The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 212

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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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Anyway, being a pragmatist, Tesagh seemed to think that as long as I was safe, it didn’t matter even though Ailren was on his mind.

“Since time has been delayed, let’s go straight to the cave. But the sense of distance seems subtly off.”

“Ah, about that, just a moment.”

I gripped the necklace. Indeed, the map inside the necklace was different from the scenery visible to the eye.

The direction the red dot was pointing to was none other than the middle of the lake.

Having made our way through the forest, we carefully stepped onto the lake. Surprisingly, the water was as solid as ground.

Glancing back at the direction of the cave created by illusion, Tesagh asked.

“Is it a barrier created by ‘that thing’?”

“No, it seems like a barrier that originally exists in this place. To prevent people from carelessly setting foot in the Sanctuary of the World Tree. That’s probably why Eivor’s main body needed the ruby tablet as a map too. Because of this illusion, he couldn’t find the location.”

It was when we arrived at the middle of the lake. A cool breeze blew from somewhere.

Taking one more step in the direction the wind was coming from, the pure white surroundings suddenly became dim.

We had found the real path to the sanctuary.

Perhaps because it was a space imbued with divine power. Normally, being a cave, there shouldn’t have been a single point of light, but there was a gentle light source that allowed us to see ahead.

“This way.”

Borrowing a pocket knife from Tesagh, I tore off the hem of my dress and walked.

There were many forks and the structure was quite complex, but with the necklace, I could stride ahead confidently.

No, actually, I felt like I could find the way even without the necklace. Strangely, the direction my heart was drawn to was exactly the path to the sanctuary.

In the distance, I could see a stone wall from which blue light was seeping out. I knew instinctively.

That place was the entrance to the sanctuary.

“The path is within you.”

‘It was a literal meaning. Grandfather’s words.’

It was when we had almost reached the entrance to the sanctuary.

As I was pondering over what Grandfather had said, Ailren carefully asked.

“Lady Elisha, if I may be so bold, that necklace is?”

“Ah, this. Grandfather gave it to me. It’s a necklace I’ve always worn since childhood, which I don’t even remember, but today when I saw the four pieces of the ruby tablet combined, I understood.”

Eivor from my past life looked at my necklace and said.

“Ah… I wondered why it was fragmented this time. It was because of you.”

Until now, when appraising the ruby tablet, I had only considered whether it was a holy relic.

But when I carefully observed the four pieces combined, I seemed to understand.

“That they’re the same ruby.”

The ruby tablet and my necklace were identical not only in color and tone but also in inclusions and refraction patterns.

Crucially, there was a piece with an unnaturally broken part at the edge.

It was a point I hadn’t known because it was a piece I hadn’t personally appraised, one that had been left where Eivor died.

And above all…

‘When I infused it with holy power, it glowed as if responding. I heard a voice too.’

A little while ago in the banquet hall, when introducing the ruby tablet, I had touched all four pieces.

Though it wouldn’t have been visible to others, when my hand touched it, the light emitted by the ruby tablet became intense.

At the same time, my necklace also glowed. As if saying this was its rightful place.

And then the voice I had heard each time I touched the ruby tablet rang clearly in my ears again.

「Leave this place immediately. …Michele Fiochedade Rionet.」

The sentence I knew wasn’t the end.

The voice continued.

「So that this child can become a guide, and so that she won’t fall into others’ hands, you must protect her.」

The moment I heard that voice, I realized.

“I was…”

How I could have become Grandfather’s granddaughter.

“I was collateral entrusted to Grandfather along with this necklace.”

Why Grandfather had no choice but to listen to those vague words.

“It was arranged so I could be used as a guide like now. By whoever entrusted me.”

Thud.

There was the sound of footsteps stopping.

When I turned around, I saw Ailren with an expression of not knowing what to say, and Tesagh with a somewhat anxious and angry expression.

I smiled slightly and waved my hand dismissively.

“Of course, considering the situation, that’s what it seems like, but it doesn’t mean I agree with it.”

“Right, but why…”

“I guess I just understand why Grandfather didn’t particularly like the temple and the World Tree. Grandfather wouldn’t like people being treated as objects.”

The person who entrusted me must have been a high-ranking temple official, or perhaps someone in the position of a divine apostle.

Maybe it was the World Tree itself. I don’t know if it’s in human form, so I’m not sure if I should say ‘itself’.

‘Is it because the ruby tablet isn’t in complete form?’

Rugenote could read the moment when Eivor and Crescens met just from its traces.

But the ruby tablet only let me hear voices. If all five pieces were combined and made whole, could I also see moments from Grandfather’s past?

Could I find out exactly the circumstances under which I was entrusted, and who I really am?

Have I really lived a life to stop ‘that thing’?

I don’t know.

But what’s certain is.

“I have no intention of being satisfied with my usefulness as just a guide.”

I will not live as a tool.

If I had intended to do so, I wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.

“So please don’t tell me to wait here or anything like that. Understood?”

Ailren, who hesitated, must have really been thinking of doing that. After a long while, he nodded as if he had no choice.

Meanwhile, Tesagh looked at me with a complicated expression.

“I wasn’t planning to tell you to wait or anything like that.”

“That’s a relief. You acknowledge that my full strength would be helpful, right?”

“That’s secondary, but you wouldn’t listen even if I told you anyway.”

I felt completely deflated.

Should I say it’s fortunate that he knows me well…

“But saying something like leaving dangerous matters to me and the Captain of the Royal Knights would be okay, right.”

Tesagh, who had pulled my hand to hold it, gazed at me intently.

His eyes were tender and earnest. I answered slowly.

“Of course.”

“Your answer is late.”

“What am I supposed to do if you complain about even being late.”

“…You promised.”

Tesagh, who had been looking down at my unscarred hand, said “Ah,” and spoke.

“You said using holy power on people is difficult, but you can use it freely on me.”

“What?”

“‘That thing’ can’t control my mind. So it controls me by binding my body.”

Tesagh made a gesture of grasping at the air and explained that it felt like this.

“Then wouldn’t it work to think of destroying the force surrounding my body?”

“Uh, but…”

Unfairly, ‘that thing’s’ words were correct.

I was still inexperienced in using holy power. Not only did I lack practical experience, but above all, I was reluctant to use it on people.

It seemed to be because of my subconscious belief that my holy power had stolen Grandfather’s memories.

However, stroking my hesitant shoulder, Tesagh spoke in an affectionate tone.

“It’s okay. So what if you slip and get hurt? The commander will heal you.”

“…You’re not expecting me to hit the mark every time from the start?”

“As someone who knows your pea-shooting skills, it’s a bit difficult to say such empty words.”

“What?!”

Tesagh, who had been laughing, soon spoke seriously.

“That’s much better than doing nothing and watching other people, especially you, get hurt.”

“…”

“Don’t hesitate. I trust you.”

I think I would have thought the same way.

This time I answered quickly.

“Yes.”

Tesagh smiled and lightly kissed my hand.

“Then I’ll open the door.”

I took a deep breath standing in front of the stone wall from which a faint blue light was seeping out.

The stone wall was very cold. I closed my eyes and infused it with holy power.

Rumble―

I heard the sound of the door opening, and when I opened my eyes to the light.

“…My goodness.”

I faced the sanctuary that no one had ever visited.

Having imagined the sanctuary in the holy painting or the recreated sanctuary in the basement of the temple, I was momentarily speechless.

“This is…”

Tesagh and Ailren, who entered behind me, gasped.

That place was the frozen north.

A frozen wasteland that was far too vast to be inside a cave, yet had not a single point of warmth or life in that vast land.

That land where frost had taken the place of flowers and ice pillars jutted sharply toward the sky.

‘This is the sanctuary? Where the World Tree is?’

It seemed as if time had stopped.

A sharp, cold wind blew.

While enduring the cold that made my body naturally shrink, as I looked at the large structure that was white and frozen with tangled frost.

I gasped.

“Lina!”

Lina was collapsed beneath the frozen World Tree.

I ran along the path and helped Lina sit up. Her complexion was pale and her lips were blue.

“Lina, Lina! Are you okay? Are you conscious?”

That’s when it happened.

Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of stepping on snow and frost echoed ominously throughout the sanctuary.

“She won’t be able to get up. Not for a while. I put her to sleep, because she was resisting so fiercely.”

Bang!

The entrance closed.

“Well… anyway, welcome. It’s a bit cold and shabby, isn’t it?”

Ah.

I sighed and turned my head toward the direction the voice was coming from.

“But it’s okay.”

It was a voice I knew.

The person who walked out to the center of the sanctuary, crushing the blade-like ice underfoot, was,

“You won’t have to look at this state for long anyway.”

Crescens.

He smiled with his green eyes narrowed. Like a boy.

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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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