Chapter 11
After that, I pretended to pray for about five minutes before opening my eyes.
By then, Shine, who had been unable to hide his absurdity at my statement, had somewhat composed his emotions.
He said he needed to have a deep conversation with me first and sent Lucian out of the room.
‘No, don’t leave me behind!’
I desperately reached out towards Lucian as he left the room, but…
*Click.*
He left the room without even looking back.
‘Ugh, a private audience is scary.’
In reality, the number of times I’ve been alone with him could be counted on one hand.
My palms already felt damp with sweat. I wished I had something, anything, to rely on.
“—Meow.”
“…Huh?”
But no sooner had I thought that than a cat appeared in front of me?
‘Am I going crazy?’
Was I seeing a hallucination to escape reality?
“Meeow.”
…But the sensation touching my ankle felt so vivid?
“Uh, uh,” I muttered foolishly and picked up the cat. Since I could touch it, it wasn’t a hallucination but real.
‘Did it come in when Lucian went out?’
And how did it get out of my room? A question mark naturally popped up above my head, but so what?
‘Ugh, I’m glad you’re here at least!’
If not, I would have already collapsed under that sharp, thorny gaze!
“Meow.”
As if it keenly sensed my anxiety, the cat didn’t resist and quietly let me hold it.
It even patted my arm with its soft, jelly-like paw pads as a bonus.
“……”
Shine just watched us like that for a while without saying a word.
I couldn’t tell if he was slowly digesting my words about meeting Arte, or if he was re-evaluating me itself.
Just as my mouth was becoming parched, Shine let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Let’s stop this now, Miss Cierra.”
“Stop what?”
I thought he had something important to say since he sent Lucian away.
‘What is there to stop?’
At the very least, he should say something that makes sense, right?
I tilted my head, indicating that I had no idea what he meant.
But it seemed Shine thought I was playing dumb.
“Tch.”
As if to tell me to listen, he clicked his tongue and even scanned me with a gaze full of disgust.
“Because of you, Saintess Izelle has left for the North. And yet, you still want to attract the Crown Prince’s and my attention in this manner?”
“……?”
Me? Attract attention? Why?
‘Oh… He’s got a completely wrong idea.’
It was so absurd I couldn’t even laugh.
Frankly, the old me might have been capable of doing something like this to get attention. But still.
‘The Crown Prince is someone I used to like, so maybe that part makes sense.’
But why would I want to attract the High Priest’s attention? If anything, I’d try to avoid him if I could!
“I absolutely have no such intention!”
First of all, the current me doesn’t like anyone.
I vehemently shook my head at Shine. But there was no sign of his misunderstanding clearing up.
“I suppose it’s true that you died and came back to life. Then, why did you lie just now?”
“When did I lie?”
“About the god. Saying you met Arte, who doesn’t even exist. If you’re going to lie, at least put some effort into it, Miss Cierra.”
‘Wow.’
I only told the truth and got mocked instead. Frustrated, I thumped my chest with my fist.
But Shine Adielle’s nonsense didn’t end there.
“And please stop imitating Saintess Izelle’s behavior. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Huh, what exactly am I imitating?”
“Do you think you become a saintess just by carrying a black cat around like she does?”
“……”
“You hate cats, don’t you? To think you’d even drag a cat in here, for a fake god and to show me.”
Shine nodded as if acknowledging the sheer desperation of my efforts.
‘Huh, who does he think he is to “acknowledge” my efforts?’
In the first place, I never made any such effort!
How can someone pick only such infuriating things to say?
‘Where in that behavior can you find any benevolence?’
No matter how much he dislikes me, this is too much. His rudeness has crossed the line.
I had tried to listen quietly, considering the misdeeds I’d committed in the past, but I couldn’t take it anymore.
I fixed a cold expression on my face and retorted.
“You should be the one to stop, Your Eminence. My words about meeting Lord Arte are not a lie, and I have no desire to gain attention from the Crown Prince or you.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“And what are you going to do if you don’t? I haven’t broken any laws, are you going to punish me?”
It was one’s freedom to believe in any god. Worshipping gods not recognized as one of the Four Great Gods might be treated as heresy, but it wasn’t illegal. And yet, he was adding unnecessary comments about it.
‘Besides, Lord Arte is the creator god of this world.’
The one who didn’t know wasn’t me, but Shine Adielle.
I stared straight at him, gently stroking the cat in my arms.
“And this cat is my lifesaver who saved me when I was nearly buried alive, so I plan to treat it with utmost care and have brought it home.”
In other words, it meant he should keep his mouth shut if he didn’t know the details.
Fortunately, Shine Adielle was a perceptive person. He frowned deeply but didn’t shoot sharp words at me like before.
He just silently stared at me, as if trying to ascertain the truth of my words.
Ignoring Shine’s gaze, I stubbornly spat out everything I wanted to say.
“So, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t have any unnecessary misunderstandings. Furthermore, I plan to become a follower of Lord Arte from now on, so please remove my name from the list of devotees.”
“That cannot be done.”
“Of course it can’t… Huh?”
Why can’t it? Unless they are priests who have decided to serve the temple, devotees are free to have their names removed.
I looked at him with a blank face, and he continued to look at me with a still-frowning expression.
“…I meant it cannot be done *verbally*. Please come to the temple and follow the proper procedure.”
“Ah, yes.”
‘Phew, you scared me.’
For a moment, I thought he was going to detain me.
‘Ugh, what was I thinking?’
Let me think again. This isn’t the world from the novel.
I’m not Izelle. Besides, he hated the fact that I had enrolled in the Envy Church.
“I’ll visit soon.”
“Do as you please.”
See, he’s still being prickly towards me, at least.
I really wanted to slap that nasty mouth, but since he was the High Priest, I barely managed to hold back.
I saw him off, desperately keeping my fidgeting hands neatly folded.
But at the last moment.
“Don’t recklessly abandon a black cat with red eyes; it is sacred.”
“What… Why would I abandon my lifesaver?”
“It seemed you hadn’t even given it a proper name, so I thought you might abandon it right after your private audience with me.”
*Psst.* He left the reception room with a faint sneer on the corner of his mouth.
*Slam.*
“What kind of person…?”
Is it okay for a sub-male lead’s setting to be this unpleasant?
I didn’t know he’d play a trick on me at the end like this.
The absurdity was short-lived.
*Sizzle.* The fiery temper of the former ‘Cierra’ surged up once again.
Even though he was already far down the hallway and probably couldn’t hear, I yelled angrily in his direction.
“It has a name?! T-Tae… TaeSik?!”
TaeSik was the name of a stray cat I took care of in my previous life.
“TaeSik-ah, cover your ears! You’re not supposed to listen to such words!”
Of course, the cat completely ignored me.
As if it hated the name TaeSik so much, it just kept thumping its tail angrily on the floor…
Even.
*Ding.*
[Lord Arte has donated 1 Florin!]
[TaeSik? Pfft.]
Even Arte made a snide remark about my naming sense. I put a lot of thought into that name!
‘How am I supposed to decide with this?’
All that came to mind were names like TaeWoong, TaeYang, etc.
“Ugh.”
I forced myself to think hard and slowly left the reception room.
In fact, it seemed like good names would spring up if I just thought a little more…
‘It’s possible there was no progress until nightfall.’
In fact, the best name I could come up with after hours of effort was ‘Tesla’.
It sounded like a name for great success, so I was tempted, but soon gave up as it didn’t seem suitable for a cat’s name.
I didn’t even think about the High Priest or the Crown Prince anymore. What could be more important than naming the cat?
‘I *will* give it a good name!’
Filled with stubborn determination, I was feeling feisty when my eyelids grew heavy.
Just as I was finally succumbing to the wave of sleepiness…
“Te, Te…”
No name seemed to stick, so I just mechanically repeated one syllable—
“Tete seems the best.”
A faint voice reached me through my drowsy consciousness.
‘Tete?’
It wasn’t intentional, but it was a rather cute name. Feeling proud, I raised the corners of my mouth. This time, something warm touched my hair.
“Pieté. Tete. Did you give it a nickname, after all?”
*Stroke, stroke.* A familiar, warm hand patted me.
It was a strange enough situation, but I was too busy struggling against the clutches of sleep to think.
“Sleep well.”
My consciousness flew away in an instant.
Thanks to the warm hand and voice, perhaps. I was able to fall asleep peacefully again tonight, without the pain of the incurable disease.
