“S-Sia— I mean, Lady Camilla Sorpel!”

Light was pouring out of her entire body. Even her hair color and eye color had been dyed by that light—changed.

Her hair gleamed a mysterious silver, and her eyes were deeply stained gold. Looking at her like that, you could even feel something sacred.

“My goodness!”

The priests in the room dropped to their knees on the spot. Tears streamed nonstop from their eyes as they traced the sign of the cross.

Even Priest Daniel stood there with his mouth hanging open, unable to take his eyes off Camilla.

“To think this much holy power...”

Even watching it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe it. Not even the current Pope possessed holy power like this.

FWOOSH!

The next moment, she thrust both hands out toward the two children—and once again, an immense force swept through the room.

With holy power surging in like a storm, it was hard just to keep hold of your mind.

A powerful force that felt like it was pressing down on every inch of the body—yet within it, an intoxicating warmth!

That contradictory sensation made everyone’s chest swell.

After a long while, when those who sensed the light fading finally lifted their heads slowly, people could only gape.

“T-The children!”

The two children, who hadn’t even been able to lie down properly, had collapsed onto the bed. Their bodies—rigid as statues—had returned to normal.

“Ah... my God!”

“Thank you!”

The priests who hurried over to the children clapped both hands over their mouths. Tears pooled in their eyes.

“Uh... mm.”

Because the children were sleeping, breathing softly.

The two children who hadn’t even been able to close their eyes properly from the pain had fallen asleep, letting out calm breaths.

“No way...”

Even when the high priests used holy power, there had been no reaction. They’d thought the children would go to God like this.

They hadn’t even had enough holy power to try properly—they’d only been able to stamp their feet in helpless panic.

In the end, tears spilled from the priests’ eyes. This was truly a miracle.

“Haa.”

At that moment, a long breath poured out of Camilla’s mouth as well.

Is it over?

She, too, checked the children’s condition—then let out another long sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. Even while possessed, it seemed the holy power had been properly unleashed.

[Hey, kid.]

Kid? Me? I’m not exactly young, you know? And you don’t even look that much older than me.

At some point, the priest’s ghost had come out of her body and was staring at Camilla with eyes full of wonder. A faint smile slowly bloomed at the corner of their mouth.

[You’re pretty clean.]

Clean... what? My soul?

Yeah, people tell me that a lot.

[My incredible holy power actually manifested perfectly. Amazing. Not just anyone can use the holy power in this body, you know. Your soul is clearer than I thought, so it seems you used it properly.]

Well, that’s a relief.

It’s a relief, but...

Here we go again.

Camilla could immediately tell something was wrong with her body. There was no way she wouldn’t notice.

What is this heat?

Usually, when a ghost went in and out of her body, it put a strain on her and she’d end up groaning in bed for days.

But this time, the reaction was different from the very start.

The heat that surged through her whole body was no joke. Her head was more dizzy than usual, and she even felt nauseous.

“Ugh...”

In the end, her body slowly tipped sideways.

“Camilla!”

A pair of hands caught her quickly, wrapping around her.

It was Arsian—who hadn’t taken his eyes off her for a single second from start to finish.

As he hurriedly swept Camilla up while she fell, his face hardened into ice in an instant. He’d realized immediately that her condition wasn’t normal.

WUUUUNG—

Arsian murmured something, and a bright light wrapped around them—then they vanished from the spot.

Magic was absolutely forbidden inside the Papacy, but no one had the time to argue about that.

“I’ve never seen holy power like that.”

“Holy power on the level of a saint!”

“It’s truly God’s blessing!”

Only after Camilla disappeared did everyone snap back to their senses, babbling their shock over one another.

No one could hide their excitement at that overwhelming holy power they’d never seen before.

“...Truly astonishing.”

Daniel, too, kept murmuring admiration as he looked down at the two children sleeping peacefully. In that moment, his eyes were stained with greed.

That body—he wanted it. Truly.

“That’s cold.”

Meanwhile, there was one person Arsian had completely abandoned and forgotten. Jainer clicked their tongue and lightly shook their head.

If you were going to move with magic, you could’ve taken me too.

Seriously, this is fun.

Their gaze, too, was fixed on the spot where Camilla had been just moments ago.

The more they learned, the more she showed a new side of herself—there was never even a moment to be bored.

Then, remembering the way she’d collapsed at the end, Jainer also quickly left the room.

Chapter. Saintess

“Those crazy bastards!”

I blacked out again for the first time in a while. Even when a ghost went in and out of my body, it was never this bad.

It feels worse than when Zeno entered my body and I abused my whole body fighting Ludville with a sword.

All the strength had drained out of me, to the point I couldn’t even open my eyes properly. I was literally half-asleep, half-awake, and...

“They must be desperate to die!”

In my hazy consciousness, familiar voices drifted in. The first to stab into my ears was the Duke of Sorpel’s furious voice.

Why is he so angry? Because I collapsed?

But who is he yelling at?

“The kid collapsed—what are you even talking about?”

“T-That is, they’re saying they have to see the saintess right this moment, and there are a ton of temple people outside...”

“You little—!”

SHING!

“M-My lord! Why are you drawing your sword?!”

“First Young Master! Please stop the Duke!”

“Father.”

“Gnnng!”

When the young master stepped in quietly, the attendants relaxed.

But only for a moment.

“I’ll handle it.”

SHING—

“Hngh!”

“M-My lord!”

“I’ll go with you. I’ll smash them to pieces.”

“Good grief! Why are you doing this too, Second Young Master?!”

The room became chaos again. And in the middle of it, that insane heat boiled up through my whole body again.

Is this a divine fever?

I’d read in a book that sometimes priests who used extremely powerful holy power collapsed like this and suffered a high fever. And that there was no medicine for symptoms like this.

SWOOSH.

At that moment, an ice-cold hand covered my forehead.

I must’ve reached out without thinking because I didn’t want to lose that coolness. Someone gently took my hand and held it.

“Sleep a little more.”

Arsian’s voice. As if he’d cast magic, everywhere his touch landed, a cool chill wrapped around my whole body.

“Everyone, be quiet. It looks like this one can’t sleep properly.”

At that, the noisy room went so silent it was like no one was there.

Camilla sank back into deep sleep.

*****

“Haa.”

I let out a long breath and slowly opened my eyes. How many days had I been out? I didn’t have the strength to move even a finger.

I’m hungry.

Funny enough, that was the first thing I felt. That must mean my body’s definitely doing better, right?

As the blur in my vision cleared, I realized it was the middle of the night.

Maybe it was so I wouldn’t be disturbed—only a single dim light faintly illuminated the room.

“Huh?”

Then I saw someone first, right away. A man slumped in a chair by the bed, dozing off.

Arsian?

Now that I think about it, even in my foggy consciousness, I remember hearing his voice. I thought it was a dream, but it wasn’t.

Sleep a little more.

It’s medicine. You have to drink it.

Eat, Camilla. Just one more bite. Please.

He stayed by my side the whole time?

The strange part was that the rest of the family had just... let him.

What’s gotten into them?

Before, after we’d woken up in this room together, even if Arsian came a little too close, they’d glare and make it painfully obvious they didn’t like it.

“Mm?”

Then something caught my eye. There was a wound on Arsian’s hand that looked like it had formed recently.

What is that...

Ah.

A memory surfaced. In the pain of that divine fever, I must’ve been grinding my teeth without realizing it.

Sir—your hand!

I’m fine.

How is that fine when you’re bleeding?!

It’s better than this one ruining their teeth.

...Looks like I bit his hand. Really hard.

I’m not a dog.

I bit a person? Me? Seriously?

This isn’t a dream, right? No—those are obviously bite marks!

What the hell did I do?

What am I supposed to do with this black history?!

[You’re awake.]

Right as I was silently screaming and clawing at my own hair, that familiar voice sounded.

I whipped my head around—and the priest’s ghost was walking toward me, slow and calm.

“What is it?”

Why are you here? Did you follow me? Why?

[You were down longer than I expected. Well, my holy power is so incredible, you know. It’s only natural a regular person couldn’t handle it.]

The priest’s ghost came closer with a smug grin.

[Fucking bastards. You saw how shocked they were too, right? Hmph! Of course. They’ve never seen holy power like that in their lives.]

...What is with this attitude? They’re really good at acting superior.

“What happened?”

[What do you mean?]

“Why are you here?”

[It’s just... you know.]

They trailed off, dodging the answer. Then the priest’s ghost’s eyes moved over Camilla again, slowly, as if checking whether her body was truly ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) okay.

What, did they follow me because they were worried?

But the moment our eyes met, they made an awkward face and looked away. They brag like that, but they get shy at the weirdest moments.

“What about the children?”

It’d been a long time since I’d been sick like this. The family must’ve been worried out of their minds.

If I made that choice, the outcome had better be good—right?

“They’re safe, right?”

Before I lost consciousness, I definitely saw their bodies return to normal, but I didn’t know what happened after that.

[Of course they’re fine. I used my power.]

“Their hardened bodies really got better?”

[You keep asking obvious questions. Not a scratch left. It probably even healed old illnesses and injuries they’d had for years.]

A sigh of relief slipped out on its own. Thank goodness. Of course, that didn’t heal the wounds in their hearts at all.

That would take more time. Maybe it would never be erased for the rest of their lives.

But they’re alive.

Isn’t that better than dying while still suffering and wounded like that?

I don’t know how the children themselves would feel, but that’s what I think.