The Sword and The Dress - V3C4 PART3

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Translator: iveyra | Editor: Ms. Sheepnn
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.

“Where did you send Roanne?”

It can’t be that he just disposed of her quietly, right? Sieg answered my question with an expression that looked like he was saying ‘of all things, you’re curious about a particularly useless thing’.

“I sent her to the convent.”

“The convent?”

A 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 can’t even get married and they have to devote their whole life to serving the Goddess. And he sent her there?

“… Isn’t that too harsh?”

“Because there’s no way a stupid greedy person won’t 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 isn’t cut off, she won’t be sent to serve at the Church. It may be a bit boring, but she will live comfortably for life.”

Is it a facility where nobles who are a nuisance but can’t be disposed of recklessly are sent? Well, anyway, it’s better than being imprisoned for insulting a royalty.

“What about the younger brother?”

“Since there’s no problem with his bloodline, I’d like to send him to be adopted into a proper family or get him enrolled in an educational facility.”

“Hmm.”

It’s better to do as Sieg says. Unless I take care of him, there’s nothing else I can do for him. With this, is the matter concerning Count Epheria’s household completely over?

“Miss.”

“Huh?”

Sieg glanced in the direction of the closed bathroom door then said.

“I think you should start telling Sofia now.”

“Ah!”

I totally forgot.

“If you don’t want to keep it a secret from her, please tell her today.”

“O, okay.”

I have to tell her. As I was getting really nervous, I swallowed dryly while thinking of Sofia who was cleaning up the bathroom.

Shortly 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.

“It’s a bit early, but since you must be tired, would you like me to get the bed ready for you to sleep?”

“… Mhm.”

I 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.

“Sofia.”

“Yes?”

“I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Her 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 don’t know whether she would refuse to believe it, get angry for being deceived, mourn Silla’s death, do all three, or perhaps show different reaction. But hopefully, her reaction wouldn’t be too extreme. If she does something that could pose a threat, not only Sieg but also Ortzen won’t just wait and see.

As 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 wouldn’t accept it readily.

“This is going to be hard to believe, but–“

I let out a sigh then continued.

“I’m not Silla Epheria.”

“… Pardon me?”

Sofia looked at me with an expression that looked like she was asking ‘what nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?’

“What do you mean?”n
“Silla 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.”

That last part was still speculative. It might have been the father’s doing, but it would be better if that wasn’t the case, for Silla’s and Sofia’s sakes. If we catch that stupid Demon King without any trouble this time, we’ll know for sure. The look in Sofia’s eyes seemed like she still couldn’t understand what I was saying.

“A contract with… the Demon King?”

“Yes. A contract with the demons normally uses someone’s 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.”

“I, I’m not sure what you mean…..”

Sofia’s voice grew fainter. She said she didn’t understand, but it wasn’t that she didn’t have any idea at all.

“And the Demon King who possessed the soul of Silla Epheria was the demon I was trying to kill.”

“Miss… was?”

“Sofia. I’m not your young lady, Silla Epheria. I’m Roel, the leader of the Holy Knight Squad.”

There wasn’t 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.

In 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 shouldn’t know.

“So, 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.”

I’ve 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.

“Sofia.”

“… Yes?”

Sofia replied reflexively.

“This was made by injecting holy power into the sacred crystal. Therefore, if you have holy power, it’s possible to control the amount of light.”

As 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.

“Holy power doesn’t come from the body, but the soul. Silla Epheria had no holy power.”

The holy power is normally something you’re gifted with the moment you’re born or is manifested before the age of ten at the latest. It wasn’t that it wasn’t 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 saintess’ 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.

In 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 Silla’s side. Even if a person with holy power doesn’t 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 won’t notice.

“Then…….”

Sofia pressed her lips together into a thin line for a long time.

“Then, Miss Silla is……”n
“Dead. 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 wouldn’t be devoured by the Demon King and it would safely return to the Goddess’ side.”

In 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 wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

Sofia didn’t 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.

“First of all… thank you, Sir Roel.”

… All my predictions were wrong. Her voice continued to stutter.

“Thanks to Sir Roel, my lady… could escape from the hands of the demons….. For you to have done that much, thank you.”

“No, I…..”

Hmm, this is kind of awkward.

“I, I’m sorry for deceiving you. But at that time, I thought you wouldn’t just believe me even if I told you… and the situation around wasn’t good.”

“… Yes, I know.”

Sofia wiped her wet eyes using the back of her hand and got up from her seat.

“Could you give me some time off, like a day or two? I need time to sort out my mind.”

“Oh, okay. Sure. I’ll tell Sieg.”

“Thank you.”

She 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.

‘……. I wonder what’s going to happen.’

I’m 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 didn’t 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 doesn’t want to stay here anymore, I’ll provide a proper place for her. Of course, as she knows a lot of information, she can’t avoid surveillance…..

“… I’m tired.”

I felt better after meeting Captain Jullius, but now I felt dejected again.
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