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Chapter 15: The Saintess’s happiness

Chapter 15: The Saintess’s happiness

The afternoon light pierced through the stained glass of the Holy Temple, scattering pale patches of color across the white stone floor. On the highest level of the eastern tower, Anna sat alone by the window, her silver-white hair falling down her back, the long dress of the Church covering her slender frame.

A white cloth band embroidered with gold thread concealed her eyes, and combined with her delicate features and gentle aura, she looked no different from the image of the Saintess that tens of thousands of believers bowed their heads to pray to each day.

A faint purple spark suddenly appeared before her.

Anna immediately sat up straight.

The light quickly coalesced into an envelope, and before it could even fall to the table, two pale hands had already caught it.

"Finally back."

Her voice was very soft, but the smile on her lips right now was more genuine than any she had ever given to the faithful below.

She didn’t rush to open it.

Her fingertip slowly traced along the edge of the paper, pausing where the envelope had been folded, then moving to the seal. Anna had done this with every letter before, as though through each tiny mark she could imagine how Lathel had held it before sending it away.

Two months.

Seventy-two letters.

Anna remembered nearly every detail.

Some days Lathel replied very quickly; other days the letter didn’t return until evening. Sometimes his handwriting pressed heavier than usual; sometimes a small streak of ink trailed off where his hand had accidentally brushed the page before it dried. To anyone else, these things were utterly insignificant, but Anna had committed all of them to memory.

Even the smallest changes in Lathel’s writing habits had gradually become something she could recognize from just a few lines.

Anna placed her thumb on the upper left corner of the envelope.

’Perhaps when he folded the letter, he held it right here.’

Thinking that her hand was resting on the exact spot Lathel had once touched, her body trembled faintly.

The letter magic Anna had claimed was created on a whim out of boredom had never, from start to finish, truly selected its recipient at random.

She had used a life imprint still lingering deep within her soul as coordinates, then combined it with Life Magic to create a single, exclusive channel. The distance between the two of them could stretch hundreds or thousands of kilometers, and Lathel could change where he lived, but as long as his soul still existed, the letter would continue to find him.

The recipient had only ever been one person.

Lathel.

Anna hid this because she understood his nature.

A woman he had never met suddenly appearing, saying she knew his name, knew his soul imprint, and even remembered things that hadn’t yet happened in this life, would certainly put him on guard.

She didn’t want their first reunion to begin with wariness.

So Anna chose a slower path.

First, the letters.

Then conversations that carried no particular meaning.

Weather.

Books.

Food.

Trivial stories that even the listener might forget within a few days.

Anna didn’t care how important the content was. What she needed was to let her existence seep, little by little, into Lathel’s life.

One letter today.

One letter tomorrow.

And someday, if the letter didn’t appear, Lathel would think of the stranger who always wrote to him on his own.

For Anna, that alone was already a perfect beginning.

She used the tiniest thread of mana to separate the seal, careful enough not to tear even the corner of the paper, before taking out the letter inside.

[Someone who had been ill for a very long time finally woke up.]

[Her body is still weak, but she’s gradually getting better.]

Anna knew who Lathel was talking about the moment she read it.

Leviana.

Her return didn’t come as much of a surprise. Everyone who had participated in the final ritual had paid the price with their lives and souls, so if Anna herself could come back, the other women likely could as well.

She continued reading.

[I’m very happy.]

Anna’s fingertip paused.

She stroked the line once, then pressed the paper against her cheek. The actual warmth had long since faded, but Anna held it there as though she could feel the hand of the person who had written it through the page.

After a moment, she brought the letter to her lips and gently kissed the words.

"He’s very happy she woke up."

A small prick of displeasure surfaced inside her.

Anna recognized the feeling, but didn’t let it grow.

Leviana being alive made Lathel happy.

So for now, Leviana being alive was a good thing.

The logic was very simple.

As long as she continued to bring Lathel joy, Anna could accept her existence.

If one day Leviana caused him suffering, the situation would be different.

Anna didn’t believe every problem necessarily had to be solved with death. In this world there were far too many ways to make a person vanish from Lathel’s life while still allowing them to keep breathing.

A distant territory.

A seal.

A position that required leaving the kingdom.

Or a barrier that would keep two people from ever meeting again.

Anna felt those methods were far more merciful.

She continued reading.

[Also, I met a rather strange person today.]

[She said a few things I didn’t understand, but she doesn’t seem like a bad person.]

The smile on Anna’s lips slowly faded.

"She..."

She thought of Catrina almost immediately.

If the widow had also returned, the very first thing she would do after stabilizing her situation would certainly be to find Lathel.

Anna knew full well how much Catrina loved him.

A woman who had once walked through the snow in her wedding dress just to hold a body that was already cold, then spent the rest of her life seeking vengeance for the man she never got to marry.

If she had truly come back, the chances of her keeping her distance from Lathel were virtually zero.

Anna’s mind drifted to several possibilities.

Catrina might have already sat beside him.

Might have already held his hand.

Might have already embraced Lathel.

A very small cracking sound rang out.

A fracture appeared on the glass cup sitting on the table.

Anna tilted her head toward the sound, then realized her mana had just slipped out of control. She directed a finger toward the cup, and a soft glow enveloped the crack before quickly mending it.

"Calm down."

She reminded herself.

The Lathel of right now didn’t remember Catrina.

He didn’t remember Leviana either.

And naturally, he didn’t remember Anna.

That thought made the displeasure inside her subside very quickly.

’Perhaps that’s actually better.’

The memories from before held far too much suffering.

Anna didn’t necessarily need Lathel to remember.

She could make him fall in love with her all over again.

And perhaps do it even better this time.

The letters were already the first step.

Once Lathel was completely accustomed to the stranger in the letters, she would appear before him in person. If everything went according to plan, Anna wouldn’t even need to rush to reveal that she was the sender.

She could stay near him under a different identity, continue sending letters in the evening, then watch as Lathel told her about his "mysterious pen pal."

Just imagining that scene was enough to make the corner of Anna’s lips curve upward.

Then her thoughts drifted further.

Once all the dangers were dealt with, Anna wanted to bring Lathel somewhere quiet.

Not the Holy City.

There were too many people here.

A secluded piece of land would be more fitting, with forests, a lake, and a house large enough. Lathel could read, cook, tend a garden, or do whatever he pleased. If he took a liking to a plant that only existed on the other side of the continent, Anna could have someone bring back the entire plot of soil.

She would prepare everything.

There was only one thing Anna didn’t want him to continue doing.

Leaving.

Lathel was far too softhearted.

A child in danger was enough to make him throw himself into the rescue.

A stranger crying in front of him could make him give away his own belongings to help.

He always treated his own life as lighter than anyone else’s.

Anna had already let that happen once.

She didn’t intend to make the same mistake.

Therefore, the house would need a spatial-lock barrier, cutting off teleportation and preventing outsiders from determining its location. The authority to open the barrier only needed to rest in her hands.

If Lathel wanted to leave, Anna would explain that it was dangerous outside.

If he disagreed, she would continue explaining.

If he still insisted on leaving...

A sleep-inducing spell would be useful.

No need to cause pain.

Just enough to let him sleep for a few hours.

After he woke, she could continue the conversation.

If once wasn’t enough, then ten times.

If one month wasn’t enough, then a year.

Anna had an entire lifetime to make him understand that staying by her side was the safest choice.

"I’ll give you everything."

She pressed the letter against her chest, the gentle smile returning.

"So all you need to do is stay."

The surging emotion caused the Life Magic around her to fluctuate. The sealed Eye of Life reacted as well, a burning sensation quickly spreading through her eye sockets before a red stain seeped through the white cloth band.

Blood trailed down her cheek.

Anna raised her hand to touch it, but instead of caring about the wound, her first reaction was to pull the letter away.

"Almost got it dirty."

She carefully wiped the blood from her hand, confirmed that not a single drop had touched the paper, and only then let out a soft breath.

A knock came at the door right at that moment.

Anna immediately reined in her mana.

She checked the letter one more time, smoothed the edges of the paper, then opened the white wooden box on the table. Inside was every letter Lathel had ever sent, each one protected by its own thin membrane of mana and arranged by date. In one corner sat a loose thread that had come undone from an envelope, a scrap of paper Lathel had accidentally sent along, and a few ink smudges she had carefully separated out and preserved.

Anna had never thrown away a single thing that came from him.

She placed the newest letter in the final position, then closed the box.

"Come in."

A young nun stepped inside. The moment she saw the bloodstain still visible beneath the white band, worry crossed her face.

"Your Holiness, did the seal react again?"

"Just a small fluctuation. What is it?"

Anna’s voice had returned to its familiar gentleness.

The nun bowed her head and said: "The four remaining candidates for the official Saintess selection have all arrived in the Holy City. Some have already begun making contact with the Cardinals, and the Holy Son’s side has also made moves. Those below would like to know whether we should prepare in advance."

Anna thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"No need. They’ve all worked very hard to reach this point. If I were to deliberately destroy someone else’s chance for the sake of a title, this selection would lose all meaning."

The nun looked slightly stunned.

Anna continued: "Whoever becomes the official Saintess is fine, as long as the person is truly suited for it. I only hope that everyone can find their own happiness."

The nun’s eyes quickly filled with reverence.

"Your Holiness, the gods will surely see your compassion."

Anna smiled.

"I hope so too."

The nun bowed deeply, then withdrew.

When the sound of footsteps had disappeared from the hallway, Anna turned back toward the box of letters.

"I truly hope everyone finds happiness."

She gently stroked the lid.

"Just don’t take mine."

Anna’s happiness had only one name.

Lathel.

She stood and walked to the window. Though her eyes were sealed, the Eye of Life still allowed Anna to sense the thousands of lives existing below the Holy Temple.

The Pope.

The four Saintess candidates.

The Holy Son.

The Cardinals.

In the previous life, each of them had once had their own designs on her.

This time, Anna had no intention of letting herself become a chess piece again.

She needed the Church’s authority.

Needed its resources.

Needed loyal mages.

And needed enough strength to build a place where no one could ever take Lathel from her.

"Aldric will be coming soon too."

Anna smiled faintly.

She remembered his next move very clearly.

The Church’s Magic Academy.

In the previous life, he had taken far too much from here.

This time, Anna had arrived first.

"The Pope, the Saintess, the Holy Son... even you, Aldric."

She tilted her head toward the box holding the letters.

"All of you can keep playing your own games."

"I only need one outcome."

Lathel must live.

And ideally...

He would never leave her again.