“From your expressions, it seems you know what this phenomenon is.”

The King turned to the side where the judges and priests were. Despite his piercing gaze, the priests only glanced at each other and hesitated to come forward. Some of the priests anxiously looked toward the side where the nobles were seated.

“Do you need to be punished to open your mouths?”

“….”

“If you don’t speak right now, you will be the ones standing on the platform being judged.”

The King raised his voice.

Perhaps thinking of his resolute tone, the judge hesitantly stepped forward. Beads of sweat mixed with raindrops dripped down his forehead from under his miter.

“There is a prayer that has been secretly passed down among priests since ancient times. It is a prayer that helps interpret the oracle given by the Saintess.”

Even though the judge spoke in a roundabout manner, the people in the courtroom immediately understood what he meant.

‘The red sky and rain are an oracle given by the Saintess.’

The judge and the other priests must have realized that the red sky and raindrops were an oracle because they knew the prayer to interpret it.

‘An oracle?’

An oracle had come down right before the trial. The timing was perfect, but the situation had changed drastically.

Perhaps there was a chance to survive?

Carinne, who had been resigned and empty-minded, felt a glimmer of hope in her heart. Her heart pounded, and she swallowed hard. In the meanwhile, the King seemed greatly surprised by the judge’s words.

“An oracle…! Then, what do the red sky and rain mean?”

“That is….”

The judge trailed off, sweat pouring down his face like rain. It was clear that he was looking at the other nobles. Seeing that, the King followed the judge’s gaze and found a group of nobles avoiding his eyes with nervous expressions.

As he sternly watched the nobles, he nodded to the judge as if to reassure him.

“It’s okay, so tell me.”

Although the nobles were many in number, the King was the King. The judge, who had been weighing the pros and cons in his mind, carefully opened his mouth.

“…The red sky and rain of blood signify an oracle of wicked conspiracy.”

After speaking, the judge bowed his head deeply as if awaiting punishment.

A wicked conspiracy…!

It was obvious what the conspiracy meant. Realizing this, Carinne’s face lit up, forgetting what she had said about believing it or not. From this moment on, she was the Saintess’s number one fan.

However, the King seemed to think differently from Carinne.

“A wicked conspiracy….”

The King stroked his beard slowly, looking completely clueless. Watching him, she felt frustrated and stifled. No, an oracle came down right before the trial, so wasn’t it obvious?

Of course, the witch trial was a wicked conspiracy!

Did she have to spell it out?

Just as Carinne was about to raise her voice, a white light in the shape of the number eight appeared in the red sky. Shining brighter than the sun, it swirled above her head, emitting a dazzling light. Surprised, the people looked up at the sky, and a white flash of light fell on their faces.

“That’s…!”

Immediately, a great uproar broke out among the priests. They were too surprised to care about the nobles’ opinions this time.

“It’s a sign of innocence!”

At one priest’s exclamation, the hall became noisy.

“Who is innocent?”

“Of course, the one being tried!”

“The Princess is innocent.”

“Right, who would believe in witches in this day and age!”

Like a broken dam, voices of protest erupted from the crowd. The simultaneous voices gradually unified into a single cry.

“Free the Princess!”

Hundreds of people surrounding the courtroom shouted the same thing. Hearing that, tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of being saved. Nevertheless, her relief was short-lived.

The King, who had been fidgeting with his mustache, stood up abruptly.

“The trial must proceed as scheduled! How do we know whose innocence the oracle is proving?”

“That’s right.”

“I agree.”

Other nobles chimed in.

‘Those b*stards!’

Who were they to ignore the oracle? Carinne, who had somehow become a devout believer, was stomping her foot.

“Do you dare go against the will of the Saintess?”

Duke Lucas suddenly opened his mouth.

“It is an oracle that came down after five hundred years. What could the Saintess mean by this?”

“If the Princess is innocent, there is no reason to avoid a trial! We can just hold a trial to confirm if the oracle is true, can’t we?!”

“Do you dare doubt the oracle?”

‘Yes, well said!’

Carinne applauded inwardly, then covered her ears.

The moment Duke Lucas finished speaking, the people’s shouts grew even louder. The hall was filled with noise as they called for the Princess’ release. With the mustache guy and Duke Lucas arguing on top of that, it was a complete mess. Someone would shout here, and someone else would shout there.

Her brain was reaching its limit as she tried to multitask, listening to both sides.

Then…

“Silence! I will decide whether to proceed with the trial or not.”

The King, who had been looking up at the sky deep in thought, decisively struck his gavel and declared. Since the commotion had been so loud, it didn’t die down immediately like before, so he had to strike his gavel several times.

When the people finally fell silent, and the mustache guy and Duke Lucas stopped arguing, the King spoke.

“The Duke is right. This seems to be a kind of warning sign sent to us by the Saintess.”

To Carinne, it seemed like it meant that the witch trials were an evil plot, but… different people interpret things differently.

The King glanced around at everyone in the courtroom before turning his gaze to her.

“At the same time, she probably wanted to clear the name of the innocent. Since an oracle signifying innocence came down, the trial is canceled. The Princess is innocent. And one more thing…”

Everyone in the courtroom held their breath, waiting for the King’s next words.

“We must find out what this evil plot means. Since the oracle came down before the trial began, the plot must be related to the trial. Therefore, I will have Viscount Frank, who accused the Princess of being a witch, investigated.”

The King emphasized an ‘evil plot’ and looked at the mustache guy as his sharp gaze openly displayed his disgust for him. Now that Carinne thought about it, the King seemed to be thinking of the witch trials and the plot as separate things. He seemed to think that the mustache guy was plotting treason.

‘You’re a dead man now.’

It felt like a ten-year-long traffic jam was finally starting to move.

As soon as the King gave his order, knights rushed in and surrounded the man. The mustache guy was flustered and asked for help from the nobles around him, but not a single noble took his side. Not even one. They all pretended not to see him, saying they didn’t know him.

Even though the mustache guy shouted in disbelief, no one cared about a man who would surely rot in prison for the rest of his life or be banished. And soon, he was eventually dragged out of the courtroom by the knights.

It was a fitting end for a third-rate villain extra.

When the sound of the man’s shouts faded away, the King declared that the trial would be dismissed. The sky had already turned a clear blue, and the rain had stopped. The people loudly cheered Carinne’s name.

It was embarrassing to hear them call her name.

Marta approached and unlocked Carinne’s handcuffs. She nodded as if to say that she knew this would happen. It was her way of congratulating her.

“Carinne!”

Iris ran over to Carinne, who was happily waving her free hands around and hugged her.

“Oh, Carinne, I’m so glad. The Saintess saved you!”

Iris uttered in a choked voice, her eyes welling up with tears.

Hearing that, Carinne had a thought.

‘But… why did the Saintess give an oracle saying that I’m innocent?’

She was nothing special. She wasn’t an important person who absolutely had to be in Esmeril, nor was she a devout believer. Why on earth did the Saintess give an oracle saying that she was innocent? Was it because she possessed the body? Or because she was going to be the next Saintess?

Several unanswered questions swirled in her head, though the joy of being released washed over them.

“Without you, I…”

Iris grabbed Carinne’s shoulders and started to cry before she could finish her sentence. With her heart pounding in her chest, she hugged Iris and patted her back. She had almost died, but she could only imagine how Iris felt, having almost lost her only friend.

Then, she looked back and saw Duke Lucas smiling smugly at them. Since the Duke had just helped them, Carinne nodded to him instead of turning her head away.

…But something felt empty. It was like eating a steamed bun without red bean paste.

As she watched a man in a brown coat pass by, she realized what she had forgotten.

‘The most important person isn’t here!’

She wanted to see him so badly. She wanted to ask him to forget about the strange words she had made in prison. She wanted to tell him she was sorry for worrying him.

She didn’t want to wait until he came to find her, so Carinne put her hands around her eyes and scanned the surroundings. She took the time to check the faces of the nobles sitting down, the priests standing up, and the people surrounding the judge.

However, she couldn’t find the blond man or even the hem of his blue coat. There were so many people, maybe she just couldn’t see him.

In the end, she gave up searching and decided to wait for him.

Still, she waited and waited, yet he didn’t show up. She kept waiting, thinking that he would eventually appear, but he never did. While patting Iris’ heaving shoulders, she furrowed her brows and then relaxed them repeatedly.

He must be somewhere nearby since it hadn’t been long since they had parted.

Where could he have gone at such a joyous moment?

—