Chapter 16 - The Saintess’s Name

The elders and Pope Raphael blessed me after I said my goodbyes.

“We pray your path will only bring fortune.”

It didn’t take long. After they were done, I went back to Miltiades and sat next to him.

Pope Raphael looked at me and laughed. “I’m glad the saintess follows you around well, Your Majesty. Please take care of her well.”

“Well, I think you’re asking the wrong person for a favor.”

Pope Raphael’s expression didn’t change even with Miltiades’s curt answer.

‘Their relationship is really bad.’ I already knew it, but the atmosphere between the two of them made it more prominent.

I made a face, and Miltiades retreated his blood lust. The pope also turned to me, and I saw my reflection in his blue eyes.

In a rarity, he looked at me with fondness. “Saintess, you understand why you’re leaving the temple to be raised outside, right?”

They wanted me to experience life outside the Vatican and see how wide the world was.

“I hope you return safely after looking around the world. I’ll be here praying that you understand your meaning.”

When I stood next to him, I didn’t have an ounce of regret, but my heart stung a bit. The pope took good care of me, unlike some other people.

‘There’s nothing I can do.’ I removed myself from Miltiades and carefully hugged the pope. “Stay safe and healthy, Grandpa Pope.”

“Hoho. I will.” The pope smiled and nodded.

I knew the future. The pope would die this year, so this was our last goodbye.

I lightly bowed toward the elders behind the pope.

“Stay safe, Elder grandpas.”

“Haha. Please be healthy, Saintess.”

“Yes, stay healthy!”

I kept my distance from them because they had used Priscilla, but I figured I could say goodbye one last time.

“Let’s go.” Miltiades held out his hand.

‘My favorite’s precious hand!’ I grabbed it with a beaming smile.

‘So long, you damned Holy Empire.’

* * *

“Please take care of the saintess, Your Majesty. Isn’t the Holy Empire like her home?”

As he looked at an excited Amelia, Miltiades remembered what Callian had said to him before they had left.

Miltiades didn’t know why she was so happy, but she was sitting right next to him. ‘She has her own carriage.’

It was the first time he had seen her throw a fit. He had only seen her calm personality, so it felt a bit unusual on this simple occasion.

“Saintess, you need to move in a different carriage.”

If they followed the strict rules of the palace, it was obvious. When Amelia heard that she had to travel separately from Miltiades, she froze as if lightning had struck her.

“No, I don’t want to! I’m gonna sit next to Daddy! I’m not leaving him!” She grabbed onto Miltiades’s leg as though someone was pulling her away from him.

“Saintess!”

“Saintess!”

Luciana and Callian tried to stop her, but it didn’t matter.

It seemed that she would burst into tears if she moved an inch away from Miltiades. It was the first time Miltiades saw Amelia cry. On top of that, she was doing her best not to talk to Luciana, so it was difficult to console her.

“I think she’s in an unfamiliar situation and is trying to hold herself back from crying. It looks like she only feels safe next to Your Majesty.”

Callian felt bad for her, but Miltiades thought differently. ‘I just think she wants to sit next to me.’

Although Luciana and Callian had tried their best to separate Amelia from Miltiades, they had failed. In the end, Amelia had gotten what she wished for; she had been traveling with Miltiades for the past week. 

It was unusual from the beginning, but Miltiades was curious about what did she like about him so much.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah!”

Miltiades propped his chin in his hand as he stared at Amelia enjoying her macaron. It might have been because Luciana had tried to take her away from Miltiades, but Amelia had conversed with only him for the past week.

Even in this situation, she answered anything he asked.

‘What did I even do?’ He didn’t even think about the words said by Callian, who enviously told him that she just liked him and he had gained a precious daughter.

It was unusual.

‘Why me?’ If he thought about it, she had followed him from the beginning. It was weird.

“Hey, do you actually like me?”

She nodded at his serious question.

“I’m a bad person.” ‘Does this arrogant child know how much blood I’ve shed and how many sins I’ve committed?’ 

He decided to warn her, but Amelia laughed as though she hadn’t heard him. Then, she leaned on him and closed her eyes.

Miltiades was baffled. “Are you sleeping?” ‘In this situation?’

He put his ear closer to her, and all he could hear was her breathing. “… She really fell asleep.”