CH 109

I hurriedly turned around and saw a man’s hand, beautiful and white, in my field of vision, in case it might collapse.

“Hold it.”

It was Reihausd in a white uniform.

A chat window flashed in front of my eyes.

[The God of Art, Mond, is happy to see him.]

I came down the stairs holding his hand in front of me.

When I saw it, it looked like a woman’s hand, yet when I held it in the barracks, it felt much bigger and stronger than mine.

“Sir Reihausd. What brought you to the library?”

I looked up at him and asked.

When Camilla’s identity was revealed, the priests who followed her were subjected to disciplinary procedures.

In addition, we had to prepare to announce to the Empire that the God of Eternity, Raid, had been stripped of his divinity. As for the issues with the temples of Raid, Reihausd must have a lot of issues to deal with.

“I was passing by and saw the Saintess in the library window, so…”

Then the chat window flashed.

[The God of Benevolence, Oman, encourages Odyssey.]

[The God of Love, Odyssey, blesses you.]

It seems like a bad sign for Reihausd’s taste, though…?

“Wait, wait…”

Reihausd, who was talking to me, trailed off his words and looked at me with shaky eyes.

“Saintess…”

His beautiful golden eyes gleamed with a bewildered light.

…Why is it overflowing with decadent beauty in the midst of this?

“So, I.”

He looked at me and pursed his lips with difficulty, startled, then suddenly turned around. As if he was hiding something. It was to the point where I was worried that something was wrong with his body.

After a while, Reihausd opened his mouth with a slightly cracked voice unlike usual.

“…I’ll be going to pray.”

***

I sent Reihausd away to pray and returned to my room with a book.

‘Reihausd… will be okay, won’t he?’

The books Daisy had brought were stacked on the desk.

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, blesses you.]

Blessed by Hessed, I began reading the books quickly.

I’m thinking about it again, but if I go back to the modern times in this state, acing all kinds of exams will be no problem.

I can do it! Three times in the college entrance exam!

I read a few books, yet none of them were very useful.

In the meantime, the last book I picked up earlier caught my eye.

[Contemplation of the God of Lies]

Written by a theologian named Draive, this book made a loud noise as soon as I opened it, as if it were a new book that no one had ever opened.

I started reading the beginning of the book.

[If only the truth existed in the world, the width of human emotions would be much thinner. Just as destruction is the mother of creation, lie is also the mother of truth.]

Inside the book, profound sentences were listed.

‘Let’s skip this part, where shall I look further?’

As I read the book quickly, the ‘protection of the God of Lies’ caught my eye.

[A person who has received the protection of the God of Lies can influence many people around one and make them blindly believe in oneself.]

Seeing that part, I wiggled my eyebrows.

Suddenly, memories of Camilla came to my mind. The first time she came to the temple, I didn’t really suspect Camilla.

‘The vision the Gods showed, the contract with Diego, and Reihausd’s advice…’

I ignored almost everything, even Daisy’s wariness. Even if I think about it now, there was something suspicious about it.

Even knowing that the original story was a prophecy rather than an original story, I seem to have projected her onto the original Camilla.

Even though I knew she could be dangerous, I believed in a corner of my heart unconsciously.

Even though I wasn’t naturally that friendly with people, I only spoke to her.

But if it wasn’t from my heart.

My heart was pounding.

[However, there is a way to see through the lie of the God of Lies and find out the truth.]

I continued to read the book with serious eyes.

[Everyone is hiding a lie in their hearts. without even knowing it themself. However, if you reveal the veil of lies and become completely honest with yourself, then you will have the power to see through the lies in front of you.]

A point of the book pierced my heart.

I continued to read the book.

[But it’s very difficult. This is because people originally wrap their minds in layers of lies to hide and protect themselves. This is especially true of emotions such as the jealousy of evil ambition. I don’t understand it myself, though. Thus, there are only a few people in the world who can be perfectly true to themselves.]

Suddenly I remembered how I had come to my room and hugged Daisy when Camilla had miraculously saved the Golden Crown birds.

The sense of loss and empty heart I felt at that time is still vivid. And……

“Why are you so unsure of yourself? You know who you are, don’t you?”

The words Cass told me when I was trying hard to ignore my feelings became an opportunity to realize the sincerity I had.

My reality-avoidant nature, which made me want to hide behind the cause of being a ‘fake saintess’, and the conflicting mind that I didn’t want to hand over my position as a saintess to her.

After that, I came to my senses and began to judge the situation correctly.

It’s because all the situations came into my head as if I woke up from a dream. After meticulous preparation, I got my seat back.

“I…”

I rubbed my forehead at the various emotions that were flooding in. What I felt most strongly was the shame I had for myself.

After a while, I removed my hand from my forehead and looked out the window at the warm scenery. Butterflies were fluttering over the bright petals.

I licked my lips and spoke to myself.

“I’m just like you, Ariel.”

I think I’ve been conceited that I’m different from Ariel before I possessed her. Unlike that greedy woman, I won’t be greedy for something that isn’t mine.

However, wanting to be special, to be loved, and to be with the people you love…

It was a natural human instinct.

The real Ariel, whom I laughed at for being stupid, was just being honest about her feelings.

I wouldn’t want to lose the precious people I like. Her strong desire must have driven her in her twisted direction.

In the end, I was essentially no different from Ariel.

Because I didn’t want to lose this position that I was sure I would never be greedy for.

Even if Camilla was originally a good and real saintess, would I have been able to give up this position of saintess?

“…”

At that moment, tears suddenly fell from my eyes.

“Why… am I like this?”

Tears that began to fall like drizzling rain started to pour stronger like a shower.

It was a cry that had nothing to do with my will. I felt as if I had become the original Ariel, not myself.

I groaned, covering my face with both hands. In the midst of intense crying, I said, as if I was comforting myself.

‘Don’t cry. Ariel.’

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, hugs you.]

[The God of Justice, Hetuse, pats you.]

[The God of Art, Mond, strokes your hair.]

***

“Saintess… Did you cry?”

Daisy, who had come to dress me, looked at my slightly swollen eyes and asked, startled.

“Hm. Just a little bit.”

What she saw was evidence, so you couldn’t escape it.

Tears welled up in Daisy’s eyes.

“As expected, Saintess… You’ve been through a lot, right? You must have had a lot of hard time up until now.”

“But don’t cry too, Daisy.”

“Huwaaaa! Yesterday, too, you stroked the air alone and smiled… What should our Saintess do?”

This is why I can’t show my weakness in front of Daisy.

I let out a little sigh and rather patted her.

“Quickly help me get dressed. A carriage sent by Marquis Lloyd will be coming soon.”

Daisy, with reddish eyebrows and nose, nodded her head hastily at my words.

“That’s right. I shouldn’t be crying shamelessly.”

Then, with a familiar touch, she began to dress and decorate me.

“By the way, did you find what you were looking for in the book?”

“I couldn’t be sure, but I think I know what the clue is.”

After I finally stopped crying, I read more of the latter part of [Contemplation of the God of Lies].

I don’t know who the writer of this book, theologian Draive, is, but it was surprisingly different from other books. And I also found the right clues that might help.

Maybe in a little while I could ask Cass for something.

“I’m so glad, Saintess.”

I heard Daisy’s voice as she tied the ribbon at the end of my dress.

“I wish I could be more helpful.”

“Daisy is already helping me enough.”

I looked at myself in the mirror with a light smile. The bright red dress, like the flowers outside the window, suited me very well.

“You’re beautiful. Marquis Lloyd might not be able to take his eyes off you.”

I shook my head at Daisy’s words.

“That can’t be.”

And at that time, Kyuu, who was sitting on the window sill and leisurely looking out the window, hurriedly jumped up at me.

I asked as I looked at the Kyuu, which was sitting on my palm.

“You want to go with me, don’t you?”

“Kyuuuu.”

I gave it to Daisy and said.

“You can’t. I’m going alone today.”

“Kyuuuuu kyuuu!”

[The God of Destruction, Ciel, tells you that Kyuu says it can’t let you go alone with Cass.]

My lovely pet has always seemed to be on high alert for Cass.

I was about to step out in front of the main building, a bow tie resting on my top. A familiar voice came out of nowhere.

“Saintess. Have you not seen the High Priest?”

It was Dwayne who was hanging around.

“I have something to take care of right now, but I was wondering what was going on when he suddenly disappeared in the morning and I can’t see him.”

“Ah, we met briefly at the library earlier…”

“The library?”

“But he left right away as he said he wanted to pray.”

[The God of Love, Odyssey, rejoices.]

[The God of Benevolence, Oman, rejoices.]

[The God of Art, Mond, clears his throat.]