Chapter 29: A Miracle Before the Goddess

Once again, I found myself walking across the ballroom to my spot on the prince’s stage. By now, I knew his script. He would condemn me, strip me of my status, list my crimes, and then execute me as the crowd watched on in silence. However, this time, I would control the narrative, and in fact, I had already started.

The once silent crowd now murmured amongst themselves as I walked past them. Some were confused, some looked awed, and I even spotted Brennan laughing to himself as Iris looked on in confusion. He gave me a thumbs up, and I smiled back. Somehow, his confidence calmed the rapid beating of my heart, even though I still wasn’t quite sure where his faith came from.

Regardless, with calm and measured steps, I approached my place in this story and gave a dignified curtsy below the balcony. However, that only seemed to irk Leo more. It seemed like he was less than thrilled about the outfit I had chosen for the day, which I suppose made sense. It wasn’t a dress or even really party-appropriate. Instead, it was the white robe with long sleeves worn exclusively by the saint. Roman had gifted it to me months earlier (likely after he’d already introduced the prince to Holly). However, I had never worn it in public before. It was intended for religious events and ceremonies, where I would be acting as the saint. However, I’d chosen to wear it today as a reminder that I was the saint, and they couldn’t take that title away from me without a fight.

“Liliana Florencia Thorn, for the crime of bullying Holly, my true love, I hereby annul our engagement, strip you of your status of Saint, and sentence you to immediate death.”

Despite his confusion about my attire, he still began with the exact same line he always did. I was curious if he’d rehearsed it or if it was just part of the game’s programming, but it didn’t really matter. I had managed to avoid the prince and his entourage for the last three years, and in that time, my anger had died down. I had once sought an ending that would see them all ruined, but now, I just didn’t care. I felt nothing but pity and exhaustion as I looked across their faces. That apathy made it easier for me to stay calm and maintain a neutral expression as I replied.

“Lady Eros watches over and supports all love. As her saint, I will not object to the dissolution of our engagement.” Those words, which I did my best to make sound as saintly as possible, rattled them. They had likely expected anger and denial, but I had given them exactly what they wanted, though they still didn’t seem to realize that I was still calling myself the saint. That was something I had to make clear. “However, your highness, I ask by what authority you mean to strip me of my position as saint?”

“By what...by mt authority,” he nearly shouted, clearly rattled by my question. “I am the crown prince of this country. The blood of Eros flows through my veins.”

“And do you believe that makes you superior to Lady Eros herself?” I asked with my best feigned look of confusion. The prince looked shocked by my question, as, despite the power he wielded within the kingdom, he was still a man, and to compare himself to an actual god was laughable. “You may wield absolute authority in the affairs of man, but the Church of Eros is beyond even your grasp. It exists in service of no one, but Eros and the people she seeks to protect.”

“She is correct.”

Those words came from the last person I had expected to step up to my defense, Aster. I had reached out to him for help during one of my first loops, but he had refused to even see me. Since then, I had not heard him speak even once during the loops. It had been so long that I had almost forgotten what his voice sounded like.

“You’re on her side?” the prince asked with a near hiss, though I couldn’t blame him. I was just as surprised as he was.

“If that is how it appears, then you must consider your own position,” Aster chastised coldly. “I am a devout follower of Logos and the laws that govern this world. As such, I must remind both you and Roman that the original tenants established at the church’s founding state that the saint may not be stripped of her status so long as she holds the trust of her people.”

“Quite well informed,” Roman replied, seemingly unworried by the revelation. “Are you considering joining our congregation?”

“Don’t be foolish. You know, as well as I, that my church’s core tenets have gone unchanged since before it split off from yours. While we may not have a saint of our own, we still consider it an act of reverence to study those laws and discuss their importance.”

“Well, if you are so obsessed with the law, what of the law stating the saint must marry the prince?” Leo argued with a growl. “How do you expect her to retain her title when she has already agreed to end our engagement?”

“There is no such law,” I countered, bringing the prince’s attention back to me. “If there were, your mother would’ve lost her position as queen when a new saint took her place.”

The prince glared at me, but could say nothing in his own defense. His mother, the queen, had come from another nation and taken the title of saint upon marrying the current king. However, after some time, she retired from her position for reasons that were never made clear and was replaced by the previous saint, who died a few years later. Since then, I had held the position, but with the promise that I would not be expected to perform any of my duties until after I graduated.

“Once more, she is right,” Aster responded with a nod. “If she wishes to remain the saint and the people do not object, then there is no means by which you may remove her from the position. Additionally, as the saint is considered untouchable by the laws of man, you may not execute her as you claimed you would.”

The prince fumed at Aster’s words, but Roman kept that same smile on his face. He had a plan, and I knew exactly what it was.

“Then, based on your own argument, if the people decide she is unfit, she will be stripped of her title?” Roman asked with a sickly sweet voice that sent shivers down my spine.

“None could object to that,” Aster agreed.

“Well then, are there any in the crowd today who can claim they have confidence in Liliana’s ability to serve as saint?” he asked the question, assured that none would step up in my defense, and he was right. If this had been before the loop began, I would be unlikely to have even a single supporter stand up in my defense, but now, I had twenty.

My twenty patients each stepped forward and told their own story of how I had treated them. While few were impressed by the paper cut idiot, besides one girl loudly cheering for him somewhere in the crowd, the testimonies from my more difficult patients elicited hushed awes from the crowd and a slight crease of Roman’s brow. He wasn’t expecting me to come in with so many supporters, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting that either. I had healed the remaining patients on a whim, and now they were turning the crowd to my side.

“That is...impressive,” Roman said after a pause. “But it is only a small number. I cannot say that the people as a whole support her as saint. If we are to bestow upon her such a significant title, then I must demand a public demonstration of her abilities.”

There it was. Roman had done exactly what I had expected of him. He knew my weakness. He knew that I struggled before a crowd and would likely fail to perform even a simple healing spell with so many eyes on me. However, once more, he underestimated just how far I had come since his actions had trapped me in this nightmare. I wasn’t the scared little girl he’d known before.

“Very well,” I said, while trying to sound more scared than I actually was. “But I want both you and the prince to swear on the name of Eros that if Holly cannot heal a similar injury to my own under similar circumstances, then you will never again attempt to strip me of my title.”

“I swear.”

“As do I,” Roman responded. “Shall I go check the infirmary for a patient you may heal?”

“No need,” I replied with a wide smile that made the two of them flinch. “I have already prepared one.”

As I spoke, I lifted my left arm toward the sky, and as the sleeve slid down, the room exploded. People gasped and screamed. The prince took a full step backwards, and even Roman’s tranquil smile was shattered.

“What...What did you do?” the prince eventually asked. His voice was little more than a whisper and nearly drowned out by the noise of the crowd, but I heard him perfectly. He wanted to know why there was a stump where my left hand had once been.

“I prepared an injury as I said I would, and if I can heal it, then Holly must do the same.”

Holly, who’d been quiet and impossible to read throughout this conversation, suddenly came to life, screaming that I couldn’t take her hand. I know I hadn’t been the paragon of maturity before all this, but even I had to scoff at how childish she was being. A simple combination of low-level dark and healing magic had been enough to ensure that I felt nothing as it was removed, and that barely a drop of blood spilled before the wound was closed.

“You’re mad!” the prince howled at me. “No one would ever agree to that!”

“You already have,” Aster interjected, looking somehow both exhausted and amused. “Both you and Roman swore to the goddess that you would not object to Liliana’s position as saint if Holly were unable to heal a similar wound under similar circumstances. This is the wound that Liliana has presented, and the circumstances are that it is her own wound she is healing. If Holly is unable to follow Liliana’s example or her Regenerate spell is slower at regrowing her hand than Liliana’s, then by your own vow, you must back down.”

Leo stared in shock at both Aster and me for a few moments before he turned to Holly and actually tried to convince her to let Atlas cut off her own hand. Of course, she objected to that utterly ridiculous request, as I know she would. Still, even if she agreed, I had already won.

I considered letting their little argument continue until she actually consented, but decided that her temper tantrum was a better backdrop for my next move.

“Actually, Aster, there’s something you got wrong.”

“And what was that?”

“The spell I’d use,” I said with a smile, before drawing in all the aether from the room I could. Despite its size, those nearby me still became dizzy as there was briefly not enough aether for them to take in. This caught the attention of both Roman and Aster as they realized I was drawing in far more than would be required for Regenerate. “Restore.”

Within moments of casting that spell, blinding light poured from my body, circling and spiraling around me until it took the place and form of the hand that Sally had removed. It quickly took on the appearance of flesh, and once it was complete, I raised it in the air as a symbol of celebration.

The people applauded, while Roman, Leo, and Holly looked utterly defeated. It didn’t matter if Holly was willing to cut off her hand or not. I knew for a fact that she couldn’t cast master-class healing magic. I had won. I was the saint recognized by the people, and there was nothing they or anyone could do to take that away from me.

Well, that’s what I thought at least, and the forces that be allowed me to keep believing that for a full thirty seconds before an overwhelming force filled the room. Those around me panicked because they didn’t know what it was, while I panicked because I did. I had spoken to Logos so often that his pressure had begun to feel friendly. This was similar, but different. Logos’s force had felt like an iron grip, while this felt like drowning in cotton candy, sweet, but suffocating.

“Hello, my beautiful children.”

This was the goddess. This was Eros.