episode_0089

Despite the presence of lighting, the large room could not be fully illuminated, with no furniture other than a bed.

The large square room with a large bed in the center and dim lighting on the ceiling indicated that this was not a normal room.

The saint, Isabel, was sitting on the bed, clutching her knees.

Although Emily was always by her side, Isabel was alone in the room now, reminiscing about what had happened earlier.

==

A small vial in my hand.

Originally contained in a large vial, it had shrunk due to being divided into four.

But the warmth emanating from the vial smaller than my hand was enough to melt my heart.

Emily, too, held the vial of holy water, Lady Amelia, tightly in her hand.

“Are you ready? We need to go to the academy quickly.”

“Yes. I’m ready. Send me now.”

After talking with Lady Lily, Emily raised black mana, creating a portal as if she had come here.

“Isabel. Take my hand.”

As we crossed through the portal holding Emily’s hand, we returned to my room, and I felt Emily’s grip on my hand strengthen.

“Emily?”

“Your Holiness.”

At Emily’s words, I instantly realized that something was amiss. Emily never addressed me as Your Holiness when we were together.

But now she called me Your Holiness.

Moreover, in my room.

I raised my head from the vial I was holding to see a crowd of people standing there. At the center was the Pope.

It was strange.

As a saint, I had faced interference and scolding from the Pope before. But the Pope always had a rule he followed.

That rule was to give me complete privacy once my activities were over.

Although the saint’s duties were arduous, once the activity time was over, he never interfered in any way.

And he never entered my room.

The only people allowed in the room were Emily and the maid.

Yet now, there were dozens of people standing in my room.

Leading the charge were the Holy Knights responsible for combat.

Even I, oblivious as I was, could tell they were not here out of goodwill.

Emily shielded me and asked the Pope, “Why have you brought the Holy Knights to the saint’s room?”

“In simple terms. Saint Isabel, Holy Knight Emily.”

The Pope’s voice was filled with anticipation like never before.

Anticipation…?

It was clear. As a saint, I felt it.

But why?

“Because they made a pact with a witch, they are to be confined.”

“How…?”

Two hours. The time it took for Emily and me to treat Lady Amelia, stop Lady Lily’s rampage, and return.

A short time, if anything. Yet there were more than a few oddities.

But that thought didn’t last long.

“Why do I think I’m the Pope? This body can know everything. Because it can see everything.”

Emily blinked her eyes at me several times, a signal we had prearranged between us.

Reluctantly, I had to follow the Pope’s words.

And that’s how we ended up in this situation.

The room only had a bed, with no other furniture or tools.

It was strange. Too strange.

The country I was in, Levank, and the country where Lady Amelia, Lily, and Helena were, Viteum.

The distance between the two was roughly a week.

But how did they know that Emily and I had gone to Viteum within those two hours we were absent?

Does it mean that there are Pope’s followers in the Estelle family where Lady Amelia is?

But for the safety and stability of Lady Amelia, no one except Lily and Helena, excluding Lady Amelia, was present where she was.

In other words, the only ones who saw me and Emily were Lily and Helena.

But how did they know that Emily and I met Lily?

Location tracking magic? But knowing who they meet.

No. The Pope clearly said, “[Punish them for making a pact with a witch.]”

He said this.

It’s not that we met Lily.

In the first place, Lily is not a witch. The owner of the Estelle family, Lily, who is currently considered the strongest in the country of Viteum, is definitely not a witch.

Of course, Lily’s mana is very fiery and intimidating, a scary mana, but you can see how sincere Lily is in love.

But making a pact with a witch.

If someone who doesn’t know Lily sees her for the first time, they might think she’s a witch. I thought that too.

But the Pope has never seen her. But he called Lily a witch.

Why?

The Pope has seen Lily. How?

Magic. It’s magic.

He saw Lily through magic. Then how?

No matter how much he is the Pope, it is impossible to accurately see the Estelle family through magic at a distance of an incredibly long week by carriage.

It doesn’t make sense. This is absolutely impossible. Then…

He saw through an intermediary. That’s right.

Seeing the desired place from a completely empty state is almost impossible.

But if magic is cast on an object and you see through that object? It’s very possible.

Then what is the intermediary?

I was resting in my room and didn’t have any accessories. I was just wearing pajamas.

Emily also had just arrived at the Viteum country’s academy, so she didn’t have any belongings.

Meaning we didn’t have any items given by the Pope. Then how did he see Lily?

It’s not this… but…

There is no intermediary? He didn’t hand anything over…?

Magic is not something that can only be bestowed on objects. There is something that accepts magic better than any object.

It’s a person.

I shivered all over at that moment.

The strangeness I felt in my body.

A mana that seemed to be mine but not mine flowed through my body.

I tried to pull up all the mana in my body and extract it, and the strange mana escaped from my body in an instant.

The golden mana, just like mine, burst out in front of my eyes and disappeared.

But I can’t forget that mana.

The mana granted by the goddess that is similar to me. In other words, sacred mana.

Only two people have this mana.

Me and the Pope.

The mana hidden in my body is clearly the Pope’s mana. And the magic circle engraved on that mana.

A magic circle that a normal person would never see, but I could see it because I am a saint.

That magic circle was clearly a surveillance magic.

A surveillance magic that shares the time I see.

I started to shiver all over again.

When did it start?

When did you start watching me?

Why? Why did you put a surveillance magic on me?

When and how did you put a surveillance magic on me?

Moreover, it’s strange that I didn’t notice until now.

Why did you put a surveillance magic on me…

Have you been watching me all this time? You didn’t release me after your activities were done.

Did you put a surveillance magic on me to see what I was doing?

My hands started to tremble. I started to get scared.

I’ve always thought of the Pope as my father. No, not just thought, he was my real father.

I believed in him, relied on him, and shared my worries with him for a long time…

Did he watch me and protect me all this time…?

“Help… Emily…”

==

The Pope felt his common sense being destroyed as the saint’s mana disappeared in an instant, revealing a beautiful goddess he had never seen before.

With his eyes closed and seemingly asleep, the Pope felt his lower body react in a way it hadn’t in decades just by looking at her.

“How can such a beautiful being exist…”

There was not a single flaw to be found. Lost in the desire to see the woman sleeping there right now, the Pope lowered his head.

“Ah… That woman is to become my wife.”

Suffering from erectile dysfunction, the Pope couldn’t resist the sight of Amellia, who could cure his condition with just a glance.

While the saint was treating Amellia, the Pope used his surveillance magic to peek at her and, after decades, found pleasure in using his own hands to satisfy his long-lost companion.

With the pleasure he hadn’t felt in decades, the Pope’s eyes turned wild.

“Sister!!!”

-Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Shaking the small bell he always used when calling someone, the Pope called out to the nun outside the door as if he were insane.

“Yes, Your Holiness!”

Grabbing the nun’s hand firmly, he dragged her straight to the bed.

“Y-Your Holiness? W-Why are you…!”

The nun who entered the room was frightened by the Pope’s crazed eyes and struggled to break free from his grip, but to no avail.

Throwing the nun onto the bed, the Pope immediately tore her clothes.

“Aaah!”

She screamed in terror as the Pope tried to assault her, but then he felt his companion returning to his normal state and became enraged.

“Y-Your, Your, Your, Your Holiness, please, please spare me. Please spare me.”

-Thud.

The Pope, irritated by the nun’s tearful pleas, twisted her neck and killed her.

Turning back to the surveillance magic on the saint, he smiled at the sight of Amellia once again.

Seeing Amellia, the Pope confirmed that his companion was regaining strength.

He continued to gaze at Amellia with eyes filled with desire.