Chapter 02
The strange thing that looked like a dialogue window from a game startled me so much that I flinched. I reached out my hand and tried to touch it.
However, as if it could only be seen by me, my hand passed straight through the window.
At that moment, new text appeared.
[The Primordial Beings who were bored have taken an interest in your exceptional adaptability.]
“Primordial…… Beings?”
Although it wasn’t written in Korean, perhaps because of the possession buff, I was able to read the letters.
[The Primordial Beings who were bored have taken an interest in your exceptional adaptability.]
Even after reading it again, I still couldn’t understand what it meant.
‘What on earth is happening?’
After a short while, the translucent window gradually became more transparent, and the letters disappeared. I blinked several times, wondering if I had just imagined it.
Knock, knock.
A knock came from outside. Soon after, I heard the doorknob turn, and the door opened.
I had been standing by the window, so I turned my head toward the opened door.
“……!”
The silver tray reflected the sunlight and shone brightly. For a moment, I thought it was Annie, but the person who entered carrying the meal was a man I had never seen before.
Wearing a white uniform, he was extremely tall with broad shoulders. His eyes looked slightly cold, but the golden irises within them held a warm light.
His hair was as brilliant as his eyes. If my own hair was the color of golden sand on a beach, his was a dazzling gold that looked as though it had been extracted from pure gold itself.
“Ariael.”
I had been staring at him absentmindedly when the man placed the tray on the table and called my name.
Only then did I immediately realize who he was.
“I brought your meal.”
The man who had always called her by her name even when Camilla became the Saintess in the original story.
The highest-ranking administrator of the Temple, an organization with influence rivaling even the Imperial Family itself.
The man who brought Ariael to the Temple and created the fake Saintess was……
“Reihas de El.”
The name slipped out from between my barely moving lips like a whisper.
“De El” was a unique title attached to the High Priest.
When he heard me say his name, his golden eyes sparkled. Then, a faint smile appeared on his red lips.
“Are you calling me by my name today?”
“Ah……”
Only then did I remember that the original Ariael had always called him “High Priest.”
So I hurriedly tried to correct my mistake.
It was strange for Ariael, who knew perfectly well that she was a fake Saintess, to casually call him by his name. She wasn’t the true Saintess, Camilla, who had the authority to do so.
“I apologize, High Priest. I was just absent-minded for a moment……”
“I actually like hearing it.”
However, he interrupted me with a gentle voice.
When I looked at him with a slightly surprised expression, he smiled softly and spoke as if joking.
“To tell the truth, I had almost forgotten that I even had a name.”
A refreshing breeze entered through the open window. His shining golden hair swayed slightly in the wind.
“I would like it if you continued calling me by my name in the future.”
I stared at him with a dazed expression and only came back to my senses after a while.
My reflection was visible in his bright golden eyes.
After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.
“What I just did was a mistake.”
The original Ariael would probably have had sparkling eyes and been delighted.
But I had no intention of needlessly tearing down the wall between us.
“How could I possibly dare to call the High Priest by his name?”
Besides, I had no intention of living in the Temple forever.
Once the real Saintess, Camilla, appeared, he and I would become people who would never even see each other again.
It was better not to cross that line.
“……”
He stared at me, who was smiling faintly, for a long time without saying anything.
After a brief silence, he spoke.
“As I said before……”
“……”
“This place is now Ariael’s home. If there is something Ariael wants, she may have it. If there is something Ariael wishes to do, she may do it.”
Just as described in the novel, Reihas was a radiant and gentle man.
“Of course, as long as you understand that freedom comes with responsibility.”
But that only applied to Camilla.
And I was not the foolish Ariael who might have looked at him with shining eyes and said:
“Then can’t I just drop the honorific and call you Reihas?”
“Of course, High Priest.”
“I always wanted to hear Ariael say my name from time to time. What a shame.”
Although there was a smile on his lips, I could feel a heavy pressure coming from him.
“Thank you for bringing my meal.”
I changed the subject and bowed my head.
The High Priest was the only person in this Temple who knew that I was a fake Saintess.
If I wanted my life in the Temple to go smoothly, there was no reason to provoke him.
“Perhaps because it has been several days since I last saw you……”
His footsteps stopped before he left, as if he wanted to say something.
His sacred golden eyes looked at me brightly.
“You seem a little different from usual today, Ariael.”
Without panicking, I looked at him with what I thought was the most Ariael-like blank expression possible, then smiled awkwardly.
Several days passed after that.
I sat at my desk and organized the things I had discovered so far.
‘It is currently the year 722 of the Holy Calendar, and the 82nd year of the Imperial Calendar.’
Five years before the appearance of the true Saintess, Camilla.
The place where I was now was the Ilayd Empire, a religious nation where monarchy and theocracy coexisted.
Ninety-nine percent of the population believed in gods, but that did not mean it was a monotheistic country with a single state religion.
There were nine gods, each with different titles and names, and countless temples scattered throughout the empire.
God of Justice, Hetus.
God of Knowledge, Hesed.
God of Love, Odyssey.
God of Art, Monde.
God of Destruction, Ciel.
God of Benevolence, Oman.
God of Death, Kairos.
God of Eternity, Raid.
God of Lies, Bellatrix.
These were the nine gods.
Then the question naturally arose:
Which god did this Temple and the Saintess worship?
When I read the novel, I had seen Camilla mention several gods, but I never knew exactly which one she served.
After all, the main story focused more on the romance with the male leads than on her duties as the Saintess.
The answer I discovered was that the Elium Temple did not serve a single god.
It worshiped all nine gods.
Because of this, the Elium Temple was the most special among all temples, and the Saintess—someone born with high affinity toward all nine gods—was an extraordinary existence.
In other words, it would be correct to define the Saintess as the supreme religious leader of the empire.
Come to think of it, while reading books in the Temple library, I had discovered something strange.
Only the Saintess could receive divine revelations, and occasionally one of the nine gods would directly bestow a revelation containing wisdom.
In the magazine titled “Hearing About Divine Revelations from the Seventh Saintess,” which the maids brought me, the process of receiving a revelation was described like this:
A blue rectangular shape resembling a curtain appears before one’s eyes.
Divine words emerge brilliantly as though engraved into the eyes, then disappear.
Although the words fade away, the wondrous divine message remains vividly engraved in one’s heart.
Since humans could not understand the language of gods, it seemed that revelations came in this form.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
‘I’m a fake Saintess anyway.’
The true Saintess was Camilla.
I was merely a fake Saintess who only needed to act for five years before leaving.
Since revelations only came occasionally, I figured there would be no problem even if I didn’t receive one for several years.
‘But I don’t remember the original story mentioning divine revelations.’
I tilted my head in confusion.
In the original novel, there had been scenes where Camilla used the power called Holy Power, but there had never been any description of divine revelations.
After thinking deeply for a while, I shook my head.
“Whatever. Why should I care? I should focus on reading books that will actually help me survive.”
The place I was currently in was the Temple library.
It contained as many books as the Imperial Palace library.
The Saintess could freely use it, and because the Temple’s schedule was so demanding, almost nobody came here.
It was the perfect place to hide alone.
I wrote my future plans down on a blank sheet of paper.
The salary statements and real estate books I had seen in my previous life were surprisingly useful.
The official name was “monthly budget for maintaining dignity,” but since it was basically a salary, I decided to call it that.
According to my calculations, one franc was worth around ten thousand Korean won.
A smaller unit than francs was called a “pin,” and one pin was about one hundred won.
In other words, including the additional budget, I would receive approximately 220 million won per year.
Since the Temple provided all three meals a day, and I could borrow or make use of many things from the Temple, if I saved diligently, I could accumulate more than one billion won.
That meant even after retirement, I could live quite comfortably.
‘Great!’
The material offerings given by nobles and privately owned holy artifacts would also bring in a decent amount of money if I sold them.
The Ariael before I possessed her had spent money recklessly as soon as she received it, leaving only 300 francs in her account.
But I was different.
‘If I save enough and buy a building in a good location……’
At that moment—
Something blue suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
[The Primordial Beings who were bored have become curious after looking at your paper.]
I flinched and stared at the window.
