"I'll be going for now. My head hurts a bit."
"Ah, really. Go ahead. Shall I call a doctor?"
Since that day, Roselyn often had headaches and eye pain.
'Why am I acting like this again?'
She frowned and pressed her palm firmly against her temple. As she nodded slightly, the maid standing beside her approached.
"Miss, I will escort you to your room."
"... Right."
The moment Roselyn took a step forward, the world spun around.
'What am I going to do with this damn body...'
A scream-like voice called her name, but Roselyn couldn't even answer and fainted right then and there.
He was a really pathetic, water-weak person.
***
"... What?"
Roselyn opened her eyes wide and frowned slightly at the fact that her vision was blurry no matter how much she rubbed them.
Rustle.
Roselyn flinched violently at the faint sound.
She frowned and took a deep breath.
Her body tensed up instinctively.
"Ah. You're awake."
Some things bring back bad memories.
Roselyn's life on the run was by no means enjoyable. If one were to dwell on it, there might be some good memories, but that was all.
Moreover, Roselyn was beautiful even from an objective standpoint, so there were many people after her.
Nevertheless, Roselyn survived well.
However, there were certainly things that even she could not avoid.
In short, she meant things like what happened when she was taken to the imperial palace and her person was detained.
"Aren't you curious what kind of scream a person would let out if you gouged out their eyes, Princess?"
"..."
"I'm curious, though. I'm also curious whether the noble Princess, who has managed to evade capture so well until now, will beg me to spare her life or not."
"Judging by that vulgar and cheap way of speaking, I think I know why you're stuck in this stinking, filthy dungeon. It looks like this is the place that suits you best."
Even while enduring persistent and gloomy torture, Roselyn openly mocked her opponent.
"...Hee! You have your life in my hands, and yet you have no idea where you stand!! I could kill you anytime. I told you I could!!"
"No, you can't kill me. The Emperor won't permit it. If you kill me, you'll be hacked to pieces while still alive."
Sometimes she giggled like a madman.
"Ah. Shall I explain it more so even a fool can understand? Even though I am in this state, a worthless commoner like you is a being living in mud even lower than mine."
"You, you bitch! How dare you! Do you know who I am! I am like a god here! All you need to do is bow down at my feet, beg for your lives, and confess what you know! You guys...!"
"Hahaha, it seems you are quite enjoying being the chief rat of the sewers, so keep doing it happily."
Sometimes, she vigorously provoked the other person.
"You filthy bastard! Do you think I don't know how you guys survive outside?! Fine, let's see how long you can hold that haughty arrogance up...!"
"Every time you open your mouth, it smells like a sewer. And there is no way I, a nobody like you, would ever entertain a lowly commoner like you."
That day, Roselyn lost an eye and stopped the bleeding with a heated iron.
"...Uh. Are you okay?"
Sometimes, chilling memories would come to mind just from the voice alone.
Roselyn blinked once with her lips tightly closed.
Your vision is a bit blurry right now, isn't it? It is due to the aftereffects. It seems the burns were quite a shock to you.
"..."
Have you ever suffered burns in the past? You are physically fine, but if you have trauma related to fire, you may occasionally show abnormal reactions even if you are otherwise healthy. You will be fine soon once you calm down.
The very familiar voice was less rough than she remembered and was soft without any metallic sound.
“Who are you?”
"Ah. I am Asidore, a mid-level priest dispatched from the temple by imperial command."
Asidore.
Only then did Roselyn smile faintly and shrug her shoulders.
"Is that so? Thanks for the help."
"No. It is simply what I ought to do as an apostle of God."
"Apostle of God, you know..."
Roselyn muttered softly as she ruminated on the memory.
People always try to quickly erase bad memories, but Roselyn was always the opposite.
She tended to remember bad memories for a longer time.
After mulling it over and over again, to seize a single moment of opportunity and tighten her grip on that lifeline.
It was holding one's breath for the day of revenge that might come suddenly one day.
Asidore, who existed in the world Roselyn remembers, was working as a high-ranking official in an underground prison under the name 'Sing'.
A torturer who can never get to the surface
Sing was an exceptional human who possessed the Abyss of Healing while working as an advisor, but his appearance was very bizarre.
He was a man with severe burns. His entire body was a mess, with the skin melting away, and perhaps his vocal cords had been damaged in the process, as his voice was always mixed with a metallic sound and a raspy, guttural quality.
Anyway, the point is that it was a pretty terrible sight.
'So you were originally a priest.'
Actually, she had a hunch.
The Abyss of Healing was something that most people who had taken refuge in the temple possessed.
Among them, the stronger the divine power, the stronger the power of the Abyss becomes.
The Abyss usually awakens in individuals due to innate talent.
However, there was just one. There was an Abyss that could be received even without talent, and that was the Abyss of Healing.
Even so, not just anyone could receive it. One needed divine power to take refuge in the temple, and only by taking refuge in the temple and becoming a child of the gods could one receive it.
"It is quite a pity that I cannot see the face of the person who helped me."
She originally wanted to see what kind of face he had.
"You will be able to see it soon. Just relax, get a good night's sleep, and you will be fine when you wake up."
"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that."
Roselyn answered leisurely, slowly racking her brain.
'Come to think of it, there was one priest who was sentenced to be burned at the stake.'
The charge is clearly...
'Was it because he had laid his hands on forbidden magic?'
Originally, capital punishment was generally carried out only by hanging and beheading.
Hanging was usually carried out on nobles, while beheading was usually carried out on non-nobles.
Among them, burning at the stake was a punishment inflicted when one reached for evil darkness, such as forbidden black magic or black sorcery.
'Amazingly, you survived there...'
So, instead of maintaining that tenacious vitality, he became a torturer who never saw the light of day for the rest of his life.
It was understandable that his personality would become so bad.
"But you said it was an imperial decree earlier. Isn't this the Duke's estate?"
"Yes, this is the Imperial City. You collapsed on your way here after receiving an audience with His Majesty; do you not remember?"
Roselyn frowned.
'Now that I think about it, it was like that.'
She gently and slowly rubbed her temples with her palms. She seemed completely out of her mind these days.
"How many days has it been?"
"Today marks the third day."
"...Father must be in an uproar."
Roselyn was overcome with fatigue as she recalled comforting Cherty, who had run away like a tragic heroine.
"Well then, I will be going now. To be honest, there wasn't much I could do for you other than to restore your strength. If you need anything, there is a pull cord next to the side table, so please pull it."
Roselyn nodded at the other person's explanation. Whether it was revenge or whatever, she could only do it once her body recovered.
Bam.
The door was closed.
'All that's left is the missing persons case.'
It's about time the culprit behind the missing person case came out.
Because the culprit in the disappearance case and the culprit in the arson case had the same origin.
If the arson incidents have started, the culprit behind the disappearances will also gradually begin to move in earnest.
'I don't know what happened with the epidemic.'
It was when Roselyn let out a sigh of frustration.
The sound of a doorknob turning was heard.
Roselyn stopped moving abruptly.
Not being able to see had now become a trauma for Roselyn.
After all, the advisor 'Sing' had a terrible personality.
He enjoyed watching the blind prisoners tremble in fear.
And Roselyn tended to make a conscious effort not to give such pleasure.
Someone who had been slowly approaching stopped abruptly next to the bed where Roselyn was lying.
"..."
It seemed they were remaining silent and taking no action, as not even the slightest rustling was heard.
Soon, Roselyn felt a large, warm hand resting on her forehead.
The hand slowly stroked her cheek and seemed to tidy her disheveled hair once, then slowly moved away.
'Who is it?'
Roselyn pretended to be asleep so as not to be caught that she was awake.
It was because, judging by the cautious touch, it did not feel like harm would be inflicted.
"Roselyn..."
The moment his hand grasped Roselyn's, her eyes widened behind her eyelids at the voice she heard and the scene that flashed through her mind.
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