The carriage ran fast and arrived at Isadora’s hotel. The manager, who quickly rushed out after knowing about Lara’s arrival, took her hand and guided her to the top floor where Isadora was at.
“Mother, I’m here.”
Isadora woke up, washed up, and was sitting at her desk, working before her hair was even dried. Next to her were maids moving like her hands and feet. They were maids who dried and tidied up her hair and looked after her appearance. Lara sat in the chair only after they had finished their work and went outside.
“What about breakfast?”
“I already ate.”
“Don’t lie. I haven't even had breakfast yet.”
“I have no appetite.”
She tried to act indifferent as much as possible, but she could not deceive her mother. Although it was a fact that she knew after she came back to the past, her mother seemed to have a superhuman ability to recognize Lara’s mood, condition, and the honesty of her words.
Isadora stepped away from her desk and approached Lara.
“Lara, what’s going on?”
Her mother’s voice, which always sounded cold and scary, now felt extremely affectionate. In a flash, she sounded formal, but Lara knew that it was full of worries. She wanted to say how it was nothing serious and that she thought she was the real saintess. But in spite of herself, Lara reached out to the approaching Isadora and hugged her mother.
“Lara?”
Her heart that had been toughened all night after meeting God became warm. Lara put her forehead in her mother’s embrace and left her body to the warmth.
Isadora just stood there still. She patted softly on Lara’s shoulder and waited unhesitatingly until her daughter spoke out first.
“I’m sorry for behaving like a spoiled child.”
“You should do it more often.”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Go on.”
“I think I’m the saintess.”
“Yeah, that’s no big… What?”
Isadora asked back in surprise. The face that looked exactly like Lara was hardened with shock.
“Lara.”
“Yes.”
“What did God say?”
“He said that I’m the saintess.”
“What else?”
“He asked me to find his name. And that I need to right the wrongs.”
“Why should you do that? What about the temple? What are the priests doing? There are so many people in this world who are dying to do something like that. Why would you…”
Isadora, who was spitting out words, crumpled up her face and looked out of the window. Then, with only moving her lips, she silently uttered a few curse words. She lowered her head and looked carefully into Lara’s face for a long time.
“You don’t have to.”
Isadora said firmly. When Lara looked up at her with a look of asking what that meant, she said more firmly.
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. It’s the temple’s fault that God was forgotten. Those nosy pricks will work hard to correct the wrongs in this world.
“I will keep it a secret for a while.”
“For a while?”
“Yes, I will reveal my identity when the time comes. I mean, when the one who wants to wield the saintess as a weapon disappears.”
“When is that?”
“After the owner of the next throne changes.”
Lara would change the owner of the throne. Lara thought that the heir to the throne should not be Prince Sidhar, but Princess Sonnet.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Isadora knew a lot more than was initially thought—the situation Hautean faced, the relationship between the temple and the royal family, and even about the fact that the war against the demon worshippers would happen in the near future. Rather than saying that she knew a lot of things, it was right to say that there was nothing that she did not know. That was because Isadora was a merchant who dealt with goods on the continent.
“Lara, do you know who the Crown Prince of the Empire is?”
“Acerus Elin Tarragon.”
“Acerus is a heroic man. His tale of heroism played a greater role than the consort clan’s power in defeating the opposition forces and becoming the Crown Prince early.”
After Lara confessed that she was a saintess, Isadora came home with Lara and called Sebastian to cancel all her schedules that day. Then, she took Lara to her empty room.
“I was honestly surprised when Demian told me that he had a surname given by the Crown Prince and that he had been granted immunity.”
“Why?”
“Lara, Tarragon is a very big country. You may not realize that because you have never left Hautean.”
On one wall in Isadora’s room was a large map of the continent, showing the trade route for her trading company. She pointed her finger at a huge yellow-painted ground.
“That’s Tarragon. Even if you put together 20 countries the size of Hautean, it would still be no match for the Empire’s territory.”
“Mother.”
“If Acerus told Demian to find and bring the saintess in Hautean, it must mean that Demian is powerful enough to single-handedly defeat Hautean’s army and run away with the saintess, right?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how you knew about that… but, Lara.”
“Go on.”
“There will be a war in Hautean soon.”
Isadora’s face was dark. Her daughter, whom she thought young like a baby and knew nothing, had grown this much. During the years when Isadora was busy running her trading company, Lara became an adult by herself.
“Lara, follow Demian to the Empire.”
“Mother!”
“I can’t let you get involved in the war. There’s a rumor going around, saying that Prince Sidhar has joined hands with the black sorcerers. If he had joined the demon worshippers to take the throne, he would not leave you, the saintess, alone.”
“I’m prepared for that.”
“That’s not enough. It’s too dangerous here. I’d rather you go to the Empire with Demian.”
“What about you? If it’s dangerous for me, it will be dangerous for you too.:
“There are people in Hautean that I have to protect. They’re my responsibility.”
“Then, I won’t go either.”
“Lara!”
“There are people I love in Hautean. They’re my responsibility too.”
Neither Lara nor Isadora had any intention of yielding. If Sebastian had seen the two now, he would shake his head, saying that the two similar-looking people were both equally stubborn.
Isadora continued to explain.
“When the black sorcerers first appeared, they named Princess Sonnet as the only strong candidate for being the saintess. Up until then, the King would have hoped that the Princess would be a saintess.”
Only then, he could use the power of the temple to raise the Princess to be the next King.
“But one day, all of a sudden, women who had nothing in common were attacked all at once for being the saintess candidates. Moreover, the two survivors began to claim out loud that they were the real saintess.”
“Do you think it was caused by someone on purpose?”
“And who might that be?”
“It must be Prince Sidhar.”
Lara closed her eyes and calmed her seething heart. If Isadora’s guess was correct, then the Prince was a really constant man. Instead of looking for a woman like Lara, whom he could easily brainwash, the Prince used two saintess candidates as his puppets.
‘Why did he do that?’
Why did he judge that fake saintesses are more helpful than one real saintess?
No one knew who the real saintess was yet. To say that the fake saintesses would be helpful, their actions were too clumsy.
“Lara.”
“Yes.”
“Sidhar is planning to kill Sonnet.”
Lara opened her eyes wide. Suddenly, all the dots were connected. Prince Sidhar was someone who valued his reputation and cared about what others said. He thought that everyone in Hautean should look up to and respect him. If Sonnet suddenly dies one day, many people would suspect him. His past efforts of pretending to be an affectionate brother would all come to nothing.
But now, the black sorcerers have appeared in time and tried to assassinate Sonnet, saying she was a strong candidate for a saintess. Sidhar must have planned this since then, perhaps even before then. He held hands with the black sorcerers at the back, pretended to be a brother who was worried about his sister at the front, and even made the fake saintesses. All of this was to kill and get rid of Sonnet Hautean.
“If he gets rid of the Princess and the fake saintesses all at once…”
“He won’t be called into doubt. Because Sonnet will die as a saintess candidate, not a successor to the throne.”
“Is that why you said that there will be a war?”
“There are people in Hautean who support Sonnet more than you think. They will never accept the result. Eventually, there will be a civil war and Prince Sidhar will use the black sorcerers to drive them out.”
Lara, who was listening to Isadora, raised her head.
“Mother, are you supporting Princess Sonnet?”
“I’m not. As a merchant, I don’t think I should intervene in politics.”
“But, how did you know all this?”
“Because both the Princess and the Prince are reaching out from both sides.”
“Pardon?”
“Those who support the Princess and those who support the Prince are all approaching me. Lara, it costs a lot of money to fight a war. They want my money.”
Lara muttered.
“Then, they will be approaching me soon.”
In her past life, Sidhar did not start the war because of Lara’s efforts. She became the saintess, gathered the support of the temple and the people, and dedicated it all to him. But now that Lara was not around the Prince, he would resort to taking extreme measures.
“Lara, do you really want to change the owner of the throne?”
When Isadora asked, Lara nodded firmly. In order to prevent the tragedy that this country will face, the first thing to do was to destroy Sidhar Hautean. There was no other way.
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