Chapter 73

The investiture ceremony ended in great success, and a banquet was scheduled to follow. I changed into another dress for the banquet and had my hair and outfit readjusted from top to bottom. With some time left before the festivities began, I told the servants I wanted to rest and dismissed them all. As I lay alone on the sofa, my eyes drifted to the notification windows I hadn’t cleared yet.

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The results were divided quite extremely.

‘I suppose I did seem a bit like a villain.’

Actually, I did act like a villain. Even though the Pope set the stage, it was my intention not to publicly announce the revelation in order to use the protagonist. Because of that, Prince Rodrick lost his country and family, but in exchange, I blasted open a highway toward the ending. No matter how much I claim it wasn’t my intent, it’s true that I stood by for the sake of my goal.

‘I justified it by thinking that when my life is on the line in a world that might not even be real, worrying about this and that is a luxury.’

That thought hadn’t changed. However, now that my reputation was high enough, I had no reason to commit bad deeds on purpose. This meant that pressuring the prince at the ceremony wasn’t simply to raise reputation points for a quest clear.

I’d been thinking about this for a while. It was unknown what would happen to this world after I left. If it just vanished, then that was that, but it might continue. I wanted to put my money on the latter.

If the world were just going to disappear the moment I left, there would have been no reason to transmigrate me and put me through all this trouble. So, let’s assume the world continues even after I’m gone.

In that case, the original Belita would likely return to her own body.

Would she be able to perform the role of the Saintess as I have?

When she wouldn’t know a single thing?

‘There’s no way.’

The episodes that follow my departure require a Saintess. Therefore, the solution I came up with was this:

‘To put the real Saintess back in this position.’

Just as a river eventually returns to the sea once the path is cleared, Ivanke becoming the Saintess would happen naturally. The flow of the original work… there had to be something like that. And for Ivanke to be able to return, the Order of Ralphican must not be shaken.

Everything—using fear during the ceremony to solidify the Church’s foundation and mentioning Ivanke’s existence to the whole world through the conversation with the Princess—was for that reason.

‘Because I want to finish this as cleanly as possible before I go.’

If the loose ends were messy, I’d probably have restless dreams even after returning to reality.

“Saintess!”

…

“Saintess! Can I come in~?”

I’d barely been alone for any time at all before someone was calling for me. I wanted to rest more, but for now, I told them to enter. The door opened, and Emily showed her face.

“Ahem! I’m not the only one who came… would that be alright?”

…?

As I furrowed my brows in confusion, Priest Kalat, Beatrice, and even Ilian trailed in one after another behind Emily.

‘…That’s a lot of people.’

As soon as his eyes met mine, Kalat poured out his congratulations like rapid-fire.

“Saintess! I offer my heartiest congratulations! You have now officially ascended to the position of Saintess!”

“It is I who should congratulate you, Priest Kalat. I heard you’ve become the Archbishop of the Imperial Capital District.”

“Ah! It is all thanks to the Saintess…!”

“Not at all. It was your own merit, Priest Kalat.”

“Now that I think about it, you’re speaking comfortably now! You seemed a bit awkward before!”

Habit is a scary thing; when I let my guard down around elders, polite speech would often slip out. Even while trying to lower my speech to be conscious of Beatrice, it would often go back to square one. But now, I had completely adjusted.

After being put on a pedestal for months, I’d naturally picked up the habit of speaking down to others. I wondered what I’d do if this strange way of speaking accidentally slipped out after I returned to my original world.

‘The adjustment back is going to be brutal.’

Well, it’s not like a day like this will ever come again in my life. Let’s enjoy it to the fullest while I can.

“Indeed. It was quite entertaining to watch you waver back and forth, unable to choose a style, so it’s a bit of a shame.”

Beatrice spoke in a voice that didn’t sound sorry at all.

“Well, I suppose your mindset has changed now that you’ve been formally invested. Your shoulders have been soaring toward the sky lately, haven’t they? And just earlier at the ceremony, you used those high shoulders to beat down the Prince and Princess.”

…I didn’t beat anyone, and my shoulders aren’t soaring that high. Besides, that was all just a strategic decision.

“Sir Ilian. Cease your impious remarks toward the Saintess. Ahem, Saintess… you did very well with the Prince of Kleheim and the Princess of Brishwin.”

“I think you did great too! Rumors are rife within the Church that you responded thrillingly to those who dared blaspheme Ralphican! This time, even those Orthodox priests were singing your praises!”

Reputation points had been rising quite excitedly, so I guess that was why. Anyway, I was surprised to see Beatrice, who claimed to be a neutral, defending my actions.

‘Honestly, I was prepared to take a bit of a verbal beating.’

I guess when the Order of Ralphican is attacked from the outside, the Pope’s faction, the neutrals, and even the Orthodox faction all clump together like a solid mass.

Ding!

…? Suddenly…?

Out of nowhere, Beatrice was registered in the Affection System.

And what’s with that reason? Why was she registered just because she felt proud of herself?

“Well, it’s only natural, since you learned from me.”

…Could it be that Beatrice has a rather strong sense of self-love?

Without realizing it, I looked at her with a deadpan expression, but then Ilian spoke up.

“By the way, is the Savior of the Kingdom of Brishwin really an apostle sent by you, Saintess?”

…I wondered why no one was asking about that.

‘I mean, she is the real Saintess, after all.’

I had been guessing Ivanke’s movements through the affection and reputation notifications. To be honest, it was hard to pretend I didn’t know even if I wanted to.

How could I not know with notifications like that?

When I answered that it was true, Ilian frowned slightly and asked another question.

“Where did you meet her?”

It was understandable why Ilian was curious about where we met. Since I started acting as the Saintess, I had been stuck to Ilian’s side the whole time. Physically, the only place I could have met Ivanke, the Savior of the Kingdom of Brishwin, was Lanta Village. However, Ilian knew the prophecy regarding the true Saintess.

The moment I said Lanta Village, he might realize that the so-called Savior was actually the destined one. In that case…

“I met her in a dream. I found I can converse through dreams with anyone who possesses even a tiny bit of divine energy.”

The group’s eyes widened simultaneously.

“Your dreams are developing by the day, Saintess! To think you can converse through dreams!”

Kalat and Emily believed me instantly, like people who didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘doubt,’ but Ilian just stared at me with narrowed eyes in silence.

…A cold sweat ran down my back as I felt my bluff reaching its limit.

“I see. After all, you do possess mysterious powers, Saintess.”

Fortunately, Ilian let it slide!

“Isn’t it almost time for the banquet, Emily?”

“Gasp, you’re right!”

Before my cold sweat could even dry, I was ushered toward the banquet hall. The hall was filled with high-ranking officials from various countries who had attended the ceremony. Of course, the Prince of Kleheim and the Princess of Brishwin were nowhere to be seen.

‘Whether they chose not to come or weren’t allowed to, I don’t know.’

Either way, it was good not to have uncomfortable faces around. But those two weren’t the only ones I wanted to keep my distance from.

“Your beauty is not hidden by the veil, Saintess.”

Crown Prince Theodore. He was the man I’d met while appearing as Belita; the one who had acted all dramatic about falling for me and ended up registered in the Affection System. Of all people, he was the one cutting steak right in front of me and spouting flowery nonsense.

‘…Who the hell was in charge of the seating chart?’

The people seated next to the Crown Prince were all officials from small nations, so they were just nibbling on their meat in silence, unable to utter a peep. This meant there was no one to keep the Crown Prince in check. In the end, the banquet felt more like a private meeting between the Crown Prince and the Saintess…

“My goodness. Do you happen to have X-ray vision?”

“Haha! X-ray vision! You even have a great sense of humor, Saintess!”

He looked like he’d find it entertaining even if I picked my nose right here.

“I was worried about how to strike up a conversation, so it’s an honor to be seated so close.”

“…The Crown Prince seems to be very lucky.”

Unlike me, who was having the worst luck.

“I hear that quite often.”

Theodore, who was easily visible even if I only tilted my head slightly, had a significantly different impression than the last time I saw him. Perhaps because he wasn’t acting so sly, there was a touch of boyishness in his smile. The maid and the Saintess.

Was it because the target was different?

What is he, some kind of two-faced prince?

“So, Saintess. What exactly is your relationship with Hereis?”

“Pfft—!”

I was drinking water and barely managed to avoid spraying it all over the Crown Prince’s face.

“Oh, now that is an interesting reaction.”

The Crown Prince’s eyes shimmered vividly at my intense response. I could feel the people around us pricking up their ears—not for boring political talk, but for the gossip involving the two hottest figures of the moment.

“Um, I just didn’t expect the Crown Prince to ask that.”

“Dear me, Hereis is a very dear friend of mine. Didn’t he mention me?”

To the Crown Prince, who looked excited, I informed him that the protagonist had not uttered a single syllable of his name.

“How cold! I’ll have to give him a piece of my mind when I see him later.”

The Crown Prince laughed it off lightly, but he seemed determined to keep digging.

“Rumors have it that you trust Hereis especially deeply. In fact, hasn’t Hereis been the central figure in all your affairs? Many are speculating that you are more than just allies or comrades! Haha.”

…If we’re going by that logic, there’s also Kalat, Arianne, and Ilian.

They all suffered just as much, so why link me only with the protagonist?

Is this the power of a main character?

I thought the supporting characters must feel so wronged.

But…

‘This seems like a pretty good timing.’

I happened to have something I wanted to say, and it fit the current atmosphere perfectly.
I opened my mouth immediately.

“Trusting him…. That’s true. After all, Sir Hereis is the companion Ralphican has chosen for me.”

“Oh…?”

The banquet hall went silent in an instant. Some people even dropped the utensils they were holding.

“Pardon?”

The banquet was getting a bit boring anyway. This wasn’t just a surprise announcement to heat up the atmosphere; it was bait to prepare for the next chapter.