It was not just challenging but also impolite language.

Unlike usual, Nicolai remained silent.

Only his clenched fist was trembling dangerously.

‘Calling him a beast? Even if it’s a religious metaphor, Nicolai can’t endure such a thing…’

“He is… within me…”

Nicolai, who hesitated while speaking, suddenly came to mind.

Nicolai grabbed my wrist.

“Give me that damn trust. Let’s go back to the palace, Elizabeth.”

His hand was still large and warm.

Nicolai seemed unaware of how tightly he was holding me.

My wrist ached more than when it was tied with a rope.

Pushing him away, reading the anger and anxiety in his turquoise eyes, I said, “Not now, Your Majesty. I need to understand what the trust is.”

Nicolai’s body seemed to sway as if it might appear any moment.

“Even if I don’t want to go?”

“Please send me back first. I can find you wherever I go.”

Nicolai’s hand let go of me.

But it felt like all the blood in my body was draining away.

Watching Nicolai, who looked lonely and precarious from a distance, he seemed like a man I wanted to hug with both arms, larger than myself.

However, I headed underground with Arkanso.

With every step, Nicolai’s voice echoed in my mind.

The swollen eyes of Nicolai, who swelled up like a wounded beast, were vivid in my memory.

Was Nicolai questioning alone?

Riding a two-seater saddle alone?

The heart, filled only with imagination, felt like it would collapse.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”

I declared at the entrance of the underground staircase.

Arkanso, frowning, turned to me.

“This is the entrance to the underground shrine.”

There was a wooden door with a sturdy lock.

Appropriate for the reputation of the oldest temple, the door in the corner was worn out.

“If you go inside, you will receive the trust.”

“I will listen later. No, I don’t have to hear it. I have to go back to Your Majesty.”

“Indeed, you seem to be a very harmful existence to the saint, Your Majesty.”

It was a matter-of-fact tone, like a doctor diagnosing an illness.

A flame flared up in my chest.

“Who are you to judge whether I am harmful or not?”

“If it was unpleasant, I apologize, Saint.”

“Please get rid of that title ‘saint.’ You have as little desire to be involved with your religion as dog poop!”

Whether it was white light or divine revelation, it was nauseating.

Now I had finally escaped from Claudia’s nightmare.

I thought I had twisted the original story enough.

I wanted to live my life.

With the people I wanted to be with.

With the man I loved.

“If you don’t like the title ‘saint,’ should I call you the righteous dead?”

The sternum tightened around my heart.

Only me and the white light knew that title.

White light. Even though I didn’t know exactly what that presence meant, my life depended on that existence.

Terrifying scenes from the book quickly flashed before my eyes.

Various torture devices and unilateral trials.
Innocent women burned alive in the mountain.

If I resist the white light’s will, I might face the same fate as them.

The air in the underground became so thin that breathing was difficult.

I was trembling with fear.

But I focused my eyes and squared my jaw.

“Call me Elizabeth. That’s my name.”

I didn’t want to miss my second life.

I wanted to live, even though there were moments when I wanted to give up. I had lived my life stubbornly.

I didn’t want to be manipulated by others, whether they were priests or gods.

“Denying it is useless. The saint has already been chosen by the Moracian Goddess.”

“I never asked to be chosen.”

“Humans don’t have the freedom to choose that.”

“Yes, humans are damn powerless. But at least there are two things they can choose.”

I smirked and spread two fingers.

Arkanso realized that he couldn’t see ahead and quickly backed off.

“Accept fate or reject it.”

“Are you really going to refuse your sacred duty?”

“It’s only sacred to you. To me, it’s just annoying and irritating nonsense.”

“Saint!”

“What will you do if I don’t like it? Kill me? I know how to tremble in fear of death, you know?”

Of course, it was a lie.

Just imagining death made me shiver.

Experiencing it once made it even more frightening.

But sometimes, you needed to put on a show.

Even if it was just to comfort myself.

“Go and tell your god clearly. If you want divine revelation, ask politely. Don’t make rude threats!”

Unexpectedly, Arkanso looked quite awkward.

“I am a being who hears the words of the goddess, but I do not have the ability to communicate with her.”

“Then be a good spectator. Don’t bother people. Say goodbye.”

Waving my hand cheerfully.

I left Arkanso, who seemed half-confused, behind and climbed two stairs at a time.

If the second divine revelation was not a waste, it was a lie.

I regretted it a bit later.

‘Did I have to endure it? Well, whatever. Let’s leave later events to the future me!’

I had things to say to Nicolai.

There were stories I wanted to hear from him.

I didn’t want to gain a wound between the unasked and unsaid.

Above all, I wanted to see Nicolai happy to see me back.