Prologue I

“I demand you return Saint Dynah.”

“What do you mean?”

Grand Duke Deuwin’s eyes gleamed with a sliver of light.

Priest Pedric flinched at those deep green eyes, clearing his throat.

“Did you not take the saint from our temple? I thought it strange when you said you were to buy that lowly child.”

“...lowly.”

Deuwin murmured in a low tone, repeating Priest Pedric’s words. 

Feeling the danger before him, Pedric trembled. “We know that Dynah is aware of its awakening as the saint. It belongs to our temple, so please, return it. We are troubled.”

His way of speaking was condescending - only looking at people as mere objects.

Deuwin’s lips twitched. He had reached the limits of his patience.

The priest continued. “I don’t know how you knew, but… Grand Duke, to buy the saint for a million errins, that is too much.”

Ultimately, Deuwin uncrossed his legs and kicked that table hard.

Bang-!

With a tremendous cracking, the table split.

In all directions, shards of wood flew, and it smouldered, causing a mess in the office.

“Grand Duke Deuwin! What on earth are you doing?”

“What am I doing? Protecting my daughter, of course.”

Instead of stopping, Deuwin pulled out his sword.

He aimed it at the priest, a declaration of war against the temple.

As the situation escalated, the temple and Deuwin’s knights readied their swords. Instantly, the office became a scene of confrontation.

Tension appeared on everyone’s face as their complexion turned blue.

“Everyone, listen carefully,” Deuwin roared, “It’s not Dynah. It’s Esther. That child is not a saint, but my daughter.”

“Your excellency! No!”

There was no time to stop him. After finishing his speech, Deuwin slashed his sword without hesitation, cutting off Priest Pedric’s left arm.

This was the true form of Dewin, a killer.

While everyone was frozen, the priest who had come with Pedric jumped between the two.

He trembled, pouring all of his divine power into Pedric’s arm.

The bleeding quickly stopped, and his arm reattached, but the Pedric who had nearly lost one of his arms was dazed.

“What is this…what are you doing now….”

“If you talk about my daughter like that one more time, then....”

Deuwin looked straight into Pederic’s eyes. The priest’s pupils dilated in fear.

Then, with all solemnity, he spoke. 

“We will go to war.”

♔♔♔

Priest Perikel dozed whilst guarding the entrance to the dungeon.

At the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, he opened his eyes.

Perikel straightened his posture and waited for the voice’s owner to sound. The person who soon appeared was, as he expected, Saint Lavienne.

“Milady! Have you come to pray again? It’s been a few years already... It’s enough to stop now.”

“No. Dynah was my dearest friend. I can’t give up.”

Lavienne gave a sad smile and lowered her big eyes.

Perikel’s eyes were full of respect as he looked at Lavienne. 

“The benevolent saintess shows mercy to such a monster, yet a monster will not know what grace is.”

Lavienne smiled sadly at Perikel’s words clasped her hands together in courtesy of his words.

“As a saint, this is what I must do. Priest Perikel, I beg your pardon, could you please leave for a moment?” 

“Yes. I will.”

Because this often happened, Perikel immediately consented. 

Perikel turned his stiff shoulders and led his men out of the tower.

Lavienne opened the door to the dungeon when she confirmed that the others were no longer there. Her expression turned to excitement when she entered the room.

“I’m here.” Where Lavienne’s bright voice was directed, a woman of small stature crouched.

It was Dynah, whom Lavienne called her dearest friend. She was tied helplessly to tools of holy power. Lavienne walked straight towards her Dynah, who did not react despite hearing her announcement of her arrival.

As soon as she stepped before her, Lavienne grabbed Dynah’s cheek hard with her right hand. Dynah, unable to overcome her forcefulness, stumbled.

Dynah’s body, unable to overcome that power, stumbled. 

“Am I here or not?”

But Dynah did not respond.

Her empty gaze only stared into the void and contained nothing.

She didn’t glance at Lavienne, who asked her a question.

Lavienne bit her mouth, despising the way Dynah looked.

Lavienne passed Dynah to the empty space behind her back.

There was a crystal bottle connected to Dynah. A red liquid dripped inside.

“Why is the amount gathered so little?”

When the quantity was less than expected, Lavienne’s voice mixed with irritation.

She sighed and approached Khalid, her escort. She then pulled out the sword from his sheath.

It was a holy sword given only to the Holy Knights who represented the temple.

A red ruby, which symbolised the eyes of the goddess they worshipped, ‘Espitos’, was embedded in the centre.

Holy sword in hand, Lavienne, was about to return to Dynah.

But Khalid, buried in the darkness like a loyal shadow, stepped forward.

“I’ll do it. There is no need to get your hands dirty.”

 ”Will you?”

Lavienne seemed to contemplate his suggestion with wide eyes, then she giggled and handed the sword to Khalid.

A holy sword with divine blessings was a sword of justice. Therefore, it should only be used for following God’s will. That sword was stabbed into Dynah’s palm by a knight, wounding her.