Chapter – 02
When standing with her back to the altar of the sanctuary, there was a door to the right—that is, to the west. Entering it, she found herself in a vast space.
Seolyeon forgot for a moment that she was clad in nothing but a silk sheet and stared blankly around the room.
July in Petun, a country located in the north of the Lukina continent, was pleasantly warm even at midday. For Seolyeon, who had just been suffering through a heatwave of over 30 degrees Celsius, this weather felt like heaven.
Arch-shaped window frames, which took up most of the wall, were adorned with colorful birds perched on them, and snow-white muslin curtains soaked up jewel-like sunlight.
Looking out the window, she was surrounded by birch trees, giving her the feeling of being in a little fairy house in the woods.
Seolyeon, utterly captivated by the beauty of the room, happened to glance at a mirror hanging on the wall and let out a shriek.
“What in the world…?”
Her once jet-black hair had transformed into shimmering golden locks. It had grown so long it would scatter on the floor if she sat down, and it curled as if freshly permed.
Moreover, her irises were a soft green, like newborn sprouts bathed in sunlight. Seriously, blonde hair and green eyes.
Too shocked, her eyes welling up with tears, she examined her face closely. Green eyes… what was happening…
As Seolyeon was on the verge of tears, the head maid, who gave off an experienced vibe, approached with her hands clasped.
“I am Stephanie Ganier, the head maid of the Roxand Sanctuary. From now on, I will serve Saintess Diana most closely.”
“It’s a bit late to say this now, but I am not Dia—”
“And High Priest Bernadoc has said that when a Saintess appears in the world, it must be recorded. Since Saintess Diana Istrela disappeared once before and has now reappeared—”
“Di-disappeared?”
“Until it is confirmed that you are indeed the same Saintess Diana who disappeared before, would it be acceptable to provisionally call you Diana II?”
‘No way. Diana is already absurd enough, why add ‘II’! And not even a real ‘II’, just a provisional one!’
In the midst of her trembling, Seolyeon shook her head vigorously, firmly rejecting the idea. Stephanie nodded.
“In that case, it might be a bit childish, but… how about using the nickname ‘Di’?”
Di.
It was unfamiliar, but still better than ‘Diana II’. For some reason, it felt vaguely familiar. Besides, she held some responsibility for suddenly appearing with the exact same blonde hair and green eyes as the Diana Istrela they knew.
Seolyeon nodded. It seemed that in this place, she would be called either ‘Diana’ or the nickname ‘Di’.
Anyway, being surrounded by women put her somewhat at ease.
Although Di usually avoided playful older sisters, she now clung tightly to Stephanie, relying on her completely.
“Stephanie. Clothes, please.”
“And the other maids, starting from there, are Christine, Lil…”
“Stephanie, please, some clothes.”
“…lish, Ellie, and so on.”
‘If you’re just going to say ‘and so on’, why did you even start the introductions? Are you trying to assert dominance?’
Feeling wronged, Di tugged firmly on Stephanie’s collar. Only then did Stephanie speak reluctantly.
“Chris, bring the clothes for the Saintess to wear.”
“Yes.”
There was strict discipline among the maids. Their professionalism was on a different level from the earlier, flustered priests.
Di clung to the silk sheet with all her might until the end, but it was forcefully taken by Stephanie, who was over 10cm taller than her. Soon, other maids began taking her body measurements.
While Di barely managed to reclaim the silk and wrap herself again, Stephanie brought a set of clothes.
“For now, your build is most similar to Lil’s, so wear this while we make your clothes.”
“Stephanie…”
Finally having clothes, Di was moved to tears and threw herself into Stephanie’s arms.
“My lady gave me clothes…”
“Ugh, I don’t like physical contact.”
“But just one hug!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Just put on the clothes, the clothes!”
Stephanie raised her voice and began dressing Di in Lillish’s clothes—an outfit reminiscent of an Alpine milkmaid. As Stephanie meticulously tied each ribbon on Di’s clothes, Di spoke.
“Stephanie. You seem bright on the outside, but there’s sadness inside you, like a child.”
She had only blurted it out, a habitual phrase from her fortune-telling days, but Stephanie’s hands suddenly trembled. Di tilted her head, looked at Stephanie, and flinched. Tears were welling up in her seemingly haughty eyes.
“As expected… I cannot deceive the Saintess.”
“…Huh?”
“Actually, ever since I was young, because of how I look, children my age gradually avoided me. But there has been sadness in my heart.”
Di swallowed hard to calm down.
‘No way. Yu Seolyeon. It’s prejudice to think everyone here looks so easy to scam. It’s probably just Stephanie. And those priests from earlier.’
Di calmly opened her mouth.
“Stephanie, you were born under a constellation of inner sadness.”
“How do you know my constellation? Do you know what month I was born in?”
“Hmm?”
Di blinked and asked nonchalantly,
“…Summer?”
“I was born in May.”
“No. I’m asking if you were conceived in summer, you dummy. What does your birth date matter?”
“Ah! Th-that’s right! Yes! Calculating it, that matches!”
‘Gullible! They all fall for my lines!’
Di, now convinced she had a high chance of survival in this world full of perfect scam targets, firmly grasped Stephanie’s hand. Stephanie then asked with a frightened face.
“How did you know I was conceived in summer?”
‘Well, because you said you were born in May.’
Di smiled with her eyes.
“Stephanie, your face carries the sorrow of summer.”
“The Saintess can even see such things.”
Stephanie’s guard lowered further. Shortly after, Rithader, one of the priests she saw earlier, knocked on the door.
“Saintess Diana. I am Rithader Olsen, the priest who will serve you from now on.”
“Alright, come in.”
Now dressed and composed, Di spoke quite elegantly this time.
Rithader, meeting her again, seemed very shy, his face flushed red. His short, severely curly blonde hair was tangled and fluffy on top of his head. Seeing his freckled red face, she understood why people were called ‘radishes’.
“Th-the sacred object you brought is securely protected in the sanctuary.”
‘Did I bring a sacred object?’
While Di was pondering, Rithader spoke in a trembling voice.
“B-but they say a broom is a symbol of witches… Th-there are some people murmuring about it! But I believe in you, Saintess!”
‘…Shouldn’t a priest be more suspicious about that plain-looking broom? Don’t you think it might be nothing?’
While Di was questioning the very existence of priests, Rithader noticed Stephanie crying and asked in surprise.
“St-Stephanie? Why are you crying?”
“The Saintess read my heart.”
“What?”
“She figured out that I’m bright on the outside but have sadness inside.”
“How can this be…”
Wondering if they were genuinely moved or making fun of her, Di rolled her eyes. Soon, Rithader’s reaction—tearing up and covering his chest with both hands—put an end to her doubts.
“Y-you mustn’t read it!”
‘…These people?’
Once again convinced they were perfect targets for a scam, Di fumbled over her own body.
Fortunately, she realized she still had her earrings on. She took one off and placed it in Rithader’s hand.
“Keep this, and I won’t be able to read your thoughts. No matter what impure thoughts you have.”
“Eek! Y-you’ve already read my in… b-but why would you give such a precious thing to me…”
‘Because you look so easy to scam.’
Thinking this, Di gave the other earring to Stephanie.
“From now on, you two will be the closest to me.”
Moved by Di’s sincere words, Stephanie and Rithader clutched the plastic earrings tightly with both hands.
She thought that if she closed and opened her eyes, she’d be back in reality.
But this was not a dream, and Di was still in this country, Petun.
Adapting quickly, within a week she had perfectly adjusted to life as a Saintess. Once adjusted, it wasn’t much different from being in Cheongdam-dong.
No, it was even better since she didn’t have to deal with troublesome customers. Di had been a loner anyway. An orphan, she hadn’t attended school properly and had no friends.
‘Didn’t have a boyfriend either. Sob.’
Although her dream was to buy a castle in Germany for retirement, even if she went to Germany, she couldn’t speak German, so she would have been bored anyway.
Here, somehow, she could speak the language of the Lukina continent from the start. Apparently, it was the high-class language used by imperial nobles.
Suddenly, Di had become bilingual, speaking both the language of the Lukina continent and Korean.
The sanctuary where Di stayed was located behind the Petun royal castle building. In front of it was another building where the king and officials resided, and she heard the bustling city was down the hill from this royal castle.
There were three sanctuaries in total. One to the west, one to the east, and one large sanctuary in the middle like a great hall. The place where Yu Seolyeon had suddenly dimension-hopped was the central sanctuary.
The western sanctuary had a room for the Saintess, whose existence was uncertain, but now that a real Saintess had appeared, Di occupied that room. She was told there was an identical sanctuary to the east for balance.
Di was growing to like this place more and more.
Every morning when she opened her eyes, sunlight poured into the sanctuary. There was also the scent of birch trees, birdsong, a pleasant breeze…
Several maids attended to her needs, and it was the same with the priests.
Di had already scanned the priests’ faces once. Perhaps to prevent the god from meeting women preemptively, most were not particularly handsome. Di had been single since the womb, but her standards were high.
She was somewhat worried that if everyone in Petun looked like that, what would she do? But then again, she didn’t have a boyfriend back in Korea either, so even if there were handsome men here, she figured they wouldn’t be hers and resigned herself to it.
Still, among the priests, the youngest, sixteen-year-old Rithader, was quite cute. With his pale, overall round features, he was adorable. He was very affectionate and especially attached to Di.
Rithader sat across from Di at the reception room table laden with fruit, chattering away.
“It’s truly amazing, Saintess. His Majesty threatened to execute all of us once this southern campaign ended and he returned. Right then, Lord Roxand sent you to us. You can’t imagine how grateful we were. Brother Vinden went home and cried all night, so his eyes were all puffy the next day.”
“All of this is because the god is watching over us.”
Di answered nonchalantly.
‘Although I lost my dream of living in a castle… By the way, what kind of person is this ‘king’ to threaten to execute all these priests?’
While talking with Rithader, Di absentmindedly looked at the mirror hanging on the reception room wall. Her curly hair, reaching down to her hips, was not only long but the color was also awkward. It was a dazzlingly radiant blonde when hit by sunlight.
Although her face and body had changed slightly enough not to shock the locals, her originally flawless, white skin remained the same.
Anyway, having suddenly taken on the role of Saintess, she hadn’t been able to remove these false eyelashes for a week. It wouldn’t do for a Saintess to be wearing false eyelashes.
It was uncomfortable and bothersome, but that physical discomfort was nothing compared to the unease in her heart.
‘What happened to those troops that marched south? If that turns out to be wrong, would the king really execute all these priests?’
Although her body was comfortable, her heart was so anxious she couldn’t sleep deeply.
Back in Korea, she didn’t need to be responsible for anyone; she just had to fend for herself, and that was fine. She hadn’t been this scared even when running away from the orphanage.
Just as she reached out silently to eat a grape…
