Chapter 36
Iomene got up from bed.
Without even thinking of tidying her messy hair, she went to the mirror and washed her face like a cat, then flinched when she saw clear fair skin—devoid of the countless self-harm marks that plagued it prior.
Yesterday.
After that strange man in priest's robes put his hand on her head yesterday, her limbs felt itchy, and when she looked, they had become like this.
It was a sight that surprised her every time she saw it, no matter how many times she looked.
How?
All he did was put his hand on her head?
She had only seen people who were afraid of her.
But this man who didn't seem afraid of her at all, not wearing protective clothing to enter, touched her body with bare hands without hesitation.
In her 19 years of life, meeting that man yesterday was the most shocking event.
Could he be a good person?
Iomene thought for a moment.
She still didn't know.
There was still a possibility that he could be a dangerous person.
The people who came once every 7 days to tie her up and hurt her.
Today was the day.
Today was that painful day.
Iomene purred with fear and anxiety.
She reflexively tried to scratch her skin but realized that instead of the usual rough scars, smooth skin was greeting her, so she stopped trying to scratch.
What a strange man.
The feeling of smooth skin feels so good.
How should I receive him?
As Iomene was thinking, one thought occurred to her.
Today.
She planned to see if he would protect her from those strangely dressed people who came to hurt her.
If…
If he was the same as those people who hurt her.
If he was helping them.
She would scratch.
She would bite with all her might.
Since he came in without protective clothing, it would be much easier to hurt him.
Absolutely.
Let's absolutely not let our guard down completely.
If we let our guard down, it hurts again.
Iomene resolved this while growling lowly.
***
Princess Iomene was hurriedly devouring the snacks I had brought.
I was watching that scene contentedly.
"Princess. Eat slowly. There's still a lot left."
I didn't know if she was listening to my words, but Princess Iomene was just focusing on stuffing cookies and bread into her mouth frantically.
I heard that until now, she had only eaten diets for survival, like nutritional supplements and sedatives, rather than snacks or sweet foods.
This seemed to be her first time with such snacks.
"Here. Try this too. This is delicious too. It's peaches preserved in honey."
When I opened the jar lid and held out a peach to her, the Princess carefully approached me as if smelling it.
I took out a fork I had brought and pulled out a peach to offer to the Princess.
She sniffed it and then took a bite of the peach.
And her eyes widened.
Then, as if it were delicious, she snatched the jar and fork from my hand and started gobbling it up.
It was behavior that had no dignity or etiquette whatsoever.
It was like a beast itself.
But it didn't matter.
How fortunate and good to see her eating well.
"Eat a lot. I brought many other things besides that."
To become friends with a beast, you need food, right?
As I was thinking that and watching the Princess contentedly?
A grandfather clock must have been installed somewhere in the separate palace, as the sound of it striking twice was heard.
The Princess, who had been frantically eating snacks, suddenly stopped as if struck by lightning at that moment.
And then she looked to one side.
She was looking at the main entrance of the separate palace.
She stopped eating and started panting frantically.
I looked at her pitifully.
— Saint. Every Tuesday at 2 PM, we always performed holy magic treatment. And that's today. Now that you've come, we won't do the treatment anymore, but... When 2 PM comes today, the Princess will become very sensitive. You should know that."
Before entering the separate palace today.
That was what the mage who tried to give me protective clothing last time said.
As expected, she was looking at the main entrance of the separate palace with an extremely terrified expression, on edge.
"Kyaaaa...!"
She raised her voice, holding a fork in her hand, ready to attack at any moment.
I watched her for a moment and then slowly stood up.
"They won't come. No one's coming to hurt you today."
But no matter how much I said that, the Princess remained anxious.
Then, as if she couldn't stand it anymore, she raised her hand high as if to stab herself with the fork she was holding.
I quickly ran to stop her from trying to harm herself.
"Kyaaa!!"
The fork dug into my forearm.
Damn, it hurts!!
What the hell is this since yesterday!!
It hurts!!
It hurts but...
The Princess in front of me is more pitiful.
"No! It's okay! They won't come! You won't hurt today!"
"Kyaaaa!"
But the Princess didn't stop.
Seeing me interfering with her, she started to vent her anger at me.
She began to stab my body randomly with the fork.
Blood splattered and I felt like screaming from the pain.
But I endured.
Desperately holding back my screams, I approached the Princess.
The moment the Princess stabbed the fork into my shoulder.
I rather hugged the Princess tightly.
"Shh... It's okay. It's okay."
Tears came out from the pain.
Wow, really...
It really fucking hurts.
But I can endure this.
"It's okay. It's okay."
I patted the Princess' back and repeatedly told her it was okay.
The Princess, who had been growling and trying to bite me with the fork stuck in my shoulder, seemed to calm down at my gesture and started to lower her voice little by little.
Although my eyes were shedding tears from the pain, my mouth kept comforting her.
Right.
What does it matter if I get stabbed a little?
I can heal myself even if I get hurt anyway.
The pain you've endured for 16 years must have been much greater.
Isn't that right?
Cold sweat was pouring down, but when I finally felt the Princess stop growling and nestle into my arms, I thought I had done well to endure.
Carefully.
Even after pulling out the fork stuck in my shoulder and healing my body with body modification, I didn't stop patting the Princess.
"It's okay. It's okay. You won't hurt anymore. You don't have to do the painful thing once a week anymore. Calm down. It's okay."
As I kept doing that as if soothing a child, the Princess raised her head.
She was crying.
With eyes full of tears, the Princess was trembling while looking at the main entrance.
"It's okay. It's okay."
I picked up the Princess.
And carefully walked to her room.
Her bedroom with a luxurious bed.
But it was empty with no one there.
I laid down there with her.
"Come on. No one's going to hurt you today. Okay? Let's calm down and sleep a bit."
As she gradually calmed down, the Princess' body, which had been stiff, relaxed.
And she started to burrow into me little by little.
I hugged Iomene.
Patting her back, I sang children's songs, pop songs, and anime songs that I knew, not singing well but comically, and stayed like that for hours.
It was late in the evening when Princess Iomene's body finally went limp.
When I looked down, she was sleeping deeply, breathing evenly.
I wiped the tear stains on her face.
Although I was doing this with the selfish intention of escaping after being hit by the curse, she was really pitiful, too pitiful.
Was the Emperor and Empress's choice to save Iomene really right?
Even I have thought about it more than dozens of times during this short period.
Iomene is pitiful,
The Emperor and Empress were pitiful, and Princess Almene was pitiful too.
So the pain I suffered today was just trivial.
What did it matter if I got hurt?
It was fine as long as she was sleeping like this.
I covered the sleeping Princess well with a blanket, cleaned up the place where she had eaten snacks, and then left the separate palace.
My white priest's robes had turned red from the blood spilled when stabbed by the fork, but this much hardship is nothing to avoid confirmed hell.
I could do it as much as needed.
"Saint!"
"Oh my! Blood...! What happened?"
It wasn’t unreasonable for them to react like that, seeing the priest's robes full of holes from the fork and covered in blood.
I waved my hand as if everything was fine to the priests and mages who were always on standby outside the separate palace in case of any situation.
"Don't worry too much. It was nothing. I'll come again tomorrow. Just know that in advance."
It hurts when you get stabbed with a fork.
But burning in hell will hurt more.
If I endure a little, I can skip going to hell.
It's more than worth it.
"Saint..."
Some priests and mages had reddened eyes as if they were moved.
"Thank you. For not making us do such things anymore."
"Every Tuesday, I thought it would be better to die."
"I couldn't even sleep properly because of the screams of a young child. Really... thank you so much."
Some even sobbed, overwhelmed with guilt.
I understand.
They wouldn't have enjoyed hurting the young Princess either.
"You've worked hard until now," I said that to them.
Right.
You really worked hard until now.
And I really worked hard too.
I got a ticket to hell while doing saint work that doesn't suit me.
Damn shitty Goddess.
Let's quickly run away to Korea.
Now I want to...
…live without being afraid anymore.
***
In a dark room.
In perfect darkness with not a single point of light except for a faint candle on the table.
Several people whose silhouettes were only faintly visible were having a conversation.
"A variable has appeared. The Saint has become involved in this matter."
Murmuring voices spread.
"The Saint of Healing, Amael."
"The one recognized by the Pantheon."
"The one who found our brother who had infiltrated the Sun Order."
"How on earth? I still don't understand."
"The miracle was perfect. The miracle of concealment that the Evil God bestowed upon us was perfect."
"No holy magic. No miracle. No magic. No human effort and diligence could find us."
"But the Saint found us."
"Is he going to ruin this too?"
The words that had been pouring out frantically stopped abruptly.
After a long silence, one of the silhouettes said something as if anxious, "He won't recognize the Evil God's chosen one by the Princess' side, will he?"
At those words, murmuring sounds spread.
"The disguise of the One with a Thousand Faces is perfect! He can deceive everyone except himself!"
"Absolutely. He will absolutely not be discovered. He's someone that even the Emperor and Empress couldn't find despite trying so hard."
"The Evil God favors him. He will never be discovered."
But the voices couldn't hide their anxiety.
If we said that, the brother who infiltrated the Sun Order also had perfect disguise.
He was one of the beings who could use the miracle of concealment more skillfully than anyone else.
Another name for the Evil God was the Deceiver, the Blood Drinker.
The Evil God's miracle even made the eyes of the gods avoid it.
He had infiltrated the order very safely for more than 10 years, but the Saint found him with an unknown miracle.
The problem was that we didn't know how he found him.
It wasn’t a general form of miracle. It wasn’t holy magic using holy power. It wasn’t magic either.
He just found him.
That was what was making those gathered here anxiously mad.
"It seems necessary to enhance the miracle of concealment cast on the chosen one more strongly. The Saint is too close to the chosen one. Contact the Collector. Tell him to gather more human resentment and send it to the chosen one."
"I will convey that."
With that, all meetings ended.
Starting with one silhouette standing up, everyone stood up.
"As the Blood Drinker wills."
After everyone said that in unison.
The candle went out.
The silhouettes disappeared along with it.