I Became the Substitute for the Runaway Heroine - Chapter 12

“Young Master, stop the carriage!”

Odette’s sudden outburst made Maxcallion whip his head toward her, his face filled with shock.

“Odette, what are you saying? Why would you want me to stop? Don’t tell me… you’re planning to get off?”

“I can’t go with you. I’m no longer a maid of House Saxen.”

“And you’re not the wife of Caesar Maes either. I know everything about your situation.”

He knew that she had been forced to take Amelia’s place in the Maes estate. He even knew that she had escaped to Raon Town—and that Caesar had pulled her from the river.

“I can’t let him get involved in this.”

Caesar Maes wielded enough power to make even the Emperor wary.

If he and Count Anderson clashed, the entire Empire would be thrown into chaos.

Maxcallion wouldn’t stand a chance.

More importantly, she couldn’t risk Leo getting caught up in this.

“Someone must have seen us leaving the hotel together. It’s only a matter of time before Caesar Maes comes after us.”

“Why is he so obsessed with you? He knows you’re not Amelia.”

“That’s none of your concern. You don’t need to go this far for a former maid.”

“Did I ever treat you like a maid?” Maxcallion’s voice hardened. “I loved you. The same way I loved Leo.”

For a moment, they both looked away, their expressions far from happy.

“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“You’ve always known, Odette. You can’t pretend you didn’t realize how I felt. Was I truly the only one who had these feelings?”

“Yes.”

Her answer came without hesitation.

“…It’s fine. I’ll just love you more.”

Maxcallion, usually so composed, now looked completely different.

But to Odette, it didn’t feel like salvation.

It felt like a death sentence for both of them.

“I have to go back to Caesar Maes.”

Her own voice startled her—it was so cold, so firm.

But she knew she had gone too far when she saw Maxcallion’s eyes redden.

‘It’s better this way. If I can’t return his feelings, I should cut them off completely.’

Closing her eyes briefly, she forced herself to speak in a calm tone.

“Caesar Maes asked me to marry him. It scared me. He’s someone I can’t handle.”

“He lied to you. He wouldn’t make a maid his wife—at best, his mistress.”

Odette lifted her gaze to meet his.

“Is that… what you thought of me?”

“I—no, Odette. I…”

Maxcallion hesitated before finally admitting, “I was going to propose to you properly once my financial situation improved.”

Tears slipped from his eyes.

Odette couldn’t bear to look at him anymore.

“I’m sorry. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, and you even came all this way because you were worried… but I can’t afford to make Caesar Maes angry.”

She signaled for the carriage to stop.

Maxcallion watched as she stepped down.

Clenching his jaw, he finally spoke.

“If you chose him because he’s more powerful and wealthier, then—”

“……”

“You’ll regret it, Odette.”

As his carriage pulled away, a cloud of dust rose in its wake.

“Cough!”

Odette covered her mouth, coughing lightly, then turned to look around.

‘Where do I run now?’

Caesar Maes’ Wrath

Caesar Maes stood in Odette’s empty hotel room, staring at the vacant bed.

“…You let her go, didn’t you?”

His voice was low, dangerous.

Aden, standing before him, quickly shook his head.

“Wh-what? No, my lord! I would never—”

“She is Heravrua’s daughter. The High Saintess’ blessing is the only reason your mother is alive.”

“I would never betray you over something so personal!” Aden protested. “Besides, she’s still weak. If she collapses before she fully recovers—”

“Then who let her escape?!”

Caesar Maes ran a hand through his hair, his fingers trembling with barely contained rage.

“A sick woman who could barely stand just vanished into thin air?”

“Unless she was kidnapped.”

Aden’s breath hitched.

“Kidnapped? Who would—”

“Odette’s divine power has begun to awaken.”

Caesar Maes’s words made Aden freeze in shock, his breath catching in his throat.

“Di-divine power? Then… are you saying she will become a High Saintess, just like Heravrua?”

“Yes. The ability isn’t supposed to be hereditary, yet somehow, Odette has inherited the power of the High Saintess.”

“O, O God…!”

Aden immediately clasped his hands together, offering a prayer of gratitude.

“Is that something to be happy about?” Caesar’s voice remained indifferent.

“Of course. Since Heravrua’s disappearance, the position of High Saintess has remained vacant. Because of that, disease and monsters have been running rampant.”

The Empire had many priestesses with divine power, all operating under the religious Order.

However, their powers were limited—mostly used for healing wounds and aiding recovery.

But on rare occasions, a High Saintess would be chosen through divine prophecy, possessing overwhelming divine power.

To prevent such power from falling into the wrong hands, the religious Order strictly controlled the High Saintess.

They were forbidden from marriage, forbidden from bearing children, and bound by sacred duty to serve only the Empire.

“The Order ruled that divine power was not hereditary.”

Among all the High Saintesses in history, Heravrua had been the most powerful—her divine blessings and purification unrivaled.

Heravrua was gentle and merciful, using all her power for the poor and the sick.

Even at the cost of her own life, she purified the accursed lands, where monsters ran rampant.

That was why her sudden disappearance had shaken the world.

The Order, the Imperial Court, and her devoted followers had all searched for her, but not even proof of her survival was found.

But I met the High Saintess.

Caesar Maes remembered everything about that day—the weather, the temperature, the scent of the forest carried by the wind.

It had started with an anonymous letter.

Shortly after, his father, Count Maes, announced an urgent long-distance journey—one that Caesar had been forced to accompany.

“We didn’t even know where we were going, or who we were meeting.”

After days of traveling north, their carriage stopped in a remote mountain village.

From there, they had to continue on foot.

In the depths of the dense forest, far from civilization, stood a small, run-down cabin.

And from that humble dwelling emerged the vanished Saintess, Heravrua.

Inside the cabin, a young girl with golden hair lay sleeping.

“This is my daughter, Odette. She’s three years younger than you.”

As Caesar Maes looked at the angelic girl, he felt an unexplainable tremor in his heart.

“She is your destiny.”

My destiny? That girl?

Caesar had barely processed the absurd words when Heravrua gathered the last of her divine power to bless him.

His body had always been cursed—absorbing the surrounding energy to the point that he could have become a monster or died from his heart exploding.

But Heravrua had granted him the ability to release energy, saving his life.

“Caesar, when your trials are over, your destiny will find you. Protect her.”

At the time, he had no idea what she meant.

“Trials only come to the weak,” he had thought.

A kind father.
A gentle sister.
Loyal vassals.
A prosperous territory rich in gold mines and fertile lands.

His life lacked nothing.

He never could have imagined that everything would vanish like a mirage.

A few days after returning from that journey,

His father was murdered.
His sister disappeared.
All of their wealth and titles were stolen by his godfather, Count Anderson.

Caesar Maes had been thrown into a storm of suffering, barely given time to breathe.

He had even considered ending it all—killing everyone responsible and bringing this nightmare to an end.

But his father, who had died without justice, and his sister, whose body was never even found—they wouldn’t have wanted meaningless slaughter.

So he endured.

But when would the trials end?

The war had been another trial.

Thrown onto the battlefield, forced to fight for his life, Caesar Maes had only one thought:

Survive.

And yet, the greatest trial was yet to come.

He returned from war as a hero only to be forced into marriage with the daughter of his greatest enemy.

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