|| ᴀ ꜱᴀɪɴᴛ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀᴅᴏᴘᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴜᴋᴇ || ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴇᴛᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱɪᴅᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ ||

Chapter 1-5

Prologue

"I demand the return of Saintess Daina."

"I don't know what you mean."

The eyes of the grand duke shone brightly. Priest Pedrick coughed, flinching in the green light.

"Didn't you take the saint from our temple? It was strange when you bought the humble child."

"....A humble child,"

Deheen repeated after Pedrick in a low voice. Pedrick trembled as he felt the dangerous air from him.

"We know that Daina has become aware of her awakening. She belongs to our temple, so please return her. Our situation has gotten difficult now."

The way of speaking was such that it was from someone who never saw the person as anything but an object. Deheen's patience reached its peak, and the corners of his lips curled up coldly.

"I don't know how you knew it, but... you bought the saint for only a million errins. The Grand Duke is too much."

In the end, Deheen lifted his leg and kicked the table hard.

Bang!

The table broke with a tremendous roar. Pieces splattered all over the places, smoke billowed, and the office became a mess.

"Grand Duke Deheen! What are you doing!!"

"What am I doing? I'm just protecting my daughter."

He didn't stop there, instead he drew his sword. Raising a sword against a priest was tantamount to declaring war on the temple. As the situation turned urgent, even the paladins and Deheen's knights raised their swords.

In an instant, the office was in an atmosphere of confrontation. There was tension on everyone's face, their complexions lost their color.

"Everyone, listen carefully."

Deheen roared loudly.

"Her name is not Daina, but Esther. And she is not a saint, but my daughter."

"Your Excellency! No!"

There was no stopping it.

After finishing his words, Deheen struck the sword without hesitation and Priest Pedrick's left arm was cut off. It was the true image of Deheen, the grand duke who was famous for being monstrous.

While everyone was frozen, the priest who came with Pedrick jumped between the two. He shuddered and poured all his divine power into Pedrick's arm. Soon after, there was a lot of blood and the arm was reattached. Pedrick, who almost lost one arm, was pale.

"What is this... what have you done...."

"Once more, if you don't stop talking about my daughter."

Deheen gazed right into Pedrick's eyes. Then, he polished his words with sincerity.

"I'm ready for war."

★★★

Priest Perikel was dozing off while guarding the prison's entrance.

Then, his eyes opened because he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Perikel stood up and waited for the main character of the sound to arrive.

It was Saintess Rabienne, as he had expected.

"Lady Saintess! Have you come to pray again? How many years has it been... you can stop now."

"No, Daina was a dear friend of mine. I can't give up."