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Translator: iveyra | Editor: Ms. Sheep\n\n
Sieg was waiting in the living room when I came out after taking a refreshing bath and changing my clothes. When I saw his face, something I had forgotten for a while crossed my mind.\n\nâWhere did you send Roanne?â\n\nIt canât be that he just disposed of her quietly, right? Sieg answered my question with an expression that looked like he was saying âof all things, youâre curious about a particularly useless thingâ.\n\nâI sent her to the convent.â\n\nâThe convent?â\n\nA convent is a facility where people without holy power are trained to become a member of the clergy. Though they are divided according to their grades, most of them are in charge of assisting the members of the clergy who have holy power. Except for a few outstanding talents, frankly speaking, they are just servants and maids belonging to the Church. Nonetheless, a cleric is a cleric, so they canât even get married and they have to devote their whole life to serving the Goddess. And he sent her there?\n\nâ⊠Isnât that too harsh?â\n\nâBecause thereâs no way a stupid greedy person wonât be tempted again. Even though it is a convent, the environment is good because it is exclusively for nobles who donate a considerable amount of money. As long as the donation isnât cut off, she wonât be sent to serve at the Church. It may be a bit boring, but she will live comfortably for life.â\n\nIs it a facility where nobles who are a nuisance but canât be disposed of recklessly are sent? Well, anyway, itâs better than being imprisoned for insulting a royalty.\n\nâWhat about the younger brother?â\n\nâSince thereâs no problem with his bloodline, Iâd like to send him to be adopted into a proper family or get him enrolled in an educational facility.â\n\nâHmm.â\n\nItâs better to do as Sieg says. Unless I take care of him, thereâs nothing else I can do for him. With this, is the matter concerning Count Epheriaâs household completely over?\n\nâMiss.â\n\nâHuh?â\n\nSieg glanced in the direction of the closed bathroom door then said.\n\nâI think you should start telling Sofia now.â\n\nâAh!â\n\nI totally forgot.\n\nâIf you donât want to keep it a secret from her, please tell her today.â\n\nâO, okay.â\n\nI have to tell her. As I was getting really nervous, I swallowed dryly while thinking of Sofia who was cleaning up the bathroom.\n\n\n\nShortly after Sieg left, Sofia, who had finished cleaning up the bathroom, came out. With a refreshed expression, she sat down on the sofa and lowered her rolled-up sleeves, then she came in front of me.\n\nâItâs a bit early, but since you must be tired, would you like me to get the bed ready for you to sleep?â\n\nâ⊠Mhm.â\n\nI shook my head and beckoned her to sit across from me. Sofia tilted her head and sat on the sofa with a table between us.\n\nâSofia.â\n\nâYes?â\n\nâI have something to tell you.â\n\nâWhat is it?â\n\nHer light tone which indicated that she had no idea about the situation at all, made my heart feel heavy. I could hardly guess how Sofia would react after she found out everything. I donât know whether she would refuse to believe it, get angry for being deceived, mourn Sillaâs death, do all three, or perhaps show different reaction. But hopefully, her reaction wouldnât be too extreme. If she does something that could pose a threat, not only Sieg but also Ortzen wonât just wait and see.\n\nAs I thought of this, the feeling of hesitation came forth strongly from inside my heart. If I could, I would hide it until the end. I would feel sorry for Silla, but it might be better for Sofia to just live without knowing anything. But, only the Goddess knows what will happen in the future. The longer I kept her by my side, the more I have no choice but to reveal the truth. There was a way to send her away from me without saying anything, but due to her personality, she wouldnât accept it readily.\n\nâThis is going to be hard to believe, butââ\n\nI let out a sigh then continued.\n\nâIâm not Silla Epheria.â\n\nâ⊠Pardon me?â\n\nSofia looked at me with an expression that looked like she was asking âwhat nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?â\n\nâWhat do you mean?â\n
âSilla Epheria was sacrificed as a repayment for a contract with the Demon King. It seemed that the culprit is most likely the dead Countess. I mean, the Countess who died this time.â\n\nThat last part was still speculative. It might have been the fatherâs doing, but it would be better if that wasnât the case, for Sillaâs and Sofiaâs sakes. If we catch that stupid Demon King without any trouble this time, weâll know for sure. The look in Sofiaâs eyes seemed like she still couldnât understand what I was saying.\n\nâA contract with⊠the Demon King?â\n\nâYes. A contract with the demons normally uses someoneâs soul as a repayment. If the terms of the contract are fulfilled, the soul, which was offered as a sacrifice, will belong to the demons.â\n\nâI, Iâm not sure what you meanâŠ..â\n\nSofiaâs voice grew fainter. She said she didnât understand, but it wasnât that she didnât have any idea at all.\n\nâAnd the Demon King who possessed the soul of Silla Epheria was the demon I was trying to kill.â\n\nâMiss⊠was?â\n\nâSofia. Iâm not your young lady, Silla Epheria. Iâm Roel, the leader of the Holy Knight Squad.â\n\nThere wasnât any response. Sofia was staring blankly at me while frowning slightly. Though it was reasonable for her to react like that, as expected, it seemed hard to accept.\n\nIn the meantime, I held back sighing and began to tell her slowly and in detail what had happened chronologically. Of course, with the exemption of some parts she shouldnât know.\n\nâSo, the reason why I got engaged to Captain Jullius, and the reason that Siegfred, who was originally the adjutant of the leader of Holy Knight Squad, became a butler out of the blue, it is all because I am Roel, not Silla Epheria.â\n\nIâve explained this much, but Sofia still looked as if she was in a trance. I got up from my seat, then touched the sacred crystal at the end of the stand which was placed on one side of the living room.\n\nâSofia.â\n\nâ⊠Yes?â\n\nSofia replied reflexively.\n\nâThis was made by injecting holy power into the sacred crystal. Therefore, if you have holy power, itâs possible to control the amount of light.â\n\nAs a holy knight, I have no talent in releasing my holy power outside, but I can control the sacred crystal to a certain extent. Concentrating my holy power on the hand that was touching the sacred crystal, the round sphere which emitted a faint light that was even barely noticeable during the day, was brightened up dazzingly in an instant. I took my hand off the sacred crystal and looked back at Sofia.\n\nâHoly power doesnât come from the body, but the soul. Silla Epheria had no holy power.â\n\nThe holy power is normally something youâre gifted with the moment youâre born or is manifested before the age of ten at the latest. It wasnât that it wasnât a rare occurrence when it was manifested after you got older to some degree, but it was a truly rare occurrence. For example, like the saintessâ case. A new saintess was born when the former saintess died or lost her qualifications, and she was usually a girl in her mid-to-late teens.\n\nIn other words, there was almost no chance that the 19-year-old Silla would suddenly have holy power, and ordinary people, who were not clerics, also knew that holy power only came into existence when you were a child. Of course, she could hide the fact that she had holy power, but Sofia had always been by Sillaâs side. Even if a person with holy power doesnât use healing magic, their wound heals more than twice as fast as ordinary people, so there is no way that the person who stayed close to and took care of them wonât notice.\n\nâThenâŠâŠ.â\n\nSofia pressed her lips together into a thin line for a long time.\n\nâThen, Miss Silla isâŠâŠâ\n
âDead. It was difficult to avoid since she had been set as the sacrifice for the contract. Instead, her soul was swapped with mine, so it wouldnât be devoured by the Demon King and it would safely return to the Goddessâ side.â\n\nIn order to escape the fate of being a sacrifice, there is no choice but to kill the demons who signed the contract. Therefore, if Silla Epheria had had a bit more good luck, I would have been able to kill the Demon King safely and free her from the contract. No, if that happened, she would have been forced to marry the attempted rapist or killed by the Countess, so it wouldnât have made much of a difference.\n\nSofia didnât say anything again for quite some time. As she was sitting quietly with her head down, she bit her lips strongly once, then she raised her head and looked at me.\n\nâFirst of all⊠thank you, Sir Roel.â\n\n⊠All my predictions were wrong. Her voice continued to stutter.\n\nâThanks to Sir Roel, my lady⊠could escape from the hands of the demonsâŠ.. For you to have done that much, thank you.â\n\nâNo, IâŠ..â\n\nHmm, this is kind of awkward.\n\nâI, Iâm sorry for deceiving you. But at that time, I thought you wouldnât just believe me even if I told you⊠and the situation around wasnât good.â\n\nâ⊠Yes, I know.â\n\nSofia wiped her wet eyes using the back of her hand and got up from her seat.\n\nâCould you give me some time off, like a day or two? I need time to sort out my mind.â\n\nâOh, okay. Sure. Iâll tell Sieg.â\n\nâThank you.â\n\nShe bowed to me and went outside. From the sound of her footsteps, it looked like she went to her room. After hearing the sound of a door opening and closing, I flopped down on the sofa and let out a long sigh.\n\nââŠâŠ. I wonder whatâs going to happen.â\n\nIâm still not sure what decision Sofia will make. However, I was relieved because I thought I had gotten through the worst part of the situation. Judging from her reaction, it didnât look like she was so angry about being deceived that she would bring the truth to light or go to court. If she tells me she doesnât want to stay here anymore, Iâll provide a proper place for her. Of course, as she knows a lot of information, she canât avoid surveillanceâŠ..\n\nâ⊠Iâm tired.â\n\nI felt better after meeting Captain Jullius, but now I felt dejected again.