Volume II

Chapter 6. There’s Not Just One Person Who Has Transmigrated (1)

Because the letter arrived right after the Crown Prince couple’s honeymoon, all the top officials of the imperial palace were on high alert.

The western continent where the Empire was located worshipped a single god. Most of the Empire’s citizens believed in God due to the existence of holy power and sacred objects that made it impossible to deny God.

An oracle given by the God everyone worshipped had enough power to move the entire continent.

Only the saintess chosen by God could hear the oracle. Since the previous saintess died three hundred years ago, this was an oracle that came down after exactly three hundred years.

“Well, it’s certain that it’s related to the Empire.”

“Yes, given that they’re saying they’ll announce it in the Empire, it must be deeply related.”

“Until now, oracles were announced at the temple. It’s unprecedented for it to be announced externally first like this.”

“You mean it’s not an ordinary matter.”

The Emperor and Lucian talked with serious faces. The topic was, of course, the contents of the oracle.

The sun of the Empire and he who would become the sun could not stand by and watch the oracle shake the Empire. If it harmed the Empire, they would gladly face even God.

“In the worst case, it could be something that requires sacrificing the Empire’s citizens. Or it could be related to the continuation of the Empire.”

“I don’t intend to fall for the oracle, but we need countermeasures.”

While the two were busily exchanging opinions, Adelia remained silent, lost in her own thoughts.

‘An oracle. There was no such thing in the original work.’

Adelia leaned back against the backrest and tapped the armrest with one hand. With her lips tightly closed, she rolled her blue eyes quickly.

No matter how much she recalled the original work, she couldn’t remember any content about the Holy Kingdom, the saintess, or the oracle.

‘Then something must have changed.’

The only thing that had changed in this world was her. The fact that the world had changed again because of her made her anxious.

The hand tapping the armrest sped up. Unconsciously, she chewed on the nails of her other hand.

‘How will the oracle affect the Empire? Is it big enough to change the ending of the original work? I need to stop it, should I try threatening the saintess?’

Countless methods appeared and disappeared in Adelia’s mind. Dozens of desperate situations, hundreds of things that could be given up immediately, even dozens of ways to assassinate the saintess.

There were many methods that were cruel or hard to imagine. Adelia, not minding it, chose and chose again from among them the best method.

Adelia’s struggle to find the best solution was desperate.

“…delia! Adelia!”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just thinking for a moment… Haha.”

Adelia laughed awkwardly and hid her hands under the table.

“What were you saying?”

“We were discussing how to handle the Holy Kingdom’s visit. This kind of event is now your responsibility.”

“That just now. It was the scariest thing I’ve heard this year.”

Thinking of the increased workload, Adelia felt a dizzying sensation and pressed her forehead. A delegation from another kingdom would be one thing, but a delegation from the Holy Kingdom was troublesome.

The Holy Kingdom didn’t exist in Adelia’s memory, and it was even harder to find in the original work.

She didn’t even know if they were greedy religious people or devout people.

“I’m not very close with the Holy Kingdom, so I’m not sure if I can do well.”

“Ah, you said it was your first time at the temple last time, right?”

“Yes, I don’t have any connections or interest.”

Adelia’s eyes sharpened as she shrugged her shoulders.

Originally, she planned to look into the Holy Kingdom once they returned from their honeymoon. Particularly, into detailed information about that unknown saintess.

‘Right, meeting in person would be more accurate than rumors.’

Isn’t there a saying that seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times?

Rumors had to be verified, and it wasn’t easy to distinguish the distorted and exaggerated parts.

Meeting once was more accurate than rumors through dozens of mouths.

‘That doesn’t mean I won’t investigate.’

She couldn’t go unprepared to a meeting with people she didn’t know were enemies or allies. If a sword was the necessary weapon on the battlefield, information was the necessary weapon in reconnaissance.

It wasn’t too late to distinguish whether the obtained information was false rumors or truth after meeting in person.

And the person with the most information in the Empire was none other than the Emperor.

“So what kind of place is the Holy Kingdom?”

Adelia casually threw out the question.

The Emperor and Crown Prince were not people who were interested in rumors. The information coming from their mouths could be said to be the truth without a doubt.

Adelia waited eagerly for information to come out of their mouths.

The Emperor and Lucian sighed simultaneously.

“It’s a place full of people who are somewhat mentally wrong.”

“It’s a den of lunatics.”

Lucian, who was a bit more refined, and the Emperor, who was direct. In the end, they were saying the same thing.

Adelia tilted her head at the unexpected answer.

“Pardon?”

“So… consider the priests in the Holy Kingdom as people who have lost their minds.”

“That’s a bit extreme.”

“They’re fearless humans. Even with a sword to their throat, they don’t blink and only seek God.”

The Emperor shook his head as he recalled them.

Lucian also pressed his forehead with a face that seemed fed up.

Between them, only Adelia looked at them with a puzzled expression.

“Well… it’s a scathing description, but I understand clearly. Then there must be no priests who exploit God’s name or commit corruption, right?”

“If there were, we would have swept them away already. There are such humans in external temples, but the priests in the Holy Kingdom never do that. They’re so incorruptible it’s sickening.”

“They’re too devout to be corrupt. If that wasn’t the case, we would have doubted the oracle first.”

“Then what about the saintess? She’ll be the center of the delegation coming from the Holy Kingdom, but I don’t know anything about her. Has she visited the Empire before?”

Adelia swallowed hard. This was actually the most important question.

Every time the saintess was mentioned, an absurd hypothesis kept creeping up in a corner of her mind. If she could confirm it, she could also solve the problem of the oracle.

“Yes. Unofficially.”

“She’s originally from the Empire. She visited shortly after becoming the saintess to process paperwork.”

“What… kind of person was she?”

Adelia asked carefully.

The Emperor pondered, tapping the armrest.

“It’s hard to describe. She was more level-headed than the priests. But in a different sense, she was a bit strange.”

“Why?”

“Not as much as you, but she was quite bold. She looked at us with a face that was both afraid and happy.”

The Emperor spoke, tracing his memories.

Even he, who didn’t usually remember trivial things, clearly remembered that day.

One day, a rumor spread that a marquis’s daughter had received a revelation. And a few days later, the temple officially announced the existence of the saintess.

Before departing for the Holy Kingdom, the saintess visited the imperial palace to officially process paperwork.

— I greet Your Majesty, the sun of the Empire. I am Saintess Belle.

He still remembered her face, drenched in fear, reluctantly greeting him. It was also impressive how she boldly glanced at his face while signing documents with trembling hands.

As the Emperor brought up the story, Lucian also recalled and spoke.

“She even said it was fascinating to see me. The saintess will be easier to communicate with than the priests. She stopped the priests who were angry that we didn’t use honorifics.”

“What did she say again? That there was no need for the center of the world to use honorifics, was it?”

Listening to their words, Adelia smiled coldly and brushed back her flowing hair.

“Haha. Now I understand how things are going.”

She picked up the documents strewn on the desk. She threw the official letter to the back and held the unofficial letter in her hand.

[The saintess has received an oracle. The saintess says that she must stop by the Empire before announcing it. The Holy Kingdom respects the saintess’s opinion and wants to announce the oracle in the Empire. We hope the Emperor of the Empire will give generous permission.]

It was quite presumptuous for a letter to the Emperor. A rough writing style that simply conveyed the purpose, unlike the flowery rhetoric of nobles.

Adelia threw the letter onto the table.

The puzzle was roughly pieced together. One hypothesis she had been thinking about finally took shape.

Adelia raised her head and met the Emperor’s gaze.

“If the saintess is fake, would there be any damage to the Empire?”

Her blue eyes firmly gazed at the Emperor. The Emperor was rather taken aback. Her statement could be considered blasphemy if mishandled.

His usually cool eyes wavered slightly. Surprise and difficulty were bundled together.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I asked if there would be any damage to the Empire if the saintess is fake.”

Unlike usual, her voice was low. Each word she uttered calmly was chillingly composed. Responding to her serious words without any playfulness, the Emperor narrowed his eyes and answered.

“There would be. It’s been five years since the saintess appeared. The commoners worship the saintess like a god. The Holy Kingdom is already revolving around the saintess.”

“Then would there be any benefit if we draw the saintess to our side?”

“Then we could manipulate the Holy Kingdom as we please. We could gain the support of the Holy Kingdom and the support of the Empire’s citizens.”

“It would be better to co-opt her rather than bring her down.”

With those words, close to a murmur, Adelia closed her mouth. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts again, like before.

Seeing Adelia’s serious attitude, the Emperor and Lucian realized one thing.

The saintess is fake.

Judging by her behavior and tone, Adelia was almost certain. She wasn’t someone who would bring up such things without reason to incite.

‘Come to think of it, it was strange from the beginning. It’s not that I don’t know about the saintess because the Holy Kingdom barely appeared in the original work, but there was no saintess from the start.’

The original work revolved around the Empire. There was no mention of anything other than envoys coming from neighboring countries or wars breaking out.

Of course, there was little mention of the Holy Kingdom. At best, it was just stories related to priests and temples.

That was natural. There was no mention because there was no saintess in the original work.

‘The saintess appeared five years ago. I’ve only transmigrated for three years. The saintess came before me.’

Adelia’s existence didn’t create the saintess. The saintess and Adelia’s possession were completely unrelated events. Rather, the existence of the saintess might have brought Adelia.

‘The saintess. There’s a high possibility that person also knows about the original work.’

Another transmigrator. There was no other way to explain it.