The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 182
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Part 2, Chapter 29
Thus, religion became a new driving force that sustained Theo.
“Saya.”
He raised his head toward his blood relative, who had grown a little more than he remembered.
“I’m fine now too. I’ve shaken off that day. So you should forget it too.”
“….”
“I won’t obsess over you anymore just because you’re my blood relative either.”
Saya also remembered her brother’s face from three years ago, which had been endlessly distorted.
The devout holy knight before her eyes had changed so much that it was hard to imagine he was the same boy who had spoken in such anguished tones that day.
“Now I can fully understand what you said. Perhaps we had different paths to take from the beginning.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The Saint is someone who will save this world. Supporting her is the Goddess’s will and the mission given to me.”
Just as Saya had found her place by Medeia’s side, Theo had also found his place.
“Wait, Theo-“
Her brother’s appearance resembled that of High Priest Paulo, who had blindly tried to favor the Saint.
Saya frowned.
“Isn’t something strange? You were at that banquet too. The Goddess’s will? How can you be so certain? The Saint, that woman is a little strange-“
“Stop it! Do you think I don’t know that the Princess of Valdina, your precious master, deliberately put the Saint in a predicament?”
Theo snapped sharply. Saya didn’t hold back either.
“Put her in a predicament? Do you know what you’re saying when that Saint was trying to frame our Highness? That woman-!”
“Saya, if you’re thinking of sowing discord, give it up. No matter what you say, our faith won’t be shaken.”
“Theo!”
“What’s certain is that the Goddess chose the Saint. The Saint is the only one we’ve been waiting for all this time, the one who will save this world from its end.”
Saya hesitated.
Her brother truly believed firmly that the Saint was the savior sent by the Goddess.
‘How is that different from the beliefs of those rebels you used to believe in?’
Saya swallowed the words that were about to burst out.
“So go and tell her. If your precious master tries to slander the Saint with trickery one more time and shake our Holy Kingdom,”
Theo paused his breathing for a moment and looked at his sister coldly.
“You too, and she too, will surely pay the price.”
As if his business was finished there, he left without lingering.
Watching her brother walk away, Saya felt dizzy for a moment.
Still, he was her only blood relative.
Even if she had severed their ties, she couldn’t deny the thread-like affection that remained.
It was already disturbing to see her brother again when she didn’t even know if he was dead or alive, but now he believed so deeply in that sinister Saint…
“Theo, what on earth are you…”
Saya’s long sigh scattered under the thick twilight that had settled.
However, Saya didn’t know.
That unlike his action of coldly turning his back and ignoring the reunion with his sister, Theo’s face was utterly confused.
‘It’s the Princess’s doing.’
Theo had also witnessed the goddess statue suddenly shedding tears of blood at the banquet hall.
While people were surprised and shocked, Theo’s eyes first sought out Medeia.
‘Medeia, that woman orchestrated it.’
After that, the 1st Prince of Kazen appeared, and the situation changed in an instant.
In the worst direction for Saint Rachel.
“That can’t be. That’s fake. She wouldn’t deny me. I’m the Saint, so how could-“
It was as if a spider’s web was tightening around Rachel step by step.
It was around then that their eyes met.
“….”
The moment he met those intense green eyes that seemed to pierce coldly even from a distance, Theo was certain. That this entire situation had been calculated at her fingertips.
He knew because he had experienced it firsthand.
Three years ago, had he himself, who didn’t know what to do between the rebels and his sister, been as pale as the Saint was now?
The Princess of Valdina didn’t avoid his gaze.
She was unwavering, as if nothing would change whether Theo realized the truth or not.
No, had his existence ever had even the slightest influence on that woman in the first place?
In the end, he was the first to look away.
His fingertips trembled. The fear he had forgotten surged up.
It felt as if he, not the Saint, was the one wrapped tightly in the spider’s web.
So he couldn’t do anything. Despite revering the Goddess and worshipping the Saint so much.
His devout faith built over three years of crossing the line between life and death ultimately couldn’t overcome the massive wall that was Medeia.
He was ashamed of his weakness and simultaneously angry.
Why on earth couldn’t he escape from Medeia, from that woman’s influence?
Then, and now.
‘I mustn’t waver. I can’t let that woman shake my life again.’
Theo bit his lip.
He struggled to erase the small face that was somehow vividly etched in his mind and wouldn’t disappear.
“Theo, perfect timing. I need to see the High Priest now, so you escort the Saint to her quarters.”
Knight Commander Leonor of the Temple Knights spotted Theo and gestured to him.
In fact, serving the Saint was a duty given only to veterans among the Temple Knights.
Several seasoned knights knew that entrusting this role to Theo meant the Commander not only trusted him but was grooming him as his successor.
“I’m counting on you.”
The Commander, who didn’t notice Theo’s hesitation, patted his shoulder. He swallowed a sigh and nodded.
“Yes, Commander.”
The turmoil swirling in his chest was hidden beneath the face of a devout and expressionless young knight.
“Please take care of me, Sir Theo.”
Rachel looked at Theo and smiled slightly.
Her blonde hair sparkled in the sunlight. Her white skin glowed even more sacredly.
A brilliant radiance like the rising sun seemed to be cast over the Saint.
‘Who could say this person is not a representative?’
Theo felt a rebellious spirit rising in his chest.
Along with it was a faint guilt for ultimately turning away from the Saint due to his fear of the Princess.
“Yes, Sir Theodore, I will serve the Saint until my last breath, following the Goddess’s will.”
Rachel’s eyes widened as if slightly surprised. Then she immediately smiled broadly.
“Thank you, Sir Theo. I too will protect the people of this land and convey the Goddess’s will until my last breath. No matter what hardships come or what thorny paths unfold, I won’t stop.”
Perhaps recalling recent events, moisture briefly flickered in Rachel’s eyes. But she soon blinked her large eyes to shake off the tears and spoke resolutely.
“That… is the mission the Goddess gave me and the reason I’m here as the ‘Saint.'”
“…Yes, Saint. I will be with you.”
‘Goddess. I will never waver again. I will follow only your path.’
At that moment, Theo made a silent vow.
That he would never again recall those green eyes or be shaken by that silent aura.
But as always, human vows are shallow, and it is the law of this world that the future is full of chaos and not even an inch ahead can be seen.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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