"When Lady Lohanson finishes praying, escort her to the knights' reception room. Yuriel is with her."
Gabriel issued the order to one of his knights as they walked, ensuring that Lady Evangeline would be brought to the same location.
The Order of Palaros fell under the Temple's jurisdiction, so its headquarters stood adjacent to the main cathedral. Hena had expected something equally majestic and opulent—gleaming marble, towering columns, gold leaf catching the light. Instead, the Order's building proved surprisingly modest. Functional. Almost austere.
"We have arrived," the knight announced, gesturing toward an unassuming door.
As they approached the office, Hena's unease deepened with every step. Gabriel would, of course, welcome any lead in this case—but the upcoming meeting itself filled her with a creeping sense of dread.
After all, she and Kanna were the only witnesses to Donau's death. Where could there possibly be another?
Perhaps this was about the painting, and the witness had some connection to the artist? But then, why would they need witnesses at all?
And this witness from the monastery... Hena couldn't fathom what such a person could have seen. The uncertainty gnawed at her, sharpening her anxiety into something almost unbearable.
_It's unlikely this person saw the mistress kill Donau. The door was wide open then, and anyone could have heard the noise..._
The office door swung open as suddenly as if delivering a death sentence.
Inside, besides the familiar Rafaela, stood two more knights—and a figure in monastic robes. The witness.
Hena's breath caught. Her mouth moved before her mind could stop it, the name escaping in a whisper:
"Daisy?"
Daisy—who had supposedly been sent to a convent due to sudden blindness—looked haggard and hollow. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and her cheeks had grown gaunt. She raised her head and stared at Hena.
"Hena? What are you doing here?"
"That's what I wanted to ask!" Hena's voice cracked. "They said you'd gone blind..."
Rumors of Daisy's blindness and her banishment to a convent had circulated through the estate for some time. Hena, who had taken her place as personal servant, had been horrified when she first heard. She'd even wondered if Daisy had died—and her mistress had simply spread the rumor to cover her tracks.
But now Daisy stood before her, looking completely healthy. Her vision, apparently, was fine.
Could Daisy really be the witness?
The thought made Hena's head spin. If it had been anyone else, she might have dismissed it all as a mistake, a case of false memory. But Daisy had been her mistress's *personal* servant until recently.
The other servants at the Lohanson estate—intimidated by the steward and the all-seeing eye of Lady Evangeline—kept their mouths firmly shut. But Daisy no longer worked at the estate.
She could tell *everything*. About the mistress's resurrection. About everything else.
*This cannot be allowed.*
If the Temple learned the truth, the mistress could be executed. But Hena's fear ran deeper than concern for Evangeline's life. What truly terrified her was what held her mistress's madness in check—the *role* of Evangeline Lohanson. Without that role, without that anchor, the mistress would become unpredictable.
*Dangerous.*
_What should we do? We need to silence Daisy._
"You don't work at the estate anymore?" Hena asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.
Daisy shook her head, her face turning ashen.
"Get out of there as quickly as possible. Wait..." Her gaze dropped, fixing on something. "What's that around her neck? Hena—*who is that?*" She pointed a trembling finger at Kanna.
"My sister," Hena answered carefully.
Neck?
Daisy was staring at Kanna's throat—at the thin red scar Donau had left behind. Kanna had refused to treat it with holy water, and it still hadn't faded. A delicate crimson line, barely visible unless you knew to look.
Seeing that scar, Daisy clapped a hand over her mouth as if she might vomit.
"*Sister?*" she asked in a trembling voice.
Hena nodded.
"Your sister... Does she also work at the estate?"
"Yes."
With each answer, Daisy's face grew paler. The hand covering her mouth, her dilated pupils—everything betrayed the terror coursing through her.
_That scar..._
Daisy knew what it meant. It was the claw mark of the demon she had summoned. Demons loved to slit their victims' throats and stitch them back together. If it weren't for that thin scar, it would be impossible to tell the living from the dead.
The demon had asked to be taken to the Lohanson estate, and Daisy had complied.
It seemed he had reached it. And dealt with its inhabitants.
She had suspected this would happen—but seeing the victim with her own eyes, discovering it was her former colleague's *sister*...
It was too much.
"What have I... *What have I done*..." Daisy whispered, staggering backward.
The knight beside her moved to steady her, but Daisy shoved him away with a terrified cry. She looked at him with such horror—as if he were about to pounce on her.
Hena felt panic rising like bile in her throat. It seemed the knights were moments away from seizing Daisy. She had summoned the demon. She had killed Priest Berg. Her guilt was undeniable.
"I... I need to go," Daisy muttered, her voice barely audible.
"What? But—" Rafaela began.
Daisy had come to the Temple to confirm Priest Berg's words about the painting. After seeing the ominous magic circle hidden within it, she had decided she *had* to speak.
Of course, she had no intention of confessing fully. Her testimony was a careful mixture of truth and lies, skillfully woven to appear convincing.
"I've already told you everything. Isn't that enough?"
Gabriel looked questioningly at the knight taking notes, who nodded. Gabriel picked up the piece of paper containing Daisy's summarized testimony and scanned it quickly.
The testimony stated that Father Berg had summoned a demon using a magic circle. The atrocities committed by the priest under the demon's influence were listed in detail. Daisy had also mentioned that evidence could be found in the priest's quarters.
The next page mentioned Evangeline Lohanson.
Apparently, Daisy had worked at the Lohanson estate and witnessed certain events.
Glancing at Hena and Kanna, Gabriel silently turned the page without reading further. Now he understood why Daisy had been so frightened. Having encountered people from the Lohanson estate, she feared being exposed.
"Your help is invaluable," Gabriel said evenly. "I'll handle the rest myself."
Given permission to leave, Daisy exhaled with visible relief. Berg was dead, so she felt no guilt in laying everything at his feet. All the atrocities listed *had* been committed by Berg. He *had* drawn the magic circle.
Daisy wanted only one thing: for that ominous painting to be removed from the Temple wall.
And she had gotten her way.
"Rafaela, escort her to the Temple gates."
Daisy realized that refusing would look suspicious. She nodded silently.
As she passed Hena, she leaned close—so close her lips nearly brushed Hena's ear—and whispered words so quiet that even Hena could barely hear them:
"*Hena. That is not your sister.*"
She couldn't explain everything now. The knights stood too close, and Daisy was terrified that Hena would blame her for Kanna's death. Those words were all she could manage.
Daisy glanced at Hena's *dead* sister and the orb hovering beside her—the floating eye that watched everything. She hadn't expected to see them again outside the estate...
But strangely, they didn't frighten her as much as before.
Perhaps it was because they stood within the Temple, and the orb's power was limited here. Daisy knew the eye couldn't hear sound. It couldn't hear her whispers.
Afraid to meet its gaze, she hurried out of the reception room.
---
Hena watched Daisy disappear through the doorway, her sister's hand clasped tightly in her own.
"Sister, what did she tell you?" Kanna asked.
"Nothing," Hena answered.
It didn't matter what Daisy had said.
Kanna was her only sister. And it didn't matter that she had rejoiced at Donau's death. It didn't matter that she had called that monstrous painting beautiful.
No matter how damaged Kanna's soul might be, she remained Hena's beloved sister.
*Right?*
*It had to be that way...*
---
## — Evangeline —
"Have you finished praying?" Yuriel asked.
_Yes, I had a wonderful nap,_ Evangeline thought—but she couldn't possibly say that aloud in front of a paladin. She simply nodded, hoping she looked suitably devout.
The chapel Yuriel had led her to was reserved for nobility and furnished with incredible luxury. Evangeline had expected something resembling a prison cell—cold stone, hard benches, perhaps a single candle guttering in the draft. Instead, she found a room that was surprisingly cozy. *Conducive to relaxation.*
Warm sunlight streamed through a large window, and the distant strains of an organ drifted in from somewhere deeper in the cathedral. Evangeline had assumed a prayerful position, closed her eyes...
...and promptly fallen asleep.
Even in her dreams, she hadn't seen God. No divine revelations, no mystical visions, no special bonuses granted to time travelers. The language pack had activated late, and she hadn't even arrived in this body immediately.
_What kind of isekai protagonist am I? I'm expecting too much._
"Have you been waiting long?" she asked, stifling a yawn.
"No, not at all. Some believers pray for hours."
Evangeline had worried she'd slept too long, but time seemed to have passed quickly enough. It was strange that there were no clocks in the Temple—not in the prayer room, not anywhere. Living without a phone was unbearably awkward. She would have to buy herself a pocket watch.
"The Commander is waiting for you in the Order's office," Yuriel said. "Along with your companions. Please follow me."
Hena and Kanna had apparently finished viewing the painting. They hadn't returned to the estate but had waited for her instead.
_Could this really be... true friendship?_
Warmth bloomed in Evangeline's chest at the thought. She lightly kicked the sleeping Jelly—he'd been waiting for her too, but for some reason, his presence only irritated her.
Since she was already at the Temple, Evangeline decided to purchase some holy water. Fortunately, she had brought plenty of gold. She gathered enough coins for ten vials, with some left over for emergencies.
"You are *magnificent*, my lady!" Yuriel exclaimed with the enthusiasm of a holy water salesman. "I couldn't buy even half this amount with my annual salary!"
_Is he secretly working on commission?_
Evangeline held out the bottles to Jelly, but he recoiled in disgust, his lip curling.
"And you expect *me* to carry *that*...?"