Demian was not sleeping. He was lying on his bed in his room, fiddling with the royal sword that Princess Sonnet had bestowed him. It was a good sword. It was a good thing that he was not obsessed with weapons, since, for someone greedy, they would throw themselves at the sword with interest.

It was said that an adventurer offered the sword to the King. Demian did not believe that straight away. Perhaps the King took away what the adventurer found. The land of Hautean belonged to the King, and the sword was found in a cave in Hautean, so he must have insisted that the sword belonged to him.

He did not know what it was like at the time of its discovery, but maybe because it was stored in the warehouse without anyone using it, the weapon did not reek of blood. The King of Hautean must have given Demian the sword without knowing the value of it.

For the sword of the royal family, its appearance was modest and it was not cast with any spells. It was said that relics that help its master with magic were often found among the relics of the past. This sword, on the other hand, may have felt shabby compared to that.

But Demian thought that it was a jackpot. He was glad he listened to Lara. Now he understood why she wanted to give him a sword so badly.

There was something about this sword. It was just that it had not been revealed yet. The ominous energy felt from the sword, and this heavy presence proved that the sword was by no means just a piece of blade ware.

“In any case, she's an amazing woman.”

Just as when Demian was busy admiring Lara's foresight, someone quickly walked toward his room. Suddenly the door burst open, it was Lara.

“Lara?”

Far from knocking, she entered Demian's room without hesitation. Then, after closing the door with a loud slam, she spoke in a firm voice.

“It is me.”

“What?”

“I'm the real saintess.”

Demian put the sword down on the edge of the bed, stood up, and approached Lara. But Lara suddenly rushed to Demian's bed and picked up the sword he had put down. Then, she sliced her forearm with the sword.

“Lara!”

Demain pulled Lara's body. He moved so fast that fortunately, Lara only had a very small wound on her arm.

“What are you doing?”

“Look carefully.”

Lara put her arm in front of his eyes.

“Look.”

“What the hell am I supposed to…”

Demian could not say any more. The wound was not even deep enough for blood to flow out. And yet, the torn and bloody wound on Lara's arm was healing, leaving no trace in its place. In the short time that Demian had glared, Lara's wound had completely disappeared.

“I told you, I'm the real saintess. Now, can you believe me?”

“Since when did this happen?”

“The first time I found out about this was when my father kidnapped me. It was also weird back then. I jumped out of the fire and got hit by my father, but I was fine. Not even a scratch.”

“Haa.”

“Demian.”

Lara asked him.

“Are you going to take me to the Empire?”

“If you say you don't want to go, we aren't going anywhere.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. If you tell me not to tell anyone about this, I will keep my silence until my death.”

Demian gave his reply without even thinking about it. He did not even hesitate, as if that was just natural for him. Lara's heart was hot and numb. When she thought of the ruined Demian, she kept crying. But Lara did not reveal her feelings at all. Instead, as he once said, she asked with a confident and arrogant face.

“Am I still your master lady?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, please investigate the fake saintesses. The black sorcerers too.”

“Yeah.”

“Give me a little more time. I will take you to the Empire.”

Lara would prevent the tragedy that would occur in Hautean. To do so, she must fight Sidhar—the Prince who ruled her past.

Lara decided to discuss part of this matter with her mother after a night of agonizing over it. She could not tell her everything, but at least, she had to let her know that she was the saintess. Her mother was the most important person she had ever met after going back to the past, and her mother was the one she could rely the most on when something happened.

“Sebastian!”

Early in the morning, Lara found Sebastian on his way to work and approached him.

“Can I go with you?”

Lara asked. She was already prepared to go out. Sebastian politely reached out to Lara.

“Please get in.”

Lara got on the carriage first, followed by Sebastian, who sat across from her. Sebastian was putting down a heavy briefcase next to him, and the bag was not properly closed because of the large number of documents in it.

While waiting for the carriage to depart, Lara asked Sebastian.

“Sebastian, is mother very busy these days?”

“Madam Isadora, well… She is the same as usual. Why? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing.”

How will mother react when she finds out that her daughter is the real saintess?

Lara thought that her mother would never be happy about that fact. She might even be mad and ask to withdraw all the money she had donated to the temple so far.

“When you make that face, I'm sure something has happened. I guess it's something you can't confide in me.”

“What face am I making?”

“You're squeezing your lips, your eyes are slightly droopy, and you're clenching your teeth. Usually, you will make a big decision after that.”

“How can you read all of that?”

“It's not a big deal. After serving someone who looks exactly like you for a long time… I could read your face automatically. Shall I say it's mind-reading that's limited to one person only?”

Sebastian laughed pleasantly. His dignified voice eased Lara's tension little by little.

“My mother is busy. I feel uncomfortable because it feels like I keep bothering her.”

“On the contrary, she is upset because you're so self-reliant.”

“Pardon?”

“Behaving like a spoiled child, begging for pocket money, making trouble…rebelling sometimes. That is normal. You're the type of person that won't share their burdens. You don't even talk much. For parents, it's not really a good personality.”

“Wow.”

“Please refrain from telling stories about me to Madam Isadora.”

Sebastian squinted his eyes and laughed. Lara, who was now completely relaxed, laughed after him.

“Mother is the best business magnate in Hautean. As her daughter, I can't be too spoiled.”

“You're wrong.”

Sebastian slightly pointed at his bag full of documents and shook his head.

“Madam Isadora may soon become the best on the continent.”

“Pardon? Really?”

“There is a limit due to Hautean being in the border area. But if she could, she would like to move headquarters to the Empire… She won't move because you're here.”

She did not know Isadora's business was that good. While Lara—flustered by her mother's wealth—tried to find something to say, Sebastian cleared his throat and said.

“It's also a secret that I said this.”

Chapter end