How a Villain Defies Destiny – Chapter 118

Author: Nikss

[It seems this attempt was ineffective as well.]

“Hmm…”

At Fenrir’s remark, I let out a faint sigh.

What exactly is the problem?

No matter how much I pondered, I couldn’t find an answer. With the limited information at hand, even pinpointing the gods’ true motives was impossible.

At best, I could only form a few vague hypotheses.

One possibility was that Astarte and Nanna were in league, which was why they hadn’t reclaimed Huluppu’s divine power.

If they share the same hidden agenda, then even if Selene tried to return it, the gods would refuse.

The second possibility was the opposite—that the two deities were in conflict.

Personally, I leaned more toward the latter.

If the gods had truly been aligned, there would’ve been no need to transfer Yves Leblanc’s divine power to Huluppu in the first place.

The mere fact that Astarte responded to my prayers was evidence that she intended to save Huluppu.

Of course, the intentions of gods are beyond human comprehension, so nothing could be stated with certainty.

The more I think about it, the deeper the mystery seems to become.

The deeper I delved into the problem, the more variables I had to consider.

Unable to reach a solid conclusion, I swallowed the sigh rising in my throat and finally spoke.

“It looks like this method failed too.”

[What other options do we have?]

“Well… this is all I’ve heard from Huluppu so far.”

When I honestly admitted I had no further leads, Fenrir’s demeanor turned hostile in an instant.
I get that you’re anxious—this is about Huluppu’s life—but you’re being too emotional.

Just as I was about to chide him that losing his temper wouldn’t solve anything, Endymion intervened.

“Calm down. Even though the Divine Tree’s energy is weak, you can sense it’s far more stable now than before, can’t you?”

Fenrir wrinkled his nose at Endymion’s composed but firm tone, clearly displeased—but he didn’t argue further.

Perhaps he realized himself that he hadn’t been acting rationally.

“I judged that restoring the Divine Tree to its original state should take priority, which is why I’ve remained quiet until now. But if there’s no other immediate solution, could you at least explain to us what exactly is going on?”

Thanks to Endymion, Fenrir’s anger had subsided somewhat, and one of the high priests seized the moment to request an explanation.

“If possible, even a brief summary would suffice. I’d also like to learn more about divine power.”

Endymion, who had some understanding of the situation, expressed curiosity about the nature of divine power.

“I’ve been very curious about it as well.”

Even Enheduane chimed in.

Meanwhile, Fenrir, now considerably calmer, seemed to conclude that staying here would yield no further benefit.

‘Tsk. I’ll take my leave. As for the bracelet… Laura, I trust you’ll keep it safe.’

His gaze lingered briefly on Selene’s hand, as if hesitating over whether to take the bracelet himself, but unexpectedly, he decided to leave it with me.

I wasn’t planning to stop him if he wanted to take it.

As I stared at the empty space where Fenrir had vanished like the wind, my eyes met Xenon’s, who was standing idly nearby.

“Xenon, aren’t you going with him?”

Xenon shrugged and replied in a bored tone.

“Even if I followed, I wouldn’t be much help, and Fenrir would just snap at me for being dead weight.”

It seemed he simply didn’t want to get involved in troublesome matters, but there was no point in prying further and stirring up unnecessary trouble.

“Understood. That aside, since I don’t have a complete grasp of the situation or divine power myself, I’ll keep my explanation brief.”

Given that this was a matter serious enough to eventually report to the Pope, I began recounting things methodically—starting with the Divine Tree’s name, the fact that I’d already spoken with it twice, and the basic concepts of divine power I’d learned during those conversations.

However, I omitted ambiguous details and aspects I hadn’t fully understood yet, and I summarized the absorption of divine power as concisely as possible.

As the story concluded, the high priest, who had requested the explanation of the situation, bowed his head in gratitude.

“Thank you for kindly sharing this with me.”

I had never expected a high priest, second only to the Pope, to bow to me—a mere apprentice priest, even if I was a Saint candidate.

Flustered, I hastily waved my hands in protest.

“No, it was only natural.”

After all, I had simply relayed what Huluppu had told me.

It wasn’t humility—just that the matter truly didn’t seem significant to me. But Enheduane, who had been silently listening, suddenly grew serious.

“That’s not true. Miss Laura, most priests possess not only a thirst for theological knowledge but also a desire to monopolize it.”

“…What?”

For a moment, I doubted my hearing.

The phrase ‘desire to monopolize theology’ felt too awkward to comprehend.

“As an apprentice, you might not know this, but to rise as a high-ranking priest, one must know theology better than others. That’s why many refuse to share knowledge only they possess.”

I had known that formal priests had to take promotion exams, but I’d assumed it was an absolute evaluation, like a certification test where a certain score guaranteed a pass.

“Especially regarding divine power—there’s hardly any mention of it in ancient texts. So the fact that you shared such knowledge without hesitation is something to be grateful for.”

“Ah…”

“That’s why there’s no need for modesty.”

The moment I realized that the higher one rose in the priesthood, the more they guarded and withheld knowledge, something suddenly occurred to me.

‘Was that why the Pope and Enheduane gave me special private lessons?’

When I first arrived in the Holy Kingdom, knowing little about divine power—let alone sacred power—the two of them had taken turns teaching me the essential knowledge and theology expected of a Saint candidate.

However, what was somewhat puzzling was that the content of their lessons often overlapped.

If they had divided the teaching scope or shared what they had covered, there would have been no need to repeat the same material.

At the time, I thought it was just for my review, but it seems that was just my own misconception.

Now that I’ve realized this rather unimportant truth, I’m lost in reminiscence—

“Moreover, the fact that we were able to calm the Divine Beast without major harm was entirely thanks to you, the Saint Candidate. Once again, we sincerely thank you.”

This time, another high priest smiled warmly and expressed his gratitude.

“Oh… is that so?”

But regardless of that, I found their thanks and praise uncomfortable.

The reason I stopped Fenrir was simply because I got caught up in the incident, and the divine power I revealed was really nothing special—just something I happened to mention.

‘I never intended to help anyone, yet receiving such excessive gratitude just makes me feel burdened.’

Feeling awkward for no reason, I subtly changed the subject.

“By the way, Lord Endymion, since when have you been able to sense divine power?”

Actually, it was a question I’d wanted to ask for a while now.

When Fenrir was being calmed, Endymion seemed to have precisely detected the divine power of Huluppu that I had mentioned.

“Hmm. I’m not sure of the exact timing.”

Though one might expect him to be flustered by the sudden shift in conversation, Endymion showed no such signs and answered naturally.

“But I think I was able to perceive it more clearly after your trial.”

Suddenly, Fenrir’s words flashed through my mind.

‘He mentioned someone unconsciously using divine power—was that Lord Endymion?’

After all, Endymion had manifested an ability that wasn’t in the original story—

The power to see memories from before the regression through dreams.

Perhaps that was closely related to his unique ability as someone who had awakened divine power.

‘Maybe I should take this chance to talk to Selene?’

I’d been thinking for a while that I needed to have a serious conversation with her.

But she had always seemed wary of me, and with her potential love interests constantly guarding her, I couldn’t even attempt it—instead, I was the one who kept avoiding her.

The reason was that I didn’t want to clash with someone like Riquea, the type to pick a fight even if left alone.

‘But maybe he’ll agree without resistance this time.’

Because by defending her and stopping Fenrir’s harsh interrogation, I seemed to have earned quite a bit of goodwill.

Judging that there was no better timing than this, I immediately requested a private conversation with Selene.

“Selene, I’d like to talk to you alone for a moment.”

“Alone?”

“That’s not allowed.”

Strangely, however, two voices responded.

Selene and Yves looked equally bewildered.

“Why are you objecting, Yves?”

When I asked with a baffled expression, seeing him block me so firmly, Yves let out a deep sigh and countered,

“Have you already forgotten what happened at the Laurus estate?”