Episode 78

My mind went blank for a moment.

“Ismail… was a male lead candidate?”

Just like anyone else, my memories from that time weren’t very clear.

The abuse I suffered at the temple and orphanage left indelible scars, but other fleeting memories of people were foggy at best.

For instance, the reason I didn’t recognize the Crown Prince immediately last time was part of that pattern.

And especially, there were no stories about Ismail’s childhood in the original novel.

 

「After the Pope’s death,
High Priest Dunkeski, who was expected to be the next Pope, failed to ascend.
He had not received the insignia ring, which was the equivalent of the Pope’s seal, from the deceased Monte Nuss II.
Amid the chaos caused by the absence of a leader for the Holy Seat…
Just as the temple was about to vote to elect Dunkeski as Pope,
the late Pope’s adopted son appeared, holding the insignia ring!
Returning from a pilgrimage to the Sharlovate Plateau, he revealed a hidden, extraordinary power…!」

‘Monte Nuss!’

As I recalled the original story, I finally remembered the name of the Pope’s adopted son and male lead candidate.

‘Yes! Monte Nuss III!’

In the original work, he was simply called Monte Nuss, and after his ascension, he was referred to only as the Pope. His childhood name was never mentioned.

That’s why, even after hearing Ismail’s story from Dunkeski, I never connected it to the male lead candidate.

Sigh… I really don’t want to get involved with the male leads.

Now that I knew Ismail’s identity, I felt increasingly uneasy around him.

In this novel, all the male characters who even briefly interacted with Diana ended up falling in love with her. However, only four of them were significant enough to be considered true male leads:

Edwin, the Crown Prince, the Pope, and the Second Prince.

While Edwin and the Crown Prince had never harmed me personally, the Pope and the Second Prince had caused me trouble.

‘Though, to be fair, comparing the Pope to that vile Second Prince feels a bit harsh…’

I bit my lower lip as I looked down at Ismail, who was staring blankly at me.

If I really thought about it, the Pope hadn’t directly harmed me either.

He simply acted according to his own feelings.

But just like a frog killed by a carelessly thrown stone, the thoughtless actions of the Pope in my previous life had caused me immense harm.

It was in the spring of my 18th year, just before the Saintess Selection Ceremony.

The newly appointed young Pope had publicly declared his support for Diana during an official event.

Whether or not he loved Diana wasn’t my concern.

But at a time when the Saintess had not yet been decided, for the Pope to officially support one of the two candidates was incredibly unjust.

At least, it was for me.

Even though no one treated me as a serious candidate for Saintess…

Even though everyone believed Diana would inevitably become the Saintess…

The temple was supposed to remain neutral.

Because it was the Pope and the temple who had forced me, a mere orphan, into becoming a candidate for Saintess in the first place.

They were the ones who made me into the most pathetic girl in the world.

‘The least they could’ve done was show me that much respect until the official selection was made.’

The Pope’s cold, measured voice echoed in my mind as he once coldly dismissed me.

‘So what have you done as a Saintess candidate? You’ve done nothing, using your lack of power as an excuse. Meanwhile, Lady Diana has healed the sick and fought off beasts in the northern borders…’

‘There is barely any holy power left in you now. Isn’t it a bit laughable that you still consider yourself a candidate for Saintess?’

‘Leave. I don’t have time to entertain such nonsense.’”

As I recalled his words, the image of the Pope’s emotionless, condescending expression merged with the pitiful sight of Ismail lying on the ground in front of me.

That cold, disdainful gaze, the expression that looked bored, as if wondering how long he had to endure listening to such nonsense—it all came back, superimposing itself onto Ismail’s beaten form.

“Ugh…”

Without realizing it, I took a step back from him.

Thud—!

Something grabbed my ankle.

Startled, I instinctively tried to shake it off.

In that moment, I heard a faint voice.

“Save me…”

I looked down reflexively and saw the boy clinging to my feet, begging.

“…Please.”

The arrogant and indifferent face of the adult Pope disappeared completely, replaced by the dirty, injured boy in ragged clothes.

As I stared down at the boy who would become the Pope, I had a fleeting thought.

‘If I ignore you and just walk away now… would that make me feel better?’

Honestly, I’d already done enough by scaring off the boys who were beating him.

No one could blame me if I left him here without another word.

But…

 

“Ismail was possessed by an evil spirit, and that’s why the goddess took away her blessing from his voice.”

“Right, and it’s no wonder he came back mute after spending a year at the temple.”

 

What truly held me in place wasn’t Ismail’s hand—it was the idea that he had lost his powers.

When I lost my healing powers in my previous life, there was no one by my side.

Even if I walked away now, Ismail would survive. Unlike me, who had fallen into despair and died a miserable death, he would rise to become the Pope and thrive.

“Phew… Fine.”

With a sigh, I crouched down in front of him.

Slowly, I reached out my hand.

‘This isn’t for you.’

It might seem foolish, but I wasn’t healing him for his sake.

This was for me.

For the past me, who cried through countless nights after losing her powers, with no one there to comfort her.

Shine—!

As soon as I placed my hand on Ismail’s shoulder, an explosive light surged from my hand, enveloping his body.

It was the first time I had healed so many wounds at once.

With the Crown Prince, I had only stopped the bleeding and partially healed him, which wasn’t too difficult.

But fully healing someone like this required intense concentration and effort.

I carefully guided my holy power, scanning Ismail’s body from head to toe.

The white light that flowed from my hand pierced sharply and relentlessly into each injured area.

‘His ribs are cracked.’

As expected, the beating from the kids wasn’t something to take lightly.

One of his shoulders was dislocated, and there was a small cut on the back of his head, causing some bleeding.

Bruises and small wounds covered him thoroughly.

‘I almost left him like this—thank goodness I didn’t.’

In this orphanage, where proper medicine and ointments were scarce, it would have taken a long time for him to recover.

As I healed Ismail’s wounds, the wave of emotions that had overwhelmed me began to subside.

He had so many injuries that it took a lot of my holy power.

Flash—!

Finally, when all his wounds were healed and the light faded, I was left panting, covered in sweat, much like when I had first healed Joshua.

‘At least I didn’t get a nosebleed this time.’

I gingerly touched my upper lip with the hand I had just used to heal Ismail, relieved when I didn’t find any blood.

I stood up, having crouched for quite a while.

Despite using a significant amount of power, I didn’t feel dizzy or drained.

It was good news for someone like me, who constantly worried about when my abilities might fade again.

Feeling much better, I turned my back on Ismail.

I had healed him, so there was nothing more for me to do.

‘Oh no! Grandpa’s probably waiting for me.’

More time had passed than I realized.

In a hurry, I started walking toward the side door.

Tap, tap.

“W-Wait.”

Suddenly, I heard hurried footsteps behind me, and something tugged at the hem of my dress.

Startled, I turned around to see the scruffy boy grabbing my dress.

Now that he was standing, he looked much taller than I had expected. He had seemed so small and frail while lying on the ground.

‘He’s three years older than me, isn’t he?’

“You, you’re her, right?”

“…”

“The Saintess candidate, Belze.”

As I was trying to gauge Ismail’s age, he suddenly spoke my name.

I almost nodded out of habit, but then my eyes widened as I looked at him again.

“You… You can talk?”

Wasn’t he supposed to have lost his voice and become mute?

‘Come to think of it… he did ask me to save him earlier, didn’t he?’

He hadn’t made a sound when the other kids were mocking him or beating him, though…

The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

“…”

Ismail bit his lip, looking uncomfortable under my inquisitive gaze.

It seemed he didn’t want to explain why he had been pretending to be mute.

And honestly, I didn’t care to know.

‘I’m not going to see him again after today anyway.’

I tugged on my dress to free it from his grip and said, “I need to go. Bye.”

“I faked it.”

At that moment, he spoke again, breaking his silence.

“I pretended to lose my voice because I knew I’d lose my powers if I didn’t.”

“…”

“You know the Chamber of Repentance, right?”

His deep brown eyes looked at me with certainty, as if assuming I would understand.

“To survive in there, I had to act like I lost my voice.”