“Yes. You know too, how happy the original ending was. Haven’t you thought that happiness could be broken because of you?”

The Saintess asked in a sharp tone. She too greatly loved the original story. She loved the charming characters, the interesting episodes, and the happy ending.

“I want the original story to remain unchanged. That’s why I tried to live quietly as the Saintess. The Holy Kingdom was barely mentioned in the original story anyway. But you’re different. You’ve completely entered the original story and changed it.”

Though they were both transmigrators, their approaches were completely different. The Saintess chose to quietly hide herself without appearing in the original story, while Adelia chose to blend into the original story.

Many things in the story had changed because of Adelia.

Listening to this, Adelia twisted up the corners of her mouth and let out a snicker.

“I don’t like the original story changing either. But isn’t it better if unhappy parts change to become happy?”

“What?”

The Saintess wore a dumbfounded expression like she was hit on the back of the head. She couldn’t close her mouth, as if this was an answer she never expected.

Until now, the original story was the happiest story. There couldn’t be a better story than that. However, she had never thought about an even happier original story.

Adelia continued speaking calmly.

“You asked too, how I was alive.”

“Well…… You’re an extra who dies of a heart attack in the original story.”

“The original story never showed what kind of life Adelia lived. Isn’t it too unfair to die just because that’s how it was in the original?”

“But…… What if the original story changes because of that? What will you do then?”

“Why do you think I obtained white magic and created a merchant guild to build power? Now I have money, power, honor, and status. How many things do you think I won’t be able to prevent?”

Adelia spoke confidently. As her words continued, the Saintess couldn’t refute.

There was nothing wrong in Adelia’s words.

Even the Saintess living in the Holy Kingdom had often heard about the Eileen Merchant Guild. A major guild that grew explosively in just three years.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that half the continent’s money was controlled by the Emperor, and the other half by the Eileen Merchant Guild.

Moreover, she had risen to the position of imperial and possessed the untouchable power of white magic.

How many people could defeat Adelia? Unless the Emperor intervened with an imperial order, it would be difficult.

The Saintess gulped. It suddenly hit her how terrifying a person she had tried to threaten.

‘I must be crazy…. What was I thinking!’

The Saintess had gathered information about Adelia from the Holy Kingdom. All the documents that came into her hands described Adelia as a gentle, kind-natured, and quiet person.

The Saintess had completely believed those words and boldly tried to threaten Adelia, but her public image was all a mask. The hidden nature beneath could only be described as befitting the imperial family.

“Besides, white magic was meant to be the ultimate villain’s power anyway. I just removed a dangerous element.”

Adelia said, shrugging her shoulders.

She was confident. No one wanted the original story’s happy ending more than Adelia. The Saintess simply wanted the original story to flow as it was, while Adelia wanted it to become a little happier.

“Then…… Why specifically become the Crown Princess? Wouldn’t the position of Guild Master and white magic be enough?”

Power could be sufficiently filled through alliance with the imperial family even without holding it directly. The position of Guild Master itself was power too.

The Saintess couldn’t understand why Adelia needed to claim the position of Crown Princess.

Adelia blinked slowly. Her long eyelashes fluttered gently.

“Because that’s how the revenge will be perfect.”

“Revenge? Who are you taking revenge on?”

“The people who tormented and abused Adelia. You’re a transmigrator too, so you know. You feel all the memories and emotions your body held.”

Adelia looked at her own hands with a bitter expression.

How many tears had she shed when she first possessed this body?

She cried endlessly because Adelia was so pitiful, because her life had been so miserable.

“Do you know the feeling of never receiving parental love? Have you felt the wretched feeling when all you get is abuse despite trying to be loved?”

“……”

“Adelia’s life was too miserable to just leave it be. Now Adelia is gone, and no one ever reached out to her during her life, so how sad would it be if I didn’t reach out either? That’s why I decided to take revenge for her.”

“Revenge……”

The Saintess repeated the word in a low voice.

This was the difference between Adelia and the Saintess. The Saintess boldly abandoned ‘Belle’s’ life to live as the Saintess. But Adelia didn’t abandon Adelia’s life. She simply made changes to appear as a new person.

“But you became Crown Princess for revenge? Did you have to go that far?”

“Of course. Revenge must be perfect. Just dragging those people to hell isn’t enough.”

The moment the word revenge came out, Adelia’s expression twisted. Her face was bizarrely mixed with satisfaction, anticipation, and displeasure.

“What does revenge have to do with being Crown Princess?”

“For a mere noble lady, marriage is the only legitimate way to leave the family. I was about to be sold off to an old count, and the quickest marriage to prevent that was with the Crown Prince. Besides, only as Crown Princess can I hide the fact that I’m a white mage and execute perfect revenge.”

“Perfect revenge……”

“I’ll take everything they value most as nobles. Not just money and honor, but I’ll destroy their image too. And I’ll hide the fact that I was involved in all of this. Adelia must remain clean.”

“You…… You’re truly terrifying. It gives me chills.”

The Saintess wrapped her arms around herself and turned her back to Adelia. She regretted agreeing to be alone with her.

If she had known she was such a meticulous and frightening person, she wouldn’t have come here in the first place, let alone agreed to be alone with her.

“But…. Is it okay to tell me all this?”

The Saintess suddenly wondered as she listened.

The Saintess and Adelia were meeting for the first time today. It wasn’t even a natural meeting, but clearly a business relationship between the Empire’s Crown Princess and the Holy Kingdom’s delegation representative.

Moreover, they had been threatening each other until just now. Yet Adelia easily revealed things that would be difficult to tell even to a true friend.

“It’s not like you can tell anyone anyway. You’ll die if you open your mouth.”

“Gulp……”

Adelia made a throat-slitting gesture as she spoke. The Saintess rolled her eyes and quietly touched her neck.

As the Saintess said, Adelia had told her many things today. She had shared more information than even Lucian knew, so perhaps this made them friends in a way.

“Now, shall we get to the main point?”

Adelia smiled faintly and opened her subspace. With a flick of her finger, a thick stack of documents fell onto her lap. She lifted the indexed stack of documents. Her long fingers flipped through them before pulling one out.

“What is that?”

“A contract. I told you what I want changes depending on what you say.”

The thick stack of documents was contracts made with various conditions considering multiple situations.

Such an important matter couldn’t be settled with a verbal contract. Even marriage contracts needed notarization, so how could a simple contract suffice for something that fate depended on?

The conditions were written on paper notarized by the High Priest to match the Saintess’s unique holy power, and Adelia’s white magic completed the process.

A divine notarized contract where breaking it would drain the life force from one’s body.

Hearing this, the Saintess exclaimed in shock.

“All of those are contracts?”

“Yes, I made various ones considering different variables.”

Adelia said, waving the contracts.

Of course, Adelia hadn’t written them herself. She was too busy to write all this.

These were contracts filled with Conrad’s overtime work and additional pay.

“Variables?”

“Want to see?”

Adelia pulled out several more documents from the stack. The documents floated in the air before landing on the table, neatly arranged in rows and columns.

Adelia pointed to each contract while adding brief explanations.

“This is for if you don’t cooperate.”

“The Saintess rules the Holy Kingdom as the Emperor wishes? That’s making me a complete puppet!”

“This is for if you abandon your duties as Saintess.”

“Transferring the Saintess’s authority to someone from the Empire? Were you planning to make me a figurehead?”

“And this is for if you want to step down from the position of Saintess.”

“Well, this one’s decent at least. Just working at the guild in exchange for stepping down from being Saintess and getting a new identity.”

“Finally, this is for if you harbor ill intentions.”

The last thing Adelia pointed to was an empty space on the table. A blank space beside the three neatly arranged contracts.

The Saintess tilted her head and slowly blinked.

“What? There’s nothing there.”

“Of course. How can a dead person sign a contract?”

Adelia smiled coldly.