While I was thinking about this, I spotted a familiar face in the distance.

It was Damian.

He seemed to be stopping a passing courtier to ask for something but soon turned away with a dejected look, apparently having failed.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ah, aren’t you the big sister from the criminal organization?”

When I asked him as he trudged toward me, he recognized me and opened his eyes wide.

Then he quickly looked around and lowered his voice to whisper in my ear.

“Actually, I’m infiltrating a group of very wicked heretics on His Holiness’s orders to gather intelligence. But, well…”

“Heretics? Could it be the ones who took the Saint recently…?”

“Yes, yes. Those people who talk about waiting for the Saint’s resurrection and such. Our Holiness recognized their suspicious nature early on and sent me to infiltrate. But now the cult leader has ordered me to convert a young woman and bring her to today’s service. But I can’t find anyone suitable…”

My eyes lit up as I listened quietly to his explanation.

“I’ll help you!”

“What? You’ll go yourself, big sister?”

Damian asked with a brightened face.

Setting aside why Damian was also calling me big sister…

“If there are such evil people going against God’s will, I should certainly cooperate.”

I spoke in a pretend pious voice, clasping my hands together in a prayer-like gesture.

Damian grabbed my hands and exclaimed.

“Thank you, big sister!”

“Let’s go right away then.”

Actually, I was the one who should be thankful. I had been struggling to find a way to meet the timid young Lord Ametsu, but thanks to Damian, I could now infiltrate this cult group together.

‘No matter how I think about it, the plague spreading among young women in the capital seems related to them.’

I was bothered by the cult leader’s specific request to convert and bring a “young woman.”

According to what I learned from His Holiness Johannes when I was young, in the scriptures, young women symbolize “life” because they carry the blessing of being able to conceive life.

And then there were the young women in the capital who had collapsed after having their life force stolen…

“I will go with you.”

At this moment, Cail interjected between Damian and me.

“No. I told you to go back first.”

“I cannot leave you among such dangerous people.”

As Cail stood firm, Damian cautiously offered his opinion.

“Um, well… since I’m on a rather covert intelligence mission, wouldn’t it look too suspicious if I brought Lord Cail along?”

Thanks to this, I turned to Cail with a triumphant expression.

“You heard him? You can’t come.”

“….”

Cail silently glanced at Damian.

‘Ah, that’s?’

It was the same silent visual attack he had used on the criminal organization members this morning.

“Well, no matter how handsome a face you make while looking at me, I’m afraid it won’t work.”

However, unlike the criminal organization members, Damian didn’t flinch at Cail’s gaze.

‘Come to think of it, he remained steadfast even when Yupheon glared at him menacingly at the hunting grounds.’

I was newly impressed by him.

‘You need that level of mental strength to endure working under a cra—I mean, strange person like Yupheon.’

“Go back first. Goodbye.”

I waved my hand gently at Cail and left with Damian.

“So, His Holiness knew about the cult?”

“Yes, yes.”

On the way to the cult’s chapel, Damian nodded and explained.

“As soon as he arrived in Yetrisha, he sensed something suspicious and ordered me to investigate. Actually, about that Saint. Those people resurrected her.”

Damian, who had quickly become friendly with me, rattled on.

“They put up strange prayer texts and portraits of the Saint in every chapel and perform suspicious rituals. I saw it all.”

“Oh my, how dreadful.”

“But how can a dead person be resurrected? It’s impossible for the dead to return to life. That woman must be an evil spirit wearing the Saint’s skin.”

I cleared my throat as I listened quietly.

To be precise, Yuria didn’t die 5 years ago but escaped to her own world, so they didn’t resurrect her but summoned her back.

However, right here was someone who had died and opened her eyes again.

‘People can die and open their eyes again; calling her an evil spirit is quite harsh.’

Hiding my suddenly uncomfortable feelings, I casually asked.

“Well, couldn’t she have been resurrected by divine power? Besides, she was a Saint beloved by God.”

“That’s absolutely! Absolutely, absolutely impossible!”

“Why?”

“Hmm. Since you’re a person with strong and sincere faith in God, I’ll tell you something special. To resurrect the dead, three conditions are necessary.”

“Three?”

Damian spread three fingers wide.

“Namely, the body, the soul, and God’s breath! Let’s say God gave His breath to revive the Saint. But the Saint has been dead for 5 years, hasn’t she? Her body would surely have decayed! A soul cannot enter a decayed body!”

“I see.”

“The same goes for the soul. When someone dies, the soul leaves the body and goes to the spirit realm. Even God cannot bring back a soul that has departed to the spirit realm. So, considering all these facts, that woman is not the Saint but an evil spirit wearing the Saint’s shell!”

Damian explained passionately.

Completely convinced, I clapped my hands and asked.

“Wow, but how do you know all this, Damian?”

“His Holiness is very interested in these matters, so I became interested too.”

Yupheon was interested in resurrecting the dead?

He must have had someone precious enough to want to resurrect.

Yuria?

But Yuphe said he disliked Yuria.

‘Hmm. By the way…’

Having arrived at the chapel, I sat among the worshippers and became lost in thought.

‘When a person dies, the soul leaves the body and departs for the spirit realm…’

Long ago, I had learned about souls at the Grand Temple.

‘The soul is the essence of life. It’s a realm that even God cannot interfere with. That’s why we shouldn’t cling to the glory of the mere flesh that is just a shell encasing the soul, but rather focus on spiritual cultivation to nurture the essence… Oh my, Princess! Are you skipping class and running away again…!’

Of course, I didn’t listen properly because I was always busy skipping classes and running away with Yuphe.

‘But how did I wake up in Jella Irene’s body after being dead for 5 years?’

When I first opened my eyes in this body, I was so excited about having a new life that I didn’t think deeply about it.

Just as I, who had been Kim Ga-eul, was reincarnated as Jella Shunaibel, I accepted without much thought that I, who had been Jella Shunaibel, could open my eyes in Jella Irene’s body.

But according to what Damian just said, my soul should have departed for the spirit realm 5 years ago.

‘How on earth did my soul, which should have gone to the spirit realm, enter Jella Irene’s body after 5 years?’

Come to think of it, there was one more strange thing.

Jella Irene’s face which looked exactly like Kim Ga-eul’s face.

I had dismissed it as mere coincidence. I thought anything could happen in a fantasy novel world where dragons and holy swords appeared.

But as Damian had just explained, this world also flowed according to its own laws.

At the time, I thought it could happen, but once I started questioning my possession, more questions arose.

‘Is it really a coincidence that Jella Irene’s face is identical to Kim Ga-eul’s?’

But to say they had completely identical faces… the two had different eye colors. Naturally, Kim Ga-eul, who was Korean, had black eyes unlike Jella Irene.

‘Ugh, why are there so many headache-inducing things?’

There were already so many complicated issues with the male leads and Yuria’s appearance, plus the cult and the plague problem—my head felt like it would explode.

‘Let’s solve them one by one. First, let’s resolve the cult and plague issues, and then…’

But at this moment, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.

The sound of rustling beads and soft footsteps could be heard.

“That person is the cult leader.”

Damian, who had been pretending to worship beside me, pointed to a man who was entering through a curtain at the front.