TNDM 09

Chapter : 09

“If you wait inside, I’ll go and bring His Holiness.”

Cecilia nodded and walked into the prayer room alone.

Thanks to Miguel taking Nox with him and stepping away, the surroundings were unusually quiet.

“Nothing has changed here.”

The paintings of God covering the entire dome-shaped ceiling, the magnificent stained-glass windows through which sunlight streamed in dazzling fragments, and the towering marble statue standing at the front of the room were all exactly as she remembered.

This was the very prayer room where she had first opened her eyes after possessing Cecilia’s body.

She still had no idea why Cecilia, who supposedly had been suffering from a high fever, had been brought to a prayer room instead of a recovery room or a healing chamber.

As memories of the confusion and despair she had felt back then came flooding back, Cecilia reached the statue.

She silently gazed at the god who smiled benevolently with his eyes covered by a cloth, then slowly knelt before him.

Instead of clasping her hands together, however, she raised her long, straight middle finger.

‘Oh God, if you are the cause of this ridiculous nightmare, I will forgive you for your sins, so please return my credentials.’

It was an arrogant excuse for a prayer, but she had been an atheist even in her previous life. Why should she care about some god from another world?

Besides, wasn’t this very being the most likely culprit behind this unwanted miracle?

If she had ten middle fingers, she would have raised all ten.

“God?”

“……”

“Not even an answer.”

She hadn’t expected some development where an enraged god descended and told her how to return to her original world.

Her enthusiasm gone, Cecilia rose from the floor and dusted off her knees.

Or she tried to.

Because she noticed something beneath the altar.

Cecilia, who had been halfway to standing, bent down and picked up something protruding between the floor and the altar.

It was an old notebook wrapped in yellowed parchment.

‘Is this something belonging to the Pope?’

This prayer room was a place reserved only for cardinals, the Pope, and the Saintess.

She was just about to check the first page when—

“Saintess.”

Cecilia flinched at the gentle voice and turned around.

An extraordinary figure was standing tall at the entrance to the prayer room.

Long white hair, as pure as a bird’s feathers, flowed down his back, and he wore a serene smile.

He was none other than the Pope—the heart of the temple and the representative of God.

“Under God’s blessing, I greet Your Holiness.”

Cecilia placed a hand over her heart and bowed her head slightly in greeting.

The Pope strode toward her, closing the distance.

“I’m sorry. Have you been waiting long?”

“No. I prayed to God, so the time passed quickly.”

It had been something closer to slander than prayer, but—

Cecilia shamelessly answered and raised her head to meet his gaze.

She was standing before a person as noble as the Emperor of the Empire.

Even though she was a person with absolutely nothing in her head, Cecilia knew very well how extraordinary the Pope was.

He was someone born with an enormous amount of divine power—a gift that appeared perhaps once in a hundred years.

Though he stood closest to God, he was also the saint of this age, constantly seeking the lowest places so that he could give and give again.

More than anything, he was also Cecilia’s beloved godfather.

She had no memories of her biological father, so naturally she had no memories of her godfather either.

Still, judging from how simply being around him put her at ease, it seemed the original Cecilia had been quite close to him.

In fact, immediately after she had possessed this body, when she had been unable to accept reality and had run away barefoot like a madwoman, it was the Pope who had taken off his own shoes and put them on her feet.

And it had been the Pope who poured his divine power into her throughout the night until she recovered.

“Oh dear. I called you here so we could pray together after such a long time, but I’m afraid I’m a little late. If I had known, I would have prepared your favorite tea.”

“No, tea can be had anytime…”

Cecilia suddenly stopped speaking.

‘Hmm?’

She could feel an intense gaze coming from somewhere.

It wasn’t difficult to find its owner.

A small, thin girl was peeking her head out from behind the Pope.

“Your Holiness. That child…”

“Ah, I forgot to introduce her. She’s a child I happened to meet when I went to provide relief to a territory suffering from a severe drought. She recently awakened her divine power and is currently serving as a novice priest. Her name is Sena.”

The girl’s black eyes sparkled like obsidian.

“Sena admires you so much, Saintess. She insisted on coming along.”

Perhaps too shy to come forward, the girl twisted her body bashfully.

It was an adorable sight that would naturally bring a smile to anyone’s face.

But Cecilia could only sigh.

Because what was inside this shell wasn’t someone beloved by God at all, but a modern person who was most certainly cursed.

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to shatter the child’s innocence, so she hurriedly rummaged through her pocket.

The only things she found were two pieces of candy she had secretly hidden from Nox to eat on the way home.

“Hello, little one. Would you like some candy?”

She added a gentle smile and held out her hastily prepared gift.

The Pope awkwardly added,

“Um, Sena is five years younger than you, Saintess.”

“Oh.”

If Sena was five years younger than Cecilia, that meant she was fifteen.

Definitely not an age at which someone would go crazy over candy or appreciate being called a little kid.

‘I thought she was at least ten years younger! Is it because she’s so skinny?’

Cecilia had unintentionally committed a social faux pas and hurriedly tried to take the candy back.

“Th-thank you!”

Sena quickly snatched the candy from her hand.

Then, apparently becoming shy again, she slipped back behind the Pope.

“There are many people who admire you just as this child does, Saintess.”

The Pope gently stroked the girl’s flushed head as he continued.

“That brings me to why I asked you here. For this year’s Relief Festival, I would like you to perform the final part of the ceremony in my place. What do you think?”

I think it’s a terrible idea.

A human who believed gods were nothing more than another species was about to participate in a religious ceremony.

Perhaps this time, the offended god really would descend upon them.

‘Wait. Come to think of it, that sounds pretty good.’

It was a rather tempting proposition.

But any rational, intelligent person ought to refuse.

“The offer is an honor, but I haven’t officially been appointed yet…”

The Pope had probably also heard about Nox’s failure, so it was a perfectly reasonable excuse.

However, the Pope merely shrugged as if it were no problem at all.

“All that matters is that you are someone whom God Himself watches over. What importance could the will of a mere creation possibly have?”

In other words, it was a pointed way of saying that even the Emperor’s opinion was completely irrelevant.

Unable to come up with another suitable excuse, Cecilia answered with an awkward smile.

But whether the Pope interpreted that smile as a positive response—or simply decided to interpret it that way—he immediately began moving ahead with the plan.

“We must tell everyone this wonderful news at once.”

“Pardon? Now?”

“Yes. Let us go to the main prayer hall together. It should be just about time for the worship service to end.”

“Your Holiness?”

“I can already imagine how delighted the faithful will be.”

“Your Holiness!”

Cecilia hurriedly grabbed him by the hem of his robe.

“Saintess?”

“Ah, well…”

‘This is driving me crazy.’

No matter how kindly he treated her, the person in front of her was the Pope.

Desperately racking her brain for a way to smooth over her rudeness, Cecilia suddenly held out the notebook she had been carrying.

“This! I found it under the altar!”

“This is…”

“Does it belong to Your Holiness?”

“……Saintess, do you not know what this is?”

“This notebook?”

The Pope’s expression changed subtly as he looked down at the notebook.

It just looked like a bundle of old papers. Could it really be something important?

Seeing her puzzled expression, the Pope carefully accepted the bundle of papers.

“This isn’t simply a notebook. It’s a diary.”

Oh, God.

Not just an ordinary notebook, but His Holiness the Pope’s personal diary.

She had almost died from embarrassment if she had looked at even a single page.

Cecilia hurriedly explained herself.

“I didn’t open it, so don’t worry!”

His Holiness the Pope, the very embodiment of mercy, took her at her word.

Without another word, he slipped the diary into the long sleeve of his robe and turned slightly.

“Then let us hurry to the main prayer hall!”

Wait, hadn’t you forgotten about that already…?

Cecilia stared blankly at the Pope’s back as he walked ahead, then trudged after him.

‘I’m screwed.’

In truth, reciting a prayer with absolutely no sincerity in front of a large crowd wasn’t a problem at all.

The problem came afterward.

Immediately after the Marquis had told her to participate in the Relief Festival, she had looked up records from previous events.

According to the records, at the end of the ceremony marking the beginning of the Relief Festival, the ‘Messenger of God’ was supposed to ignite a sacred flame upon the altar.

‘A flame created with divine power.’

How exactly am I supposed to do that?

Cecilia stopped beneath the building opposite the main prayer hall and stared in bewilderment as worshippers poured out of the hall behind the Pope.

She could already easily imagine what was going to happen.

All those people would be cheering her name with sparkling eyes while she desperately sweated bullets because she couldn’t use divine power.

“Saintess!”

“Lady Cecilia!”

‘Right, so they’re going to shout like this… Hmm?’

Amid the voices of the people calling her name, she heard a voice that sounded strangely familiar.

A familiar robe was sticking out awkwardly among the worshippers.

That towering height and slightly hunched back could only belong to one person.

‘…Why are you here?’

He was supposed to be guarding the house, so why on earth was he here…?

That was when—

“Cecilia!”