Let me now provide the full translation:The darkness of early dawn was turned into a quagmire by torches and footsteps.
"Find the immoral wretch who murdered the Crown Prince!"
"By the Emperor's decree! □□□ is no longer of the imperial family! If found, kill on sight!"
Jeremiah was fleeing outside the castle with the help of Azazel, Tenebrei's guard knight. At the thunderous shout filled with madness, Jeremiah looked back in fear.
'They've all lost their minds.'
To Jeremiah, those people all looked like they were possessed by demons.
"Find and kill □□□ Reverdi!"
Jeremiah's ears could not hear the name Tenebrei that the knights were shouting at the top of their lungs. Other parts were heard clearly, but strangely, only that part was muffled as if someone had played a trick, making it impossible to know who they were calling. So naturally, she thought they were looking for her.
Because she kept looking back anxiously while running, she lost her footing and Jeremiah's body swayed greatly before she fell. Azazel, who had been clearing the path ahead, hurried back.
"Are you alright?"
"My... my ankle seems twisted."
Tears welled up in Jeremiah's eyes as her ankle throbbed. It was unfair that things had come to this, and now she had injured her leg and couldn't escape properly. Would she be caught and die unjustly like this?
"I will support you."
"No, it's fine."
And Jeremiah looked at Azazel who offered to support her. If she were caught, she had to at least send Sir Azazel away. Though it was a misunderstanding, Jeremiah was being treated as a criminal now, and the sin of aiding her escape was by no means light. If discovered, he would pay a harsh price.
"Sir Azazel, thank you for your help. I'm fine on my own now, so you should go back before you're discovered."
"Lord Tenebrei entrusted me with your protection, trusting me."
However, Azazel continued to help Jeremiah. Jeremiah teared up at the kindness of her twin sister and Sir Azazel.
When her ankle throbbed and she couldn't run far, she had no choice but to hide in the nearby forest. The forest behind the imperial palace was where the Emperor enjoyed hunting, with wide terrain and dense trees, making it suitable for hiding.
"We can rest here for a moment."
"Thank you."
After confirming there were no knights, Azazel supported Jeremiah against a tree trunk. But the relief was short-lived as the sound of branches being stepped on was heard. Unable to find Jeremiah's traces outside, they had expanded the search area.
"Search thoroughly! There's a possibility they fled into the forest!"
It seemed they would now check the forest too, as torches flickered beyond the bushes. Jeremiah covered her mouth and stayed quiet.
"Sir Azazel, I think we need to get out of here."
Though the densely grown trees helped with concealment, they couldn't stay here forever. When Jeremiah urged him, Azazel gave her a subtle look.
"S-Sir Azazel...?"
"No need for that."
"What?"
Jeremiah was confused by the sudden change in demeanor. She couldn't understand why the devoted knight who had been helping her escape, even carrying her if needed, was now looking at her like she was a delicious meal. Azazel raised his sword as if preparing ingredients before a meal.
"Ugh...!"
She couldn't properly grasp the situation. Jeremiah trembled and looked down. The sharp blade was buried in her stomach, invisible, with only the protruding handle showing. It was Azazel who had thrust the sword in.
"Ah, isn't this the right place?"
Azazel spoke calmly and pulled the sword back out. She felt something warm and wet burst from her waist. Without hesitation, Azazel changed direction and stabbed again. The action was so calm and natural that Jeremiah couldn't resist at all until Azazel plunged the sword into her stomach.
"I heard there was a tattoo somewhere. As expected, it's hard to know just by hearing about it."
Tattoo? At those words, what came to mind was the tattoo of a dragon eating its tail engraved on Jeremiah's stomach.
"What are you doing...?"
The pain beyond imagination made her dizzy. When she grabbed her stomach, her hand became wet. All Jeremiah could do was lean against the tree and breathe. Every time she inhaled, her stomach felt like it was tearing apart, causing excruciating pain.
When Azazel approached again, Jeremiah forced her screaming body to move and backed away. Wanting to live, she ran while holding her stabbed stomach. Every step made her ankle throb, and her body felt like it was pierced by skewers.
However, blinded by the immediate terror, Jeremiah momentarily forgot that Azazel wasn't the only thing she should be wary of. While fleeing from Azazel, she encountered a group wearing familiar clothes.
The heat of the blazing torches reached her face. The search party, relying on the firelight, examined Jeremiah's face as if groping it, then cheered chillingly.
"Found Tenebrei Reverdi!"
Jeremiah couldn't believe her ears. What did she just hear? They found Tenebrei?
"Found Princess Tenebrei who fled into the forest!"
But the same words came again. Perhaps because of excessive blood loss or confusion, she couldn't grasp what was happening. However, thinking of Azazel who had stabbed her, Jeremiah finally made a grim realization. Why did Tenebrei's guard stab Jeremiah? Was it because Tenebrei had ordered it? No. That couldn't be.
"I... I'm not Tenebrei."
Jeremiah tried to correct the title without even knowing what had gone wrong. But the other person scoffed as if it was ridiculous and reproached Jeremiah.
"My, so you're saying you're Lady Jeremiah then?"
"Yes! I am Jeremiah...!"
"You, a cursed princess who should have died long ago, dare to impersonate Lady Jeremiah?"
Jeremiah had never seen the usually polite knights speak so harshly.
"And if you're going to lie, at least hide the necklace properly."
The knight pointed at Jeremiah's collar. Trembling, Jeremiah checked her necklace. Instead of the familiar green, a cloudy, dirty, ugly black gem hung around her neck.
'W-why is this on my neck...?'
Before Jeremiah fell asleep, she was definitely wearing the emerald necklace. Someone had switched it while she slept.
'By whom?'
By the owner of the black necklace...
At that moment, Tenebrei's image came to mind. Her appearance urging Jeremiah to flee without proper explanation, her more excited and affectionate behavior than usual. Her sudden request to switch necklaces for the Emperor's birthday banquet. The image of her father's blood dripping from the chandelier onto Tenebrei's face. Wait, was Tenebrei really stunned back then? Wasn't she perhaps smiling?
Her heart sank.
"Tenebrei?"
All of it was a scheme to push Jeremiah into this quagmire. The black gem around Jeremiah's neck seemed to mock her. Why? Why? Countless questions clouded her mind.
While Jeremiah's feet were bound, Azazel, who had been following at a leisurely pace, now revealed himself through the bushes. Seeing the unfamiliar figure holding a blood-dripping sword, the knights showed wariness, but Azazel lightly bowed his head in greeting.
"You are..."
"I am the Holy Knight Azazel Astaroth."
"Ah, the knight who travels with Bishop Malik."
The one who had betrayed Jeremiah's trust and stabbed her wasn't even Tenebrei's guard. Unlike the despairing Jeremiah, the search party relaxed their guard upon learning the other's identity.
"Yes, Sir Azazel. Did you capture the criminal?"
"Yes. I was pursuing the fleeing Tenebrei Reverdi."
"Lies! You're Tenebrei's guard! Let go, I'm Jeremiah!"
Everything from one to ten was a lie. Jeremiah screamed in denial, but no one listened to her words. That was because her appearance, shouting viciously and throwing a tantrum, was the complete opposite of the usually innocent and kind Jeremiah.
"Mental confusion? She seems to be under the delusion that she's Lady Jeremiah. Well, a sound mind wouldn't be able to kill her own father."
The knight looked at Jeremiah with extreme disgust. No, Jeremiah shouldn't be receiving such looks.
"Wow, the wound is serious."
"She resisted, so I had no choice."
The hole in her stomach was as humiliating as it was painful. Jeremiah had never been treated like this since birth. Everyone cherished Jeremiah. It was a life where even a paper cut from reading a book would cause worry. Was the world always this heartless and frightening?
"Sir Azazel, I'm truly envious that His Majesty will grant you a great reward for this merit."
The knights asked for Azazel's understanding and bound Jeremiah's body. Her legs were also tied, and she was thrown to the ground. Her vision was blurry from tears, but she could clearly see a bug crawling on the grass.
The knights conversed with Azazel. Then a rustling sound was heard, followed by a cat's meow.
"A cat?"
"Ah, since it's a forest, cats do wander around."
Azazel looked around with a deep frown, then covered his nose as if something smelled terrible.
"It might not be a cat but suspicious activity, so we should check."
Then, looking fierce, he quickly disappeared into the bushes, leaving Jeremiah and the knights behind.
"It definitely went 'meow,' right? He's saying something about a cat..."
"Is he telling us to clean up? That's why you can't communicate with those high-and-mighty temple folks."
After Azazel disappeared, the muttering knights expressed their complaints and tried to move Jeremiah. A knight who was about to carry Jeremiah suddenly tapped his colleague's shoulder as if remembering something.
"Hey... how about we take the credit while that knight is gone?"
"What? He'll say he caught her."
"No, think about it. He's not here right now, is he? If we take the princess, it becomes our merit. After that, who would believe him if he just claims it with words?"
"That's true."
The knights' gazes flew and fixed on Jeremiah. If they were thinking of taking the credit, they figured there was no need to keep Jeremiah alive.
"Just in case she makes false accusations before His Majesty that we did something behind his back..."
"Lady Tenebrei. We apologize."
"No! I won't say anything! Please don't kill me!"
One knight drew his sword from its sheath. The sharp steel sent chills down her spine. If she was captured alive, at least she could have appealed to her grandmother, but they were trying to kill Jeremiah right here.
Betrayed by the sister she trusted, falsely accused of killing her beloved father, and sentenced to death by her grandmother. It was lamentable that she was too foolish to notice Tenebrei's betrayal. She was furious. It was unjust and infuriating.
The one who should be in this position wasn't Jeremiah, but Tenebrei. The one who should have died was Tenebrei!
Above all, the most terrible thing was Tenebrei. Tenebrei, who killed her father, deceived Jeremiah, and even stole her name. Tenebrei, who must be in Jeremiah's room by now.
It was the first time she had ever hated someone so terribly.
The blade was pressed right below her throat. She had lost so much blood from the stomach wound Azazel had inflicted that her vision was blurry. Actually, there was no need for a second confirmation kill; she would die like this anyway.
When the cold blade touched her neck slightly, she squeezed her eyes shut. But instead of pain like a flash, a heavy feeling settled on top of Jeremiah.
"Hah, sob... heok."
Jeremiah exhaled the breath she had been holding and breathed deeply. Not understanding what was happening, she opened her eyes again to see a knight collapsed beside her, unconscious. Not just him, but the other knights were also lying on the ground, having lost consciousness at some point.
Only one person remained standing. Black hair and blue eyes...
"Father?"
The familiar appearance was that of the Crown Prince. I see. Father came to save Jeremiah. Wandering between life and death, unable to distinguish between dream and reality, she thought so without sensing anything strange.
"...Please save me. I don't want to die."
If it was her father, he would definitely save Jeremiah. Jeremiah spoke with all her remaining strength. Though it seemed like she screamed loud enough to shake the forest, the actual sound that came out was like a very weak babble.
But the voice that followed wasn't the Crown Prince's.
"Lady Tenebrei?"
Jeremiah opened both eyes wide. It wasn't her father. Only after hearing Gabriel's voice did Jeremiah realize she had been begging to her father who was no longer in this world.
"I'm not Tenebrei... I'm Jeremiah..."
While Jeremiah sobbed, Gabriel rummaged through his clothes. Seeing him bring something, Gabriel showed Jeremiah what he was holding as if to calm her.
"Holy water?"
"Yes. I intend to treat Your Highness."
"Why are you treating me?"
Jeremiah, with her swollen ankle, flesh cut by tree branches, blood pouring from her abdomen, and covered in tears, asked as if wondering why she was being treated.
"Because you are badly injured."
Gabriel opened the bottle cap. He poured holy water over Jeremiah's wound, but contrary to expectations, nothing happened. Could he have brought fake holy water in his hurry? He could check the authenticity of the holy water by wounding himself, but unfortunately, Gabriel was of a constitution where holy water didn't work.
"...Are you originally of a constitution where holy water doesn't work?"
"What...? That can't be..."
Even while gasping for breath, Jeremiah answered as if confused. The imperial family would immediately treat even a paper cut from reading a book with holy water. Jeremiah had also received that privilege, so the notion that holy water didn't work was nonsensical.
"Then why..."
"How did you get this wound?"
An uninvited guest suddenly joined the conversation.
"A knight named Azazel stabbed me."
Without even noticing that the questioner had changed, Jeremiah recalled the pain of being stabbed by Azazel just moments ago and seethed with anger.
"Mr. Jelly?"
Jelly waved his hand roughly at Gabriel who recognized him.
"If it's Azazel Astaroth who stabbed this woman, it's natural that it won't heal."
Gabriel also knew that name well. It was a famous name as Bishop Malik's knight, no one else.
"What do you mean it's natural?"
The Sun God loved humans. Therefore, the Sun God's blessing extended to all humans. However, the blessing was not conveyed to apostates who insulted and turned their backs on God. That sin was very deep, and only after washing away the sins engraved on the soul several times could one return to Rachel's embrace.
"Wounds we inflict cannot be healed with holy water."
There was one more exception. The Sun God loathed the non-humans born from Leah, the sister who turned her back on him. Therefore, when holy water touched them, their flesh would melt instead, and wounds they inflicted could not be restored with holy water.
"Then what should we do..."
Gabriel looked down at Jeremiah with a devastated heart.
The sound of begging for life pierced his heart. Being unable to do anything for a dying person felt like returning to his powerless childhood.
When Gabriel was very young and hadn't yet properly understood that holy water didn't work on him, he had almost been hit by a rushing carriage.
"You don't heal well, so you mustn't get hurt."
But a child two years older who usually took good care of Gabriel pushed him away and was hit by the carriage instead. Gabriel carried the child and asked adults for help, but no one readily extended a hand. Only Bishop Jabaniya, who used to do charity work in the back alleys back then, belatedly handled the child's funeral.
Jeremiah's appearance, quietly crying out for help with a hoarse voice, resembled Gabriel from the past. The reason Gabriel wanted to hold Jeremiah's hand despite being able to do nothing might be because of that.
And perhaps... Jeremiah might be able to live.
"Do you wish to survive?"
"Yes...!"
At Gabriel's question, Jeremiah forced her immovable head to nod and shouted desperately with her hoarse voice. She wanted to survive terribly. It was unfair and grievous that she was betrayed by the family she trusted and by God, so she couldn't close her eyes like this.
"...Even if it means taking a demon's hand?"
"A demon...? That would be something to welcome instead..."
If a demon extended a hand, she should welcome it instead. She was wounded by Bishop Malik, who was the manifestation of the Sun God, and her knight, so there was no need to keep believing in the god Rachel they believed in and followed. Whether as punishment for betraying God, Jeremiah's eyes gradually closed.
Hearing Jeremiah's will, Gabriel called Jelly, who was yawning without any emotion even with a dying person before him.
"Mr. Jelly. The fact that you're here means... Lady Rohanson is also present, I assume."
"Of course. Why would I be here if not for my master?"
Gabriel had seen Rider at the Toten ducal house. Lady Toten was reluctant to speak and tried to hide it, but seeing that Rider had recovered enough to ride horses despite being of a constitution where holy water didn't work, it was clear she had received Lady Rohanson's grace. In the first place, wasn't Evangelin Rohanson herself living after reviving a body that holy water didn't work on?
If so, Evangelin might know a way to save Jeremiah.
"...Lady Rohanson."
Gabriel called the name of the white demon who had extended her hand to him in his childhood dream.
"Yes, sir. Did you call?"
Then, as if by magic, Evangelin answered. A voice like a dream, enough to mistake that she hadn't yet awakened from sleep.
How long had she been by his side? The answer that came back quickly as if she had been waiting for Gabriel to call made him unable to believe it, so he had to call that name again.
"Evangelin."
"Yes, Sir Gabriel."
Evangelin responded to being called again without showing any trouble. Somehow his heart swelled. He pushed aside for a moment the question of how someone who should be in prison appeared before Gabriel's eyes, avoiding surveillance and eyes. Evangelin had definitely come to extend her hand to him.
"You called me first, yet you're surprised?"
Evangelin smiled as if seeing something cute. Her smiling appearance benevolently seemed like she would grant everything Gabriel desired. The Evangelin who once felt distant when looked at, with her disdain for humans clearly visible, now skillfully mimicked kindness.
"Please... save the princess."
In the fallen darkness, Evangelin Rohanson shone alone. A pure white dress, white hair fluttering in the wind. The words of Kanna, Evangelin's maid, came to mind. She had asked if he thought Evangelin was an angel. No way.
"If that is what you desire, sir."
Gabriel's demon smiled benevolently.