CH 220

The saintess spent the final day of the festival drinking wine by the bottle alone in the villa’s kitchen. The chef would likely wonder who had cleared out the wine reserves tomorrow, but that wasn’t any of her concern. The reason being…

“How is it that every single one of them went out to play! And not a single one invited me to tag along! Why, they’ve got even less comradeship than the attendants back in the imperial palace!” she shrieked in the empty kitchen, as she slammed the bottle on the table. “I hope you all suffer from a sudden deluge of rain.”

In truth, the saint had been shunned due to her refusal to engage in conversation with the villa attendants, often declaring, “I only listen to Lady Irene’s orders!” She hadn’t bothered to strike up any friendships, was difficult to talk to, and was spiteful to boot. Who’d bother to take care of her? That’s how she found herself waking up after a sound sleep to an utterly empty villa.

“Even Estian and Cecile are gone! Well, I guess that’s why all the attendants all went out to play.” The saintess has even gone to pace about near their rooms, but alas, there were no signs of them either. It would’ve been unimaginable for the attendants to sneak out because the masters weren’t around had this been the imperial palace. Irene wouldn’t have stood for it.

“Really though. I wonder how things will go from now on… Will things be okay like this?” The saintess had been mulling over this question for some time. The latter part of the plot she’d written had yet to play out, but far too many things had changed. In truth, the saintess was starting to feel a little scared.

She had assumed she would safely become Cecile, after which she could live a life of eating and playing well, while Estian would go on to survive without any problems and the two would share a happily ever after. However, everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly even without her intervention. Still, what if Estian went berserk out of nowhere? Then, everyone would be doomed together. The saintess was at a loss as to what to fix so that events would play out like the original story.

“Whatever the case is, I should be able to do something as long as I recover my holy power.” There were many trials this world still had to face in the future. To overcome all of them and secure a happy ending for everyone, she needed to become Cecile. Muttering to herself that this was the only way, the saintess reached out for the wine bottle she had placed beside her.

“Huh? There’s no more?” After swigging from the bottle and emptying the wine down her throat without even bothering to use a glass, she realized there was none left. Stumbling through the kitchen, she searched for something else to drink but soon reached a solution. “I can just go out and drink, can’t I?”

Everyone else had gone out, so why couldn’t she? Immediately, she returned to her room to retrieve the money Irene had entrusted her, ignoring Irene’s warning of  “Waste this money and you’re dead.” Exiting through the back door of the villa, she soon stepped out onto a street filled with people.

Gazing at the crowd in front of her, she muttered, “I hate even numbers. Seriously…” Everyone passing by were in pairs of varying couplings: men and women, women and men, two women, and two men. Even the ants crawling at her feet seemed to be in pairs. Surely, she hadn’t come all this way into this world just to taste this bitter feeling, had she?

The saintess paused to wonder just how she’d ended up here. Drawing a long sigh, she muttered, “Is it supposed to be so difficult to keep a handsome and demure man by my side?” By no means was she expecting an answer, but a voice spoke up from behind her.

“If you were looking for someone like that, then why did you run away without a word?”

The heck? Who was this? Startled, the saintess turned around to find a familiar-looking man behind her, gasping to catch his breath. Startled, she yelped, “Kane?”