Chapter 23
Evolution, my foot.
His Majesty was genuinely worried about me.
I thought he was just messing with me again in some high-level way.
“Aaah. I’ve created another dark chapter in my history. Everyone must’ve seen me trailing after Captain Henkel the whole time…!”
His Majesty, sitting calmly on the sofa beside me, snorted.
“As if that’s anything new.”
But my brain, completely drained of any pink-tinted optimism, replayed my actions over the past four days on loop, like it was hosting a Shin Ari’s Dark History Screening.
Screening canceled. Everyone, please leave.
“Your Majesty, but earlier—when you mentioned marrying Captain Henkel—were you serious?”
“…You’re shy about answering, yet you ask questions without restraint.”
“Oh, come on, I don’t have any feelings right now. And you’ve seen me do plenty of embarrassing things already, Your Majesty…”
You’ve seen a lot, haven’t you.
So now asking questions like this doesn’t faze me anymore. Then why are tears welling up in my eyes? Sob.
Anyway, that wasn’t the important part.
More than my embarrassment, what mattered was whether His Majesty had truly been thinking seriously about my marriage.
No matter when. No matter to whom.
If I get married, I won’t be able to live in the imperial palace!
Chapel cleaning wasn’t a full-time position but a temporary one, and my life was hanging by a thread.
If I got fired from cleaning the chapel?
Playing the role of a saintess happened maybe once a month, if that.
I had no legitimate reason to come to the imperial palace every day.
I could end up living outside, only coming in as a day laborer whenever I had to play saintess.
So if His Majesty was serious, I needed to nail this down right now.
“There’s something I didn’t mention—I’m single—”
“Brainwashing through holy power is… let me borrow your hand for a moment.”
After hesitating while looking at my face, His Majesty took my left hand from the sofa’s armrest and laced our fingers together.
“W-w-w-what are you—”
“I thought this would make it easier for the saintess to understand.”
I was so startled I couldn’t even speak properly.
Easier to understand?
At this rate, I don’t think I’ll understand anything—!
Thump thump thump thump.
It felt like two enraged chimpanzees were pounding on my eardrums instead of my chest.
Calm down. Calm down.
This hand, fingers interlaced, isn’t my hand. This big, handsome, warm hand isn’t His Majesty’s hand.
“Huff… huff.”
“…What are you doing?”
“Stabilizing my mind and body with breathing exercises…”
“It must be tough for the saintess. Reacting every time.”
Exactly.
Why does this fangirl heart refuse to cool down? I’m way too happy right now.
Khk. As expected, my ultimate favorite is His Majesty…!
The reason for my life. The driving force of my life.
I live because of His Majesty’s face.
But separate from my happiness, there was one problem.
Holding hands with my fave (physically).
If this goes any further, I might actually get punished.
Like, literally clanked in irons.
As I said before, the dangerous one isn’t His Majesty—it’s me…
“Isn’t it about time you got used to this?”
“Aaah! Don’t flirt!”
“……”
While I was busy calming myself, His Majesty lightly waved our interlaced hands in the air.
“Gasp. I meant to think that, not say it out loud. Your Majesty, this is a defense mechanism. You know, shouting in surprise without meaning during emergencies—”
“I get it, so calm down and listen.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The way to undo brainwashing done with holy power is either to wait until the remaining holy power inside the body dissipates, or to draw that holy power out directly.”
“The latter sounds easier?”
“But the problem is that holy power is entangled with the mind. Like this hand right now.”
His Majesty tugged at his own right hand, still interlaced with mine.
Unable to increase the area of contact, my left hand—fingers stiffly spread—followed along.
“If you forcibly try to separate the holy power while it’s entangled like this, the mind gets torn along with it.”
“Then what happens?”
“At best, you lose a few memories. At worst, you become insane.”
[Your… Majes… ty…]
For a moment, I imagined myself drooling and following His Majesty around.
…Wait, didn’t my brainwashing get undone that way?
“Your Majesty, am I crazy?!”
“No. Keep listening.”
“Yes.”
“The safe way to undo brainwashing without side effects is to make the entangled holy power and mind oppose each other. You push the situation in that direction.”
His Majesty waved his right hand.
The interlaced fingers moved as if they might come apart, but didn’t.
Suddenly, what had just happened earlier came back to me.
“Do you want to marry Henkel?”
So that’s why he brought up marriage?
“And in the end, if you deny the brainwashing with your own words—”
“I don’t want to.”
When His Majesty relaxed his grip, our fingers naturally came apart.
“You can separate the holy power without strain. Like the purplish holy power that came out of your head earlier. I was still a bit worried, but it seems it went well.”
Staring at my left hand, now suspended in midair, I spoke.
“Your Majesty, there’s something I’m curious about.”
“Oh dear. I thought I’d explained it at the saintess’s level. Seems it wasn’t enough.”
“Hey—! That’s not it.”
His Majesty’s lips twisted playfully.
Ha, even his lips look like a model’s—
No. Focus. Focus on the hand.
I nearly got distracted by those photoshoot-worthy lips.
Watching my left hand fade in and out of focus, along with His Majesty’s jawline, I opened my mouth.
“There’s something strange.”
“Strange?”
Maybe because of the rigorous ‘boot camp’ His Majesty put me through at the beginning,
I hadn’t been able to take his words at face value.
But still… something felt off.
I recalled what had happened over the past few weeks.
“If you want, I can let you live a life of leisure forever.”
“If you want to enroll, I’ll arrange a position.”
“If the saintess wants it, I’ll make it happen.”
There was always a condition attached to His Majesty’s offers.
If the saintess wants it.
Then…
I was conscious of His Majesty’s blurred face behind my sharply focused left hand.
This was the best I could do.
If I looked at his face, I might fall for it again and let the moment slip away.
I wanted a clear answer.
“If I want it, you won’t kick me out of the imperial palace for the rest of my life?”
“Get out. Now.”
Chobi ground her teeth inside the prison.
Beyond the iron bars stood a refined silver-haired beauty.
A voice as cold as his settled violet eyes flowed out.
“It’s something you brought upon yourself. Why are you so angry?”
“Why do you think? Because I hate the sight of you. Ebon Hyben, who fell head over heels for the saintess.”
“It’s ‘Saintess.’”
“Hah. And you’re one to lecture me, when you can’t even meet her eyes in front of that ‘Saintess.’”
Chobi got irritated every time she saw Ebon.
Back in their academy days, he’d been someone who lived with the same aversion to holy power as she did.
After graduation, he met the Emperor, glued himself to him, and even sold her out.
The ‘loyalty contract’ she’d formed with the Emperor after being deceived by Ebon.
That was why she ended up living in the imperial palace crawling with nobles.
And that wasn’t all.
There was another reason Ebon Hyben was so infuriating.
The saintess, rumored to possess the strongest holy power on the continent of Oditria.
Even to her, Ebon couldn’t make a move.
Embarrassingly shy, to boot.
“Ebon, if it weren’t for you, by now I’d be living somewhere no one knows—”
“Like a ghost of the Binhud family, hidden away. Without even being able to do the research you love so much.”
“……”
“You and I—we’re both stains on our family. If His Majesty hadn’t taken us in, we’d never have been allowed outside the estate for the rest of our lives.”
“Shut up.”
Ebon sighed as he looked at Chobi glaring at him.
“Why did you do it? Using a holy stone on the saintess crossed the line. It’s high treason—rebellion against the god Seikan.”
“I just wanted to give her a hard time. I didn’t think the effect would last that long.”
The amount of holy stone mixed into the elixir had been small.
Power that wouldn’t even last twenty-four hours—half a day at most before the brainwashing wore off.
“To think my calculations were wrong.” Chobi muttered, her pride wounded.
Ebon looked at her through the bars—at Chobi, who showed no sign of regret—and spoke.
“You don’t know her. The saintess isn’t the kind of person you think she is.”
“Oh? You seem to know her well.”
“She is…”
How should he explain it to Chobi?
Ebon recalled the saintess’s behavior in his memories.
Yes. She was always—
“Consistently… bright-faced…?”
That was all he could think of.
Ebon’s voice trailed off, and his cheeks flushed red.
Chobi’s face twisted violently.
“She’s consistently bright-faced? You mean she has a good personality? If that’s all you’ve got to say, then shut up and get out.”
“No. I came to deliver His Majesty’s words.”
Chobi froze.
It wouldn’t be good news.
She was imprisoned for using holy power to brainwash the great saintess.
In that case… it had to be that.
“Execution?”
“……”
Ebon’s violet eyes showed pity.
Chobi bit her lower lip.
So the Emperor was just like all the other fools blinded by holy power.
If you work for me, I’ll show you the empire you dream of.
Show her the empire? What a joke.
She’d been stupid to fall for the Emperor’s sweet talk, even for a moment.
She shouldn’t have made that contract.
She should’ve personally screwed over the doomed Binhud family and left this empire behind.
[As if you could’ve done that. You idiot of Binhud.]
Her subconscious snickered.
Chobi grabbed her trembling arms.
Ebon’s lips moved slowly within her field of vision.
“Are you that happy?”
“Of course.”
I hummed to myself.
Even though I went through all that trouble because of the love potion.
“If the saintess wants it, then so be it.”
Now I don’t have to live in fear of being kicked out of the imperial palace.
This is what they call turning misfortune into blessing.
“When I see the head researcher next time, I should tell him not to worry about the potion incident.”
He might bow his head again, begging for forgiveness.
That would put me in an awkward spot too.
“Alright.”
His Majesty nodded.
“If you meet him next time
