Chapter 15
* * *
“……”
But I hadn’t expected anything like this.
The one who visited the grand temple was a vassal of Count Kiris.
Since he was a nobleman with a title, I naturally thought he’d be escorted straight to my drawing room.
But when I was told he was still at the entrance of the grand temple, I wondered what was going on…
“Hic, h-heuk, I-I’m sorry……”
Kneeling on the floor with tears streaming down her face, was an apprentice priestess apologizing, with several holy knights surrounding her as if to protect her.
Standing before them was a man dressed impeccably from head to toe.
His blue eyes behind a monocle were filled with contempt.
Seeing the apprentice priestess, who clearly looked as though she’d been slapped, I realized the maid who informed me might not have been afraid because of me after all.
“What exactly is going on here?”
I asked as I walked toward them, causing the gathered crowd to back away in horror.
The man, who had been muttering in anger, twisted his face with a sneer when he saw me.
“You’re finally here, Miss Kiris.”
Ms. Kiris?
The corner of my mouth twitched at the title. It was the first time I’d heard that title since possessing this body.
“It seemed the temple doesn’t properly educate their underlings, so I took it upon myself to give them a little lesson.”
“A lesson?”
“They were unable to recognize the greatness of Count Kiris and dare to keep me standing here all this time. In this grand temple that would have already collapsed if not for the Count, how dare they.”
At his rude remarks, a chilling silence fell over the crowd.
Even if we were barely sustaining ourselves thanks to the Count’s donations, this was still the grand temple that served the Sun God more closely than anyone.
His comment had clearly crossed the line.
“Miss Kiris, what do you think the Count would say once he finds out about this? He’ll tell you to straighten out their education from this day forward.”
The man lifted his chin and declared confidently.
Even Airek and Seth, who arrived late, had stiff expressions on their faces.
However, the man didn’t seem flustered at all, even after seeing the two of them.
On the contrary, he looked me straight in the eye as if to say, “So what are you going to do about it?”
“Then hurry up and show me inside. My legs are tired from standing.”
“That bastard…”
Victoria, who was standing behind me, gripped her sword at the man’s brazen attitude, as though he were treating the Saintess like a mere servant. The bloodthirsty energy she gave off made it clear she’d cut him down on my command.
Instead of giving her permission to slice his neck off, I stepped forward.
“You’re saying some amusing things. So…”
“……”
“So… who are you again?”
Tch. I wanted to say something cool, but it fell flat because I didn’t know his name.
Only protagonists like Airek or Seth could recognize someone by appearance alone—how was I supposed to remember every single one of Kiris’s bootlickers?
“What was your name again?”
There was no helping it. I had to endure the embarrassment and ask, and somewhere nearby, a stifled Pfft! could be heard.
Airek was clutching Seth’s shoulder and covering his face, trembling slightly.
Seth, too, could be seen clenching his teeth hard.
Seeing the two protagonists react that way, the man’s face turned red and blue with rage.
Yeah, even I had to admit that was a bit much.
“How can you not know the name of someone so close to the Count…!”
“How could I possibly remember all of that?”
“‘All of that’? What do you mean, ‘that’!”
“What, is your name made of gold or something? You’ve been shouting this whole time without introducing yourself. Who even are you?”
“B-Baron William Gale! That’s what he said!”
The one who answered instead of the man was the apprentice priestess, who was still kneeling.
“Oh my, thank you for telling me. By the way, you really do look like you were hit. Are you okay? Someone, please escort the apprentice priestess and treat her injuries.”
At my words, a female priestess hurried over and helped the apprentice to her feet.
But that tearful face—doesn’t she look way too young? This bastard hit a kid that young? Is he out of his mind?
“To strike a child like that in the grand temple. Who’s the one that really needs education here? So, Baron Grail, was it?”
“It’s Gale! I was acting under Count Kiris’s orders, and that girl had the audacity to block me, saying I needed permission! How dare she doesn’t recognize me?! That’s the problem!”
“So you hit someone just because they were doing their job? All this fuss over that? What’s going on with Baron Goreil’s personality?”
“It’s Gale! And how is that a normal response—!”
“If you barge in uninvited like some intruder, of course they’re going to stop you.”
Gale flinched. His expression clearly showed disbelief as if he hadn’t expected me to say that.
How ridiculous.
“I don’t care who you are, or whose orders you came with. If you want to enter here, you must have permission from either me, the High Priest, or the Captain of the Holy Order. That’s your position within this grand temple.”
“……”
“Got that, Baron Gain?”
Gale bristled again, but unlike earlier, he didn’t bother to correct me this time.
Good. He should be getting the message by now.
That I had absolutely no intention of calling the kind of guy who caused a scene in the grand temple by his proper name.
“I’d love to throw you out, honestly… but since it seems you have something to say, I’ll give you a chance. You can either leave right now, or come in quietly. I won’t stop you. Make your choice.”
Without waiting for his answer, I turned and strode inside.
Airek and Seth didn’t follow me. They remained in place, silently watching Gale.
There was no trace of amusement on either of their faces anymore.
I left them be and headed to my room with Victoria.
Either way, Gale’s decision had already been made.
* * *
Just as I expected, Gale didn’t leave and remained in the temple, barely managing to suppress his shame.
Victoria informed me that Airek and Seth were staying with him.
So what was I doing in the meantime?
“Ah, I feel so refreshed after a bath! Seriously, nothing beats a good wash after sweating.”
I worked up a sweat from my morning exercise so of course I had to clean up!
Thanks to the underground spring, I didn’t have to worry about water expenses and could use as much as I wanted. Truly a blessing.
“A proper massage afterward would’ve really loosened up the fatigue. It’s a shame I couldn’t give you one because of the uninvited guest.”
Victoria sighed as she towel-dried my wet hair.
Has it been about three days now? After opening up to me, Victoria had started giving me massages post-bath whenever I finished my workout.
And true to her status as a knight, she was incredibly skilled at it so I’d been living in daily luxury.
“I feel the same. But I suppose I should head over now—wouldn’t want to leave the High Priest and Captain of the Holy Order stuck with that baron too long.”
After changing into my Saintess robes, I stepped into the drawing room connected to my bedroom.
And without even meaning to, I burst into laughter.
The confident, arrogant Gale from the first day he arrived at the grand temple was nowhere to be seen.
Now he sat completely subdued, overpowered by the sheer presence of Airek and Seth seated across from him.
“At least you weren’t lonely with the High Priest and Captain here to keep you company.”
At my words, Gale shot me a look full of indignation, but I ignored it and sat at the seat of honor.
“You two may go now.”
Just as we had discussed a few days ago, I gave the two of them a subtle cue.
Now all they had to do was resist a little before pretending to give in and leave…
“That won’t do. Who knows what that rude bastard might try to do to the Saintess.”
“I agree. There’s no way we can leave the Saintess alone with someone who resorts to violence so easily. Absolutely not.”
…Okay, but that’s a stronger reaction than I expected.
Not that I minded, especially with Gale’s face flushing bright red from the comment.
The two of them threw in a few more well-placed jabs to rile Gale up further, before sighing as if reluctantly conceding and walking out.
I expected that from Airek, but even the typically stiff and upright Seth pulled off the act surprisingly well.
“Ordell Kiris. Have you gone insane?”
And then, the moment Gale and I were finally alone, he opened his mouth and said exactly what I expected.
Gone was the polite “Miss Kiris” as he now called my name roughly and without restraint.
Airek and Seth, who possessed the strongest divine power in the grand temple, were frightening—but me? I must not have seemed like much.
“If Count Kiris finds out about your behavior right now, what do you think he’ll say!”
“He’d be furious.”
“W-what?”
“But it’s not me who’ll have to deal with that anger—it’ll be you, when you go back and report to him. Since I have no intention of taking even a single step out of here.”
I openly laughed in his face.
“Did you really think that just mentioning the Count would make me drop to my knees and beg? Dream on. That’s never going to happen.”
“Ordell Kiris!”
“Now that I think about it, I’ve been acting way too much like a pushover. When there’s no reason for me to. I mean, seriously—I’m the Saintess now.”
At my words, Gale slammed his fist on the table.
But even that sounded weak, not the least bit intimidating.
“You’ve only managed to secure that position thanks to the Count’s favor! And now you dare act like this, you fake Saintess!”
“You’re right—I’m a fake. But that’s a secret, isn’t it?”
A fake Saintess.
If that got exposed, who would suffer more—me, or Count Kiris?
“If word gets out I’m a fake Saintess, sure, I’ll be a little embarrassed. But what about Count Kiris—the man who was so greedy for power that he installed his adopted daughter as a Saintess? Do you think he’ll get off with just a little public shame?”
I drove the truth home to someone who still had no grasp of the situation.
“Baron Gale. The one whose weakness lies in the fake Saintess isn’t me—it’s Count Kiris. And the ones who’ll be desperately scrambling to cover it up… are all of you.”
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
If there are any errors, whether it be grammatical, spelling, translation, or website-related issues, feel free to let me know. (´◡`) Anyway, thank you for reading!