Seijo ni Narunode Nidoume no Jinsei wa Katte ni Sasetemoraimasu ~Outaihi wa, Zensei de Watashi wo Fu

     Liz was stunned.

     ‘Grace’s flowers began to wither…’

     Grace’s sacred flowers started to fall, a bright red round fruit swelled before their eyes. Grace’s eyes became vivid, her face showed happiness, “Well, it’s beautiful. After all, the fruit that’s most suitable of the person would grow.”

     She looked really satisfied, convinced that it’ll be as good as Liz’s.

     Natalie, who had been accused of her sins, kneeled on the spot. From the back of her throat, she shouted, “….Why? Why, Grace! Why? I believed you.”

     “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t make any excuses.” Grace frowned and looked down on Natalie with cold eyes as if she wanted to cut off herself from her as quickly as she could…

     Natalie’s face distorted in despair. Although she had some doubts, she had loved Grace from the bottom of her heart, she always admired her. That’s why I believed her into the end. Nevertheless, for Grace, Natalie realized that she was nothing but a disposable piece that could be conveniently handled.

     “I see…” Natalie said, sadly.

     All what’s left behind are the remaining traces of the act, sneakily trying to remove Liz’s fruit and the large burnt mark on her cheek. She committed a crime, and would be disqualified as a saint candidate. In addition to that, she has lost her future as a daughter of an aristocrat.

     Natalie’s head was on the floor, clutching on her black hair with her trembling hands. A cute silver hair ornament fell on the floor with a clatter. Tears trickled down her face one after another, it hurt when it touched her right cheek but her heart felt more pain than the burnt scar.It was pitiful to see her body trembling all over, her voice choking.

     Liz clenched her hands tightly. She didn’t know much about Natalie, nor does she think she likes her. Even what Grace said makes more sense than anything else. But she doesn’t think that Natalie’s words are false.

     “Grace ” Liz whispered, calling her, “I don’t think Natalie’s words are false, I knocked earlier on your door before I went to the hall, there was no answer. Were you not in your room at that time? Were you in the hall with Natalie?” she softly said.

     “I always sleep wearing earplugs, so I didn’t hear Natalie’s screams. I was late to notice the commotion happening, that’s why I rushed in late.” Grace spoke leisurely, no matter how much she’d be pursued, since there is no evidence, she’d speak calmly. It was a manner that Liz knew quite well.

     Liz’s face distorted. Natalie’s cries pierce her ear. The moment she called out “Natalie”, the truth flashed into Liz’s brain like a video. It’s the power of her ‘Intuition’. Grace had instructed Natalie to remove the fruit claiming that it was an order from  the chief priest. With the backing of the duke’s family, the priest, Toma, led the guard priest away and hit him unconscious. She also saw both Grace and Natalie going in the hall in between.

     ‘Just as I thought..’

     She raised her head and stared at Grace fiercely.

     ‘It was so, after all. But…’

     It’s quite frustrating. There’s no way she could convince everyone of that.

     ‘No, there must be something. Something—!’

     She frantically shook her head thinking of something. In front of her, Grace held a triumphant expression. Then, she looked back.

     The dignified figure of the holy dragon was there. When Liz looked at it, it would nod its head as if asking, “What do you want?”

     ‘That’s right, the holy dragon. In fact, it had been in the hall all this time, so to speak, it knew everything that happened.’

     All of Grace and Natalie’s interactions.

     Without blinking, Liz intently looked into the eyes of the holy dragon. The holy dragon looked back at her with a wry brow. At least just once or twice, but it’s worth trying.

     After taking a deep breath, Liz still had her eyes on the holy dragon, opened her mouth and spoke to the priests and candidates, “The holy dragon claims that both Grace and Toma are lying. What Natalie said is true.”

     “What!?” The priests cried out, quite astonished. The holy dragon too, it’s slanted eyes were round as if it was surprised. 

     Liz continued without hesitation, “I was in the fruit, I saw it all. Natalie was deceived by the two, I’m sure.”

     Priest Toma turned pale. The candidates looked at each other and began to make a big fuss.

     “Is it true? Are you saying that Grace and that priest deceived Natalie?” 

     “Isn’t Priest Toma the one who brought Natalie in?… If it is true, Natalie is suffering from such  terrible burns. It’s not something to forgive.”

     Priest Lloyd was standing with his arms folded, looked at Liz and let out a smile. 

     Grace glared at her angrily. “Don’t be silly! That’s a lie!”

     “It’s not a lie, the voice of the holy dragon has directly been flowing into my head.”

     “That’s…impossible!”

     “I wonder, too. But it is the work of the holy dragon.”

     Grace shakily took a step back, upset.

     “She doesn’t have magic like the priests but it’d be easy for it to directly talk to Liz’s head since the holy dragon is born from the sacred fruit” Lloyd said plausibly, nodding his head. 

     The candidates began to chatter.

     “That’s right. It’s a holy dragon. I saw the white flame and it had such powerful magic. It can talk directly to Liz’s head.” 

     “Then, Grace is really…” 

     The candidates looked at each other.

     The atmosphere in the hall felt like it was being swept away by Liz, and Grace smiled impatiently.

     “Wait a minute, that’s what Liz says, but no one else could hear the voice of the Holy Dragon .I’ve heard from the landlord of her village that Liz has always hated the aristocracy. It must be the reason why her attitude towards  me felt so cold and hostile.” 

     “Speaking of which, I’m a baronette but sometimes I’d behave the same.”

     “I’m not an aristocrat yet Liz doesn’t really interact with me.”

     “Isn’t it for everyone? Who cares.”

     They’re saying whatever.

     But, in Grace’s words, the credibility of what the holy dragon said is vague. Liz frowned.

     “Liz.” Lloyd whispered, his face serious.

     “What is it?”

     “Is it true that Grace deceived Natalie?”

     “It’s true. I’ve seen it from my ‘intuition’.”

     “Well, —when the chief priest is away. No, that’s why they aimed for tonight…You better run away.” From Lloyd’s words, Grace’s red fruit suddenly bursted, a sharp crack was present.

     “What would come out? A holy beast or a fairy?” Grace, with no doubt, smiles happily.

     However, there’s no sign of anything coming out from the crack. The priest, Toma, approached it, and peered through the crack.

     “It’s empty. There’s nothing in it.” he uttered, shocked.

     “What do you mean?”

     The moment Grace frowned, the crack stretched wide open, from left to right like a creature’s mouth.

     As if the fruit has its own will, it gave out a huge smile, having found its prey.

     Toma, who has been peeping in the fruit, his head got sucked in, as if he’s being eaten. It stretched up again, swallowing him up to his shoulder.

     He struggled, trying to get out, “What!? What’s going on! Help—!” His muffled screams faded as his body was fully engulfed in the fruit. 

     The candidates screamed loudly and made a rush to the door, “The priest was eaten! It eats flesh!”

     Liz froze by the sight. It didn’t seem real. In fact, the fruit was actually smaller than the face of Liz at first, but then it completely swallowed up the priest. It now grew bigger and bulkier. Its surface is rough, bumpy, and protruding, which made it look even more horrific.

     The man-eating fruit faced her. It felt as if it had seen her even if it didn’t have any eyes. She felt goosebumps on her skin. 

     But, it was actually aiming at Grace. The crack on the fruit gave out a smile again. The luxurious pot, where its roots are buried, started to loudly crack. Its white roots, tangled in the soil, stomped down on the floor like feet, and rushed towards Grace like it was lashing its tongue around.

     “Don’t come! Don’t come!” Grace turned pale and tried to run away, screaming.

     The Holy fruit that Grace was so proud of growing turned out to be a monster. The fruit had caught up and swallowed her left arm.

     “No,no! Help, help me—!”

     Her scream echoed throughout the hall.

Author’s note: It became horror.

Hello! Starting next week I’ll be updating this 2~3 times a week. I hope that’s alright. I’ll still be updating the next chapters this weekend, so don’t worry! Thank you for understanding!