She Was Supposed to Be a Decoration Saint, but She Seems to Have Awakened to Her True Power

Chapter 18: This Time For Sure

Unknown figures hover around the girl. Finally, one of the villagers recognized the girl and called out to her.

“It’s Sylphia-sama!” 

Sylphia runs to Marianne through the crowd. 

“It’s dangerous, Sylphia-sama! Do not touch her!”

“Are you all right, Marianne-sama?!”

Sylphia’s hand touches Marianne’s cheek. At that moment, the miasma that had been covering her face is quickly dispersed. Marianne, breathing heavily, opens her eyes thinly. 

“…Sylphia… You…” 

“Marianne-sama! I am here to help you, Marianne-sama. Please believe in the spirits this time and pray with all your heart.”

Marianne looked up at Sylphia with empty eyes. 

Something heavy and cold dug into her heart. Her limbs have lost temperature and feeling and she can no longer move them. What is the use of praying in such a state, Marianne scoffed to herself.

[Really, Sylphia is a good-natured person…] 

The voice of a spirit is in her ear. 

She couldn’t tell from her hazy vision what they looked like.

[Marianne, you used someone else’s covenant. This is the greatest betrayal of spirits.]

[I tried to forget you, but now you have reminded me of the Honeydale family that brought down the Harvest family. A hundred years ago you broke the bonds between us and the saint of that time]

“What do you mean…” 

[We only teach prayers that call us to saints we recognize. It is a promise between Saint and us, and no one else may use it.]

[If anyone other than Saint recites it, the prayer will be a curse. But your ancestors poisoned the Saint of the House of Harvest and took away the promised prayer.]

“!” 

The fall of the Harvest family was caused by the famine that occurred when the Harvest family was serving as the Saint, which was regarded as the wrath of the spirits.

But the wrath was really against the House of Honeydale.

“What…?” 

Fear seeped into Marianne’s heart. 

What do the spirits who visit the human world think about the Honeydale family that has made mistakes for generations?

[Don’t worry, I won’t tell Sylphia.]

[Yes, we’re the same as Lute. I don’t want Sylphia to feel sad]

[So we’ll help you.]

[We’ll purge you of the miasma just enough to keep you “alive”]

A giggle of laughter echoes in her ear.

No, perhaps it was not what she heard. Marianne’s senses were already almost completely gone. Perhaps it was the voices of spirits speaking directly to her heart alone.

The voice breaks off suddenly. Marianne lies in total darkness. 

(No… I’m scared… Somebody help me…!!!)

Regret fills her heart as she wonders how this could have happened.

Was it because she had made Sylphia, a member of the Harvest family, a decorative saint, and placed her in the temple? Was it because her heart was too beautiful? 

(If only I had not taken Sylphia’s place—) 

If only she had been content with the gifts she was receiving and had behaved as if she cared for the temple, like all the Saints from the Honeydale family had done for generations, this would not have happened. 

Marianne’s heart was shattered the moment she realized this. 

(I didn’t know… No one told me. That prayer was taken from the Harvest family, that the spirits really existed…) 

Once again, Marianne’s memory is haunted by the image of Sylphia. 

Sylphia, who had been telling her that spirits existed. 

(What is this? …)

The hand, which should have lost all sensation, felt a warm heat. And the feeling of touching each other. The hand is being squeezed so tightly that it hurts.

“Marianne-sama…! Please, Valtis-sama, Titia-sama, please give Marianne-sama the blessing of the spirits…”

Sylphia’s voice came. 

From her folded hands came the breath of life. At first it is like a small breeze that gradually grows and blows through the body, reviving the dying life.

(This is the power of Sylphia…)

It’s so different from the miasma she had.

“Marianne-sama…! Please, everyone pray for Marianne-sama!!!”

Her desperate voice calls out to save Marianne. There was a murmur of voices, but soon the villagers also began to call out Marianne’s name at Sylphia’s request. They were praying for her.

She wanted to tell them that they didn’t have to do that. 

But she couldn’t speak, and she knew it was too late to do so now.

The spirits are already trying to revive Marianne’s body. As they secretly told her, they will purge the miasma to the extent that it does not interfere with her survival, to please Sylphia. 

(I can’t believe you saved me…) 

A warm drop of warmth falls on Marianne’s cheek. 

Another tear fell from Marianne’s eyes when she realized it.