Category: I Became a Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

t/n
i’ve decided to change ryno’s name to the literal translation, ‘muso’. i previously translated it as ryno because i mistakenly thought it was the meaning behind his name, but it wasn’t. so henceforth, ryno will be known as muso, and when i have time, i’ll go through all my chapters (on my drafts, here, and wattpad GHSLDKFJ PAIN) and correct his name ^^

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“Your Highness, can we take a short break…?”

“It must’ve been very tiring for you, right?”

Ziken guided the horse with Olivia in his arms.

“Haa, just how hard was it for you while you were in there?” He brushed his thumb over her chapped lips with a pained expression.

“I want to go wash up in the stream, even just a bit.”

“Alright, it’ll be safe for a while since we’ve already come this far.”

Ziken let out a sigh as he turned back to look at the way they came from. He got off the horse first and helped Olivia down.

He let out a long sigh as he watched her walk heavily toward the sound of water. To think that such a bright and energetic child would look so dejected…

“Your Highness. It’s dangerous for Your Highness to accompany us all the way.” A knight approached him to warn him.

“So you want me to send Livi off on her own? I should at least see her off safely to the villa first before I return.”

“But the jailbreak would have already been discovered, so at any rate…”

“Do I look like someone who can’t even take care of themselves?”

“…My apologies.” At Ziken’s reprimand, the knight eventually bowed his head and retreated.

It was when he turned his head in the direction Olivia went to wash up, worried that she would need a towel or additional outerwear.

“Wh-What is that?!”

A fierce flash of light burst out from where she had disappeared to, causing the knights to kick up a ruckus.

“Livi!” The shocked Ziken dashed in her direction in an instant. 

Standing there was Olivia, whose hand was bleeding from an injury that seemed to be made with a sharp rock. Although he was momentarily surprised, he could see that Olivia was standing in the centre of a large summoning circle. 

“I’m not resigned to this…! Frody!”

The summoning circle which quickly absorbed her blood, let out a strong light, circling quickly until it formed a figure.

“Hmm? What is it?”

The figure that appeared was the demon that had been seen in the imperial palace’s drawing room. Shocked, Ziken drew his sword, but Olivia reached Frody first.

“Oh, it’s my fake saintess again.” He acknowledged Olivia, who grabbed him by the collar. 

“Sign a contract with me, right this instant!”

“Woah, calm down Miss Fake.”

“Fake, don’t call me fake!” Shrieking back, Olivia pulled Frody by the collar.

“!”

What happened next made Ziken’s breath stop. His heart sank with a thud. 

Olivia was kissing Frody. The eyes of Frody, who was looking down at Olivia with an expression of, ‘What’s wrong with her?’, met Ziken’s. The look in his eyes quickly became provocative as he wrapped his arms around Olivia’s waist. He parted his lips as his long and slender fingers swept over every corner of Olivia’s nape and hair. The kiss gradually deepened as Frody continued to keep his eyes on Ziken. 

And Ziken, whose thoughts had come to a complete standstill. With a face filled with shock, he continued to watch as Olivia and Frody kissed deeply, not even daring to breathe. 

“You, you bastard!”

Ziken only came to his senses after the angered voice of his knight had been cut off. “Get away from her, you demon bastard!” Ziken swung his sword at Frody.

However, Frody dodged it lightly and pulled Olivia closer toward him by her waist. “Woah, woah. What will happen if your pretty lover over here gets hurt?”

“Get away from Livi!” The moment he shouted that, a whiff of gold osmanthus brushed past the tip of Ziken’s nose.

“Why should I? From a girl who has thrown herself into my arms and is clinging onto me like this?”

The scent became so overwhelmingly strong that it began to dizzily muddle all of Ziken’s senses. His vision began to swim and his body swayed unsteadily. Although he tried to pick up his sword from the ground and come to his senses, all he could see in his blurry vision was Olivia, who was hanging tightly onto Frody’s neck.  

“Li-Livi…”

“This is my order as your contractor. Take me to that woman!”

“That woman? Oh, you mean my saintess?”

“Urk…! ‘Your saintess’ is meant to be me!”

“Yeah, yeah. Alright. But granting that is a bit difficult.”

“What? Why?! The words of your contractor are meant to be followed unconditionally though!”

“That’s true, but…” Blocking his words, Olivia kissed him deeply again.

“Will this do? What else do you want? You said that my body would be enough!”

“Hmmm~?”

“Do you want me to give my soul as well? Okay, I’ll give it all to you, so just take me to her right now!” 

Frody could see that Olivia was holding a dagger in her arms as well. “No matter what you give me, there’s nothing I can do to help you kill the saintess, so… huh?”

No matter how deeply the saintess fell for Lecht, she was still a saintess. He could still coax her into becoming his, so it was still too early to make a decision to kill her. 

Just as he was about to refuse, a strong flash of light burst out from under his feat. It was a teleportation circle that stretched over Olivia and Frody of course, and even Ziken and his knights. 

“Huh??” The light engulfed them along with Frody’s rather stupid-sounding exclaimation. The beam of light shot up into the sky with a powerful gale and disappeared. 

The forest returned to its tranquil state once more. With only the harrumphing sound of the horses that were still tied to the trees. 

After a while, a bear-like figure appeared behind a tree.

“This much should do it, right?” 

A baby face that seemed incompatible with that hulking body.

“Phew, teleporting is just as hard as I expected. Especially with such a large number as well.” Muso let out a sigh as he slumped against the tree. Humans needed to use a space travel portal to cross long distances, but for demons, Muso’s ability was enough to allow them to travel short distances. “Her Majesty will take care of the rest, right?” 

He looked up at the moonlight that was shining through the foliage of the trees. Seeing as his heart was pounding violently, it seemed like it wouldn’t be too long until the moon turned red. A happy smile flashed across Muso’s lips.

‘As expected, Her Majesty is the best.’

It reminded him of when he first met the saintess when he was little. 

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pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

There were many people in attendance at the proclamation ceremony. Although it had been chaotic due to the various recent commotions, they had all still come running since this had been all the talk lately. The curiosity they held toward the Saintess of the Lunar religion, who had finally appeared after a hundred years, was also quite large. 

“Your Majesty, you must have been deeply concerned.”

“What could there be to be concerned about? I’m just relieved that it could be resolved.” All of them were gradually getting on the emperor’s nerves, but the emperor only brushed it off while smiling craftily like a fox.

“For him to leave the Princess of Darchez, who will become the Saintess of the Lunar religion to be by the side of a scammer like that is a bit…”

“Shush. What if someone hears?”

“You clearly think so as well. But on the other hand, Prince Linden Ezzarson was on Grand Duke Arvis’…”

Most of the whispering was about the crown prince’s choice and their growing interest in Linden. 

[Are they cursing the crown prince as well? Is that punk actually that pathetic?]

‘I can hear it as well. My mind is already quite chaotic, so you don’t need to do a play by play commentary of the situation right now either.’

I could naturally hear it all as well, yet Lunar still insisted on delivering the news to me again.

[My daughter is holding her proclamation ceremony, yet you want me to keep quiet. Isn’t that too much?]

‘Do you want to see me make a mistake in front of everyone? I don’t have any time to worry about you, so please be quiet.’

[Eiii, how cold.]

Despite grumbling, Lunar quieted down. Thanks to this, I feigned ignorance and was able to deal with the people who approached me. 

“Thank you for coming.”

“Don’t tell me you asked for this sort of favour because you thought I wouldn’t come?”

“Would that not be the case?”

Alion couldn’t find the words to reply to what I had said with a smile. Instead, he ended up changing the subject and threw out another question. “Why did you ask us for guards?”

“You just said so earlier. Because I thought you wouldn’t come.”

“Then just giving me an invite would’ve done the job; I can’t help but think that you have other intentions behind why you deliberately asked me for guards to secure this event.”

This guy really… He wasn’t good at expressing his feelings to his younger sister, yet he’s able to be straightforward at times like this. 

“It’s not like the paladins of the Lunar religion aren’t skilled enough, and even if they are lacking, Saintess also has…” Alion silently alternated his gaze between Linden and Lecht, who were standing somewhat closeby. It was a gaze that said that I could have used the Grand Duke of Arvis’ manpower or the mercenaries that belonged to the Ezzarson Guild.

“Due to the nature of this ceremony, Kelber, who’s always attached to me as a guard, can’t be by my side today… you don’t believe this excuse, right?”

“…You mean that puppy?”

I smiled and properly explained to Alion, who had a ‘does that even make any sense’ look on his face. “Just because. It’s not bad for us to look like a close pair of siblings to other people anyway.”

Alion swept his gaze around me with a complex look on his face.

“Meliara is over there.” I pointed to an empty seat on the second floor. It was a place that I had deliberately asked the priests to leave vacant for Meliara. Alion, who was staring at that place, shook his head and turned his eyes away.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Yes. As long as I can answer it.”

 “You said that you’d oust the duke, right?” I placed more emphasis on the word ‘oust’. 

Alion nodded as well, as if he had noticed my meaning behind it too. “There is only one reason why I lowered my head in submission to the crown prince. And that was because my younger sister wanted him.”

“…”

“Although I am also at fault for pushing my younger sister to that point, I still cannot condone my father’s actions. So now, I no longer have any reason to support His Highness the Crown Prince, nor the reason to go along with my father either.”

I smiled at his resolute tone. Since once a person who is simple and honest makes up their mind, it won’t be easy for them to break it.

“You’ve come to a good conclusion. I strongly support it. Then, I think today’s task will also be a good gift for you.”

“Gift?” He asked back, but a priest who was in charge of the ceremony began to guide everyone to sit down.

“Then, shall we move as well?” 

I was supposed to wait in the space behind the podium and come out when it was time for me to do so. It was when I stepped onto the stairs leading to the waiting area. 

Boom!

With a loud explosion, a huge whirlwind began to form in the middle of the temple. It was so powerful that it had enough force to make cracks appear in the floor and for the pillars to shake. People screamed and tried to flee in every direction to avoid it while Alion’s knights which were standing at attention proceeded to pull out their weapons. 

“Whew~ Muso’s wind seriously isn’t normal.” It was much more formidable than I had thought it was.

[After loosening the security of the temple’s boundaries earlier, is the play that my daughter planned finally starting now?]

‘Yes. So Lunar should also get the timing correct.’

[Of course! This is my specialty after all!]

After the wind dispersed with a flash, the appearances of Olivia and Frody were revealed, as expected. Behind them was also Ziken and his knights, who were still reeling from the teleportation.

“W-What the hell is going on with the situation here?”

“Over there, isn’t that the crown prince?”

“How could the criminal be here…?!”

“I-It’s a demon! The criminal really showed up with a demon in tow!”

All the nobles and spectators that were gathered in the temple were astonished. 

Whilst everyone was still stuck in shock, Olivia pointed at me with a dagger in her hand and shouted, “Frody, kill that woman right now!! That’s an order!”

The words that came out of her mouth made many people gasp sharply before fainting. There were some who really fainted, while others had their mouths hung wide open, unable to say anything.

“No, because our contract…” The sound of Frody’s voice, which was puzzled at the situation like everyone else, was heard slightly.

However, his words were buried under Alion’s shout. “Protect the saintess and subdue the intruders!!”

“Yessir!”

Ziken, who had finally managed to come to his senses when the Darchez’s elite corps flocked over with their swords and spears, was greatly flustered. He scanned the situation sprouting from his surroundings, and then slapped his hand to his forehead at the sight of Olivia and Frody. “Why is Livi with that bastard…” His face revealed the immense shock and betrayal he felt in that moment.

“Catch the criminal!”

But at Alion’s shout, Ziken was shocked back to reality and picked up his sword that was lying on the floor. “Protect Livi!”

“Y-Your Highness?”

“Right this instant!!”

His knights were briefly baffled by his orders. Half of them bit the bullet while half of them took up their swords with a sense of loyalty to Ziken.

“Block them!”

“Catch her!”

“Kill that woman—!!”

All kinds of screams and shouts were mixed together with the sharp sound of swords clashing against each other in the Great Temple. 

[As expected, the funniest thing in the world is watching fights!!]

Feeling refreshed as I heard Lunar say the words I had wanted to say, I struggled to keep the corners of my mouth from raising into a smile.

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lunar is so chaotic good LMAOOOO

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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The morning dawned on the day of the proclamation ceremony. Since I was being proclaimed as the Saintess of Lunar, who was the god of night, my proclamation was scheduled to be held when the moon had risen into the sky at night. Thus, it was time to prepare for the event that would be held in the evening.

I had nothing else to do after choosing which clothes I’d wear. Even if I tried to help with the preparations, the priests would aggressively stop me from doing anything by forcefully keeping me in my room. To be honest, I was actually a bit tired since I had stayed up all night chatting with Lunar yesterday.

[So what you’re saying is, the truth is that you actually had divine power in your previous life, but that world was a place where divine power couldn’t be manifested, right?]

Even now, I seem to be sighing at that noisy voice.

[But despite that, the people around you are still fundamentally influenced by your divine power and are able to receive peace of mind just by being by your side…]

‘You really do talk a lot… Lydia wasn’t just saying it after all…’

[A lot? But I’m only talking about things of importance right now? If you don’t listen carefully, you’ll regret it when you end up hitting the ground later…]

They read my thoughts yet again. 

Haa… How is it possible for them to talk without even taking a single minute’s rest? If we’re talking about skills, then this is one too. What’s even more impressive is that it’s all stuff I haven’t heard before, with not even a conversation overlapping.

‘I thought I wouldn’t be able to hear you in the middle of the day when the moon disappeared.]

[The moon always exists somewhere. Like you said, just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.]

To think that they even used the line I said to Alion. Cheap, they’re too cheap!

[Aha! I suddenly remembered it since you said something about things you can’t see. Aren’t you curious about how the shield you have is made?]

I’m not curious. No, I’m curious, but I don’t want to tell them that I’m curious. Since it’s obvious that we’ll end up talking about that topic for another hour. 

‘I’m going to sleep. Don’t disturb me.’

[Daughter! You’re too mean! We’ll need to part ways after tonight is over!]

How terrible, to have to endure until tonight. 

I lay down on the bed, leaving Lunar, whose dignity as a god had disappeared over night, to kick up a fuss. Nevertheless, I still couldn’t sleep. This time, there was another distraction apart from Lunar.

“Saintess, His Highness the Prince has come.” 

There were visitors coming in and out as soon as day broke.

‘Looks like I won’t be getting a good sleep today either.’

[There’s originally something like destiny you see, so you’re born with some parts, and there are parts that you make as you live…]

“Haa…”

And Lunar, who had started talking about that straightaway. The reason why the Lunar religion’s saintesses don’t appear very often was probably because even if they did appear, they’d just run away from Lunar’s chatty self. 

With a sigh, I stepped out to meet Linden. I changed into my light inside-wear and went to the drawing room where Linden was waiting for me. 

“What did you come here so early for when the proclamation ceremony is at night?”

“I had something I wanted to show you. But Ara, why does your complexion look so pale?” Linden asked anxiously as he looked at my dark circles that seemed to hang down to my cheeks.

“I just couldn’t sleep well. It was probably because the issue I was worrying about hasn’t been fully resolved yet.”

I couldn’t bear to say, ‘I couldn’t sleep because Lunar was being too noisy’, so I smiled and made something up. 

“Really? Then you’d probably be even more glad to hear this.”

“What is it?”

Linden placed a piece of paper on the table. It was an official document that came from the imperial palace. It’s said that there wasn’t any inn or tavern that wasn’t connected to it.

“They’ve decided on the death penalty.”

Everything that Saintess Olivia had done so far was written down on it. Compared to all her other malicious acts, the story of her deceiving everyone as a saintess was written in the headlines the most.

“It’s also written that the Solar religion was also damaged because of this. Though I don’t know how much of this the people will believe.”

Wouldn’t they have already lost a lot of their trust in the Solar religion when they mistakenly took Olivia to be a saintess in the first place? But that was something for the Solar religion to worry about, not me. 

“As per your request, they seem to have excluded the story of you and the Grand Duke Arvis as much as possible.”

Although there was no way they couldn’t write about it, they thankfully only labelled him as someone who helped.

“That’s a relief. That way, it won’t seem like it was the Lunar religion who was saying all of that for no reason.” I brushed the official document slightly with my fingertips. My thoughts became complicated.

“What’s with your expression? I thought you’d be happy.”

“Hm? No, that’s…” Considering what Olivia had done, I thought that this punishment was well deserved for her. My thoughts weren’t complicated about that part. “There’s no mention of the crown prince at all.”

“Well, the thing is… that’s because His Majesty also thinks that he’s a victim who has been deceived by her.”

“He’s right to some extent, but it’s also the crown prince who set up the stage that allowed for her to run wild.”

Would she have been able to become that unruly without Ziken backing her? She received his protection just by shaking her shoulders tremblingly and shedding a few tears. Using his love for her, she transformed a lie into the truth. 

“There’s no way the emperor would have been unaware of that fact…”

“Still, he’s the crown prince. He wouldn’t want to put a stain on his reputation for nothing.”

“Even though the reason why that woman was able to commit those deeds that drove his innocent fiancee to become a villainess and annul his engagement with her was because he openly dated that woman?”

People were already aware of that fact. The nobility would already be suspicious of the crown prince’s qualifications, and that would serve as a lifelong weakness for him. Since the crown prince being described as a ‘wronged victim’ could also be interpreted as lacking the qualifications to succeed the throne.

“The only people who like pushovers that are blinded by love are those treacherous subjects who are in positions of power.”

“Nevertheless… it’s because he’s the crown prince. Even the emperor’s arms will naturally curve inwards¹.” Linden’s voice was bitter as he said those words. 

I cast a look at his face. The look in his eyes as he stared at the official document seemed to be entangled with complicated emotions, and his lips that were tightly sealed into a straight line seemed to contain an unconcealable sense of grievance and anguish. My own concerns seemed to fizzle out when I saw the expression on his face.

‘Although I’ll be going to the demon realm after the proclamation ceremony ends anyway, I can’t just stand by and watch the empire descend into a shit storm.’

As I jumped up from my seat, Linden’s eyes widened, as if he were shocked.

“Linden, the emperor…”

“…?”

“He has two arms.”

“What are you talking about…?” At the sudden irrelevant words, the voice of the dazed Linden trailed off. 

He seemed to get a grasp at what I was thinking. “Ara, no! It’s dangerous!”

He jumped up from his seat. “Do you think the empress will just sit by as you do that? Even if that’s not the case, the situation right now is already so worrying, so…!”

“Linden, answer me this one time. Do you want to be the crown prince?”

“That’s not what is important right now!”

“It’s important. Your opinion is the most important of all.”

“I won’t do, no, I can’t do anything that puts you in danger…!” He said, gripping my shoulder. 

“That’s not the answer to my question.”

“So, this idea is seriously crazy…!”

“I asked if you will be the crown prince?”

“…” Linden’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down violently. His eyes were especially eye-catching. “It’s impossible. No matter how much this incident has shaken his position, he still has the empress as well as the Duke of Darchez, so…”

“Linden.” I asked again, interrupting his blabbering. 

“Crown prince. Do you want it?”

“…” 

With his lips pressed tightly together, he bowed his head in the end with a small sigh. The hand clasping my shoulder trembled slightly. 

“I at least… am confident that I’ll do better than Ziken.” 

He confided his innermost thoughts that no one else would’ve seen to me. 

“At first, all I wanted to do was survive. But then, it became something that I refused to yield on that stemmed from my grievance with them.” He started to get angry at the empress, who wouldn’t let him go even if he lived quietly.

“But now, especially as we’ve experienced this situation… I’ve started to become greedy.”

It was understandable though. The Lunar religion, who opposed the Solar religion and stood on his side, as well as Lecht, who he began to spend more time with, even though it was rather difficult to say that they were ‘on the same side’. 

As the incident continued to unfold, there naturally must have been many voices among the nobility that said, ‘I’d rather the prince be…’. A chance could be seen in that road, which had only been dark before.

“If I had the same authority as he had, just how much quicker and easier would I have been able to handle this, and I kept thinking that I’d be able to be a better crown prince than him… because I’m confident that I will hold more love for the empire’s citizens than him.”

Well, that much is obvious.

“However, that doesn’t mean that I want it so badly to the extent that I’d push the people who are precious to me to be my arms and legs.”

Raising his head again, Linden moved his hands from my shoulders and gently cupped my jaw. Unable to reach it, he put his hand around that area and swept my cheek lightly with the tip of his thumb. It was an extremely soft touch. It seemed to tremble slightly as well.

“Ara, please don’t do anything dangerous for me. Even more so if it’s for me.”

“…”

“Promise me you won’t do anything reckless.”

I raised both hands to grab his hand. I lifted his hand off my face and smiled as I lowered it. “Alright, I won’t. I won’t do anything dangerous.”

“You really won’t, right? You won’t do anything, right?”

“To me, I’m the most precious person in the world. I won’t do anything dangerous.”

He let out a sigh and smiled at my words that were said with a smile. It was a smile that was mixed with relief and bitterness. 

Understanding the meaning of that smile, I slowly started to move. “Then, I’ll get going first. Since I have a lot of work to do today.”

“Right, there must be a lot to prepare for the proclamation ceremony.”

“See you tonight!” I said my farewell to Linden brightly and left the room.

After that, I headed to the place where Lecht was at. He was talking to Muso in the garden. 

“Huh? What brings you here, Muso? I heard that you can’t participate in the proclamation ceremony though?”

“His Majesty personally cast an illusion spell on me!” 

When I looked at Lecht in surprise, he explained to me, “Tanma sent this guy instead since he has a lot to deal with because of the incident this time.”

Oh, he’s here instead of Tanma.

“That’s actually better instead. Muso, I’m sorry, but could you give up on attending the proclamation ceremony today?”

“Heok, w-why…?”

I smiled at him, who was crying while asking if he had done something wrong. “I want to leave you with a matter that’s way more important than that.”

“What is it?” His eyes sparkled at the words, ‘important matter’.

“Listen carefully to what I say from now on. As soon as I finish telling you this, go over to the Darchez Duchy straight away, and…” I told him the plan that I had come up with. He listened intently with glistening eyes and nodded. Though the expression of Lecht, who was next to him, darkened a little. 

When my explanation was over, Lecht cut in. “But if the incident that you think of doesn’t happen, I think your relationship with Alion will worsen for nothing then.”

My plan was heavily dependent on other people’s actions, so everything could go down the drain and amount to nothing in the end. 

“No. Although the exact details may be slightly different, I’m sure that this sort of incident will happen.”

“How are you so sure?” Lecht shot me a look of doubt and concern. 

“There’s no end to human greed, so if she has nothing more to lose, she’ll also have nothing else to fear.”

“That might be the case for that woman, but what about the crown prince? He still has a lot to lose though.”

“Oh, the answer to that is even easier to predict.”

“…?”

“Lecht, just imagine that I had been imprisoned in an underground prison for being a con-artist that had deceived all the demons in the demon realm. Furthermore, I’ll soon be facing the death penalty as well.”

Lecht’s face stiffened immediately.

“But what would you do if I’m crying and clinging onto you, saying that I’ve been framed and that I don’t want to die?”

I had only asked him to imagine it, but black energy was already rising from Lecht’s feet. I didn’t even have to hear his answer for me to know what it was. Since he had already said those words before.

“If the regulations of the demon realm are the problem, then such a trivial thing like the demon realm, I’ll just replace that as well.”

I reached out and clasped his hand, which had been clenched into a fist so tightly his tendons were sticking out. 

“The crown prince would do the same thing.”

People were able to go beyond their limits to become impossibly brave in the name of love. So although it was still extremely dangerous on one hand, they would still be able to protect their loved ones. 

Especially Ziken, whose loved one was on the verge of death. A normal incident would already have him agitated to the extreme. I mean, that punk wasn’t even that smart in the first place.

“The difference is that you have the ability to do so, but he doesn’t.”

Lecht had the ability to not only save me, but also to protect the people around me. Tanma, Muso; he had the overwhelming power and ability to protect me without sacrificing a single one of them. Lecht could do that. 

I could feel Lecht loosening his clenched fist at my words. 

“No matter how moving their love is, there’s no way I can leave a person who drives their people to such extremities as the crown prince who is supposed to protect them, right?”

He was a man who could bring about the destruction of the empire by causing political and diplomatic issues just to protect his loved one. I had already tried so hard to prevent the destruction of the empire, so there was no way I could just leave it like that. 

In any case. “I want to at least give Linden that much before I go to the demon realm.”

Since I didn’t think I’d be able to keep the promise that I wouldn’t leave you, no matter what. Although it was rather high-sounding of me to call it an alternative, I still wanted to do it for him. Since I thought I’d be able to depart to the demon realm with no worries if I knew that he’d be fine, even if I wasn’t there.

In the end, Lecht nodded with a small sigh, as if he knew how I felt. 

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

That evening, when the sun had set and it was already dark. There was a suspicious movement in the dungeon of the imperial palace.

“Livi.”

“Y-Your Highness…?”

“Hush! Hurry up and come out.”

The exact thing Ara had thought would happen was starting.

[1] 팔은 안으로 굽는다 idiom that represents being naturally biased to those that we hold closer to us

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i think it was touched on in a previous chapter but i agree with what ara said about having to sacrifice either love or power for the throne. if you want both, you should be strong enough to make everyone who opposes your love to submit to it. a king that protects their love without having the power to protect their own people just ain’t it, even if we do romanticise the ‘villain that gives up on the world to save their lover’ trope.

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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In the end, I confessed everything to Alion. That I was someone who lived in a completely different place, but had died in an accident a few months ago, and that I had suddenly woken up in Meliara’s body. After that, I had tried to sever my ties with the Darchez family to survive, but then I had suddenly become a saintess and subsequently had to return. And then shockingly meeting Meliara in the temple, and even the reason why she had to leave this body. Naturally, the part where this was a novel was also excluded.

It wasn’t a great story to hear. At first, Alion tried to argue that he had heard it all wrong, but it wasn’t very convincing. The biggest problem in the first place was that Alion also felt that I didn’t seem to act like how his younger sister used to before. 

“I just wanted to think that your personality had changed a little after encountering a big incident.” Alion let out a long sigh and rubbed his thin face. There seemed to be a darker shadow than before on his face. 

“You seem… to believe it easier than I thought you would.”

“Because I can’t help but believe it. Everything you do is different from my younger sister.”

You can even see those tiny differences…?

“I don’t know what you think of me, but… I’ve been watching over my younger sister for a longer time than you think.”

“…”

“Honestly, before you told me all of this… I had wondered if you were really my younger sister. I don’t know if this will sound arrogant, but…” He smiled bitterly. “Meliara, that child’s heart is quite weak, so if I had already pleaded with her this much, she probably would’ve already returned to the Duchy.”

Rather it was my determination that convinced him that I wasn’t actually Meliara.

“So my actual younger sister… is standing right here?” he asked, pointing to the seat next to me. He let out another deep sigh at the sight of me nodding my head.

“I’m sorry.” There wasn’t much I could really say about this situation. 

He turned his face that was filled with mixed emotions from the space where Meliara was to me and shook his head. “What exactly have you done wrong? You, too, only opened your eyes after your life was unfairly ended, and that place just ended up being here.”

Oh…? I hadn’t expected this. I had naturally thought that he’d blame me or get angry. But to my surprise, he simply calmly accepted the situation as it was. 

“And the fact that my younger sister… haa… my younger sister chose to give up on life was also my fault in the end.”

—Huh…? N-No. It’s not like that at all, Brother.

“She said that it isn’t though? It could never be.”

He gave me a slight smile when I told him what Meliara had said. “If it’s that kid, then that’s what she’d think. I can even imagine what sort of voice she had said that with.”

“…”

“But you know. That I’m too late.” Then, he put down the gift box he had shown me earlier. 

After examining Meliara’s face, I opened the box. There was a small hairpin in it. It was a cute and prim hairpin that suited Meliara’s timid personality perfectly. Although it was just a hairpin, it felt as if Alion was telling Meliara just how long he had been watching over her. 

“Just by seeing me only do what I should’ve done for you all along now, it’s obvious just how l…”

“It isn’t too late.” Perhaps it was because his voice was filled with so much pain. I uttered something that could’ve been too meddlesome. “At least you’re here now.”

I turned my head to look at Meliara. She looked at the hairpin with a heartbreaking expression on her face today as well, and raised her head to look at her older brother. 

“Your words, your actions, everything you do; she’s watching it all. Although she can’t come back… at least your feelings are being conveyed.”

Alion looked shocked at my words. As if he had never thought of it that way. He slowly began to breathe again after he caught his breath. But he inhaled deeply, as if he were trying to calm down his excitement. “Is there really… no way for us to meet?”

Oh, this is why I had tried to be cautious with my meddling. Hope was like a weed, so even if you only left a little, it would spread in an instant.

“Saintess. If you’re the saintess…”

“I can’t. If I knew how to do it, I would’ve done it already.”

“Whether it’s donating or anything, I’ll do it all. The official religion for the Duchy will also be changed to the Lunar religion. If I can just have five minutes… no, just one minute. Please, is there no way for us to talk face to face?”

“You know it’s not that sort of problem, Little Duke.”

“…”

This is why it’s harder to pluck out the hope that’s already spread. 

Alion bowed his distorted face. His clasped hands trembled. There was a silence where only his breathing could be heard, and then he rose from his seat.

“Pardon me.”

“Are you leaving now?”

At my question, rather than at me, he looked at the spot next to me. Gazing at the spot where nothing could be seen for a long while, he sighed with a complex look on his face. 

“I’ll take my leave.”

“Little Duke.” I called out to Alion, who was leaving after that greeting. As he was turning the doorknob, he turned his head.

“Although they’re invisible to the world, a lot of them are important.”

“…”

“Apart from the obvious love and hate, we can’t see the changes in scent, or the wind that changes the seasons either.”

“…”

“Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” I said this since I knew he hesitated because he couldn’t see Meliara. 

His gaze returned to where Meliara was once more. “I’ll be back.”

I smiled and nodded at the slightly different reply.

—Thank you.

Although Alion had left and Meliara had said that, I couldn’t do anything else but shake my head with an awkward smile on my face.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

I couldn’t sleep until late at night because of my turbulent feelings after meeting Alion. After tossing and turning for a while, I finally got up from the bed. 

I had wanted to go for a walk, but instead of going very far, I ended up only sitting by the window after I put on my robe. A cool autumn breeze blew in when I opened the window slightly.

‘Or should this be called the winter wind?’

Seeing that there were more leaves that had fallen than on the trees, it seemed that autumn was now coming to an end.

‘Seasons. Wind. And relationships…’

Relationships were so mysterious in the way that they would brush past like the passing wind, yet they would return like the returning seasons. A relationship that was thought to last forever could be cut off at some point and become irreversible, while there were also times where a relationship that seemed to amount to nothing would become a long lasting relationship. 

Although my relationship with Lecht was one that took a hundred years, it was a tenacious one that came full circle in the end. Olivia and I had an ill-fated relationship, but in the end, we were just brushing past and would never see each other again. In that sort of sense, the relationship between Alion and Meliara was even more complicated.

‘The relationship that I thought I was holding onto by myself was one where another person was holding onto as well…’

When he had started to pull on the string, she had already been in a state where she had let go of it already. But that didn’t mean she had left the string behind and disappeared forever either. Standing at the end of it, she was watching as the string was being pulled. But she couldn’t grab onto it. Then if that was the case, would she even be happy to see the string being pulled?

‘If it’s Meliara, then she would be satisfied with just that. But with the hope that the other party must be watching him, the one it would be hard on would be Alion, who has to pull on that string endlessly with that hope.’

Since he had given her such a hard time for so long, I wanted to tell him that he should be able to bear at least that much. But at the same time, I knew it wasn’t an easy time for him, so I couldn’t say that recklessly either. Two people who had just missed each other on their journey that I wondered how it could get so tangled. 

“How nice would it be if I could let you meet each other just once, even if it’s for a short while.”

I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes.

‘What’s the point of being a saintess? I can’t even do a miracle like that.’

[I can do it for you though.]

I suddenly opened my eyes widely at the voice that was ringing in my head.

“What? Who is it?”

There was no sign of anyone present, so whose voice was that? 

As I looked around in surprise, Kelber, who was by my feet, also looked up. All three of his heads tilted to one side, as if they were wondering what the problem was. 

“Did you… not hear that?”

[As expected, the power of the red moon is the best! Time and space can overlap even if it’s not a full moon.]

“I really heard it! What the hell!?”

I jumped up from my seat. Then, I soon discovered something strange.

“Kelber doesn’t have any reaction to it…?” All he did was jump up with a ‘kking?’ sound, tilting his head as if asking why I was so surprised. That meant he didn’t think there was a threat. 

However, what was even more flustering was that I didn’t know where I should look to find the source of the sound. At least when I first met Meliara, I was at least able to pinpoint where the sound of her sobbing came from. But the sound I heard now was ringing in my head instead of my ears. 

[But my daughter. Your reaction is just too cliche.]

A voice that was so vague, it seemed too ambiguous to be a male or female’s.

‘They just talked about the red moon… right?’

And referred to me as ‘their daughter’. Even talking about time and space overlapping. 

I naturally remembered what Lydia had said, “The saintess is the only child of god that has been appointed by god themselves.”

Don’t tell me…

“Lunar?”

[Yep! It’s been a while, daughter!]

There was only one word that filled my heart at this moment.

“…oh my god.”

* * *

I was made to suffer for a long time because of that word that came out of my mouth without going through my filter.

[To think that your first word to me is ‘oh my god’… Daughter of mine, that’s just too much…]

“Sorry.”

[If you hadn’t come to the temple, I would’ve just been waiting here this whole time since I can’t even go to meet you…]

“I said I’m sorry already…”

The whining was extremely different to the stern and elegant image of a ‘god’ I had imagined. 

“But think about it too, Lunar. Isn’t it just too absurd for a god to suddenly pop out of nowhere?” 

I had known about it since Lydia had said that the saintess was able to hear god’s voice. Nevertheless, she had clearly only said that I’d be able to hear it on a night with a full moon though?

“Besides, what’s with the timing of your appearance? Thankfully Kelber was by my side, otherwise I would’ve definitely screamed and collapsed.”

Anyone would panic if they suddenly heard a voice when they were alone in their room.

[Still, wouldn’t it be better than hearing my voice while you’re in front of other people?]

It was their own consideration toward me so as to not make me seem like a lunatic. I couldn’t say anything more about the upsetting voice. 

“Are you really Lunar?”

[You don’t believe me? Should I do a miracle?]

“The full moon is obviously tomorrow.”

[I have more energy since it’s the red moon tonight. That’s also why my energy reached you faster. This is all possible because you’re my most precious daughter.]

Listening to the proud voice, I imagined an elementary student who looked down on the world in the form of a god.

‘When Lydia said that Lunar was talkative, I hadn’t thought it’d be to this extent…’

[What? Lydia said that?]

“Heok! You can read my thoughts?”

[Of course I can. Didn’t I say that our time and space had overlapped?]

Although I didn’t really know what they meant by overlapping time and space, I still understood that I would need to be careful with my thoughts now. I couldn’t even gossip in my head. Why did I feel wronged somehow… 

I rearranged my dishevelled gown and swept a hand through my hair. 

“Right. Well, anyhow, the important thing is that we met. It’s nice to meet you, Lunar.”

[Welcome home, daughter.]

“So, about the miracle I was talking about earlier?”

[Yes, what do you want me to do? Lightning in a clear sky? Hail? Or maybe you want a landslide?]

No, why does a human… no, god, say something so scary with such an innocent voice?

“Not that, but what I said earlier about letting Alion and Meliara meet each other.”

[Oh, that one.]

The voice of the excited Lunar slowly subsided.

[As expected of my daughter, you’ve never asked for something easy. Just how difficult is it to connect the space between the living and the dead?] They grumbled, [I’d rather you just ask for a landslide.]

‘Is it that difficult? But I can see both of them and talk to them though?’

[That’s because you’re my daughter.]

‘So there’s no other way?’

[There’s a way. But it’s a rather awkward method.]

‘Tell me.’

Lunar explained it to me step by step. My face couldn’t help but darken when I heard the whole story. 

‘Haa… that’s definitely going to be difficult.’

[Well, miracles don’t happen easily after all.]

It was a concern that started with a long sigh. 

“Then…”

That night, I didn’t end up getting a wink of sleep due as I continued to chatter with Lunar.

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how do you guys feel abt the recent manhwa adaptation? there hasn’t been a good eng tl as of right now, but i’m not the greatest fan of the pacing and art style. somehow it feels like the expressions of the characters i imagined while reading the novel just aren’t being conveyed properly, plus the pacing is super fast it just feels too rushed. i feel like they somehow completely comediefied meliara; all the times you get to see her empathy working in the novel are just completely lost in the manhwa. the art style is pretty, but i just can’t grasp the emotions the characters are meant to have, so it just feels somewhat two dimensional.

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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“No, Ara, your skin is too bright so this colour won’t suit you.”

“Anything looks good on Ara.”

“That’s a given. I’m just choosing a colour that will look especially pretty from among them.”

Linden and Lecht were bickering, yet sitting side by side as they continued to pick out my clothes. They were in the middle of choosing the clothes that I would wear to the proclamation ceremony of the saintess which would be held the day after tomorrow. Although I was perfectly capable of choosing it myself, they had come and done it for me.

“Aren’t both of you busy? Your own work must have been delayed while you were dealing with this issue.”

“No, not at all.”

“One way to have more time is if you have a competent subordinate.”

They really got along well at times like this though. 

I shook my head and stood the two of them up. “Well, I’m busy so no. I’m saying that I can’t prepare properly for the proclamation ceremony.”

When I pushed them out with my hands on their backs, Lecht let himself be pushed out unwillingly while Linden turned back and complained. “So I’ll help you. What do you need?”

“I need time to myself.”

“Apart from that…”

“It’s all stuff I can do by myself, so go.”

Only me and the maids remained in the room after I had successfully kicked them out.

‘Come to think of it now, I can’t see where Meliara went.’

She had been waiting for us when we came back from the imperial palace. When I told her about everything that had transpired, she had burst into tears and had gone to slowly shed her sorrowful feelings. 

But after that, she was nowhere to be found. I had even gone to the area that had been specially set up for her, but she wasn’t there. She wasn’t next to the teddy bear either. I had briefly wondered if she had simply just left like this, but that shouldn’t be the case. 

‘Maybe she just wants to be alone right now.’

I mean, she had suffered because of Olivia for so long, and now all of that had been resolved.

“Even my thoughts are getting complicated for no reason.”

“Woof!”

“Mm, alright. Stop thinking about bad things.” I smiled at Kelber, who was acting cute to cheer me up. “You seem to be acting cuter since noona hasn’t played with you in a while, huh?”

Kelber had remained in the temple throughout the whole duration of the case since we constantly had to move here and there. He had continued to whine so we would take him as well, but there was no way I would be able to take him to infiltrate the villa or when we went to the imperial palace, so he ended up staying here for a long time. 

Maybe that’s why it felt like I hadn’t seen him for a long time.

“I’ll play with you a lot after the proclamation ceremony is over.”

“Woof!”

I was patting his three heads and giving him a heap of affection when I heard a knock at the door. 

“Yes, come in.”

Don’t tell me the maids are bringing in even more clothes? There were already so many for me to try on though. I turned my head in half worry and excitement.

What opened the door and came in was even better than what I expected.

“Why did you come in again? Go and do your work.”

“The Grand Duchy is too far away.”

Can even that be considered an excuse? Nevertheless, I still let out a small smile at his cuteness. 

“If you really do want to be left alone, then I’ll leave.”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

The truth was that I just couldn’t stand watching Linden and Lecht bickering all the time. I would’ve normally just laughed and brushed it off in the past, but now that my feelings were set in stone, I couldn’t just stand and watch that happen. 

Having said that, although I had never had a proper conversation like that with Linden, I just put an end to it by apologising and kicking both of them out instead. But how did Lecht notice that point and come back again like this?

Although it was rather unexpected, in any case, Lecht seemed to be particularly sensitive to the changes in my emotions. Since that much could be interpreted to mean that he was always watching me, my heart started to flutter at that thought.

“I’ll come back after changing into my next outfit, so do you just want to wait here?”

He grabbed my wrist that was outstretched and pointed to the sofa as I was talking. He then took something out of his inner pocket and tied it around my wrist. At the cold touch, it didn’t take very long for me to figure out what it was.

“What’s with the sudden bracelet…?”

“…”

“Oh, is it like the bouquet? Did I tell you that it was fine for you to give me a gift no matter when it was as well?”

The person I was a hundred years ago was someone who would’ve said something like that. 

As I asked with a smile, Lecht smiled as well, as if he had the same thought as me. “Those words are true too, but this is…” Holding my small hand preciously between his two large hands, he swept the tip of his thumb over the bracelet. “It was something I had to give you someday.”

“…Don’t tell me, you waited 100 years to do this?”

Instead of answering my question, Lecht smiled awkwardly. That itself was more than enough as an answer.

“It’s exactly my style.” 

Looking at the bracelet, I had the thought that the saintess from a hundred years ago really was me. We had similar taste in men, and our preferences regarding this were similar too. Even our habits and the way we talked were similar as well according to Lecht.

“It’s because I made it by copying a bracelet you liked.”

“Oh… what? You made it?”

“I wanted to give you something as well when you came back, just like how you left me with a piece of your soul back then.”

“Just Lecht’s heart is more than enough…” 

The fact that he never stopped loving me through a hundred years was more than enough. Nevertheless, saying it with my own mouth was a bit more embarrassing than I thought it would be. Although I had shut up rather quickly, Lecht, who had already heard it, stroked my cheek with the back of his finger again with a tender expression on his face. 

“Yes, if it’s you, then you would say that just giving you a rock that’s on the side of the road would be enough for you.”

“No, how could we possibly compare your heart to a rock on the side of the road?”

“But I’m not good enough.”

“…”

“No matter how much I give you, it will always be lacking; it won’t be enough.”

Wow… he’s seriously coming in with his blinkers on¹…

“The rose shines when you get closer to it.”

“Is this like that as well?” 

It’s not shining though…?

“A summon.”

“What?”

“It’s a device that can summon me, anytime, and anywhere.”

“!”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t help but be shocked. How could I not be shocked when he put a device on my wrist that was capable of summoning the demon king?

“In any case, this is a bit…”

“It’s disposable.” Lecht added quickly.

Did he make it a one use item since he knew I would feel burdened otherwise? I laughed at how cute he had been when he had quickly added that it was disposable lest I refuse it.

“What is this? Are you giving this to me so that I can call you when I need you because you’re not thinking of staying by my side anymore?”

“…!” Although I had only been joking, Lecht seemed to be extremely flustered. “It isn’t like that. It isn’t that, rather, I made it like that since there was no other way for me to show you that I’m now bound to you.”

Wow, this was the first time I had seen Lecht speak so fast.

“I have no intention of leaving you.”

I could see just how frantic Lecht was by the way he cupped my cheeks so that my eyes were fixed on his while he talked. “Just like in the case where Frody approached you as soon as I left you, if that ever happens again and something happens to you when I’m not there, I would never forgive myself for it. That’s why I did it.”

“I know.”

At his appearance of continuing to explain desperately to the point where it was pitiful, I tried to calm him down. Even the remaining mischievous feelings I had of wanting to see more of that adorable appearance had all but disappeared now.

“You’ll stick right by my side, I know.” And the words I had wanted to say last time, but couldn’t. I carefully brought out the feelings of my heart that I wanted to show him. “I believe Lecht, since you’re a man who keeps his promises no matter what. That’s why you’re reliable, and cool, and…”

I couldn’t find the words to say when he just continued to stare at me with my face in his hands. My throat felt itchy, but the words wouldn’t come out. My heart felt like it was flipping upside down, my cheeks in his hands felt burning hot, and his gaze that was on me made me feel even more embarrassed. At this rate, it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to say what I wanted to say.

So I stepped forward. He hadn’t used a lot of force to hold me, so I easily escaped his grasp. And then I plunged straight into his arms. 

It was a rather funny issue. It was embarrassing for me to just look into his eyes, but I was used to hugging him like this. I gently embraced the arms that felt safer than anywhere else in this world. 

“That’s why I like you.”

Badump, badump, badump, badump.

Was this heartbeat that was sounding in my ears my own or Lecht’s? It was probably both of ours, but frankly, it didn’t matter anyway. 

I buried my red face into the nape of his neck. His refreshing scent, which had now become my favourite fragrance, gently tickled the tip of my nose.

“Ara.”

“I won’t say it again!”

How could I possibly confess my feelings twice when I’m already feeling embarrassed? I grumbled as I tightened my arms around him for no reason. 

Soon after, I heard a small laugh in my ear as he wrapped his arms around me. He hugged me tighter in his large embrace.

“Just once is enough.”

His sweet voice stirred up my eardrums. Our conversation ended there, but the warm hug and our loud heartbeats continued.

It was when I thought I would fall into a honey pot just like this.

—A-Ara! What should we do, outside…! Heok!

Meliara shouted as she urgently appeared after floating through a wall. Then, she turned around in surprise when she discovered Lecht and I. Shocked, I quickly moved away from Lecht, while Lecht looked at me with wide eyes, shocked from my actions.

“Ara?”

“Oh, the thing is… Meliara appeared…” I whispered softly, pointing to where Meliara was standing. 

“Oh.” Lecht also nodded lightly, as if he now understood why I had pushed him away. 

“Ahem, so why did you come and find me?”

—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt…

My face was scarlet red from the fact that I had wholeheartedly hugged Lecht as well as the obvious embarrassment that was visible on the face of Meliara, who had witnessed it all.

“E-Enough about that…! What’s outside?”

A knock sounded before Meliara could answer my question. In any case, I flinched momentarily, perhaps because I had heard Meliara’s urgent voice talking about something ‘outside…’.

“Saintess, a visitor has arrived.” A maid spoke from outside.

“A visitor?”

Judging by the reaction of Meliara, who was shocked and covered her mouth with one hand, I could guess that the reason why she had barged in so urgently was because of that visitor…

“Yes, the Little Duke, Alion Darchez is outside.”

“Oh…”

I was able to understand why Meliara had been in such a fluster at the name of that person. 

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

The only ones who were left in the drawing room were Alion and I. At my feet was the napping Kelber, stuck to me like a piece of gum. Of course, Meliara was there as well, but she was invisible to Alion, so from his point of view, there were only the two of us here. 

A long bout of awkward silence passed.

“I’ve just come back from the imperial palace.” He opened his mouth first. “They said that they would compensate for the damage that the Darchez Duchy has suffered during this time.” 

“…”

“I told them that I’d rather they reward you instead, since you were the one who suffered more damage than the Duchy.”

“His Majesty already told me that he would give me a separate compensation.”

“Yes, that’s what His Majesty said to me as well.” Alion smiled bitterly. Sighing silently, he bowed his head. “Now there’s no excuse I can use for me to ask you to come back.”

“…Aren’t you going to say anything about me sneaking out the messenger and all the other witnesses?”

“What right do I have to talk about that? It’s a villa that belongs to the Darchez Duchy so you can easily go in and out of it if you want, plus giving you the witnesses if you wanted them would be the right thing to do in the first place.”

Alion raised his head heavily and stared at me. I couldn’t hold up to his gaze and turned away. Although all he saw was his younger sister, the emotion behind that gaze was too heavy for me to bear, since I wasn’t actually his younger sister. 

“Melia…”

“Little Duke.” I took the initiative to interrupt him before he could say anymore. “I’m not your younger sister.”

“Meliara, please.”

“I’m not saying this because of the bad feelings that piled up from your past deeds.”

“…”

“It’s just an irrefutable fact.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say the part where an outsider had taken over and currently occupied his younger sister’s body. Although Meliara was able to accept this fact since she was a child who already had no lingering feelings for life in the first place, him being able to accept it was something that was beyond my knowledge.

However, I still thought it would be wrong of me to pretend to be his younger sister. No matter how much he looked for her, he wouldn’t be able to meet Meliara, and I wasn’t her either. So I should just cut it off cleanly right here. 

“I can’t go back to your side.”

His face distorted immediately as he bowed his head, as if trying to hide it. A faint sigh echoed throughout the drawing room. 

He slowly raised his head again, an expression of resignation on his face. “I’m going to oust my father and become the duke.”

He had even used the term, ‘oust’. That in itself was quite symbolic. I could see just how resolute he was in that decision, just from that alone.

“So… if you decide that you want to come back at any time, the Duchy’s doors will always be open to you.” After leaving those words behind, he rose from his seat. 

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything until he had left the room.

“Haa…”

After Alion had disappeared, only Meliara and I remained in the room. 

“I’m sorry. At any rate, he’s still your older brother, but I so heartlessly… but it’s because I really can’t be like you.”

—No. This is for the best. I think this is better. I think he’d have a harder time if he found out that I couldn’t stand it and gave up on my life in the end. 

“You’ve lived your whole life being misunderstood like that, and you’re still able to forgive your older brother?”

—…I guess so.

“You’re too nice.” I let out a sigh. “Should I tell him to come to the temple when I’m not here? That way, even if he can’t see you, you’ll at least be able to see him often.”

—He’s a busy person. How could he do that?

“You’re even worrying over others now as well. You can be selfish sometimes as well. Even after living your whole life in suffering, you…”

—Because I don’t know what’s going to happen next either.

I was lost for words when Meliara looked down at her own hand. No, why are you suddenly rushing in with the facts… it really makes people speechless. 

But what really happened next actually made me speechless.

“What… were you talking about just now?” The voice of the man who was supposed to have just left sounded from the door. 

Shocked, our heads turned around at the same time to find Alion still standing there. 

“L-Little Duke? You haven’t left yet…?”

“I forgot to give this to you… but what were you just talking about?”

He had a small gift box in his hands. Was he trying to give me all the gifts he hadn’t been able to give me so far? But that was beside the point.

“Who are you talking to?”

“That’s…”

“No.”

“…”

“Who are you?”

Oh… we’re in big trouble.

[1] coming across really straightforwardly and headstrong

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my heart truly breaks for og meliara and alion </3 simply two children from a broken family that weren’t taught how to communicate or love

also one of my fav songs to listen to for this chapter is lily of the valley by daniel! i’ve been listening to the slowed and reverbed version and it’s absolute perfection fHGSDFLK i’ll link it down below here!

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Tanma paused at Ara’s words. “In any case, it should be fine since you’re the saintess, but… you might receive some backlash too.”

“Because it’s also considered to be forceful?”

“No. They should be used to obeying the strong.” 

In other words, Ara was a ‘child of god’, so none of the demons would be able to go against her. The only position that could be compared to hers would be the demon king, who also used the power of god.

“It’s just that since Miss has been with His Majesty the whole time, others may speculate that you acted on his behalf.”

“So they’re going to make an issue out of it since I still haven’t gone to the demon realm and greeted the council of nobility there yet.”

“Yes. They would be quite full of complaints.”

“I was thinking of going after the proclamation ceremony as soon as this situation has been cleared up though…” It was completely beyond her as well since her return was delayed for too long. Tapping her chin and mulling it over, she suddenly opened her mouth again. “What if I had justification to do so?”

“Justification?”

“A justification for me to break the contract.”

Tanma was silent for a moment. “Do you have anything in mind?” 

Ara’s eyes lit up. 

“No matter how many times I think over it, there’s simply no reason for Olivia to touch the Grand Duchy. And at the same time when she’s dealing with the capital as well.” 

If she was going to do it, then she would’ve done it at a time when she could’ve gone there herself to exert her own power and influence. There was absolutely nothing for her to gain by going now.

“Are you saying that it’s an independent move made by Frody?”

“It could be.” Ara kept the smile on her face as she said those words. “And even if the contract is with a human, the fact that he hurt one of his own kind? They won’t be able to let this go easily.”

“That’s for sure… but these are the demons who often engage in territorial wars of their own anyway.”

“No, this isn’t a dispute between demons, rather it’s ‘accepting a human’s request’.” Ara took the demons’ own pride and the fact that they wouldn’t be able to accept that into consideration. “Whether it was his own independent act or an order from Olivia, wouldn’t that be enough for us to forcibly break the contract and summon Frody back to the demon realm?”

At her voice that seemed to even be somewhat playful, Tanma smiled. “I’ll return to the Palace of the Demon King and definitely make that the justification.” Ara’s smile deepened at Tanma’s resolute response to her.

“But did you find a way to break the contract?” It wasn’t that he meant to look down on her, but he just truthfully didn’t think that Ara would be able to pressure him like Lecht. 

That was when Ara opened the book she was holding and showed it to him. “Although the contract is forbidden magic, books written about the contract aren’t.”

It was a book about summoning demons and signing a contract with them. You could see how old it was just from seeing the paper, which was dry and crumbling. 

“If you know your enemy and yourself, you can fight a hundred battles and win.”

The page she had flipped to detailed the importance of the ‘summoning medium’ that was used to make the contract.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Thanks to Tanma, who had returned from the Palace of the Demon King after making sure that it was a probable cause to do so, I was able to forcibly break Olivia’s contract immediately thereafter. 

“Miss Olivia, would you be able to give us an explanation? Why would a demon come out of your necklace?”

Being able to guess that the medium for the contract was the necklace was all thanks to Meliara as well.

—If it’s something she carries all the time, then… a necklace. It’s probably that necklace.

“How do you know?”

—The Saintess Olivia that I know has always insisted on wearing accessories and clothes that are of the latest trend. But she hasn’t changed that necklace ever since the day I first met her. And it’s just my gut feeling, but… it never seemed to match Olivia’s preferences.

“Then if that’s definitely the case…”

That was how we put all pieces of the puzzle together, and how the situation right now came to be.

“I-I don’t know! I said I don’t know!” Olivia continued to deny everything I said.

As she continued to deny it, I had no choice but to open the book I had brought and place it in front of the emperor. “The necklace just now was the medium Olivia used to make the contract with the demon. By breaking it, the contract is forcibly terminated.”

Although the emperor seemed to be shocked at the sudden appearance of a demon, he quickly regained his calm composure. He took a quick look at the book I showed him.

“No, Your Majesty. She’s trying to frame me! You must have done something to the necklace!”

“How could I possibly tamper with a necklace that you’re always wearing?”

“Right now! You’re clearly snatching the necklace right now!”

Olivia shouted urgently, but I simply continued to speak at a leisurely pace to the high priest. “Please go and confirm it. There shouldn’t be any of that vast ‘power’ you felt in her previously anymore.”

“G-Get away from me!” Olivia screamed and clung onto Ziken as the high priest began to move towards her at my words. However, the emperor’s knights had also moved at the emperor’s command.

“Your Highness, you also know that they’re setting me up right now! Your Highness, please help me!”

“Li-Livi…” Ziken was unable to do anything for his screaming lover. Since they were the emperor’s very own knights. 

Olivia, who had been pretty much pushed into the hands of the high priest, kicked up a fuss trying to escape his grasp, but it was no use.

“Heok! Th-There’s really none left…!” The high priest of the Solar Religion stumbled backwards in shock. 

You came here already knowing that she wasn’t the real saintess, so what are you acting so surprised for? 

Although I felt rather apathetic toward it, I looked at the emperor after receiving a small nod. “I beg Your Majesty. On the fact that she summoned a demon with the forbidden magic and used the power she contracted as a sacred power to deceive others. On the fact that she pretended to be a saintess with her false power, tarnished the Solar religion’s name, and deceived all the nobles in the empire, including you, Your Majesty.”

“No… No!”

“On the fact that she couldn’t stop there, and unleashed a poison that originated from the demon realm against the citizens who loved her, causing countless people to fade away with the disease, driving them to death—I accuse her. As a result of her actions, half the capital was immobilised, causing both direct and indirect damage to many people.”

“Shut up! I said it’s not me!”

“And, furthermore… on the point that she framed me, Meliara Darchez, numerous times in order to obtain the position beside the crown prince, who was originally my fiance.” 

I listed off all of her false accusations against me thoroughly. From the fact that I was accused of stealing something all the way to the fact where she had tried to shift the blame for the epidemic onto me.

“I carried the prejudice of having attempted to poison people, the reputation of the Darchez Duchy was seriously damaged, and even an imperial marriage was broken.”

“…”

“I desperately beg of you to mete out punishment for all of these malicious deeds.” I placed my hand slightly above my heart and bowed my head. 

Although Olivia was still screaming, everyone else was now looking at me silently. Olivia, who had been shouting that it wasn’t her for a while now, gradually became quieter in the silence. Bent at the waist, I remained unmoving.

“To think that the damage caused by the lies of a single person would escalate to the extent of it being a national tragedy. How pathetic.” Letting out a long sigh, the emperor pressed his fingertips to his forehead and tried to speak calmly. 

But I could see the fury that filled his eyes. It was a fury that was directed at the fact that one person could fool the entire empire, including himself, the emperor. 

“Drag the ‘fake’ saintess, Olivia away.”

“Your Majesty, I’m not the one at fault! It’s not me!”

“We can investigate that little by little. Just how far you truly went with your little ploy.” The emperor looked at Olivia with a cold look in his eyes. The time where people thought she was the Solar religion’s saintess was over. All that love had now been returned as betrayal and anger. “I will investigate this down to the very detail of it all.”

Was it that difficult for him to make his ruling right now, even with how clear the evidence is right now?

Feeling a bit disappointed, I nodded slightly, but the emperor said something I hadn’t expected at all. “It isn’t to determine if that person is guilty or not. In any case, she’ll receive the death penalty for pretending to be a saintess with the help of forbidden magic.”

I didn’t hide my confusion at his words that were directed toward me. “Then why investigate…”

“It’s to make sure that those who were affected by the culprit are adequately compensated.”

“Oh…”

It was a promise to expel all the false accusations from Meliara Darchez, the original owner of this body. In addition to the other victims such as the messenger and the temple maid, who were standing behind me right now. 

‘How reliable.’

I was able to laugh carefreely for the first time since this situation erupted. “Thank you.” And bowed my head.

“No! Argh!!”

I turned my head toward the still noisy Olivia. As she was being dragged away, Olivia’s eyes met mine. All I did was just stare at her, yet her face turned red as she looked at me. “You’re looking down on me again, aren’t you?! Again! Ahhhhhh!”

With her current appearance, no one would be able to associate her with the word ‘saintess’.

* * *

The ‘fake’ saintess incident that had erupted out of nowhere had caused the emperor to be quite busy. We vacated the place at his words that expressed he was sorry, but we should catch up casually over tea another time. The high priest of the Solar religion also went back in a hurry since it was necessary for him to sort out the temple. 

And Frody, of course, had resumed his humanised state at the command of Lecht. 

“I didn’t expect that you’d break it, Saintess. That’s a violation of the regulations though.” Frody said with a smile.

“What violation.” I didn’t pay any attention to him. I looked back at Tanma, ignoring him.

“In any case, it seems like it all fortunately went quite well, huh?”

“Because rather than the disciplinary action, everyone just wants to see the saintess as soon as possible instead.” 

Tanma told me about what had transpired when he returned to the demon realm.

*

At an emergency council meeting in the demon realm that was held at the request of Tanma.

“I thought the saintess would be coming since he said it was an emergency, but even His Majesty hasn’t arrived yet?”

“Just what the hell is taking them so long?! Isn’t he stopping us deliberately? I’m telling you, he’s taking advantage of the fact that we can’t cross over into the human realm without his permission first!”

The nobles who had gathered as a council after a long time were busy placing bets. 

A few months ago, the story of the saintess appearing started to circulate throughout the demon realm. It was only natural, since Muso had spread rumours all over the place, saying that he had become the exclusive servant of the saintess.

Ever since then, all of them had put in a request to be granted an audience with the saintess, but Tanma continued to block them by saying that the saintess still had issues that she had to resolve in the human realm.

The nobles, who had brushed over it at first, started to complain when it lasted for several months. 

“I’m saying, why the hell would the proclamation ceremony be held in the human realm first? Isn’t Lunar the demon realm’s god in the first place?”

“The Lunar religion wouldn’t have spread all the way to the human realm if His Majesty hadn’t stayed in the human realm in the first place.”

No matter how much they thought about it, it felt like their demon king was trying to hog the saintess to himself by using one excuse or another. 

“The proclamation ceremony in the human realm was the saintess’ choice.”

“…”

After silencing them with words they couldn’t refute first, Tanma said, “But even that is being delayed.”

“Why is that?”

“I knew it, he’s obviously doing this on purpose…”

“It’s because of Sir Frody’s interference.” 

The conference room suddenly became quiet once Frody’s name was brought up. A chilling tension hung in the air.

“Everyone is aware that he signed a contract with a human, right?”

“Is that the problem? Even if we know, the regulations…”

“Yes, the contract is fine. However, he used it as an excuse to hurt His Majesty’s people.”

“…”

“The bigger problem at hand is that their return to the demon realm is being delayed since the saintess is currently handling it. Because of what Frody did under the pretext of the contract.”

“Ahem, ahem…!”

All of them showed an unpleasant expression, just like he expected. 

Making sure that all of their arrows were being pointed at Frody, Tanma said, “So the saintess is going to forcibly terminate the contract.”

“…!”

“So that she can come to the demon realm as soon as possible. Oh, and there will be a grand welcoming ceremony that will be held when she comes.”

All of them shut their mouths. Disciplinary action or whatever aside, their biggest wish was for the saintess to come back as soon as possible. 

“Is there anyone who opposes this?”

Although Tanma’s smile seemed extremely hateful in their eyes, no one dared to raise their hand.

“Then I’ll let the saintess know your exact words. I’ll see you all again with the saintess.”

That was how the emergency meeting ended.

*

“Things went well thanks to Tanma’s efforts.”

“It’s my honour for me to be of help to you.”

“Gosh, I really should rush to the demon realm as soon as the proclamation is finished. I didn’t know everyone had been waiting for me like that.”

Although Muso had always told me, maybe I hadn’t been able to believe him wholeheartedly since it was him who was telling me…

“When you return, come and see me too–”

“Tanma.”

“Yes, understood, Your Majesty.”

Frody tried to take advantage of the gap in conversation to call out to me, but Lecht and Tanma immediately cut him off. 

“Regardless, I made a huge meritorious contribution this time…”

“Shouldn’t you think about what you’ve done so far?” I turned around after spitting out a harsh remark to Frody.

Although my work wasn’t completely finished yet, now that the emperor was moving too, all I really had to do was wait. I was rather pleased that I was able to make it to the deadline of the proclamation ceremony by a narrow margin.

“Then, let’s go and prepare for the proclamation ceremony! We only have two days left!”

It had been a long time since I had last been able to laugh carefreely without my feet feeling heavy.

*

However, another stumbling block came to find me sooner than I expected.

“Meliara. Can I talk to you for a bit?”

It was Alion Darchez.

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i have a sneaking suspicion that this won’t be the last time we see our fake saintess,,,

also why does it feel like meliara’s fan club just seems to grow larger and larger with every passing chapter (ofc the priest trio and muso are the presidents of said fan club GSDFLKDFJ)

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

t/n
just a disclaimer since i know there will be quite a few more readers due to the recent manhwa adaptation: i’m not in any way a native speaker. i’m just someone who has somewhat of a grasp on korean grammar structures so this is technically all just edited mtl aided with the little knowledge i have of korean, so this is in no way a perfect translation!

just something to put out there in case this does get an official adaptation from naver (highly likely with webtoons) and so you don’t start comparing my tl with the official one HGLSDKJDFJDFS

i substitute a few words here and there and paraphrase as well to fit the novel format better as well so pls bear with me QAQ

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I shook my head and drank my tea at the sight of Ziken dragging it out without being able to lower his head to us. 

Upon the gradual reddening of the crown prince’s face, the emperor clicked his tongue as if he could read what he was thinking and said, “I’ve explained many times before that there’s a difference between maintaining your authority and inflating your own pride.”

It was obvious why he was criticising the crown prince so openly in front of us. It was a request to pressure us by saying, ‘I know my son did something wrong as well so look, I’ll scold him in front of you’. Well, I didn’t intend to receive an apology from the crown prince in this sort of situation anyway, so I didn’t bother to nitpick anything.

“And you, Saintess Olivia.” 

The shoulders of the crying Olivia who was still at the emperor’s feet flinched momentarily. 

“I cherished you quite a lot, Saintess…” 

The emperor’s gaze swung toward the High Priest of the Solar religion. Since the two of them never really got along in the beginning. 

“It’s quite troublesome that your naivety has ultimately caused you to be unable to distinguish which line you shouldn’t cross.” Those words were meant as a reproach to the Saintess, but his eyes were staring directly at the high priest. In other words, it meant, ‘Shouldn’t the Solar religion teach at least these basics to the Saintess?’

Obviously, the high priest wasn’t going to just take that sort of remark lying down. “Your Majesty, that woman is doing that sort of thing on purpose!” 

In any case, this was the high priest who had abandoned Olivia and suffered a severe defeat before coming here. But for the Solar religion to be cursed and humiliated because of her? Of course he couldn’t stand it. “All the rumours circulating the capital are true!”

“High Priest, what exactly are you saying?”

“That woman isn’t the saintess! She’s fake!” 

I was almost certain that his voice was so loud it not only filled the drawing room, but also the corridor outside. 

“W-What are you saying?! Your Majesty, he’s trying to frame me!”

“Stop trying to trick everyone! You used the crown prince as a shield to stop me from coming to the imperial palace and exposing the truth about you!”

“Only because you’ll make up lies like this…!”

The two of them began to fight. 

“Then what did you do to cure a disease that can’t be cured by the divine power of the Solar religion? It’s poison, and our divine power clearly can’t neutralise poison!”

“I-It was a delusion! Those people all deluded themselves into thinking they got better! You can seek them out again and find out for yourself. None of them are fully healed yet…!”

“Do you think I don’t know that you just tried to find them and poison them again?!”

“Silence, both of you!”

Wow. It’s a complete mess. The situation began to worsen on its own so much that I rather regretted that I didn’t have popcorn here with me. I lifted my teacup as I listened to all the audacious and horrendous past deeds of her being exposed. 

As I sipped the sweetly bitter black tea, the emperor said to me, “Princess, didn’t you say that you knew who the real culprit was earlier?”

“Pfft.” Suddenly being thrust into the situation, the black tea I had been drinking was caught in the crossfire. “Cough! Cough!”

“Ara!” Linden took out his handkerchief in surprise, but I already had Lecht’s in my hand.

As I covered my mouth and choked, Lecht patted me gently on the back.

“My apologies.”

“No, I apologise instead.” The emperor cast a glance at Olivia, who was the main culprit of this chaotic commotion, and her ‘lover’ and his son, and sighed quietly. “Go ahead and finish what you said earlier. About knowing who the real culprit is.”

Olivia opened her sharp eyes and glared at me. The high priest had a triumphant expression on his face that seemed to urge me to speak quickly, while Ziken still seemed to be pent up with annoyance. 

Although it was a little burdensome for me to receive this much attention… I calmly wiped the corners of my mouth with the handkerchief and opened my mouth. “I don’t know much regarding the forbidden magic and the demon.”

At my words, Olivia’s eyes widened while the high priest seemed a bit flustered. 

“What I was going to tell you was the truth behind who framed me.”

“Oh.” The emperor looked unsatisfied, perhaps because I was talking about something that was unrelated to this case. 

Nevertheless, I went on calmly. “You remember what I told you earlier about the characteristics of the person who spread malicious rumours about me, right?”

“Yes, I remember.” The emperor’s expression eased when I started talking about the demon that had been mentioned earlier. 

“He also makes an appearance in every instance where I’ve been framed.” At the emperor’s nod to continue, I asked the maid to call in the people who were being protected by the knights outside. 

“Wait, that child is…” The high priest of the Solar religion also recognised one of the people among them. But I placed my index finger on my lips as a gesture to remain silent.

Among those who entered the room timidly, the messenger boy bowed first. “Greeting the Empire’s Sun. My name is Ross, and I worked as a messenger boy for the Darchez Duchy until a few months ago.”

“He’s the one who was in charge of delivering the tea leaves I gifted to Saintess Olivia,” I added onto his self-introduction. 

At my nod, he began to speak in a trembling voice. “The rain was especially heavy that day, so I remember it quite clearly. Miss told me to wait in the room while she prepared the present. So I saw her choose the gift and package it herself…”

The fact that the maids hadn’t done it and she had to do it herself would be both refreshing, yet heartbreaking. Though I didn’t know if this would help very much.

“For the Saintess, miss…” The messenger glanced at Olivia and said, “Gifted peppermint tea to her.”

“What…?” Although it was obvious, Olivia’s eyes grew round at the words that she had heard for the first time. “T-That can’t be! What I received was chamomile tea!”

“I think it’s strange too. I clearly saw Miss packing peppermint tea and personally delivered it myself, yet why did it suddenly become chamomile tea when it came into the hands of the saintess…”

“Are you saying I’m lying?! No, you must have switched them! Yes, so you poisoned…!

“The person I delivered the tea to at the time had the same appearance as the person who spread the rumours!” The messenger hurriedly added as soon as the arrow of criticism seemed to be directed at him. 

At the silence of the people who were drenched in shock, I continued to speak, “The person standing next to him is a maid who once belonged to the Solar religion. After seeing the saintess vomit blood and fainting, she apparently quit her job due to the shock from the traumatic incident.”

“That’s…” The maid’s eyes flitted apprehensively toward Olivia and the high priest. 

However, at my slight smile when our eyes met, she clenched her fist and started to speak. “This isn’t the man who said he was a messenger from the Darchez Duchy and whom I received the tea leaves from.” She said, pointing to the messenger beside her. “It wasn’t this man, rather… he had the same appearance as the man in the rumours.”

At her words, it was silent this time. It was heavy.

“They were switched…” At the emperor’s murmur, I could see Olivia’s eyes darting here and there. 

I said what I had to say before she could say anything else. “There are more incidents like that. Shall we continue?” I said, pointing to the people who were standing further away. 

The emperor waved his hand. Since he was able to tell that even if he kept listening, the results would most likely be the same. “So that person is definitely the culprit.”

“Yes. As I’ve said earlier, we presume that he belongs to the demon clan.”

“Hmm.” A groan leaked out of the emperor as he glanced at Olivia and Ziken.

“Your Majesty, the demon is the one at fault, so Livi is innocent…”

“What a peculiar situation. I, the Princess, and the people present right now, were all just talking about how the demon was involved in so many of these situations, and that we had to find the contractor of the demon in this empire, yet…”

“…”

“I wonder why the crown prince and saintess suddenly appeared saying ‘The saintess isn’t the contractor’.” Since there had never been mention of a saintess throughout our entire conversation.

When Olivia’s shoulders flinched violently while Ziken was stunned speechless, I discovered that Tanma had opened the door gently and entered the room. He seemed to have finished the task I had asked him to complete. When our eyes met, he gave me a cold smile and nodded. I signalled with my eyes and made Lecht and Linden aware of his presence as well.

Receiving my signal, Linden opened his mouth immediately. “This is hurting my conscience.” The usual tender softness to his voice was gone, and was replaced by a clear and cold voice.

“Linden, just what are you talking about…!”

Ignoring Ziken’s outburst, Linden asked Olivia, “Olivia, why did you go to Zabotsa village, the village where the epidemic broke out a few months ago? And in secret from the temple as well?”

“…!”

“Turns out you arrived just one day before the epidemic broke out. And on top of that… you had company with you as well.”

Olivia’s face gradually began to pale. I started to slowly get up from my seat.

“I-I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“The man’s appearance was extremely… peculiar at that time, so I noted it down.” Linden said as he tapped the paper in front of him. 

In the meantime, I walked slowly around the table. Lecht followed after me quietly. 

“Skin as white as snow. Hair down to his neck that was mysteriously both black and white… Eyes like the winter sky…”

“I don’t know such a man!!!”

At Olivia’s shrill cry, I asked, “You really don’t know?”

Distracted by Linden’s words, Olivia, who didn’t know that I was now behind her, almost collapsed in shock. 

“Princess, just what are you doing right now…!” 

Ziken tried to grab me, but Lecht blocked his path. The emperor sat quietly on the sidelines watching.

“I asked if you really don’t know.” Looking down at Olivia, I bent slightly at the waist and asked Olivia once again.

“I-I don’t know! I don’t know that man!”

“Then what’s this?” I yanked at a necklace that was hanging from the neck of her, who was screaming.

“Ah…!” 

She tried to reach for me in a hurry, but… crack. The necklace had already been thrown to the floor and shattered under the heel of my shoe. 

“No!”

At Olivia’s devastated voice, a dark blue energy burst from her necklace. Then immediately with a puff, a wind burst in as the whole room was filled with the scent of gold osmanthus. 

“Gosh, seriously. What did your ‘fake’ saintess do like an amateur this time? Didn’t I say that our contract would be broken if this shattered?”

A man appeared in the black whirlwind. He had the same appearance as the ‘man from the rumours’ that had been mentioned over and over again today. And with the additional horns on his head, he was that very problematic demon we had been talking about.

“Oh? You aren’t by yourself today? You only ever call for me when you’re alone though.” Frody swept a glance through the crowd of people gathered and raised the corners of his mouth. “Damn, judging by the atmosphere, this is just like …”

He crinkled his eyes into crescent moons and laughed, as if he enjoyed this chilly atmosphere. He crossed his arms prettily and poked the tip of his finger into his cheek with a hehe and whispered perversely, “My Saintess, seems like they found out you were fake, huh?”

Bingo. This time, it was my turn to raise the corners of my mouth.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

A few days ago, when Ara had disappeared and said she would come back after confirming something while she was contemplating on how to catch Olivia. She returned with a book in her hand.

“Butler. I’d like to ask you a question.”

“Yes, go ahead Miss.”

Although Lecht was also with him, asking him instead of Tanma would obviously be in violation of the demon realm’s regulations.

“You said it was against the regulations for Lecht to force anything onto Frody, right? That includes breaking the contract.”

“Yes.”

“Then what if I do it?”

---

finally exposed !!

ALSO NAVER HAS ADAPTED IBVIAAN INTO A MANHWA !! NO ENG TL YET BUT THERE SHOULD BE ONE UP SOON FROM SCANLATION PAGES WOOOOO

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

---

The emperor greeted us upon our arrival at the imperial palace. To tell the truth, I had actually already told him in advance last night that we’d be visiting him today. I also further explained how we would need to have a discussion on what was making the capital so chaotic recently. 

If I looked at it from his perspective, there was no reason for him to refuse. Above all, he probably already knew that Lecht would be by my side too. So in the end, he’d still greet me, even if it was just out of mere curiosity.

“Just how long has it been since the Grand Duke has last visited the imperial palace?” Naturally, he was also the most sensitive to Lecht’s mood as well. 

“I’m relieved to see that you look healthy. Everyone, please sit.”

I could see that the table he prepared for us was a round table, as if he had been conscious of overcomplicating the situation by deciding who would sit at the head of the table. 

The five of us, who sat on the opposite side of the emperor. This included the High Priest of the Solar religion. However, contrary to the emperor’s expectations, Lecht ended up taking a seat that was one away from the centre instead of the centre seat. Although his expression afterward seemed to convey that he was already used to me taking the middle seat, the emperor looked a bit flustered. 

Though of course, that expression soon vanished from his face and was replaced with a smile that was directed at me. “I wasn’t aware that the Princess was this familiar with the Grand Duke. Hoho.”

Lecht opened his mouth before I could reply, “She’s the reason I founded this empire.”

The eyes of the emperor, who was aware of Lecht’s real identity, widened suddenly. “So it was actually true that the Grand Duke stayed here in order to wait for someone…” Not able to hide his face filled with regret, he added, “If I had known it was Princess Darchez in advance, then…”

“Furthermore, I didn’t know that the Princess was this close to Linden.”

The expression of Linden, who had received the emperor’s attention, was extremely complicated. Just how long had it been since he had last sat face to face with the emperor? It was probably his first time ever since he last left the imperial palace. Naturally, the gaze that the emperor directed toward Linden wasn’t exactly comfortable either.

“It’s because we get along well with each other.” I said lightly, knowing that Linden wouldn’t bother to say anything. 

Nodding his head, the emperor asked Lecht, “Seeing as how we’re talking about the story of how this empire was founded, I’m guessing this child knows about it all already.”

“There was no reason for him not to know.”

“Haa, gosh.” The emperor, who couldn’t have possibly been unaware of what Lecht’s words meant, sighed slightly. 

His gaze swept over Linden and I, and even Lydia as well. “The Grand Duke has completely ruined the life that I’ve built up so far.”

He deserved to feel that way. He discarded me like a card in order to maintain his relationship with the Solar religion. He even humiliated me by dissolving my engagement in such a high profile way.

However, it turned out that I was the reason why Lecht had originally decided to stay in the human realm. What’s more was that the emperor now knew that Linden was aware of the whole truth about Grand Duke Arvis, which was a discussion that was only had between the former emperor and his heir. 

So with such a variety of significant issues, the emperor had no choice but to feel despondent.

“So, Princess.”

No, why are all of you humans calling me a princess? I’ve already given up that title. Although I wanted to point that out, there were more important things to discuss so I let it go for the moment. 

“Why did you want to see me in such a hurry?” 

“You must’ve heard about the recent rumours running rampant throughout the capital these days.”

“Is it the talk about the plague?”

“Yes.”

The emperor’s gaze landed on the High Priest of the Solar religion. Although they were only talking about the ‘plague’, the recent rumours had also included talk of the Solar religion’s saintess.

“Regardless, it seemed to be a rather grave issue, so we decided to come and find you all together.”

“Do you know something?”

“This epidemic is caused by a poison called pestis.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a poison before.”

“It’s a lethal poison that was originally from the demonic realm.”

The emperor’s brow twitched slightly. “Is that true?”

Lecht nodded at the emperor’s startled remark. 

“It was mixed into waterways that were used by a small number of people. The results of the investigation show that there were no traces of someone forcibly tampering with the facility.”

“Are you saying that someone has intentionally spread this epidemic?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

“However, there’s also a rumour saying that I started it. Of course, it’s obviously a false accusation. The symptoms of pestis show up almost immediately, so I wouldn’t have had time to spread it. Anyone who was at the night market can testify for me about that.”

At that point in time, I had spent all day being encircled by countless numbers of people, and of course, Lecht and Linden as well. 

“It was strange, so after further investigation, it was revealed that only one person had been behind the malicious rumours that had been spreading about me.”

“Was he trying to spread the poison so he could frame you, Princess? Ha. What a troublesome bastard.”

“Yes, but that’s the problem.”

“Problem?”

I relayed the explanation Tanma had told me to the emperor who had asked. Naturally, about flashing from the east and then to the west in an instant. All the way to the details about his unique appearance and the scent of flowers that always lingered behind them. 

“How could he show up in two completely different places at the same time?”

“It would be one of the two. Either he’s an extremely talented mage, or he’s a demon.”

“I’ve re-checked it several times, but that guy isn’t someone who’s obtained a mage’s licence either.” Linden added an explanation to my words. A mage like that would’ve had some sort of record somewhere. But there was nothing.

“So there was only one conclusion that we could come to.”

A demon. The emperor understood without me having to spit it out. 

The emperor thought for a moment before his gaze moved to Lecht. “Grand Duke.”

“He isn’t someone who has crossed over with my permission.” 

The emperor’s face darkened at Lecht’s firmness, perhaps because he desired an explanation from Lecht.

“…Grand Duke, don’t you know that summoning demons is forbidden throughout the entire continent?” As an emperor, he was also aware of the regulations that were put into place after the war between the demons and humans. Although the general public may forget, he as an emperor, could not.

“I’m saying that someone broke it.”

The emperor eventually let out a deep sigh. “This isn’t a case that will end with a simple epidemic.”

“I have more to say regarding him.” I added at his worried murmur.

“Tell me.” He spoke in a voice that didn’t seem to want to hear anything else. He must have had a hunch at this moment that anything I’d say would only make the situation even more severe.

“This incident is also related to when I had my engagement broken off.”

“Princess, that… wait, you’re saying that the demon and the forbidden magic is also related to that attempted poisoning incident?”

“Yes. And do you remember the tea party that Her Majesty the Empress hosted last year? It ended chaotically with an incident of theft, didn’t it?”

“I remember. But back then, the results of the search were clearly…” The emperor stopped talking after a while and looked at me, since I had ended up as the criminal in that story. 

“Yes, that’s also related to this situation. There are also many other cases apart from these ones.”

“Princess. I don’t quite understand how to relate those cases to this.” The emperor asked me in an extremely solemn manner, as if he thought that I was taking this opportunity to restore my reputation by weaving irrelevant matters into it.

Since I had expected at least this level of opposition, I laughed and said, “I stayed quiet until now, since I wasn’t able to point out who the real culprit was, even if I myself knew that it was only a false accusation.”

“So you’re finally setting things straight now that the real culprit has shown themselves?”

“Yes.”

The emperor’s blue eyes were fixed on me for a long time. It was a deep gaze that seemed to be able to see through me. I had nothing to hide, nor did I have anything for me to be conscious of, so I received his stare head on.

“Then if that’s the case… both I, and many other people have wronged you too much.”

“…”

“But Princess. As you can see, the culprit is a demon. He’s also someone who has escaped from the Grand Duke’s grasps. It isn’t clear whether we can catch him.”

In other words, ‘I’m sorry, but it’ll be hard to solve this case’.

Obviously, this wasn’t the problem. Since I knew who the culprit was.

“Your Majesty.” I called out to him as I took a deep breath in. Pointing out the saintess—who was loved by everyone—as the culprit was something that I absolutely had to do. To top that off, we had a lot of bad blood between the two of us, so regardless of how much evidence I gathered, it was still a dangerous act. “The truth is…”

It was when I was cautiously opening my mouth. 

Bang!

“Your Majesty, they’re all lies!”

“You can’t go in–”

“You seem to have a lot to say when I’ve already given her permission to enter!”

The door of the sitting room suddenly swung open violently as Olivia, Ziken, and the guards that were standing guard at the door rushed in.

“Your Majesty, it’s not true! I’ve never done something like that in my life!” Olivia collapsed at the emperor’s feet and grabbed onto the emperor’s chair.

“Saintess Olivia? Just what are you doing right now…”

“Hic hic… It’s not true, you can’t believe that woman’s words…!” 

Even the emperor cast a look of absurdity down at Olivia, who had come in rudely without permission and was now shedding tears.

Misinterpreting the silence, Olivia cried out tearfully, “How could I have done such a terrible thing? Hic…!”

“That’s right, that woman is trying to frame Livi. You know just how kind and tender-hearted Livi is too, right Father?!”

“Hic hic… I really didn’t do anything bad…”

“How could a child like that possibly sign a contract with a demon?! How does that even make any sense?!”

…Damn. I hadn’t even started tattling on them, yet they suddenly barged in, piled on a heap of straw, set fire to it, and then blew themselves up to self-destruct? It was so absurd that I couldn’t even find the words to respond.

The emperor’s cold voice that was dripping with frost filled the drawing room as he looked at them with a sour expression on his face. “What… did you just say?” 

I was a bit worried that he’d misunderstand me driving Olivia into a corner as a result of the personal feud we have with each other. 

“I asked you what you just said!”

Seems like it was a useless worry though?

I couldn’t stand the urge from the corners of my mouth to curl up, so I resorted to covering my mouth with the teacup in front of me. 

Slurp.

Today’s bitter black tea almost tasted as sweet as honey.

   

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

The main part of my role afterwards was merely to watch from the sidelines. 

“That’s why it’s slander– Father…?” Ziken finally seemed to sense that there was something wrong with the emperor’s expression. 

He looked at the emperor, and then at us with a belatedly flustered look on his face. Me, who was drinking tea with an emotionless face, and Lecht, who was handing me a handkerchief. As well as the dumbfounded expressions on the rest of the others. 

“W-Wait… what’s going on…”

In any case, it was the appearance of having run only believing in Olivia’s words… I guess this would probably be the time to use the expression, ‘blinded by love’. 

“Crown Prince.” He had clearly only said his title, but it was so overbearing that even I, who was unrelated to this, got goosebumps. As expected, the emperor was still an emperor in the end. 

In my head, I had thought he was a little insignificant since he had been the emperor of an empire that had been overthrown by Lecht in the end… But even so, isn’t he still the man who holds the most power in the human realm?  

“Did you just say that the saintess has dipped her hands into forbidden magic?”

“Father, that’s…”

“Crown Prince.”

It was obvious why the emperor had called Ziken ‘Crown Prince’ instead of his first name. In other words, it was telling him to take responsibility for making such remarks that couldn’t possibly be ignored at such a gathering of important figures. 

‘In any case, he’s already upset about the fact that Linden knows everything about Lecht that only emperors are meant to know, but to think that such a remark has now come out of the crown prince’s mouth too…’

I’m sure the emperor is going out of his mind right now.

“Your Majesty, it’s because of the incredulous rumours that have been circulating the capital recently.”

Was it because he had already been the crown prince for a long time? Ziken’s mind turned quickly while he stood in front of the emperor. He talked calmly, as if he hadn’t just forcibly entered the room. 

Olivia also shut her mouth, as if she had finally noticed the atmosphere. I even had the impression that I could hear her eyes darting to and fro even from where I was.

“I said those words in order to inform you not to believe such rumours because they’re not to be trusted.”

“Did you rudely enter a place where guests had gathered just to say that?”

“…My apologies.”

“I’m not the one you should be bowing your head to in this place right now.”

It might have been a little different if the emperor was alone in his office right now. But now, we were discussing a major event with the emperor as his guests. It was embarrassing for the emperor to do this to the crown prince in such a place, and at the same time, it revealed the crown prince’s weakness and allowed it to be seized. 

He had to apologise right away in order to settle the matter immediately. The problem was that the people Ziken had to bow his head to included both Linden and I; people who he had looked down in contempt at for his whole life. 

‘There’s no way that brat can accept that.’

I happened to make eye contact with Ziken as I was setting my teacup down. I smiled readily. Ziken’s face crumpled at my smile. Normally, such blatant displeasure from him would’ve made me feel bad as well. 

But that wasn’t the case at all right now. There was no reason for me to feel bad when you just went ahead and self-destructed like that. 

I was able to smile even wider with an extremely relieved and happy heart.

---

crown prince ziken is seriously a pig teammate… like he actually unintentionally just straight up ruins all of olivia’s plans LMAOOO

one thing i don’t like abt this author’s writing style though is just their tendency to add huge chunks of dialogue randomly into the story,,,

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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A mysterious rumour that began with the ‘disappearance’ of a messenger.

“Did you hear about it? Apparently, the divine power of Solarism can’t normally cure infectious diseases like this one.”

“Then what was Saintess Olivia doing during the day?”

It started at a tavern that was located in a corner of the capital. The tavern was so small that only close acquaintances knew that it was owned by the Ezzarson Guild.

“So… you’re saying that Saintess Olivia is a fake?”

“What…?”

An even more terrifying image was added onto the already dangerous rumour of how ‘Saintess Olivia is a fake’.

“Then what was that power?”

“You didn’t hear? Apparently it’s forbidden magic.”

“What? F-Forbidden magic…?!”

The bad news travelled quickly. Within a few days, there was no one within the capital that hadn’t heard of that rumour.

*

Around the time when the rumour spread and eventually reached inside the Great Temple of the Sun God.

“W-Where did that sort of nonsense come from…!”

“You think it’s nonsense? Just go and ask that woman and you’ll know.”

It was Lydia, who had appeared at the front steps of the Great Temple without even so much as a sound. 

The words she relayed to the High Priest, who was trying to understand the circumstances of the incident, gave him quite a huge shock. “I’m saying that the power you’ve been worshipping until now is one that belongs to a demon.”

In any case, he had been rather frustrated at the fact that Olivia refused to open her mouth for whatever reason she had. But to think that the words that slowly came out would turn his world upside down like this…

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“Damn it…!”

After Lydia’s visit, the High Priest of Solarism couldn’t even eat properly, let alone sleep due to his anxiety.

‘Forbidden magic? Demonic contract? Damn it all!’

The words she had said had explained everything that had remained unexplainable until now. 

The High Priest tore at his own white hair and gnashed his teeth. 

‘Is that woman crazy…?! And all while she had the name as a saintess too!’

He swore at Olivia, who he had sincerely respected as a precious saintess just last week. The most intolerable of them all to him was the attitude of the High Priestess of Lunarism.

“The power you’ve been worshipping until now is one that belongs to a demon.”

He had known earlier that she was a half-demon. 

Sixty years ago, the passing Lydia had chanced upon him while he was doing odd jobs. She had told him that he had a unique ability, and showed him how to release his divine power. Thanks to this ability which was greater than expected, he became the high priest at a young age. He tried asking around for her so he could express his thanks, but she had disappeared like the wind.

Then, he met her again ten years ago. When he heard that there was a woman who could hear Lunar’s voice, and that she had become Lunarism’s High Priest, he went to meet her. 

But the moment they met, he knew. What she was at that time. And that she wasn’t a normal human being. 

His grateful feelings and whatever else he had for her disappeared, and he was only appalled and disgusted at her appearance which didn’t age. 

He then informed the emperor of this. But what was more surprising was the emperor’s reaction. The fact that he had said there was no law that dictated or opposed half-demons from becoming high priests, so what exactly was the problem? At that response, he concluded that the emperor and the Lunar religion were one in the same boat. He thought that the emperor saying he was a believer of Solarism was tantamount to just a political act.

Ever since then, he has bumped heads with the emperor again and again to try and overthrow the Lunar religion. Although he wasn’t happy at the fact that the crown prince and the saintess were dating, he also used that fact to poke at the emperor’s sore spot. 

Furthermore, the moment the crown prince’s fiancee touched the saintess, he immediately inflated the situation in order to put pressure on the emperor. It seemed like the dissolvement of the engagement between the crown prince and the Princess of Darchez would deal a huge blow to the emperor’s power, so he gloated over that quite a bit as well.

But he didn’t expect that same exact Princess of Darchez to return as the Lunar religion’s saintess! And to top it all off, to think that their own saintess was a fake…!

‘If the emperor hears about this…! Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

Angry, his eyes glistened as they darted around the room.

‘No, I’d rather… yes, if it’s like this, then there’s only one way.’

He found a loophole he could use to survive.

‘Let’s knock down our own athlete¹’

As he opened the door to leave, he saw that the paladin who was standing guard by the door looked shocked. 

“Where is she?”

“She…? Ah, are you talking about the saintess?”

Saintess? What a disease. His irritation rushed to his throat, but he managed to hold it in. 

“Where is she?”

“She’s with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

What a malicious woman. 

After the incident that burst out in the square, he had asked her a few times how that had happened. However, she had said she didn’t know and cried with a terrified expression on her face. It was obvious he had only asked her a question, yet she had made him bewildered by making him out to be some shameless old man. 

What was even more infuriating was that the crown prince ended up falling for her actions and started to protect her. After Lydia’s visit, it was as if she had suddenly forgotten how to leave the crown prince’s side. As if she knew what had been said and fled. It was an action that showed she understood that the High Priest couldn’t possibly touch her while she was next to the crown prince.

“Where? The garden?”

For her to be in such a visible place also bothered him, as if she were deliberately teasing him. After confirming with the paladin, he strode leisurely to the garden and discovered Olivia, who was fussing in the arms of the crown prince. 

“Saintess.”

The crown prince’s knights blocked him as he took a step forward. When the crown prince’s knights turned their blades towards the High Priest, the Paladins also naturally protected the High Priest in turn.

“Your Highness. Who was the one who gave permission for these knights to be brought into the temple?” Normally, no one other than the paladins were able to be armed in the temple. But now, with the permission of the High Priest, the knights of the crown prince were given special permission to be allowed within the Great Temple.

“And just who was the one who reached out for help since the Paladins couldn’t touch the civilians recklessly?” Ziken retorted at the High Priest’s remarks. Just like he said, the disturbance in front of the temple these days couldn’t have been stopped without the crown prince’s knights. 

There was palpable tension between the two of them. 

“Saintess. I’m thinking of going to the imperial palace.”

Ziken wasn’t the only one who was surprised by the sudden change in the High Priest, who was normally respectful to the saintess until just a few days ago. The Paladins didn’t seem to understand the situation either and alternated their gazes between the saintess and the High Priest. The rumours that were circulating the capital began to slowly creep into their heads.

“I plan to make it clear that I’m the biggest victim in this incident.”

“…!”

Olivia’s breath stopped at the words of the High Priest, as if she already knew everything.

“Whether you want to run and hide or ask for His Majesty’s forgiveness—it’s all up to you.” He remarked coldly before heading to the main entrance.

“Then the Solar religion won’t remain unharmed either!” Olivia shouted at his receding figure. When the High Priest stopped and turned around, she added, “Have you ever thought about what would happen to the Solar religion’s prestige if the information about me was leaked outside?”

The High Priest scoffed at her words, as if it was ridiculous. “It’s already ruined. I’m just looking for a way to reduce as much damage as possible right now.”

Of course, this was the High Priest who valued his pride and prestige above everything else. But Lydia also knew. So if both she and the Saintess Meliara—who had a severely bad relationship with the Solar religion and that woman—knew, then there was no way they could be let off so easily. 

It was only a matter of time before the emperor knew about it. Even though the emperor didn’t have much animosity with the demons, he couldn’t let go of people who dabbled in forbidden magic.

Thus, the High Priest intended to abandon that woman immediately and try to appeal to the fact that he and the Solar religion were the victims in this situation. That way, even if rumours spread, they could at least receive the protection of the emperor and create a public image where ‘The Solar religion was the unfortunate scapegoat for that witch’.

“I can’t just stand and watch while the Solar religion collapses because of you.” With his words that seemed to indicate the end of the conversation, he turned around to leave.

That was when the urgent voice of Olivia sounded out. “Everyone, catch the High Priest! That guy is about to betray the Solar religion!”

“What…?”

“Huh?”

At her cry, the crown prince’s knights rushed toward the High Priest. Although the startled Paladins blocked them in a hurry, they all wore expressions of confusion. One was the High Priest while the other was the saintess—both of whom they had an obligation to protect. 

“What is that woman saying?! The traitor must be you!”

“None of you believe me, do you?” 

At Olivia’s face that seemed to have been dealt a huge shock and the trembling of her shoulders, the tip of the Paladins’ swords trembled slightly. They all knew about what had happened in the square as well. As well as the mysterious rumour that had spread throughout the capital. Naturally, they were more inclined toward the High Priest’s words than hers. 

Nevertheless, her charming appearance and the tears in her eyes were also huge weapons against them. Their judgement was easily shaken. 

“If you don’t catch that person… my life might be in danger…! Hic…!”

There were many of them who decided to become paladins with just a glance at the saintess. Even if they hadn’t, not one of them hadn’t received her helping hand. As if they were possessed by something, they all slowly lowered their swords and opened a path for the crown prince’s knights.

“W-What are you all doing right now?! That woman is clearly a traitor!”

The approaching sight of the crown prince’s knights striding toward him seemed as insurmountable as a forest fire devouring a tree. It was when he stepped back with a pale face. 

“Now, now~. That’s enough.”

He ended up bumping into someone behind him, as the extended hand of the crown prince’s knight was then shoved away by a firmer hand. 

Although the voice was mixed with a bit of mischief, it was still quite grave. 

The one who had struck the knight’s hand was Grand Duke Arvis, and standing right next to him was the blue-haired Princess of Darchez.

* * *

“Princess, I’m sure I told you not to leave the temple!” The first person to react when I appeared in the Great Temple of the Sun God was naturally Ziken. 

“Oh, that? His Majesty the Emperor has rescinded that order.”

“…!” 

Ziken paused when he heard that the emperor had touched the restriction that he had personally imposed himself. He must have also heard the rumour that was circulating around the capital. But he probably thought it was just a false rumour and brushed it off. He believed in Olivia, thinking that there was probably a reason why this was happening to her. He was a fool that was blinded by love. 

But… to think that the emperor would meddle in this? It was clear that something was starting to become even more complicated. 

“High Priest? I’ve come to escort you. I’ll bring you to the imperial palace safely.” I smiled at the High Priest, leaving behind the crown prince who seemed to be swamped by layers of confusion.

To be honest, it didn’t matter what happened to the High Priest of the Solar religion. But I did it deliberately since I knew how much it’d provoke Olivia if I decided to side with him at this moment. 

“How do you know that I’m going to the palace…?”

“I just do.”

I swept my gaze over Olivia, who was in the crown prince’s embrace, the knights of the crown prince who were trying to grab the High Priest, and the absent-minded Paladins who had stepped down. My gaze lingered a moment longer on Olivia specifically.

“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed since this went too according to my expectations. I wish you had a more original response.” 

At Olivia’s trembling appearance in his arms, Ziken naturally raised his voice without fail. “What do you think you’re doing right now, Princess? You don’t have the qualifications to insert yourself into this situation!”

As Ziken started to talk about qualifications again, I snorted as if it were ridiculous and pointed at Olivia. “Just how much has that woman over there done to me so far?”

“Done to you…?”

“…!” Olivia’s breath stopped at the words I added. She chewed her nails so thoroughly that her thumb began to bleed.

The expressions of the knights also appeared to be mixed with confusion and astonishment.

“Mis Olivia. I’m thinking of going to the palace now. And I will be telling His Majesty about everything you’ve done so far.”

“W-What do you mean things I’ve done? Just what are you talking about…”

“What are you asking for when you’re the one who knows better than I do? Oh, and of course, I’ve prepared all the evidence needed as well.”

“…!”

“So you have two options right now. One, you can go with me to the imperial palace to confess your sins, ask me for forgiveness, and plead for mercy in front of His Majesty the Emperor.”

Our surroundings became chilly, as if it had been splashed with icy water.

“Or two, be dragged away by force, watch all of your past misdeeds being brought out, and then be punished accordingly with your crimes.”

“…!”

“I recommend taking the former option if you still have your future in mind, but honestly, the latter isn’t too bad either.”

“…”

“What do you want to do? Miss Olivia, the ‘Saintess’?” I could hear the sound of Olivia swallowing dryly all the way over here. I noticed that she had already been completely caught in the trap I had set. 

“Y-You have no right to drag me away…!”

Oh, you weren’t fooled. What a shame. 

I smiled and said, “Yes, you’re right. I can’t drag you away by force.” What right did I have to do that? I was simply here to declare war on Olivia. My only purpose was to provoke her. 

A wave of relief washed over Olivia’s face at my words. She collapsed onto the floor, perhaps because her legs had gone weak, as Ziken hurriedly took care of her. 

As I was about to turn around with a small sigh at that appearance of hers, Linden had a bewildered expression on his face as he asked, “Are we really going to leave like this?”

“Just one minute is enough for me to dispose of them.” Lecht said affectionately, as if he thought I was going to keep a low profile instead of dealing with them.

“No, it’s not like that.  Even if it’s the Solar religion, this is still a temple. There is no need for us to spill any blood, nor do I want to.”

No matter how different a god was, as a saintess, I didn’t want to cause a disturbance at another god’s base. 

“I can’t help it since you didn’t like the two options that I gave you. There’s no choice but to go with the third option.”

“Third option?”

When the two men asked me simultaneously, I spoke clearly enough for me to be heard by Olivia. “Whether that woman comes or not, I’ll just do what I have to do.”

“Aha.” Linden nodded as if he understood what I meant immediately.

“It doesn’t matter if that woman is there or not if I just reveal everything in the first place.”

A sharp scream sounded out when I tried to walk out. “No…! We have to catch that woman! She can never leave!”

It was Olivia’s final move. 

However, it wasn’t the Paladins or the knights of the crown prince that moved at her words. It was the huge number of knights behind me. 

Private mercenaries that were owned by Linden as the Head of the Ezzarson Guild. Although they were private mercenaries in name, their ability was just as good as any other imperial knight. A part of the knights from the Grand Duchy had also come over a few days ago. Of course, only those who could humanise themselves came. And the Paladins of the Lunar religion that moved at Lydia’s command. They were people who were willing to lay down their lives to protect me, their saintess.

As soon as they heard Olivia’s shrill cry, they transformed from waiting quietly to putting their hands on their weapons and surrounding me. From my point of view, they were like a wall that couldn’t be broken through unless all the knights that were directly under the emperor’s command were dispatched. 

I turned my back on them and only turned my head, looking down at Olivia who was collapsed on the floor. With a gaze that was devoid of hate and ridicule—eyes that contained nothing.

“Just who is catching who?”

Olivia’s face turned pale at my words.

[1] knocking down someone on your own team, friendly fire.

---

olivia is proof that pretty privilege is alive and well

also can we talk abt the fact that lydia literally paved the way for the high priest of the solar religion (and tbh in my head i pictured him as having a phat ass crush on lydia but that’s just me LMAOOOO) but the moment she’s a half demon NOOOOO sounds a lot like fragile masculinity and low self esteem to me ://// NOT TO MENTION THE PREJUDICE BUT YEAH

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Olivia’s behaviour which clearly broke the bounds of her own position after the commotion broke out in the square ignited the situation immediately. Because of that, the patients had no choice but to turn their eyes to the Lunar religion for treatment, causing the Great Temple of the Moon God to become busy without even having any time to rest.

‘I had wondered why I was so free, but it was because the people didn’t feel the need to come here since Olivia had been healing them.’

Didn’t I say that it was weird for not even one person to come until now? 

I wanted to run over there immediately to protest, but I held it in. Unless there was a way for me to prove that her ‘strange power’ came from Frody, there would be nothing for me to reap if I ran there right now. 

I needed a surefire way to prove that everything she had done in the past, including this epidemic, was all her doing, to be more exact. Because for those who didn’t know the full story, Meliara’s false accusation and Olivia’s ‘strange power’ were both two completely separate events. 

“Is there no movement on the Solarism side yet?”

Linden shook his head at my question. He stood by my side publicly, while he secretly moved his subordinates to observe the situation. “Apparently there’s been conflict between those who have been requesting an explanation right in front of the Great Temple of the Sun God and those who don’t want to doubt their own saintess—it’s chaos out there.”

“Heok… Did anyone get hurt?”

“I heard that Older Brother’s order of knights in the surroundings made a move before it got too heated…”

“So only the Crown Prince has moved, but the temple remains silent.” I clicked my tongue. “What I need to know instead is whether or not the High Priest is in on their plan so I can formulate a plan of attack.”

When I only heard about what happened in the town square itself, the High Priest seemed to have nothing to do with it. However, I thought it was another bump in the road when I saw that the Saintess was staying in the Great Temple even when things had gotten to this point.

“By the way, Ara, do you know exactly what power that woman uses?” Linden asked quietly so that no one else would hear. “No matter how much I investigate it, I can’t tell what it is… but you seem to know.”

Linden naturally failed to conclude that she had a contract with a demon since he didn’t know much about demons.

I snuck a glance at Lecht. When our eyes met, he nodded slightly with an expression that said it was okay. It was a sign that meant I could tell him.

“Regardless, I was actually thinking of telling you later. When Lydia comes back…”

Just as I was about to speak, the teleportation portal opened beside us as Lydia appeared in the light. Despite the rumour that using the teleportation portal would cause severe motion sickness, Lydia approached me with her usual expression on her face.

“I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.” I welcomed her back happily. 

When the incident first broke out, I had first sent a letter to her through Lu, the messenger bird of Lunarism. 

“I didn’t think I could afford to waste any time when I read Miss Ara’s letter. Don’t worry. The Grand Duchy has all been put in order.”

“Thank you.”

It was incredible that Lu had arrived at the Grand Duchy in half a day with a letter, and the fact that Lydia was able to put the whole place in order in only a day was also incredible. 

Nodding at Lecht in greeting, Lydia swept a glance around the temple. 

“Now then, since even Lydia has arrived, shall we go over there to talk for a while?” 

I requested for the rest of the priests to heal the remaining patients and headed to the parlour. With both Lecht and Linden of course. Tanma had left to do another favour of mine. 

The parlour I had entered was where I had met both Alion and Meliara.

Meliara was waiting for me. I nodded in her direction, then sat down on the couch next to where she stood. 

“A teddy bear? It’s something that I’ve never seen before.” 

Lydia looked at it with a suspicious gaze when she found an object that she had never seen before in the temple.

“It’s a gift from the Little Duke to his little sister.”

“Oho.”

Nodding, Lydia tilted her head and looked up at me.

“The little sister you’re talking about is yourself, right Miss Ara?” she asked, perhaps because it felt strange for me to use the expression ‘little sister’.

Lydia’s help was essential in helping us determine whether or not the High Priest of Solarism was in cahoots with Olivia. Now that I knew Lydia was a half-demon, I was able to tell her everything without any reservations.

“To be more exact, I’m actually not Meliara Darchez.”

*

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

I was able to finish the explanation a lot more concisely, perhaps because I already had the experience of telling Lecht and Linden before. But of course, this time, it also contained the whole story about Olivia and Frody’s power. 

Lecht listened quietly since he already knew the whole story, while Lydia listened without much of a reaction. The one with the biggest reaction was Linden.

“Haa, slow down for a moment. I heard it all properly, right?” Linden asked again, sweeping his hair back with an incredulous expression on his face. His eyes darted back and forth between Lecht and I. 

“It’s the truth. Lecht is hiding his appearance as the Demon King, and… Olivia has dipped her hand into sorcery and signed a contract with a demon.”

“Haa.” Linden pressed his finger against his furrowed brows, as if he had a headache. 

“His Majesty the Emperor also knows about Lecht.” 

At my additional comment, Linden sighed. “So that’s why His Excellency the Grand Duke said that to my Older Brother at the funeral ceremony.” 

“The fact that you don’t recognise me… It seems like the emperor hasn’t fully recognised you as the next emperor yet.”

Linden now understood that the Emperor would have told Ziken the story behind Lecht if he had truly recognised Ziken as the next emperor. Because the story of how Grand Duke Arvis was the Demon King and telling them not to provoke him recklessly was always a conversation that occurred between the previous emperor and their heir. 

While Linden tried to sort out his muddled thoughts, Lydia laughed quietly.

“You don’t seem that surprised though, Lydia. I expected it with Lecht’s identity, but… I thought you would be shocked at the part where Meliara and I were two different beings.”

“I was guessing.”

“…Don’t tell me it’s that obvious?”

“No, it isn’t. It’s just that…” She seemed like she was about to say something, but then smiled after a moment of thought. “Lunar told me. Not to be fooled by the next saintess’ appearance.”

“Not to be fooled… No, why did Lunar say it in such a weird way…”

Lydia was the only person who could hear the voice of Lunar apart from me, the saintess. As the saintess, I could only hear it in the temple on the night of a full moon, while Lydia could only hear it on a night with a red or blue moon. 

‘I’m starting to have even more questions. Then did Lunar know that I was coming?’

While I was absorbed in my own conjectures, Lydia suddenly pulled me back to reality. “If that woman’s power comes from a contract with a demon, then it’s highly likely that the High Priest isn’t aware of it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Since he’s the type of fellow who thinks the demonic clan is a race that’s lower than humans.”

“A lower race?”

“Yes. That’s why he considers Lunar to be of a lower class than Sol; because it’s a god that is worshipped by demons.”

“Lower class? But they’re both gods though?” I couldn’t help but sigh. There were naturally people who liked to discriminate and create a division between factions, wherever they went.

“That’s the fundamental reason behind why the Lunar and Solar religions are unable to forge a closer relationship with each other.”

“So that’s why you’re sure that the two of them aren’t on the same side, because there’s no way a person like that would appoint Olivia as a saintess if they knew she was in a contract with a demon.”

“The real question now is whether that old man’s pride will allow him to reveal the truth after he knows the truth behind the saintess.”

He himself would receive a shock when he realised that he had been serving a woman who was entangled with a demon all this time. Then, he’d probably feel betrayed. 

But regardless of that, the High Priest also might choose not to reveal this matter since the honour of Solarism was also at stake. 

“Although he didn’t know before, there’s a high possibility that he’d try and cover it up now that he knows.” 

Olivia’s weakness was the fact that her power was fake, while the High Priest’s weakness was to hide it to protect the honour and reputation of Solarism. It was a fake and hypocritical relationship. It was a relationship that made me tired just from hearing about it.

“Then we should make our move before the High Priest of Solarism tries to officially cover it up for Olivia.”

Now that I knew that Olivia’s sorcery wasn’t related to the High Priest, I sorted out my thought process right away. 

“Everyone, huddle toward me a bit closer.” 

I beckoned over Lydia and Linden and relayed to them the plan that I had in mind. 

It was a scheme that would be unveiled while we continued to cure the patients in the afternoon.

*

“Wait, then won’t you actually need the Little Duke’s help?” Linden asked with a frown after everyone had heard what my plan was.

However, I turned my gaze toward Meliara, who was sitting next to me. Despite her eyes still being red, she nodded toward me with a determined look on her face. 

I suddenly thought of my conversation with her.

—I’ll try and convince Older Brother.

A calm Meliara told me a few minutes after Alion had left.

“How? He can’t see or hear you at all. As you can see, it seems like it’s almost impossible for you to get back into this body.”

When her soul tried to enter the body, it just ended up floating through me. It seemed like the body didn’t even want her back in the first place.

—Ara can tell him my words for me…

“It won’t be convincing enough. No matter how much I act, in the end, it’s still just acting.”

—I want to get rid of these false accusations against me.

“…You’ve changed for the better. I didn’t think you could even overcome it before.”

—Now I know that Older Brother was taking care of me. I wouldn’t be able to be cleared of these false charges if it weren’t for Older Brother.

I agreed with that statement.

—I think I know. The place where Older Brother hid the messenger.

“Really?”

—We have a villa. I know that he always goes there whenever he wants to avoid other people’s gazes.

“Would he hide them in such an obvious place?”

—Because Older Brother is the most familiar with the saying it’s often the darkest right underneath the lamp¹.

It was extremely heartbreaking to see the appearance of Meliara who had said those words. It sounded like a saying that accurately represents the relationship between the two of them.

—There’s only one other way if Older Brother doesn’t give him to you. Just steal it from him.

I smiled widely at her resolute expression. 

“I thought you were just a gentle young miss, but you’re even more daring than I thought you were.”

—Clear me of my false charges and punish that woman for me. And… please relieve the burden weighing down on my Older Brother’s shoulders for me.

“Then, shall we knock out your older brother by hitting him on the back of his head to relieve him of his burden?”

—… 

It was the same expression as that older brother who cherished his little sister, yet never expressed that affection to her.

“Alright. The timing of those two people who keep stepping out of line to the point where it’s tiresome. I’ll try and rewrite that destiny that’s full of terrible luck.”

—…Thank you.

“What do you mean thank you? Since I’m now a saintess, that’s the least I should do.”

I should help if Lunar loves me. Despite the fact that they’re different gods, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to punish a woman who is tarnishing a god’s name. That was how our deal was sealed. 

However, both Linden and Lydia’s help was essential for us to be able to fix a net so secure that not even loaches would be able to escape from it.

“Don’t worry and just trust me.” I smiled at Linden who looked at me anxiously. 

All the puzzle pieces were being put into place. All that remained for us to do was to take action. 

I was going to use the Solar religion as a shield to hurl that woman—who used Frody’s power to wield a false power—down into the abyss. Since she had been so disgraceful, this was something she had to endure.

* * *

Clouds filled the night sky and blocked the rays of moonlight on a dark night. 

An incident was quietly unfolding at a villa on the outskirts of the capital, owned by the Darchez family.

“Urk.”

“Keu.”

The two figures in black who were wearing deep hoods blended into the shadows as two guards quietly fainted. The figure used the wooden beam to climb the walls to avoid the hallways where they were most likely to bump into other people. The figure with the larger build landed easily on the veranda located on the third floor with a more slender figure in their arms. 

The two of them peered through the window to check. People who appeared to be maids were seemingly taking care of a man. The man continued to show signs of discomfort, as if he wasn’t used to such treatment. Then, they let out a noticeably long sigh as soon as the maids left the room.

The hooded figure outside of the window moved, as if that was what they were waiting for. The window was opened silently without a sound as the two of them entered the room like flowing water. 

“I’m grateful for your protection, but it’s uncomfortable…”

It was the messenger who was the only one who knew that the tea sent by Meliara wasn’t chamomile tea.

The smaller figure slowly approached him, who was still muttering. 

No matter how brightly the lamp had been lit, the messenger was still frightened when something black suddenly appeared in the already dim room. “Heok, w-what…!”

“Shush!” The shadow covered the man’s mouth before he could even scream in shock. The voice that flowed out from underneath the hood was faint, and the hand that was touching his mouth was small and tender. It wasn’t hard for him to realise that the person was a woman.

The thick clouds cleared just in time as the moon appeared from behind them. The moonlight flooded in through the window and illuminated the hooded figure. 

“…!” The shocked man’s eyes grew even wider. As soon as the woman lowered her hand covering the man’s mouth, the man immediately let out a shaky voice. “Y-Young Miss?”

The woman in the hood had the face of Meliara Darchez, the young miss he had been serving until just a few months ago. The large figure behind her was Grand Duke Arvis, but the messenger was unaware of that fact.

“Young Miss, how could you…”

“Shush.”

Although he had a lot of questions, the man shut up when she placed her index finger on his lips. 

“Ask questions later. Shouldn’t we get out of here first…?”

The three of them disappeared after a while without a sound. All that remained was a slight trace of her divine power. 

It was the first incident where a person who had been protected within the villa of Duke Darchez was ‘abducted’ by the Princess of Darchez. And this incident, which not many were aware of, was in fact, the starting point of everything.

[1] 등잔 밑이 어둡다 it’s often difficult to see what’s right under your nose.

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i really hope the og meliara finds happiness somehow QAQ

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

t/n
also, if you see frody being referred to as ‘friday’ anywhere in the chapter (or future ones), pls lmk in the mistakes channel on my discord or the comments below, my google docs likes to autocorrect frody’s name to friday GHSDLKFJFDSJ

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“I told you already. Don’t make me regret my first ‘act of mercy’.”

“…Are you really being salty when we were just having a little chat?” 

Although Frody had put it like that, everyone here knew that it was a lie. 

“I thought it was strange for you to have left more traces of yourself than necessary in the area, but in the end, it was just to deceive my eyes so you could come and see Ara. That was your true intention.”

It was the appearance of Lecht, who seemed to have chased after the traces left by Frody so far. Seemingly having been led on a wild goose chase, Lecht’s ego seemed to be wounded.

In response, Frody replied slyly, “True intention? I was just enjoying my game of hide and seek with you, Little Brother.” As if he held no malice toward him. “And I simply came here because I thought our Saintess would want to see me.”

His eyes curved up at me. If he had a tail, it would’ve been swaying back and forth, telling me to come already. That was how much his voice was wrapped in enchantment. Though it didn’t work on me, the Saintess.

“Why would I want to see you?”

“Think about it carefully. You obviously thought that you wanted to meet me though?”

When I looked dumbfounded, he added with a hehe~, “Wasn’t I the only one who could solve the false accusation against you, Saintess?”

“What a unique way of using the words, ‘I want to see you’.”

If ‘I want to see you’ meant, ‘I want to meet up and talk about something’, then I did want to see him. But I had a hunch that Frody would’ve never mistaken the two of them for something else.

“I didn’t want to see you. Please leave.” I waved my hand like I was swatting away a fly. 

“Really?”

“Yes.” 

Rather than asking Frody for help, I’d rather give candy to a child. 

“Oho~?”

Although he snorted as if he couldn’t believe it, I continued to ignore him and said, “You came by yourself when you came, so leave by yourself too then.”

I turned around without confirming whether or not he was leaving. I grabbed the arm of Lecht, who was next to me. Lecht noticed what I wanted straight away and let me naturally toward the building before I could pull him in that direction. 

However, before we left the garden, Frody said once again, “I warned you.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned my head. I frowned at Frody’s triumphant appearance. It showed a firm belief that one day, I’d definitely be betrayed by Lecht.

Although it bothered me, I didn’t really want to argue with him over nothing.  “You’d better look after yourself properly. Since I’ll definitely get even with you for what you’ve done to us humans.”

I was annoyed at the fact that he kept hiding behind the excuse of it being ‘his contractor’s request’ to avoid taking responsibility for causing that accident.

I turned my head and dragged Lecht back into the building. When I left the garden where the cool late autumn breeze was blowing and came inside, the warm air immediately melted my numb cheeks and ears. 

“Oh right, Lecht, if anyone sees your wings…!”

Although I had returned to the building in a huff, I quickly turned my head towards him when I realised belatedly what he still looked like. However, he had already folded his wings back in, and also put his sword back into its sheath as well. 

“Did you not get caught, even while you flew here in that state?”

“It’s been a hundred years since I’ve lived in the human realm. I know how to stay out of sight.”

Aha… I was worried over nothing. 

“That… I’m sorry.” I apologised to Lecht before I could say anything else. “I was the one who brought up the idea to persuade Frody first, made you chase after him, then ended up discarding him on my own as well.”

It was an apology for wasting his efforts. 

“I couldn’t get through to him at all. I can see why you opposed this method in the first place, Lecht.”

Lecht, who listened to me sighing, took off his coat and wrapped it around me. “Don’t say you’re sorry. I’m actually happy that you said you wouldn’t get involved with him any further.”

My turbulent mind calmed down slightly after feeling the weight of the heavy coat on my shoulders. My feelings of discomfort that came after meeting Frody turned for the better. 

“I didn’t do it just to hear an apology, and if it’s for you, then I can do as much as you want.” He added softly, “I guess you didn’t get it.” 

I could feel a sort of sadness in his voice for some reason. His expression was no different from usual, and he didn’t use a different tone in voice either. His hands went to fix my coat, as if to drive out all the cold energy from my body.

“Then, thank you?”

His hand, which had been fastening each button, one by one, paused in its motion.

“Saying that should be fine, right?”

It was subtle, but I could see the corners of his mouth rising. I guess that’s what he really wanted to hear instead. I thought it was unexpectedly cuter than I thought it would be for him to pretend not to smile and hide it, so I laughed.

“…Why are you laughing?” At my sudden laugh, he asked me with a slightly anxious expression. 

My lips kept going up since I found it so cute that a man who could decide to destroy the empire or even the demon realm if he wanted to, would get so nervous at just a smile from me. I bit my lip and tried to stifle my laughter, but the more I tried to, the harder I ended up laughing.

He examined my face with an uneasy expression. “Ara?” He seemed to be worried that something he had said was wrong. 

“Because you’re cute.” I spoke frankly, thinking that I didn’t have to hide it. “It’s because you’re so cute, Lecht.”

“I’m, what…?”

The word ‘cute’ didn’t go well at all with the words, ‘Demon King’ and ‘The Grand Duke of Arvis’. But those were the thoughts of people who didn’t really know Lecht. 

He was a man who was like an onion. No matter how many layers I peeled off, there would always be a new charm that would be revealed, and would make me laugh continuously nonstop. 

He looked at me with large eyes, as if what I had said was an extreme shock to him.

“Other people wouldn’t understand, would they?”

At my question, Lecht looked at me with a confused expression on his face and nodded his head minutely. Meanwhile, the tips of his ears slowly turned red. Perhaps it was because I had already been made aware of his cuteness already, but even that appearance of his was cute to me.

I couldn’t stop laughing and buried half of my face into his large coat. I kept laughing so hard that my cheekbones started to ache. 

Looking back on it now, this morning was full of failures in many ways, as well as issues that caused me to have complex thoughts about it. 

Alion had told Meliara what she had wanted to hear her whole life, but she herself was already in an irreversible situation, leaving only regret behind. And instead of requesting help from Frody, we came to the uncomfortable conclusion that Frody was a target that had to be unconditionally guarded against. 

‘It’s clearly a very frustrating situation.’

Laughter continued to flow out uncontrollably from my lips. 

‘But I think I can figure it all out somehow.’

I thought that I could get through anything with this man. The scent of the coat that wrapped around me was good, so I ended up gaining groundless confidence. 

pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

The refreshing scent that remained on his clothes soaked deeply into my lungs as I remembered Lecht’s wings again. Since it was my first time seeing it, it was so captivating that I ended up being fascinated as soon as I saw it.

“By the way, Lecht.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly at my call, as if he was asking ‘what is it?’

“Why don’t you have any horns?”

“…?”

“If you undo your human appearance, shouldn’t you have both horns and wings?”

Lecht, who was the Demon King in the original novel, even had long hair as well. But where did the long hair and horns go, and why did only the wings end up coming out?

“Like I said earlier, I’ve lived in the human realm for a hundred years. It’s simple enough for me to undo certain parts of my human appearance.”

“Oh…”

So you’re saying that it’s easy for you to walk around just with your wings out. How fascinating. I tried to picture his majestic figure with wings again. It was so spectacular that I wanted to keep it as a picture.

“If I say that I want to see it, will you show it to me again…?”

“Of course.” He answered unhesitatingly. “Anytime you want.”

“Then the horns as well…?” I asked cautiously, just in case it was offensive, but he nodded his head with a ‘you’re so cute’ look in his eyes. “Then I’ll look forward to it, Lecht’s horns.”

I covered my face with his clothes again to hide my laughter. Nevertheless, I couldn’t hide my cheeks from going up, and when he saw me smiling like that, Lecht ended up smiling as well.

“Do you like wings and horns that much?”

Oh, so it was that obvious I liked it. My eyes widened as I nodded.

“Seriously…” He swept a finger over the cheek of me, who was still draped in his coat. “Not a single thing has changed about you.”

“Really…?”

It was Lecht who didn’t bring up the me from a hundred years ago ever since I had said it was burdensome. But he whispered, as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

I didn’t feel as much repulsion as before either. That’s how much it showed that I was leaning towards Lecht, right?

“You’re seriously exactly the same. Whether it’s your habits, mannerisms, the way you speak, or your preferences; all of it. A hundred years ago, you loved my horns and wings just as much as well.”

He covered my face with his entire palm, perhaps because he wasn’t satisfied with using just the back of his finger lightly. I didn’t try to avoid it either, since the feeling of his calluses that developed from holding a sword felt nice against my skin.

“Is it… still awkward?” He asked in a nervous voice. “I thought I was already used to waiting though.”

With the ends of his eyes drooping down slightly, it was an expression of Lecht’s that I had never seen before, so my heart started to race. 

“Waiting for you while you’re in a place where I can’t see you and where time is irrelevant is completely different to waiting calmly for you when you’re already right in front of me.”

As expected, was he also nervous about Frody’s appearance today? An untimely confession of his heart soon ensued.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll have to wait for you to get used to me… so I don’t know what I should do.”

Although he was expressing it in a pretty roundabout way, he was without a doubt, complaining about it being difficult. This man is seriously a master at shaking people’s hearts… even if I didn’t think he was cute, seeing him with this sort of appearance made me even more helpless against him.

“Lecht…”

I placed my hand over his hand which was stroking my cheek. Even though my hand was so small it was simply too ridiculous to cover his large hand, he paused in his actions at my touch.

Looking at him staring down at me with such profound eyes, I inhaled deeply and opened my mouth. “You know, we…”

Then.

“Saintess!”

“Ara!”

Linden was running along with the three priests from the end of the corridor. Surprised, I turned my head, Lecht’s hand naturally slipping off from my body.

Although it was a pity that I had missed the opportunity to talk to him properly, upon seeing them running toward me in such a hurry, I promised that I’d continue the conversation with him next time. Lecht also took a step back, as if he had caught my meaning.

“What’s wrong everyone?”

“There’s something ridiculous going on in the town square!”

“I have a way to catch that woman!”

They all spat out in unison, as if they had only been waiting for me to ask. The Priest Trio looked both shocked and dumbfounded, while Linden seemed rather excited. 

“Something ridiculous? And a way to catch Olivia?”

Perhaps because they were all talking about the same thing, they appointed Linden to talk on behalf of them. “That woman succeeded in curing the epidemic.”

“What…?”

“It isn’t just one or two people either, but dozens of them, so I can’t even say it’s a coincidence either.”

My eyes were even wider than they were before. “That’s ridiculous…”

It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t even continue to speak. Even if the wounds that are caused by the disease can be healed, diseases such as infectious diseases themselves could not be healed with the divine power of Solarism. 

It was because of the characteristics of the divine power, so words like, ‘because she’s the Saintess’, and ‘because I have more divine power that’s purer’ wouldn’t make sense. It was like treating a burn with advanced hemostasis.

“Right? Isn’t it ridiculous? How can the divine power of Solarism purify it?”

“The High Priest of Solarism is always saying things like, ‘There must be a mistake,’ and, ‘Diseases are normally like bruises in the body, so the divine power of Solarism should be fine,’ but he’s clearly just full of crap!”

“Doesn’t this seem rather fishy? I can’t make sense of it at all in my head. How is this the divine power of Solarism?”

The trio of priests, who did not know that Olivia was a fake saintess, were rather passionate about this dumbfounding and stuffed up situation.

“It’s a situation where the High Priest of Solarism and their priests are taking care of people in the town square. That’s why the situation has been completely reversed.” Linden, who knew Olivia was the fake saintess despite not knowing who Frody was, added quietly. “She probably wasn’t aware that she couldn’t cure the disease with the divine power of Solarism, and ended up blindly healing people with the unknown power she uses.”

It must have been a mistake since she had never actually used real divine power before. It was about the same level, no, even more fruitless and absurd than the incident where my peppermint tea had suddenly turned into chamomile tea. 

“Huu…”

That’s why they say you’ll get caught if your tail is too long¹. 

When I was at such a loss for words because of how absurd the situation was, Linden smiled and said what I wanted to say instead. “She dug her own grave.”

In any case… looks like I’ll be able to blow my nose without even lifting a hand²?

[1] if you keep doing something no matter how quietly you try to do it, in the end you will be caught. there are no secrets that can be kept forever.

[2] 손도 안 대고 코 풀게 생겼는데 = take it easy without lifting a finger

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guys… i think i’m falling for lecht all over again QAQ
the way he’s so soft and yielding to ara AHHHHH plus the consideration and communication too PLEASE JUST GET TOGETHER ARLEADY PLS SPARE US