, the progenitor of the Warei family was… actually a street urchin from a commoner family. He had no surname, and his name was unknown—a beggar boy.

“The reason the Warei family became entwined with the imperial family was here.”

As Kaladia’s parents witnessed their daughter becoming more clever as she grew, they felt uneasy. She didn’t listen to her parents, immersed herself in the pursuit of knowledge, and further denied the existence of God.

‘If that child remains in our family, we will all die!’

At that time and even now, Tricala was a country where the influence of God was immense. Kaladia’s parents, who wanted to protect their family, trembled in fear and made a decision.

‘Marry. That is the last mercy we can offer you and the best choice we can provide.’

What Kaladia’s parents offered her was nothing other than a strategic marriage.

It was an arranged marriage that forced her to marry into a noble family in Angulrem, a separate island country from Tricala.

‘I don’t want to!’

Naturally, Kaladia refused. After all, the other party was already an elderly man who would pass away soon. Moreover, he was a depraved writer with rumored disgusting sexual preferences and had more concubines and children than Kaladia could count.

Although the dowry was generous because he was wealthy, Kaladia was disgusted due to the abhorrent rumors about the man.

‘If I marry such a person, my life will plunge into hell. What’s the use of having money? Marrying that man is no different from going to hell! Do Mother and Father wish for me to die?’

Kaladia complained tearfully to her parents, but it didn’t matter.

‘It’s already a decided matter, Kaladia. In a week, the envoys of your husband from Angulrem will come to take you. The dowry, including the gifts, has already been used for the family. You are already like his wife. There is no way to escape, so quietly accept the marriage.’

The parents knew that Kaladia, being a Tricalan, would not be welcomed in Tricala. Therefore, after much deliberation, they sold their child to another country.

From that day on, Kaladia was confined to her home. If she tried to escape, her family would have to pay a hefty fine. Surviving only on water and bread in a narrow room, Kaladia prayed to God for the first time.

‘If God really exists, please pity me and help me escape this hellish place.’
“If you do that for me, I will no longer doubt your existence and will live my life for you.”

With tears and an empty wish, surprisingly, reached a nearby deity passing by.

Lord Ardell.

The goddess witnessed the beautiful Kaladia suffering and contemplating suicide, thinking it would be better to die than to live like this.

‘No!’

‘…?’

‘Pitiful child. Why would you try to kill and erase yourself, so beautiful? If you’re going to discard that precious life, give it to me. Since you made the promise first, there’s no way I can refuse, right?’

‘…Really?’

‘Let’s go. Let’s get out of this annoying place that torments you!’

In return, give me a human name that you create yourself as the price of the contract that protects you.

Goddess Ardell fell in love with Kaladia’s beauty. So, with the name of a personal whim called Amalung, she pulled her out of Tricala.

Temporarily taking on a human body and using a human name, Ardell escaped on a long journey with Kaladia.

“The name that Kaladia gave to the goddess was Anais.”

“Could it be Anais, the current pope?”

“Yes, that’s correct. It’s Anais.”

The fact that the current pope was actually a goddess!

Everyone was surprised by the hidden truth. Jacqueline sighed, saying she understood.

“The progenitor of the Warei family was a boy Kaladia encountered while she was running away.”

In the midst of the chaos where even she herself was fleeing, Kaladia overflowed with mercy.

Unable to just pass by a dying child on the street, she proposed taking the child with her when she found him.

‘Your name is Gideon. Isn’t it cool?’

The child, who had nothing and nowhere to go, nodded in agreement.

In the confused theme of running away, Kaladia, who reluctantly fled, and Gideon, a child she picked up, began a journey together.

“Gideon Warei…”

Ruth said with a grimace.

“Indeed. That name matches the progenitor of the Warei family. I didn’t know that it was a name given by the first emperor, though.”

“The story continues.”

Gideon loved Kaladia, who saved him, deeply. His feelings were closer to worship than affection. To him, she was a parent, a friend, and even a deity.