Chapter 45: The Saintess

Mowenna Taurus was the younger daughter of the penultimate Duke of Taurus, a descendant of Taurus—one of the Twelve Founding Knights—and the reigning Holy Maiden for over sixty years.

Yet, when she finally appeared before Eric, she seemed no different from any ordinary eighty-year-old woman: her hair was stark white, she wore a simple dark nun's habit, and the age spots on her face seemed even more numerous than her wrinkles.

Seated in a wheelchair, the Holy Maiden first looked over the meticulously groomed Eric for a few moments, then turned her head slightly to look at the nun standing behind her.

"Alana, you have already greeted him."

"Not quite so, Your Holiness." Alana lowered her gaze. "I only learned of your arrangements just now."

"You probably guessed it before you even returned." Without waiting for her reply, the Holy Maiden waved a hand. "Never mind, it is of no importance."

Alana pushed the wheelchair into the room, while the other accompanying knights and nuns remained outside, pulling the heavy door shut behind them.

Inside the room, aside from Eric, there were only the two sudden visitors, yet he was the one who suddenly felt a sense of awkwardness.

—The Holy Maiden had not acknowledged his greeting, and upon entering, Alana had not spared him a single glance. He felt like the original resident standing awkwardly to the side while a landlord brought a prospective tenant to view a property.

A strange silence lingered for a while.

"How is your uncle?"

Eric had not expected the Holy Maiden's very first words to him to be an inquiry about his uncle. He froze for a moment and answered casually, "He is quite well..."

The Holy Maiden leaned back against her wheelchair, tilting her head slightly upward as if reminiscing.

"More than twenty years ago, invited by the royal family of Alsha, I stayed in their capital for a period of time, and Edgar specifically sought an audience with me back then. At that age, he was much like you are now—naive, unburdened by complex thoughts... Who could have imagined that in the blink of an eye, his nephew would come to be my successor."

To show humility, Eric had kept his head bowed, but now he spoke up. "No one could ever foresee how fate would twist and turn."

"Fate, you say..."

The old woman finally cast her gaze upon his face, studying him with a long, unblinking stare.

"Edgar spent more than a decade wandering the world; the moniker 'Demon-Shattering Sword' reached even my ears in the Holy City. Yet, after your father's death, for the sake of the family, he resolutely abandoned everything he had forged and returned to inherit the name and honor of 'Kimino'... He must be in his forties now, but I hear he has remained unmarried to this day, with no children to speak of. I suppose the heavy burden of the family's legacy will ultimately fall upon your shoulders."

"'Demon-Shattering Sword'?" Eric had not expected his uncle to have possessed such a cringe-worthy title in his youth.

"..."

The old woman's eyelids twitched slightly; she certainly hadn't expected his focus to lie there.

"Doubtless Edgar wished to keep you from walking down other paths, which is why he refrained from telling you too much about his youth. Yet youth has this inherent trait: it is inevitably influenced by the deeds of one's forebears. For instance, this boldness of yours—bordering on sheer recklessness—did you inherit it from your parents, or did you learn it from your uncle, who acted much like a foster father to you?"

"Are you referring to... my temperament?"

Eric looked at the Holy Maiden. "The environment probably had a much greater impact. I grew up mingling with the guards and martial men in the City Lord's estate."

At that, the old woman frowned abruptly, turning her head toward Alana. "Is this boy playing dumb, or does he genuinely not understand a single word?"

Eric was taken aback.

The Mother Superior gave him a long, deep look, then lowered her gaze in a silent gesture of ignorance.

"Did you not spend the better part of a month together with him?"

The Holy Maiden looked at her with evident displeasure, appearing to have forgotten her original purpose for coming. "Are you playing dumb as well?"

"I wouldn't dare..."

Alana bowed her head even lower. "It's simply that Mr. Eric and I truly did not converse much."

"I do not have much time left to live. Instead of pinning your hopes on me, you would be wiser to pin them on him. I have given you such a fine opportunity, yet you continue to blind yourself." The formerly weary and morpid Holy Maiden's gaze now turned razor-sharp. "Or is it that you, too, are trying to gauge my attitude, waiting to trim your sails with the wind?"

Alana dropped straight to her knees. "Your Holiness..."

The old woman frowned at her for a moment, then turned back to see Eric standing with a tense expression, opening his mouth as if he wanted to speak.

"It seems he pays much closer attention to you than you do to him."

Alana kept her head bowed in silence.

"Boy of the Kimino house."

Eric answered immediately, "Your Holiness."

The Holy Maiden looked at him. "This old woman no longer has the energy to play games of cautious probing. Let us be straightforward from here on."

"I will answer any question you have truthfully," Eric said.

The Holy Maiden regarded him steadily. "To replace your sister as my successor—was this your intention, or was it Edgar's?"

Eric bowed his head in a salute. "This is Jela's will."

The old woman remained calm. "And what exactly is Jela's will?"

Eric replied, "If Irene were to become the Holy Maiden's successor, it would unleash an irredeemable catastrophe. Although she herself is merely a fragment of that continent-sweeping disaster, the punishment she would bear would be heavier than anyone else's."

"So you decided to replace her?" the Holy Maiden asked.

"Yes."

The Holy Maiden looked at him. "Then, when all is said and done, this act of supplanting her was entirely your own idea."

Eric froze, then slowly nodded. "...Yes."

"And what is your purpose?" the Holy Maiden continued.

Eric answered, "To prevent that future catastrophe..."

The Holy Maiden cut him off. "I am speaking of your own personal design."

Eric opened his mouth. "To prevent..."

"Your own design!" the Holy Maiden raised her voice.

"..."

Eric remained silent for a dozen seconds.

"To become the Holy Maiden's successor. Once I succeed, to seize power and resources through the position of the Holy Maiden in order to prevent that catastrophe from occurring. And even if it cannot be prevented, at the very least, to save Irene and myself."

"There. That is it. Be honest."

The Holy Maiden leaned back against her wheelchair, a trace of exhaustion showing on her face. "I told you not to make this old woman probe you again and again... Just exchanging a few words with you feels like it shortens my lifespan by a few days."

Eric barely managed to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. "I am still not accustomed to Your Holiness's conversational style."

"Honesty. You need only answer honestly, and I can even overlook your rudeness and presumption."

The Holy Maiden muttered to herself and then fell silent, as if deep in thought. However, she closed her eyes, leaving Eric hard-pressed not to wonder if the old lady had suddenly fallen asleep.

Just as he shifted his gaze toward the kneeling Alana, the Holy Maiden spoke again. "That meteor shower—how on earth did you foresee it?"

Eric had a gut feeling that this was the question the Holy Maiden truly cared about; the preceding questions and her somewhat aggressive demeanor had merely been a buildup for this very moment.

"This, too, was revealed to me by the sacred Jela."

He had already prepared his answer. This was an undeniable miracle, and the sole explanation could only be the supreme might of a deity.

"Jela said she would bestow blessings upon the living beings of the continent through a meteor shower to strengthen their power to resist the coming calamity. Did you not feel that your vitality was somewhat more vigorous than before after the meteor shower descended?"

The Holy Maiden nodded. "Indeed, I did feel somewhat more spirited in those days, though it is hard to say whether it was not simply frightened out of me by the prophecy in your greeting letter."

Eric pressed his lips together, then countered, "In your heart, could there possibly be any other explanation?"

The Holy Maiden fell silent.

After a moment, she slowly shook her head, her body slumping further as if all the air had been let out of her.

"Yes, there is no other... Jela... it can only be Jela. But why is it that the one Jela chose is you?"

The old woman murmured to herself, bowing her head in prayer. At that moment, she looked no different from any ordinary, pious believer.

"Lord of all things, Supreme Deity, Almighty Creator... are you testing my devotion? Or is this aged vessel of mine no longer capable of bearing your will? O God, grant a humble servant a shred of guidance."

Alana similarly assumed a posture of prayer, while Eric waited quietly to the side, uttering not a single word.

To the followers of Jela, despite differences in birth, talent, and social status, everyone believed that the divine grace they received from the deity was identical—that the deity had never truly favored anyone above another, leaving all equally devoid of inherent privilege.

God existed, yet God did not exist.

Yet now, someone had used an undeniable miracle to claim they had heard the private whispers of the deity. Anyone who learned of this would inevitably have their faith shaken—and worse still, this favored one was merely a lukewarm, ordinary believer.

After a long silence, the Holy Maiden raised her gaze once more, looking at the young man before her.

"Boy of the Kimino house."

"Your Holiness."

"What reason did Jela have for choosing you?"

"Perhaps because I possess sufficient drive to prevent that catastrophe, or perhaps simply because I am still young," Eric said.

The Holy Maiden looked thoughtful, then asked, "When, precisely, will this continent-sweeping disaster you spoke of arrive?"

Eric lowered his head. "After your death."

The old woman was startled, then burst into laughter, shaking her head unceasingly.

"Hearing you say that, I actually feel a sense of relief... Perhaps that is why Jela did not choose me."

When her laughter finally subsided, the Holy Maiden let out a long sigh.

"If that is the case, then it has nothing to do with me anymore... No matter where that catastrophe originates, or how many lives it swallows, I shall neither see it nor be able to manage it. If you wish to contend for my position in order to deal with it, then so be it."

Eric looked at the Holy Maiden, uncertain whether this constituted consent.

"You said Edgar made you replace your sister..."

"It has nothing to do with my uncle," Eric reminded her, pretending not to notice that this was yet another pointless probe.

"Ah, my memory fails me. It was entirely your own idea."

The Holy Maiden calmly corrected herself. "You mentioned utilizing the status of the Holy Maiden to seize power and influence in order to avert the disaster. What of your family? How will the lineage be preserved?"

"To me, that is a matter far more distant than the disaster itself," Eric replied.

"Besides, as Your Holiness just mentioned, my uncle remains unmarried and is still in the prime of his life; that is not a problem. He fully supports any decision I make."

"Fully supports..."

The Holy Maiden looked him over. "Very well, let us move on to more practical matters: the Kimino family has been estranged from the imperial center of power for many years; there is not even a distant relative of the Kimino family among the Emperor's Privy Council. Once you inherit my position, how do you intend to wield the power that the Holy Maiden holds within the imperial court?"

Eric blinked, genuinely bewildered this time.

"What... power?"