“We should end tea time soon so you can rest.”

“That’s a shame. I wanted to talk more.”

“Before that. Would it be alright if I spoke with the Saintess alone?”

“Alone with me?”

The Saintess’s eyes widened in surprise at Adelia’s bold request. Though it was just for a moment, Adelia caught it clearly. The Saintess quickly hid her surprise behind a gentle smile again.

“Yes. Just the Saintess and me. That’s alright, isn’t it, dear?”

“Whatever my wife wishes. I’ll take my leave.”

Adelia looked at Lucian seeking his understanding. When she fluttered her long eyelashes quickly sending some kind of signal, he understood immediately.

Lucian stroked Adelia’s hand resting on her knee once before standing up.

Adelia’s shoulders trembled at the unexpected skinship. She looked at him with surprised eyes, but his gaze was fixed on the Saintess.

Adelia quickly composed herself and gave a friendly smile.

“What do you think, Saintess?”

“Let’s do that. Would everyone please leave?”

The Saintess seemed to contemplate for a moment. Soon she made up her mind and asked the High Priests to leave.

The High Priests who had naturally assumed the Saintess would refuse opened their eyes and mouths wide in shock.

“Saintess!”

“Saintess, this cannot be! How can you stay alone without us!”

“That’s right. We have a duty to protect the Saintess.”

They strongly objected.

The relationship between the Holy Kingdom and the Empire wasn’t bad. Though they weren’t leaving the Saintess alone in enemy territory, the imperial family’s notoriety was well known enough to reach the High Priests’ ears.

Devils without blood or tears. Cruel tyrants. Being a neighboring country but at a distance, there were many distorted rumors. And regardless of the truth behind the rumors, as priests, they weren’t pleased with those covered in blood.

Adelia gave the High Priests a languid smile.

“Do the High Priests think we might do something to the Saintess within the imperial palace……”

“That’s not it…… You know.”

“Then we’ll dismiss our people first. Everyone, leave.”

At Adelia’s single word, all the palace servants in the room cleared out at once. As people disappeared, Lucian gently placed his hand on Adelia’s shoulder.

“Since they won’t leave, I cannot leave either, my wife.”

“His Highness trusts me and the Saintess enough to leave, yet you all insist on staying?”

“But!”

“It seems you have neither faith in the Saintess nor trust in the imperial family. How can you call yourselves High Priests who believe in God?”

Adelia and Lucian snapped together. Their rhythm matched perfectly without prior discussion.

Finally, the High Priests reluctantly cleared the room while making several entreaties to the Saintess. Until they left, they kept their eyes bright with worry for the Saintess.

After everyone left, the room became quiet again.

Adelia set down her black tea on the table with a thud.

Her sunken blue eyes captured the Saintess. A hard, lifeless gaze that seemed devoid of emotion swept over the Saintess.

Just as Adelia was about to open her red lips to speak first.

“How are you alive?”

For a moment, her blue eyes rounded and swelled. Her startled gaze trembled slightly.

Though she had anticipated this moment, it was difficult to calmly hide her emotions when actually facing it.

But she couldn’t ruin the task just because controlling emotions was difficult.

“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

Adelia pushed her eyes into crescents and smiled softly.

It was her usual gentle smile, but the eyes glinting between her folded lids were as cold as ice.

She slowly swept her gaze up and down the Saintess.

The Saintess frowned and disturbed her nobly straightened posture.

She crossed her tightly pressed legs and leaned her rigid upper body against the sofa. Raising her hands from her knees to cross her arms, no trace of the Saintess remained.

“Stop pretending. Adelia Kalla, Countess.”

The Saintess glared at her while clearly enunciating the original Adelia’s name. She showed confidence like she’s standing superior, like someone who knew everything.

“Coming as a delegation yet not knowing the Empire’s Crown Princess’s name. How disappointing.”

Adelia slowly blinked her eyes as if she knew nothing.

Unlike the Saintess who spoke boldly and sharply, Adelia continued to deny the Saintess’s words in her slow and gentle manner.

The Saintess smiled derisively with a deflating sound, finding it absurd.

“Ha. Well said. How did you become Crown Princess? That position shouldn’t be filled yet.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Perhaps you’re still confused from the long journey.”

“Stop pretending!”

“My, me?”

Though Adelia kept pretending, the Saintess didn’t back down. She maintained an attitude like she’s already certain of Adelia’s identity.

No matter how aggressively the Saintess came at her, Adelia only smiled while raising the corners of her mouth. Rather, she showed exaggerated expressions by gently covering her mouth with one hand and opening her eyes wide. Her intention to mock the Saintess was quite apparent.

Finally, the Saintess expressed her anger at Adelia’s words. Her face reddened as she sprang up from the sofa. Lifting her chin high, she straightened her index finger and pointed it straight at Adelia.

“Ha! You can’t be this relaxed. I know everything! Your secret!”

“The secret about me that the Saintess knows…… I’m quite curious too.”

Adelia twisted up the corners of her mouth. As if not caring whether the Saintess was angry or not, she slowly raised her teacup.

Adelia watched the Saintess’s appearance carefully with lowered eyes.

The Saintess showed a noticeably confused expression. She narrowed her eyebrows and moved her lips, seemingly very confused by an Adelia who’s different from what she had imagined.

‘Soon she’ll speak up, unable to contain herself.’

There was a reason Adelia was dragging out time.

This wasn’t an equal conversation but one that would end only when one person gained the upper hand. A conversation that would end only when one achieved what they wanted. Naturally, the upper hand had to be hers, not the Saintess’s.

Though neither had revealed their cards, this was a conversation Adelia would inevitably win anyway. After all, she already held all the Saintess’s lifelines in her hands.

But wouldn’t it be better to stand completely at the top rather than gain an ambiguous advantage?

‘I wonder what secret of mine you know.’

How much did the Saintess know? What cards did she hold to come out so confidently? She needed to find that out first.

Adelia leisurely savored her tea while waiting for the Saintess to open her mouth.

The soft sound of gently blowing on hot tea to cool it blended with the Saintess’s uneven, labored breathing.

Adelia’s relaxed demeanor provoked the Saintess’s temper.

“Your identity. Mare, the Guild Master of the Eileen Merchant Guild. And a white mage. Right?”

Guild Master of the Eileen Merchant Guild. White mage.

What she had been waiting for burst from the Saintess’s mouth. For a moment, the blue eyes hidden behind the teacup flashed.

The Saintess looked down at Adelia triumphantly while crossing her arms. With raised corners of her mouth and a snort, she had the appearance of a victor.

Adelia, who had been drinking tea, stopped moving with a start. She deliberately lowered her teacup slowly while noticeably shaking her eyes side to side a couple times.

She placed both hands holding the teacup on her knees and raised her head. Her blue eyes filled with the Saintess’s red hair.

“You’ve been saying incomprehensible things for a while now. Should I call a doctor?”

Adelia smiled brightly. Her characteristic harmless smile completely flipped the Saintess’s temper.

A gaze full of anger bore down hotly toward Adelia.

Despite the Saintess’s anger, Adelia didn’t blink an eye. To Adelia who constantly received the gazes of the imperial family, such a gaze was considered a cute affection.

“Are you treating me like I’m crazy? You’re a transmigrator too! Otherwise this couldn’t happen!”

The Saintess crumpled her face and stomped her foot hard. The floor shook, creating round ripples in the tea in the cups on the table.

The Saintess’s dignity had long been thrown away. Her skirt hem was tightly gripped with wrinkles, and her neat hair was disheveled with flyaways going every which way. Her face full of irritation was hard to recognize as the Saintess.

Only after seeing her screaming in inability to contain herself did Adelia raise the corners of her mouth in satisfaction.

“As I thought, that’s how it was.”

Adelia bent her waist slightly and set down her teacup.

Clink—

The teacup met the saucer with a sharp sound.

Adelia, raising her body again, slowly lifted her gaze to meet the Saintess’s eyes.

“That’s all the cards you have.”

Her calm voice instantly became as cold as hard ice. Her plain, crisp tone made one’s liver and gall shudder.

The Saintess stepped back hesitantly. She felt like prey before a predator. The blue eyes looking at her were more frightening than the imperial family’s red ones.

Instinct screamed.

That it was dangerous.

The Saintess raised her trembling hands and opened her mouth.

“You! Now…… ugh!”

“Shh. It’s a bit noisy. My ears hurt from having such a pointless conversation.”

The Saintess couldn’t finish speaking. Before her words ended, her body froze in place with her hand stretched toward Adelia.

For some reason, only her facial muscles moved normally. The Saintess gaped in apparent confusion. Soon finding the cause, she turned her gaze.