Hestia.
She was abandoned in a back alley, where she was discovered by a group of priests who had gone to serve the vagrants, and ended up living in an orphanage run by the Church.
Thanks to her naturally beautiful appearance, she easily received the affection of many people as she grew up, but the reason she was chosen as the Saintess was none other than the awakening of her unparalleled divine power.
Her true power awakened when she wished to heal a friend from the same orphanage who had been injured, and the nuns who witnessed this miracle reported it to the highest ranks of the Church.
After numerous tests, it was revealed that she possessed overwhelming divine power. Dozens of times greater than that of ordinary priests. She was soon designated as the Saintess and officially began walking the path of a holy woman.
Upon receiving the title of Saintess, the daughter of God, she buried the name she had used as a child and lived on, known only by her title.
Though it pained her to see even the children she had once been close to treat her with reverence and distance, she firmly believed that this too was part of God’s great will to liberate the world from evil and suffering and devoted herself wholeheartedly to her duties as a Saintess.
At first, many were skeptical that such a young girl could be a saintess, but as she consistently engaged in charitable work and missionary efforts, the number of those who truly believed in her grew, and the authority of the name “Saintess” became stronger with each passing day.
Yes. At least, that was the case….until now.
***
“Let me out of here at once!! Do you think you’ll get away with framing me, the Saintess of the Church!?”
The shout of a woman echoed through the dim underground.
Though her voice was beautiful and elegant in tone, the piercing sharpness of her cry made it clear just how enraged she was.
“Ugh…! Why on earth am I in a place like this…”
Just the other day, the Saintess Hestia had been preparing to visit Pollo’s family home during the academy’s vacation. But before she could even try to appeal her charms to Count Helios, she had been forced to return by a sudden visitor from the Church.
She was deeply upset that her grand plan had fallen apart, but she held herself back, thinking that the Church must have had a truly urgent reason to summon her so suddenly, and so she boarded the carriage bound for the Church headquarters.
However—
– Arrest that impostor at once!
– W-What?! What are you—?!
It had been two days since she was dragged away by force, without even a chance to object to the paladins who had been waiting to seize her.
She was denied even a piece of bread or a sip of water. Hestia who was normally known for her compassion found her anger and irritation beginning to boil over.
Step, step.
At that moment, she heard footsteps approaching the place where she was imprisoned.
The heavy, weighty sound of the steps made her tense up, fearing that the inquisitors might have come. But when the figure finally appeared, Hestia scowled deeply.
“Is it livable in there, impostor?”
“Cardinal Relic…”
Cardinal Relic who had always kept her in check due to her lowborn origins.
The old man before her, who had never once spared her mockery or scorn since she entered the Church of the Goddess, now looked even more disgusting. His bloated flesh and greasy, glistening face seemed to wear his inner depravity and desire openly.
A man Infamous for exploiting the faith of the faithful to fill his own stomach. Cardinal Relic had long been the subject of rumors. But thanks to his silver tongue and the massive faction that supported him, he had yet to be excommunicated. He was, in effect, the rot festering within the Church.
One of the main reasons Hestia especially despised him was the way he had looked down on her when she was young because of her humble background…and how, once she grew older, his eyes began to leer at her body with a sleazy, lascivious gaze.
Though many within the Church had tried to expel the cardinal who indulged in luxury and pleasure, drunkenness, and even sexual bribery, every attempt had ended in failure.
And so, Hestia firmly believed without a shred of doubt that the man before her was the mastermind behind everything that had happened.
“What have you done…?”
“What have I done? I merely locked up a criminal who committed the crime of impersonating the Saintess and conning everyone all this time.”
How dare—!
“Impersonating?! Are you seriously saying that after witnessing the miracles I’ve performed with your own eyes?!”
“Then show me.”
“…Huh?”
“I said, show me. Right here, right now.”
Though she was puzzled by the contemptuous gaze Cardinal Relic gave her as he looked down on her, Hestia attempted to draw upon her divine power to prove her innocence… or so she tried?
“Uh…? My divine power…?”
For some reason, the power that had once been strong enough to save someone on the brink of death wouldn’t come forth at all.
It was a power that had always flowed naturally, as effortlessly as breathing, and the sudden change threw Hestia into deep confusion.
She tried straining herself until her face turned red, even slapped her own hands in desperation, attempting all kinds of odd behavior…but not a trace of divine power emerged from her body.
“Why? Why is this happening…? Th-This can’t be…”
“Keup! Kuhuhuhuhu…”
“…You!”
Clang!
In an instant, Hestia slammed herself against the iron bars with enough force to nearly break them, then glared furiously at Relic who stood outside the cell smiling at her.
“Keuh! Even with that look, you’re not scary in the slightest. So… did you enjoy playing the role of the Saintess all this time?”
“You! What did you do to me!! Ho-How did you seal my divine power?!”
If an ordinary person suddenly lost both arms or legs one day, could they go on living a normal life?
To Hestia, losing her divine power was no different.
That immense power had been the proof and guarantee of her identity as the Saintess.
But now that she could no longer wield it, she was nothing more than a lowborn with a bit more piety than most.
“If you’ve been living off other people’s power all this time, it’s only fair that you learn what it feels like to lose it. Don’t you think, Miss Fake?”
“O-Other people’s power…? N-No, this is my power—”
“No. At least, not anymore.”
Relic, who had been sneering at her the whole time, finally turned to leave with a parting remark: “See you tomorrow.”
“My power belonged to someone else…? No, that’s ridiculous!”
Her power was hers and hers alone.
It was something she had instinctively known ever since her divine power had first awakened.
Even if, for some unknown reason, it no longer responded to her now…
“I have to prove my innocence…! Once I prove I’m innocent… I’ll deal with Cardinal Relic and all his lackeys, no matter what it takes!”
And so, throughout the night in that dark prison, Hestia kept practicing to summon her divine power.
But even as dawn approached,
Her divine power, which was once her constant companion, never answered her call.
***
“From this moment forward… the trial of the great sinner who impersonated the Saintess will begin.”
The next day, once again dragged in by the strength of the Paladins, Hestia found herself standing on the tribunal of the Church.
A place she had believed she would never, in her entire life, have to stand.
“Impersonated? I am the real Saintess—!”
“Silence! The accused will hold her tongue! A witness, harmed by your wicked deeds, is already present!”
“A witness…?”
She had never harmed anyone in her life.
Well, she had once made unreasonable demands of a fellow student because of love….but that had been a mutual transaction in the end, hadn’t it?
She had always tried to follow the teachings of God: to show mercy and love. And now, someone claimed to have been harmed by her?
Hestia, who had so much she wanted to say, was struck speechless the moment she saw the woman called as a witness.
“…Eris?”
A precious friend who had always stayed by her side since their days at the orphanage.
Though things had become a bit awkward after Hestia became the Saintess and their relationship turned hierarchical,
Eris had still chosen to serve as her attendant and had remained by her side.
Why was that cherished girl standing over there now…?
“Sister Eris… no, Saintess Eris. Please tell us about all the suffering you endured at the hands of this impostor.”
“…What?”
Eris, a Saintess? And she claimed to have suffered because of her?
What in the world…?
“Yes… I awakened my divine power when I was very young. Overjoyed, I told my friend…this criminal about it. But she coveted my power. Calling it a token of eternal friendship, she engraved a curse onto my body. Because of that, I’ve had my power stolen from me ever since.”
“A curse, you say?”
“The Curse of Theft… I’m sure you’re familiar with it.”
“Indeed… among curses, the Curse of Theft is forbidden. It viciously steals not only power but eventually even life force…”
“Fortunately, my powers were strong enough that I didn’t die from the theft… But each day was agony. She used the physical pain of my draining powers as an excuse and claimed stress from her duties to beat me where no one could see. She made me lick her feet, forced me to pick food off the ground and eat it….she humiliated me in every way imaginable…”
“Eris!! How could you say this!!”
Thud!
“Gah!”
“Silence, criminal!”
One of the knights watching from behind struck Hestia in the side with the hilt of his sword, silencing her protests.
As the unfamiliar pain stole her breath away,
Eris ignored her entirely and continued speaking.
“It was then, while I was still suffering that Cardinal Relic happened to find me. He discovered the forbidden method to break the curse and freed me from that agony. And the result…”
Shhhhhh—
For a moment, a golden wave rose from Eris’s hand.
The surge of divine power that Hestia had once displayed was now emanating from Eris’s grasp.
“Haah… This can’t be.”
“This power… this aura… It’s exactly the same as what the criminal showed us before.”
“Hmm… Cardinal Relic. Are you saying you lifted the Saintess’s curse?”
At the sound of his name, Cardinal Relic rose from his seat with a confident smile and spoke.
“Yes, that’s correct. It was a complex curse mentioned only in ancient texts, but after extensive research, I was able to break it.”
“Can you prove it?”
“When a curse is broken by an external force, its essence returns to the caster. If you examine the criminal’s body, you’ll see that a new curse mark has appeared.”
Snap!
With a flick of the cardinal’s fingers, the Paladin standing behind Hestia stepped forward and forcibly tore the fabric around her collarbone.
“Kyaah! Let go! I said let go of me!”
“Th-That’s…!”
“The curse mark… I never thought I’d see one in real life…”
On her chest—
A place that had boasted fair, flawless beauty just days before—
Now bore a strange symbol boldly etched in black.
“Wh-What…? What is this…?”
Only then did Hestia look down at her chest, and in shock, her eyes began to tremble.
A black mark that was unmistakably ominous to anyone who saw it.
She tried scratching the mark with her fingernails to erase it, but the skin only turned red. There was no sign of the mark disappearing.
“N-No! It’s not me! I’m innocent! This is all a conspiracy!”
“Tsk. Still refusing to admit your guilt.”
The high priests, who seemed to have already made up their minds, gestured to someone nearby.
Unlike the shining armor of the Paladins, the new figures wore dark crimson gear.
“Inquisitors. Take that heretic away and make her confess every last one of her sins.”
“Yes, sir.”
“W-Wait! Please believe me! I swear… I swear I’m not an impostor! There must be some mistake—!”
Just before she completely lost strength and was helplessly dragged away by the Inquisitors,
Hestia saw it.
From the witness stand, farther away, staring straight at her—
Eris’s bright smile as she grinned slyly.
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