SOTBW - 81

“…Where did you get this?”

Gwyneth asked in surprise as he checked the contents of the bottle.

Najane answered honestly.

“It was on the mantelpiece in the bedroom. A priest visited the residence this morning and must have left it behind.”

“A priest?”

“He was called by the commander because of me…”

“Did you get hurt?”

Gwyneth flinched and examined Najane from head to toe. Najane chuckled awkwardly and replied.

“No, not at all. I’m perfectly fine.”

Indeed, if Najane were hurt, Maximón wouldn’t have stayed silent. He would have summoned all the priests at the fortress to tend to her injuries immediately.

Gwyneth inhaled the lemon scent on the bottle’s cap and quietly admired it. The fresh fragrance of lemon filled the air, as if the bottle contained finely chopped lemon peels at the bottom.

“Did you say you’re from Kalonosia?”

After setting the bottle down, Gwyneth suddenly asked about Najane’s origin. Najane nodded. If it was Kalonosia, they probably wouldn’t know much about holy water. Most people would have sold it to nobles at a high price as soon as they smelled lemon fragrance in the holy water.

“There’s a passage in the scriptures about ‘holy water that smells like lemon.’ It’s said that the finest holy water gives off a fresh lemon scent, so just opening the bottle will fill the surroundings with its fragrance. Holy water is not ordinary water, so even if you soak lemon in it, it won’t absorb the scent. In fact, if you add any foreign substance, it could turn into regular water.”

Gwyneth gazed at the holy water bottle with a look of genuine fascination.

“When I was at the papacy, I saw this only once… I never expected to see it again here in Noctis. It’s quite surprising. Noctis doesn’t have a priest who could make this kind of holy water.”

“Then why does it have a lemon scent?”

“The lemon tree is the symbol of Astrun. The person who first made holy water was Lord Aron Noctis, so I think it might be connected to that. Lord Aron created the holy water to soothe the bodies of soldiers who had fought against Serith and to heal their wounds. The holy water made with his divine power always had a lemon scent.”

“Making holy water that smells like lemon must be very difficult.”

“It would be, since I don’t know the method. Even high-ranking priests make this kind of holy water only rarely, and no one has been able to explain why it happens. The only people who can make it consistently are healers, but even they have limitations due to their divine power.”

Boris, being so young, didn’t have the vast divine power that Gwyneth possessed, and he lacked control over it, leading to much wastage. Currently, the best holy water he could make in a day was about ten bottles. But overworking his body at such a young age could lead to unforeseen consequences in the future.

As mentioned, ordinary priests or high-ranking priests could make holy water with a lemon scent, but it happened at an extremely low probability. Of course, if one relied on that slim chance, it was far better to just make regular holy water.

Gwyneth pushed the bottle of holy water towards Najane.

“I can assure you, this is not the holy water the priest brought. Just keep it. It’s truly a valuable item. It’s so powerful that even if someone’s arm gets cut off by Serith’ claws, it can heal them instantly. Among the nobility, it can be traded for a hundred thousand lira…”

“A hundred thousand lira?”

Najane, who was about to take the holy water, was startled. Gwyneth couldn’t help but laugh at her honest reaction.

“The price of the finest holy water went up because of the Rochelle family.”

Najane had heard of the Rochelle family.

Rachel Rochelle.

She was the fiancée of Maximón.

“Ah, so it’s because of someone named Rachel.”

Gwyneth looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected to hear Rachel’s name from Najane. Surely, Maximón hadn’t told her about her; she must have heard it from someone else.

Rachel was a truly talented individual, one whose potential was tragically wasted. A gifted genius who had overwhelmed Taylor in swordsmanship duels at a young age. If she hadn’t been struck by a terrible incurable illness, she would likely have become the commander of the Noctis fortress by now.

Even though Rachel’s body could no longer wield a sword, her desire remained unchanged from when she was young: to defend the borders of the Kingdom of Bastronia and protect the Noctis Fortress, much like Rakhshu Elgort, who had protected the borders of the Kingdom of Schnellia.

If she couldn’t become the commander of the defense, then at least she wanted to be the wife of the commander.

Rachel worked tirelessly, trying to get as close as possible to Rakhshu, the hero, even if it meant this.

Rachel’s deteriorating health, which delayed her marriage to Maximón, turned out to be a fortunate event for Najane. Thanks to it, Najane found a way to break the curse and even secured a knight’s position in Romsoa.

Gwyneth couldn’t predict whether Rachel would like or dislike Najane. Considering the relationship between Maximón and Najane, Rachel should have disliked her, but knowing Rachel, it was hard to tell...

Gwyneth glanced at Najane. Her expression remained calm, and whether that was an act, Gwyneth couldn’t tell. But she continued speaking.

“You know about Rachel, right? Yes, due to Rachel’s illness, the Rochelle family hoarded holy water. They even had the kingdom intervene to stop them.”

To heal her decaying limbs, Rachel needed the holy water with a lemon scent. Ordinary holy water couldn’t handle such an incurable illness, so the Rochelle family spent a vast fortune to gather the finest holy water. Rachel would fill her bathtub with holy water costing tens of thousands of lira per bottle and bathe in it every day. Since curing her illness was impossible, she probably engraved healing runes on her body and repeatedly poured the holy water over herself, hoping to delay death for even a day longer.

Her life was already like that of a living corpse. How had Rachel, who had been so strong and free, come to accept this? Or had she truly accepted her situation?

“I hope the day never comes when you need to use this, but given the way things are, there will likely be a time when you do. Don’t tell anyone else about it, just keep it safe. But more than that, I was actually planning to come see you, and you’ve arrived just in time. I have a gift for you.”

Gwyneth suddenly stood up and walked to the side of the bed. The area was cluttered with books stacked to human height, strange ornaments, and scraps of paper scattered everywhere. From this pile, Gwyneth struggled to pull out something heavy.

Najane stood up to help but then noticed a sword placed diagonally near the bed. Although wrapped tightly in cloth, it was clearly a sword. She couldn’t help but stare at it, unable to look away. As she approached Gwyneth, her gaze lingered on the sword, and she muttered softly.

“Your Excellency, that sword…”

“Oh, that one?”

Gwyneth answered casually, though inside, she was deeply shocked—more than just surprised, she was stunned. That was Rakhshu’s sword.

Holy relics were special items, so not everyone could recognize them. Many had entered and left Gwyneth’s room, but none had noticed the sword. Perhaps Belshua might have sensed something, but that was only because Belshua was a dragon.

Gwyneth tried to divert Najane’s gaze from Rakhshu’s sword, explaining calmly.

“It’s my personal sword. I brought it with me when I came from the papacy to Noctis. The world is just too dangerous these days.”

Gwyneth then lifted a shield with all her might and tried to distract Najane’s attention. Najane, startled by the shield coming up like a carrot being pulled from the ground, hurriedly helped lift it. Gwyneth sat heavily on the sofa and rolled the shield toward Najane.

“I heard you fight without a shield in the field. Female knights usually fight with two-handed swords, relying on agility and speed, but since you use sword energy, you don’t need to be that quick. Here, take it. It’s quite heavy, so be careful.”

“This…?”

Najane lifted the shield with all her strength. It was a bit smaller and heavier than the one she used in the field. It was wrapped in rough wood on the outside, but the inside was made of metal. It was clearly different from the hastily made shields used in the current times.

“This is a replica of the shield of Villar that was kept in the Noctis archives.”

The shield of Villar.

Najane recognized it immediately.

“It’s a holy relic, right?”

“Yes. I’m not sure if the hero Villar really fought with a shield that looked like this, but it’s written in the diary of Aron Noctis, so I suppose that’s the truth.”

“The real one, is it kept in the papacy?”

“No one knows where the real one is. All the holy relics, except for Rakhshu’s sword, are in the Astien Empire. They’ve had a poor relationship with us for a long time, so we’ve fought wars with them often. During those wars, they gradually looted our relics. But Villar’s shield isn’t in either Bastronia or Astien. Aron Noctis hid it somewhere, very carefully.”

“Just that one?”

Najane tilted her head.

“Yes. But this is a secret, so don’t tell anyone. People think Villar’s shield is in Astien.”

“…But why did he hide just that one?”