CH 9

‘Well.’

My stomach ached from the tension. Did I have to deceive not only Ian, but the whole nation for such a long time?

‘Is it possible to do it, Lee Seo Yeon?’

I don’t know. I wasn’t confident.

I buried my face in the pillow again and let out a sigh, then I quickly raised it again.

‘No. I have to do it whether I am confident or not.’

That’s how you survive. I had to deceive Ian to be able to survive from him first, and now I have to endure for a year to get out of Nine with Ian’s help.

‘And the knowledge I read from the original work can be useful in the future.’

I was aware of the big things to come. In addition, the setting of the main characters, like Ian, was quite memorable.

‘For example, on the day when the female lead makes her debut in a year from now, there will be a massive lightning storm on the island.’

The heroine, who awakens as a Saintess, used her powers for the first time that day during a lightning storm.

The heroine’s ability is to control the weather, her awakened power quelled the storm. 

‘Since then, she has aided many areas suffering from drought and floods.’

The power of most Saintesses is related to saving lives. Above all, the heroine’s ability to control the weather was suitable for rescuing people in the event of a natural disaster.

In any case, if the people are informed of such thunderstorms in advance, they will be able to prepare for flood damage. Afterwards, they will praise me for the grace of the Saintess!

Of course, I didn’t want to take credit away from the heroine, so that was just an example.

‘The problem is that my memory is not so prodigious.’

Still, I have read『A Saintess Doesn’t Know About Love』three times. Although I do not know the exact sentences, or on what pages or lines they are, I could recall the approximate contents.

‘I can do it.’

I clenched my fist. 

Under the power of ‘prediction’, I could tell people about the original story without feeling incongruent. 

‘Besides, I’m going to disappear from the world in a year, which means I could cover the shortcomings of not knowing the information after the book is finished.’ 

Of course, the original information could not be overused.

I was worried that the story would be twisted due to my intervention, and the bottom line was also a problem. 

‘So let’s use it only occasionally. It will have an impact!’

“Good good.”

I clenched my fists and shouted. Would that scary Holy Knight Commander treat me with respect if I predict the future once or twice?

“Saintess, did you call me?”

Then, I heard a voice behind the curtain.

‘Oh, right.’

Now that I think about it, I wasn’t the only one in this room.

“It’s nothing, Dame Joan.”

I answered the person behind the curtain with the most graceful voice.

“I understand. Please call me if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

Phew. I sighed softly.

Dame Joan is my escort whom Ian posted for me today. A small, but powerful swordswoman who prefers to use a rapier. She was also skilled with swords and has a knack for magic.

Lucian gave a little hint that Dame Joan was a talented person who might one day become a sword master.

‘Such a great woman escorts only me… Isn’t it a waste?’

I had that thought for a moment, but I pretended not to know and decided to accept Dame Joan.

The person who was targeting me was none other than Nine. Preparation was not enough, no matter how much certainty one had.

Deng, Deng.

Then I heard a bell ring.

I looked at the clock and it was already past midnight.

‘The time has already come.’

I closed the book and put it on the side table. It was time to go to bed. 

From tomorrow onwards, a very daunting schedule will be waiting for me. 

‘He said we’d have an engagement in three days, that man.’

What kind of engagement ceremony is held after three days? Even roasting soybeans over lightning would appear to be more time consuming.

‘But, before the rumors spread indiscriminately, we have to spread the word in advance.’

The preparations for the engagement ceremony were also finished, and there were things that I had to figure out on my own.

‘First of all, I have to break this time-limited curse.’

I glanced at the hem of my pajamas. 

The number ’76’ drawn on my thigh was much blurrier than before, but if you look closely, you can clearly see the outline.

I’ll be burned by a curse on my thigh if I don’t finish Ian in a year. 

‘Fortunately, there was a scene in the original story where the heroine solved this time-limited curse.’

In the original story, Nine once placed a time-limited curse on the heroine’s best friend. It was a terrible curse to poison the heroine.

Fortunately, the heroine was successful in breaking the curse within the time limit. I am about to try that method too.

‘I hope it works.’

No, it will work. It has to work. Otherwise, I’m dead.

‘Sigh, How could I possess such a strange character?’

I wrapped myself in a blanket as I was lamenting over this. Anyway, it was time to fall asleep for tomorrow.

I said to myself as I turned off the lamp on the nightstand.

“Go to sleep, Dame Joan.”

“Good night, Saintess.”

That was my first day that went by like a storm.

* * *

“Hmm….”

In the bright morning sun, I frowned.

“Lady Irene, did you cough?” Annette’s gentle voice was heard.

The voice reminded me once again that what was happening to me was not a dream. Ian, the Saintess, the lie, the fake marriage, Nine. None of them was a dream.

‘…It’s the worst morning.’ 

I staggered myself up.

“Lady Annette, Is there any water?”

“Yes! I’ll bring it to you now!”

Annette soon walked over towards the bed canopy and handed me a glass of water. A tray with some paper rolls is also included.

“I’ve also brought you newspapers to read.”

Newspapers from various publishing companies were neatly arranged on the tray.

‘Wow. I feel like the president of a conglomerate.’

“Thank you, Lady Annette.”

“Oh, please, don’t mention it…!” Annette said, blinking her eyes in embarrassment.

I looked at one of the papers on the tray. I was subconsciously looking, but it happened to be the <Empire Morning>. They were the ones who brought up the scandal between me and Ian yesterday.

“Oops, Lady Irene! That newspaper…!”

Annette was nervous as she had realized it late. But I had already seen the front page clearly. The following article was written on the front page of today’s Empire Morning.

「She is the veil-wrapped lover of the Commander of the Holy Knights! Reporters searched for information on her but came up empty-handed. Is Sir Esteban’s iron wall defense intended to hide his lover?」

‘Please don’t pay attention to this!’

I screamed inwardly, but I knew the truth.

If I were an ordinary imperialist, I would have bought this newspaper with a blink of an eye.

Annette said in a small voice.

“My apologies. I forgot to put that aside.”

“No, I should know that these articles are going around.”

<Empire Morning> is a gossip and loaded newspaper, but it’s not a third-rate newspaper. It would not be an exaggeration to say that almost every salon has this newspaper.

It is an influential newspaper. 

The fact that it was on the front page of such a newspaper for the second day meant that Ian and I are the most gossiped about people in the current social circles.

‘Well, of course.’

I pulled myself out of bed with a sigh. Annette asked.

“How is your schedule today, Lady Irene?”

I answered softly.

“I’m going to the Magic Tower.”

“What? Magic Tower?”

Annette’s eyes widened. I smiled lightly and nodded.

“I have some things to buy.”

“Shall I go instead?”

“No. I think I’d better go and choose for myself.”

“Understood! Then I’ll help you prepare right away!” 

Annette said with a solemn expression on her first mission. 

Surprisingly, there were several clothes that fit my body in the temporary residence’s closet. Lucian seemed to care about me. I wore a casual outing dress and covered it with a cape.

“You look perfect in the hooded cape that’s in vogue these days! You’re so pretty, Lady Irene!”

Annette waved her hands to emphasize she liked the style.

‘That’s wonderful, hooded capes are on trend.’ 

I put my hood back on as I thought this. I was able to move to the carriage without drawing much attention because of the hood. Once we got in Annette told the coachman where to go.

‘I can’t believe I’ll be going to visit a Magic Tower, which I’ve only read about in novels. I’m nervous all of a sudden.’

My heart was pounding as I stared out the window of the carriage at the rapidly changing scenery.

The Magic Tower is a building where romance fantasy novels are concentrated. A place where genius wizards and sages were! The Ivory Tower of Knowledge!

‘Of course, The Magic Tower in this novel differs slightly from The Magic Tower in other fantasy novels.’

“We have arrived, Lady Irene.”

Dame Joan kindly escorted me out of the carriage. I took Dame Joan’s hand, got off the carriage and looked up.

‘It’s so high…’

It was incredible to stand in front of the Magic Tower, which I could only imagine by the novels I read. The two twin buildings with dark blue lights hovering, in contrast to the pure white church building, were mysterious in itself. 

I hid my tension and confidently stepped inside it.

“Welcome, customer. How may I help you?”

As soon as I opened the door and walked in, I was welcomed with nice words.

As I raised my head, a friendly-looking wizard from the desk in front of us smiled broadly at us.

I squeezed the cape tighter and walked over to him. Fortunately, there were so many unusual customers, so my behavior did not stand out.

“Hello. I came here because there is a magic tool I want to buy.”

“I see. Is it solely for your personal use? Or is it a gift?”

“It’s for personal use.”

“It’s for personal use, customer. If that’s the case, our staff will help you with counseling right away!”

As the wizard at the desk smiled and talked, another staff wizard led me to a single room. 

I was amazed at how smooth the process was.

‘I heard that it was completely commercialized, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.’

The Magic Tower was once a purely academic institution where wizards gather and study. It was like all the Magic Tower in fantasy novels. 

However, everything changed when the current genius magician, Rizello, took control of the Magic Tower. The Tower’s reform was declared by Rizello, who repaired every nook and cranny of the isolated Tower.

As a result, the Magic Tower became the ideal commercial facility it is today in less than a decade. I was also told that because of this, he amassed unprecedented wealth.

“This is the counseling room, customer.”

The wizard at the desk greeted me with a bright smile and directed me to the door.

It was confusing whether they were wizards or service veterans who received the ‘Most Friendly Staff Award’ this month.