As the tancinol spread on the ship and the sailors fell one by one, the captain eventually gave up going to Chang and returned to the port.

Blake said he would go there himself to find out about the situation.

He had the power of a goddess, and he won't be infected with tancinol.

But I caught him while he's in a hurry to leave for the harbor.

"No! Blake, don't go!"

"Ancia..."

"I'll go there, stay here!"

I kept thinking of Rakshul, who caught the tancinol.

Of course, Blake was different this time, but I was still worried.

Blake wrapped his big hand around my face.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. I've never even caught a cold since the curse was lifted."

"I know, but I was also given the power of the goddess. I can't get sick either. So I'll go there."

"You can't."

He shook his head.

"I know about tancinol. I saw something about tancinol inside the door of darkness. So it's much better for me to go!"

"No, it's dangerous."

"I won't be in danger! I'm the light mage. No one on the whole continent knows the magic of healing better than I do."

I persuaded Blake. But his eyes sank sadly.

"Don't you trust me?"

"It's not like that, it's just that I'm worried and nervous..."

I held his hand tightly.

"So let me go. If it's really tancinol, I should go there ."

Blake gave a big sigh when I kept being stubborn.

"Okay, then let's go together."

"If I go alone..."

"That's a no-no."

Blake said firmly. I never thought he would be this stubborn as well.

"Alright."

I couldn't help but nod.

***

Me, Blake, and the imperial knights headed for the harbor.

When I arrived at the port, I could see many people from the church.

Tancinol has long been managed in the church because it is known as a disease given by the goddess.

So it is normal that many people from church were here.

But the atmosphere was weird. The harbor was noisy with spectators.

This was due to the lack of proper control by the holy knights.

In the event of an epidemic, people's entry and exit should be strictly blocked to prevent more victims. However, the people from church did not seem to have any intention of doing so.

A necklace made of mana stone of light hung on the neck of the priest and the knights.

What are they thinking? Are they trying to take advantage of this?

Entering the harbor, I could see that my guess was right.

"Tancinol spread over the sea! The goddess is angry!"

Gail, a teenage priest, shouted loudly as if he were giving a speech.

Other high-ranking priests like Howard Kensway, were next to him.

Many high-ranking priest are gathered.

Simply because of the tancinol outbreak, those priests stayed far away.

The purpose of this opportunity is to make people believe that the false rumours were true.

Blake also felt the atmosphere was unusual and whispered softly in my ear.

"Ancia, go back first."

"I'm fine, so there's nothing to worry about."

They're trying to take advantage of them for their own gains. I could never forgive people like them.

"Here comes the crown prince, the light of the Empire."

The people who saw us greeted Blake. But that was it. They ignored me.

"What kind of trick is this?"

Blake's voice was cold.

The surrounding air froze, but the priest only smiled.

"We don't know if she's the real crown princess."

His words made everyone surprised.

"Are the rumours true?"

"Is it true that she's a demon?"

As the spectators chatted, Edon shouted.

"Shut up! How dare you!"

"Don't you know the punishment of insulting a royal family?!"

When the imperial knights said so, people shut up.

The vast harbor was filled with silence.

Blake and the priest confronted each other over the issue of greeting me.

"Where are the patients?"

I broke the silence and asked a question.

Tancinol is highly contagious. It had to be stopped as soon as possible.

But the priest ignored me as if he couldn't hear me.

Blake couldn't stand it anymore and tried to pull out his sword. Gail, who was next to him, quickly replied.

"Inside the ship."

"Hasn't the treatment started yet?"

When I asked, Howard had an arrogant smile.

"Don't you know what tancinol is? It's a ship cursed by the goddess. We'll burn the entire ship."

"What?"

There may be someone who wasn't infected.

But he's gonna burn those people to death?

Even when they heard the news that the epidemic had spread, I knew why all the high-ranking priests, who usually only sent lower-ranking priests, gathered here while standing at a safe place.

They were going to kill all the crew from the start. They showed up here with confidence because they had no intention of healing the patients in the first place.

"Are you sure it's tancinol?"

They claimed that the crew had tancinol without even looking at the patients.

"The priests have confirmed it. They are cursed by Goddess, and we cannot let them live."

"Did you really see them?"

Richard's mother was falsely killed when she caught the flu, people assumed that she had tancinol.

The early symptoms of tancinol were difficult to identify precisely because it was similar to flu, and after other symptoms appeared, they were often mistaken it as tancinol as well.

"You must want to protect them somehow."

Howard was sarcastic. I felt their bad intention towards me somehow.

"I think you want to get rid of them."

"No way. I am a worshiper of the Goddess of Light. Why do I want to get rid of them? I need to protect my country from the demons."

"Don't sell the goddess' name for your self-interest."

"What did you just say? How dare you insult the church!"

Howard was furious. Then Blake spit it out coldly.

"Is there anything wrong with her words?"

Even the crown prince should be polite to the high-ranking priests.

Although Blake was in an informal relationship with the high priest, Marron, it was because of Marron's permission.

He continued his words.

"How should I punish you for your sin of insulting her highness?"

Blake took his sword. The imperial and the holy knights also picked up swords at the same time.

The situation reached its worst, with the two forces confronting each other fiercely.

Then a man's cry was heard on the ship.

"Help me! Please save my life!!"

Howard's face fell as the man, who appeared to be the captain, got out of the ship.

Then Gail ordered urgently.

"What are you doing? A sinner cursed by a goddess! Stop it now!"

The holy knights caught him. However, the captain cried desperately even as he was dragged away.

"Help me! There are sailors who are not sick! Please save us!"

However, people were more shocked than sympathetic.

His skin was pale. Many bruises and spots were spread throughout the body, his eyes were completely not focused, and whenever he shouted, his teeth fell out as his gums with blood were revealed.

"Tancinol!

"Agh!"

"Kill him right now!"

Even though they weren't sure that it was tancinol, the spectators began to scream in fear when they saw the patient.

Even the priest and holy knights looked frightened. The same was true of the imperial knights.

"Stop right now. Let the captain go."

However, I gave the order to the knight.

"Ah, yes..."

The knights looked at Howard for a moment, but soon let go of their hands as the captain fell down.

They were also unwilling to contact patients with tancinol.

I took a step toward the captain. Then Blake was surprised and held my hand.

"Ancia!"

"Don't worry. It's okay."

I grabbed him by the hand and approached the captain again.

Maybe he was worried about me, so Blake walked with me. I didn't stop him.

Edon and the imperial knights followed suit.

"I greet the crown prince, the light of the Empire. An, and..."

Captain Barley greeted Blake even though he was sick. And he looked at me for a moment.

He doesn't know who I am. He left a few months ago, so he wouldn't have heard of the crown princess' return.

"She's Ancia, the crown princess."

When Edon told him, the captain lowered his head.

"I greet the crown princess, the blessing of the empire."

"It's alright. Get up."

"Your Highness, please save us!"

The captain begged earnestly. I got him up.

When I touched the patient myself, the surrounding area was noisy.

"Don't worry. First of all, tell me what happened."

"It was smooth at first. But one by one, there was something wrong with their body."

"Are you dizzy and have problems with your teeth?"

"Yes."

"You have bleeding in your gums and hematuria?"

"Yes! That's right!"

He nodded. But he quickly added if he was worried.

"But I don't think it's tancinol. I didn't cough."

"That's nonsense! They must have tancinol! The goddess was angry when they tried to join hands with Chang and punished them! They're abandoned by the goddess."

Howard shouted angrily.

It was ridiculous. Who's the one who needs to be angry.

"No, they didn't get tancinol."

I refuted his words.