Chapter 569: The Only Light in Her Darkness (I)
The young maiden looked shocked, but she still took the poison and immediately went home.
Even Primrose hadn’t expected Rose to do something this bold. If anyone found out, she would undoubtedly face a terrible punishment.
But after thinking about it for a while, Primrose realized Rose had changed.
Ever since she started spending more time talking with Edmond, she had slowly become braver. She had even dared to ask him to secretly bring her some of the ingredients needed to make poison.
She had told him she probably would never use it, but just in case.
"Your Holiness," Edmond greeted warmly as soon as she stepped out of the confession room. "Is something wrong? You look a little pale."
Rose gave him a gentle smile. "I’m fine," she said softly. "I’m just tired. I only need a little rest, and I’ll look better soon."
The two of them walked side by side toward her chamber. Before saying anything else, Edmond casually looked around. Once he was sure no one was nearby, he lowered his voice.
"Do you like the music box?" he asked with a small smile. "Have you hidden it somewhere safe?"
Rose nodded. "I hid it beneath the floorboards beside my bed," she replied just as quietly. "No one has found it."
Edmond let out a small sigh of relief. "Good."
"It’s the first gift I’ve ever received," Rose admitted with a faint smile. "I didn’t want anyone to take it away."
The moment they mentioned the music box, she was certain it was the same one she had accidentally broken before.
No wonder Edmund had been willing to spend such a huge amount of money to buy it at the auction. He had even said that the music box felt very special to him and that he wanted her to have it.
It turned out he had truly treasured it, even from another life. But then Primrose realized that he didn’t cherish the music box simply because he had bought it. He treasured it because of the smile on the Saintess’s face.
It was the first gift anyone had ever given her, and ever since that day, she had smiled more than before.
Whenever she couldn’t sleep at night—or after... attending one of those private confessions—she would quietly wind up the music box and listen to its gentle melody alone in her room.
It was one of the few things that brought her even a little comfort.
Primrose had thought these memories couldn’t possibly be worse than those private confessions, but she was completely wrong.
A few weeks later, the Cardinal made an announcement that made Primrose want to scream and escape the memories that very instant.
=
The Grand Hall of the Holy Temple was filled with priests, nobles, and devoted followers.
The Cardinal stood before them with a warm smile, his hands spread wide as if he were delivering wonderful news.
"My brothers and sisters," he began, "the Gods have shown us their endless mercy. Our beloved Saintess has grown stronger than ever before."
A wave of excited whispers spread through the hall.
"Her holy power has reached a level where she can now bear even greater burdens for mankind."
The Cardinal turned toward Rose, who stood quietly beside him with her head lowered.
"From this day onward, the Saintess will personally receive those chosen by the Temple. Their sins shall be placed upon her shoulders, and through her sacrifice, they shall leave this place cleansed by the Gods."
Rose, who was standing behind the Cardinal, could only remain silent.
In other words, the Cardinal had just announced that it would no longer be only the high-ranking nobles who could torment her in the name of washing away their sins. From now on, even ordinary people would be allowed to do the same as long as they were chosen by the Temple.
At first, Primrose believed ordinary people wouldn’t be as cruel as the nobles.
She wanted to believe that at least one person would realize how wrong it was.
But she was wrong.
Whenever they were chosen, and the Saintess told them what they could do, they did it without hesitation.
Some would ask a simple question. "Is the Temple really allowing this?"
But the moment they heard that the Temple approved of it, they would go through with the ritual.
Wasn’t that ironic?
None of them stopped to ask the question that truly mattered. "Why should I hurt you?" or "Is this even the right thing to do?"
No.
They didn’t care about that at all.
The only thing they cared about was finding a way to wash away their sins. And if hurting the Saintess was the only way to do it, then they were more than willing to do it.
Or perhaps more accurately, they simply enjoyed breaking something they had never been allowed to touch before.
Before this, Rose only had to endure a private confession once a month. Now, she was forced to go through it at least four times a week, as the Temple kept choosing different people for the ritual.
She didn’t know why the Cardinal had suddenly changed everything. But it seemed he had noticed that she had become braver lately and that she had grown closer to the Captain.
Because of that, the Cardinal assigned another soldier to guard the Saintess, forcing Rose and Edmond to stay apart for more than three months.
With the one person who had brought light into her life suddenly taken away, Rose slowly fell back into the darkness.
The small spark that had once returned to her eyes disappeared once again, even Primrose could feel her giving up.
The days became dull, the nights became longer, and Rose simply endured them one after another.
Watching those memories became so painful that even Primrose’s consciousness started to fade. In the end, she no longer wanted to see what would happen next.
Then, in the fourth month, the Saintess met an unexpected visitor inside the private confession room.
"Your Holiness," a familiar voice greeted her.
"Captain?" Rose asked in surprise. "What... are you doing here?"