“My lady, are you alright?”

Nod nod.

Belladonna nodded and submerged herself deeper into the bathtub filled with hot water.

“I’m so sorry about yesterday. Whew, it was the first time I had such delicious wine, so I must have drunk too much without realizing it. When I came to my senses, I found myself slumped over the table alone… You must have been quite shocked, right?”

Belladonna shook her head again.

Whatever Cindy was saying, it wasn’t really registering in her ears.

After observing her for a moment, Cindy spoke up again.

“By the way, are you not in pain? How did it get this bad…?”

Blushing from embarrassment for some reason, she scooped up some bubbles floating on the water and gently rubbed Belladonna’s round shoulders.

She knew the master couple had quite a good relationship, but this was the first time seeing such intense marks, so it was rather startling.

“…”

Belladonna just stared blankly at the fluffy bubbles rising up.

This morning, when she lifted her heavy eyelids, she found herself lying alone in the large bed.

Escalion must have left at dawn, as the empty space beside her was cold.

Even so, still…

Belladonna wiggled her hands under the water.

After spending the night with him, he would always hold her tightly until she woke up.

Laughing that he seemed unable to regulate his body temperature, her husband used to warmly embrace her, who was much colder than his own body, but today he didn’t do that.

Thinking that yesterday’s conversation had ultimately ended in failure, a wave of sadness washed over her.

Now there really wasn’t much time left…

“Ah, Cardinal Nicholas left early in the morning to go inspect Griblata.”

Cindy, who had been carefully washing her body, suddenly spoke up as if she just remembered.

So did Escalion go out with him then?

Introducing the territory was a main duty of the lord, so there would be nothing strange about him going out with Nicholas.

“The lord didn’t go out with him. Instead, I believe Wolf and some knights are accompanying him around.”

Ah, I see.

Belladonna nodded vaguely.

Then he was surely exercising at the training grounds or catching up on work in his office.

And all of those were things that took priority over Belladonna for him.

‘How bitter.’

Belladonna blinked her eyes slowly.

Even if she left Griblata like this, Escalion would just continue living and protecting this territory.

Perhaps he might even take a new wife to replace her.

Just imagining someone other than herself standing by his side made her chest ache sharply.

At first, she naturally thought about parting from him, and thus tried to keep her distance, but now it had come to this point, leaving her feeling dejected about how things turned out.

“All done. If the water is still warm enough, would you like to stay in a bit longer?”

Shake shake.

“Then I’ll go get a towel. Please wait a moment!”

Cindy, who had been sitting next to the bathtub, stood up.

As she left the bathroom, Belladonna leaned her head back against the tub and stared at the ceiling.

Haa… She felt extremely stifled.

“Hm? I guess he already came by!”

After drying off with the towel Cindy brought and exiting the bathroom, Belladonna turned her head towards where Cindy was pointing.

On the nightstand sat a small jar of ointment.

Belladonna unconsciously raised her hand to touch her cheek.

The small wound on her cheek was almost healed now…

She had removed all the bandages a few days ago, but did she still need to apply medicine?

“Let’s see…!”

Cindy scurried over to grab the ointment jar from the nightstand and squinted to read the instructions.

“It says to just apply an appropriate amount to clean skin.”

What is that?

Belladonna craned her neck to look at the instructions Cindy was reading.

“Ah, this is ointment that the lord brought.”

Ointment? But my face is already healed…

“He came to me this morning and asked me to take care of you until he returned.”

“…?”

“He, um, seemed concerned about the red marks all over your body… This ointment is for applying to those areas.”

Cindy said with an uncharacteristic blush.

Red marks…? Belladonna looked down at her body and belatedly blushed as well.

Th-these?

“The, the lord went to see the physician early this morning. These kinds of marks heal faster the sooner they’re treated!”

Stuttering, Cindy hurriedly opened the ointment jar and scooped up a generous amount with her finger.

“There’s so many… I’m not sure where to start or how to apply it…”

Belladonna looked down at her mottled body with an indescribable feeling.

So Escalion went around looking for ointment to give me first thing in the morning?

She had thought she’d been completely ignored, but seeing the ointment he personally went to get made her feel a little better.

“Let me know if it hurts, okay?”

Cindy said as she reached out her finger, still unsure where to begin.

Belladonna nodded and extended her arm towards her.

The cool sensation of the ointment covering her skin didn’t feel bad at all.

Sitting on the bed and moving her ointment-covered arms and legs, Belladonna lifted her head.

Should she go thank Escalion?

She had to seize even the smallest opportunity to speak to him.

Seeing how he personally bought this ointment… Maybe he doesn’t completely hate me?

Several times a day, her expectations and disappointments towards him lifted her emotions up and then slammed them back down.

‘Hmm…’

It really is quite severe though.

Belladonna looked down at her mottled thighs with an awkward smile.

Recalling how he had buried his face all over her body last night made her feel feverish.

Ah, it feels a bit hot… Did I stay in the bath too long earlier?

Absentmindedly touching the ointment-covered skin that Escalion had brought, Belladonna slowly stroked the marks on her thigh.

At that moment, a faint light emanated from where her fingers touched.

‘Huh?’

Startled, Belladonna stopped her hand. As her hand stopped, the dim blue light quickly disappeared.

Did, did I see wrong?

Wide-eyed, Belladonna sat blankly for a moment before coming to her senses and slowly rubbing the red marks on her thigh again.

Beneath her slowly moving fingers, a faint light began to sparkle just like before.

‘Wh-what is this!’

Belladonna jolted in surprise, flailing her legs.

As soon as she removed her hand from the wound, the blue light vanished without a trace once again.

What on earth is this! It’s scary!

Just then, Belladonna, who had been staring at her leg, lowered her head to peer intently at her thigh.

‘Wait a minute, this…’

The red marks seem to have faded compared to earlier, or is that my imagination?

Or…

Narrowing her eyes, Belladonna turned her head to look at her palm. Could it be…?

At the sudden thought, Belladonna quickly straightened her posture and placed her palm on her thigh.

‘Okay, let’s try again!’

Taking a deep breath and concentrating her mind on her fingertips, blue light streamed downwards.

The more she focused all her attention on the wound, the more the faint light seemed to intensify.

Finally, Belladonna removed her hand from her thigh.

“…”

Ah, I see.

Belladonna stared down with her mouth slightly open.

Her thigh, which had been covered in red marks, was now pristinely white.

After blankly observing for a moment, she leaned back on the bed with her arms hanging limply at her sides.

Everything became clear.

So I lost my voice, but gained holy power in exchange.

That evening, Belladonna stood in front of the mirror, looking at her perfectly healed body.

‘It’s true.’

She had truly obtained the holy power of the Saint.

Whether this was a temporary phenomenon or if she would have to live like this from now on was unclear, but what was certain was that she could now perfectly fulfill the role of the Saint.

‘Should I be happy about this, or sad?’

Suddenly losing her voice was definitely sad, but gaining holy power in exchange was a bit ambiguous.

Does this mean I really have to walk the path of the Saint now? Since it’s come to this, is it my fate to live serving others?

‘If that’s the case, I wish I could live that way here in Griblata…’

As she was continuing these complicated thoughts, there was a knock at the door.

Turning her head, she saw Cindy peeking her head through the doorway.

“My lady! The lord has returned.”

Ah, thank you Cindy!

Belladonna flashed a bright smile at Cindy before quickly turning around.

She wanted to run to Escalion and tell him thank you for the ointment, but that she had already completely healed herself with her holy power.

If she showed him that she could freely use holy power like this, wouldn’t he need her?

Just as the Pope kept the Saint in Astanya to use her, wouldn’t Escalion also think of her as someone indispensable to Griblata?

‘It’s Escalion!’

Stepping into the hallway, Belladonna spotted Escalion about to enter his room across from hers.

She hurriedly moved her feet to run towards him.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Escalion turned his head.

Belladonna proudly went up to him and slightly opened the robe she was wearing to show him.

“What are you doing right now…”

Escalion grabbed her robe with a flustered expression.

Ah, is this a bit much here?

Excited to show him that she had cleanly healed all her wounds, she belatedly thought that maybe she had rushed in too abruptly without considering the situation.

Belladonna turned her head with an embarrassed face and carefully showed him near her neck.

Look! There was a red mark here, but it’s completely gone!

Escalion, who had been quietly watching what she was doing, furrowed his brow.

“…Did you use healing power?”

Nod nod!

I can use it really well!

“What? What are you thinking right now…!”

At Belladonna’s response, Escalion’s face hardened as he firmly grasped both her arms.

He raised his voice at Belladonna.

“Didn’t I tell you not to use holy power here!”

Huh? Ah, I think you might have said that…?

But even after using holy power all day today, she didn’t feel the slightest strain.

Perhaps she had a body more resistant to holy power than she thought.

Belladonna smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth.

Don’t be like that, just listen to me. I’m actually quite fine…

“Cough!”

At that moment, a cough burst out from deep inside her body.

Covering her mouth with her palm as she let out small coughs, Belladonna smiled again.

But something felt off.

Escalion’s face, as he looked down at her, was gradually turning deathly pale.

Hm? Why… Belladonna looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

“You…”

Belladonna followed Escalion’s anxious gaze downward.

Huh…?

On her awkwardly outstretched palm, bright red blood was clearly visible.