Chapter 93

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Gerard, who entered the lounge waiting for the audience, opened his mouth. I thought he wasn’t interested in the Saint, but his face looked more nervous than expected.

“Is it really alright for me to see the Saint alone?”

“I asked you to, so of course.”

“If you entrust this to me and regret it later.”

“I won’t regret it. Everything I want to ask is there.”

I pointed to the paper Gerard was holding. Gerard hugged the paper filled with trivial questions to his chest as if it were a holy scripture.

I felt like something was seriously wrong, but it was too troublesome to correct him.

“As someone who serves the Grand Princess closely, I guess the Grand Princess really likes the Saint?”

“Hmm. I suppose so.”

The Saint’s popularity was no less than that of idols in my original world. Besides, I had brought him along saying I was going to see the Saint, so he could misunderstand.

There were commoners and nobles who had lined up to meet the Saint, too.

For some reason, Gerard, lost in sentiment, spoke in a moist voice.

“It’s an old story, but I once admired an actor in a theater troupe.”

“How is that an old story?”

“…I admired them so much that I was afraid to speak to them.”

He calmly ignored my words and continued with his experience. I could understand the Grand Duke’s advice that Gerard was somewhat arrogant.

“If you’re going to put Gerard under you, remember this. That guy doesn’t listen well to others either.”

Gerard’s theater troupe anecdote continued even after the priest entered. The priest, who had been waiting for the right moment to interrupt, eventually cleared his throat.

“The Saint has said it’s all right for you to enter.”

I escorted him to the entrance of the reception room and waved. So the reception room was right next to the lounge.

Gerard took a deep breath in front of the door with a serious face.

“Be careful.”

“Yes! I will accomplish the mission you’ve entrusted to me.”

“Sure. Do it casually.”

Only after Gerard entered the reception room did I breathe a sigh of relief. The priest looked at me with puzzled eyes as I didn’t go in with him. He probably thought I was wasting a hard-earned audience opportunity.

The soundproofing of the reception room was terrible, so conversations inside could be heard.

I could imagine the appearance of the body double who would be behind a veil to hide the fact that she wasn’t the real Saint. Gerard faithfully carried out my instructions.

-Saint, which do you feel works harder between your right hand and left hand?

-What? Is this a philosophical question?

-I believe so. My master has deep knowledge and never wastes time frivolously.

-Right hand… I think. I use my right hand.

-I see. I thought it would be that one too.

Gerard, you idiot.

Just listening made my head dizzy. I felt sorry for the Saint’s body double, who must be suffering.

I should have prepared normal questions.

I was uneasy from the moment he started talking about his first love experience. The priest, concerned as I kept pressing my brow, carefully asked.

“If you’re feeling unwell, shall I take you to a healing priest?”

“I’m fine. I have an appointment.”

Declining the priest’s offer, I went outside the temple. The passage to the underground of the temple was outside.

It wasn’t as complicated as the secret passages of the Imperial Palace, so I could go alone.

As I searched for the way, I recalled the content of the original story.

[Right after being appointed as the Saint, Hela was afraid and confused about everything. The temple people kept her locked underground and taught her the duties of a Saint.

Only conversations with Michael, who visited occasionally, provided comfort.]

Given the situation, it was natural for Michael and the Saint to become close.

The Saint needed someone to rely on, and Michael was lonely. It was against this background that she confided the content of her prophecy to Michael.

‘I wonder how Michael is doing.’

Since the debutante ball when we were young, I could count on one hand the times I had met him.

He might have already forgotten about me, a friend he met briefly. When we met at official occasions, unlike before, he didn’t acknowledge me.

Lucas was displeased, saying Michael pretended not to know me even after asking me to dance.

“Liat. Don’t ever let your guard down, even if he acts like that.”

“Why?”

“He’s not the type to change his attitude without reason. There must be some reason he’s acting like this now.”

I was skeptical of Lucas’s words. Now that he had met the female protagonist, there was no way his memory of me would be impressive. If only I could have left him with a good memory at the festival that day, I would have felt at ease.

When I meet the Saint, I should ask a little about her relationship with Michael.

As expected, there were soldiers guarding the entrance at the location I arrived.

Thud!

I knocked out the soldiers guarding the passage one after another. It seemed I could enter without being detected.

“The original story wasn’t wrong.”

As I was about to enter the passage, I heard an urgent voice.

“Excuse me, wait!”

The presence I thought was a guard was smaller and lighter than expected. A girl with her face covered by a robe was watching me from a few steps behind.

The girl’s next words made me feel like I’d been hit.

“Hey, do you know what ‘original story’ means?! I’ve been possessed here!”

The girl, anxious at my silence, shouted again.

“D-do you know Korea?”

The girl, who swallowed her saliva, approached me little by little. Her small, white hand pulled at my clothes.

A desperate voice pierced through my nightmare and knocked on my consciousness.

“Please. Tell me I’m not the only one who fell into this world.”

There was a time when I searched for someone from the same world as me.

But now that even such emotions had worn away, I didn’t know what answer to give her.

The girl leaned her head against my back and embraced me. As I felt my clothes getting wet, my hand moved without me realizing.

***

The Saint, Hela, was a possessor.

Before recalling her memories, it wasn’t a bad life. It was a good thing that each day, though boring, passed without incident.

The biggest task of her daily routine was drawing water from the well.

“Hela, are you going out again today?”

“Yes! I want to draw enough water today to share with the neighbors, too.”

“Don’t come back too late.”

It was when she was pulling up a bucket full of water. She had almost lifted it up when she misstepped, and the water-filled bucket struck her head.

Thud! Splash!

As she fell after being hit by the heavy bucket, cold water poured over her. Clutching her head in intense pain, she recalled memories that weren’t her own.

That this world was inside a novel, and she had possessed its protagonist.

“This is the truth?”

Life before possession wasn’t as peaceful as now. From giving up college admission to entering a company, every day was a continuous fierce competition.

Her goal was to live a life with work-life balance rather than success. It seemed she had possessed this world when she had a bus accident.

And why, of all people, did she possess the body of the female protagonist, Saint Hela!

‘I don’t want to be involved with the original story.’

She didn’t have the confidence to go through hardships with the male protagonist. She would want nothing more than to live comfortably alone in the countryside, without worrying about defeating the Grand Duke.

‘I guess I can’t avoid it.’

The position of the new Saint was conveyed to the temple through an oracle.

The temple, knowing of the Saint’s existence, would pursue her until death. No matter how much foresight she had, she couldn’t run from the temple for her entire life.

“When did I possess this body? A few years ago?”

The starting point of her memories was too early to consider that she had been born as Hela from the beginning. As a result, she didn’t develop much affection for her family and the people around her in this world.

‘No wonder I felt detached.’

Since things had turned out this way, she should enjoy country life until becoming the Saint. It didn’t seem bad to side with the Grand Duke and end the original story quickly.

However, that resolve flew away on the day she received the oracle.

-Save me! I don’t want to die!

-The child, the child is trapped under the debris. Please help!

-What did we do wrong to suffer like this? You’re a devil! If it weren’t for you!

The future shown by God in the form of a dream was a nightmare itself. She, who had lived in a country without war, couldn’t escape from the terrible future shown in the dream.

How could the original female protagonist remain sane after seeing such scenes? Maybe she was already broken?

The Grand Duke who caused all this was surely not human but a devil.

‘The Grand Duke must die as in the original story.’

Shortly after, people from the temple came and took her away.

She was lonely as a stranger in a world that was merely text. Though her mind recognized these people as human, her emotions did not.

She just hoped the original story would end soon and the dangerous Grand Duke would disappear.

Moreover, the original male lead was different from what she expected. The Crown Prince, who should have had empty eyes, assessed her value with intelligent eyes.

“It would be better to pretend to get along. There’s nothing bad about the Imperial Family and the temple having a good relationship.”

“Don’t you want to win my favor?”

“I’ve decided to pioneer my future with my own strength, not God’s.”

The scariest thing was that she strongly felt she shouldn’t stop the Grand Duke’s rebellion. If the rebellion didn’t happen, it seemed the peaceful ending of the original story wouldn’t come either.

Everything was suffocating and unbearable.

If only the villain Grand Duke disappeared, this anxiety would go away, too.

‘This won’t do. I need to get out.’

She just wanted to catch her breath, even if only a little.

Just then, her ability sent a revelation. It said if she went out on a specific date, she would meet a helper.

‘A helper? Who could it be?’

Thanks to the original story, she knew the way out. At the end of the passage she faced after escaping her stifling room, she met a woman wrapped in a robe.

“The original story wasn’t wrong.”

The woman’s muttered words sounded as loud as thunder.

This person might be…!

She was overjoyed at the fact that she wasn’t the only person who had flowed into this world. She embraced the woman who had frozen in surprise and poured out tears of sorrow.

“What are you, no, I understand. Don’t cry.”

I’m not alone.

There was still another person in this world besides me.

If so, it wouldn’t be bad to play the role of the original female protagonist. After roughly wiping away her tears, she took off her robe with a bright smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Hyewon.”

She didn’t mention being possessed into the female protagonist. If the person knew the original story, they would notice her identity the moment they saw her.

The Saint, Hela, gazed at the other person with expectant eyes.

“Can you tell me your real name, not your name here?”

She wanted to hear the real name.

The woman, who had been unable to speak in confusion, took off her robe. Seeing her incredible appearance, Hela felt a strong urge to kidnap the woman.