Chapter 2
Now, let’s go back to the situation before threatening the kidnapped prince.
‘Do not attempt to understand God!’
It was something I had heard several times from that insufferable archbishop. One of the very few opinions of his that I actually agreed with.
A long time ago, I made a wish to God. To be precise, it was more of a vague yearning directed at no one in particular.
‘In my next life, I want to live with normal hands. For a long, long time.’
Why did I make such a wish? I’ll tell that story later.
Anyway, the wish came true—just in a slightly twisted way.
When I opened my eyes, I had become a saintess in another world.
My hands were fine. All ten fingers moved perfectly. But still—
‘What is this garbage life loop?’
The prince before me wouldn’t know. That this monastery-bound fate of his had already happened six times.
Rather than shaking off the hand gripping his chin, Lothar studied my complexion for quite some time. Then, with a serious expression, he asked:
“Did you injure your head?”
I hadn’t expected him to be afraid, but his genuinely puzzled gaze left me momentarily speechless.
Even now, he’s still speaking politely.
“I’m not injured. And I’m not insane.”
I replied, lightly shaking the man’s chin.
“And I have no intention of forcibly taking a man who says he doesn’t want it and making him my husband.”
“……”
At my blunt choice of words, Lothar’s expression grew even more complicated. His eyes seemed to question whether I was a devil wearing the guise of a saintess.
‘Maybe that’s not entirely wrong.’
Bride kidnapping. A non-consensual marriage carried out through physical force or threats.
It wasn’t something a sacred soul—one meant to care for the weak—would ever choose.
However, these days, bride kidnapping had become nothing more than an outdated custom used as a political tool within the Empire. And I had no intention of stepping outside that trend.
“Maximilian.”
I whispered the name as if tossing bait. At its mention, Lothar’s eyes sharpened instantly.
“Don’t you want to crush that bastard?”
As I looked down at him with unmistakable killing intent, a memory surfaced—of a man who resembled, yet did not resemble, the prince before me.
‘Elise. You need to bark properly.’
Maximilian—the First Prince of the Empire and its future mad emperor. The very man who had driven my life into the ground five times already.
Saintess Elise.
The moment I took over this body, I gained all memories from before the age of twenty. And I realized something.
‘Just smile when told to. That’s your job.’
This life was not going to be easy.
An uneducated commoner orphan. A symbolic figure with no real ability. That was the current state of the saintess. Even before I possessed this body, she had been nothing more than a tool for the archbishop.
So at first, I tried to escape the old man’s grasp. If I could discard the troublesome title of “saintess,” even better.
But there was a problem.
‘Pretty. She’d be even prettier when she cries.’
‘……Pardon?’
I had caught Maximilian’s attention.
Not long after, his first act of tyranny upon becoming emperor was the “imprisonment of the saintess.”
Of course, now was the time to focus on the present. Looking down at Lothar’s stiffened face, I continued:
“I’m proposing a deal. With quite favorable terms.”
“……A deal?”
Lothar’s brows furrowed deeply.
“Who is the principal of this deal? You, Saintess—or the archbishop?”
Look at this bastard.
That question alone told me what the concept of a “saintess” was in Lothar’s mind. He still saw me as nothing more than the archbishop’s errand girl.
It wasn’t entirely wrong. That’s how I’d lived my life, after all. Still, hearing it directly irritated me.
“Hey.”
I leaned in closer to him, until we were close enough to feel each other’s breath.
“You were supposed to die the moment you entered Lumen Monastery. That was the deal between the archbishop and Maximilian.”
“……”
“In exchange for killing you, the archbishop was to receive the western gold mine region. It would be ‘donated’ to the temple, of course, but we both know it’d just line his pockets.”
Let the poor believers eat dirt—that seemed to be the archbishop’s creed.
“You know it too, don’t you? Do you really think Maximilian would be satisfied with just sending his rebellious half-brother to a monastery? That son of a devil?”
Of course, it would’ve been hard to imagine that he’d be executed the very day he entered.
“……So?”
Lothar finally asked in a low voice.
“What do you intend to gain from a bride kidnapping?”
A good question. It was time to conclude.
Looking him straight in the eyes, I said:
“I’m going to kill Maximilian. And for that, I need you.”
“……You believe I still have that much value?”
Value. The way he spoke showed someone accustomed to objectively evaluating himself.
I nodded. I didn’t say, If I fail in this life, I’ll just stop saving you in the next one.
Instead—
“You’ve got nothing to lose, right? It’s not like you have a better option anyway.”
“……”
With that painfully accurate remark, silence fell inside the carriage.
‘Go on. Think.’
A hollow prince with neither power nor honor left. I was the last rope thrown before him.
He didn’t have much time to deliberate anyway. The destination of the moving carriage was already set. Everything had to be decided before reaching the temple that would validate the bride kidnapping.
I met Lothar’s gaze and asked:
“Do you know the condition for a bride kidnapping to be recognized?”
“……Yes, I do.”
His voice cracked slightly.
A man and woman must share intimacy and then receive the temple’s certification. That was the necessary condition.
In the quiet carriage, I did not avoid Lothar’s gaze as he studied my face for a long moment.
Eventually, he raised one arm and asked:
“Do we have to do it here?”
As his other hand wrapped around my waist, I instinctively flinched.
It had been a long time since I’d entrusted my body to someone else’s touch. And never to hands this large and firm.
For some reason, my heartbeat began to quicken. I hid it and countered:
“Then where? The bushes? A sandy shore? Inside the temple?”
Was he the type to care about location just because he was royalty? But Lothar narrowed his eyes as if hearing something absurd.
“I don’t mind. I’m asking whether it’s alright for you, Saintess, to experience your first time like this.”
“……Ah.”
Only then did I understand what he meant.
Was it because he had once been a knight? Even with his life hanging by a thread, he was still considering my position as a woman.
It was unexpectedly admirable. And a little foolish.
Pressing my index finger lightly against his cheek, I replied:
“It doesn’t matter. Something like chastity.”
I meant it. After six lifetimes, there weren’t many things left that truly held value for me.
“And I wasn’t planning to actually sleep together anyway.”
“……What?”
Now it was Lothar’s turn to frown in confusion.
“Then what are you planning?”
“We’ll just pretend.”
Because I was confident we wouldn’t get caught.
I thought of the back of my dress, soon to be stained with dark red blood.
‘Virginity.’
Even doctors in modern society couldn’t determine that based on something like a hymen.
It’s not like the number of times you’ve had sex appears above your head. How would priests verify my virginity?
At most, they’d check for traces of blood.
No one would be able to know exactly what had happened between Lothar and me.
“We just need to leave enough evidence. Enough to convince the priests.”
As I explained, I lifted the hem of my dress and pointed to the exposed inner thigh.
“Here. And here. Bite and suck—leave marks.”
Lothar’s gaze dropped downward. His eyes lingered intently on the barely concealed area near my groin, on the skin resting over his thigh.
For some reason, my mouth went dry. I swallowed silently and was about to continue—
“After that, below the chest—”
“Then when will we have a real union?”
My words cut off abruptly.
“……Huh?”
“If today is not the day of union.”
As he spoke in a low voice, the hand not holding my waist slid up along my knee.
“When do you intend to take me?”
His calloused fingers pressed firmly into my inner thigh. Without realizing it, I bit my lip.
“Mm—”
A sound almost escaped me. Just barely.
