CH 2

When I saw the thing that looked like a chat window of a game, I flinched in surprise. Then I reached out my hand and touched it.

But, as if it was only visible to me, my hand lightly poked the window. 

Then a new text appeared.

[The ancient beings who were bored are interested in your excellent adaptability.]

“Ancient… beings?”

It wasn’t written in the Korean alphabet, yet maybe because of a buff of possession, I could read the letters.

[The ancient beings who were bored are interested in your excellent adaptability.]

Even if I read it again, I couldn’t understand what the hell it was talking about.

“What the heck is going on?”

After a while, the translucent window gradually turned transparent and the letters disappeared. I blinked, thinking if I was just dreaming.

Knock, knock.

I heard knocks from outside, and soon the door opened with the sound of the handle turning.

“…!”

I thought it was Annie because the silver tray was flashing in the sun, but the one who appeared holding a meal was a man whom I see for the first time.

He was very tall and broad-shouldered in a white uniform, his eyes were a little cool, but those golden eyes contained warm light. His hair was as bright as his eyes. If mine was the gold on the sandy beach, then his was a really bright gold as if it was extracted from gold yarn.

“Ariel.”

I was staring at him in awe as he was holding the tray, placing it on the table, and calling me. It was then that I immediately recognized who he was.

“I brought a meal.”

The person who always called Camilla by her name even when she became a saintess in the original story.

The man who was the top administrator of the temple, which had as much influence as the imperial family in the Empire.

“Reihausd de El.”

The man who brought Ariel to the temple and made her the fake saintess.

His name was sweetly whispered out my lips. 

‘De El’ is a unique title given to a high priest. 

Hearing what I just said, his golden eyes gleamed, and his red lips slightly formed an arc.

“Are you calling me by my name today?”

“Ah…”

It was then that I remembered that the fake saintess, Ariel, called him by the title, ‘High Priest’. So I hurriedly took care of what I had just done.

It was strange for Ariel, who wasn’t even the real saintess Camilla and knew clearly she was a fake, to call him by his name comfortably.

“I apologize, High Priest. I was just spacing out…”

“It’s nice to listen to, though?” But he cut me off with a soft voice.

When I saw him with a slightly startled look, he smiled and said jokingly.

“Actually, I had forgotten that I had a name.” 

A fresh breeze flew through the open window. His shiny gold hair fluttered slightly.

“It’ll be great if you can call me by my name from now on.”

I looked at him blankly, and I finally came to my senses long after. I was lost in those bright gold eyes.

After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.

“What I just said was a mistake.”

If it were the original Ariel, she would’ve liked it with her eyes sparkling. But I didn’t want to break the wall between me and him.

“How dare I call the name of the High Priest?”

I wouldn’t live in the temple for the rest of my life, anyway, and when the real saintess Camilla comes, I won’t be able to see him. That’s why it was better not to cross the line.

“…”

As he looked at me with a light smile, he remained silent. After a moment, he said.

“As I said before…”

“…”

“This is Ariel’s house now. You can have whatever you want or do anything.”

Reihausd was a bright and soft man, as described in the novel.

“Anything, as long as you understand that freedom comes with responsibility.”

But it was a story about Camilla only.

And I wasn’t the real Ariel who might have said, “Can I just call you Reihausd without any honorific?”

“Of course, High Priest.”

“I’ve often wanted to hear my name from Ariel, but it’s too bad.” A smile hung around his lips, yet I felt a lot of pressure from him.

“Thank you for bringing me a meal.”

I turned around and bowed my head.

The High Priest is the only person in this temple who knows that I’m a fake, in order to make the temple life smooth, since I was unpleasant to his eyes so there was barely anything good.

“I don’t know if it’s because it has been a few days since I last saw you…”

His feet, who were about to step out, paused before he said something. The Holy Golden looked at me brightly and said.

“You look a little different than usual, Ariel.”

Without panicking, I looked at him with a blank expression that seemed to be the most realistic, and smiled awkwardly.

***

A few days had passed since then.

I sat at my desk and organized some of the things I’ve checked so far.

“Right now, it’s 722 years of the Holy Calendar and 82 years of the Imperial Calendar.”

It was 5 years before Camilla, the real saintess, appeared. I was in the Illide Empire, a religious state where monarchy and divinity coexist. 99% of the people believed in God, but the important thing was that it wasn’t a one-body system.

There were nine Gods with different titles and names, and many temples were scattered here and there.

The God of Justice, Hetuse.

The God of Knowledge, Hessed.

The God of Love, Odyssey.

The God of Art, Mond.

The God of Destruction, Ciel.

The God of Benevolence, Oman.

The God of Death, Kairos.

The God of Eternity, Raid.

The God of Lies, Bellatrix.

The nine of them were Gods like that. 

If so, the question might arise as to what God this temple and the saintess believe in. When I read the novel, I saw Camilla mentioning some Gods, but I didn’t know exactly what God she was serving. Since the main story was focused on her relationship with the male leads rather than her work as a saintess.

I found out that the ‘temple of Elium’ was a place where not only a single God, but all nine Gods were enshrined. As a result, the temple of Elium was the most special of all temples, and the saintess that was born with high affinity with the nine Gods was a special being.

Therefore, it would be right to define the saintess as the overall religious leader of the Empire.

Come to think of it, there was also a strange part that I discovered while reading a book in the temple’s library. Only saints can receive oracles, and often a new house of wisdom comes directly from one of the Nine Gods.

The magazine [Listen To the Oracles From the 7th Saint] brought to me by the maids described the process of receiving oracles as follows.

[The blue light in the form of a rectangle like a curtain came in front of my eyes, and the new words appeared as if they were engraved in my eyes.

And while it faded and disappeared, the enchanting prophecy remained as distinct as if it were engraved on my heart.]

Since humans can’t understand the language of Gods, it seemed that the oracle came down through this form.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m a fake saintess, anyway.”

The real saintess is Camilla, and I’m only a fake saintess who has to leave after acting for the next 5 years. Oracles also come down occasionally, so I thought there’d be no problem if I didn’t receive them for a few years.

‘By the way, I don’t think there was a story about oracles in the original story.’

I tilted my head and lost in thought.

In the original story, there was a scene where Camilla used the ‘holy’ power, but there was never a description of the oracle.

As my thoughts deepened, I shook my head.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me. Now I’m going to read a book that’ll help me realistically.”

I was in the temple’s library, where there were as many books as the imperial palace’s library. The saintess was free to do anything and the temple’s schedule itself was tight, so only few people came and it was perfect for me to hide alone.

I wrote down my future plans on an empty paper. The salary statement and real estate books I saw in my previous life were helpful.

Its exact name was ‘Budget for Maintaining Monthly Dignity’, but it was the same as salary, that’s why I decided to call it like that.

From what I understood, 1 franc seemed to be about 10,000 won in Korea. A unit lower than the franc is a ‘pin’, and 1 pin is about 100 won.

In other words, if I add up the additional budget, I will receive an annual payment of 220 million won.

Moreover, three meals a day are provided by the temple, and if I work hard to save money by sticking to the temple, my money will exceed 1 billion won, so it is calculated that I will enjoy a fairly leisurely life even after retirement.

‘Good!’

There were also in-kind offerings from the nobles and privately owned properties, so if I sell them, it’ll be a good amount of money.

Before I possessed Ariel, she spent a lot of money as she got her salary, so she only has 300 franc left in the balance, but I’m different.

‘If I save enough money and buy a good building…’

Right at the moment. Suddenly, something blue appeared in front of my eyes.

[The ancient beings that were bored are curious as they look at your paper.]

I looked at that window and flinched