Chapter 1629: The Fallen Angel

However, that answer only made him more restless. The man suddenly grabbed both of her wrists roughly. His grip tightened painfully around them, and Alinna gasped as pain shot through her arms.

"Sir—please stop!" she cried, grimacing in pain.

"You have to heal me! Please!" he shouted. Desperation and a hint

of madness burned in his eyes. "You have to!"

"Please... let go...!" Fear flooded Alinna’s voice.

The man’s grip only tightened. A thin sheen of sweat formed across Alinna’s forehead as panic clawed at her chest. For the first time in years, Saintess Alinna felt completely helpless. She didn’t know what to do.

"Wait... Could it be the Saintess has lost her powers?" A single sentence thrown into the panicked crowd; one could imagine what would happen next.

Soon after, the entire crowd exploded.

"What?!"

"Has she lost her powers?"

"No... no, that’s impossible!"

"If she can’t heal anymore, then what happens to us?"

Panic erupted like a bursting dam. People began pushing forward, shoving each other, and scrambling like headless chickens. Fear and desperation erupted like a blazing fire.

"No, please. We have to be healed now before the Saintess completely loses her power!"

A man broke through the crowd.

"Saintess! My mother’s condition is getting worse every day! Please save her first!"

"No! My son!" Another person shoved him aside. "My son is only eight years old! Heal him first! Please!"

A woman stumbled forward, tears streaming down her face. "My husband has stage-four brain cancer! The doctors said he only has months left!" She fell to her knees. "Please save him!" Her voice cracked into a sob. "Please..."

More people surged forward, just like starving men fighting over their last meal.

"Help my daughter!"

"My brother can’t walk!"

"My wife is dying!"

"My father!"

"My child!"

"Please!"

"Choose me first!"

"No, save me first!"

The once orderly crowd had become a sea of desperation.

Faces twisted with fear. Hands reached toward her from every direction as they all begged, pleaded, demanded.

Alinna’s breath became labored as the world around her seemed to shrink. The voices grew louder, closer, until they blended into a thunderous roar.

Hundreds of desperate eyes were fixed on her, staring at her as if she were their last hope.

It was almost ironic. People seemed to have forgotten how they had survived before the Saintess appeared.

They had forgotten the healers who dedicated their lives to treating the sick. Forgotten the doctors who spent years mastering their craft. Forgotten the advanced technology that had produced medicines and potions capable of curing countless illnesses.

Yet human nature was often greedy.

Because the Saintess could accomplish what modern medicine could not, people had gradually placed all of their hopes in her. Why endure years of treatment when a miracle could cure you in an instant? Why accept uncertainty when divine power offered certainty?

Over time, faith had become dependence, and dependence had become obsession. Now, as the possibility of losing that miracle loomed before them, their fear was transforming into something far more dangerous.

Jay watched the scene unfold through the monitors lining the walls of his office. His expression was tinged with melancholy.

Now he understood.

This was the very future King Marcus wanted to prevent. Why did he hide Lory’s healing abilities for so many years? Why did he never elevate her to a position of honor, as the S.A.I.N.T. organization did with the Saintess?

Why did he refuse to make Lory a living miracle worshipped by the masses? At the time, many questioned his decision. But now, Jay finally understood the wisdom behind it. ℯ𝐥.

Because when a person’s worth is tied solely to their power, they cease to be seen as human beings. They become tools, resources, magical machines expected to perform at will, and when that power falters,

King Marcus had never wanted that fate for Lory. He had never wanted her value to depend on her healing ability alone. No, what he wanted for her was something far greater.

Something deeper, more tangible... more profound.

Something that could never be taken away. He wanted people to trust him because he was Lorient. Not because he was a miracle tool for them, not because he possessed powers beyond ordinary comprehension. But because of who she was, her unwavering perseverance, her courage, her kindness.

Because they believed, no matter how difficult the future, she would never abandon them, she would fight for them. Those were the things King Marcus wanted people to see, admire, follow, rely on, and love.

Because powers could disappear, miracles could fail, but character endured, and unlike divine blessings, no one could take that away from her.

Then the scene shifted. Salvo De Rova moved swiftly through the growing chaos, his expression hard and focused. Without hesitation, he reached the podium and guided Alinna away from the center of the unrest.

"Come," he said firmly, his voice cutting through the noise.

Alinna, still shaken and pale, allowed herself to be pulled back as he led her off the platform and into the Elysium complex.

Behind them, the crowd only grew louder as panic was barely contained. Shoving turned into pushing. Voices turned into shouting. The orderly gathering was beginning to fracture, and if it wasn’t contained soon, it would no longer remain a crisis; it would become a riot.

Inside his office, Jay observed everything through the monitors. His eyes narrowed slightly as he tracked Salvo’s movements, the shifting crowd, and the escalating pressure at the gates.

Jay propped his chin lazily, then let out a soft chuckle. "Let’s see how they handle that from here.~"

________________________________________

While resting in her bedroom, Lory kept her eyes on the television screen mounted across from her bed. Every news channel in the world was broadcasting the same story; it’s all about the chaos that had erupted in Wellington City during the Saintess’s first public appearance.

Reporters spoke over one another, analysts rushed to offer explanations, and countless commentators freely speculated about what had truly happened.

Lory watched the coverage in silence. Regardless of what had happened, somehow she could still feel sympathy for Alinna.

The girl was so young, yet she had been thrown into the middle of a grand scheme without fully understanding what she was getting herself into.

Unlike Lory and Lucas, who had been groomed for their roles since birth, Alinna had received no such guidance, nor had she had anyone around her who truly cared for her well-being. Lory couldn’t imagine what Alinna must have felt at this time; she must have felt lonely and lost.

Even they, who had undergone years of careful training and nurturing, still found themselves plagued by so much doubt, helplessness, and overwhelming pressure. The difference was that they had never faced those burdens alone.

They had people around them, family, mentors, and trusted companions, who had supported them when they faltered, they taught them when they were ignorant, and guided them when they lost their way. Sadly, Alinna had none of that.

To Alexander and Theodore, she was little more than a piece on the board, a convenient tool in their grand design. Whether she understood the game being played around her or not, Lory wasn’t sure either.

As another news anchor passionately debated the Saintess’s sudden loss of power and what it could mean for the world, the discussion quickly devolved into a storm of accusations, theories, and sensational headlines.

Some claimed that Alinna had never been the true Saintess to begin with. Others insisted that she had somehow offended the gods and lost their blessing. A few even suggested that the loss of her powers was a sign of an approaching catastrophe, proof that the world itself was entering an era of decline.

The most ruthless commentators wasted no time distancing themselves from her. Politicians, religious figures, and public personalities who had once eagerly praised the Saintess now questioned her legitimacy. All the admiration she had once received was rapidly being replaced by suspicion and scorn.

Watching the coverage, Lory felt her chest tighten. Father is right; people were selfish, and they could be frighteningly cruel. ⅇℯ𝚕.

Only yesterday, Alinna had been revered as a holy figure, a symbol of hope blessed by heaven itself. Today, because she had lost the very thing that made her special, many were already treating her as a disappointment, or worse, a fraud...well, she was, but that’s not the point.

No one seemed to remember all the ’good’ she had done. All the charity work she had done over the past few years, all the free healing she had given, everything seemed to be erased just like that because she was losing her powers now.

No one bothered to ask how she was doing or what she was going through. No one appeared concerned that behind the title of Saintess was a young girl who had suddenly lost the power that had defined her entire existence.

Instead, they turned her suffering into entertainment.