Chapter 07
Seine spoke confidently, without a moment of hesitation.
In the first place, she had no intention of following all the strict rules of the temple. Becoming a Saintess was something she had accepted out of necessity, but that didn’t mean she was willing to accept the suffocating life that came with it.
She did feel a little sorry for already breaking the rules, but she had no desire to follow something so absurd.
Food was essential for people to live!
However, Sera couldn’t readily follow her words.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just go get it myself.”
If Sera brought food, it might be mistaken that she intended to eat it herself and be punished instead. Even if not, she could still be punished just for bringing it.
Seine didn’t want anyone else to be punished because of her, so she said that and confidently headed toward the kitchen.
Sera, unable to stop her yet also unable to help, hesitated before hurriedly following after her.
Seine arrived at the kitchen without difficulty.
It was thanks to her efforts in learning the layout of the temple during her stay.
But the food she thought was right in front of her was still out of reach.
The kitchen door was tightly locked.
“……”
Seine fell silent for a moment, not having expected the door to be locked.
“Only the cooks have the keys, so perhaps it would be better to just eat later…”
“No, I can’t do that.”
There was a saying—if you’ve drawn your sword, you should at least cut something.
She had come this far. She couldn’t just give up because of a locked door. She was far too hungry for that.
If it were just an hour or two, she might have endured it somehow, but dinner was at least four hours away.
At this rate, she might collapse from hunger.
‘But the door…’
Seine seriously thought about how to open the locked door without a key.
Then her eyes landed on Kaidel.
“Excuse me!”
With the expression of someone who had just found their only lifeline, she called out to him. But Kaidel continued walking as if he hadn’t heard anything.
“Excuse me! You there, Sir Knight!”
If she had known his name, she would have called it, but unfortunately, she didn’t.
So she had no choice but to add a rather long description to make it clear she was calling him.
At that, Kaidel finally turned his gaze toward her.
The moment he saw Seine, he frowned.
He had just been told by the High Priest to take charge of her protection. Already in a bad mood because of that, running into her right away didn’t improve it.
“…What is it?”
“Um, I’m sorry, but… could you open the dining hall door for me?”
Kaidel didn’t have the key either, but she hoped that maybe he could open it by force.
“The key is with the cooks.”
He answered indifferently.
“I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
At her response, Kaidel tilted his head slightly and stared at her.
There was only one obvious reason she wanted to open a locked door.
She was hungry.
Considering what had happened earlier that day, it was likely she hadn’t eaten properly.
But the temple had strict rules. According to them, eating outside designated meal times was not allowed.
“If you’re hungry, it would be better to wait until dinner.”
“…If I could wait, I wouldn’t have come all the way to the kitchen.”
She had skipped two meals.
It might have been just two meals, but psychologically, it felt like days.
Since arriving at the temple, she hadn’t eaten any meat at all—only vegetables. That hardly counted as a proper meal.
“I have no obligation to help you, Saintess. And I have no intention of helping either.”
What she was trying to do was clearly breaking the rules.
He didn’t want to get involved in something troublesome like that.
If she had already undergone the official rite and become a Saintess, he would have had to obey her as her knight. But not yet.
“That’s true.”
At his cold and firm words, Seine readily agreed.
He was right. He had no obligation to help her. And whether to help someone or not was entirely up to the individual.
Just because someone asked for help didn’t mean you had to give it.
Having once suffered from always agreeing to others’ requests—and then being instantly labeled a bad person the one time she refused—Seine respected his stance.
So she didn’t ask him again.
Instead, she kept trying to open the door herself, twisting the handle and banging on it.
‘Should I just break it?’
She didn’t really intend to, but seeing no other option made the thought cross her mind.
She didn’t want to go back without eating anything.
Meanwhile, Kaidel watched her with a strange expression.
He hadn’t expected her to accept his refusal so easily.
He had assumed she would be offended or angry. In fact, he had deliberately spoken more coldly, partly because of what the High Priest had said earlier.
But Seine didn’t seem bothered at all.
She simply continued trying to open the door on her own.
It felt… refreshing.
She was a Saintess. Even if not officially yet, she was already being treated as one. And he was a knight who served such a Saintess.
If she had insisted on her authority, he would have had no choice but to comply just to avoid unnecessary trouble.
But she didn’t.
Would others have acted the same?
Most people, upon being chosen as a Saintess, would probably revel in the position and try to control others as they pleased.
Others might think Saintesses were different, but to Kaidel, they were no different from ordinary people.
‘She’s definitely not an ordinary Saintess.’
At first, her running away because she didn’t want to become a Saintess seemed irresponsible—but even that was unusual.
And now, even before officially becoming one, she boldly broke the rules.
He still didn’t know what kind of Saintess she would become.
‘At least I hope she’s not one of those greedy, foolish ones.’
Not all Saintesses were admired.
Some were so lacking that one had to question why the gods chose them.
There had even been Saintesses who failed to gain people’s favor.
Since he would soon be her escort knight, Kaidel at least hoped she wouldn’t be like that.
While he was lost in thought, Seine finally gave up.
The door had given her false hope by shaking, but it never opened.
At this rate, she would only exhaust herself further and become even hungrier.
‘…I really hate this Saintess thing.’
A life where she couldn’t even eat properly.
As her expression grew gloomier, Kaidel, who had been quietly watching, stepped forward.
Without a word, he approached and unlocked the door.
As a child, when he lived in a remote villa, he had enjoyed opening locked doors and would often do so.
Having done it so much back then, the skill had remained with him even now.
“Wow…!”
Seine exclaimed in admiration.
It was like watching a legendary burglar.
The way he pulled out a thin needle-like tool and unlocked the door was incredibly skillful and professional.
Despite her reaction, Kaidel showed no response and simply walked away silently.
He hadn’t expected to reveal a skill from his childhood like this, but since he had opened the door as she wanted, there was nothing more for him to do.
“Um, thank you!”
Even though his attitude was cold enough to seem heartless, Seine sincerely thanked him.
After all, he had helped her even though he didn’t have to, and thanks to him, she could finally eat.
When he had forcibly brought her back to the temple, she had thought poorly of him—but maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
Still, Kaidel gave no response and continued walking.
Seine then entered the kitchen with a bright expression.
It was spacious and neatly organized.
Without hesitation, she headed straight to the storage area.
Though there was no meat, she was satisfied as long as she could eat something.
Ignoring Sera’s worried gaze, Seine filled her stomach and left the kitchen contentedly.
A short while later, when she returned to her room with Sera, the trainee and full priests wore serious expressions.
“Where on earth have you been?”
The priest’s voice was sharp.
Since she had already run away once before, they were on edge when she didn’t return on time.
If she disappeared again, the ceremony would be completely ruined.
“I just… took a walk to organize my thoughts. There was still time.”
Though she had boldly broken the rules and eaten outside of mealtime, she had no intention of announcing it, so she made an excuse.
“That’s quite interesting, Saintess. I’d very much like to know what thoughts you were organizing—enough to break the rules.”
The priest spoke with a piercing gaze, as if already aware of her wrongdoing.
