“Welcome. Have you recovered from your journey?”

Adelia addressed the Saintess instead of the Emperor who sat askew.

The Saintess nodded slightly.

“Thanks to you, I rested comfortably.”

The people who had been battling wits and making threats earlier were gone.

Only the noble Crown Princess and the kind Saintess remained here.

The Saintess placed one hand on her chest and said,

“If His Majesty allows, I would like to make an important announcement here.”

“Granted.”

The Emperor immediately permitted the Saintess’s request without much thought.

Though it was natural in a way, the Saintess still expressed her gratitude meticulously.

The Saintess turned her body around to face the nobles who weren’t part of the imperial family. Those who received the Saintess’s gaze showed moved expressions.

The Saintess, not forgetting to give a kind smile, opened her mouth.

“Officially, I came here to bestow blessings upon the rising sun of the Empire. However, in truth, I visited because God personally gave me a divine prophecy.”

The Saintess’s words caused tremendous ripples.

It had been hundreds of years since a divine prophecy had come down. Since prophecies never contained ordinary content, everyone anticipated its contents.

Even the high priests were anticipating what prophecy would come from the Saintess’s mouth.

The bustling banquet hall fell silent in an instant. Everyone held their breath, expecting the prophecy’s content.

The Saintess swallowed hard.

‘Should I do it now?’

The Saintess turned her head slightly and met Adelia’s eyes. To her seeking gaze for permission, Adelia smiled briefly and nodded.

The Saintess closed her eyes. She pulled her clasped hands toward her chest and opened her mouth.

“Because of humans’ negative emotions, the Saintess’s power has been locked away, so a key is needed to unlock it. When the Saintess meets the key, she will finally become the true Saintess, and there is a sea around the brilliant blessing, and the pearl there is the key. Find the powerful key.”

The Saintess recited the prophecy in a reverent voice.

When the prophecy ended, everyone there opened their eyes wide.

The Saintess’s power was locked away.

“What does it mean that the Saintess’s power is locked away?”

“A key, what could that mean?”

“Sea around the brilliant blessing? Pearl? Indeed, prophecies are too difficult.”

The people there, after briefly being excited about hearing a prophecy, were all busy exchanging opinions about what the prophecy meant. Those who claimed to have expertise in theology were interpreting the prophecy while mentioning theological texts.

The high priests standing behind appeared quite flustered. That was understandable since it was top secret that the Saintess had the power of foresight.

The fact that she had a power other than the original Saintess power meant that someone might doubt the Saintess. Within the Holy Kingdom, they had determined that ‘Belle Edith’ was definitely the Saintess and had not revealed anything about the Saintess’s power for now. That secret they had been hiding was exposed through the prophecy.

But soon everyone calmed themselves thinking it must be God’s will.

“Sob……”

The Saintess covered her mouth with one hand and made a sobbing sound. Everyone’s attention focused on that sound. Those who had been interpreting the prophecy and those who had been in shock. All looked at the Saintess.

“Before the world sank into greed, God sent me down as the Saintess. But the world was already too darkly stained, and in that process, the Saintess’s power didn’t fully come to me.”

The Saintess spoke in a choked voice. Her voice, muffled like she’s speaking underwater, stirred people’s hearts.

She squeezed out nonexistent tears and continued speaking pathetically with moisture in her voice.

“The only power that came to me was the foresight to see the future. Of course, in the devout Holy Kingdom, they immediately recognized me as the Saintess even with my meager power. Though the power was insufficient, I fulfilled my duty as a saintess.”

The Saintess pretended to wipe tears while rubbing her eyes with the rough veil. When her skin became red from the friction, it looked as if she had really been crying.

The Saintess beat her chest, looking regretful.

“But finally! God has sent me the holy woman. The key that God spoke of. Thanks to that, I was able to receive the Saintess’s power completely.”

The Saintess showed a relieved smile while clasping her hands to her chest. She even gave a bow to the sky that couldn’t be seen through the ceiling, and showed her utmost acting while twisting her whole body.

“This is the Saintess’s power, everyone.”

The Saintess spread both hands while smiling brightly.

White light began to ripple around the Saintess. Unlike white magic, there was no immediate effect. It was just light with a bit of purification ability.

But the bright light radiating from the Saintess’s body and her refreshed expression as if finally finishing a long marathon looked divine in itself.

The high priests standing right next to her fell to their knees in surprise. They worshipped toward the Saintess while repeating ‘Oh God’.

“This is ridiculous.”

The Emperor and Lucian who were watching this sneered. Though they had no faith, to their eyes that knew the truth, it was truly just a laughable show.

Using someone else’s power and acting as if it were their own—they couldn’t hide their leaking mockery.

Next to them who were freely expressing their emotions, only Adelia struggled.

“Please stay down, corners of my mouth.”

Adelia couldn’t laugh and tried to keep her mouth from curling up. She covered her mouth and pressed her lips firmly as if in shock.

Though the Saintess’s acting was terribly shabby, when dressed in God’s most beautiful clothes, her acting became comparable to the real thing.

“I can’t laugh yet.”

While it was one thing for the Emperor and Lucian, who were famously rumored to have thrown away faith along with conscience long ago, Adelia couldn’t also show mockery.

She was still outwardly the kind and gentle Crown Princess after all.

The Saintess, after fully enjoying people’s faith from below, turned her body sharply.

“This was why I came here. The brilliant blessing. I was certain this was the blessing passed down in the Empire’s imperial family.”

“Oh……”

“So I used the delegation as an excuse to visit here. And I recognized it at first sight. The key that God told me about.”

The Saintess walked click-clack toward the platform. The people surrounding the Saintess stepped back to avoid interfering with her steps.

The Saintess stood below the platform with a dignified face.

“The key that God gave me. It was Her Highness the Empire’s Crown Princess.”

The Saintess stretched both hands toward Adelia. People’s gazes focused on her.

Adelia raised the corners of her mouth awkwardly. She slowly rose from her seat and came down to the Saintess’s side. The Saintess reached out to hold Adelia while showing kindness.

Standing next to the Saintess, Adelia turned her head slightly and whispered in the Saintess’s ear.

“If you act this poorly next time too, I’ll tear up the contract.”

Adelia threatened the Saintess in an articulate voice while gritting her molars. Unlike her clear voice, her lips didn’t move at all.

The Saintess felt chills throughout her body and turned to the side with wide eyes, but could only see Adelia smiling brightly.

‘Was my acting that terrible? I thought I did pretty well.’

The Saintess tilted her head and looked at the people. Everyone was sending gazes full of glory and faith.

The Saintess, not knowing that such acting wouldn’t have worked at all if not for their fanatical faith, only grew more confident in her acting skills.

“I’m glad I could safely deliver power to the Saintess according to God’s will without dying.”

“Thank you for fulfilling God’s will like this, holy woman. God now wishes for the holy woman to live the life she desires.”

Adelia warmly held the Saintess’s hands. She wiped tears that hadn’t even fallen and even created moisture on her face. Then the Saintess also gently stroked Adelia’s hands.

Adelia’s words had multiple meanings.

While acknowledging herself as God’s key, she also implied there had been life-threatening incidents.

The sharp high priests already understood the hidden meaning in Adelia’s words.

Harming Adelia who received God’s command meant being someone who tried to harm God’s will.

With this, no one could harass or harm Adelia in official settings. Unless they wanted to be at odds with the Holy Kingdom, they absolutely couldn’t touch her.

Every word of Adelia’s had meaning.

‘But holy woman? I didn’t tell her to say that.’

Sometimes people who experienced miraculous events or were touched by God’s will were called holy women. Like the Saintess, it was an honorary position without real power.

It was a name perfectly suited to Adelia’s situation.

Being called holy woman seemed better than being called key by the priests from now on.

“It’s for the Saintess and God.”

Adelia said while gently curving her eyes.

In this situation where everyone was sending moved gazes, there were also people feeling negative emotions.

‘A key sent by God! Why that worthless thing!’

The Countess who had directly hit and abused Adelia felt terror.

‘Ha, if I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have sent her to the imperial palace!’