Episode 103
Elonia wasn’t the only one who was taken aback. Murmurs of confusion rippled through the congregation.
Lucius, however, continued his sermon, his expression unreadable.
“I was meant to be chosen by the Calamity God, to return to his embrace. But I wasn’t chosen by him. I have only now discovered the truth.”
Heilan without the Calamity God was like a body without a soul.
And Lucius hadn’t been chosen by the Calamity God?
But other gods could also choose apostles. The God of Abundance had chosen apostles in the distant past.
The devotees, echoing Elonia’s confusion, cried out,
“Then who is the one who saved us?!”
“Apostle, please enlighten us…!”
Lucius smiled gently at their desperate pleas.
He was wearing the red-embroidered cape of a hostage, but it suited him so well that it looked like a custom-made clerical robe.
“There’s another legend about the Calamity God’s birth, a legend unknown to most.”
Lucius began, his voice soft but captivating. The devotees fell silent, hanging onto his every word. Elonia, her hands clasped together, also listened intently.
“It is said that the Calamity God was born after killing his brother. I have realized that the one I believed to be the Calamity God was actually his brother.”
Gasps and murmurs echoed through the sanctuary.
Even Elonia, who had been raised on Heilan’s royal theology, was hearing this for the first time.
Lucius’s voice, though gentle and almost frail, held a strange power over the devotees, who reacted to his every word and gesture.
“He used his last ounce of strength to find me. And with the power he bestowed upon me, I shared hope with you. And your unwavering faith, your love for him, gave him the strength to be reborn.”
The devotees, as soon as he finished speaking, cried out,
“What is His name, Apostle?”
“Please tell us!”
Their eyes, reflecting the candlelight, gleamed with fervent devotion. Elonia was the only one who couldn’t follow their logic.
Lucius, unfazed by their fanaticism, replied calmly,
“His name is Tristan. Tristan, the God of Resurrection.”
Meanwhile,
Olivia summoned Simon to Garden Fleur.
Simon arrived, his face a mixture of happiness, fear, and confusion.
“Sister, what did you want to—”
“Sit down.”
Olivia cut him off, her voice cold and sharp. Simon flinched and hesitantly sat down.
Olivia, without offering him any tea or pleasantries, went straight to the point.
“Simon, tell me the truth.”
“About what…?”
“Where did Lucius go today?”
Simon’s green eyes widened in surprise. Olivia pressed on,
“The Theology Department is unusually quiet today. Am I being left out again?”
“Sister, it’s a misunderstanding. It’s His Highness Felix’s consideration, not an attempt to exclude you—”
“Exclude me? Who would even care about that?”
Simon, silenced by her sharp tone, cowered in his seat. Olivia, realizing her harshness, sighed and softened her tone.
“I’m worried about you, Simon. Are you sure you can pull this off without getting caught? It’s not too late to back out.”
Simon’s eyes, no longer filled with just surprise, held a flicker of joy.
“A-are you worried about me…? I thought you hated me…”
Olivia felt a pang of guilt.
She knew how she had treated him when he was younger. She ran a hand through her hair, biting her lip, then mumbled,
“…I might have been a terrible sister, but I don’t want you to die. I don’t want to lose you too.”
“…”
Simon remained silent.
Then, after a long pause, he spoke,
“I don’t understand, Sister. You were so heartbroken by Sister Chelon’s death, and yet, you befriended the daughter of the Emperor who killed her.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“…Don’t you have ulterior motives? Are you planning to betray Heilan?”
Simon asked, his voice trembling.
“I don’t want to lose you either, Sister.”
His gaze was fixed on her, but his body was trembling slightly. He had braced himself for her anger.
Olivia, as expected, chuckled dryly.
“Betray? Betrayal requires trust. Heilan never trusted me.”
But her next words surprised him.
“And Ravanta isn’t my enemy. I don’t think Sister Chelon died in vain.”
“…Why?”
“She kept going to war, saying she had to protect us, and she always brought back victory. But she hated war. She hated killing.”
“…”
“You remember her, don’t you? Did the Chelon Heilan you knew seem like someone who was born for destruction?”
Simon could answer that easily. The Chelon he vaguely remembered hadn’t been a destructive person.
In fact, it had been Dolce, with his unpredictable temper, and Felix, with his unreadable expressions, who had terrified him as a child, not Chelon, the so-called War Demon.
Simon lowered his head, and Olivia, her gaze unwavering, continued,
“She was called a monster against her will. And she was ordered to destroy entire nations. If I were her, I would have abandoned everything and died.”
“…So you’re saying Sister Chelon killed herself intentionally? To bring down Heilan?”
“I don’t know. We’ll never know what a dead person was thinking. There wasn’t even a suicide note. But…”
Olivia thought about Elonia.
That small, strange girl who resembled Chelon. The girl who had a fiery temper but was surprisingly gentle towards her and Simon. She often felt like Elonia was speaking for Chelon, expressing the emotions Chelon had never been able to express. Olivia trusted her instincts.
Simon, seeing her sudden silence, cautiously looked up. Olivia, her face filled with a profound sadness, looked up at the sky, her voice hollow.
“Heilan deserved to be destroyed. Sister Chelon killed so many people. She must have known her time would come. She was intelligent.”
Simon was speechless.
He had tried to understand Chelon, but his memories of her were fading. He only remembered feeling safe and comforted whenever their eyes met, even when he had simply tripped and fallen.
He finally voiced the question that had been bothering him.
“…I honestly didn’t expect you to volunteer as a hostage, Sister.”
“I didn’t want to waste my life in Heilan, like Sister Chelon. And as members of the Heilan royal family, this is the price we have to pay for the comfortable childhood we enjoyed thanks to Chelon’s sacrifices.”
Well, the adults were the ones who truly deserved to be punished, but what could they do? The weak were always at the mercy of the strong.
It was the law of the jungle, not just in social circles, but in the world itself.
Simon fidgeted, then cautiously looked up at Olivia.
Could he tell her what he was thinking?
Would she laugh at him? Would she be angry?
But Olivia had changed after meeting Elonia. She had apologized to him, listened to his story, and hadn’t pushed him away.
Simon wanted to be brave, just like her.
He took a deep breath and spoke,
“Honestly, I also disagree with Brother Felix’s plan.”
Olivia nodded silently. Simon, clenching his trembling hands, continued,
“I don’t want another war. I’m afraid of Felix’s ambition, of Tristan’s influence. I want this to end peacefully. So—”
“You were planning to marry Elonia and secure peace?”
“…Yes.”
Olivia’s intuition was sharp. She had guessed it after hearing about the handkerchief incident, even though it had been a misunderstanding.
Olivia sighed.
She would have been happy if her brother and friend were to marry, but their status and circumstances were a problem.
“It’s best to give up.”
“…Why?”
Was he serious?
Olivia sometimes wondered if Simon was completely oblivious to the world around him.
‘Well, Felix deliberately kept him sheltered and ignorant.’
Olivia suppressed another sigh and explained patiently,
“Let’s say you become the Empress of Ravanta. Do you think that’s the end of it?”
“…No?”
“Of course not. Ravanta practices monogamy. Even the Emperor can only have one Empress and no concubines. Even if Elonia likes you, do you think the other nobles will accept you—?”
Olivia stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening as she looked past Simon’s shoulder.
“Sister?”
Simon turned around and gasped.
Black smoke was billowing from the Theology Department building.
“His name is Tristan. Tristan, the God of Resurrection.”
The sanctuary fell silent.
Lucius, his hands clasped together, his eyes glistening with tears, continued,
“He has been resurrected by your faith. But he is still weak, unable to challenge the Calamity God. Now it’s your turn to help him. Please don’t abandon him just because he was once defeated by the Calamity God. He needs your strength.”
The silence didn’t last long.
Lucius’s beauty, his captivating voice, and the tragic tale of the God of Resurrection moved the brainwashed devotees.
“I don’t care if he’s not the Calamity God, as long as he saved me!”
“That’s right! The Calamity God was ominous. The God of Resurrection brings hope!”
Elonia finally snapped out of her daze.
The sudden appearance of a new god, Tristan, had momentarily short-circuited her brain.
She had never heard of the God of Resurrection, not even in Heilan. Where had he come from?
“Remember his name and spread it far and wide. Share his name and his grace, so that love and hope may fill the world.”
“Leave it to us, Apostle. We will repay the kindness of the God of Resurrection, the God Tristan.”
“You are truly my most devout followers. God Tristan will be pleased by your unwavering faith.”
Lucius smiled and continued,
“Salvation is within reach. Don’t give up hope. Keep believing. And then the God of Resurrection, Tristan, restored to his full power, will bestow his love upon you and return what you have lost.”
“We believe…!”
“God Tristan!”
Elonia gritted her teeth. This wasn’t going as planned.
Felix had always been a devout follower of the Calamity God. He wouldn’t welcome a new god…
‘Wait a minute…’
A sudden realization hit her.