Chapter 59: Eternal Regret

Near dusk, Eric and Alana took the magic-driven floating lift to the very top of the Saintess Tower.

The top housed the Saintess's study, though Eric was fully qualified to be there.

The space was compact, featuring a desk set against the window and surrounded by several bookcases. Various ornaments of different sizes were arranged with a certain refinement. The view was not as expansive as that of the Pope's Tower, but it still offered a panoramic sweep of the entire city, with virtually every corner visible.

Eric walked over to the window, gazing across the Holy Square at the taller Pope's Tower.

It was said that this place, much like the room at the top of the Pope's Tower, had once been where the Saintess handled state affairs. However, just as the Saintess had delegated the vast majority of her duties to Grand Sister Gaby, she herself had not been up here in a very long time.

And having spent a day within the Saintess's Precinct, the person Eric had interacted with the most was Gaby.

She embodied the authority of the Saintess, serving as an indispensable link in numerous administrative procedures. The fact that the Saintess was now able to enjoy her twilight years in peace was entirely thanks to Gaby shielding her from the vast majority of tiresome and mentally draining miscellaneous tasks.

Moreover, Gaby's self-assessment and her perception of Alana were both remarkably accurate: compared to Gaby, Alana indeed still had a very long way to go.

Therefore, when Gaby actively "pitched" herself, Eric, mindful of Alana's feelings and having initially spoken of favoring those close to him, did not close the door completely. He genuinely found himself in great need of this Grand Sister who was currently only in her early fifties.

"Generally speaking, when the previous Saintess returns to the Divine Kingdom, what happens to the Grand Sister she appointed?" Eric asked. "Does she continue to shine in her original position, or does she retire with honor?"

Alana's lips parted slightly, but she only shook her head in a daze. "I have never experienced such a situation before."

Thinking about it, Eric realized that made sense. The current Saintess had enjoyed an extraordinarily prolonged tenure; she had outlived or out-retired every Grand Sister before her, and a situation where a Grand Sister outlived her had simply never arisen.

Of course, Saintesses did not always live to be well into their eighties. The previous Saintess had passed away in her thirties, and the original next-in-line Saintess, Irene, had perished in body and soul at just over twenty...

"If Grand Sister Gaby is willing to make concessions regarding Alana's teacher, I intend to have her remain in the Saintess's Precinct afterwards," Eric said, looking at Alana.

Alana was startled, then realized he was seeking her opinion. She lowered her head and said, "I have no other grievances with Grand Sister Gaby, and I admire her abilities all the more. If she agrees to let Teacher Daniya return, I am willing to agree to anything."

Eric, however, replied, "It will be rather difficult to have her return to the Saintess Monastery."

Alana raised her gaze, and he continued, "But rather than returning to the monastery, what Alana truly wants is to remove Sister Daniya from the dangerous frontier life, am I right?"

"Yes..."

"Then that makes things easier. We will find an opportunity to transfer her to a regional monastery as its abbess. That way, although you may not see her frequently, she will no longer have to face life and death on the frontier."

Alana suddenly understood. "So that was why Your Grace asked those questions earlier..."

"Right now, I possess status but little real power, and Her Holiness the Saintess is unwilling to involve herself in this matter. We can only find a way from the perspective of complying with the procedures of the Saintess's Precinct," Eric said.

Alana did not know what to say to express her gratitude, laden as it was with a sense of shame.

In truth, she had already prepared herself to wait.

To wait for the Saintess to pass away, to wait for Eric to become the new Saintess, and to grant her the authority to allow Teacher Daniya to return to the Saintess Monastery...

Yet she had no idea how long such a wait would last, and lingering for even one more day in that bitter, freezing frontier could mean the difference between life and death.

Powerless to change anything, and unable to force Eric when he had already made a promise, she could only comfort herself with the thought that she had done her absolute best.

At that moment, Eric told her that he was still looking for a way, and that he had genuinely found a highly feasible solution.

"Your Grace..."

Seeing the rims of Alana's eyes turn red, Eric quickly averted his gaze. Forty-odd years of accumulated life experience had not endowed him with much resilience against tears.

"If you want to thank me, wait until the matter is accomplished."

Alana closed her eyes, allowing the gathering moisture to disperse before it could overflow.

"Without Your Grace, I could do nothing," she said, her voice still slightly strained before she quickly adjusted it.

"The same goes for me. In truth, I can do nothing either."

Alana looked at Eric. The lingering glow of the setting sun shone upon the high tower, casting both brilliance and deep shadows across his face.

"Precisely because I can do nothing right now, I must do something to console myself, rather than just sitting here and withering away in waiting."

Though she did not fully understand what he specifically meant by withering away in waiting, from his words and his expression at that moment, Alana could sense a fraction of his inner state.

It was a helplessness, an anxiety of having no choice but to wait, while the waiting itself seemed to have transformed into a form of solace against that very anxiety...

Much like she had been doing earlier.

Rather than encouragement for the future, what they truly needed from one another was solace for the present.

"Your Grace has already helped me; that is something I can confirm right now," Alana said, looking at him.

Eric turned to glance at her, and after a brief silence, a smile finally surfaced.

"Let's go down. I will go discuss this with Gaby; once she agrees, we can put it into practice as soon as possible."

Returning to the parlor where Gaby was located at the base of the Saintess Tower, the Grand Sister rose and bowed. "Your Grace, you have seen the view from the top of the tower. What are your impressions?"

"My impressions? It must be that it is lonely at the top."

Eric replied casually, then continued, "I also realized that I only gain the authority to command Grand Sister Gaby once I become the Saintess... But before that, there are questions I desperately wish to ask regardless. Whether Grand Sister Gaby is willing to answer them depends entirely on your mood."

Gaby bowed without changing her expression. "Please go ahead, Your Grace."

Eric abandoned any beating around the bush: "What is the reason for the feud between you and Sister Daniya?"

Gaby fell silent for a moment, sighed softly, and shook her head.

Just as Eric thought she was still unwilling to answer, Gaby spoke up. "She caused the death of my sister, Monica."

Both Eric and Alana were taken aback.

And having once started, Gaby took the initiative to explain further.

"Over thirty years ago, Monica, Daniya, and I entered the Saintess Monastery to train at the same time, and we shared a room. In those years, we forged an unbreakable friendship.

"A few years later, the monastery arranged for a group of sisters to be dispatched to the imperial army as military chaplains. I remained at the monastery, while Daniya and Monica were sent together to the frontier between the Empire and the Kingdom of Lavane.

"A year later, Monica died. To protect civilians, she was struck through the heart by a Lavanian ranger, and Daniya was right beside her at the time."

Recounting Monica's death, the expression on Gaby's face remained largely unchanged, as calm as if she were not speaking of her own sister.

When she voiced her hatred for Daniya, she was still the same.

"Yet Daniya neither protected Monica nor managed to keep her alive. From then on, the more reports the imperial army sent back regarding Daniya healing the sick and saving lives, the more I loathed her: since she could do so well and save so many lives, why couldn't she protect the most important person, Monica?"

Gaby looked at Alana.

"Especially you. A destitute refugee from the frontier not only received her protection and tutelage, but was even sent to the Saintess Monastery to train, while my sister can only sleep forever beneath that cold earth. I can never forgive Daniya, and I will never lay eyes on her again."

Alana's lips quivered, her face turning pale.

She finally understood the truth of the past. Even if she wanted to defend her teacher, before this lingering, profound sorrow, she did not know how to speak.

She lowered her head, and a single tear suddenly fell, striking the ground before her.

She raised her gaze. Gaby still maintained that rippleless expression, save for a single tear track marking her left cheek.

"The moment I see her, I will have no choice but to forgive her: twenty-five years ago, the person chosen to be dispatched to the imperial army was supposed to be me. It was I who feared the bitter cold of the northern frontier and swapped places with Monica, making her the military chaplain."

"I will never see Daniya again," Gaby said.