CH 222

The saintess pressed a hand to her heart. ‘Wha-what the? Why’s he suddenly talking like a protagonist?’ She should be questioning what was up with him, but her heart was beating too madly for that. It was drumming hard against her hand. She inwardly chided, ‘No, stop it. Don’t go fooling around on me, Mrs. Heart. What are you thinking, beating so hard because of him right now?’

Only moments before, she’d been complaining about not understanding the emotions of her characters, but it turns out her emotions were the ones that were the most wildly out of control. ‘Even if I’m alone in my efforts, I should be the one to try and make the story flow as it should…’ To that end, she needed to calm Kane down and bring him to his senses.

At that moment, he took a step closer to the saintess and began, “We had a long talk that day about the virtues a man should have.”

Cold sweat ran down her cheeks. What the heck had she gone on about in her drunken state?

“I didn’t think I was particularly lacking in those virtues you mentioned…” Kane continued, taking another step closer until he was standing right before her nose. He asked dolefully, “Or do you hate me?”

“That’s not it, but…”

Hate? If she hated him, she wouldn’t have saved or gone after him instead of Estian. In fact, she was barely holding herself back from drooling over him even at this moment. Before her stood a man with a good body, drenched in sweat, and clinging to her for love. The saintess wished she could drag him back to the villa this very instant to spend a very long and intense time with just the two of them alone… but something kept bothering her. She had a feeling that if she voluntarily disrupted the flow of the story, there would be no turning back.

While the saintess was hesitating, a scream suddenly ripped through the air from afar. “Hm? What was that?” the saintess remarked. The two shifted their gazes toward the source of the sound and saw a strange flame floating in the sky. The moment it dropped toward the ground, the screaming intensified. Both instantly knew these weren’t fireworks. “Oh no…”

Turning her head, the saintess saw how Kane’s eyes shook. As a knight, he had to run over there right now, and the Kane that she knew would certainly do so. Yet, he was hesitating. Again, another of her characters was acting differently from how they had been written, and though until just recently it had caused her increased irritation, now…

As screams rose from the distance again, the saintess urged, “What’re you doing? Go! Quickly!” When Kane remained silent, she continued, “Let’s have a long talk when you’re back. You’re a knight, aren’t you? You have to help the people.”

Kane still didn’t move, so the saintess promised, “I won’t run. Whether you do it over from the start, or want to try to relive the memories of that day, I’ll be here. So, go do what you must and come back.” As soon as the words left her mouth, the saintess was gripped with an odd sensation, as if something was pulling at her tightly. It wasn’t a bad feeling—it was almost as if she’d been floating untethered in the water, but was now secured somewhere safely.

“I understand,” Kane nodded. “Please wait for me.” He immediately dashed off in the direction of the screams.

Gazing after him, the saintess let out a short sigh. “He gets a pass in the demure score, that’s for sure.” She, as a mere maid, had used a casual tone with and practically ordered him, a knight commander of the empire, yet he treated her with complete respect. “Then, well, now… I just need to teach him well. Actually… He’ll do well, right? I made it so he’s good at it, even if it’s his first time, so… I’m sure he’ll do good.”

The saintess kept mulling over that tight sensation she’d felt moments ago. ‘Maybe that was the feeling of setting up a flag… or something similar?’ She wondered if this was the kind of feeling you got after making an irreversible, important decision in a dating relationship.

“Saintess!” While the saintess puzzled over that unfamiliar feeling, someone called out to her suddenly.

Surprised, she turned around and saw the priests she’d met on the street the other day. “Why…?” She was about to ask why they were here, but a chill made her freeze and look back.