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Chapter 4
I had been to the imperial palace a few times before.
I first entered at fourteen, and after that, I would come whenever the New Year imperial banquet was held.
But even so, this place felt unfamiliar to me today.
“I heard you received a divine revelation, my lady.”
The Grand Temple located within the palace grounds. And within it, the imperial family’s private banquet hall.
“Yes, Your Majesty……”
Originally, this was a place where the imperial family conducted religious ceremonies. When a new saint candidate appeared, they would be tested here under the judgment of the royal family.
‘I never imagined he would be here.’
As I lowered my head and subtly lifted my gaze, I saw a man seated at the highest point of the temple.
Even though he was simply looking down, his presence alone was overwhelmingly oppressive.
“Show respect to the sword of Frazer.”
The former second prince, and now the only Grand Duke of the empire—Blake Frazer—was right in front of me.
The Frazer Empire was an inland nation.
Despite its enormous size, with the exception of one major southern city that bordered the sea, every city was surrounded by mountains or plains.
More importantly, it did not border other nations—but instead, wild nature itself.
The mountains and fields surrounding the empire were teeming with monsters.
Long before human history was recorded, those lands had been the domain of monsters.
The empire had only been formed after humans cleared paths through those lands and unified scattered kingdoms.
And a few years ago, in order to open new routes for foreign relations, the spearhead of that expansion had been none other than—
“You may dispense with formal titles.”
The Sword of the Frazer Empire.
Blake Frazer.
“…Yes, Your Grace. Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Priscilla of House Lockhart.”
He was always on the battlefield, which made him nearly impossible to see in person.
The emperor’s only sibling, and one of only two Sword Masters in the empire—truly the empire’s treasure.
I never imagined he would suddenly appear in a place like this.
‘Even if any member of the royal family is allowed to judge a saint candidate, I heard it’s usually the empress or a princess who does it.’
He had supposedly been stationed at the borderlands until recently—yet I had no idea when he returned to the capital.
Then the duke, who had been silently observing, spoke.
“Lady Priscilla. Do you claim you have answered the call of the Iris God?”
“No. I have received the call of another god.”
“Another god? …How inconvenient, in a situation like this.”
“….”
“Inconvenient?”
I didn’t ask, but as if reading my thoughts, his aide beside him—Locke—spoke instead.
“My lady, I’m sure you are aware that His Grace was dispatched to the northern borderlands for monster subjugation.”
“Yes, I am.”
“The subjugation proceeded smoothly, but a problem occurred, which is why he returned to the capital.”
“A problem?”
“Yes. It is a matter that requires the power of a saint… but the other saint candidates—”
“Refused to go to the borderlands.”
At the duke’s interruption, I unconsciously lifted my head.
And immediately met his crimson eyes.
‘Ah, damn it—startled me.’
It seemed he had been staring directly at me the entire time. I quickly lowered my gaze again.
‘Seriously. Don’t look at me like that.’
Black hair.
Crimson eyes.
A solid build. Unrealistically perfect features.
Even while looking at him directly, he didn’t feel real at all.
‘…You really look like a male lead.’
The textbook image of a romance fantasy male lead.
His face practically screamed, “I am the protagonist.”
‘When I asked Chelsea in my childhood and even listed all the male leads I knew from romance novels, none matched him… but surely he isn’t one, right?’
He looked like the type who would grab the heroine’s wrist roughly and say something like:
“If you continue testing my patience, Lady, you will regret it.”
‘Am I reincarnated? Not possessed, right? Please tell me I’m not!’
His devastating beauty made even nonexistent narrative logic feel like it would be forced into existence.
“…Count Sen said he could not leave his territory due to affairs of his domain, and even the Iris Church’s saints within the capital refused to come—Lady. Lady?”
“….”
So that’s the Sword of the Empire.
The Frazer Empire was terrifying…
“Lady Priscilla, are you listening?”
“Yes… yes.”
“….”
Oops.
While I had been distracted by the duke’s appearance, he was now looking at me with a questioning gaze.
I quickly regained my composure.
“…Do you understand what it means to become a saint?”
“Pardon?”
“Those who serve gods tend to believe everything will be resolved in the name of their deity.”
His fingers, lightly tapping the armrest, stopped.
“There is no arrogance greater than that.”
“….”
I swallowed my breath.
His dark crimson eyes sharpened.
“This is the Frazer Empire. Even those who walk under the name of gods do so only by imperial permission.”
His low voice carried a clear intent to intimidate.
“You would do well to reconsider what it means to devote yourself as a saint.”
It was as if he saw through all my shallow schemes.
A heavy silence fell again. It was so quiet it felt like even the sound of an ant crawling could be heard.
‘…Focus. Get it together.’
I exhaled slowly, calming my tense body.
What mattered now was only one thing—being recognized as a saint.
I had thrown my family into chaos for this moment alone.
As I organized my scattered thoughts, I thought of my parents. Whatever else, they must be worrying about me entering the palace alone.
And Chelsea, waiting desperately in the carriage outside the palace gates.
I couldn’t worry them any further.
I would absolutely earn imperial recognition here.
With that resolve, I met the duke’s gaze.
“I am fully prepared, Your Grace.”
“….”
When I looked up at him with a steady posture, his eyes softened slightly.
“Then let us first hear about the revelation you claim to have received…”
I slowly rose from my seat under his gaze.
A testing voice followed behind me.
“Will you prove to me that you are a true saint?”
Proof?
That much was nothing. I had lived eighteen years in this world precisely for this moment.
This was a life-or-death struggle.
For my new life…!
At that moment, Locke, the loyal aide of Blake Frazer, felt the atmosphere in the hall shift.
‘…What?’
The first impression of Lady Priscilla had been that she was lowering her gaze and folding her hands neatly before His Grace—noble, yet fragile and pitiful.
He recalled the rumors he had heard before coming to the temple. The shocking news that the daughter of House Lockhart had received a divine revelation—not from the Iris God, but from another unknown deity.
Already, rumors were spreading through high society.
Strangely enough, he found himself sympathizing with her.
‘How pitiful she looks.’
The future of a young noble lady renowned for both beauty and talent now seemed clouded in darkness.
Her dazed expression, as if foreseeing her fate, made her look like a delicate bellflower swaying in the wind.
‘…Of all people, His Grace had to oversee this examination. If only the border operation hadn’t stalled…’
Who wouldn’t feel tense facing those crimson eyes that always painted battlefields in blood?
He could only pity the young lady.
…Or so he thought.
“…!”
The moment the lady raised her head, the air changed.
From the fragile, trembling figure emerged something else entirely—
Presence.
Even Locke, accustomed to the killing intent of battlefields, found it difficult to remain composed.
“On the day a star lost its way, split the dark sky, and fell like a burning flame… I received the revelation of God.”
