[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke novel Chapter 310

Chapter 310: The Goddess Beneath the Cloth

The ox cart jolted harshly along the snow-covered path for over an hour before it finally stopped outside a massive building.

It was past midnight, and the heavy darkness obscured most of their surroundings. Still, something about the place struck Xion as familiar.

Where had he seen it before?

With a heavy heart, he followed the others out. They were commanded to form rows in the same order as before. The old man was tottering ahead, while Xion was in the middle.

As for the burly man, he had somehow finagled his way into the fifth spot.

[I think he really believes you married a noblewoman who kicked you out. You didn’t mention the gender, after all. He probably assumed her new noble husband threw you out to save face.]

Xion decided to ignore it. He was in no mood to clarify such bizarre things. As he walked closer to the cathedral, his brows furrowed even more.

The torches flared to life the moment they reached the gates, casting light upon barely standing walls. The air reeked of ash, the acrid stench clawing at the lungs of many and forcing them to cough.

However, they didn’t dare to be too loud.

Just as Xion stepped past the ruined threshold, his eyes widened.

"Mors vitam dat. Vita tenebras parit. Tenebrae a sancto fugiunt. Hic sanctum dormit."

The wooden arch bearing those words was split cleanly in two.

Death gives life...

Darkness flees from the holy.

That portion still clung awkwardly above the battered iron gate. The rest lay discarded beside a crumbling pillar.

Life breeds darkness...

Here, the holy sleeps.

The motto had fractured into two parts, and yet, somehow, the separation made an eerie sort of sense.

Xion took a long look at the words before stepping inside.

Once, he had marvelled at the towering structure, but now, everything was dark and grimy.

It was ironic, really—his own battered state seemed to mimic the cathedral’s ruin.

When he visited the church as the spouse of Darius, he was welcomed inside. Talia had even asked him if he wanted to visit the ’confession room’ which he had promptly ignored.

And now, he was standing with the evildoers, ready to confess his sins of his own volition.

Is this what they call fate? Xion mused to himself as he moved. Though, this time, he didn’t need his mana to support his legs anymore.

The outer walls had been torn down by some mighty force, yet the inner sanctum had managed to endure the brunt. If one ignored the charred symbols that stained every inch of stone.

The wooden doors had been reduced to blackened splinters, scarcely clinging to their hinges.

Xion held his breath as he crossed the second threshold, his gaze wandering everywhere.

[His Grace has told you that the old church caught fire, remember?]

Xion hummed lightly in response. But he didn’t expect it to be burned to this degree.

His thoughts flickered back to that strange woman he’d met. Could she be here as well?

He was still mulling it over when someone pushed him from behind. He stumbled, nearly colliding with the person ahead, only to be caught roughly by a guard.

"Thank—"

"Are you blind?!" the guard snapped. "Can’t even walk straight. Filthy rats, all of you. Just keep running here without any shame."

"Hurry along!" He dabbed his hand with a cloth before tossing it aside in disgust. "Tardiness is a sin!"

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