Chapter 25: The Weight of Revelation

“A former… acquaintance?”

Alice hadn’t quite grasped Eve’s meaning, but seeing the earnest look on Eve’s face, she understood that serious matters were at hand and promptly reined in her emotions.

It had to be said, the holy water Alice had concocted proved remarkably effective. In just a short span, Eve felt her external injuries had recovered by a significant margin.

Tentatively, she sat up, glancing around the room. Only she and Alice remained; it seemed the knight had already escorted the young maid out, as Alice had arranged.

This was for the best.

Feeling reassured, Eve spoke with newfound boldness. “Alice, as you’ve witnessed before, I now possess the ability to wield Holy Light.”

“This is because I completed my class advancement today, and Holy Light is one of the inherent abilities of this new profession.”

“Beyond Holy Light, I possess another ability: through listening, I can hear the voices of departed souls that others cannot perceive.”

Any of Eve’s revelations, if spoken aloud in the outside world, would have been absolutely earth-shattering at any given moment.

An undead creature gaining the power of Holy Light after a class advancement?

What in the heavens was this preposterous joke?!

What did that make all those diligent believers who tirelessly prayed to the Goddess of Light every day, yet still couldn’t master Holy Light? Were they all just utterly foolish?

If news of Eve’s ability to wield Holy Light were to spread, it was likely that many believers would suffer an immediate collapse of faith, turning instead to embrace the Goddess of Finality.

Apart from her initial surprise at witnessing the Holy Light, Alice had remained remarkably composed, listening to Eve speak in serene silence.

Having served as a Saintess for centuries, occupying such an exalted position, what kind of spectacle hadn’t she already witnessed?

Furthermore, Alice had already entertained the idea of Eve coexisting with Holy Light, so she found herself naturally accepting this new reality.

Upon hearing Eve confess her ability to hear the voices of the departed, and recalling Eve’s solemn expression, a sudden flash of insight sparked within Alice’s mind.

‘Could it be…’

Alice instantly comprehended the meaning behind Eve’s previous words, and her gaze lifted to fix intently on the writing desk in the room.

Naturally, she was well aware of the nature of departed souls.

Indeed, Eve’s subsequent words confirmed her suspicion. “Just moments ago, I activated that ability, and I heard the voice of a departed soul right here in this room.”

“That departed soul claimed to be my former personal maid, who was murdered by my father.”

“She said she overheard my father planning to kill me next, and urged me to leave Yarokan City quickly.”

Having concisely recounted her recent experiences, Eve lapsed into silence.

Alice remained silent as well, and an profound stillness settled over the entire room.

Yet Eve knew this quietude was likely the calm preceding a tempest.

This was evident from the way the Saintess’s fists were slowly clenching and hardening.

Would a departed soul lie?

Naturally, that was impossible, especially for a spirit that had persisted without dissipating until now.

Moreover, given Eve’s current appearance, it was painfully clear that her father’s scheme had undoubtedly succeeded.

After a long moment, Alice exhaled softly, her voice remarkably calm. “That departed soul must be Wennya. You only ever had that one personal maid, Eve-chan, and you once told me that Wennya grew up with you since childhood. She was someone you could trust implicitly.”

“To think that she, too…”

Alice’s chest rose and fell with a sharp intake of breath, and she exhaled slowly, forcefully suppressing the surge of anger within her heart.

“Eve-chan, did Wennya mention why your father wished to harm you?”

Although Wennya’s departed soul had confirmed Eve’s father as the perpetrator, Alice still yearned to understand his motive.

After all, Eve was still his daughter. For a father to harm his own child, there had to be a significant reason behind it.

Eve cast a troubled glance at Alice, but ultimately chose to relay the truth. “Wennya’s departed soul did indeed say… she claimed that my father was enraged and wanted me dead because I went to the slums, encountered you, and thus found the Saintess for the Holy Church.”

The moment these words were uttered, Alice’s expression transformed instantly.

‘Eve’s death… was it because of me?’

Alice suddenly recalled a specific memory.

On the day she was taken back by the Holy Church as the Saintess, the escorting party had encountered an ambush.

However, every knight in her escorting party at the time was an elite among elites, and with the Pope himself leading the contingent, they suffered no losses. In fact, the commotion from the ambush and subsequent battle hadn’t even roused her from her slumber within the carriage.

The late Pope had mentioned this to her during a casual afternoon tea before his passing; otherwise, Alice would have remained completely unaware of such an incident occurring during her journey.

At that time, Alice had only recently arrived, a socially anxious girl completely unfamiliar with her surroundings within the Holy Church. The only familiar face she knew was the old Pope who had ‘brought her back’.

When the old Pope brought up the matter, Alice had naively asked why anyone would attack the Holy Church’s convoy, especially since she had heard of the Church’s formidable reputation even then.

Hearing Alice’s words, the old Pope smiled and shook his head, explaining, “Every time a new Saintess ascends, many factions outside desire her death, hoping to dismantle the Holy Church. However, no power would openly declare this; they would only act in the shadows.”

“They believe their plans are flawless, yet in reality, the Holy Church’s network of informants spans the entire continent. Our silence does not imply ignorance.”

“As long as Your Highness, the Saintess, remains within the Holy Church, you need not worry about such things. No one within the Church would ever harm you.”

Alice understood that the old Pope’s true intention was to soothe her social anxiety while also assuring her that the Holy Church was her most steadfast support. He wanted her to know that, as the Saintess, she could completely trust the Church and view it as her sanctuary, no matter what dangers she faced.

The Holy Church had indeed provided her with shelter and protection.

But… what about Eve?

Those who desired the Saintess’s death yet failed in their attempts could easily investigate Eve, who had been intimately connected to her, and unleash their vengeance upon her.

It was crucial to remember that Eve was no Saintess; she was merely a duke’s daughter, and the only person who could truly support her was her father.

When Eve’s father ceased to offer her protection, and instead joined in the frenzied acts of retaliation, Eve’s ultimate fate had already been sealed.

“To think… my own actions ultimately played a part in Eve’s demise…”

Upon arriving at this chilling conclusion, Alice seemed utterly dispossessed of her soul, slumping back completely against the sofa.

Once the true cause of Eve’s death became clear, Alice found herself adrift in a profound state of confusion.

Revenge?

Against whom would she seek revenge?

Not only had Eve passed away, but centuries had also elapsed. Now, both those who had wished her dead and those who had caused Eve’s demise were long gone.

Seek vengeance against those factions, those families?

That was preposterous.

The Holy Church was well aware of which factions were responsible for the assassinations and ambushes that occurred with each new Saintess’s ascension. At most, they would cause minor inconveniences for those involved.

If they were to challenge each and every one of them, the Holy Church would likely have to fast-forward straight to purging the entire continent.

Of course, it wasn’t a matter of insufficient military might.

Rather, the Holy Church revered the Goddess of Light, and one of the Goddess of Light’s core tenets was order.

Not to mention purging the entire continent, even if the Holy Church were to actively intervene and destroy a single nation, the ensuing ripple effects could potentially lead to the collapse of order across the entire continent. Should the Goddess of Finality learn of it, she would likely be popping champagne in delight.

Therefore, the Holy Church had always existed on the continent as a perpetually lawful-neutral power, absolutely never initiating war against other factions.

Even Alice, whose words and actions represented the Holy Church as its Saintess, could not be so capricious as to annihilate the factions involved in that matter solely for the sake of personal grievances.