The Executed Saint Reincarnates as a Princess and is Loved by Her Older Brothers - Episode 68

Angela slept soundly.

My limbs feel as heavy as lead. The strong recoil binds my entire body.

While enduring a pain as if my head were splitting, I sank into a deep sleep so profound that I couldn’t even dream.

(……)

I feel something warm flowing in from somewhere.

A single-minded feeling as clear as the winter sky. Embraced by a strong and gentle prayer, Angela’s eyelids fluttered slightly.

Where is this……?

In the blurred vision, the unfamiliar patterned ceiling gradually comes into focus.

My joints ache, but I feel a soft sensation on my back. It feels like I’m lying on a high-quality bed.

When she turned her neck and shifted her gaze, Angela’s heart raced. Lionel was by the bedside.

Lionel closed his eyes, intertwined his fingers alternately, and offered a sincere prayer.

The tightly furrowed brow was stern, exuding an air so formidable that it was hard to approach.

“Lil…”

When Angela murmured, Lionel stood up as if he had been startled.

“Jill!”

Lionel’s eyes were deeply shadowed, but the moment he saw Angela, a sense of relief spread across his haggard face.

“Lil, have you not slept at all…?”

“Of course.”

“I’m sorry. I made you worry──”

“Don’t apologize. I know what you’ve done for me.”

Interrupting Angela, who was about to apologize, Lionel shook his head.

On his face, which gazes at Angela with a worried expression, the two eyes are certainly shining.

More than anything, Angela was so happy that she wore a contented smile.

“I’m fine now. I’m okay.”

Actually, my body still feels heavy, and my joints ache dull and throbbing. It must be because I used up all my healing power. The headache wouldn’t stop, but I didn’t feel it was painful.

I was able to heal Lionel’s wounds. I regained the lost eye──I have no regrets.

“You… really…”

Angela’s smile was so dazzling that Lionel squinted his eyes.

──I feel a tightening in my chest, wondering just how much she is going to give me.

Lionel has never once regretted giving up his sight for Juliet’s happiness.

I didn’t care if I was called ugly. I didn’t care if I was ridiculed for being disgraceful.

Juliet was the only hope. There was nothing more important than her.

And now. Standing before Angela, who possessed Juliet’s soul, Lionel felt the hope he had held onto for so long clearly transforming into love.

She seems to think that her past self was shabby, but to Lionel’s eyes, there is no difference in appearance.

I just think that, both in the past and now, she is the only one in this world who shines from within.

“Lil. What happened to Duke de Turenne while I was asleep? And what about Lady Hortense?”

Angela asked, and Lionel nodded.

“The Duke of Turenne has been detained and is under arrest. It has been decided to formally investigate past incidents as well. Hortense is half-mad, but no matter how much she makes a fuss, it probably won’t change anything.”

As long as her father is charged with murder, Hortense can no longer be queen.

Although Hortense herself was not involved in the incident, it is certain that she benefited from it. The position she gained through her father’s crime would be destroyed by his arrest.

For Hortense, who knew nothing, it was like a bolt from the blue. She seemed flustered and was making a fuss, but no matter how much she yelled, the situation wouldn’t change.

“I intend to hold Nathan accountable. That man’s foolishness has fulfilled the Duke of Turenne’s schemes. I will never forgive him.”

With a voice burning with anger, Lionel said.

The responsibility for the execution of the saint lies more with Nathan than with Duke Turenne.

Nathan claims that he was deceived as well, but no matter who forgives his reckless and shortsighted foolishness, Lionel has no intention of forgiving him at all. He is determined to thoroughly corner him.

I will have Nathan publicly declare that Juliet is innocent and ensure that her honor is restored. I intend to make him sincerely apologize to her soul and atone for the sins he committed for the rest of his life.

Lionel’s true feelings are that he wants to brutally kill both Nathan and Duke Turenne. He wants to inflict tenfold the pain that Juliet experienced.

Even so──the judgment is entrusted to the law.

It’s not that I forgave them. It is absolutely impossible to forgive them for eternity.

The reason for adhering to the law is simply because Jill wishes it so.──That’s all.

The time has finally come for the sediment that has accumulated in this country, the pus that has built up, to be washed away.

The day has finally come when the kingdom, long shrouded in thick clouds, sees the light of purification.

“Yeah…”

Angela accepted it quietly.

──I will accuse you. Although I said that to Duke de Turenne, if Angela, a member of another country’s royal family, were to visit, it would become an international issue.

The people of this country will judge their own affairs. The empire does not need to intervene.

What I can do is…

Angela pondered.

“Lil. I think I’m going to ask again if I can visit the temple.”

The priest refused, but I still can’t give up.

“There must be the current saint in the temple, right? She’s a girl my age. If there’s anything I can do, I want to help.”

“Jill. That’s impossible.”

Having been firmly rejected, Angela slumped her shoulders and said, “No way.”

“Of course, I won’t say that I was the previous saint. But for some reason, I still seem to have healing powers, so if I cooperate with the saint, we might be able to save even more people, right?”

Even though he had just collapsed from the backlash of using his power, Lionel’s heart ached at the thought that he was still willing to save people.

As Lionel, I never want her to use her healing powers again. To that end, I am determined to devote myself fully to improving the medical technology in this country.

“I’m worried about whether the current saint is receiving proper treatment. If she’s in a poor environment, I want to improve it for her.”

“It’s impossible, Jill.”

“Why?”

“Because there is no saint in the temple.”

“！？”

Angela blinked.

“What do you mean by ‘not here’? Are they moving to another place?”

“No. They weren’t here from the beginning.”

“From the very beginning…?”

“After Jill passed away, no new saints was born in this country. I had always found it suspicious, but when I finally questioned the high priest during this period, he finally spoke up.”

If it becomes known that there is no saint, the people’s hearts will drift away, and the king’s prestige will be tarnished.

So, Nathan apparently imposed a strict gag order to cover up the saint’s absence. He’s a shallow man who only thinks about his own self-preservation.

“Eh… eh…?”

“Of course. There can only be one saint in each generation.”

Lionel insisted it was only natural, but Angela was left speechless.

What!? The country that killed me, hasn’t the next saint been born yet!?