Chapter 6
The news that the Emperor intended to take Saint Lasselle as the next Crown Princess spread like wildfire.
“What?”
Grand Vizier Matron asked the priest who had brought the information, his expression one of disbelief.
“Is this true?”
“Yes. The rumors are everywhere. The Emperor personally proposed to the Saint…”
“And Saint Lasselle? She must have accepted, right?”
“Well… she refused.”
This was unexpected for Matron.
But just because the Saint refused didn’t mean the matter would simply end there. Matron groaned.
“He wouldn’t give up just because a ten-year-old child said no to what he himself proposed.”
“Yes, that’s true. They say the Emperor is relentless. The Saint hasn’t changed her position, but…”
“No matter what the Saint says, it doesn’t matter and it’s useless. Since when has that ever been important?”
Matron raised his voice, then fell silent as if dissatisfied.
He was an old man, nearly bald, with a shiny, white head, but a huge frame and imposing presence gave him an aura no one dared challenge. Because his voice was also booming, priests naturally shrank in his presence.
“The Saint herself isn’t important at all,” he repeated habitually.
“It’s the symbolism of the Saint that matters.”
“…But this time, the Saint’s divine power…”
“Divine power doesn’t matter! So what if the child can set fire with bare hands? That’s hardly impressive!”
The priest had no idea how to respond to the Grand Vizier, who was dismissing the holy flame so casually.
Matron grumbled regardless.
“Those fools overvalue divine power, worshipping it blindly. Well, in a sense, divine power is a great force. But if a Saint with such mighty power gains a secular ruler’s position, it becomes unstoppable.”
Matron looked out the window at the temple once again.
From the highest floor where he resided, the sprawling temple of Umbra-Kulum stretched below, buildings centuries old scattered and clustered in seeming chaos. To an untrained eye, it might look crude.
But to Matron, the view symbolized the temple’s vast and immense power. How tirelessly he had worked to claim it as his own, to rise to the top of this hierarchy.
He had lost the last Papal election by a hair, and the Pope was now bedridden, leaving Matron as the inevitable next Pope.
But even becoming Pope—what did it matter?
If the young Saint became Crown Princess, and eventually Empress, maintaining her Saintly position, what use would a Pope be before her?
It wasn’t the realization of the ambitions he had nurtured since youth.
He was supposed to seize control of the temple, become Pope, restore religion’s prestige to two centuries ago, and create a world where everyone solemnly followed religion.
And some clueless little Saint would block that sacred future? Preposterous.
“You seem troubled.”
At that moment, a priest in his thirties entered the room, accompanied by Bella.
Bella smiled sweetly at Matron. Matron frowned and gestured to the reporting priest.
“You, leave for now.”
“Yes, Grand Vizier.”
Once the priest hurriedly left and the door closed, Matron brought Bella forward and, with a challenging gaze, addressed the remaining priest.
“You said she’d ruin the sanctification ceremony. Has it been ruined?”
“How was I to know the incompetent Saint would awaken there? But setting fire with her hands is hardly a remarkable feat, is it?”
“To fools who believe such things are miracles, it’s monumental. Unfortunately, there are countless such fools!”
Matron rubbed his bald forehead with his palm.
“Moreover, the Emperor even proposed to make her his daughter-in-law? If this continues, the child’s influence will be uncontrollable. It’s all going to collapse!”
“Calm down. Nothing’s truly accomplished yet, right?”
The priest’s silky voice was steady. Matron shot him a sharp look.
“Accomplished or not, isn’t it the same? How could the little Saint oppose the Emperor’s will?”
“That’s exactly why this child exists—to prevent that from happening.”
The priest gently pressed Bella’s shoulder. She glanced at the hand, stiffened for a moment, then smiled up at him.
“Don’t worry, Grand Vizier Matron. As Priest Derantos said, I can handle it.”
“Really? Last time, I trusted only your word, prepared the ceremony, and it backfired terribly. This time, you’re sure you can manage it?”
Bella’s expression briefly stiffened.
‘If not me, a third-rate villainess would be crushed early on…’
“Of course.”
She quickly returned to a sweet, childlike smile.
“Trust me. The Holy Spirit resides within me. The Holy Spirit supports you, Grand Vizier Matron.”
Though still suspicious, Matron seemed pleased with that response.
“Indeed. My will is the will of the Holy Spirit serving Iderion.”
‘Playing games,’ Bella thought, inwardly amused.
‘Anyway, now that things have changed, I must take action.’
Lasselle couldn’t be allowed to run wild, and the story couldn’t follow the original path where she ended up with Sheiria.
In the original, Emperor Taren was the biggest barrier to Lasselle and Sheiria’s union.
Now, with him suddenly flipping his stance and demanding Lasselle become his daughter-in-law, the story had changed dramatically.
But…
‘Whatever. As long as I take the heroine’s spot, that’s enough.’
Bella felt no guilt in planning or executing this. This was a novel, and all the characters were just stepping stones to her happiness.
A few days later.
Late at night, after washing and changing into pajamas, Lasselle’s final attendant priest left.
She drank a cup of water from the table and yawned deeply.
‘I can’t even yawn properly in front of them…’
The priests watched her every move, ready to reprimand her for any un-Saintly behavior. It was exhausting.
But today marked the end of all the meetings. The priests seemed guilty that the young Saint had endured endless audiences without complaint.
‘Tomorrow, I can rest all day.’
Lasselle recalled their words. She wanted to rest, but…
‘I need to investigate Bella.’
Her soft expression hardened. Lasselle knew almost nothing about Bella before becoming friends.
In her previous life, Bella had been quiet, timid, and barely noticeable. She had no notable traits worth remembering.
Then suddenly, she became eloquent, charming, and even called a true Saint candidate.
Disgusting. Lasselle felt nothing but revulsion toward her.
In that previous life, Bella had the protection of Grand Vizier Matron. Likely, nothing had changed now.
If Matron knew the information, it would be difficult for Lasselle to approach her.
‘If I can’t investigate Bella, I need to investigate what she said. They say this world is a novel… maybe there’s a clue somewhere. This place is closest to the wisdom of the god who created this world.’
Her plan for tomorrow was set.
‘Tomorrow, I’ll go to the library.’
As she made up her mind, drowsiness swept over her like never before.
‘…I need to sleep. Too sleepy.’
She turned off the lamp and got into bed. Her mind was crowded with thoughts, but her body, exhausted from a full day of audiences, sank into sleep like wet cotton.
Within a minute, Lasselle was asleep. Only the light, rhythmic breathing of a child filled the dark room.
About two hours later…
“…Hey!”
“…I… …am doing it!”
Lasselle’s eyes shot open at the shouting outside her door.
‘…What’s that noise? So loud…’
Her drowsy brain couldn’t process normally at first.
‘The temple knights are making noise at night… Temple knights? Guarding my room?’
In an instant, her drowsiness vanished like fog.
But sleepiness soon crept back, trying to engulf her mind.
‘Strange.’
No matter how sleepy, she shouldn’t feel like this in such a situation.
Yet she felt as if she could collapse at any moment.
‘Could it be… something’s wrong with me?’
Her heart dropped. Likely, she’d been drugged.
It wasn’t fatal poison; anyone with awakened divine power would be immune.
Her heart pounded violently as panic hit.
‘I even died from poison in my previous life, and now drugs too?’
Overwhelmed with injustice and anger, Lasselle shivered uncontrollably.
She bit her lip hard, the stinging pain clearing her mind slightly.
Outside, it had gone quiet.
‘The temple knights must have been taken care of.’
This was urgent. Whoever drugged her and attacked the temple knights would now enter her room.
Lasselle quickly looked around and slid under the bed.
At that moment, the door creaked open.
Footsteps approached her bed. Lasselle broke into a cold sweat.
‘Please… don’t look here. Just pass… please…’
The footsteps moved away, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Then—
“Ah!”
Her ankle was suddenly yanked with brute force. She struggled, but couldn’t resist.
Pulled out from under the bed, she kicked and tried to fight back.
She had tried to set fire with her divine power, but the drugs made it impossible to focus, and the flames flickered and died.
As she bit her lip again, trying to summon the flames, a dull blow struck her head.
Lasselle lost consciousness immediately.
