~Chapter 02~
Rose stood there with her mouth slightly open for a long moment, then quickly lowered her head.
“I-I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have looked at you so carelessly…”
“…”
Rose would only become the real saintess at around age 15.
Since Floria was just now meeting her, she must be around 13.
But for a girl that age to be so cautious and nervous—how had she lived up until now?
She looked even smaller than 13.
So thin and frail, she could easily be mistaken for a 9-year-old.
Floria suddenly thought of her own childhood from her previous life.
The memories had only recently returned, and she could’ve easily pushed them aside…
But seeing this small girl in front of her brought everything rushing back.
Floria reached out her hand toward Rose, who was still watching her with anxious eyes from a distance.
“It’s okay, Rose. Come a little closer, will you?”
“O-okay…”
Rose clutched the torn edges of her old dress and stepped forward, slowly entering Floria’s view.
Seeing her up close made Floria go silent out of pity.
She gently brushed Rose’s tangled hair—hair that the girl had probably tried to fix herself with all her might using her small hands.
The nervous, frightened little creature from earlier had vanished.
As soon as Floria’s hand touched her hair, Rose’s expression relaxed.
Her cheeks flushed red, and her eyes softly closed, as if she were melting into the warmth of this gentle touch—something she’d likely never felt before.
Floria smiled down at her kindly and whispered,
“Rose, someday… you’ll become a truly great saintess.”
It came out so naturally that Rose didn’t react at first—until suddenly her eyes flew wide open.
“M-me? A saintess?”
Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at Floria in complete disbelief.
“Yes.”
Floria silently made a promise to herself:
she would protect this small, fragile girl until the day she truly awakened as the real saintess.
Maybe it was because of the guilt she felt from possessing the body of someone who was supposed to torment Rose.
Or maybe it was because she saw her younger self in this child.
She wasn’t sure.
‘…Well, not like I have money to run away anyway.’
Before her memories returned, she’d spent all her money carelessly.
Now she didn’t even have a single coin to escape with.
In other words, she couldn’t leave the temple even if she wanted to.
‘Once Rose becomes the saintess, I’ll just quietly slip away.’
Right now, she was just a regular priestess.
As long as she didn’t bully Rose and stayed out of trouble, things should be fine.
And once that day came, maybe she could move to the countryside, pick herbs, and live a quiet life?
That was the plan.
But of course, life doesn’t always go according to plan.
***
Even before she could head to the confessional the next day, a group of other priests blocked her path.
The temple ran like a business.
Sure, only people with divine power could become priests, but they also received pay and housing—so really, it wasn’t much different from a company with decent employee benefits.
So why were they all acting so worked up now? They weren’t even close friends or anything.
“What’s going on?” Floria asked, confused, as she looked at the priests, who were out of breath as if they had run to find her.
One priest pointed toward the temple entrance.
“There’s a huge crowd outside the temple!”
“What?”
“There’s a rumor going around that people’s lives improved after they confessed to you!”
“…What? What are you talking about?”
Floria didn’t even wait for the rest of the explanation.
She rushed over to the window, pulled back the curtain—
And froze.
Oh my gosh.
A huge line of people stretched outside, waiting.
She quietly closed the curtain again and squeezed her eyes shut.
“There are dozens of people out there, all here for your confessions, Priestess Floria. Every single one!”
This can’t be real.
With trembling hands, Floria pulled the curtain shut tightly again.
She wasn’t planning on looking outside ever again.
Other priests around Floria were trying to ask what was going on, but she couldn’t hear them at all.
All she had done yesterday was say something weird in the confessional.
So why… why was this happening?
The answer came quickly.
That cheap curtain clearly wasn’t soundproof, and all her efforts to block out the noise were pointless.
A loud voice from outside rang straight through the walls.
“I went to Priestess Floria yesterday and confessed that I wanted revenge on my cheating boyfriend and best friend!”
What?
Floria instantly remembered the voice.
Of course. How could she forget?
It was that confession—the one that made her realize she was inside the world of a novel.
She couldn’t help herself.
Her curiosity won.
Floria threw open the curtain and peeked outside.
There, standing boldly in the middle of the crowd, was the woman from yesterday.
She had somehow become the center of attention and was shouting at the top of her lungs.
Naturally, everyone standing in front of the temple turned their heads toward her.
Her voice was so loud, it felt like it was piercing through the walls and windows.
The woman didn’t care that everyone was staring. In fact, she got even louder.
“Priestess Floria gave me the courage I needed, so I grabbed a frying pan and went after them to smash their heads in!”
…Wait. She actually tried to smash their heads?
Floria couldn’t understand what part of that conversation had been inspiring. But the woman now stood dramatically, her hand over her heart and eyes closed like someone deeply moved.
She looked so holy, it was hard to believe she was talking about frying pans and skulls.
And then she raised her hand into the air.
“When I finally faced them, lightning struck right above their heads!”
Her voice reached its peak with such excitement, it even sounded like she was crying from joy.
…Why is this happening?
Cold sweat began to drip down Floria’s forehead. But the people outside didn’t give her a second to breathe.
“That was divine punishment from God!”
One person shouted, and then it spread like a wave—everyone in the crowd started chanting the same thing.
‘No, no, no! It was just a coincidence!’
Floria clenched her mouth shut.
She couldn’t risk shouting out the truth from the window—those passionate eyes would surely turn on her.
She just stood there, behind the thin glass, silently panicking.
The day had barely begun, and she was already completely exhausted.
Her face had gone pale.
And that wasn’t even the end of it.
Another person stepped forward, encouraged by the last one.
“I also went to her yesterday. I confessed that I wanted to break off my engagement because my fiancé was hiding his bald head. Then, as I walked home, I ran into him—and the wind blew off his wig! I ended the engagement right there.”
“Amen, amen.”
People started praying everywhere, hands folded in deep belief. It looked so holy and powerful, as if divine light was shining down on them.
What is going on…?
Floria tapped the window with her trembling fingers, then held her forehead.
She had only planned to live quietly, doing her duties as a priestess and looking after Rose until it was time to disappear.
How did things spiral into this mess?
Even the other priests, who had been listening silently, were now staring at her with glowing eyes.
No one said a word, but their eyes clearly said, Do something amazing again.
Floria panicked and tried to explain.
“W-wait! I don’t know anything about this!”
Really! Something’s going terribly wrong!
But of course, her desperate excuse only made the others admire her more.
Now they thought, She’s so humble, even after all this!
***
…And so, Floria ended up hearing confessions from dozens of people that day alone.
There were so many visitors, her work hours had long passed.
When she said she couldn’t take any more people today, some believers actually said they’d just come back tomorrow.
‘Please don’t tell me this is going to happen every day…’
This was not the life she wanted.
Floria quickly looked around in case more believers were still waiting outside.
Then, trying to escape, she practically ran out of the confessional.
Her legs gave out before she could even make it back to her room.
She collapsed onto a sofa in the temple lobby, messing up her own hair in frustration.
Fine. Yesterday’s stories worked out okay, I guess. But what about today?
What if something really bad happened to someone who took her words too seriously?
That thought scared her more than the misunderstanding.
If one of the believers got hurt by following her advice blindly…
The blame would definitely fall on Floria—and maybe on the temple too.
Actually, the temple might just dump all the blame on me and pretend they had nothing to do with it.
All because of her mouth that kept saying whatever it wanted!
Frustrated, she pouted and slapped her own lips lightly.
But then, suddenly—someone popped up from behind the sofa.
“…Priestess Floria!”
“Wha—Rose?!”
Floria jumped in surprise, quickly hiding her hands behind her back.
Rose smiled shyly when their eyes met.
Then she glanced around carefully, her big, round eyes searching to make sure no one else was around.
She looked just like a little squirrel.
After making sure no one else was around, she gently placed her small hand on Floria’s slumped-over body.
And then—
“……!”
From her little white palm, a soft white light began to shine.
