Chapter 08
“Hmm…”
The Emperor wore a troubled expression.
It was understandable—House Veloche was the only ducal house in the Empire, and its prestige, passed down through generations, was so immense it seemed to touch the heavens.
Even the Emperor could not simply punish the head of such a family without solid evidence.
But he also could not simply ignore my words claiming to be a saint.
“Very well. I will look into the matter separately.”
The Emperor, who had been groaning as if in pain, soon glanced at me and resolved the situation.
“More importantly, should we not head to the Main Temple first? It has been thirteen years since a saint last appeared—His Holiness must be greatly awaiting you.”
Though he phrased it indirectly, what he truly meant was that he intended to verify me.
“Our Majesty is surprisingly perceptive,” I thought.
Far more intelligent than expected, I inwardly admired the Emperor and nodded readily.
“Of course, Your Majesty. Even if the Goddess herself delivered a revelation, we cannot skip His Holiness’s verification.”
“Ahem… I hope you understand this is not due to distrust, but a matter of procedure.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
I smiled confidently despite having no real backing whatsoever.
“Then let us descend.”
Following the Emperor, we went down the cliff, where numerous citizens of the Empire were waiting for me.
“Saintess, please save the Empire.”
“Please stop this dreadful calamity!”
“Please look upon us, Saintess!”
Under the control of knights, the crowd lined both sides densely, pleading for salvation toward me.
“Wow, how do people change so completely in an instant?”
I could hardly believe these were the same people who, moments ago, had mocked my death as a symbol of abolishing noble status.
Stunned, I closed my mouth and walked forward without acknowledging them.
At the end of the path, a carriage awaited me.
A pure white carriage embossed with the emblem of a goddess.
It had been sent from the temple.
“I never thought I’d ride something like this.”
As I boarded, feeling strangely guilty despite having no holy power at all, I subconsciously formed a prayer gesture—
Just then.
“Saintess, please wait!”
A middle-aged woman broke through the crowd and ran toward me.
“Hey! I told you to maintain order!”
One of the knights controlling the crowd rushed over and grabbed her.
“I have something to give to the Saintess! Please let me see her for just a moment!”
“No, I said that’s not possible!”
The knight kept glancing nervously toward me and the Emperor as he tried to drag her away, but the woman resisted fiercely.
Watching their struggle, I spoke.
“It’s alright, sir. Let her come.”
She was just an ordinary citizen.
She didn’t seem dangerous, and if she simply had something to give, there was no reason to refuse.
“But, My Lady…!”
The knight hesitated, then reluctantly released her.
The woman, breathing heavily, rushed up to me and carefully held something out.
“I thought you must be exhausted today, so please take this for the road…”
It was a bundle wrapped in old cloth.
Judging by its appearance, it didn’t seem to contain anything particularly special.
Still, I accepted it willingly.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
When I took her hand and smiled lightly, tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes.
I was the one receiving a gift, yet she looked overwhelmed—likely proud to have offered a tribute to the Saintess who had appeared for the first time in thirteen years.
“Sorry, I don’t have even a shred of holy power.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly, patted her hand twice, and quickly left the scene.
“Grrr!”
Accompanied by the proud roar of a lion pretending to be dignified.
Then I boarded the carriage and opened the bundle.
Inside were about ten coin-sized cookies.
They looked dry and brittle—cheap snacks that would normally never catch my attention—but I felt a wave of nostalgia.
“Wow, I haven’t seen these in a long time.”
I smiled, remembering how I used to sneak out into the market in commoner clothes with my mother when I was young to buy snacks like this.
I picked one up and was just about to put it in my mouth when—
“….”
I felt a sharp gaze from somewhere.
Turning my head, I saw the lion staring intensely at me.
More precisely, at the cookie in my hand.
“…Why are you looking at it like that?”
“Well… I was just curious. What is that?”
Only then did it awkwardly scratch its temple with a paw.
“I’ve never seen it before. Is it food?”
“Yes, it’s a cookie. It’s made by kneading flour and baking it. Normally it’s made with plenty of sugar and butter, but this is cheap, so it probably doesn’t have much. Sugar and butter are expensive.”
Even as I explained, its eyes never left the cookies.
The stare was so intense that I asked casually.
“Want to try one?”
“Oh, may I?”
“It’s nothing difficult.”
I handed it one.
The lion, as if in a hurry, barely chewed before swallowing it whole—and immediately widened its eyes.
“T-this is called what?!”
“A cookie.”
“A cookie… COOKIE!”
It repeated the word as if it had discovered something divine.
‘But aren’t lions carnivores?’
It seemed its unfortunate thousand-year diet of moss had even altered its instincts.
“If you like it, have more. It’s not premium quality, but better than moss.”
Feeling a little sorry for it, I handed over the entire bundle. The lion eagerly opened its mouth.
With every cookie that disappeared, its expression brightened noticeably.
After devouring all ten in no time, the lion suddenly clenched its fist.
“Hah! To think I only taste this now! Hedel, that damn goddess—if she had kept her promise, I could’ve eaten this five years earlier! If I’d eaten just ten a day, over five years that’s 18,250 cookies!”
Wow, it can do mental arithmetic.
Impressed for the first time by the lion’s intelligence, I applauded internally.
Ignoring me, the lion soon growled in anger at the goddess, then suddenly looked at me worriedly.
“By the way, are you really planning to go through the temple’s verification? You have no holy power whatsoever. You’ll be exposed immediately.”
“That’s their problem.”
“What? Mine?”
The lion looked flustered as I casually stared out the window.
“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t it obvious? Do you forget who got me mistaken for a saint in the first place?”
At my words, the lion flinched, unable to respond.
It would have been obvious guilt.
It was originally something I did in a fit of anger toward the trash who tried to drag his daughter, just returned from the brink of death, into a worse hell—but still, this all started because of the lion.
“If you hadn’t insisted on treating me like a saint, none of this would’ve happened.”
“I—I never thought you’d actually go all the way to the Main Temple… How was I supposed to deceive the Pope…?”
The lion drooped its eyes in distress.
“Do you think he’ll be as easily fooled as those humans earlier?”
“Of course not.”
He was the Pope, after all.
Even the Emperor, whose intelligence people often doubted, didn’t fully believe I was a saint.
This carriage itself wasn’t even the Saintess’s carriage—it was the one used for candidates undergoing verification.
Only after the Pope’s confirmation and official recognition would a true Saintess carriage be granted.
In other words, simply claiming, “The Goddess chose me,” would not be enough to earn the title.
“It is said that when a saint chosen by the Goddess appears, a mark forms on their forehead.”
I murmured to myself, and the lion tilted its head.
“A mark? It appears?”
“You didn’t know?”
“How would I? I was sealed in a cave for a thousand years. I’ve never even seen a saint.”
Sighing at its innocent expression, I pointed at the emblem carved into the carriage ceiling.
“That symbol.”
“Oh, that. Yes, that’s Hedel’s emblem.”
“Yes. Remember it well. You’ll be the one making that mark appear on my forehead later.”
“What? How am I supposed to do that?”
The lion looked genuinely dumbfounded.
As if I had just said something absurd—but I only smiled calmly.
“Come on, don’t be like that. The one who can stop hail can’t handle something like that?”
At my words, the lion suddenly gasped.
