Chapter 26: Interlude – Saint Alicia’s Canonization Ceremony 4

“Lily… you know that woman… no, Miss Emma?”

“Y-Yes… but we’ve only spoken a few times… U-Um… Alicia-sama… d-did I… d-do… something… rude…?”

Lily grew flustered, stumbling over her words.

“…No, it’s quite alright. This is my own affair… So, where did you and Miss Emma meet?”

When she looked at Alicia’s face again, her usual, gentle expression had returned.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief.

What I just saw must have been my imagination.

There’s no way that Alicia-sama would make such a terrifying face.

Thinking that, Lily continued their earlier conversation.

Little did she know that this would later go on to greatly change her own destiny… no, the destiny of this Kingdom… of the entire continent…

“W-Well… before I came to serve you, Alicia-sama, I was working at a noble’s estate, and when some things happened there, Miss Emma helped me…”

“I see… so that’s how it was. Miss Emma has always been a very capable person.”

“Y-Yes. That’s right. Even though she’s the lady of a great noble family, she was kind even to someone like me, she works as a Guild Master, and she’s so very beautiful… And yet, she’s remained single all this time—”

“Lily… Miss Emma is not single. With Sensei… no, with a certain gentleman, she should have been wed five years ago.”

“Huh…? I-Is that so…? But Miss Emma wasn’t wearing the proof of marriage… the bracelet… and she herself said that she’s always lived alone with her orphaned daughter—”

In that instant, Lily dropped the comb without thinking.

She had been startled by the smile on Alicia’s face, reflected in the mirror.

Yes… Alicia was smiling, just as she always did.

But… the corners of her mouth were turned up far too wide… and her face was greatly distorted.

As if possessed by a demon… by the darkness…

“Fhi… Fufu… Ahahaha!!!”

Alicia suddenly shot to her feet and began to laugh loudly.

“A-Alicia-sama… a-are you alright…?”

Lily was left dumbfounded by this behavior, so utterly unlike Alicia.

“Yes… Rest assured, Lily. There is no problem at all. On the contrary… I feel very… very good. So good, in fact, that I might say this is the best I’ve felt in these past five years… The dark shadow that covered me has finally cleared. Oh… God… I thank you.”

As Alicia said this, she looked up into the air and prayed.

“W-Well, if you say so…”

“Lily, regarding what we were discussing earlier, I will go to that city after all… to the border city.”

“Huh…? That is… y-yes… I underst—”

“Then… I shall be off at once.”

“Huh…? R-Right now…? By yourself, Alicia-sama?”

“Yes… of course. I cannot allow that woman… that liar, to have her way with Sensei any longer…”

“Huh…? S-Sensei, you say… n-no, more importantly, you are a Saint, Alicia-sama, so there are various preparations to…”

“…A Saint? Ah… that’s right. I was a Saint, wasn’t I? But now… something like that doesn’t matter anymore. Because… Sensei is… fhi… Fufu… Aah!! As I thought, God has not forsaken me. Before the other two realize this fact, I must, by any means necessary, be with Sensei…”

Alicia shouted this with a beaming smile, and then tried to leave the room just as she was.

“A-Alicia-sama! P-Please calm yourself! For someone who is a Saint to go outside in such a state…”

Knowing it was rude, Lily shouted this and blocked Alicia’s path.

The cause was unknown, but it was clear that the current Alicia was acting completely unhinged.

“Ah… you are right, of course. To think that I would be so careless, when I’m about to see Sensei for the first time in five years…”

Saying that, Alicia sat back down in her chair.

For the time being, Lily breathed a sigh of relief.

But… another concern immediately welled up in Lily’s heart.

“Fufu… that’s right… I must make Sensei clearly understand that I am no longer a child, but a grown woman… And… never again… will I let any woman other than myself have Sensei… Ah… Sensei…”

Alicia murmured this to herself, an expression full of ecstasy on her face.

At this moment, Lily thought that Alicia had only temporarily lost her mind.

But Lily was mistaken.

Alicia had been broken for a very long time.

Yes… because of a certain man, Saint Alicia had fallen into darkness long, long ago.

And it was not just Alicia.

The other two members of the Moon Maidens were the same.

The reason the talented Moon Maidens harbored a thirst for power that could be considered madness was because of an unfulfilled desire…

And when they reached the pinnacle of S-Rank Adventurers, they should have cut off that desire once and for all.

That, in fact, was the true reason for their disbandment.

Alicia chose the path of God, while the other two resolved to head towards the peak of swordsmanship and the peak of magic, respectively.

But now that they know there is a chance for that desire to be fulfilled, where will their madness lead?

Only God knows.