Chapter 11
While I was pretty much convinced of it, the lion finally reached the table, caught sight of the pile of cookies stacked high like a mountain on the plate, and swallowed hard.
“Is this the high-end cookie you were talking about?”
“Yes, go ahead and try one. It’s going to be on a completely different level from what we ate in the carriage.”
Casually, I picked up a single cookie and tossed it toward the lion, and it landed precisely inside the beast’s open mouth.
“Hey, you could at least hand it over nicely. Even if I didn’t quite make it to full divinity, I’ve lived for well over a thousand years—whoa!”
Grumbling as if displeased by my lack of manners, the lion suddenly snapped its jaws wide open.
“Wh-what on earth is this taste? It’s sweet, savory… H-huh, it just melts the moment it touches the tongue?”
Munching away on the cookie with a stunned look on its face, the lion soon buried its snout straight into the plate as if it could no longer hold back, and began devouring the cookies in a frenzy.
Seriously… looking at that sight right now, who on earth would ever guess it’s a semi-divine beast?
‘I’m not even surprised anymore.’
Watching the lion eat with a listless expression, I let myself sink heavily into the sofa.
‘Ah, so warm.’
Just as the maid had proudly promised, the sunlight pouring in through the numerous windows was wonderfully cozy. Combined with the spring breeze carrying a faint scent of flowers, it felt as though the tension that had been weighing down my shoulders all day was melting away.
How long has it been since I’ve just sat back like this and enjoyed some leisure without doing a single thing? That was something I couldn’t even imagine back at the Duke’s estate. Sure, I was the young lady and the heir, but thanks to having a useless piece of trash for a father, I had to take care of literally every single duty the Duke’s household handled. I had to look into the grievances of the territory’s people and clean up after the trash as well, which meant I barely managed five hours of sleep a day.
‘If I knew things would turn out like this, I should’ve just slacked off and played around.’
Why on earth did I push myself so hard and live life like it was a battlefield? Mocking my past self for struggling so desperately day in and day out, I thoroughly relished my rare moment of relaxation.
Except, it seemed that leisure simply wasn’t in the cards for my fate.
“By the way, that guy from earlier.”
Right in the middle of chewing up the cookies with loud crunches, the lion suddenly spoke up as if remembering something.
“Which guy are you talking about?”
“You know, the one who insisted you weren’t a saintess and claimed you needed to pay for your crimes. Your old man.”
“Oh, for crying out loud! I’m trying to take a peaceful break here, why do you have to bring up that piece of trash?!”
As I glared fiercely and let out a growl, the lion flinched in surprise and let out a loud hiccup.
‘Good grief, a lion who’s supposed to be the king of beasts is scared so easily.’
If you opened up that chest, there was no doubt you’d find a liver no bigger than a mouse’s bean. Clucking my tongue in mild disgust, I poured water into the empty glass next to me and slid it toward the lion.
Gulping down the water in a hurry, the lion finally calmed down after a long moment, then cautiously peeked at my expression and asked, “Is that guy really your biological father?”
“Yes, he is. A piece of trash who never did a single thing for me all my life, only caused trouble, and ended up trying to kill me in the end—yet there’s no denying we share the same blood.”
When I turned my head away with a sickened expression, the lion let out a dry, incredulous laugh.
“Ha! A father trying to kill his own child. Even we beasts know to cherish our own little ones.”
“Yeah, he’s truly worse than a beast.”
A fresh wave of fury surged within me, and I ground my teeth until they creaked.
‘How on earth am I supposed to take those bastards down?’
The emperor had claimed he would investigate separately, but no matter how thoroughly they searched, there was no way any real evidence would turn up. After all, that story was something I had entirely made up in the first place. At first, I had planned to simply push forward using my position as the saintess, but upon giving it careful thought, that didn’t seem like such a great approach. If I, who almost died at the hands of a biological father fiercely devoted to his illegitimate child, were to demand his punishment without any solid proof, it might only invite misunderstandings from the public.
‘Then what should I do…?’
Tapping the armrest of the sofa with my index finger in deep contemplation, an idea suddenly struck me, and I slowly slid my gaze over to the lion.
Seemingly flustered by my meaningful look, the lion stammered, “Wh-what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Come to think of it, we haven’t even properly introduced ourselves yet. We’re partners in destiny now, after all. Mr. Lion, what’s your name?”
“M-my name? It’s Delton…?”
“Ah, Delton. That’s a cool name. I’m Shaen Velloce.”
“Oh, right… I see.”
The lion’s expression was exceedingly awkward, likely bewildered by the sudden exchange of names out of nowhere. Smiling gently at the sight of him, I shifted my hips a bit closer to narrow the distance between us.
“Delton, you remember that I was the one who pulled you out of that tomb-like cave, right?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m the one who got you out, Delton—the guy who ended up trapped five whole years past his contract period because the Goddess scammed you.”
“Well… that’s true, but didn’t you say earlier that you weren’t the one who did it?”
“I thought about it again, and I’m pretty sure it was me. If it wasn’t, how could I have broken out of that cave so easily when you couldn’t escape no matter how hard you tried for five whole years? It has to be because of my influence. Right?”
When I stared at him with absolute conviction and practically forced an answer out of him, Delton ultimately gave a nod.
“Yeah. Well, I suppose that might be it, but why are you suddenly bringing that up…?”
“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to give Delton a chance to repay his debt.”
“A debt?”
“Yes. Delton, you’re destined to become a mighty divine beast, right? And a being like that shouldn’t live life owing debts to anyone. Isn’t that right?”
“Huh? Why would owing something like that make life impossible? When you live long enough, there are days when you receive help from—”
“It makes it impossible. Absolutely.”
“Uh…”
When I widened my eyes and emphasized the point once more, Delton rolled his eyes around in circles, let out a deep sigh, and finally nodded.
“Fine, let’s just say it does. What’s your reason for suddenly bringing this up to me anyway? You must have a goal in mind.”
“I told you, I wanted to give you a chance to clear your debt. It’s nothing huge, just a tiny favor I need you to do for me.”
“What kind of favor this time…”
Delton openly wore an expression of profound annoyance.
‘Right, he probably thought he’d just get to lounge around and freeload without doing a thing, so having actual work tossed at him must be pretty irritating.’
I could understand that. Though that didn’t mean I had any intention of letting him sit around and do nothing.
“It’s nothing much. Compared to having to make a symbol appear on your forehead, this is an absolute breeze. Of course, I’ll reward you for it, too.”
“A reward? With what?”
As Delton tilted his head in curiosity, I flashed a grin and slid another plate—the one sitting right next to the cookies—over toward him. It was a cake topped generously with soft, fluffy white cream and crowned with a bright red strawberry. The maid had prepared it along with the cookies, but it seemed Delton hadn’t noticed it at all because his mind had been entirely hijacked by the cookies.
“There. Would this be enough of a reward—”
There was no need to even ask.
Nod. Nod. Nod. Nod. Nod.
Delton had already spotted the cake, twitching his nose and frantically bobbing his head up and down in eager agreement.
‘Man… he’s so cheap, so utterly cheap.’
A little while later.
The Emperor, the Pope, and I sat gathered around a long dining table, sharing a grand banquet.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since I last shared a meal with Your Holiness.”
“Indeed, neither do I.”
“It’s all thanks to you, young lady. No, I suppose I should call you the saintess now.”
Letting out a hearty laugh as he corrected his address, the Emperor praised my achievements and piled various delicacies onto my plate.
“Eat up. You must be completely drained after returning alive from a place like death’s door. Now that you’re a precious personage, we must take good care of you. We’ll be holding the holy ceremony in front of the imperial citizens soon, after all.”
Food personally handed to me by the Emperor—in the past, I wouldn’t even have been able to raise my head out of sheer awe. But right now…
‘This man actually knew the expiration-of-blessings system was a total scam.’
Even though I already knew from the start that this whole thing hadn’t been driven by genuine faith, hearing it directly with my own ears still made a fresh wave of rage boil up inside me.
When I glared at him with blazing eyes, the Emperor belatedly realized his own slip of the tongue and flinched in surprise before smoothly changing the subject.
“Ah, reports have been pouring in from all corners of the country. They say the disasters have stopped in many regions. As expected, the calamities up until now must have been due to the absence of the saintess. Isn’t that right, Your Holiness?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. That is my view as well. By nature, the saintess exists to protect the empire in place of the Goddess. Naturally, when such a being vanishes, all sorts of misfortunes are bound to pour in.”
“Haha, isn’t that so? Then I suppose we can finally rest easy. Since the saintess has descended once more, the disasters should come to a complete halt, shouldn’t they?”
The Emperor burst into a booming laugh. No one had suffered more from the endless wave of relentless disasters than the people, but he in particular must have been in absolute agony. After all, the Emperor was the one who had to bear the responsibility.
However, I had no intention of letting his happiness last very long.
First of all, I had no desire to sit back and watch the man who had knowingly created a human sacrifice ritual just to march me straight to my death—despite knowing it was a complete waste—happily beam with joy.
Secondly, while I had no clue why the disasters across the country had suddenly stopped, there was zero chance the reason was actually because of me, so I needed to lay down some groundwork.
And thirdly, because I still had a goal left that I needed to accomplish.
“I have no desire to ruin Your Majesty’s good mood, but we cannot yet be certain that the disasters have completely stopped.”
“Not certain? What do you mean by that?”
The Emperor asked with an expression of complete incomprehension, and the Pope as well gazed at me with a puzzled look.
With a grim expression, I continued speaking.
“The cause behind why the Goddess, who had bestowed boundless grace upon us for two thousand years, abandoned this empire for a staggering thirteen years. That very cause still remains.”
