Chapter 6.2
“Duchess.”
The temple was in chaos, just as expected. Crossing between priests running about urgently, I arrived at Rachel’s room, which was already crowded with many people.
“The saint will be all right, won’t she?”
“If something like this happens, how can we possibly face our Lord?”
“Oh God, please do not take this noble life.”
As I scanned the priests’ faces, I realized the situation was more critical than I had thought. These people wouldn’t be acting this way over ordinary poison.
That meant a truly formidable poison was at work.
Soon, after receiving Alfred’s permission, I entered Rachel’s room and gasped at the sight of Rachel lying on the bed like a corpse.
“What on earth…!”
“Madam, you’ve come.”
“What is this? How did she get poisoned? I told you to keep antidotes on hand at all times, didn’t I? Don’t the antidotes work?”
“Following the saint’s instructions, we prepared all the antidotes, but none of them worked.”
“Then can’t the priests purify it with holy power?”
“It was useless.”
I quickly examined Rachel’s complexion. Her face, as if her soul had completely left her body, was utterly peaceful, as if she were dead.
“What kind of poison is this?”
Without wasting any time, I got straight to the point.
At my question, Alfred’s face stiffened slightly.
His expression clearly indicated this was not a good situation at all, and filled with anxiety, I urged him on.
“What is it? What kind of poison makes you look like that?”
“……”
“Tell me quickly!”
I shouted loudly, ready to shake Alfred by the shoulders, my chest burning with frustration, but I soon became stunned upon hearing his answer, delivered with a face mixed with resignation.
“It’s Acedium.”
“……What did you say?”
“Acedium. It’s an extract from the Aces flower that grows in the intersection between the ‘Land of Death’ and the ‘Graveyard of the Dead Sea’ at the southern tip of the continent. It’s a cursed flower that blooms from life forsaken by God, so antidotes won’t work.”
“That…”
“Naturally, there’s no known method of detoxification so far.”
I froze at Alfred’s words.
Acedium—if it’s Acedium, then it shouldn’t be used on Rachel right now, or rather, it shouldn’t have come from Melina’s hands at the very least, should it?
The place where Aces flowers bloom was a forbidden area. Since it’s a flower that grows by feeding on human death and resentment, it’s difficult to obtain, but more importantly—
‘Wasn’t Acedium the poison used by the House of Colica at the end of the original story? Why is it appearing already?’
My face went pale as I clenched my fists, and Alfred’s grief-stricken voice reached me.
“There’s no way left now. I should have stopped the saint…”
At his voice filled with regret, I bit my lips. But then, to my own surprise, a remarkably calm voice flowed from my mouth.
“Since things have come to this, regret is useless.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Regret doesn’t solve problems.”
Though my mind was still blank and my hands were trembling, now was not the time to blame myself.
Regret solves nothing. What solves problems is always reason and judgment.
I calmed my pounding heart. First, I needed to resolve this situation. Although Acedium is known to have no antidote, in the original story, Rachel definitely survives.
Remember, Eve. Remember. How exactly did Acedium appear in the original story, and how was it resolved?
I racked my brain. Near the end of the original story, Rachel persuades the crown prince to turn against the House of Colica.
The crown prince, completely in love with Rachel, shows agreement with her sense of justice and begins to openly oppose the House of Colica and the empress—
‘Right, that’s where Acedium appeared.’
The House of Colica and the empress, who see Rachel as a thorn in their side, give her Acedium.
Yet she overcomes that crisis. How? How did she overcome it?
“Damn it, I can’t remember.”
I cursed roughly. If I had known this would happen, I should have written more detailed notes right after being possessed.
Lamenting my lack of thoroughness, I shook my head again and focused entirely on thinking.
‘Let me trace the original story’s development again. Rachel was poisoned. Then the crown prince must have tried to save her. But no antidote exists. So what would the crown prince—the crown prince from the original story—have done?’
“Madam, what should we do from now on…”
‘In a situation where there’s no antidote, what action did the crown prince take to save her? First, he obtained Aces flowers for experiments… Ah, Aces is a cursed flower. Curse…! That’s right, curse!’
At the memory that suddenly flashed through my mind, I lifted my face with a start.
Yes, I remembered. Aces was a flower of curse that fed on death, and only God could lift such a curse.
And Rachel was precisely that ‘God.’
Having thought that far, I whipped my head around.
“Do you have holy water?”
“Pardon?”
“Holy water! Do you have holy water that Rachel made?”
“The holy water the saint made was already completely used up for the Holy Spirit Festival.”
At Alfred’s words, I grimaced, then remembered I had one of Rachel’s holy waters in my possession and quickly opened the door.
“Lilith!”
“Yes, yes, my lady.”
“That holy water…! The one I told you to always carry with you, do you have it?”
Lilith nodded vigorously. Having received Rachel’s holy water as a gift and ordering Lilith to always carry it with her proved to be a great help.
Soon she took out the holy water from her bosom. Taking it, I hurried back into the room, but Alfred stopped me.
“What significance could holy water possibly have?”
“Do you know why Rachel is a saint?”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
Alfred looked at me as if I were talking nonsense.
However, knowing the inside story, I smiled slightly.
If other priests’ holy power was ‘power granted by God,’ Rachel’s holy power was ‘God’s power’ itself. What that meant was that Rachel herself was the ‘God’ reigning over the human world.
Legend said that only God could lift the curse of the Aces flower. That meant only Rachel’s power could cure that poison.
But since Rachel was currently lying like this, her power couldn’t be used.
So there was only one answer. I had to inject a medium containing her power into her, so that her power would naturally manifest.
‘That can only be holy water.’
Holy water alone is the purest medium of power.
Alfred’s questioning face followed me, but with a tense expression, I began to slowly pour the holy water into a glass, and the moment the holy water flowed from the bottle, sacred white light burst forth brilliantly.
“That’s… the saint’s holy water…”
At the completely different reaction from ordinary holy water, Alfred muttered.
“Madam, what exactly are you trying to do with the saint’s holy water?”
“I’m trying to make Rachel drink the holy water. Can’t you tell just by looking?”
“But why give holy water to the saint…!”
“Oh, really. Just let me do what I’m trying to do.”
I replied irritably to Alfred’s question. With all my attention focused on Rachel, I had no time to pay attention to him anymore.
Alfred wanted to stop me with his whole being, but it was useless. Eventually, he gave up trying to stop me and held his breath while looking back and forth between me and Rachel.
I carefully approached Rachel and slightly opened her mouth.
Please, please, please. Let my thinking not be wrong.
Praying dozens of times in my heart, I swallowed hard as I watched the holy water flow into Rachel’s mouth, glowing once more before disappearing.
Did it work? She’s not going to die from choking on the holy water… right? That would be too absurd! Please wake up! Please! Even if it’s supposedly holy water, surely such an accident wouldn’t—
Just as I was thinking all sorts of thoughts like this, the light of the holy water disappeared, and Alfred, who had been watching Rachel with bated breath, shouted with a face full of amazement.
“The saint’s complexion is improving!”
Color began to gradually return to Rachel’s face, which had been lying quietly like a corpse just moments before. Life returned to her pale, white cheeks, and her complexion visibly improved before our eyes.
Finally, seeing her chest, which had shown no movement as if she had stopped breathing, begin to rise and fall, I unknowingly collapsed onto the floor.
Ah, it worked—!
Relief washed over me endlessly, and I emotionally covered my mouth.
Hallelujah, heavens! I saved the heroine from dying halfway through the story!
Well done, Eve! I really am smart!
“Saint…”
Watching Rachel breathe slowly and evenly, Alfred grabbed his forehead and let out a big sigh.
“Thank goodness.”
“Indeed.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Though I didn’t show it, I had actually been overwhelmed by a suffocating feeling.
Setting aside the sudden deviation from the original story, I had been afraid that Rachel might die due to my incompetence.
Now, with a smile on my face thinking it was fortunate, I was gazing at Rachel when Alfred raised his head and asked.
“But how did you know, madam? That holy water could save the saint.”
“Ah…”
Actually, in the original story, the crown prince discovers the detoxification method after research with sages and magicians. But since I couldn’t say this, I smiled brightly and answered Alfred’s question.
“Oh, I just thought that since it’s called a flower of curse, maybe the curse could be lifted with holy water.”
It was a rather flimsy answer that could anger him for playing with the saint’s life, but it was also the best answer I could give.
Hearing my response, Alfred just stared at me intently.
When his confused gaze reached me, I smiled awkwardly. Right, there’s no way he’d accept such an answer…
“Since you and the saint maintain a close relationship, the saint might have given you some hint.”
Oh, he’s letting it slide like this?
“I understand. Thank you for saving the saint.”
I was surprised by Alfred’s answer—he who would never let problems slide carelessly under normal circumstances.
That stickler for principles… Is this the power of love? If it means saving Rachel, he can overlook it?
Looking back and forth between Alfred and Rachel with surprised eyes, I exhaled lightly. Well, whatever works is good. Thinking so, I pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down.
‘Now all that’s left is for Rachel to wake up. When Rachel wakes up, I’ll have to ask her. What exactly happened?’
And on that night when the sky was dyed completely dark, Rachel woke up.
***
After telling Lilith that I would stay at the temple tonight, I kept watch by Rachel’s side.
Without letting go of even an ounce of tension, I was watching Rachel together with Alfred when I saw Rachel’s hand twitch and jumped up from my seat.
“Saint!”
Alfred called to her urgently. I too looked at Rachel with a tense face, and soon her eyelids fluttered, her long eyelashes slowly curled up, and her clear eyes were revealed.
“Rachel, are you okay? Are you conscious?”
Perhaps still affected by the lingering effects of the poison, Rachel stared blankly into space for a moment with a dazed expression. Then, hearing my voice, she slowly turned her head and spoke softly.
“Eve?”
“Rachel, it’s me. Are you okay? Does anything hurt… Oh, you were hit by Acedium, so of course you’re not okay.”
I watched her restlessly. At my reaction, she smiled gently.
“I’m… okay.”
“……”
“Thank you, Eve.”
Rachel elegantly curved the corners of her mouth upward.
Her smile brought me some relief, and I too gave her a bright smile in return.
“Oh, the High Priest was also worried about you. High Priest?”
Thinking I shouldn’t steal all of Alfred’s credit, I turned my head, but Alfred had already retreated to a corner and was reciting a prayer of gratitude to God.
Wait, I’m the one who saved her, so why is he thanking God?
Oh, I guess he should thank God. It was God’s power that saved her.
Rachel looked at Alfred and let out a weak chuckle. When she tried to slowly sit up, I quickly grabbed a cushion and placed it behind her back.
“Move slowly.”
I handed a glass of water to Rachel, who was leaning against the cushion. After taking a few sips through her dry lips, Rachel let out a light sigh.
“Haah…”
“Um, Rachel. Could you… tell me what happened?”
At my carefully posed question, Rachel looked slightly surprised before slowly hardening her expression.
Oh, was I too hasty with someone who just woke up?
“I’m sorry, Rachel. I was too hasty…”
That’s when it happened. Rachel, who had been sitting quietly leaning against the cushion, issued an order for Alfred to leave.
“Alfred. Could you step out for a moment? I have something to discuss with Duchess Florence.”
Alfred looked suspicious for a moment, but perhaps judging that I wasn’t much of a threat, he nodded readily and left the room.
“Eve.”
As I watched Alfred’s retreating figure with my eyes, I turned my head back at the sound of Rachel calling my name as soon as he closed the door. Rachel was still sitting with a stern expression.
Is something wrong?
“Eve, may I ask you just one thing first?”
“Yes. Whatever you wish.”
“Do you happen to know about Shangele cookies?”
“Shangele cookies?”
The content was far too random for something said with such gravity, so I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion. Suddenly, why cookies?
“They’re cookies famous among the nobility, but may I ask why you’re suddenly asking about them?”
Instead of answering my question, Rachel left me with a long silence.
How much time passed like that? After staring at me in awkward silence, she slowly began to speak.
“I received the letter you gave me well when I was performing the prayer ritual. You said that Melina Barnes had a bad reputation and that I should always stay on guard.”
“That’s right. But why today… I wrote in the letter, didn’t I? That it would be better to be wary of food or items from the outside. So I was curious. What exactly happened?”
Rachel, who was somewhat aware of Melina’s hostility, couldn’t have completely ignored my letter.
Besides, Rachel wasn’t the type of person to carelessly eat anything or ignore others’ words and cause accidents.
Holding my curiosity, I waited for her words, and Rachel opened her mouth with a rather calm expression.
“A package came this morning, and inside it were Shangele cookies containing Acedium.”
“……”
“And that package… came in Eve’s name.”
I froze at the words that came from Rachel’s mouth.
What does that mean?
“I ate it without suspicion because it was from Eve. You’ve often sent me gifts before.”
“……”
“But I never expected something like this to happen. So… Eve?”
“It wasn’t me.”
Listening to Rachel’s calm words, I unconsciously stiffened like a stone statue, my heart pounding and my hands trembling uncontrollably.
At that, she showed a small smile.
“I know. Eve is the one who saved me, and I’ve never sensed any hostility or bad energy from you in the first place, and if you were really the culprit, there would be no reason to use your own name to do such a thing.”
“But…”
But if I hadn’t found the antidote, Rachel would have died. Subsequently, during the investigation, a package with my name would be discovered, and it would be revealed that there were poisoned cookies inside.
Then I would inevitably be framed and bear the infamy of assassinating the saint. Moreover, the House of Florence would become enemies with the temple.
Thinking that far, something suddenly surged up from within me. At my face, pale with anger, Rachel comforted me and slowly continued.
“Anyway, this incident seems like something that would happen when someone is hostile to both me and Eve simultaneously. Trying to kill me and also frame Eve… Do you have any idea who it might be?”
“……”
“It could be Melina Barnes, but somehow I don’t think she could get her hands on something like Acedium…”
At Rachel’s words, I clenched my fists tightly.
Someone who tried to kill Rachel and push me into false accusations. Who could it be?
I racked my brain. For this entire plan to succeed, there had to be a premise that Rachel would eat cookies I gave her without any suspicion. In other words, the culprit knew that Rachel and I were close.
With this one premise, most nobles were filtered out. The remaining candidates were the House of Florence, the House of Colica, and the imperial faction.
There’s no one in the House of Florence who would do such a thing. Then the scope narrows down to the House of Colica and the imperial family—
Could it be the House of Colica?
In the original story, the family that gives Acedium to Rachel is also the House of Colica. Moreover, judging by the House of Colica’s expression today, they didn’t like the crown prince and Rachel being close.
‘But the House of Colica would never devise a scheme in such a short time. They’re the type who move meticulously and for a long time on a single plan…’
Then what’s left is… the imperial family? But who in the imperial family would make a move against Rachel? Especially now when the story hasn’t even developed yet.
And then I thought of something. I shuddered at a hypothesis that suddenly crossed my mind, and I immediately asked Rachel.
“Rachel, let me ask you one thing. Have you ever given your holy water to other places? For example, to the imperial family—”
“I do regularly provide a certain amount to the imperial family.”
I bit my teeth hard.
All this time, I had been trying to win Rachel’s favor by blocking Melina’s schemes. But what if I wasn’t the only one thinking this way?
