<Chapter 15>

“P-Prospective Duchess! The divine oracle has descended!”

“It hasn’t even been a minute since you started praying, and the divine oracle came immediately! It seems the deity truly favors you, Prospective Duchess!”

I heard the two knights fussing excitedly behind me, but I couldn’t bring myself to respond.

For good reason.

BEST
Aquamarine

Oh no… If they’d asked the heroine for help, they could’ve been saved… ㅠㅠ

This was the content of the divine oracle.

*  *  *

After returning from the chapel, Inosensia went to her dance lessons with the maids.

Normally, Kei and Cesare would have accompanied her. However, they had a separate and important mission today, so they handed over their duties to other knights.

That mission?

“So, what happened?”

It was reporting the day’s events to Temenos.

“The Prospective Duchess received another divine oracle today.”

“As expected, the Prospective Duchess must be the Saintess. She even delivered our prayers to the deity!”

Kei and Cesare’s faces held faint excitement as they reported to Temenos. It seemed they’d been deeply moved by Inosensia, to the point where they didn’t even realize they were making direct eye contact with him.

While Temenos silently observed this unusual behavior, Kei pulled out a crystal orb he had kept hidden in his coat.

“As you commanded, I recorded the moment the Prospective Duchess received the divine oracle.”

Whenever Inosensia received a divine oracle, they were to record the scene with a magical device and bring it back.

This command from Temenos had ironically been inspired by her own suggestion:

“Um, is there no magical tool that records conversations or actions?”

“She didn’t notice you were recording with the crystal orb, did she?”

“No, we activated the magical tool before entering the chapel to avoid being caught by the Prospective Duchess. Please wait a moment.”

Guilt was evident on Kei’s face as he fiddled with the crystal orb.

Even though it was an order from the master he had sworn loyalty to, it was still hard for someone like Kei, who believed without a doubt that Inosensia was the Saintess, to engage in such underhanded actions behind her back.

Temenos, feeling a twinge of discomfort himself, held out his hand.

“That’s enough. Let me see it from the beginning.”

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

Kei hesitated for a moment but handed over the orb, which already displayed a scene of Inosensia entering the chapel.

“Wow! Oh my gosh, they even restored the statue! And the tiles, the windows—they replaced everything! Wow, just wow!”

Inosensia, who looked as excited as a dog on its first walk in weeks, moved about the chapel with a beaming face. She opened and closed the new curtains, crouched down to touch the carpet, and stared at the pristine statue with eyes shining brighter than anything else in the chapel.

Soon, Inosensia turned to look behind her, presumably at Kei, but from Temenos’ perspective, it felt as if she was looking straight at him through the crystal orb.  

“This is amazing! I absolutely love it! Make sure to thank everyone who helped repair the chapel for me. And the Duke too!”

The moment Inosensia’s radiant smile filled the orb, Temenos subconsciously called out to Kei.

“Play it again from the beginning.”

“Sorry? From the beginning?”

“Yes. Again.”

“Ah, alright.”

Was there something in the recording that could harm the Prospective Duchess?

Unaware of how much his feelings had already leaned toward Inosensia, Temenos watched anxiously as Kei restarted the recording.

“Ahem. When we arrive at the chapel, please don’t be too surprised.”

“Huh? Why? What’s there to be surprised about?”

“You’ll see once you’re there.”

From that point, Inosensia’s face was already brimming with anticipation, as if it were a child’s birthday morning.

She might have tried to hide it, but her quickened steps and darting glances toward the chapel betrayed her excitement.

‘…Was she always this bad at hiding her emotions?’

Thinking back to the first time they met after her supposed memory loss, Temenos realized it had been the same.

Her eyes had studied his face like she was admiring a masterpiece, her gaze full of curiosity, if not something far more indecent.

“This is amazing! I absolutely love it! Make sure to thank everyone who helped repair the chapel for me. And the Duke too!”

The faint ripples in his chest surged all at once.

She called me ‘Duke’ yet again.

‘Why did she even ask for my name if she’s just going to keep calling me that?’

Shouldn’t she deliver her gratitude in person for something like this?

It had been Temenos’ deliberate effort to have the dilapidated chapel restored, in case she might visit to receive a divine oracle.

A little give-and-take wouldn’t hurt, would it?

“Rewind it again. From the start.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“This is amazing! I absolutely love it! Make sure to thank everyone who helped repair the chapel for me. And the Duke too!”

Now that he thought about it, his name was mentioned at the very end, almost as if it had been an afterthought. A name tacked on belatedly, out of obligation.

“Wow! Oh my gosh, they even restored the statue! And the tiles, the windows—they replaced everything! Wow, just wow!”

“……Again.”

“Wow! Oh my gosh, they even restored the statue! And the tiles, the windows—they replaced everything! Wow, just wow!”

Kei and Cesare began to sense something odd about Temenos as he repeatedly replayed the same scene. The two exchanged subtle glances, silently communicating their shared suspicion, but Temenos seemed oblivious to their unease. Fixated on the projection, he finally broke the silence.

“There’s an old, crumbling structure behind the chapel, isn’t there?”

“Ah, yes,” Kei replied. “That’s the confessional. It’s in even worse condition than the chapel was. From what I’ve heard, the doors don’t even open anymore.”

“Tell David to restore it. As thoroughly as the chapel. Assign new staff to maintain it as well.”

“Understood,” Kei answered, though he didn’t understand the reasoning behind the order.

Cesare, however, was quicker on the uptake. He immediately grasped Temenos’ intent.

‘If the confessional gets restored too, she’ll come to thank me in person this time.’

But even as he thought this, Temenos himself failed to realize something crucial. He didn’t question why he was going to such lengths just to receive Inosensia’s gratitude.

After watching the introductory part five more times, Temenos finally moved on to the part where Inosensia received the divine oracle.

The scene shifted to golden particles swirling within a bright white light, forming a floating window in midair.

Temenos’ expression turned grave, and Kei and Cesare tensed in response to his reaction.

“Could this oracle be an illusion created by magic?”

“Impossible,” Kei answered with unwavering confidence.

“The first time, we weren’t prepared and couldn’t detect anything. But this time, I was actively monitoring for any signs of magic. There wasn’t even a trace of it.”

Despite his modesty in describing his abilities, Kei was an exceptionally skilled mage. If he was so certain, then the possibility of Inosensia fabricating the oracle with magic could be ruled out entirely.

“The language isn’t of the Empire,” Temenos murmured. “……I don’t recognize it at all.”

“It’s difficult to be sure without further knowledge,” Cesare added, “but it might be the divine tongue.”

Temenos nodded but remained uncertain. Having never seen the divine tongue before, he couldn’t confirm it.

If only there were a book written in the divine tongue, I could be sure.

Unfortunately, after the northern temple collapsed 300 years ago and all its priests disappeared, almost nothing related to God had been preserved in the region. The chapel was the sole remaining relic.

The Winstein family had failed to protect the northern temple, and the chapel had only survived thanks to an ancestor’s dying wish to preserve at least something of the divine presence in the north.

I’ll need to send someone to the capital to obtain a divine tongue textbook, Temenos decided.

Only priests could learn the divine tongue, meaning the textbook could only be acquired from the Great Temple. Smuggling it out wouldn’t be easy, but with enough time and effort, it could be done.

However, a wave of doubt suddenly washed over him.

‘Is it really worth all this trouble?’

Given how genuine her emotions appear, it seems unlikely that she is a fraud. And if not magic, there is no other explanation for the oracle’s appearance, which suggests she might truly be the Saintess.

But then…

‘What if I believe she is the Saintess, but it turns out she isn’t?’

Another question followed swiftly.

‘Why am I afraid that she might not be the Saintess?’

“Can I call you Temenos? Don’t you have a nickname? Temi? Menny?”

He didn’t know why her voice echoed in his mind.

Pushing away the tangled thoughts clouding his judgment, Temenos finally made a decision.
 

<To be continued>

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