During his absence, Joachim was busy.

As a high priest, he had to handle temple duties and thoroughly investigate historical cases of those who received divine blessings.

But no matter how much he searched, there were no cases of someone completely changing like Acelia.

Moreover, after closely examining the statue that caused the anomaly, it turned out to be nothing more than a stone. He could only conclude that a god had directly intervened at that moment.

Then why, of all people, the princess?

To find an answer to this question, Joachim attended the diplomatic reception where Acelia welcomed the delegation from the Yulitas Empire as a diplomatic envoy.

His purpose was to observe the princess, but thinking about Fifth Prince Roberto gave him a headache.

A few years ago, when Joachim was on a pilgrimage, he had helped Roberto once, and since then, Roberto had treated him like an irreplaceable close friend.

This was less because Roberto truly thought of him that way and more likely a scheme to maintain connections with Joachim as a valuable talent.

Sure enough, Roberto made things difficult for Joachim as an expression of protest against the Empire. But then—

“My! Fifth Prince Roberto of the Yulitas Empire. What connection do you have with our High Priest Joachim? You seem even more delighted to see him than me. I’m curious about that story. Would you tell me?”

The princess, who had inserted herself between Roberto and Joachim with an ability like teleportation, showed no signs of humiliation and remained composed.

Rather, her arrogant gaze seemed to say, ‘You’re far from surpassing me, kid.’

‘That’s the ability I saw at the hunting competition.’

Joachim had identified two hidden abilities of the princess: a thrust similar to a Swordmaster’s sword energy and the mysterious footwork he just witnessed.

There might be more, but seeing this, Joachim concluded that these abilities had suddenly appeared in the princess.

Without some kind of divine gift, she couldn’t have honed martial arts with her frail physical condition.

Meanwhile, Roberto was startled by the princess who suddenly appeared before him.

‘What was that just now?’

No matter how he looked back at where the princess had been, there were only people who were just as surprised as he was.

‘But “our”? Are they close enough to be grouped together with such a familiar term?’

Roberto alternately looked at the princess and Joachim with eyes tinged with a strange sense of betrayal.

The Yulitas Empire also worshipped gods. That’s why Joachim, a potential future pope, was a desirable talent.

He had planned to bring him to his country someday—without reflecting Joachim’s will—but he had an ominous feeling that the princess would become an obstacle.

“Ha…… Haha! Princess, I got carried away with excitement at meeting an old friend and committed a breach of etiquette.”

“I see~ I thought you hadn’t noticed me because my presence was less than a speck of dust. I should believe what you say, Prince Roberto.”

So you do understand it was a breach of etiquette?

Roberto pretended to be jovial on the outside, but noticing the hidden meaning in the princess’s words, his eyebrows twitched slightly.

‘Strange. There was no information that the princess had this kind of personality.’

Roberto was taken aback several times today. Honestly, seeing her fragile appearance, he had underestimated the princess.

Vowing to discipline his intelligence department when he returned, Roberto casually asked what he was curious about.

“By the way, what kind of relationship do you have with High Priest Joachim that you use the term ‘our’?”

“High Priest Joachim and me?”

Acelia looked back. Her eyes met directly with calm blue eyes.

After pondering for a moment, Acelia gave her answer.

“It’s an intense and close relationship.”

No matter how she thought about it, their relationship couldn’t be defined simply.

Until now, Acelia had been desperately hiding the fact of her transmigration and avoiding him, but now it was the opposite—she was searching for his whereabouts when he went underground.

She needed to find out what he was hiding, what his intentions were, and how much he had noticed. There was so much to discover.

The precarious tension that always lingered between him and Acelia. How else could she express this relationship?

“He’s someone I want to keep getting to know—the high priest.”

Acelia smiled beautifully, conveying the message that there was no use running away anymore. Joachim’s eyes narrowed.

The sight of the two engaged in this power struggle appeared differently to others.

While Acelia’s ambiguous wording was partly to blame, Joachim’s failure to deny it was also problematic. The scandal between the princess and Joachim gained renewed momentum.

At this moment, Roberto was not even a supporting character but an extra.

“Ha, hahaha! The princess makes good jokes too. I’m really looking forward to this meeting!”

* * *

Finally, as Acelia wished, she got to meet Joachim in the reception room.

This was possible because time became available when the Yulitas Empire delegation postponed the talks day after day, even refusing the welcome banquet.

They seemed to be throwing a tantrum because their pride was hurt at the first appearance, but that wasn’t Acelia’s concern.

“……”

“……”

While tea and refreshments were being prepared, Acelia and Joachim just stared at each other.

The maids who had heard rumors about the two kept glancing at them, but Acelia, focused on Joachim, didn’t notice.

In fact, the maids of the princess’s palace supported Acelia’s new relationship. Since Liam had been such a scoundrel, they hoped she would form a bond with someone else.

In today’s world, breaking an engagement wasn’t such a disgrace, and Joachim, though a priest, was handsome and capable—a good choice for the princess’s partner.

After the maids withdrew, only the two remained in the quiet reception room.

“This is the statue you mentioned.”

Joachim took out something wrapped in cloth from his chest and placed it on the table.

When he removed the cloth, a statue of a goddess holding a water basin appeared.

It was the same one Acelia had seen in the temple reception room.

But unable to shake off her doubts, Acelia asked,

“Is this really the same statue from that time?”

“Yes. You may not believe me, but I swear to the gods, I’ve told the truth.”

A priest wouldn’t lie while invoking the gods.

Acelia examined the statue uneasily, but nothing like before happened.

‘Hey, Roulette.’

……

She called out to the Roulette just in case it might give a hint, but of course, there was silence. Tsk. She hadn’t expected anything anyway.

‘Was it because we were in the temple?’

She couldn’t find an answer.

“The investigation showed nothing unusual about the statue.”

“And there’s nothing you’re hiding, like Gale said?”

“You know better than anyone that’s not possible, don’t you, Princess?”

I don’t know, how would I know?

“Why did you hide your identity at the hunting competition? And if you were going to stay hidden, why did you treat my wound?”

“That doesn’t seem important right now.”

“Then what is important?”

“The abilities that you’re hiding, Princess.”

Joachim’s aura suddenly pressed down on her.

“Are these abilities that appeared after receiving divine blessing?”

“……!”

Acelia almost failed to maintain her composure.

If the 〈Excellent Actor〉 trait hadn’t activated at that moment, she would definitely have shown a stupid expression.

But 〈Excellent Actor〉 only prevented ‘ordinary people’ from noticing her acting.

Joachim was no ordinary person.

Noticing her agitation, he scrutinized Acelia with persistent and sharp eyes.

“Do you have other abilities besides the two I’ve seen?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Have you perhaps regressed, Princess?”

“What……? Regressed?”

Acelia finally let her expression crumble. She was too dumbfounded to speak. How could he make such a misunderstanding?

“What nonsense are you talking about? Regression? I didn’t know you had such a rich imagination, High Priest Joachim.”

“……So that’s not it.”

How can you be so sure? More importantly, does the concept of regression exist in this world too?

“You asked why I was there during the hunting competition? I’m suspicious of the Princess’s purpose. I want to know what you’re thinking when you intervene in incidents, and what the gods expect from you.”

From the moment of her transmigration, Acelia’s goal had always been clear: to survive and return to her original world.

She hadn’t done anything with grand intentions.

“Thinking about this, I found myself orbiting around you, Princess. Like a satellite circling a planet. You make me tense. I can’t take my eyes off you.”

It sounded like a love confession at first glance, but his piercing gaze made it clear that wasn’t the case.

Knock knock.

“Princess. The foreign affairs officer is here.”

“I must go now. I wish you success in this meeting.”

As if he had never exuded a dangerous aura, Joachim returned to his usual languid face and left the reception room. Acelia collapsed onto the table.

“Talking with that person drains my energy.”

She clutched her pounding heart and consumed a large amount of dessert.

It had been a frightening experience.