Chapter 1
Lasel could not believe any of it.
That Bella had betrayed her.
That even Sheirior had abandoned her.
And that she was dead.
Dead… yet somehow she had gone back to when she was a child.
“…Ma’am, Saintess?”
“Saintess!”
Lasel, who had been staring blankly down at her now tiny hands, suddenly snapped back to reality.
Looking around, she saw priests in ceremonial robes looking at her with anxious eyes.
Beyond the bright windows, light streamed in, and the priests in their fine robes busied themselves hurriedly, giving and receiving instructions.
What’s going on?
“Are you alright, Saintess? It will soon be time for your entrance.”
“…Entrance?”
Entrance to where? And saintess?
I became a saintess when I was seventeen, so why are they calling me saintess now?
This small body looked no older than about ten years old.
Dazed and confused whether this was a dream or reality, Lasel quietly accepted that she had indeed returned to her childhood.
The priests noticed the questions flooding Lasel’s small face and exchanged awkward looks.
The saintess who had been sitting blankly without any reaction was suddenly acting confused.
Lasel quickly grasped the atmosphere among the priests.
“Ah, sorry. It’s time for your entrance soon. Has His Holiness the Pope already entered?”
“Yes? Of course. He must perform the canonization for the Saintess.”
One priest gave a confident answer to Lasel’s probing question.
It was the day of the canonization ceremony — right at that moment.
What on earth is happening?
She had died from poison, suddenly gone back to her childhood, and contrary to her memories, her younger self was being canonized.
It was an inexplicable situation.
But if this was reality, telling the priests around her, “I just died and came back to life; I don’t understand what’s happening,” would not help at all.
Because these people will soon despise me.
Lasel had been a saintess candidate since she first entered the temple as an orphan at nine years old.
But no one had ever looked kindly on her.
Because she had absolutely no aptitude for divine power.
The adult priests openly ignored Lasel, the incompetent saintess candidate, and her peers bullied her.
After being canonized as a saintess at seventeen in her previous life, the outright bullying changed to subtle torment, which lasted until her death.
“…Are you alright? Would you like some water?”
A priest asked with worried eyes. Lasel didn’t answer but asked a new question.
“Excuse me, but what year is it this year?”
“This year? It’s Divine Year 1615.”
In Imperial Year, it was 220.
Lasel was ten years old.
The timing of becoming a saintess was moved up by seven years. Why? And furthermore…
“Saintess, it’s almost time for your entrance.”
Before she could think more, a priest hurried her on.
Lasel was pushed forward like a chick, heading toward the canonization hall entrance.
Inside the hall, the choir’s hymns echoed solemnly.
A long crimson carpet stretched from her feet to the dais far ahead, where incense of myrrh and frankincense wafted upward from a censer.
Lasel already knew what would happen next.
“Please enter.”
A priest whispered in her ear. Reluctantly, Lasel stepped forward.
Slowly walking to the dais, she knelt before the pope waiting there.
The pope dipped his hand in holy water and sprinkled it over Lasel’s head, blessing her.
“We joyfully accept the thirty-fourth blessing of Ederion bestowed upon us.”
The pope solemnly declared before all believers that Lasel was the saintess.
Lasel bowed deeply to the pope, then rose and turned to face the congregation.
Suddenly holding a canonization ceremony was not a problem.
She had learned all the procedures in her past life, practiced dozens of times, and sometimes dreamed about it afterward.
The problem was what came next.
Lasel looked anxiously at the rosary the priest waiting beside the dais brought on a red cushion.
Originally, the rosary reacted to divine power and displayed various illusions.
It was a device to clearly show people what kind of abilities a saint who received God’s love possessed.
But Lasel had no divine power. It had all been taken by Bella.
Even now, not having lost her divine power, Lasel felt no strength within her body.
So what to do? The temple side had already given an answer.
They patched the rosary for me with new materials.
Even those without divine power could produce illusions by pressing a newly added button below.
She had used such a device in her past life.
And shortly after, it was exposed, and she had to endure public humiliation as soon as she became a saintess.
In hindsight, it was strange.
Who and how did they discover the secret of the holy rosary and bring shame to the saintess?
Lasel had enemies even before canonization.
Anyway, let’s just get through this. I’ll think after this ceremony is over.
Just as Lasel decided this and took the rosary, a faint clattering sound came from below.
Huh?
Startled, Lasel quickly slid her hand under the cushion so no one could see and felt the button area of the rosary.
The hidden button of the rosary was missing.
Looking up in confusion, Lasel’s eyes met one person seated on a long bench opposite the dais among many priests watching the ceremony.
Seeing her flustered expression, the girl quickly lowered her head.
It was young Bella.
Wow. Are they trying to ruin the canonization ceremony from the start?
Lasel clicked her tongue in her mind.
Bella, who had stolen all her power and killed her.
Whether it was Bella or those behind her, no matter how much she hated them, would they really try to sabotage such an important ritual?
But she couldn’t look for Bella and confront her now.
The priests were growing restless, watching Lasel look dumbfounded and not touch the rosary. They couldn’t delay any longer.
I don’t care. I’ll just certify myself as an incompetent saintess right from the start.
Lasel pressed her finger where the button used to be and placed her hand on the rosary.
As expected, nothing happened.
A long silence followed.
“What’s this?”
“Why is there no reaction?”
Murmurs spread among the priests and attending officials. Just as Lasel sighed,
Flare!
Suddenly, fierce flames erupted from the rosary.
The priest holding it was so surprised he dropped it, and a startled Lasel quickly caught it.
Then the flames wildly spewed upward from Lasel, reaching at least five meters to the chapel ceiling.
What? This is too intense a visual effect…
But at that moment, the carpet on the floor seemed to wither as if burning, ashes scattering.
Yet Lasel felt no heat.
Only a cozy warmth, pleasant and comforting. Not even the radiant heat from the metal plate surrounding the rosary.
This was not a mere visual effect. It was real divine power.
“Ahh! It’s hot!”
A nearby priest screamed and ran away. Others panicked.
“My goodness!”
“That much divine power…!”
“I thought the saintess had no divine power? Hey!”
“This looks like a fire hazard! Look! The ceiling—!”
The ceiling touched by the flames started to burn, dropping sparks down.
The flames weren’t satisfied and began to overflow to the floor, burning the dais and carpet completely.
The priests shouted and activated water- and related divine powers to try to suppress the flames, but the holy fire was unharmed and burned an intense red to blue.
Meanwhile, the sparks falling over Lasel’s head were absorbed into the fire as if disappearing.
The owner of the holy fire. The one blessed by God.
Saintess Lasel stood in stunned silence in the middle of the fire protecting her, holding the rosary.
