Chapter 469: The Reaction Of All Believers
Chapter 469: The Reaction Of All Believers
"You were the one person I thought was pure..." he whispered quietly.
People were not only mourning Selena.
They were mourning the image of Selena they had carried inside themselves.
The perfect Saintess.
The untouchable symbol.
The woman who stood above ordinary flaws.
That image had cracked today.
And many people did not know what to do with the pieces.
Others felt something different.
Pity mixed with discomfort.
Fear mixed with sadness.
Because seeing someone once untouchable suddenly become so human felt unsettling.
Strange and Painful.
Like watching a statue bleed.
Like watching sunlight tremble.
Then there were those whose love for her had only become stronger.
Not because of her sin.
Not because they believed she had done nothing wrong.
But because they could see the unbearable weight she had carried all these years.
A Saintess standing high above others was admirable.
But a Saintess standing there crying before everyone...
That felt real.
Painfully real.
Meanwhile Selena could no longer bring herself to look at the crowd.
She could feel their eyes.
Thousands of them.
Some judging.
Some hurt.
Some confused.
Some forgiving.
Some filled with understanding.
Some filled with disappointment.
She didn’t want to look at them anymore.
She could feel their eyes.
Thousands of eyes.
Eyes filled with confusion. Hurt. Sadness. Understanding. Disbelief.
Some of them were probably disappointed.
Some were probably angry.
Some perhaps no longer knew what they felt at all.
She could not bring herself to look.
Not now.
Slowly, for the first time since standing on that platform, Selena lifted her eyes away from the people beneath her and looked toward the sky above.
Toward somewhere far away.
Far beyond the Grand Plaza.
Far beyond the Empire.
Far beyond this place.
As if her eyes were trying to reach someone who was not standing here.
Someone who could not hear her.
Someone she had hurt long ago.
Her trembling lips slowly parted.
"I’m sorry, Razeal."
Her voice cracked quietly.
Very quietly.
Silence answered her.
Complete silence.
Nothing moved beneath the Grand Plaza.
No voices.
No whispers.
No discussions.
Because at that moment thousands of people suddenly realized something that felt heavy inside their chests.
The man they hated...
The man they insulted...
The man they called disgusting...
The man children mocked in streets...
The man people looked at with contempt...
Had carried all of this alone.
Five years.
Five whole years.
Without speaking.
Without defending himself.
Without exposing her.
Without telling anyone the truth.
Suddenly many people lowered their heads.
Because thinking about it hurt.
Very badly.
Some remembered laughing when hearing his name before.
Some remembered insulting him.
Some remembered warning their children not to become someone like him.
Some remembered looking at him with disgust.
And now...
The weight of that felt different.
Very different.
Near the middle of the crowd, an old woman slowly covered her mouth.
Tears had already begun falling from her eyes.
"I..." she whispered weakly.
"I called him a monster..."
Beside her, a young church believer lowered his head completely.
His shoulders trembled.
Nearby, several children looked toward their parents with confusion.
Because they did not completely understand what was happening.
They only understood one thing.
Saintess was crying.
And seeing Saintess cry hurt.
Very badly.
Then suddenly
One person slowly lowered themselves onto their knees.
No one knew who did it first.
A middle-aged woman among the church believers.
Her eyes were full of tears.
She looked toward Selena with pain on her face.
"My Grace..." her voice shook.
Suddenly all the crowd went silence..for very long time
Selena slowly lowered her eyes.
At first, she thought people were leaving.
Thought perhaps they no longer wished to look at her. Thought perhaps this was the moment they would finally turn away. After all, that would make sense, wouldn’t it? She had just stood before the entire Empire and torn apart the image they carried of her for years. She had confessed to ruining the life of someone innocent. Confessed to hiding it for five years. Confessed that beneath all the smiles, prayers and warmth people saw, there had also been selfishness, fear and cowardice. If they hated her now, if they looked at her with disappointment now, she would accept it. She had already prepared herself for it before stepping onto this platform.
But then her eyes slowly widened.
Because nobody was leaving.
Nobody.
Instead, somewhere near the middle of the crowd, an old man with shaking shoulders slowly lowered himself onto his knees. His movements were weak, his body old, and he needed the support of the woman beside him to lower himself completely. Tears had already gathered in his eyes, sliding slowly down his aged face while his trembling hands folded together before his chest.
Then beside him, his wife lowered herself too.
Then a young mother carrying her daughter in her arms looked toward Selena with red eyes before slowly kneeling. The little girl looked confused for a moment, looking between her mother and the platform before quietly stepping down and kneeling beside her too.
Then another followed.
And another.
Then another.
Like waves spreading across a quiet ocean.
Rows after rows.
Thousands of people.
Nobles lowered themselves. Church believers lowered themselves. Merchants lowered themselves. Commoners lowered themselves. Children followed after their parents. Even several knights standing among the crowd slowly lowered their heads and bent one knee toward the ground.
The enormous Grand Plaza slowly turned silent beneath the sight.
Selena stared blankly.
Her mind suddenly went empty.
"W...what are..."
The words stopped halfway.
Because no one was looking at her with hatred.
No one.
Some were crying.
Some had both hands tightly clasped together.
Some looked at her with pain.
Some looked heartbroken.
Some looked like they wanted to run toward her and hold her tightly.
Because seeing her standing there and breaking apart before everyone hurt them.
Very deeply.
A middle-aged woman among the church believers slowly pressed both hands together as tears ran down her face uncontrollably. Her body trembled while looking toward Selena, her expression full of pain.
"Our Saintess..." she whispered weakly.
Another elderly man lowered his forehead all the way to the ground.
"Please forgive her..."
Then slowly...
Like one small voice becoming many voices...
Prayers began spreading through the plaza.
Not loudly.
Not together.
Not rehearsed.
Just ordinary people speaking from their hearts.
"Please forgive our Saintess..."
"Please don’t punish her..."
"Please don’t let her suffer anymore..."
"If pain must be carried, then allow us to carry some too..."
"Please don’t let her cry anymore..."
"Please don’t leave her alone..."
Voices continued appearing from every direction.
Children repeated prayers after their parents without even fully understanding what they were saying. Women cried openly while praying. Men lowered their heads silently, tears falling despite trying to hide them. Some believers pressed their foreheads completely against the stone floor.
Because to many of them...
Selena had never simply been the Saintess.
She had been something that quietly entered their lives.
Some remembered her walking through poor districts without caring about status. Some remembered her staying beside dying family members through entire nights. Some remembered being given warmth during the worst moments of their lives.
To many people here, Selena was not just someone sitting high above everyone.
She had sat beside them before.
Smiled beside them before.
Cried beside them before.
And now seeing that same girl standing above them looking so small, so guilty and so broken felt unbearable.
Then suddenly a young man among the crowd cried loudly while clutching his chest.
"Our Saintess isn’t bad..." he shouted through tears. "She just made a mistake... everyone makes mistakes..."
A woman beside him shook her head while crying.
"No one should carry pain alone..."
"Please God... forgive her..."
Then suddenly another voice rose.
Small.
Very small.
A child.
"But..." the boy’s voice trembled, "...please bless Lord Razeal too..."
Silence suddenly passed through nearby people.
Many slowly froze.
Then gradually more voices joined.
"Please forgive him too..."
"Please give him peace..."
"Please bless him..."
"Please protect him..."
"He suffered too..."
"He carried it alone..."
"Please don’t leave him alone anymore..."
And slowly the prayers changed.
They were no longer just praying for Selena.
Now they prayed for him too.
For the boy they had hated.
For the boy they had insulted.
For the boy they never tried to understand.
For the boy who carried everything quietly for years.
And standing above the entire Grand Plaza, Selena completely froze.
Because suddenly she understood something.
These people were not kneeling because they thought she was innocent.
They were not kneeling because they believed what she did was right.
They were kneeling because they loved her.
Loved her enough to cry with her.
Loved her enough to pray for her.
Loved her enough to wish they could take some of her pain for themselves.
And somehow...
That hurt more than hatred ever could.
Because after everything...
After all of it...
They still looked at her with love.
Her body trembled.
Then finally both hands slowly rose to cover her mouth as tears poured down her face.
And this time
She could no longer stop herself from crying.
——