CH 2

Ian pressured me again when I couldn’t respond quickly from humiliation.

“Show me proof that you’re a saint.”

“P-proof?”

“Yes. If you are really a saint, you should have a power as well.”

Power. I opened my eyes wide after hearing that word.

In the world of「A Saintess Doesn’t Know About Love」, the saints all essentially held a power. It was a mysterious ability, whether it’s healing or foresight. 

It appeared that I had correctly deduced the setting, based on the fact that the plotline of saintly powers was revealed.

I don’t know what had happened but this place seemed to fit the worldview of「A Saintess Doesn’t Know About Love」.

But the joy of getting it right was fading away. Ian asked in a cold voice.

“Can you answer me? You’re not trying to say that you don’t have any power, are you?”

“……Foresight! My power is Foresight!” I shouted hastily.

Healing was the first thing that came to mind, but it would be problematic if you were asked to heal a wound. However, Foreknowledge is still an option and the power I need to claim to be able to deceive him.

“Foreknowledge.”

Ian looked at me with a cold look.

“Then you’ll have to tell me this. Where is my sword now?”

My head felt like it was about to burst for a moment. Ian Esteban’s sword. I knew the sword well.

Ordinary people believed the magnificent sword he usually carries around his waist was a prize from the Emperor, but it was not true. It was really-

“In the subspace. Do you always keep it there?”

It was created by magic and kept in a virtual inventory.

“……Yes, that’s right.”

Ian sulkily raised the corners of his mouth. 

“Did you just guess?”

“No! A Sa-saintess, That’s it, I’m really a saintess!” 

My hands and feet were trembling to say that I was a saintess with my own mouth, but I exclaimed briefly. 

“Commander, it doesn’t appear to be an answer that can be given by chance.”

Nice, Lucian! I looked up at him more proudly at the back.

“……Is it true? A real saintess?”

Ian muttered slowly as he gazed down at me with suspicious eyes. I tried my best to make an innocent expression like a saintess. It appeared to be a failure as Ian’s look became further distorted.

“It irritates me a little because I feel like you’re making fun of me…”

“No way, Commander.”

“Ummm… a new saintess for the first time in 15 years. It’s encouraging if it’s true…… well, yes. For the time being, I’ll trust you.”

“Well thought!”

I answered loudly. I thought I should stand out before the saintess verification process begins.

“All right, saintess. Then there’s something I want you to do first.”

Ian raised the corners of his mouth slowly. It was a smile that brought a shiver down my spine.

“…What is it?”

“After 15 years, the saintess appeared and somehow ended up in my room… creating a lot of trouble for me.”

My knees froze even more than when I would speak respectfully. I rolled my eyes and said,

“I apologize on behalf of the God who sent me for the…..”

“No apologies. I need you to explain it together with me.”

“Commander. You seem to scare the saintess too much. She must have been surprised…”

“Tsk.”

Ian made a low click with his tongue.

“Alright, before we go out to explain, why don’t you change your….. profane clothes first.”

Ian then wrapped the cloak that had been hanging over the chair around my shoulders. He then checked around my neck.

“The insect bites need some treatment.”

“Yes? Bugs? Ah… ah.”

My eyes and Lucian’s gaze were drawn to my collarbone. The red marks on my white skin were prominent enough to make his face turn red just from looking at it.

‘…..Did you say that after seeing this?’

There’s no way. You’re an adult, but you had no idea what these marks mean. Ian just spoke as if he felt sorry for me.

“You’ve been bitten a lot. It looks very painful… Anyway, Lucian. Take good care of it.”

“Yes, Commander! Come along with me, saintess. I’ll get you a change of clothes.”

Lucian hurriedly beckoned to me. As I followed him, I felt relieved for now.

‘Alright, I’ve saved my life for now.’

It was just a matter of standing out before the lie is exposed, and to figure out how I got into this strange world in the first place.

…Can I do it?

* * *

In conclusion, I haven’t run yet. 

I looked down at the clothes I had just changed into with awkward eyes.

Even though the cream-colored dress was a cute design that I would never wear, it was a million times better than that sassy slip.

I had changed my clothes and looked in the mirror.

A woman about my age stared back at me in the mirror. Her hair was light brown like hazelnuts. Her green eyes were a dark viridescent. A pretty likable woman blinked at me. 

[T/N: Yes, it is different from the cover that we saw. Let’s just see how the story progressed. It might be that the illustrator changed the features of our FL. Who knows :smirk:]

“This is….. me.”

I sighed. It was hard to believe, but it was real. In order to survive, I had to accept it.

‘If you become a character in a novel, wouldn’t you want to be the main villain or at the very least a supporting character, even if you were not the heroine?’

I’ve become an extra who doesn’t even have a name.

‘In the first place, I’ve never read a chapter like this!’ 

Ian was a faithful and perfect Holy Knight commander from the beginning to the finish of the novel, a character who was literally pure.

A woman hiding in Ian’s bed like that. I never remembered reading such a scandal in the original.

‘….Wait. Perhaps there is a reason why this case did not appear in the original story.’

Was it possible that he discovered and dealt with a woman hidden in the bed before others talked about it?

‘Was this body I entered supposed to die? Did I just survive a one in a billion chance…?’

The thought of that sent shivers down my spine. If it had been just Ian, he could have dealt with it one by one to avoid any scandals.

He was such a character. My mind went blank due to the sudden realization.

“Saintess, have you changed?”

Lucian asked cautiously outside the door. He appeared anxious that I may have shattered the window and fled.

“Yes, I’m leaving now.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t that reckless. Escape was the original goal, but an escape that fails in five seconds was of no use.

I had to wait for an opportunity to get away from Ian and his henchman, Lucian, for now.

Ian had returned after leaving the room so I could quietly change clothes.

“Now you’re wearing something that looks a little bit like real clothes.”

Ian commented after seeing my change from the slip to a plain dress. Then Ian sat down on the sofa and pointed to the chair across from him.

“Now. Please sit down here, saintess.”

He called me a ‘saintess’, but Ian’s eyes were still filled with doubts about me.

“Shouldn’t we have a sincere conversation before going out to explain in front of an audience?”

“Haha….. Yes, we should.”

I swallowed my fears as I reluctantly responded. While changing clothes, I desperately racked my brain, but I didn’t have enough time to think of anything.

From now on, I had no choice but to get through this situation on the fly. Please shine, my wits. A question came at me as soon as I sat down in the chair.

“All right then. Can you tell me where you came from and who you are?”

‘As expected, this is the first question.’

The first question was as expected. The most basic of the basics.

‘I’m Lee Seo Yeon who lives in Korea. I was in your arms when I woke up after drinking at my friend’s house.’

I’ll be dragged into the torture chamber dedicated to the Holy Knights if I tell the truth like this.

‘Oh, I’m going to die of a headache.’

If this was a dream, I really want to wake up. I opened my mouth as I swallowed my cries.

“My name is….. Irene. I am Irene Grace.”

In this worldview, ‘Irene’ was a very common name. The heroine’s friend’s name and aunt’s name were both Irene. Grace is also the most common last name. In other words, Irene Grace is like the Kim Young-hee in Korean.

“Irene Grace.”

“Yes, that’s my name.”

“Isn’t that a very common name?”

“It is said that the more common a name is, the better.”

Ian groaned and clenched his chin.

“Where are you from?”

“…..”

All right, this was the second question but it was an expected question. I expected you would ask a question like this. I secretly lowered my hand and pinched my thigh.

“I…..”

My eyes quickly watered from the sting of my hands. With bright young eyes, I gazed out of the window in the distance.

“Actually, I don’t…. come from this empire.”

“……”

Ian raised one eyebrow and looked at me as if he wanted to ask for more.

“Actually, I was a slave. A runaway slave.”

“A runaway slave?”

Ian’s brows furrowed. I had to change the script quickly.

“Yes. I’ve been abandoned since I was a child, and I’ve lived as a slave without ever seeing my parents… I was fortunate enough to be able to run away.”

“…….”

“This is the first time I’ve ever told it to anyone.”

I lowered my head and spoke in a hushed tone. This was the best I could do. I had no way of proving my identity if I was a slave. In other words, Ian couldn’t trace my identity. A certificate of slave trade would never reach me if I claimed I had run away.

In that short time of changing clothes, it was impossible to plan out any more.

“So you were a slave.” Ian muttered slowly and stared at me.

My spine was weak, terrified for no reason because of his sky-blue eyes.

“Why does it sound like a good excuse?”

“……”

That’s because you’re not a pushover, right? Ha ha.

‘I’m not a person who will eat up the Emperor in the future.’

“Well, all right. First, let’s go into more detail. Who was your slave owner before you ran away?”

A flurry of precise questions erupted. From this point forward, everything was important. I covered my mouth with my hand.