Both the High Priest and Damien had a look of bewilderment. I don't blame them. Normally one prophecy is given from the goddess.
Damien swerved his head in surprise, “Three prophecies?”
Donna didn’t flinch. His holiness gave her a look.
“Sword, you already knew, didn’t you?” he asked.
“I have no right to loosen these lips,” Donna retorted. “You’ll have to hear it from her radiance herself.”
“You’ve become impudent ever since you’ve been given a title.”
“I’ll let her radiance be the judge of that...”
This fan is super handy today. I used it to hide my solemn happiness. The crybaby was nowhere to be found in that small child. Only anger resides in her now. I’m going to miss having to calm her down from a crying spell.
“If anything, my Donna has changed for the better,” I complimented her.
“I don’t deserve your kindness, your radiance,” she blushed.
“Don’t give me that crap. You know better than anyone that you’re my special person.”
Donna kept blushing as she fiddled with her fingers. Not a total crybaby anymore, but definitely shy to compliments. I should do it more often.
I redirected my gaze back at the High Priest, “Before I tell you, please keep me being a Saintess a secret for now. I want the king to think that I genuinely wish to divorce him for his brother.”
High Priest Skylark nodded, “Alright, however, I have no choice but to announce that a Saintess has been revealed. We’ll hide your identity for now until after the divorce proceedings.”
I agreed to the terms. It’s not like he could lie to the people once a prophecy has been read. It will be public knowledge that a Saintess is here, but she’s not going to be known to the public just yet. The church can come up with an excuse as to why the Saintess won’t reveal herself yet.
I smiled, “Good, then, here’s the first prophecy.”
I placed my hand on the desk. His holiness placed a hand on top of mine. A golden glow appeared then dissipated.
“Whoever holds the Saintess’ hand, holds peace throughout the land,” he said.
I felt a tight grip on my other hand. Damien doesn’t show it, but he’s acting a little jealous. It’s really cute.
“This prophecy not only pertains to marriage, but to those that stand by the Saintess’ side. Interesting but it makes sense.”
Another golden glow appeared and dissipated.
“To place a ring on my daughter’s finger, her precious feelings must linger,” his holiness continued. “This one is more specific than the last. I’m guessing that the goddess is also not fond of your current marriage.”
Another glow appeared, but it lingered a little longer. The High Priest’s eyes widened as the glow dissipated after a few minutes. Silence.
“Your radiance,” he began. “I can’t recite this prophecy just yet.”
“I’m aware,” I said. “This one can only be cited after my three years of service.”
Damien sighed, “So I can’t hear the third prophecy right now. Whoever already knows of it can’t speak of it either.”
Damien’s eyes slowly darted to Donna. She winced a tiny bit but kept her composure. In return, she shot back a quick look. The energy coming out of her soul was still wild. That quick dart pierced Damien’s mind. He held his head in pain.
I noticed him holding his head and placed my free hand on his cheek, "Are you okay, your grace?"
"A slight headache, is all," he answered, putting his hand down.
"Do you need some acetaminophen?"
Both the High Priest and Damien gave me a confused look. Wait, they didn't invent the most basic pain medication yet? What medicine do they have?
"What's that?" Damien asked.
How do I get myself out of this without seeming too suspicious?
I opened my mouth to speak but Donna spoke for me, "Goddess Diana told her about it. We don't know the origins. All we know is that it's a medication used to relieve minor pain, like headaches."
Of course, my mother would be the best excuse in this scenario. Why didn't I think of that?
I thanked Donna in my head, internally crying happy tears. But then I realized something. What does Donna know about modern day medicine? I never told her anything about that.
Forget it, if I continue to ponder any longer, I might develop a headache myself.
The High Priest looked at both Damien and I. His eyes bore a hole in both of our souls momentarily. Damien felt as if he no longer wished to be here and I didn't blame him. The way the High Priest stared at all three of us was as if he caught a couple of kids up to no good.
I broke the small silence, "My apologies, your holiness, but I'll need to make my way to the palace today. I'm going to be questioned left and right where I was."
Not like they care, though. But the king might be furious that I spent the night with his youngest brother. The whole point for Damien to not have an heir is so the Silvercrest Dukedom gets handed off to one of King Victor's supporters after he gets killed off in battle.
High Priest Skylark nodded in agreement, "It would be wise to leave this conversation here for now. You should expect news of the mysterious Saintess before sundown."
With that, we were all dismissed from his office. Donna walked behind both Damien and I through the halls of the church. A blonde figure was flailing about with papers until we had eye contact. It was Marquis Hannington.
I gave off a sweet smile, "A beautiful morning to you, Marquis."
"My liege? You're back incredibly-..." the Marquis trailed off.
He noticed my hand was being held by Damien. His eyes widened, almost dropping his important documents.
"D-Duke Silvercrest! A beautiful morning to you," he hurriedly bowed.
Damien shifted his gaze between the Marquis and I. I can feel his jealousy without even looking at him. I ignored his childish gaze and took a step towards the Marquis…
…only for the jealous Damien to pull me back by the waist.
I raised an eyebrow, "Damien, I'm just greeting the Marquis."
"Fantasia, I don't care. You were smiling at another man," Damien retorted.
"And I'm also married to your brother."
"My brother whom you want to divorce anyway."
"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't divorce him after all if you're going to cling to me like a lost puppy."
"I'm sure you'd rather have a puppy than a man willing to abandon you in your hour of need."
"Oh really? Please enlighten me, Duke Damien Wolfgang Silvercrest; abandon me in what hour of need?"
Damien gave his sexiest smirk, "It was I who held you and kept you up all night after all, Lady Fantasia Everdeen."
My mouth dropped. With my fan at the ready, I covered my sheepish grin, glossing my alluring eyes back at Damien.
He's the devil's child. That has to be it.
The absolute audacity to just stand there and say that, and hold such an expression; I'm about ready to throw myself at him in the middle of this hallway.
Marquis Hannington looked at us both and blushed at the conversation. I'm sure he's confused on how we got so close in the first place.
Donna walked up to the Marquis and bowed, "A beautiful morning to you, Marquis Hannington."
"Ah! Donna," he realized, fixing his face. "Likewise. Mind telling me what's going on?"
"We were simply back from talking to the High Priest," Donna plainly said.
"About yesterday?"
She nodded. The Marquis rubbed his head in slight annoyance.
"My liege, it would be wise not to go through with this," Marquis Hannington advised.
“And why is that?” I ask, still being held by Damien.
“Because-!”
Damien cut him off, “We should continue this conversation another day, Marquis. Lady Fantasia needs to rest.”
It was a good call. Last thing we needed was someone to eavesdrop on the conversation. Marquis Hannington gritted his teeth as he looked at us. You would think that I was married to Damien instead with the way he held onto me.
“Duke Silvercrest,” the Marquis called out. “I can’t tell you how to live your life. I will advise that you don’t do anything to jeopardize you or our liege’s reputation.”
My reputation was already dirt poor but go off…
A pair of strong hands lifted my body up bridal-style. I blinked at the suddenness and by instinct, wrapped my arms around Damien’s neck. Usually, being lifted like this in my line of work automatically meant you were going to get kissed or getting ready to kiss.
Again, my instinct told me that Damien wasn’t going to kiss me, so I leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. After realizing what I was doing, I stopped midway. He turned his head to face me and planted a firm kiss on my forehead.
Normally, little things like that don’t phase me. For some reason, I blushed madly at how sweet that kiss was. I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact with him and shoved my face on his shoulder.
“C-Can we go home now?” I stammered.
What’s wrong with me? It was just a small kiss on the forehead. I’m pretty sure it didn’t mean anything but to prove a point to the Marquis, but it felt really nice, and I kind of wanted another one.
“Yes, my liege,” Damien answered, sweetly.
With that, he carried me in tow, through the hallway. Not looking back at the Marquis.
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