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Chapter 05
“Come on, what are you talking about?”
At Florin’s meaningful remark, Ariadne laughed and waved her hands dismissively.
It sounded too much like some elaborate joke.
After all, it had only been a short while since all the talk about Ashley losing her healing powers.
“What kind of scary thing is that to say? Especially when everyone’s already in chaos over whether Ashley’s divine power disappeared or not.”
“R-Right…?”
Though Florin agreed, she still tilted her head in disbelief at the strange situation.
After staring intently at Ariadne’s face for a long while, something suddenly seemed to occur to her, and she clapped her hands together.
“Ah!”
“Aah, you startled me.”
Ariadne widened her eyes at Florin’s sudden shout.
Florin quickly sat on the edge of the bed, lifted her skirt, and spoke.
“Here, I got scratched while coming out of the kitchen earlier today. Look.”
A scrape from a tree branch was clearly visible. Ariadne frowned instinctively, feeling oddly pained herself just looking at the wound.
“You’re right. That must’ve hurt.”
“Try putting your hand on it.”
“What?”
“No, I mean, I saw Miss Ashley doing this before. What if you really did awaken divine power? I heard it often first appears through self-healing. Hurry, here.”
Florin was completely insistent.
When Ariadne still looked doubtful, Florin grabbed her hand herself and placed it over the wound.
“……”
“……”
The two stayed like that for quite some time.
“……”
“……”
Because Florin looked so serious, Ariadne couldn’t even pull her hand away and only wore an awkward expression.
Several minutes later, Florin finally looked disappointed.
“See? I told you. There’s no way.”
“That’s strange…”
Florin had secretly hoped that Ariadne’s situation might improve, even just a little.
If Ariadne gained healing powers, no one would dare treat her carelessly anymore.
Florin was thoroughly sick of the way everyone only favored Ashley.
“Haah…”
She let out a deep sigh. If only some miracle would happen.
“Just in case, stay in your room. I’ll keep you updated on what’s happening outside. The hunting tournament is soon anyway, so the Count and Miss Ashley will have to go to the Imperial Palace.”
“Alright.”
The hunting tournament.
That was it. She would use the opportunity of the mansion being empty to escape.
Ariadne happily made her plans, but in the end, they never came true.
A few days later, on the day of the hunting tournament.
The Count personally came to Ariadne—who had naturally assumed she would be left behind alone—and informed her that she would be accompanying them to the Imperial Palace.
Of course, it was not a request but an order.
To the Count, she was now a person requiring close observation. If left alone, who knew what she might do?
At first, Ariadne expressed that she did not want to go, but soon changed her mind.
If healing power really has awakened within me…
This might actually be the perfect chance to confirm it.
There was no reason to refuse. She thought she could verify it first and escape afterward.
So she obediently headed for the carriage. Ashley was already seated inside.
Sitting with her arms crossed and eyes closed, she looked somewhat haggard.
Naturally, she must be anxious and tormented with her healing power still not returning.
But Ariadne felt no sympathy whatsoever.
Such emotions should only be reserved for those deserving of them.
Pretending not to notice her, Ariadne sat across from Ashley and turned her gaze toward the small carriage window.
“Sister.”
Unexpectedly, Ashley spoke first.
“……”
Ariadne ignored her completely and continued looking outside.
“Sister…”
When Ashley called out again, Ariadne finally looked at her with cold eyes.
“I don’t know what gives you the nerve to talk to me, but let’s travel quietly. I don’t want to hear your voice. Understood?”
At Ariadne’s sharp response, Ashley lowered her head with a timid expression that did not suit someone bold enough to attempt suicide.
Since the Count was riding in a different carriage, Ashley seemed even more dejected without anyone on her side.
Seeing that pathetic look, Ariadne unconsciously let out a scoff.
Then, in the middle of the awkward silence, the carriage door suddenly swung open.
“Ashley, move to my carriage.”
It was the Count.
Apparently afraid that Ariadne might do something to Ashley, he stared at her with harsh eyes. What irritated Ariadne even more was how Ashley hurriedly scrambled out as though Ariadne truly might harm her.
Ariadne laughed in disbelief.
After the two left, the carriage finally began moving.
Once Ariadne grew bored of looking outside, she closed her eyes. Before long, she drifted into sleep.
The distance between the estate and the Imperial Capital was neither particularly near nor far—it took two full days by carriage.
The road connecting the territory to the capital inevitably passed through the Visen Forest, a region infamous for frequent monster appearances.
Normally, they could have rested midway, but because of the delay caused by Ashley’s lost divine power, they no longer had the luxury.
It was a pitch-black night.
The carriage accelerated.
The darkness made the atmosphere even eerier.
Although knights accompanied them, monster packs that occasionally appeared in groups were still extremely troublesome.
Everyone desperately hoped to pass through Visen Forest as quickly as possible.
And then, just as everyone held their breath—
BOOM! BOOOOM!
The ground suddenly began to shake violently.
It felt as though an entire mountain were collapsing.
“AAAHHH!”
“M-Monsters!”
Of all times, it seemed they had encountered an enormous horde of monsters.
Startled, Ariadne threw open the carriage door.
She immediately saw that the carriage carrying Ashley and the Count had already overturned horribly.
She hurried toward them.
Just as she instinctively tried to check Ashley’s condition, a guard knight suddenly appeared between them and swiftly lifted Ashley into his arms.
“S-Saintess! Are you alright?!”
It was as though Ariadne didn’t even exist to him.
After worrying only about Ashley, the guard disappeared somewhere with the Count, taking only her along.
“……”
Ariadne stood frozen blankly for a moment.
Then the horrifying scene before her became painfully clear.
The monsters’ assault was savage and merciless.
Bodies were being sliced apart, blood spraying everywhere before her eyes in a way that felt unreal.
The silence from moments ago seemed like a lie.
“AAAAAH!”
The screams of people.
The dark, endless night.
The splattering crimson blood.
It was horrifying beyond words.
The knights fought back desperately, but they were hopelessly outnumbered.
There were simply too many monsters.
And as though enjoying themselves, the creatures slaughtered people one after another.
Ariadne felt the terror of death consume her in an instant.
It was the most frightening night she had ever experienced.
Though her mind screamed at her to run as she watched knights being mercilessly butchered before her, her body refused to move.
And then—
A monster suddenly leapt right in front of her.
A massive black shadow loomed over her head.
For one fleeting moment, she thought:
So this is how I die.
Without realizing it, she squeezed her eyes shut.
THRUST.
The sound of metal piercing flesh rang out, followed by something splattering down above her.
“……”
She slowly opened her eyes.
Someone had plunged a sword deep into the monster’s stomach.
The monster’s corpse collapsed before her with a heavy thud—
—and the man who had attacked it also collapsed at the same time, apparently wounded himself.
Ariadne stared blankly for a moment before somehow gathering the courage to drag the fallen man away from the battlefield and into safety.
“Haa…”
It was a man she had never seen before.
Catching her breath, she examined him.
“He doesn’t seem to be one of our knights.”
She hid herself and the man among the bushes, holding her breath.
For a long while, the clashing of swords and screams continued to echo.
Eventually, the battle seemed to settle down.
Naturally, she expected someone to come searching for her.
But no matter how long she waited, no voice called her name.
“No way…”
At last, Ariadne realized she had been left alone in the forest with the unconscious stranger.
She was utterly dumbfounded.
Never had she imagined she would be abandoned in Visen Forest—a place crawling with monsters.
No matter how much they despised her, wasn’t she still the Count’s daughter?
She looked around in disbelief, but no one was there.
A chilling silence hung in the air.
“Ugh…”
The man lying before her groaned, reminding her that she was not entirely alone.
He seemed unconscious.
“Damn it.”
Being stranded in the forest with a dying man.
She let out a deep sigh.
From what she could tell, the wound on his right arm looked severe.
She had no desire to watch someone die right in front of her, so she rolled up his sleeve to inspect the injury and stop the bleeding.
“Just don’t die.”
Muttering to herself, she placed her hand over the wound.
Suddenly, shimmering light began to appear.
Before her eyes, the wound started healing.
Startled, Ariadne jerked her hand away.
The light flickered briefly and vanished.
“W-What was that?”
Confused, she alternated her gaze between her own hand and the man’s wound.
Just in case, she tried touching it again, but this time nothing happened.
Still, she understood that what had flowed from her hand moments ago was something very similar to healing power.
Yet she still could not fully believe it was truly hers.
“Mmm…”
Perhaps because his wound had healed somewhat, the man slowly opened his eyes and exhaled raggedly.
He was a prince from a neighboring empire who had come to Rensha on important business, timing his visit with the hunting tournament.
Because the two empires rarely interacted, the foreign prince had apparently underestimated the danger of Visen Forest.
Having departed in haste with only a handful of escort knights, he seemed to have struggled badly against the massive monster horde.
Perhaps sensing faintly that the place Ariadne touched had healed, the very first thing he did upon waking was ask her identity.
“You… the Empire’s… Saintess?”
And with those words, the prince lost consciousness once more.
