‎The sun was setting, everyone was busy cleaning up the mess and preparing the grave for the people who died during the wyverns’ attack. It didn’t take a day for neighboring countries to find out about what had happened to the Holy Nation. Their representatives came to assist and donated a lot of things to rebuild the city on the fifth layer.

‎Rasmus came to see the damage that the wyverns had caused. He could see the melted glass that had become one with the ground. He also watched the paladins carry dead bodies that were wrapped in white cloth.

‎Aurelia was trying her best not to shed a tear, trying to endure it and to stay strong in front of her people. She didn’t want to be seen as pitiful and pathetic by her people for crying because she couldn’t do anything. Every action she took would affect her and everything around her.

‎”Lady Aurelia, you can sit down with me here,” Serena smiled as she patted an empty spot on the bench she was sitting on. “You don’t have to stand for the rest of the day. We can have a talk…” she suggested, knowing what kind of struggle was within Aurelia’s mind and heart.

‎Aurelia turned around and stared at Serena for a moment, thinking if she should listen to Serena or not. She then realized the stinging pain in her feet from walking around nonstop for the past few hours. She decided to sit down beside Serena even though she felt awkward around her.

‎”Beautiful things never last,” Serena muttered as she stared into the distance.

“I’m sorry?” Aurelia was startled by Serena’s sudden statement.

“Oh, you heard that?” Serena raised her brows as she looked at Aurelia. “I’m saying that beautiful things never last. If there’s anything beautiful that lasts forever, that means it’s rotten from the inside,” she smiled at Aurelia.

“I don’t understand what you mean, Saint Serena…” Aurelia was genuinely confused by Serena’s words.

“It is literally what it means, Lady Aurelia. Beautiful things never last, and when they last, it means it’s rotten from the inside that keeps that false beauty on the outside,” Serena explained, still with a smile on her face. “You can interpret it however you want. But I can assure you, this is a good sign, that the beauty of this place doesn’t last either,” she continued.

Aurealia was mentally exhausted, so she couldn’t process something heavy. However, when she thought about the past that happened to Serena, the Cardinal from Holy Nation schemed to kill her out of protection and to prevent prophecy, she realized something. She began to connect with what Serena said about the lasting beauty, and realized that the beauty of the Holy Nation, the image of sacredness and beauty for more than a century, could be hiding the rotten inside it.

“Do you think the Holy Nation is rotten inside, Saint Serena? That some of us tried to protect the sacredness and beauty of this nation by doing something corrupt?” Aurelia asked with fear within her heart, fear of knowing the truth and bearing responsibility for something that wasn’t hers.

“Isn’t that the truth, Saint Aurelia? Why do you have to question something that’s real?” Serena tilted her head. “I died because of that, and I came back to life to be the witness and the victim of such corruption,” she continued.

Aurealia couldn’t say a word and chose to be quiet, thinking about the possibility that something like that had happened for a century without the world knowing. The crippling fear slowly overpowered her and she didn’t know if she wanted to confront it or tried to ignore it.

“Just think about it like a person. Nobody is purely beautiful on the inside and on the outside. They believe it’s righteous, but they do things that are questionable just because they believe it’s the right thing to do. To protect lives, they choose to lie to them. Their righteousness is just an illusion coated in assurance and a sense of relief, believe they’re sacrificing their morale for the goodness of the world,” Serena said as she leaned back and crossed her arms and legs. “If that’s what righteousness is, I guess that means righteousness is only out of convenience and self-interest coated in martyrdom,” she continued.

“But not all like that. There are people out there like that, and unfortunately, they’re powerless,” Rasmus said, joining the conversation as he approached the bench.

Both Aurelia and Serena were startled when they heard Rasmus’s voice. They all turned their heads to the left and saw Rasmus walking with his cane.

“Nobody is inherently wrong or corrupted, only their surroundings that turn them that way. So, I do believe, something beautiful can last forever, but in doing so, they’ll be seen as rotten and ugly by others,” Rasmus said as he looked at the dead bodies that were carefully laid down on the ground. “Beauty isn’t about making yourself beautiful by other standards, it’s the opposite. You grow to be honest with yourself, and that’s when they see you as beautiful. Just like flowers,” he continued as he looked at Aurelia.

‎Rasmus glanced at Serena and realized that she had seen nothing but the hypocrisy of human beings. After all, she was Lilith underneath, the first woman who was condemned to hell and saw nothing but the tormented souls of sinners. He realized that Serena would be a bad influence on Aurelia, and he had to explain to her about the plan he had for Aurelia.

‎Aurelia was deep in thought that she didn’t realize that Rasmus and Serena were communicating with their eyes. She considered both Rasmus and Serena’s words, one of whom revealed the ugly truth and the other brought the light from that truth.

‎”Then what does that make me, if I’ve lived trying to protect a lie I didn’t even know?” Aurelia asked, knowing that she might have indirectly taken over something that she didn’t commit to and hold accountable for it.

“That depends on you, Aurelia. Do you want to live in dishonesty? Following the same tradition, becoming someone like Saint Serena said or being someone that you can be honest with yourself, without taking a hold of responsibility that isn’t yours to begin with,” Rasmus asked as he stared into Aurelia’s eyes.

“What do you mean by that, Count? Why is it it that you sound so certain of something as if you know more about the Holy Nation than me?” Aurelia asked with her brows furrowed. She found it suspicious, scary, and concerning at the same time.

“Why don’t you ask your mother about it, Aurelia? She’s the one who knows everything. Me, I’m just someone who got information from my own way,” Rasmus answered as he looked at the stars that began to light the sky. “It’s getting dark. I believe everyone is ready to for you to give them a proper burial,” he continued as he looked at the paladins that had gathered all the bodies they could find.

Aurelia was confused by Rasmus’s statement, but then she realized that she still had a duty that awaited her. She looked at the paladins and the people, they were indeed waiting for her to give her blessing to the dead. She then took a deep breath and slowly got up from the bench, steeling her heart.

“Being a Saint is to help people who struggle, this is one of the many forms. A path of being Saint isn’t an easy path, but please, be honest…” Serena said as she got up and placed her hand on Aurelia’s back.

“Yes, I know that…” Aurelia nodded and then began to walk to where the bodies were laid down.

Videl, Rasmus, and Serena followed Aurelia from behind while listening to the sobbing of the family who had lost their loved ones. Aurelia was holding back her tears when they saw the dirty and the blood-covered cloth that wrapped the dead bodies.

Aurelia stood in front of hundreds of dead bodies, and began to pray with her hands clasped together in front of her chest. The people slowly clasped their hands together, eyes closed, and on their knees. Serena began to pray beside Aurelia while Videl pretended to pray on his knees. Rasmus on the other hand, he stood still and looked at the exact numbers of the bodies.

When Aurelia was busy praying, Javi appeared behind Rasmus like a shadow. Nobody noticed his presence other than Videl and Serena. He then whispered something into Rasmus’s ear, it sounded almost like a wind.

“Lady Aris has killed every single one of them…” Javi whispered.

Rasmus nodded with understanding, and then he watched Javi leave and disappear into the night without making a sound.

“God, please have mercy on these souls…” Aurelia said as divine energy began to descend toward the dead bodies with its white translucent light. “May they rest in peace and be by your side, Amen,” she continued.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep