Category: I Became a Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel

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

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Kelber, who was lying next to me with his chin resting on my lap, opened his eyes to look up at me, as if he was happy to hear my voice. He closed his eyes again as I continued to pat his heads, occasionally whining and sniffing with his nose.

“Going home.”

“Oh… so you live in the East. Whereabouts in the East?”

“…”

He remained silent. 

Did you want me to guess or something? The capital of the Bakarta Empire lay more in the northwest than in the center, so when it came to the ‘East’, it encompassed quite a large amount of territories. There were such a large amount of areas that it became quite difficult to guess.

“It’s a place you’d like.”

“Me?”

Why is that? Is there a beach? Or a place with a beautiful night view? Are there a lot of restaurants? Or maybe there are a lot of attractions there too?

“A place with a good view of the galaxy, and lots of animals.”

“Wow, really?”

Then yes, you’re right! A place I’d like! Of all the scenic views, I especially liked looking at the night sky, and among all the things I liked, I especially liked animals as well.

“I really want to go there at least once.”

“You can come.”

“Psh, how could it be as easy as that?”

I had to get certified as a saintess, find the cheat, and flee as well… hmm, well, fleeing the country is temporarily on hold.

t/n: i’m changing the translation of spirit previously to cheat since i’m not even sure if it is a spirit and cheat is more ambiguous.

Regarding that, I was going to speak to the high priest about that after my confirmation as saintess. Wouldn’t you believe a prophecy of invasion if it was given by god? Or would I be punished for using god’s name in vain? But wouldn’t that be better than suffering from the demon invasion anyway?

“If you’re the owner of that thing, then…”

Lecht said softly to me, who was still lost in my own trivial thoughts. 

“I’m thinking of taking you there.”

“To your house?”

“Yes.”

The look in Lecht’s eyes as he gazed at me deepened for an instant. A spark appeared in those golden eyes I liked so much. 

“Lecht and the butler as well. Are you inwardly Lunarism fanatics?”

“…”

“Since I’ll monopolize your house if it really turns out that I am the saintess you know.”

Even though it felt like it was a result of fanaticism since I was the saintess, completely devoid of romantic air, it still didn’t feel too bad.

“That’s fine though. A believer like Lecht should be monopolized as much as possible.”

Even though he had a cold expression on his face, there would be no one else who could take care of others so well. He was also skilled in martial arts, so he’d protect me if anything happens.

Huh…? Come to think of it, didn’t I have Lecht…?

At that moment, a brilliant thought flashed through my mind.

“Lecht!”

I quickly reached out and clasped his hand. Lecht looked at me with wide eyes as Kelber suddenly woke up with a whine, perhaps because he was startled by the sudden noise.

“If I’m confirmed to be a saintess, you’ll protect me, right?”

“…”

“No matter what happens, you’ll protect me, right?”

To think that I was so anxious about the invasion with such a talented person by my side! How pathetic! 

Although I felt bad since it felt like I was taking advantage of his abilities by capitalizing off the fact that I was the saintess, Lecht was a fanatic believer anyway, so as long as he was, it should be fine. It didn’t seem like he’d hate it either.

“If something dangerous happens, or even if the whole world is overturned on its head! Even so, protecting the saintess can surely prove that you’re an extremely devoted believer, right?”

I gently fanned his ego and devotedness to the faith and eagerly held his hand in order to prevent him from hitting me if he caught onto what I was saying.

As I looked at him with twinkling eyes, he, who was speechless for a while, slowly stretched out his hand that was not being held by me. His hand touched my face and slowly swept my hair back, like a stream of water flowing backwards. The feeling of his fingers brushing through my blue hair was warm.

“I will give my all just to protect you.”

His replying voice was much deeper than usual. He combed his fingers through my hair and whispered in an ardent voice, as if he had been completely soaked in salt water.

“Whether it be my life or my soul.”

My heart began to pound in an instant at his expression that had softened slightly, different to his usual cold expression. 

No, I didn’t mean for you to stake everything like this though…

His words which were clearly very burdensome came to me in a bewildered flusteredness. As a believer, those words were just onces of faith to the saintess, but I kept assuming it to mean something different because of his languid voice.

Badump, badump, badump, badump, badump. My heart, you’ve worked hard today as well.

“Nothing will harm you with me by your side, so don’t worry.”

It was the moment I gained a reliable escort knight. 

But of course, the fact that I felt more of a ticklish and heart pounding feeling rather than a reassured feeling was a secret I kept only to myself.

* * *

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“Saintess—! Our pretty saintess has arrived—!”

A cheerful voice calling to me echoed through the streets as soon as I got off the carriage.

“This way, Saintess! We’ve got the best room here, all cleaned up and blessed already!”

Wait, cleaning is understandable, but is it necessary for it to be blessed?

“We’ve also prepared the fruits that you like! Oh, you must be hungry so should we have dinner first? Vegetables, meat, fish, everything is possible!”

I burst into laughter at those words that seemed to belong to a hawker at a street market.

This feels surprisingly good after you get used to it though? Feeling happy over the affection that they poured on to me, I laughed and followed after them.

“As long as I can eat together with the priests, anything is fine.”

“Heok! Please give me a warning if you’re going to say something that will make my heart race!”

“Huhhhh… As expected, the saintess’s words can even heal hearts…”

Now I could roughly figure out each of their temperaments. A priest with many tears, a priest with a loud voice, and a priest who prefers to show through his actions rather than words. Although they were all at different ages, apparently they had been appointed as priests in the same year. 

When I entered the lodging, the high priest, Lydia, was there waiting for me as well.

“Am I late?”

“That’s not the case. I just arrived in advance since I had something I had to prepare.”

We sat around a large table and made plans for the future. It was about the procedures that were needed to certify the saintess, specifically regarding tomorrow’s itinerary where we would be going to the temple.

In any case, I was still going to the temple, so the destination had remained the same, but somehow, it had become a trip with a very different resolution from what had been decided at the beginning of the trip.

Of course, it’s not like I hated it. Naturally, it was fine.

“And that guy said, ‘Well, the saintess ate his soup first’! That’s wrong, she clearly had my bread first!”

“By dipping the bread in the soup, obviously the soup hits the tastebuds first!”

“She obviously went to grab my bread first! Then obviously my bread would come first! The soup is also impossible to eat without my bread!”

“Pfft, were you guys still fighting over that?”

I was here with these cheerful people who showered me with affection over every single little action of mine.

“Miss, here’s a napkin.” (Tanma)

“Woof!”

There’s also a butler, who takes care of me like this, and also an adorable Kelber who only follows after me.

“It’s hot since it won’t cool off. Drink this.”

There’s even Lecht, a believer who’d even risk his own life to protect me, so how could I not be happy?

* * * 

The mountain road from Chivan Village to the temple was even steeper than I expected. There wasn’t a separately paved road, nor was there a road formed by the frequent commute of people.

Due to this, it was such a rough climb to the extent that even believers who had heard of the abandoned temple didn’t come and find it, thus leaving it neglected.

“Kyaaa!”

“Woof!”

Lecht grabbed me when my feet slipped on something that was collapsing. Although I was a little flustered since what he had grabbed onto was my waist.

“Thanks.”

“It’s dangerous.”

He tightened his grip on my waist as if he was trying to say it was alright, even if I fell again. In a daze, I swayed in his arms in an ambiguous state, one that wasn’t fully in his embrace, nor was it one where I was pushing him away either.

“It’ll be uncomfortable to walk like this…”

That was the only thing that came to my mind as an excuse.

Well, I truly meant it, to a certain extent at least. How am I meant to walk if you hold me like this? It’s impossible to walk backwards like this too. 

While I was being indecisive about this and that, Lecht released his grip on me. Although it was a pity that the warmth disappeared, before that feeling could even settle in my heart, Lecht suddenly kneeled on one knee with his back toward me.

His back was the widest back of a man I had ever seen. I wasn’t so slow that I didn’t understand that his gesture clearly implied for me to get on his back.

“You don’t have to do this…! I can walk by myself.”

Of course, even though I had slipped at a rate of five times per minute, I still hadn’t fallen yet. 

I tapped him on the back to indicate for him to get up, but he didn’t budge.

“Get on his back, Miss.”

Tanma said softly as he approached me.

“It’s fi…”

“Oh, you fell? What if you sprained your ankle!”

He spoke with a loud voice that wasn’t appropriate for the situation, one sentence after the other. As soon as he did so, one of the priests who had gone ahead shouted.

“What did you say?! Our saintess sprained her ankle?!”

“Argh!!! This damn mountain ridge!”

“That’s why we said one of us should carry you!”

I glared at Tanma at the sight of them panicking all over the place. He did that on purpose. Just listen to them! However, Tanma was just smiling proudly, as if my glare didn’t even sting his eyes.

“The priests are worried. Please get on.”

Tanma guided me to Lecht’s back with both hands. It’s not like you can say ‘Please get on the carriage’. Can a butler do that? Isn’t Lecht your boss? What if you get in trouble later?

Words of protest bubbled up my throat, but only a sigh escaped from my lips. I should’ve felt annoyed, but his smile was so pleased that it felt embarrassing for me to get angry.

“Then, excuse me.”

I covered Lecht’s back with my body. I felt warm, as if I was lying on a fluffy sofa, his cool scent enveloping me. 

He rose up from his position with his hands under my thighs and my knees. He supported me firmly so that no strength would be exerted from my arms, which were hanging around his neck.

I was worried that he’d be able to feel my heart that was touching his back speed up. However, I didn’t want to move away and lose the warmth that was transmitted through the touching of our bodies. 

With every step he took, we moved up and down slightly, his body temperature giving me a sense of stability that went beyond warmth.

“This is nice…”

Since he was giving me a piggyback ride anyways, I rested my face against him. As I buried my cheek into the nape of his neck, his refreshing scent permeated deeper into my lungs.

“I feel like I’m only ever receiving things from Lecht, so I’m sorry.”

“Not at all.”

He immediately responded to my small apology.

“There’s absolutely no problem with this.”

At the quick reply, I smiled and whispered.

“Why? Is it because I’m the saintess?”

Lowering my head further, I buried my face further into his neck.

“Even though I didn’t expect it from you, you’re surprisingly religious.”

The fact that he’d be extremely faithful in trusting god with such a serious and cold expression wasn’t consistent at all. Just based on the aura he exuded, I didn’t think he’d be someone of extremely strong faith. It was more likely for him to be a god. 

I guess it’s lucky for me to be Lunarism’s saintess, otherwise I’d receive the same treatment as Linden, right? Would you change my treatment to that if I was confirmed not to be the saintess?

Although I didn’t think that would happen, I became upset for no reason. Although it’s touching when someone who normally isn’t nice treats you warmly, a person who changes after being good to you for a while is even worse.

“I hope I can quickly confirm that I’m the saintess soon.”

I hoped that even this slight anxiety would disappear quickly. As if he was cheering my heart on, I felt Lecht’s arm which was holding me tighten its grip a little. 

“So that I can use Lecht as an escort knight.”

When I added that on at the end playfully, I could hear Lecht smirk— no, laugh.

After that, it was silent. There was only the sound of the rustling of fallen leaves as we stepped on them, all the way until we arrived at the temple. 

But there was no awkwardness at all.

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short chapter but hope u enjoyed it ^^

the three musketeer priests as comedic relief tho >>>

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

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In the awkward silence that followed, only Kelber’s whine could be heard.

I carefully ruminated over what I’d say upon seeing the dazed expression on his face.

“Ignore my useless words. I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

To start off, I thought I should begin with consoling him, since it seemed like the cause of his spilled tears was me.

I stretched out my hand toward his face. His tears streamed down my thumb as I tried to wipe them away from his eyes.

Linden slipped away from me and hurriedly turned his head away, as if he had just noticed that there were tears in his eyes. Although his tears were quickly wiped away, the tip of his nose, which had turned red from crying, was particularly conspicuous due to his pale face.

Although I did feel a bit sorry for him, he looked so much like Rudolph that I ended up laughing out loud.

Since even he, as a schemer, had already expressed his true feelings to me, I also thought that I should be honest with him as well.

“I’m not sure if you know, but I genuinely wish for your peace and happiness.”

It had been that way ever since I read the novel.

Linden was an extremely pitiful second male lead.

It was to the extent where I had suddenly wondered, wouldn’t it be okay to make him a little happier too?

I hoped that the rays of happiness would reach him as well, even if it was only something trivial.

However, if the Goddess of Happiness really doesn’t intend to walk beside him, even if it’s just for a moment, then…

“So that’s what I’m saying. Go back to your grandfather.”

Since it was such a miserable fate, the Goddess of Regret and Misery should at least leave him alone.

“Doesn’t your grandfather come looking for you every time he collapses? Hmm?”

I reached out again in the direction of Linden, who still didn’t budge. I gently brushed my hand through his messy hair.

“Go and check up on your grandfather’s health and keep him company too.”

“Haa… Do you know how contradictory your words are right now?”

“Are they?”

I wasn’t sure what the contradiction was though. All I knew was that he would regret it later if he didn’t go back now.

“Meliara. Show that to me again.”

“Huh? That?”

He suddenly said something totally unrelated whilst the topic was on going back to his grandfather.

“The cluster of lights you create with your powers.”

It was a rather meaningless and purposeless request. It was also extremely out of the blue.

However, although I was puzzled by it, it wasn’t a difficult request for me to fulfill, so I held out my palm.

Soon after, small balls of light sprung up from the palm of my hand. They, who had seemed like balls of moonlight at night, now seemed like dandelion spores during the day.

The cluster of lights left me and went over to Linden’s outstretched palm.

They sprinted up Linden’s arm in a frenzy, as if exclaiming, ‘I know this guy! It’s a kid we know!’. The rays of light that had wrapped around Linden’s arms and upper body soon scattered all over the place.

Linden watched the whole process silently.

“You know.”

He cut off my words and said, perhaps to ask me to make more.

“You didn’t ask me for a reason earlier.”

“Reason? Oh, the reason why you wanted me to make it for you?”

“Yeah.”

“That… isn’t it because it doesn’t matter what the reason is?”

It’s not like you can hurt me with the light I made. And it’s not like it’s that hard for me to do either. Couldn’t I just show it to you since for whatever reason, you wanted to see it?

While I muttered softly under my breath, he added.

“It might not be a big deal to you, but for me, it’s something I need. Then, shouldn’t you use that to get something from me in return?”

“Psh, no way. How are you meant to live if you judge everything in the world like that?”

“I did.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ve lived like that all my life. It wouldn’t be a big deal to me, but after discovering what the other person needed, I’d keep it in my hand, make a deal, and take what was beneficial for me from them.”

No, because why are you suddenly revealing yourself to be a schemer now? The person listening is getting flustered.

“That’s right, it wouldn’t have been a big deal for you to make these lights. But I was desperate for it.”

I could vaguely see now that he wasn’t talking. That night under the moonlight where he had looked fragile. It was clear that he was referring to the day I had constantly used up my divine power.

“I’ve always had to calculate, had to pay a price, and had to be shunned.”

“…”

The following words suddenly reminded me of a paragraph from the novel.

<He, who was always shunned, was always lacking somewhere. Rather than becoming numb to the rejection, his fear of it grew instead.>

And the reason he was drawn to the Saintess, Olivia.

<That’s why he was drawn to Olivia. Because other than his grandfather, she was the only one who didn’t shut him down for no reason.>

“You’re the first one. The first person who treated me like this, regardless of how much I could give you.”

<“You are the first person who has not calculated over what benefit you could steal from me, or what profit could be gained if you sold me.”>

“Oh.”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

It wasn’t a grand enough confession for it to be called a love confession, but it was still without a doubt, Linden’s sincerity.

I knew because I had already read it.

As much as when he said those words to Olivia, it was said that it was an emotion that came from the bottom of his heart, one without any gimmick or mask. It was said to be the moment when he revealed his bare face, the one which he was the most embarrassed of.

A childish face came to mind.

“If there was another reason why I didn’t want to go back right now that I haven’t said yet… then you probably would’ve made me go back in return for creating that light for me.”

His words made me tilt my head.

“Isn’t that a little out of the question?”

Both were beneficial to him.

One was that he would be able to stand guard by his grandfather’s deathbed, and the other was…

Come to think of it, why did you like my cluster of lights so much? Talking about it had made me curious to know the answer.

Is it because they’re pretty? Because they’re warm?

I decided that I’d ask him that next, but he cut in first.

“It’s not. Since they’re both things that would only benefit me.”

“So?”

He smiled at my response, as if he understood me perfectly. It was a smile full of despondency.

“It’s hard. People who can’t be calculative.”

“Hmm?”

“Apart from my grandfather and mother, this is the first time someone has treated me so sincerely.”

He slowly reached out and grabbed my hand.

“It’s really hard.”

I find it hard to scheme and calculate everything like you though…

He looked down at the hand holding mine tightly and finally said, “Okay. I’ll go and see my grandfather.”

“Really? Good choice!”

After talking round and round in circles, he finally chose to go back home.

I smiled broadly with joy. Linden also allowed a faint smile upon seeing mine.

“You only told me to go back solely for my peace of mind, and not with any other secret motives, right?”

“Yep.”

“Since those are your sincere feelings.”

“Yep!”

I nodded my head repeatedly at his words that continuously hit the mark.

He smiled, as if he thought my indignation was cute, and pulled the hand that he was holding and brought it to his mouth.

Chuu—

His lips touched my fingers.

I stiffened due to the sudden contact and his eyes crinkled into crescent moons, as if he enjoyed my reaction, adding with a smile.

“It seems like I’ll end up doting on you at this rate.”

“H-Huh…?

There seems to be something strange about the flow of this story…?

It was when a flustered noise came out of my throat.

There was a sudden hand gripping his wrist. Then, it gently wrapped around my hand after taking it out of Linden’s grip, as if protecting it.

“If you’re done talking, then we should leave now.”

Lecht turned his back toward Linden and faced me. 

He, who had been the exact one to separate the two of us, wrapped his hand around my hand which had just been held by Linden.

My hand fit right into his.

He wasn’t even a professional basketball player, so what were his hands so big for… or was it just my hands that were small…

He started rubbing his thumb against the back of my hand. 

It was a slow and meticulous caress.

“We still have a long way to go. We’ll have to depart now in order to get to Chivan in time.”

It would be a different story if we were just going by ourselves, but the fact that we had already arranged an appointment with the Moon God’s high priestess and priests would make it rather troublesome.

However, my worries weren’t on the time, but rather, my hands.

“Th-That’s right… we should go…”

His touch, which had started with the back of my hand, was now touching my fingers. 

As if he were trying to wipe something off of it.

My heart fluttered for no reason because of the size of his large hands, but my heart became even louder when he began to rub my hands with his long fingers.

Although I was flustered, I was also happy at the same time, so I just left my hand to him and merely satisfied myself with wiggling my toes in my shoes.

I wasn’t even aware of why the tips of my toes would curl at the tingling sensation whenever I touched his hand.

“That’s why I told you to go intervene earlier. Saying I’m not sure, I have to wait for the temple, it was out of place… now someone else has cut in line, cut in line for that pretty hand. Tsk tsk.”

It seemed like Tanma was murmuring and clicking his tongue next to me.

Was it just me or were the shoulders of Lecht, whose gaze was still on the hand that was rubbing me, drooping lower and lower?

“I really don’t understand this guy either.”

Linden’s voice, which came from behind Lecht’s back, quickly brought me back to my senses. 

I hurriedly pulled my hand out. I quickly hid my hand behind my back, flustered that I was enjoying his touch.

“W-Well then, Linden! I guess we’re going to have to go our separate ways here!”

I looked for Linden, who was meant to be right next to me. Lecht, who seemed to be immovable, unexpectedly moved aside. 

Although it wasn’t that he completely moved aside, rather half his back still covered me when facing Linden.

“You’ll make it safely to the capital, right?”

“Meliara, how old do you think I am?”

“Oh, was it useless for me to worry? Haha.”

Although I laughed awkwardly, I still honestly couldn’t help but worry. He was a prince who didn’t know where or how his enemies were hiding.

“Are you coming back to the capital after you finish what you’re doing?”

I flinched at Linden’s question. 

I was thinking of fleeing the country by using that excuse though… Well, I guess I can only say goodbye to fleeing the country now, since I’ve got the whole saintess of the Moon God thing going on.

‘What about the demon invasion?’

Should I at least let Linden know too? Tell him to get ready? He’d look at me like I was a crazy woman though. 

How did Linden die again? Should I go back for a while to prevent him from dying? There was no way I’d be able to save the whole capital anyway, so shouldn’t I just try and protect the people who are important to me?

As my complex thoughts continued, I heard Linden’s voice again.

“Don’t tell me, are you thinking of never coming back again?”

I waved my hand in surprise at the shocked expression on his face.

“No, it’s not like that! Of course not!”

I couldn’t bear to upset a handsome man, so I hurriedly tried to explain.

“It’s because I was thinking of traveling. That’s why I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm.”

I smiled and nodded at Linden double checking again. I hoped that my smile looked convincing.

“Thank goodness.”

He seemed to retreat with a small mumble, but stopped and looked back at me.

“Meliara.”

“Huh?”

He let out a groan, pondering for a moment, and then asked.

“When we meet again, can I call you ‘Ara’?”

I was wondering what you were going to ask me.

“Of course.”

There was no reason for me to refuse him calling me by my real name.

Linden smiled brightly, as if he liked that answer.

“Okay! Thanks!”

It was the first time I had seen such a pure and bright smile of his.

*** 

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

When the original party of three was reduced to only two, the carriage suddenly felt exceptionally spacious. There was only an awkward silence that made me wonder if I should have asked the butler to ride with us.

‘Seems like I had a lot to talk about with Linden…’

I felt his absence belatedly. How pleasant and comfortable it was to talk with Linden. 

Of course, it wasn’t as if I hated the situation now. 

Lecht, who watched the scenery passing by with his chin in his hands, leaning against the window, gave off the flavor of sightseeing. 

Even while his head was turned at an angle. Even while he had an unreadable expression on his face. The sharp jawline and sleek neckline that fell below the silver hair. Eyes that were clear, yet not stiff.

Somehow, he was a man whose Adam’s apple was even a cause of envy.

However, the most attractive of them all were those gold eyes of his.

“What is Lecht going to the East for?”

After watching him for a while, I decided to try my luck when the silence became too heavy.

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omg crying rn i missed this story i love my two boys and girlboss meliara ;-;

linden & lecht are both having rlly good moments rn so IM LOVING THE TRIANGLE HGLDSIKFJFD i just know there will be angst later on tho QAQ

honorable mentions this chapter include:

“i’m going to end up doting on you at this rate.” AHHHHH ?????!!!!

also lecht’s very obvious display of ownership and skinship hGSHDFKLDSFJDSJ ㅜㅜ #singledog

the author fleshing out linden’s character as well !!!! was living for his backstory and how his calculations and scheming personality is a byproduct of his environment, BUT it was v touching to see how his grandpa and mother still tried to raise him with love && affection WE LOVE TO SEE IT

BUT NOW my guess is that we’ll finally delve more into what lies in the abandoned temple, lecht and meliara’s past (or not past???) and lecht’s character as well now that linden’s out of the picture (which i’m VERY MUCH looking forward to hehehehe)

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

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pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“Oh my, what is this?”

After receiving a warm send off from the villagers when leaving the inn, I unknowingly spoke in a friendly tone to the object in front of me.

“I changed the carriage to a more comfortable one since you said the previous one was too uncomfortable.”

Tanma explained with a smile.

“I think this will definitely be more comfortable, but…”

Was this really a ‘carriage’…?

What was standing in front of me was far from what I knew a carriage to be.

First, there were no wheels. There were no horses either. There were only two slugs that were bigger than most cows, carrying what seemed to be a ride which looked around the size of a house.

‘I don’t even know which part I’m meant to be shocked at.’

The enormous size of the slugs? That there were no wheels? The fact that there were no horses yet it was still called a ‘carriage’?

Perhaps I wasn’t as shocked since this was after I had already met Kelber. 

A slug harnessed sedan chair… 

Yeah, well… something like that could exist too!

This is a world where my hair is blue and Linden’s hair is pink. Magic and divine power are a reality as well.

“Oh, this seems to be the first time you’ve seen a carriage like this! Fufu. It’s a local specialty of our region. It would be rare for you to see it in the capital.”

Tanma said proudly.

“Despite its appearance, it’s still extremely fast.”

The snails…?

“Ohhh, right.”

Although what he said was unbelievable, I had no choice but to believe it since the person who had used it before said so.

“As long as Young Miss just rides it once, you’ll also get drunk on the feeling and only be able to use this as your sole means of transportation from there on. Fufufu.”

He kept smiling, as if he were absorbed in bragging about his local specialty.

Unable to find a proper response, I smiled awkwardly and walked toward the slug. The feeling of seeing such a large slug was different compared to those that were the size of my finger.

I carefully stretched out a finger and stroked the slug.

‘I thought it would be extremely sticky and slippery, but…’

It was extremely different to what I had imagined it would feel like. Perhaps the feeling of a plate that has just been cleaned? Furthermore, the long antennae that were wiggling toward me were…

“So cute…!”

It was obviously much cuter than I thought…?!

I thought I only liked furry animals, but that clearly wasn’t the case. 

I liked everything, as long as it was cute! There was no helping it, even if I was a face dog¹! How could you not like something when you see something this cute?

I hugged the slug’s neck tightly while I was at it. I felt like I was hugging a soft leather pillow…!

“Hugging you feels different to hugging Kelber too!”

Linden approached me when I was in a good mood while rubbing my face against it for no reason.

“You used to hate things like that.”

“Huh? Me?”

“You said you didn’t like things like animals. Since you couldn’t stay presentable.”

So Meliara was someone who didn’t understand the loveliness of animals. 

What a shame!

“I decided to reconsider it again. Since there are no children who will give you an infinite amount of affection like these babies will.”

Animals will be the only ones who will trust you and love you unconditionally without calculating like humans do.

“Even though I’m not sure about the sophisticated cats or birds…”

Linden looked at the slug and I with a complicated expression on his face.

“This sort of horse…”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“What a thoughtless dog…”

Kelber, who had rushed to my side at some point, tugged on my clothes, as if he didn’t want me to only hug the slug.

“You’re very pretty as well. You’re cuter than every other puppy, so don’t worry.”

I stroked all three of Kelber’s heads with as much affection as I gave to the slug. It was more accurate for me to say that the three of them just shoved their heads underneath my hands, one after the other, without needing me to move them at all.

“Sure enough, you’ve changed.”

“…”

Damn it. I told you not to say that since it stings my conscience.

As I tried to sneakily avoid Linden’s sharp questioning, Lecht came toward me at a good time.

“Let’s go.”

“You’ve finished talking?”

I saw that he had been having a very serious conversation with the priests earlier.

“We decided that we’d travel separately first and then meet at Chiban Village.”

Although his tone was stiff, I smiled, knowing that it was one of Lecht’s charming points.

“But isn’t the temple there an abandoned temple? Is doing it there fine too?”

One of the procedures I had to undergo in order to confirm whether I was a saintess or not was to check my reaction with the holy objects in every temple. Of course, the temple I was going to was the closest temple of the moon god.

“Apparently it wasn’t that they were specifically shut down, but rather that there wasn’t a sufficient number of new priests to be dispatched to it instead.”

“Oh…”

That seemed like a rather painful topic… I didn’t know they had to leave the temple unattended due to a lack of priests…

“But what about that holy thing?”

Since that was the same place I was going to find the spirit… could that perhaps be…?

‘No way, the temple wouldn’t only have holy objects, so both the holy objects and the spirit could be there too.’

…or was it too naive for me to think so?

‘If the spirit is a holy object, am I going to have to steal it sneakily?’

Wouldn’t that obviously cause a big problem…?

But I had to go to the temple first to see whether or not it was actually a holy object.

“What were you going to say?”

“Haha, it’s nothing!”

“?”

“Then, shall we continue on our way?”

I switched the topic.

As I headed for the carriage, Lecht, who was standing next to the carriage door, reached his hand out toward me. 

The rather large hand put me into a good mood for no reason, so I smiled brightly and grabbed onto it. My body floated without needing my feet to touch the foothold, and I landed easily in the carriage.

“According to what the butler said, this carriage will reduce my motion sickness, so we can head to Chiban Village without stopping…”

“Your Highness!”

…or so I thought, but now what? The heads of Lecht, Linden, and myself, all turned toward the people who were running toward us.

“Now what sort of fuss are you making?”

When Linden scolded him with a hint of anxiety in his voice, the knight tried to talk while taking a breather.

“The Head of the Ezzarson Guild has collapsed.”

“What…?”

The news he had delivered explained why he had run to us so hurriedly. 

Linden’s face hardened. I bit my lip as I watched his pale face turn aghast.

‘I forgot. That Linden’s grandfather would pass away around this time.’

I had gotten caught up in so many incidents that I had missed out on this important fact.

“Is it his respiratory problem again?”

“It may be because of that, but apparently a heart attack has also come along with it.”

The knight bowed his head with an apologetic look on his face. 

A tendon could be seen sticking out of Linden’s fist which was clenched tightly together. As he looked at the ground with an expression that seemed to say he was preoccupied with many thoughts, his face grew darker and darker.

Then he took a heavy step toward me.

“Let’s go. If we drag our feet any longer, we’ll be late to our appointed time.”

My eyes grew wider at his response.

“You’re not going to go back?”

They just said that his grandfather had collapsed. Wasn’t that also a complication?! This could probably wait until tomorrow. But you said that you’re going to continue on with us to the temple instead of going back to your grandfather?

“This sort of thing has happened a lot before. It’ll be fine.”

He placed his foot on the foothold of the carriage as he said so. However, I used my whole body to block his path into the carriage.

“Meliara…”

He looked up at me with a voice that seemed to have lost all its strength.

“Go back to your grandfather.”

“…I said it’s fine.”

“It’s not very convincing for you to say that with a face that obviously screams that it’s not okay.”

His shoulders flinched at my point. 

How could I possibly not know when a guy, who normally hides his own feelings, is revealing his inner feelings so clearly to me?

“Linden.”

I called his name softly. As if his appearance was one that seemed to be standing precariously on a bridge that was about to break soon, I reached out and held onto his hand.

“Haa… I was going to let it go since I thought it was just me being too self-absorbed, but as expected, I can’t.”

“…What?”

“The reason you’re following us to the East, it’s because of me, right?”

“…I told you, it isn’t.”

Although he still denied it, I continued to reply truthfully after a beat.

“Since I had my engagement broken off with the Crown Prince, you’re accompanying me in order to ensnare me because you think I’ll be an advantageous chess piece you can use if I turn to your side, right?”

Whether I had truly hit the mark with my point or not, his expression was one that was filled with helplessness. 

It was normally extremely difficult to read his facial expression, but I was able to read his mind immediately because of the mess his mind was in right now. That’s how much I could tell the news of his grandfather had shaken him. 

“Linden.”

“…I told you, it isn’t.”

Like a child who had just been scolded, he bowed his head and gripped my hand tightl, repeating the same words under his breath over and over again.

“I’ve been disowned.”

I decided to inform him openly of my situation. 

At that, Linden’s head whipped up as fast as a flash of lightning. His eyes which were round like saucers, seemed to be extremely shocked.

“If you were a little more quick-witted and observant, you might have guessed it, just from the fact that I had been walking around like this without a single maid or escort. Or maybe you’ve already done a background check on me, I don’t know.”

“…I haven’t done one though.”

Whether or not I had hit the mark again, his shoulders flinched once again, but he still successfully managed to find a response.

“The Duke said that he’d erase my name from the Duchy’s genealogy because I made the Duchy into a joke. So I told him to go ahead and do it.”

“You actually agreed to that..?”

“Yep. Even if I tried to cling onto it, nothing would change in the end anyway.”

This wasn’t something I said just because I knew the ending was doomed. 

After her engagement was broken off and she had been abandoned by that faction, there was no family that was willing to offer a marriage to her unless they wanted to lose access to the temple or no longer be able to show their faces in society. 

There wasn’t even a chance for her to become the next Duke since there was also a successful older brother before her. 

There was no point in remaining in the Duchy too, since even if she lived off of them for a while, there was no future there other than being a lonely loser.

“Since I didn’t need the Duchy either, I didn’t have any other reason to remain in the Duchy too, so I thought now would be a timely opportunity for me to try and live the life of someone who wasn’t a princess. So I decided to take a trip to the East.”

I couldn’t exactly say, ‘I’m going to flee the country!’, so I just smiled and packaged my words prettily. 

Linden looked at me without speaking. Those eyes of his were full of confusion.

“That’s why, Linden. It’s a waste of your time to try and use me as a political chess piece.”

“…”

“I’m sorry for only telling you now. I was going to tell you last time, but then you said that you were going because of something else instead, so…”

He, who had prepared a bunch of excuses, shut his mouth, wondering if there was a need for him to pull them apart.

But the situation is different now. 

He might not even be able to stand guard by his grandfather’s deathbed. Yet he was still trying to capture the useless, good-for-nothing me.

“So go back. Your grandfather, I’m sure he misses you.”

I whispered with an apologetic heart. 

Instead of answering, he just held my hand even tighter. It felt like a request for courage. 

He started to talk after a moment of silence.

“I’m not sticking close to you just because you’re a princess.”

“…?”

“At least not now.”

“…”

When I didn’t reply, he added, “I’m really not.”

I wasn’t able to easily believe what he said, since I knew all too well how thoroughly he had been moving in order to bring down the crown prince. 

I was flustered and rather pitied his attempts at presenting himself nicely, even in this situation.

“Linden, you don’t have to put so much effort in front of me.”

I tried to speak as gently as possible.

“I don’t have a grudge against you, nor am I trying to find any fault in you. I’m not even blaming you.”

How could I possibly blame you when it was your background that made you like this? You’re just as much of a victim as well.

“You don’t even have enough time to give to those who will be of help to you and those who are precious to you, yet you put so much effort into me and aren’t afraid you’ll miss your time with them.”

“…”

“I don’t know what exact thoughts you had when you approached me, and what you’re trying to get through me.”

I’m only trying to make a vague guess of it.

“But what I want to say is, it doesn’t matter what it is.”

“…”

“I’m saying this because I feel sorry that you’ve wasted your time.”

“…No.”

Linden, who had only bowed his head and said nothing for a long time, whispered quietly.

“Huh?”

“You’re not wasting my time.”

When I asked again since I couldn’t hear what he said very well, he raised his head and looked up at me. I inhaled sharply when I finally checked his expression.

The tip of his nose which was slightly scrunched up was tinged red, and his pretty blue eyes were wet with tears.

“Don’t say that.”

It was an expression that seemed to have genuinely been hurt. The emotions were too deep for me to consider it as an act.

“Don’t talk like you’re just nothing, as if I’m doing something pathetic.”

His eyes were filled with resentment. However, I could also see a great sadness that was even larger than that. 

Just why… What on earth did I say wrong for you to make such an expression, as if you’re a mistress that’s just been abandoned…!?

He added, staring at me with an expression that seemed like his tears were about to fall at any second.

“I decide where my time should be used for it to be the most valuable.”

That voice was clearly choked up, but his tone was firm, without any waver.

“I’ll decide who’s precious to me, so…”

His face was arranged pitifully, and his voice resembled the growling of a beast, so I swallowed loudly, my nerves taut. 

“If you don’t want to see me go crazy, then don’t say such a thing so carelessly.”

Somehow, I felt as if I had touched something of this scheming man’s that I shouldn’t have touched. 

[1] face dog refers to someone who likes [sb/st] based on their appearance

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yandere linden ??? THAT LAST LINE THO ???? second male lead has officially been hooked into meliara’s fanbase

also rlly like how meliara highlighted the fact that linden is a victim too and that he’s just a product of the environment around him and that his behaviour is just a reaction to the schemes he’s had to endure.

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

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“What?”

Lecht replied calmly at the shocked Linden’s question.

“It looks like you’ve been ‘blessed’ by that blonde saintess.”

“…yes.”

All people are born with a vessel for divine power. If that vessel was filled with your own power, then you would have ‘divine power’, and if it was filled with the help of another, then you would receive a ‘blessing’ and become a believer.

Linden was born with an affinity to magic, but lacked an affinity for divine power, so he had been ‘blessed’ directly by the saintess last year. Not because he wanted to become a believer of Solarism, but rather to approach her since he was curious about what sort of woman the woman his older brother liked was like.

Although it wasn’t unusual for a prince to receive a ‘blessing’ from a saintess, when it was pointed out by Lecht, Linden felt as if he had been caught red-handed for no reason.

“That’s not the power of the sun god.”

“Your Excellency.”

Tanma, who was standing silently next to Lecht, intervened. He had an expression that seemed to say that there was no need for him to say that.

“Does he really have to know? In any case, it seems as if Ara cares about this guy.”

“…” 

Linden felt as if those words of his were rather strange as well.

If this man were really interested in Meliara, he would’ve felt displeased with him, who she ‘cared’ for, as well as his claims of her being his ‘most precious friend’. If he were a man, he’d at least be jealous.

However, this man seemed to be someone who was above that. He wasn’t broadminded enough to accept it. Rather, it just seemed so insignificant to the point he didn’t even care about it.

Even though it poked at Linden’s pride, the strange feeling of acceptance surging up in him was still uncomfortable.

“It’s not that I’m disgusted with Solar’s power. They’re just different in nature, since it reflects the power of that god. But that clumsy imitation in your body is disgusting, so empty it out.”

“What you just said… don’t you know that’s a very dangerous statement for you to make?”

It was a statement that claimed that the saintess’s ‘blessing’ was fake.

“Do you think I’d care about that?”

“…”

Lecht, who added indifferently, turned his head back to the door. 

If word of this ever leaked out, he would end up provoking the Temple of the Sun God.

He didn’t care that the Temple would risk their lives to eradicate him?

‘So His Majesty the Emperor hadn’t been saying to be careful for no reason.’

His attitude that seemed to say, ‘what’s the big deal’ was so arrogant that it seemed rather incredible.

“Why are your thoughts like that?”

“It’s just the truth.”

Linden examined Lecht’s expression. This was the first time he had ever seen someone so difficult to read.

‘He doesn’t seem like someone who would lie about something like this.’

He was definitely the sort of man to think that all such schemes and lies would only be committed by insignificant people.

So that meant that that was at least the complete honest truth from that man.

This… needed to be further investigated.

“If you’re curious, how about we start with the situation this time then?”

He added, as if he had read Linden’s thoughts.

“If you’re talking about the situation this time, don’t tell me… the epidemic?”

“I think I’ve given you enough hints with this.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Was it really because Meliara cared about me? 

But no matter how much he thought about it, it was simply too weak of a basis. 

Apart from Meliara, he was a man who had constantly dismissing Linden with the consistent reply of, ‘Why should I?’ to any question until now. It was information that felt to abruptly friendly.

“Because there are many ways to easily get things done without putting in much effort in the world.”

So, if he were to interpret it into his own words, it would be, ‘I want to throw a stone at the saintess, but it’s too much of a hassle, so I’ll just use Linden instead’.

How many people in this world would say that they would use a prince so openly?

Linden didn’t try to pick a fight. Since it’d be really helpful if all of this turned out to be true.

“Thank you for those intriguing words. Please do so again in the future.”

“…Why should I?”

Though he was still an uncooperative man at the end. 

***

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“Linden, what are you thinking so hard about?”

I tapped on the shoulder of Linden, who was staring at the table with a serious expression.

“Oh.”

He looked at me and smiled brightly, as if he were coming to his senses again.

“Just because. I was just thinking that I should probably give the knights a bonus since this situation has occurred.”

“Oh! That’s a good idea. Linden, you’re such a great boss!”

To think that you were a boss who would give bonuses after doing hard work! You knights better take care of Linden properly! Such a boss wasn’t common at all!

Although this wasn’t something I’d receive as well, my mood turned for the better for no reason as I smiled and looked ahead.

The boisterous banquet was in full swing. Not only the restaurants, but places everywhere in the village were currently holding banquets like this.

The theme of such banquets was simple. Appreciating a mundane life. 

Due to the sudden incident that had broken out, everyone was extremely grateful with the lives they had regained, as if they had suddenly realized they had been taking the peace they thought would always be guaranteed for granted.

Although in the end, we still couldn’t figure out what had been the start of the situation in the first place, it was still fortunate that everyone turned out okay anyway.

Just as I was watching the people dance and sing happily while piping my cream beer, the three musketeers suddenly rushed toward me.

“Would you like to dance with us, saintess?”

“The beautiful dance of the beautiful saintess! Hic hic, I might even faint from happiness.”

I waved my hand in refusal as I held in a laugh at their over-exaggerated reactions.

“I appreciate the offer, but I think just sitting here and drinking would be more enjoyable for me.”

I looked shakily at the beer in front of me. The three musketeers that were the priests seemed to think it were a shame, but quickly gave up and left the table.

“Don’t you like dancing? I remember you quite liking it though.”

Linden asked as they left.

“I do like it, but I’m not very good at it.”

When I smiled regretfully, Linden stretched his hand out toward me.

“Then, do you want me to teach you?”

“Although I appreciate the offer, I’ll have to refuse. I’ll become an outlaw who steps on other people’s feet whenever I dance.”

“It’ll be fine if you just learn how to do it properly. No one’s good at doing something right off the bat.”

“I’m always hopeless when it comes to coordinating my body. Won’t I destroy the fantasy of the priests who expect my dancing to be beautiful?”

I turned my head to see that the three musketeers were all shaking their bodies along with the other villagers, perhaps because they were drunk. It looked so amusing that I ended up bursting into laughter.

“It’d even be believable to think that they were laughter evangelists¹ rather than priests of the moon god.”

I would always burst into laughter whenever I was with them. Although most of the instances were rather absurd, the amusing moments far overshadowed them.

I kept watching them with a smile until Linden called out to me again.

“But Meliara.”

“Huh, what is it?”

“You were a believer of Lunarism?”

“Oh…”

Although it was a pretty random question, it was still something he could’ve been curious about.

“I wasn’t, but…”

“Right? Weren’t you originally a believer of Solarism? The entire Duchy believed in the sun god. So how does it make sense for you to become the saintess for the moon god?”

“It was probably because the Duke believed in the sun god. However, I…”

To be more exact, I was a believer of neither the sun or moon god.

“To be more precise, I was agnostic. There wasn’t a particular god I believed in.”

“You didn’t have a particular god you believed in?”

The expression on Linden’s face became peculiar. He was looking at me with a face that seemed to belong to someone whose last piece of meat had been robbed by his best friend.

“Y-Yeah.”

“How could that be?”

“I just… didn’t have one?”

“How?”

I just said that I didn’t have one because I didn’t have one, so how am I supposed to answer you when you ask me how I didn’t have one again…?

“It’s not that I deny the existence of the sun or moon god. I’m not an atheist. Should I say that I’m agnostic² instead, to be more exact? It’s not that I think there’s no god, but rather, I don’t recognise a god?”

At Linden’s expression that seemed as if he had just been broken up with, I hurriedly started to spout gibberish in order to convince him.

“So, it’s more like how could we possibly dare to discern God? How could we possibly define ‘God’ with our standards, or something like that?”

“What are you talking about…”

You’re right. What sort of dog eating grass nonsense³ is this? 

In any case, realizing that my bullshiting couldn’t cure his wounds(?), I hurriedly shouted out.

“It means that the gods in this world are all incredible!”

In order to drive the point home even more, I even gave him a thumbs up, but Linden looked at me with an expression that seemed to say that he couldn’t comprehend what I was doing even more.

It was when I was about to die of embarrassment.

“Pfft.”

I heard a sound of laughter from the other side. 

Wait. The sound of laughter…?

When I turned my head in surprise, there was Lecht, who was sitting next to me, his head turned slightly to the side in order to cover his mouth with his fist.

“Keukeukeuk⁴.”

However, he couldn’t hide the laughter that was flowing out, nor his shoulders that were shaking. His eyes which were folded finely into crescents and the corners of his mouth which were slightly visible above his fist. 

But I was surprised by the easygoing atmosphere around him most of all. 

Wow, to think that was the laughter of an uptight and firm man. It was neither a refreshing or delightful laugh, nor was it an awkward smile either.

It was just a small simple burst of laughter. 

However, it was enough to give my heart a critical hit. This was a seduction that went beyond unexpected charm. 

Standing behind him was Tanma, who also looked at Lecht in surprise, perhaps because this sort of scene couldn’t be seen very often. Even Kelber, who had been dozing off underneath the table, was looking at Lecht with a ‘huh’ sound.

As I stared at his enchanting appearance with my eyes in a daze, his golden eyes met mine. He said to me, still with his fist covering his mouth.

“That’s right, all gods are incredible.”

There was a smile on his face as he said so. My face heated up as I felt a sense of teasing there.

“D-Don’t tease me…!”

Although Linden had been confused and didn’t seem to know what I was talking about, Lecht seemed to have noticed that I didn’t have anything to say, so I had just rambled on endlessly without anything meaningful to say.

“Pfft. You’re right. It’s indeed foolish for us to define God by our standards.”

“Lecht…!”

I could feel my face redden in real time. My ears were burning, and even my hands which covered my cheeks were about to heat up. 

As I stared at him with a tearful look on my face, he reached out his clenched fist toward me. A large, reliable hand reached out to brush against a handful of hair that had arbitrarily scattered loosely near my neck. As he tugged at it gently, my hair swept through his fingers as if it were flowing water. 

He bent at his waist and kissed a small strand of hair that seemed to get tangled and manipulated between his fingers. There were clearly no nerves in my hair, but it felt as if I could feel the sensation of his lips touching my hair. 

A scorching sensation quickly ran down my spine and shocked my tailbone. From there, the sensation of that feeling spreading to all my nerves in my whole body made me feel as if there was electricity at the ends of my fingers and toes.

All my attention was focused on the hair he was holding, and my entire being was focused on him. 

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in God. It’s okay for you to believe in another god too. But let’s make this clear first so we can move on.”

“W-What is it…?”

My whole body was extremely tense with nerves, so I asked him in a trembling voice. He stared straight into my eyes and whispered quietly with a light smile.

“You are the child who has been chosen by Lunar, the moon god.”

“Is that so…? Because I’m the saintess of the moon god?”

Though it hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Was it because Lecht’s voice was so full of confidence? It was something that I had already known, but I felt excited, as if it was the first time I had heard such a thing. My whole body felt light, like it was floating, as if I was on top of a cloud.

“You will be loved. Without a doubt, infinitely.”

My heart pounded loudly with a badump badump sound. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I was nervous from his actions or whether it was because my heart was fluttering from his smile. Or perhaps it was just due to the surprise I felt at what he had said, without a single doubt in his mind. 

Although it was hard to tell what it was, I was certain that all my nerves were focused on him.

“So just trust me this one time.”

…I felt as if I were about to believe in a religion that didn’t exist. 

[1] 웃음전도사 originates from the term ‘행복전도사’ (happiness + preacher), popularized by preacher choi yunhee whose sermons often centered around happiness similarly the term laughter evangelist refers to those that spread laughter.

[2] to clarify, atheist and agnostic is not the same. atheists typically do not believe a god exists, while an agnostic is someone who doesn’t believe it’s possible to know for sure a god exists or someone who is not committed to believing in the existence of a god/God.

[3] 개 풀 뜯어 먹는 소리 is a proverb that means ‘impossible’ and stems from the idea that dogs are carnivores like wolves. (source: namuwiki)

[4] sound of someone holding in their laughter.

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AHHHH THIS CHAPTER HGLDSKFJDFS the little showdown between lecht and linden in the beginning (fake saintess’s blessing ???? HMMMMMM) and lecht, our words of affirmation king appearing once more ?!?!

“You will be loved. Without a doubt, infinitely.”

ahhhHHHHHH SCREECHING RN I GHSLKFJFJS BYE

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

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At some point in time, the three musketeers who had been running towards us had finally arrived on the first floor.

“Gosh, what should we do?! Our saintess’s beautiful face has shrunk to half its original size!!”

“Huhuhu…! That’s why I told you not to overwork yourself!”

“Oho, then I wonder just who was the one who had said that the appearance of our saintess working was dashing?”

The three musketeers were just as lively as usual today.

“Saintess, please come over here! I’ve already prepared a chair and table.”

“I’ve already wiped it to the point it’s shining. After all, our beloved saintess shouldn’t come into contact with even a speck of dust.”

“The food will be out soon. Something that’s warm that’ll relieve your fatigue!”

Although I hadn’t even said a single word, they all moved in different directions for me. 

I desperately wanted to hide at the sight of them, who seemed blind to the fact I was embarrassed by the people around us looking at us, but Lecht sat me down on the chair they had prepared for me as if it were natural. 

Then, Lecht settled down in the chair next to me. 

“Water, milk and juice, have all been prepared for you to drink. Of course, the rice flour drink you drank last time is also here.”

“Rice flour…? Oh, the multigrain shake…”

“What do you want?”

“U-Um, there are so many options…”

When I hesitated, Lecht beckoned toward Tanma who was next to me.

“Bring it all out.”

Gasp.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Huh?”

Lecht, who shows excessive care as if it were natural, and also Tanma, who follows his orders as if it were natural. 

These men… even though you pretend you’re not, inwardly, you’re no different from those hardcore fans, the three musketeers, right…? Is the appearance of the saintess of the moon god that incredible?

It would’ve been rather ungrateful of me to tell them not to do so, so as soon as my eyes flicked back and forth, a variety of food and drinks came out. It was such a generous sight it seemed as if the table legs would bend under its weight. 

Did they want me to eat all of this by myself…? You’re sure this isn’t actually a buffet instead?

“You all must be hungry, right? Sit down. Let’s eat together.”

“Were you worrying about the stomachs of our lowly selves?! To think that the next saintess is such a nice person! We’ve succeeded now!”

“Hic, hic, hic… I can’t believe I’m sitting at the same table as the saintess…! To think that this sort of honor would be bestowed on me whilst I was still alive…!”

No, I was actually suggesting to eat it together since there was to much, but I didn’t know that you’d actually interpret it that way.”

“I did it since it’d be a waste if there was a lot leftover.”

If I just leave the story as it is, it felt as if the story would swerve off in a strange direction and people might begin to praise me, so I just spoke honestly instead. 

However, hardcore fans weren’t hardcore fans for no reason.

“How wise, to even think about food wastage!”

“Huhuuuu, she’s even someone who cares about the environment… Our saintess is the best…”

Sigh… Let’s just not talk at all.

“Uwahhhhh, I’m going to trust god diligently and donate a lot from now on…”

“Aren’t you already a priest…”

“I’m already doomed. I covet the beautiful appearance of the saintess so much that I’ll fall into the depths of hell due to excessive greed anyways.”

“Pardon? What sort of reason to go to hell is that?”

“Okay, let’s go to hell together. I’ll go happily.”

“Huhuuu, the rye bread is so tasty… the saintess is so pretty…”

“Pfft.”

I eventually burst into laughter listening to their continuous stream of words.

“Hahaha! What’s with you all? Ahahaha!”

Saying that you’d go to hell for seeing my face too much, and saying that you’d go to that same hell happily. Although I’m sure the rye bread was delicious, was it possible for one to cry because I was too pretty?

They were all just nonsensical words, yet they all had one thing in common. 

The fact that they liked me.

It’d be a lie for me to say that I wasn’t burdened by their blind liking toward me. 

However, there wouldn’t be many people in the world who could hate and reject someone who liked them. Especially if it was such a pure show of affection like this.

“I’ll keep a firm hold of your priests so you don’t fall into hell, so stop crying and eat.”

I laid out a lot of rye bread, which was the local specialty here, in front of them.

“Eat well and help me out. We need to gather our strength in order for us to put the village in order.”

I decided to accept their blind faith and unconditional love. 

Let’s first put aside my worries over whether I should accept being a saintess or not, and what I should do with fleeing the country. Whether or not I’m the saintess, I would enjoy their lavishing of affection on me first. 

That’s not something that’s too hard for me to do, right?

“Yes, saintess!”

“I’ll follow you!”

“Thank you for the food!”

Watching them boldly stuffing food into their mouths, I was able to continue eating with a happy heart.

***

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

The sound of Meliara’s laughter resonating was so refreshing it was even able to pass through the closed window. There was a man who was watching her outside of the window near the alley.

‘Was she someone who knew how to laugh like that?’

Linden’s expression was complicated as he leaned on the other side of the alleyway, looking at her.

The first time he had met Meliara was at the temple. 

His first impression of her had been, ‘she really is pretty’. 

Although he had known that she was a beauty through the rumors, she really was very pretty. 

However, it hadn’t been very pleasing to see her yelling at Saintess Olivia, and seeing her cling to his older brother, the Crown Prince, had been rather disgusting.

The only reason he had approached her was because she was the Princess of Darchez, and was also his brother’s fiancee. 

Since he had thought that as long as he used her properly, he’d be able to suck out the sweetest juice¹.

The woman he gradually got to know more of was no less of a miserable person than he was. She severely lacked affection. 

Thus, she was a woman who would open her heart to me with just a few whispers of sweet words and wide smiles. 

Thanks to that, he was able to extract some information on the crown prince as well as the resources of the nobles who stood in the Duke’s faction.

Though of course, she later noticed what he was doing and tried to keep her distance. Since there was no need for her to be hated by the Duke over helping the Prince of Misfortune.

Nevertheless, she was a woman who couldn’t heartlessly cut him off. Because even the false affection he had given her was like a much-needed rainfall in a drought in her heart.

‘I thought I had her all figured out.’

However, ever since he had reunited with her in the capital, she had changed. 

He had thought she had come to meet him since she had personally come to the inn that he owned, but…

“Y-Yeah, how have you been?”

The smile on her embarrassed face seemed as if she didn’t know she’d meet him. He had wanted to tease the innocent expression he had seen for the first time.

“Call me Linden.”

“You know, just like how I’m your only friend, you’re my only friend as well.”

He thought she’d push him away like always while saying, “Please don’t be like this”. 

However, he heard something surprising instead.

“If Your Highness ever needs comfort someday, please come and find me. Although I can’t say anything particularly cool, I can still lend a listening ear to you.”

It was a refreshing surprise.

Was she someone who could afford this sort of mindset? 

No, the woman he had clearly known obviously wasn’t like that. She was a woman who was always urgently trying to attract even the slightest bit of visible affection to herself. She was a woman who couldn’t afford to be considerate and understanding to the emotions of those around her.

“Alright, Linden.”

…She wasn’t a woman who knew how to smile so beautifully.

“I’ll show you as much as you want. I can show you until my divine power runs out.”

She wasn’t a woman who knew how to make a sacrifice for others. 

Linden bowed his head and looked down at his palm.

“Did you think I couldn’t even do this for you?”

There was no way she could be this warm. It was obviously not possible.

“If it’s hard, complain.”

“Hic…! Huhuheung…”

Seeing her sobbing over a few words of comfort which was like nothing, Linden felt his heart breaking. 

Just how many things had she bottled up and held onto tightly inside? 

Instead of changing after her engagement got broken off, perhaps she had always been like that. 

Perhaps she had lived hiding her true self due to the crushing pressure of being the crown prince’s fiancee as well as holding the position of a princess. 

And now that she had been freed from it, maybe her true character was being revealed.

“Haa.”

Linden closed his eyes and instinctively leaned his head against the wall. 

The warm lights she had made that evening probably wouldn’t be forgotten any time soon for a long time. 

In any case, perhaps he had fallen into a deep pit of emotions that he couldn’t escape from now.

What had started off as simply being her companion in order to find out why Grand Duke Arvis had showed an interest in her had now developed into a burden too large for him to handle. 

It was a burden that burst out of his heart, one that he couldn’t get rid of on his own.

“Your Highness.”

Linden, who was taking a deep breath, opened his eyes at the voice of his subordinate calling out to him. 

When his eyes flitted over, he saw the special agent he had sent to bring news from the capital.

“What of the news I told you to investigate?”

“It’s exactly as you’ve expected.”

Linden turned his head around to fully face him. 

“A few days ago, the saintess of the sun god, Olivia, disappeared from the temple and was discovered not too far from here, collapsed, exactly like you said.”

That beautiful face furrowed their eyebrows and frowned.

“The temple seems to have been working on something discretely, but… this doesn’t seem to have been the first time they’ve done exactly as you’ve thought.”

It was the moment the Pandora’s box, which shouldn’t be opened if you were a believer of the sun god, was opened.

***

Last night, while Meliara was still asleep, Lecht and Linden both stood in front of her room.

“If you have something to say, then say it.”

Lecht was the first to break the silence, perhaps because Linden’s constant glancing irritated him. 

His voice was so sharp it felt as if a sword had just brushed past, completely different from when he was dealing with Meliara.

Linden asked boldly, not feeling too particularly hurt by it.

“I know the Grand Duke isn’t interested in ‘this side’.”

When it comes to ‘this side’, it naturally referred to politics. And when it comes to Grand Duke Arvis, he was famous for ignoring all exchanges of power.

“I have no interest.”

“Then to Meliara, why did you…”

A few weeks ago, Linden thought Meliara would no longer be worth investing in as soon as he heard that the engagement between Meliara and the Crown Prince had been broken off. 

When she had even come to his own lodging that he owned, he thought to just deal with it appropriately and shake her off, since it seemed as if she were trying to cling onto her last straw. 

Though of course, he had been a little shocked by the change in temperament which was different to what he had thought when he met her.

However, wasn’t the Grand Duke Arvis, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, showing an interest in her now?

So he followed them.

If he could use Meliara to bring Grand Duke Arvis into politics, then that would signal the sound of the tide overturning all of the Crown Prince’s supporters at once.

Of course, all those numerous calculations he had made had already started to fade away the moment he faced Meliara’s divine power, but Linden tried not to forget the initial purpose of this trip.

“I’m curious as to why the Grand Duke is paying so much attention to Meliara.”

“I have something I want to confirm.”

“Are you talking about whether she’s the saintess?”

When faced by the pinpointing of Linden’s question, Lecht’s gaze shifted slightly toward Linden.

His gaze passed over him lightly before resting on the door once again.

“That has nothing to do with you.”

“It does. Meliara is my most precious friend.”

There was a bite in Linden’s voice. It resembled a provocation along the lines of, ‘I’m a friend, but what are you?’.

“As long as you continue to show an interest in Meliara, I have a duty of protecting her to keep her safe.”

“Protect?”

Lecht murmured softly at Linden’s resolute words. 

As if he was truly insignificant, he snorted quietly before turning his head to face Linden.

At that moment, Linden felt as if he was facing a large amount of darkness. The sort of dark quagmire that you could never hope to get out of once you step foot into it.

“Then you should’ve first erased that unpleasant energy in your body before coming.”

“…it’s only a difference in beliefs.”

Linden, who had been going strong, faltered when he thought that him being a Solarism believer was the reason why he couldn’t become friends with her, who was destined to become the saintess of Lunarism.

“Beliefs? And just what exactly is that belief? The sun god? Or that ‘saintess’?”

“Of course it’s the sun god.”

“…do you perhaps, not know?”

He wanted to believe it was a nonsensical question, but Lecht threw in a small comment.

“The ‘blessing’ in your body isn’t from the power of the sun god.”

[1] 단물만 빼먹다 is an idiom that describes gaining a lot using your own/other’s position without making any effort yourself.

---

woah so much to unpack in this chapter + the lil cliffy at the end ??? first of all, the fan filter with the three musketeers (+ lecht & tanma & linden HGDLSKJFS) IS STRONG AFFFF AHAHAHA
i’m literally willing to bet that our fl can do anything and they’d still be on their knees for her (as thEY SHOULD TBH !1!1)

chapter really blessed us with beautiful art + linden’s pov ?????
tbh b4 this i wasn’t rlly buying his act, even when he was acting vulnerable with meliara in ch10 i think it was when she was showing him her divine power, but i’m pleasantly surprised with his reaction!
tbh i like that he’s cunning and scheming + we get to see how he saw the og meliara (my heart truly aches for her, girlie deserved so much better)
in conclusion, STRONG SECOND MALE LEAD VIBES FROM LINDEN AND IM NOT SURE IF MY HEART’S READY FOR THAT ;-;

i don’t think i’ve mentioned this either, but i’m rlly loving the pacing for this novel too ??? i love how it isn’t rlly draggy in the beginning and how it’s straight to action, literally every chapter there’s something happening or furthering the plot along, 10/10 pacing i love it
(BUT THAT CLIFFY WAS ILLEGAL ;-; i rlly want to know what sort of power linden has since we alr know he’s a rlly talented archmage)

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

---

I was once the biggest tomboy in the orphanage. There was no other child who could make up such creative pranks like me, nor was there ever a child like me who received the most scoldings from the teachers.

“Teach, here’s a present~!”

“Ahhh! What is this?!”

I would bring a frog as a gift and hide it in the teacher’s desk drawer.

“Ara, did I or did I not just finish erasing all the graffiti you drew last time?”

“I drew a new drawing! This time, it’s a puppy that even the teacher would like!”

I had scribbled as if marking areas everywhere, regardless of whether it was on wallpaper or an outer wall. With the other children, I would make the teacher suffer by hiding all of the teacher’s writing aids in the playground or deliberately get myself extra dirty during playtime.

“Ara Lee! Just where on earth did that child go again?!”

Whenever I heard my name ring out loudly in the orphanage, I would feel happy for no reason. Even if it wasn’t love, I found it satisfying as long as I had a stake in the teachers’ heads.

Then one day, the director of the orphanage called me in. I walked in grumbling, wondering if they were going to tell me I had caused a mess or scold me again, but the director of the orphanage unexpectedly didn’t look angry. Instead, they gave me the coke that I liked and had me sit down on the sofa.

“Although I’m not sure you think of me, I sincerely support your future.”

The director, who had only approached me intimidatingly, spoke in a friendly voice that didn’t suit them. 

“Now that you’re a full-fledged teenager, I have something that I have to tell you.”

It was about a month before my middle school entrance ceremony.

“You should’ve felt it in primary school, but you are very different to the other kids in your school.”

“Because I don’t have a mom and dad?”

“…That’s right.”

I vaguely remembered that the director had smiled painfully at the fact that he had thoughtlessly spit out.

“But compared to other kids who only have one mom and one dad, I have five teachers who are like my mom and five uncles who are like my dad.”

The cleaning lady, the bus driver who drives me to school, as well as the faculty staff uncle on the second floor who gives me candy everyday.

“Yes, we’ve always cherished that positive spirit of yours.”

The director patted my head affectionately.

“But Ara, this world is not as optimistic or as tolerant as you are.”

“?”

“Since you are different from other children, the world will view you differently, even if you do the exact same thing.”

“Um… it’s hard for me to understand what you mean.”

The director spoke in a more serious voice.

“It means that you will have to start taking responsibility for your actions and words.”

I left the director’s office without understanding what it meant in the end. It was only after entering middle school for a few months that I finally came to understand the meaning of what they said.

“Ah, I was hit in the back by my mom again because I was playing games yesterday. Aren’t my mom’s slaps getting more painful day by day?”

As always, my classmates were chatting about what was happening at home. It was a conversation that was rather trivial since everyone had experienced something like that. So I also shared my daily life that was rather trivial.

“Me too. I was watching the video you sent me yesterday but got hit on the back by the teacher for using my phone while eating.”

But the moment I said that, the surroundings immediately became quiet. The two in front of me looked at me in shock and seemed taken aback. They tried to gauge my mood, exchanged glances with each other before asking me cautiously.

“This might be crossing the line, but… do the helpers at the orphanage normally hit a child like that?”

“Do they do it often?”

I was speechless. It was something I often saw. Children who were scolded by their teachers for just playing on their phones. At worst, they’d be confiscated. So I had talked about it casually, but the conversation had gone in a completely unexpected direction.

“If that happens a lot… isn’t that child abuse then…?”

“Do they hit you really harshly? Then… shouldn’t we report this?”

“What sort of nonsense are you talking about? It’s exactly the same as when you got smacked on the back by your mom for using the computer.”

“Isn’t… isn’t that a little different from this…?”

Even the friends who asked were cautious. Their voices were full of doubts, as if they weren’t sure.

“My mom is my mom. The orphanage helper is… um…”

I pursed my lips tightly at the sight of my friend’s eyes darting here and there without finding the right word. I wasn’t sure what sort of existence a mother was since I had only seen it in books and videos. But if what was in those books and videos was a mother, then to us, our mother was the helpers at the orphanages. However, other people didn’t seem to see it like that.

“Ah, in any case, if it gets worse, be sure to tell us, okay? Since that’s a really serious problem.”

“That’s right. We’ll protect you.”

My two friends said firmly, but that only confused me. As I looked back on that days conversation several times on my way home from school, I began to understand what the director had said to me. Even if i did the same thing, the world would view it differently. So that’s what it meant. In my point of view, what those children had experienced and what I had experienced hadn’t been very different, but my ‘complaint’ had suddenly inflated into a serious social problem. And then I realized.

‘I probably shouldn’t complain about things like that anymore.’

That would make those who heard it feel awkward, and may even harm those around me. Upon realizing that, I changed my behavior. I became cautious in order for them to be unable to find any faults in me, and didn’t speak recklessly on ‘trivial complaints’ that would clearly show the difference between us. 

I didn’t think it would be that difficult. Wasn’t it just having no one to rant to about my injustice and being unable to relieve my anger and shutting up and retreating when I came across an unfair situation? In other words, it simply meant that I wouldn’t be able to let anyone know about those minor ‘complaints’ that anyone could make, such as, ‘How nice, we didn’t get any money for new year’s’. 

I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. But I didn’t realize until later.

How big of a difference it would make over whether I was able to spit out a small word of complaint or not. Everytime I swallowed a complaint, it felt as if a small stone was weighing down on my chest, and over time, as the stones piled up and up, they eventually crushed me. My small, insignificant worries that I had turned a blind eye to began to fester. 

Accurately trying to explain what the problem was only yielded an ambiguous answer, so it was difficult for me to shake off this twisted emotion that had come from someplace. Even though I was clearly aware of how it was affecting me, I swallowed every single grudge I had and internalized it, as if it had become a habit. I destroyed myself internally and caused my fatigue to quickly pile up, as if I was waiting for someone to give me permission to complain to them.

But someone said something like that to me for the first time. If it’s too hard, it’s okay for you to complain. It was a phrase that alleviated the heavy burden that the world had put on me.

“Heuk…”

Something which had been tangled deep in my heard suddenly threatened to surface as I grabbed the collar of the person hugging me and started to sniff. I didn’t want to cry, but my tears kept flowing out.

I knew that everyone was having a hard time. Since there’d always be talk of chronic fatigue and suicide on the TV and the internet. So I knew that there were people who endured worse conditions than me, and that there were a lot of people who bore a greater responsibility than me.

The same was true of this epidemic. They almost lost their lives, and some could lose their friends, colleagues, or even their only family. Knowing how frightening and difficult it must have been, I had no choice but to follow the doctors for three days until I collapsed out of exhaustion. Since my fatigue couldn’t possibly be compared to their pain. 

So even though I knew my pain was extremely insignificant… even if that was the case, I still hoped that someone would understand. I wanted to complain.

“Huhuheung…”

I eventually burst into tears.

I didn’t tell you that I wanted to complain, but you knew. What was this, it felt warm and grateful. 

Although I was extremely shy and embarrassed, I felt relieved to be able to think, ‘It’s okay for me to do that too’.

“Uhuhuuuu…”

I buried my face in the man’s shoulder and shook off my grievances for a while

*** 

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Isn’t everyone aware of it? When you cry, it feels as if the whole world resents me, so you cry harder, but after you finish crying, the belated embarrassment that comes rushing in so big.

“…”

In what right mind would a grown woman cry like that in the arms of an unfamiliar man? Oh, right. I must’ve cried because I was out of my mind.

…But now what should I do?

With my face still buried in his firm shoulders, I urgently tried to wrack my brain for ideas. Now, no matter how much I squeezed my eyes, the tears didn’t seem to want to come out anymore. I was so embarrassed to the point that I couldn’t bear to lift my head up that I wished that I had just collapsed from exhaustion after crying instead. 

Then his voice resonated in my ears.

“You must be hungry after lying in bed for such a long time.” 

Gurgle~~. 

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of thunder roaring sounded from my stomach.

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence passed.

Ah shit… so embarrassing…! Where’s the doghole? Even if it’s a mouse hole, I just want to stuff Lecht in it and run away…

“I heard that their rye bread is their specialty here.”

“…”

“Would you like to go down and eat? Or would you like me to bring it to your bed?”

To what he had added, my stomach answered instead of my voice.

Glug~

Another short moment of silence passed as I felt a puff of breath from his laughter brush past my ears. Embarrassed, I didn’t even have time to ascertain to what that sound was.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Kyaaa!”

As soon as he finished speaking, my body suddenly felt light. I looked down at him, startled by the sudden elevated view I had.

“Wh-What are you doing!”

“Because you didn’t seem to want to move.”

“That…!”

It’s because I’m too embarrassed to raise my face!

“I thought you didn’t have any strength in your legs since you hadn’t eaten anything, so I thought to just move you directly by myself.”

“My legs are fine…!”

So I had said that in a way of inadvertently wanting to be let down, but he replied with an irrelevant answer.

“If you’re uncomfortable, should I hold you differently?”

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

“If you hate it, then I’ll put you down.”

The words of him, who was looking up at me, made me speechless.

“It’s not that I hate it, but…”

Although I was surprised, I didn’t hate it. Although it was embarrassing, it was never something I hated. It was the first time someone had lifted me up like this after the teachers at the orphanage had done it when I was very young. Oddly enough, my heart felt slightly ticklish, perhaps because it had also brought back a lot of my childhood memories.

“I’m heavy…”

But unlike when I was small, I was now an adult. Both my height and heart had grown so much that it had now become heavy.

At my muttering, Lecht let out a hmm before saying.

“If this is heavy, then what the hell is light?”

Those words that contained sincere questions sounded sweeter than nonsense such as, ‘No, you’re light’, or, ‘It’s fine’, so my face flushed bright red.

“Then something like a feather… that’s light…”

Embarrassed by his needlessly serious question of him asking me to tell him, I hid my face with both hands and muttered softly in reply.

“A feather you say.”

He repeated my gibberish and little by little began walking.

“Feathers are hard.”

“…?”

“It’s hard to hold onto something so light it might fly away.”

“…!”

My face, which had barely calmed down, turned red again. Was he saying that feathers were hard or that it’d be hard for me to be like a feather? I didn’t know exactly what he was trying to say, but my brain automatically interpreted his words in a sweet way. I felt my heart flutter at those meaningless words of his.

As I shut my mouth in order to reorganize my thoughts by myself in my fantasy, he quietly added. 

“Even if that’s the case, since you like feathers, then we’ll go with that.”

He said while staring at my blushing face.

“Your job is to do whatever your heart desires. It’s up to me to follow you.”

Thump thump thump.

My heartbeat was the first to respond. Then my breathing hitched and halted, the nerves in my whole body tingling and coming to a standstill. My face was already red so I didn’t know if it could turn any redder, but what was certain was that my cheeks were as hot as the stones in the desert. Lecht was clearly saying this because I was the saintess.

As a saintess, just going your own way will be enough. We will simply follow after you on our own.”

What he had said obviously hadn’t been any different from what Lydia said. But why did it sound so different? Was it because of his handsome face? Is it because I’m a straight woman, and Lydia is a woman and Lecht is a man? Or… 

“Saintess!!!”

My thoughts, which had been floating around in confusion, were cut off by a sudden disturbance.

---

wow this chapter is one of my favs! i like how they delved into meliara’s past life and how that shaped her as a person as well as how the author highlighted the importance of not bottling your own feelings up and how detrimental it is in the long run of ur mental health.

ngl i did loki nearly tear up when ara cried PLUS I ALSO LOVE LOVE LOVE THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN THE ML AND FL LIKE URGHDSLFKJSFJ sobbing screaming throwing up shitting tears, god i hope my next breath is my last but i also love them sm HGDSLJFSDFJ

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

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“Please remain courteous to His Majesty the Demon King.”

Despite having Tanma already directly point it out, the man only let out a light laugh.

“Today, it seems the number of bastards following you has decreased from two to one, huh?”

He whispered those harsh words gently. It was a voice so gentle it could enchant anyone who happened to be soft-hearted in an instant. A biting tone, the exact opposite of that, came out of Lecht’s mouth.

“It’s not like you’re unaware of the fact that it’s strictly forbidden to meddle with humans without permission.”

His voice was so sharp that if it had been a knife, it would’ve been leave that man in two.

“What would happen if you had humans come into contact with drugs that even demons can’t tolerate? Fortunately it was diluted, otherwise it would’ve led to nothing but death.”

The starting point of this epidemic was a contaminated well. Lecht confirmed that the well contained a substance that was notoriously dangerous, even to demons. 

So it hadn’t occurred naturally, but had been done intentionally by someone. Since it was a drug that couldn’t be obtained in the human world, Lecht immediately knew that one of the demons had interfered.

The man shrugged at Lecht’s words.

“Ah~ Why is my little brother acting so stiff, yet again?”

The man giggled as if it were amusing.

“You know that a contractor’s request is an exception to that, right?”

Whispering in a voice that seemed as if it were determined to seduce its opponent, he slowly approached Lecht, one step at a time. The five-headed snake also moved in a slither in unison with its summoner. Tanma flinched and attempted to take out a weapon from his spatial storage, but was stopped by a hand gesture from Lecht.

The appearance of the man who was standing in front of Lecht was finally revealed slightly by the rays of moonlight shining from the front of the alleyway. He had hair which was black at its roots and gradually turned white near the ends, along with a lone half-broken horn that protruded from the two-toned hair. And on that skin that was so white, it made one wonder if they were really still alive, was a scar that started from his forehead and crossed over one of his eyes to reach his cheekbone.

“Since my little brother is the great Demon King, shouldn’t I, as the older brother, follow such important rules that we are forbidden from breaking?”

He had only narrowly toed the line, nothing had been broken.

“To think that you would raise such a basic question… Has our honorable Demon King gotten confused about the rules since he’s been away from the demon realm for too long?”

Raising the corners of his lips, he tilted his upper body toward Lecht. If it had been toward a human, just coyly crinkling his eyes would’ve already made them lose their mind.

“So that’s why I told you. I’ll look after that position for you until you come back.”

“You’re going too far, Sir Frody.”

Although Frody’s gaze slowly turned toward Tanma due to his intervention, he was quickly ignored and his attention was once again returned to Lecht.

“It’s just that that seat shouldn’t cool down so much, so I’ll just go and heat it up a bit. What do you think?”

As if it wanted to come over, the fluttering aura of temptation enveloped their surroundings. It was Frody’s unique ability, ‘enchantment’, which was so powerful that even Tanma, who had lived several thousand years longer than them, flinched and had to avert his gaze.

It was when that invisible tail seemed to move gently. Frody’s face stiffened.

“Urk.”

His face gradually distorted, as if he were suffocating.

Slitherrr—!

Noticing the situation, Frody’s summon rushed toward Lecht, revealing its teeth from all five heads.

Bang!

However, it was pressed down to the floor by Lecht’s scabbard. It couldn’t even budge. Both the snake, and Frody too.

“You seem to have forgotten since I’ve been away from that seat for so long.”

Black energy overwhelmed their surroundings and oppressed them heavily. That ticklish energy soon disappeared without a trace.

“Just how exactly I had come to sit on that seat.”

“Heukkk…!”

That white face had now turned red and blue. 

Those calm yet terrifying eyes of Lecht’s wandered in the direction of Frody’s horns on his head. Half a horn which had a rough cross-section that remained there, as if someone had broken it off violently. Lecht gazed it at slowly before looking back at Frody’s face.

“I don’t like to joke around.”

“…”

The meaning behind that simple and clear warning was obvious. There was a long bout of silence.

“Keu—hurk…!”

In the end, after Frody’s hand clutched at Lecht’s collar urgently, only then did Lecht’s energy, which had dominated their surroundings, ease up.

“Cough! Cough!”

Frody hurriedly took a step back before coughing his lungs out. Lecht also removed the sword that had been holding down the snake.

Slither—!

His minion hurriedly shrunk from its enlarged state and slithered up Frody’s legs, clasping tighter to his waist. It was survival instinct. 

Although he was doing nothing but clutching at his exhausted neck, Frody waited for a long time before his breathing went back to normal. 

Frody, who was barely able to breathe again and had his waist bent, raised only his head up to stare at Lecht. Although the light in his eyes was full of life, Lecht only added with a calm expression, as if he were already used to such hateful emotions.

“Don’t make me regret my first act of being ‘merciful’.”

Lecht left the alleyway, leaving only heavy words behind him. Even after he left, however, the traces of the Demon King still remained in the alleyway.

“Bastard. You’ve been doing well by yourself.”

Frody grinded his molars together, forcibly ventilating the remnants of Lecht’s energy with his own.

‘Damn it. If only I had discovered her first at that time.’

What happened a hundred years ago was still lamentable.

The necklace on the neck of Frody, whose breathing had returned to normal, suddenly hummed. His contractor seemed to be looking for him. Frody held the necklace in his hand and stared coldly in the direction Lecht had disappeared into.

“Let’s see how long you can turn your nose up and look down on me for.”

He had not yet accepted the outcome of the fight a hundred years ago.

***

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

The ‘relief’ for the village took longer than expected. Just that night was enough to cure the epidemic. It was all thanks to the efforts of the three priests who had sworn to me to believe in them. 

However, the reason the village’s ‘relief’ took a long time was because of what happened after that. The wounds which were left by the skin disease as well as the heartburn that was caused by the vomiting of blood all ended up being the sole responsibility of the village doctors. 

There was no helping the fact that it took a long time, since there were only two doctors in the village. In any case, since I wasn’t doing anything by myself, I conscientiously went to go help the doctor. 

The treatment continued for three days, and after running around with the doctor both day and night, I finally got to rest on the fourth day. And slept for twenty four hours. I slept so heavily I didn’t even think I dreamed of anything.

“Whine…”

Perhaps Kelber had stayed by my side the entire time I slept, since he came up to me as soon as I got up and gently wagged his tail.

“Mm, I’m awake.”

A hoarse voice flowed out of my mouth.

“Gosh…”

“Hing. Whine.”

“I’m not sick. I’m just hungry.”

I stroked Kelber’s cute head and crawled out of bed. Even after wasting a full day, I still felt tired.

‘I really hate being sick…’

I let out a moan because of my stiff shoulders and legs.

‘I’m not going to do anything anymore.’

I helped the doctors since I couldn’t leave and say, ‘Then, I’ll leave the rest to you!’, since I had watched the situation break out. But the situation had now calmed down.

‘I just hope those fanatic priests didn’t talk about me…’

The more harrowing a situation was, the stronger the obsession with religion became. Especially if all of them had been ‘saved’ by the priests of Lunarism. Gratitude and affection in moderation was appreciated, but obsessive love was burdensome.

‘Haa, this won’t do. Working my body to the bone and all that for the safety and peace of other people didn’t suit me at all.’

Clicking my tongue, I got out of bed and hauled my heavy body outside. My shoulders jumped as soon as I opened the door. I was proud that I didn’t let out a scream in surprise.

“Everyone… what are you doing here?”

There was a swarm of people right in front of my door. Lecht, who was leaning against the wall opposite to the door. Butler Tanma who was right by his side, standing tall and upright. Even Linden, who was squatting down next to him.

“Woof!”

Kelber, who had come out of the room with me, pushed me towards Lecht’s direction. However, before my body which had been pushed could reach Lecht, someone blocked my way.

“Meliara!”

Linden jumped up from where he was and grabbed my shoulders.

“Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”

“U-Um… I’m fine except for the fact that I feel sort of off for sleeping for so long.”

“Really? You’re sure you don’t have a fever?”

He even placed the back of his hand against my forehead, as if he didn’t believe my words.

“Except for the fact that I’m hungry, I’m really fine.”

“Does someone who normally feels fine sleep for this long?”

“That’s…”

I didn’t know that news of me sleeping would spread this much…

“I was already tired all the time because of motion sickness, but I guess this must have happened because the incident developing without a chance for me to catch my breath.”

Come to think of it, it was a very dynamic ten days. After I had my engagement broken off and got disowned by my family, I left the house and met Lecht and Linden and happened to stop at a village where an epidemic broke out due to my motion sickness. As if that wasn’t enough, there was even the sudden point of priests appearing. After that, I ran around the village with a doctor to treat the people with the disease. It was as if the incident had raged on without rest for not even an hour, or a day of rest.

‘It’s amazing that I didn’t pass out even earlier from being overworked.’

If I alone had done it without the priests coming to heal the plague, I might’ve even suffered from a nosebleed. My shoulders trembled at the terrible image.

‘Oh right, Linden.’

My trembling was felt by Linden, who was still holding my shoulder.

“Look, there’s clearly something wrong with you.”

Linden looked at my complexion with a tearful expression on his face. To be honest, his pale complexion was more of a concern than mine was.

“It’s you, not the people who will be taken care of.”

He muttered in a sorry voice.

“It would’ve been nice if I had known how to do healing magic…”

I quickly shook my head in the face of the look of depression that seemed as if it would fall into a hole in the ground.

“Forget it, what healing magic?! I’m tough!”

I raised both my arms to show off my non-existent biceps. 

Healing magic was one of the types of magic that Linden had deliberately not learned. He had thought that if he knew that he had a talent for magic earlier, he would’ve been able to learn healing magic and save his poisoned mother. That incident completely twisted his mind.

Instead of hurriedly learning to be proficient in healing magic to prevent such things from happening in the future, he turned a blind eye to healing magic in order to erase the anger he had felt at not knowing such an easy thing in the past. 

In any case, she hadn’t been able to survive. That was how that child had consoled himself. Those were words that dug at his own weaknesses and wounds, so I hurriedly comforted him.

“If it was needed, the doctors and priests would have already taken care of it, right?”

I couldn’t trigger his trauma just because I was having a hard time.

“That’s…” 

“It’s just fatigue. Don’t you also get tired from working too much? It’s just like that.”

I explained again and again that I was never sick. Nevertheless, Linden still had an unsatisfied expression on his face. The expression on his face was so convincing that I started to get confused over whether this was to trap me further into his scheme or whether he was actually serious or not. Just like that evening when he had begged me to show him a little more of my divine power.

‘He’s simply too good at acting…’

When I had read it just as words on a page, I had found it strange and thought, ‘People fall for this? All the while being aware that he’s simply using his beauty?’, but now I understood. It was just his beauty, but his eyes, facial expressions, gestures, everything about him completely and perfectly captivated me and dragged me into his scheme.

“I’m fine. Really, I’m serious.”

I, who was about to encroach into his domain, sneakily pushed him away from me to talk. However, his hand didn’t seem to have any thoughts of leaving my shoulder. I raised a hand to separate us, but a hand suddenly grabbed my wrist.

That warm hand simultaneously removed Linden’s arm from me and pulled me toward them. Although the force behind it wasn’t very strong, my body still naturally tilted in the direction the man was pulling, like flowing water.

Plop—

And fell into a scent I liked. The embrace that held me warmly was large and cozy, making it more comfortable than any blanket I had ever used. A deep voice that was sweet enough to melt away all my fatigue whispered.

“Don’t overdo it.”

It was not an unusual phrase, but at the same time, those words that were full of warm feelings flowed softly into my ears.

“If it’s hard, complain.”

Thump thump thump thump thump. 

My heart rate quickly broke through the roof in an instant and soared like crazy high into the sky.

If it’s too hard, it’s okay for you to complain.

In fact, it was actually a phrase that I had always wanted to hear since I was very young, yet no one had said that to me.

“Even if it’s you, it’s okay nonetheless.”

In that moment, the tears that I couldn’t bear to hold back suddenly came pouring out.

---

wow ok so we have a lot to unpack here, new character plus lecht being an absolute king what’s new 😩💅🏻

so we have lecht’s older brother, frody (i’m so sorry i literally wanted to tl it a better way but it was this or prody HGLSDIJDFSFJ) who’s passive aggressive and wears a snake for accessories. mans is defo a snacc bc everyone in this webnovel is fine but i’m rlly looking forward to them delving into his backstory and WHAT HAPPENED 100 YEARS AGO I NEED TO KINOW ???? all we know so far is that he’s a contracted demon under a human contractor and his horn got broken off by lecht.

ANYWAYS MOVING ON WE HAVE LECHT BEING A WORDS OF AFFIRMATION KING ??? MANS HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ACTS OF SERVICE KING BUT HE’S KILLING IT RN ???? literally told our fl exactly what she needed to hear and i love that for both of them.

how do yawl feel abt meliara’s attitude tho ?? tbh from my pov she’s very much a realist. her past and present life have shaped her to be capable and realistic when coming to decisions but i love that she has her own morals when taking on the responsibility of saintess in an epidemic where she’s obligated to stay due to her role as opposed to what she wants to do which is flee in order to preserve her own life. rlly loving how our fl and how she’s shaping out to be so far !!!

wow it’s been a hot minute since i’ve had such a long tl note but thx 4 reading and see u next time !!!

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

---

“The purification of the people over here is finished.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“How about you go back and rest for a while, Saintess? I heard that you had originally stopped because of motion sickness on the way, but couldn’t even sleep a wink because of the outbreak.”

“I’m fine.”

I quickly rejected their offer.

To be honest, even if I went back to my room now, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.

My mind only got more complicated after I gradually accepted the fact that I could be a saintess.

While my mind was complicated to death, the priests continued to follow me like trained soldiers. Wait, no, them being trained soldiers was frankly too docile of a remark. Rather, they were more like ducklings who were chasing after their mother duck.

“How could you have such a pretty face and a beautiful heart? To think that you can’t sleep due to your anxiety over the common people dying. Heuk heuk.”

“To think that I was the first priest who had the grace to see the Saintess first! Just where should I go to boast about this honor?”

“Were you the one who saw her first? It was clearly me who saw her first.”

“I was the one who greeted her first though?”

“Aha, no, well my hand was the first hand to be held by her.”

“No! If you think about it like that, then the first to hold her hand is clearly the high priest.”

“Fufu, I don’t care what number I am. I won’t ever wash this hand.”

…They were clearly just a group of hardcore fans. With me as their target. Although this sort of interest was rather troublesome.

“Ahem. Is there anything else I can do to help…”

“There isn’t!”

I asked to try and go back to what we were talking about before, but an answer came back quickly before I could even finish my question.

“It’s enough for you just to sit here and look pretty.”

Just sitting is fine, but what the hell do you mean by sitting and looking pretty?

When he saw the reluctant expression on my face, he quickly inserted how he interpreted my expression as.

“B-But of course, it this was handled by the Saintess herself, it would be sorted out immediately…”

He was the one who had looked at me with particularly sparkling eyes.

“But even if that will be the case, we still want to show that we’re capable people as well. So just leave it to us!”

“No just when on earth did this guy get so proactive…! Saintess! I’m definitely better than this guy! Just watch and see!”

The youngest looking one of them shouted in a loud voice, before running past me, the rest of the priests following after him.

“O-Okay… good luck…”

Left all alone after they rushed out, I sat on the simple chair they prepared for me, thinking it would be awkward for me to continue to remain standing. Kelber placed his three heads on top of my legs and began to doze off.

‘It’s embarrassing for me to be the only one doing this when everyone else is busy working hard.’

I looked around to see if there was anything I could do, my butt constantly lifting off the chair.

‘Should I help the doctors?’ 

The divine power from the priests could only cure the disease, but not the wounds that were caused by it, so the doctors were extremely busy.

At first, I had wondered whether or not it was because I didn’t have enough divine power to heal them. But when I asked Lydia, I found that that wasn’t the case.

“You could think that way since you’re so familiar with the divine power of Solarism. However, it’s not that we don’t, rather, it’s that we can’t.”

“You can’t do it?”

“The divine power of Lunarism cannot heal wounds. Lunarism’s divine power has the ability to ‘purify’, but not the ability to ‘restore’.

“What exactly does that mean?”

“For example… the divine power of Solarism is more suitable for healing bruises and fractures, while the divine power of Lunarism specializes in purification and the alleviation of mental illnesses.”

The more I listened to her talk, the more I once again realized how little I actually knew about Lunarism. The moment I thought that, the road ahead felt even more daunting.

‘Do I really have to be a saintess?’

I was meant to flee the country, but I suddenly became a saintess. 

If I kept going at this rate, in the event of a war, it was clear that I would become embroiled in ‘protecting the citizens of the Empire’. I’d really hate for that to happen though…

What sort of saintess is a self-centered person like me?’

I had never had any ties to religion in my lifetime. That was simply because I thought that if I ever had some sort of ‘corner of faith’, I would just continue to lean on it in vain. But to think that religion could be forced into my arms like this.

Although I hoped that the verification process would would make them come to the conclusion that I wasn’t one, but judging by the reactions of Lydia and the priests, it all seemed to be in vain. 

Should I just refuse and run away before they begin the process? But wouldn’t they be disappointed if the saintess who had appeared for the first time in a hundred years suddenly ran away…?

“As a saintess, just going your own way will be enough. We will simply follow after you on our own.”

Although that’s what they had said, I’m sure that it’d be extremely troublesome for them if I fled to another country and left the Empire behind.

‘But I really don’t want to die.’

That’s right, I really didn’t want to die. I really didn’t. To be more accurate, I didn’t want to be in pain. It was even harder to know whether I’d be able to die painlessly with a single stroke of a sword.

My whole body shuddered just imagining the difficult and arduous life I’d have to live if I was caught up in a war.

Choosing to remain in the Empire whilst knowing that the Demon King would clearly invade was really just stabbing a death flag in my future.

Lunarism must exist in other countries besides the Empire, so couldn’t I go to a safe place like that and become a saintess there?

But to be fair… the Empire was like the Vatican City of Lunarism, so the fact that someone like the saintess, who was revered like that of the Pope, was going to abandon a place like this and hide in another was… 

Sigh… Life really isn’t going my way… 

Just as I was lamenting over my meaningless situation, Linden suddenly approached me.

“Just what sort of situation is this?”

“Oh, Linden.”

“Are you really the saintess of the Moon God?”

“At least that’s what they’re all saying…?”

Though I’m seriously considering just turning a blind eye to it and running away.

“How…?”

“Although they still have a lot of things to confirm, apparently I’ve already met all the requirements that can be checked right now.”

Well, it feels like I’m talking about a product when I call it a ‘requirement’.

“But didn’t the High Priest two years ago already…”

Linden seemed to have the same question as me. Just how did I become the saintess when they had said I didn’t have the ability to?

I was able to answer it easily since it had also been a questions that I had asked.

“That was the High Priest of the Sun God. Apparently the divine power of Solarism and Lunarism are too different.”

I stretched out my palm. As soon as I thought of the image of taking a deep breath in and pushing out the air from my lungs out through my fingertips, a silver wind began to gush out from my palms. It was a wind that had the color of moonlight.

“How do I use my power?”

“You can use it just by thinking of it.”

When Lydia had explained it like that, I had wondered what sort of far-fetched nonsense she was spouting, but it really was like that. 

It was a unique power.

Unlike magic, which required both talent and effort, this power could be used just by thinking of an imagine my head without even having to learn how to use it separately. 

When it more leaked out of my fingertips, it flowed out toward Linden, ruffling his clothes lightly. Linden looked at the divine power that wrapped around him and disappeared with a confused expression.

“Oh, will this sort of energy make you feel uncomfortable since you’re a believer of Solarism?”

I felt bad for only belatedly remembering that he was a believer of another religion. Wasn’t this pretty much the same as sprinkling the holy water of Catholicism on a Buddhist friend?

“My bad. I’ll be more cautious next time.”

“No.”

He came a little closer and knelt down on one knee in front of me. Then whispered in an urgent voice.

“Please show me one more time.”

Since it wasn’t too difficult of a request, I channeled my strength back into the palm of my hand once again. Another ball of tranquil moonlight appeared once again.

Linden looked at it with a blank expression on his face, like a child who had seen a candle for the first time in their life.

I had made the ball a little larger. What used to only be the size of quail eggs now became the size of an egg.

“Can I touch it…?”

He asked me cautiously, as if he were asking to touch a newborn child instead. Why are you being so cautious about this? I burst into laughter since it was so cute.

“Of course.”

Linden cautiously reached out to touch the light once he obtained my permission. The light climbed up Linden’s fingers, as if it were happy that it touched something new, creeping up his hands and arms and finally burst into a smoky haze.

When Linden moved his hand again, the light scattered and disappeared with a ‘poof’, as if it were shy. I still didn’t know how this power behaved, so I looked at it strangely.

“Just one more time…”

As I followed the scattered energy with my eyes, I heard a voice, as if it were deeply immersed in something. When I looked down, I saw him grabbing my knee tightly, whispering to me with an expression that seemed as if he were about to collapse.

“Sorry. Can you show me… just one more time?”

He pleaded with me imploringly, as if he were a person who had experienced warmth for the first time on a snow capped mountain.

“Is that not allowed…?”

My heart ached for no reason at the sight of him, who looked like he would burst into tears at any moment if he didn’t see it. 

I didn’t know why exactly he was doing this. But I could still make a vague guess.

Just how barren and poor must his life have been for him to feel so desperate toward this small amount of tenderness? I felt sorry for him once again, and felt greatly shaken at the fact that he reminded me of myself in my previous life, who had lived a rather tenacious life. It felt as if a consensus of my own had started to form for no reason.

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

Manifesting power. Even though I didn’t know when I knew, now that I knew about my power, this was easier than opening a brand new water bottle for me. If only this could bring comfort to his lonely heart, even just for a little bit.

“I’ll show you as much as you want.”

Such a trivial thing was a piece of cake.

I placed his hand on top of my palm. It looked rather strange, since his hand was much bigger than mine, but it didn’t matter.

“I can show you until my divine power runs out.”

My divine power, which had a silver light to it, started to form once again. This time, it gathered over his palm which was in my hand.

“Did you think I couldn’t even do this for you?”

Linden’s eyes, which were looking at me, shook violently at my words. He lowered his gaze, his face becoming strange, one that was neither one of laughter or tears.

Seeing my power dancing softly on his hand, he finally relaxed, the tenseness eventually leaving his body. The balls of light blooming on his hand became one, then split into two, then for, and eventually became dozens, circling around his body. The light, which seemed to disappear in a fluster, seemed to get used to him over time, and stuck to him instead, continuously falling off, as if to act cute.

I recalled what Lydia had said.

“The divine power of Lunarism is rather unique. Although it’s an inanimate power, it has its own will, and as it assimilates with wielder, will be influenced by their thoughts and emotions as well.’

Just like children who tried to imitate their parents. 

So as I continued to use this power and accept it as mine, my emotions gradually began to seep into those lights, which were crystalloids of my power. So slowly, my perception of Linden had changed from, ‘who is this? who is this?’, to, ‘a person who is okay for us to be close to!’.

‘Even though divine power isn’t something that has life in it…’

It was fascinating just to see that they were moved by their own will and agitated by emotions.

I was watching happily when Linden suddenly moved that hand that was grasped in mine. At his movement, my lights buzzed, as if shouting, ‘he moved, he moved!’, and gathered around his arms and wrists.

Naturally, a lot of the children returned to me. Linden placed my hand, which was curled into a fist, back in his own. As if he were handling a precious chick, he gently placed it on top of my hand. With his head bowed, he whispered softly.

“…Th…”

Although it was a voice that was soft enough to be obscured by the noise in the background, I could still hear it clearly.

“…Thanks.”

That’s why I was able to smile broadly.

 “Mm.”

We spent a long time after that with the soft breeze that was created by my divine power.

***

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

At the same time Meliara was practicing how to channel her power, Lecht was quietly walking to the outskirts of the village with Kelber by his side.

Since that bastard was showing his presence so obviously, he couldn’t just let it go. 

Lecht, who had arrived at the end of the empty road, headed into a dark alleyway where even the moon didn’t dare to cast its light. Tanma followed closely behind him. 

At the dead-end of the alleyway, the sound of a snake slithering on the ground was heard. 

Lecht stopped at a reasonable distance away from the vaguely visible black figure.

With the sound of another slither, five pairs of red eyes shone from the ground. It was a five-headed cobra demon.

The black figure that had the snake wrapped around its legs and waist turned towards Lecht. The glare of those icy blue eyes pierced through the darkness.

“Long time no see, little brother.”

It was a soft voice that starkly contrasted those eyes which were full of vigor.

---

first post of 2022 !! sorry for the delay you guys, i went on a little staycation in the first week and worked everyday after that QAQ hopefully i’ll be able to update more but i can’t say with uni becoming full time soon,,, *pain*

anyways, we love a little trauma healing sesh with the fl !! despite him being a master manipulator, i still love linden, but maybe that’s bc i have issues HGLSDKFJFSD

also new character ??? if he’s lecht’s brother you know he’ll be MIGHTY FINE !11!1 but that’s to be expected since quite literally everyone in this novel is hot hFGLSDKFJFSJD

well, until next time hehehehe

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

---

You guys aren’t cultists, so what’s going on?

The epidemic is overwhelming already, but has the situation now even caused madness as well? But I heard that there was no cure for lunacy though!

“Everyone, please shut up. Isn’t she unable to speak because of you guys?”

Then, someone who finally spoke words that I could agree with appeared. 

Unlike them, who had rushed out of the portal senselessly, the owner of the voice walked gracefully out of the portal.

She came up to me and took off the hood of the black robe she was wearing.

The face that was exposed, along with her curly purple hair, had exquisite patterns that covered more than half of her face. 

Just when I was thinking that the elaborate and intricate patterns that seemed to be tattooed on her seemed to suit her copper-coloured skin, she knelt down on one knee in front of me.

“My apologies for startling you. These guys have a good heart, but are unfortunately not proficient at expressing themselves.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Even though I had been slightly concerned over whether they were crazy or not.

“But, who are you…”

“I see that I’m quite late to introduce myself.”

She continued in her dignified tone.

“I am Lydia, the high priest of the Lunarists, who serves the Moon God.”

She pressed a hand to the left of her chest and bowed her head toward me.”

“Ah…! It’s nice to meet you!”

I quickly bowed my head in return.

“I’m very grateful that you came. Huh? We had not even sent out a letter yet, so how did you know?”

“So the one who sent out that distress signal was you, as expected.”

“The distress signal… Are you perhaps talking about the whistle? If you’re talking about that, then I did indeed call for you…”

However, it was when I was about to tell them that the owner of the whistle was in fact Lecht, not me.

“Oh…! As expected!”

“Heup, so this day has finally come…!”

All of a sudden, the three hooded men and women started to kick up a fuss again.

“Silence everyone.”

Lydia scolded them instead of me, who had been left startled by them.

As they all shut up once again, Lydia reached out to me.

“Could I check your hand, just for a moment?”

“Of course…”

I readily stretched out my hand toward her. My hand was once again covered by hers. Moments later, an indescribable warmth permeated my hand from where she had touched.

“This feeling is…”

It felt similar to the sensation I had felt when I healed the child. Except this time, the wind didn’t escape from my body, but entered it instead. It felt as if a rainbow had entered my heart, and spread to each and every remote corner of my body. My whole body had become lethargic and relaxed, as if I was taking a bath.

After a few minutes of silence, Lydia finally put down my hand with a satisfied smile. She looked at me as she continued to wipe off the drops of perspiration on her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Of course, we’ll need confirm a lot more things, and it’ll be a long process before we make a decision, but this, I think I can tell you with certainty, even now.”

“What is it?”

“A depth that is immeasurable and beyond what I can fathom, even with my divine power. The purity of your power that was transmitted through the power of God’s whistle.”

“Pardon?”

I tilted my head slightly, not understanding what she was trying to say as she simply spoke with an even gentler smile on her face.

“Lunar’s servant, Lydia, greets the next saintess in advance.”

“Pardon?”

…Did I hear it wrong?

“You are Lunarism’s next saintess.”

“…What?”

What sort of pounding on the paper window while sleeping¹ nonsense is this?

There was a moment of silence.

“I’m only asking because I think I heard wrong. But did you just say, ‘the next saintess’?”

“Yes.”

So I didn’t hear it wrong.

“So… is that saintess the saintess that I think you’re talking about?”

“What sort of saintess do you think ‘that saintess’ is?”

“So… the one who is divine and holy, loved by all believers of that religion, with a halo that illuminates them from behind, leads the priests onto the right path with an open heart, and is overflowing with divine power, which if used, will demonstrate mysterious abilities. Is it that one?”

Lydia laughed at my unpleasant explanation and said.

“I don’t think you’ll need to worry particularly about being divine and holy, since your existence itself already makes that a fact. The same goes for the halo.”

No, that part isn’t what’s the point here… 

Even though I was the one who said it, it was still a bit embarrassing. A halo? Really?

“Although leading a priest is correct, it isn’t a requirement. As a saintess, just going your own way will be enough. We will simply follow after you on our own.”

…But what if I was thinking of defecting?

“The amount of divine power you possess is enough to cover the whole of this world, so you’re right about that part.”

So what if I can cover the whole world with that?

“Now, if we’re talking about mysterious abilities, then… the power you show will be more than that of our priests combined, so you’re also right about that.”

“Ha…?”

The only sounds that came out from my slightly parted lips were stupid ones.

“But didn’t the high priest of Solarism say that this body didn’t have the vessel for any divine power at all?”

I weeded out this strange point.

This body had no such ability. Because of this lack of ability, she was subsequently abused by the Duke. When I thought of his evil deeds, I regretted it to the point that I wished I had at least hit his chin before leaving.

Lydia clapped her hands at my question and spoke.

“Don’t tell me, that bastard, no… that guy, he’s met a saintess before, yet he said that and kept his mouth shut from us? Oh my… hohohoho.”

The shape of those eyes that were like crescent moons, and that mouth that resembled an arc, were clearly all gentle. However, I felt an unknown fear at the sound of her laughter and the look in her eyes.

“Hohoho, did that senile geezer say that? Ohohoho!”

“…” 

It was obviously me who was in the middle of complaining, but when I saw Lydia like that, my mouth automatically shut by itself. It felt as if I’d be ripped apart calmly if I even said one word out of line.

“Well, he wasn’t wrong.”

Lydia, whose laughter had already subsided, said. 

I tilted my head.

“But isn’t that contradicting to what you just said? To have such a large amount of divine power, enough to cover the whole world, yet have no divine power at all…”

What sort of ‘refreshing fine dust²’ nonsense is this?

“Was it a deception?”

“Since your lunar divine power is infinite, of course there’s no vessel or place for you to hold any solar divine power.”

“What…?”

It felt as if my head had just been hit with something refreshing.

“So that geezer… the high priest of Solarism, was saying that you had no ability as a ‘saintess of Solarism’?”

“Ah…”

Then, was it true that Meliara really had abilities, but the Solar faith simply kept their mouth shut since it wasn’t their ability, but that of the Lunar faith’s? That is, she was eventually harmed in the end, by the political divide between religions?

“Haa.”

A sigh flowed out of my mouth.

Seriously, what sort of unfair life was this?”

“Seriously, isn’t life too harsh?”

She would’ve lived a much better life, if only she had known that she had the divine power of the Moon God. 

She wouldn’t have had to act so tyrannical over the female lead in the original novel for no reason. She would’ve been loved by the people as the Lunarism saintess without having to be obsessed over the original novel’s male lead, the Crown Prince.

However, her abilities as ‘the saintess of the Moon God’ which was able to solve all those problems at once, was buried by the silence of the high priest of the Sun God.

“No matter how bad the relationship is between the Solar and Lunar religions, couldn’t you at least say one sentence, like, ‘rather than us, you might have the power of the Lunar faith instead’?”

It felt as if my heart was boiling and had overflowed. I couldn’t tell whether it was anger or resentment. I didn’t know, but I could only tell that, either way, there were various mixed emotions that were swirling around in my heart.

I grinded my teeth so hard that my jaw hurt. I thought that if I didn’t do at least that, then this feeling would only fester inside of me. 

At that time, a warm heat touched my jawline.

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“?”

It was a rough feeling, like there were calluses, but the emotions conveyed were so soft that it felt as if the strength put into my chin had naturally disappeared by itself.

As I turned my head in the direction of the hand, I saw Lecht, who had suddenly approached me at some point in time, who was standing right next to me and looking down at me.

“You’ll get hurt.”

“…?”

“You get hurt so easily.”

I had to think for a moment about what he was talking about.

So, right now, are you doing that because you’re worried that my teeth while get hurt? No, I know I’ve been grinding my teeth, but you’re telling me that you’re worried about that…? 

What the hell happened to my image after my motion sickness for you to treat me as if I’m a soap bubble that could burst at even the slightest touch?

“Is the high priest of the Solar religion the problem? Will your anxiety disappear if I dispose of him?”

“Dispose…?”

Why does that word feel sort of scary…? It’s as if he’ll be dragged somewhere and disappear quietly… 

“I’ll get him away from your sight.”

The moment Lecht said that, I suddenly recalled Lecht and Linden’s first meeting.

Someone who was powerful enough to make Linden, who was an archmage, take a step back in retreat. 

Besides, didn’t he say that he was one of the Emperor’s people?

“No!”

If such a person touched the high priest, then it would only mean war.

“Isn’t he someone whose face I won’t have to see anyway?”

I didn’t even know exactly what he looked like.

“Although we had a sort of bad relationship in the past, it’s easier to treat each other as if we have nothing to do with each other now.”

My intuition strongly suggested that I had to stop Lecht.

I grabbed his hand tightly and said firmly.

“It’s fine. Really.”

Lecht looked at me without any reaction, even though I had exaggerated it a little bit. It was as if he knew I was trying to force him to stop.

Just as I was wracking my brains, trying to think of how I was meant to convince this man who was too kind, Lydia spoke up.

“In regards to that part, we were planning on lodging a formal protest against the Solar religion anyway.”

“Really?”

“Those tadpoles seem to have forgotten who it’s thanks to that they themselves are able to be in that position today in the first place. Hohohoho!”

“…?”

The sound of her ‘hohoho’ laughter was so calm and creepy, to the point where I was worried about whether I would have to stop the people on this side from fighting too.

However, there seemed to be no reason for me to stop them from fighting when they were fighting against a religion… no, but is there? If I’m really the saintess, then this problem is related to me too, right?

After thinking deeply for a while, I finally asked.

“But how can you be so sure that I’m the saintess?”

What did she say earlier? Was it the amount of power and purity was in my divine power? Was that what determined who was the saintess?

“There are a variety of reasons. In the future, we plan to go through various verification procedures to accumulate more certainty.”

“So, like what?”

Lydia yanked at the string around her neck. At the end of it, was something that was similar to Lecht’s whistle.

“Do you want to try blowing into it?”

I did what she told me to do.

The bright ‘phwiiiiit—’ sound from earlier sounded out.

Before I could even take the whistle out of my mouth, the hawk that I had seen earlier had already sat on my shoulder.

“Could you please give it back to me?”

At Lydia’s request for the whistle, I returned the whistle and stroked the hawk’s neck.

Lydia took the whistle into her mouth and blew it.

There was a ‘phwaeeek—’ sound that was sort of similar to the sound before, but was somewhat a little different.

Although it was the same instrument, the sound that I had made when I played it sounded like one of a skilled performer, whilst Lydia’s was one of whom that had just started out.

“The sound… seems somewhat different?”

“The purer and cleaner the divine power is, the clearer the sound is once it touches God’s power.”

This was rather hard for me to refute. Since even I had thought that the sound I had made was rather pretty.

“But isn’t it too early to conclude that I’m the saintess, just from that?”

“Well, it’s hard to explain in words, but for those like me, who have been measuring the depth and purity of the divine power of others for a whole lifetime, can’t help but understand it naturally. As the saintess, you will naturally be able to feel it as time passes.”

I was in a stalemate in the end. Since I apparently had a lot of divine power, and it was also clear as well.

“Then, when someone with more divine power, which is even purer than mine, appears, then does that person become the saintess?”

“That’s not the case. A saintess is the only child who is directly ordained by God. There are times when no saintess appears for centuries, but there can never be two children of the same god in the same time period.”

So how do you know that I’m the only one then? 

I needed certainty. Since this way, the moment they find out that I’m not the saintess they revere, they’ll immediately throw me away. 

I hated that. When you need me, I’ll be raised as preciously as gold and jade, but the moment you know that I’m not, the attitude will immediately do a 180. Rather than being disappointed, they would’ve thought that they had been cheated, even if I left.

“If I’m the saintess, then how come you only appeared now? Why is my ability only now being revealed?”

When I spit those words out, my tone was a little harsh. However, Lydia explained gently, as if she understood.

“The ability to channel divine power is not revealed from birth. Of course, a vessel, a bowl to be filled with divine power, is born with you, but it takes time for it to manifest itself as an ability.”

“…”

I nodded, as if indicating that she should continue explaining, as she smiled and added.

“The only odd one here is me, who distinguished myself at four years old, however, the rest of the priests here, all revealed the abilities at around twelve to sixteen years old. Sometimes, people’s abilities even manifest, only at their middle-ages.”

“Oh…”

“The divine power of Lunarism is one that originates from the soul. Since that power comes out with the body as a medium, the moment the soul and the body unite as one, only then is the power manifested.”

Although the explanation was rather long, only one part caught my attention.

“The power comes from your soul?”

“Yes.”

My momentary flinch may have been noticed by them.

‘Then… the owner of this power isn’t this body, but me instead?’

My mind quickly became complicated. I thought that Meliara’s power had been handed over to me the moment I possessed her body, but it wasn’t that, and instead, was a power that had always originally belonged to me from the very beginning?

All kinds of hypotheses and facts were tangled in my head, only adding to the confusion.

As I pressed at my confused temples, Lydia asked.

“Have you perhaps seen any marks on your body recently?”

“Marks?”

“When that power begins to manifest, those signs are often revealed together.

Lydia pointed at her face and said.

“So that’s what it was…”

“Although they don’t appear on everyone who has manifested their abilities, the stronger the power is, the more intense the markings seem to come out. It can be seen as evidence of the body fully embracing the power of the soul.”

“But I don’t have that though.”

Meliara’s body was clean and devoid of markings.

‘There were spots like that in my past life, but this body has no flaws, let alone patterns like th…at, wait.’

I suddenly recalled my body from my previous life. One hand instinctively headed toward my left shoulder blade. Although I couldn’t see anything with my clothes on, I still turned my head to stare at my shoulder.

‘Come to think of it, I had it in my past life. Something like a mark.’

Although it couldn’t be said to be the same as Lydia’s, it was awfully similar to hers. Although it was a marking I had existed ever since I was young, it was oddly pretty, so the aunties that would help to scrub my back at the bathhouse would always ask me where I had gotten my tattoos done.

‘If it’s a power that originates from the soul… does that mean that I also had such a power in my previous life too?’

Then the marking… don’t tell me…!

‘It’s common for them to appear late.’

“J-Just a moment!”

I hurriedly ran into the lodging that wasn’t too far away. Although I could hear Kelber chasing after me, I had no time to pay attention to that and ran straight to my room on the second floor.

As soon as I opened the door and came in, I immediately took off my shirt. I was in such a hurry that I almost ripped my clothes off.

I closed the bathroom door with a loud bang and stood in front of the mirror in only my underwear.

“Heup.”

I turned my back to the mirror to check.

“It’s really there…”

There was the marking on my body which had never once been mentioned in the original novel. The marking that was very similar to the one I had on my body in my previous life, was no engraved on this body in the exact same place.

It was as if my soul had put a stamp on this body, saying, ‘this body is mine now.’

I felt as if I had just been hit really hard on the head.

“This is really… my power?”

In any case… it seemed like I really was the saintess of the Moon God.

[1] 자다가 봉창 두드린다 is a proverb that refers to when someone does something that others cannot understand/to suddenly do or say something out of context. this stems from a legend where a man and a woman knocked on one another’s paper windows to secretly indicate that they wanted to snu snu. however, knocking on one’s own paper window had strange and ridiculous things occurring.

[2] 상쾌한 미세먼지 couldn’t find anything online but i’m assuming it’s referring to something contradictory since fine dust can’t possibly be ‘refreshing’.

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erm lydia is so fine ???? i been simping over her for a damn few minutes alr heLPPPPP

also get u a man who will threaten to kill someone just because ur grinding ur teeth LMAOOO

this chapter took a lot longer bc religion jargon hehehe

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

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Why didn’t I think of that?!

There were two religions in this world.

The solar doctrine which worshiped the Sun God, and the lunar doctrine that worshiped the Moon God.

Most of the empire’s nobles were believers of the solar doctrine. It was an unavoidable circumstance that occurred when the Emperor himself pursued the solar doctrine.

However, the Emperor didn’t condemn or ban any other religions.

Even the abandoned temple I was going to visit was not a temple of the Sun God, but one of the Moon God.

“On the contrary, they wouldn’t welcome them, who are hostile to the Temple of the Sun God, right?”

Solarists and Lunarists never got along well in the first place. They fought over every trivial matter, starting from the fact that ‘my god is greater, your god is fake,’ to the fact that the Solarists divine power was only flashy but without substance, to the fact that the Lunarists temple was completely dark and gloomy, making one feel at unease immediately.

Therefore, since the day had come where we were shunned by the Solarists, there was a strong possibility that on the contrary, the Lunarists would like it if we asked for their help, and would think it was a way to fight back against the Solarists.

“Anyhow, even if it that’s the case, the lunar doctrine is still a bit…”

“Hey, don’t think so badly about them. I’m sure they’re good people too, they just simply believe in another god.”

Linden seemed to be averse to them since he was a Solarist. But now wasn’t the time to argue about that! As an atheist, I honestly didn’t care which temple it was.

“But how do we call for them?”

There were many sun temples around us. You’d probably be able to find a solar temple just by riding a horse for a quarter of a day.

On the contrary, the number of lunar temples was extremely small.

“Would asking a guild get the job done?”

Most guilds were in charge of delivering requests for the Sun God’s Temple, so I wondered whether it would be the same case for the Moon God’s Temple. However, the village that we were in was so small that there may not even be a guild or anything like that.

As I was pondering this matter, I heard a word from behind me that ended all my worries.

“That won’t do.”

“Which part? Calling for the priests of the Moon God? Or contacting them through a guild?”

“The Lunar religion doesn’t use the same communication network as the Solar one.”

“Oh…”

So they avoided using guilds since the Solar religion used it. Weren’t they only putting themselves at a disadvantage just because they didn’t want to overlap a little though…?

“Then?”

At my question, Lecht snapped his fingers at Tanma.

Tanma, who had been standing behind him, approached him and placed a small stick in Lecht’s hand.

Lecht handed it to me right away.

“Is this… a whistle?”

It was about the size of my finger and made out of silver. Although it didn’t seem to be made into a structure that could sound out many notes, the engraving on the side of it was still very elegant nonetheless.

“Blow it.”

Seeing that I showed an interest in it, Lecht gave me permission, so I put the whistle in my mouth and blew into it.

Phweeee—

The bright sound filled the night sky. It was a pretty sound that was rather high-pitched, yet didn’t pierce the ears, clear, yet not sharp.

A loud whistle could shock or discomfort even the blower, yet it automatically put a smile on my face.

“How nice…”

A small remark of admiration came from my side.

When I turned my head, it turned out to be Linden.

He looked at both the whistle and I with dazed eyes, as if he were possessed by something.

“Right? Isn’t it nice?”

“It’s unique.”

Lecht muttered in reply to me, who was excited and repeated myself.

“What’s so unique about it?”

“Aren’t you a Solarist?”

With his chin raised high, Lecht asked Linden.

“The sound waves of the Moon God sound unpleasant to those who are filled with the divine power of the Sun God.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is…”

How fascinating. It sounds different depending on which god you’ve been blessed by. Although I didn’t particularly believe in any god, it was still a little fascinating.

“Then why is Linden…?”

Could it be that Linden isn’t actually a Solarist…?

Well, to be fair, he seemed to be an atheist, even from my point of view. Despite the fact that Linden was a prince, didn’t mean that he was obligated to be a Solarist.

“Huh? Then I guess you aren’t a Solarist either, Lecht.”

This whistle showed that it was possible to contact the temple of the Moon God without having to visit there in person first. Then, through this ‘means of contact’, wouldn’t that imply that Lecht was a Lunarist?

“How unique. Most of the Empire’s nobles were Solarists though.”

As he was one of the Emperor’s people, I too naturally thought that he was a Solarist.

“So what happens now?”

I blew the whistle according to his words.

But nothing happened.

The priests of the Moon God didn’t suddenly appear in front of me like magic, nor were there any traces that remained of having successfully contacted them like a communication device. All I had done was blow into a pipe.

Instead of answering my question, Lecht raised his head and looked up at the sky behind me.

“It’s coming from over there.”

With his eyes on the dark horizon as he spoke, I turned my head toward the direction he was looking in.

As soon as I did so, a frightening shadow quickly flitted across the night sky which was full of moonlight. The black object cut across the wind so fiercely it made a schwing sound, and then skyrocketed into the space where Lecht and I were.

“?”

The thing that had ascended into the sky then began to descent at a much more leisurely pace.

Lecht raised his arm toward it. He raised his wrist and elbow to his eye level and made it parallel to the sky.

That was the moment.

Flap!

A cool breeze brushed past me.

“Wow!”

What spread its large wings and glided gracefully toward Lecht was none other than a hawk.

Screech! Squawk—!

The hawk, which a harmonious mixture of gray and yellow, landed gently on Lecht’s arm.

Flap—

It latched onto Lecht’s arm and flapped its wings once, just like it did when it shook off the wind in the sky while it was flying.

Lecht’s hair fluttered arbitrarily in the wind. His silver hair that swayed in the moonlight, those golden eyes of his which were exceptionally bright, as well as the hawk that was with him, brought together a completed sight that would remain forever engraved in my eyes.

***

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“So the priests will be able to receive it straight away if we send a telegram through this guy?”

I stroked the head of the hawk that was settled on Lecht’s arm.

“That’s right.”

“That’s very convenient.”

It made a squawk squawk sound and scratched its neck and torso against my hand, perhaps because it was in a good mood. A smile flowed out of me naturally, putting me in a better mood once I felt its warmth through my hands. 

“Coming all the way here, it’s been hard on you.”

“Squawk!”

As if replying to my words, the child made a sound before moving its body up and down.

“The messenger bird is so cute, I want to call for it just to meet it.”

To think that I’d be able to see a hawk that I’d normally only be able to see in a zoo or on TV up so close! This couldn’t have been a more pleasant night for me.

“Then I’ll go and bring you a pen and paper for you to write a letter…! Huh?”

As I was about to move towards the lodging, I felt a tug at my clothes.

I looked down to see a child pulling on my clothes.

“Noona¹, what was that just now?”

A smile came to my lips as I took in the sight of the bright-eyed child.

I knelt down on one knee and showed the child the whistle.

“This is a whistle.”

“Oh, I know what this is. You blow on it when you’re in danger.”

“That’s right.”

Although the child seemed to be talking about a self-defense whistle, despite this whistle being one that was used to contact the Moon God’s Temple, the ‘dangerous time’ he referred to could still be used on the current situation too.

It was the moment I was about to reach out my hand to stroke the head of the child who was curiously looking at the whistle.

“Urk…”

The child suddenly grabbed at his chest tightly and fell forward.

I, who was sitting right in front of the child, automatically reached out to catch the child.

“What’s wrong…”

“Cough!”

The child started to cough before I could finish my question. Although he tried to cover his mouth with his hand quickly, he still couldn’t hide the blood that was on it.

“Oh.”

It didn’t take me too long to figure out what it was.

“Miss!”

“Meliara, get away from that child!”

“No one come any closer!”

I heard the voices of Tanma and Linden, one after the other, but I shouted out before they could reach me.

“Get away from me.”

“Woof! Woof!”

The obedient Kelber, who could understand my words, barked anxiously, but didn’t come any closer.

There was nothing I could do.

What I saw in that child was undoubtedly a symptom of the plague. I had let down my guard since that child hadn’t been wearing a bracelet that marked him as someone who was infected.

“Haa… The priests will be here soon anyway, so…”

Although I couldn’t say that I caught it right away since I only just made contact with the child, I still had to be careful not to spread it to anyone else anyway.

“I’ll stay in my room by myself until they come…”

I sighed while grabbing onto the child’s shoulder, but then suddenly felt a warm hand covering my hand which was still holding onto the child’s shoulder.

Shocked, I realized the hand that came into my vision and covered my own one was Lecht’s large one. He was sitting next to me, kneeling on one knee.

“Lecht, just what are you doing right now?!”

Startled, I tried to pull my hand out of his, but Lecht wrapped his hand around my own, which was holding on tightly to the child’s shoulder.

Even though it wasn’t a strong force, I couldn’t pull my hand out, no matter how hard I tried.

“Lecht!!!”

I grabbed him with my other hand and pushed him away urgently.

But he didn’t budge at all.

Instead, he moved to roll up the child’s sleeve.

The symptoms on his skin that weren’t able to be seen under his sleeve were now revealed.

Realizing that it was definitely a symptom of the disease, I became even more urgent.

“Lecht, let go of me! What are you going to do if you get infected, Lecht…!”

“It’s okay.”

“What do you mean, it’s okay…!”

A mixture of frustration and distress suffocated my heart.

My head was filled with my own safety, of course, as well as the wellbeing of the child, and the safety of Lecht as well. Having imagined the terrible situation of Lecht vomiting blood, I grabbed his wrist even tighter and shouted.

“Please let go of me!”

Even if I got it, I’d have it by myself, and even if I got sick, I was better being sick by myself.

“I hate it when it’s Lecht that’s sick…!”

That was the moment.

I felt a burst of gentle wind from my solar plexus and flow out from my fingertips. 

At the same time, a light flashed from my hand which was enveloped in Lecht’s. It was a short and intense light, to the point that I had to squint my eyes.

Surprised by the flash, I looked at the back of Lecht’s hand which was covering my own in a daze.

“What was that just now…?”

While I muttered under my breath with a dazed look on my face, Lecht pulled up the child’s sleeve that he had checked earlier.

“Huh…?”

The spots had disappeared seamlessly. Although the wound itself that had ruptured remained, the skin disease had definitely been healed.

“Huh?”

I wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

The child lifted up his clothes and checked his own body with a puzzled expression.

“Noona, I feel more comfortable breathing now.”

He took a few deep breaths and then spoke, as if he were amazed. Then he raised his head and looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“Noona was the one that healed me, right? Right?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s…”

“Wow! I’m correct, right? That flash back then was you, right?”

I… don’t know either.

I don’t know, but for some reason, I think it was me.

Although it was groundless confidence, the light seemed to have come from my hand just then. Because I had felt an unknown energy burst from my solar plexus.

I looked down at my hand that Lecht had released at some point.

I could vaguely tell. That the power that had burst from my body had healed the child.

“That’s why I said it was okay.”

Although I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, despite it having been me who had done it, on the contrary, Lecht spoke leisurely about it, as if he knew everything already.

“What is this…”

“Woah!”

Gasp!

Crackle!

It was when I was going to ask what was going on.

I heard a loud noise sound out from beside me.

“?”

When I turned my head in surprise, I could see three people in black robes scrambling out of a portal and tripping over each other’s legs.

Although I knew that space travel portal was a special privilege given to high priests, why did they suddenly come over here…

As I was looking at them in confusion, one of the people who was scanning his surroundings while falling over his own feet caught sight of me and shouted.

“That person…! It’s that person! There’s no mistaking it!”

Then, he rushed toward me.

Surprised, I staggered back, but fell instead.

They, who rushed toward me, surround me, who had nowhere to escape to.

“You… no, I mean, you²…!”

“Pardon?”

“Am I correct?”

“What…”

“It’s this person! Can’t you feel this vast energy?”

“…?”

They knelt down in front of me and repeatedly said ‘ohhhhh’, and ‘wowww’, as well as things I couldn’t understand.

“Hey, just what’s going on right now…”

“Everyone, quiet. They’re speaking.”

“To think your voice could be so bright!”

“Hnggg, my eardrums are melting…”

“Wait, no, please calm down…”

“Even if I die, I’ll have no regrets… Hic, to think I could see you in person here before I die…!”

“I hope you get reincarnated in paradise. Meanwhile, I’ll be going to hell for wanting to covet their beauty for a little longer.”

“So, excuse me…”

“Hnggg, if only there was a way to capture such a beautiful voice…!”

“How dare you think of trapping such a noble thing in a single place!”

“Hey!!!”

I finally raised my voice at the appearance of them, who didn’t seem to even have any thoughts of listening to me.

Only then did they shut their mouths and look at me.

I glimpsed the faces underneath the black hoods. All of them were looking at me with surprise in their eyes.

“Huu… So.”

It was when I finally began to talk since I thought I could finally squeeze a word in now.

“I can’t believe even your voice, which is full of anger, could sound so elegant…”

“Just a sigh from this noble one will surely be able to purify the whole world!”

“Are you guys crazy?”

In the end, I still eventually spit out a slew of harsh words.

[1] 누나 is what a younger guy calls an older girl, so we can infer that the kid is a boy.

[2] he uses the normal particle 가, then switches to the more formal particle which is 께서 to show respect

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crying HGLDKSFFDS THE HIGH PRIESTS LMAGOIHSDLJFS why are they like this gghaliijjdfdsf

UMMMM ALSO THAT FINE ASS ARTWORK OF LECHT AND THE HAWK ???? ERRR YESS ?!!!!

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