TVWRL Chapter 3
Today’s official schedule was to visit the slums. Because I’ve lived by the principle of “strong to the weak, weak to the strong,” I was worried about inadvertently harming the poor.
Moreover, this place was where Ilyas, one of the male leads, accidentally sees the female protagonist, Leona. As in most romance novels, the male lead will be captivated by the heroine’s delicate appearance and will be drawn straight into her orbit, following the usual cliché.
This made me seriously ponder how to disrupt this scenario without ruining the main characters’ emotional arcs since I can’t damage the original story.
*
Leona and I, along with twenty priests of the Myaria Church and the accompanying holy knights, went to the lowest social class area in the Kinsteria Empire. The high-ranking priest, who saw us off, dressed it up by saying it would be a visit of enlightenment, engaging from a lower position in a lower place, but I knew the truth. This visit was another means to distinguish the true saint.
*
When the carriage finally stopped, and there was a knock on the door, Leona’s gaze fell on me. She was looking at me, seated inside rather than herself. Typical of the heroine, Leona was generally mild-mannered and affable. However, because she was ingrained with aristocratic values, she often tried to boss me around when we were alone. Her tendency to constantly order people around was her greatest flaw. If I hadn’t entered the novel, I would never have known this about her, which led to my disappointment.
It was like seeing a celebrity’s contrasting behavior on and off camera. Anyway, Leona’s hidden side made it clear that this was indeed the world of a book.
“Ahem.”
Adeline, the villainess, wouldn’t have stood up under Leona’s persistent signals, but I, living as a freelancer, couldn’t resist and stood up.
‘What’s the big deal?’
Knock, knock!
When I knocked, the carriage door opened, revealing the holy knight waiting to escort us. Leona pushed past me with a bright smile and got out first. I was a bit taken aback, but I didn’t feel like arguing. After all, my goal was to resign, not to compete for the saint’s position.
I quietly followed her. People surrounded us, cheering, applauding, and gazing at us with admiration. The slum dwellers really did see us as goddesses, as if we were their saviors. Leona responded with a bright smile that seemed capable of saving them, but I struggled to hide my shocked expression.
The reality of the slums, seen with my own eyes, was appalling. Not only were the people’s appearances distressing, but their eyes also lacked hope. They were completely different from anyone I had met since entering the book. Their eyes were shadowed, their faces gaunt, and their clothing ragged. The difference between reading about it and seeing it in person was so vast that even looking at them was difficult. I had never imagined that the bottom of the Kinsteria Empire would be this dire. The slums’ reality was truly devastating.
“This way, please.”
We followed the priest’s guidance. In the novel, Leona captures the hearts of both the poor and the priests with her genuine tears and heartfelt concern during this visit. Adeline, on the other hand, was depicted as only outwardly kind, lacking the sincerity needed to move people. Here I was, determined to make a mess of things, yet feeling horrified.
‘How can you smile in this situation?’
For a moment, I doubted Leona’s sincerity, but I brushed it off. What mattered to me was getting the Church to give up on me. And I couldn’t interfere with the heroine and the male lead’s meeting. This novel was not just about Leona’s growth story but also the men who loved her.
*
The romance fantasy novel, **The Perfect Saintess’s Condition**, follows this storyline. The heroine, Leona, overcomes the interference of the villainess, Adeline, to become the most perfect saint in history. She is passionately courted by the crown prince and the tower lord, typical of a romance fantasy. I got hooked on this run-of-the-mill novel because the author paid meticulous attention to even the minor characters. Each extra had their own story, which captivated me.
If someone wrote a novel about the world I lived in, I would also be just an extra. Seeing the extras in the Kinsteria Empire gave me comfort, as if someone recognized that we, too, were living our lives just as diligently. That was why, despite being over three hundred chapters long, the novel was still unfinished.
Of all things, I ended up possessing the villainess in a novel where the author painstakingly crafted each character. Adeline was inherently wicked, with a nasty personality, malicious intentions, and brimming with greed. She could have become a symbol of power as a saint, so even nobles sought her favor. Though it was more about currying favor with the Myaria Church than Adeline herself.
Having tasted power thanks to her divine ability from a young age, Adeline could never give up the saint’s position. She wanted to reach the pinnacle of power by any means necessary. Thus, she relentlessly harassed other saint candidates, including Leona, using any means possible. Ultimately, Adeline’s desire for power led her to commit heinous acts.
Eventually, her attempts to kill Leona are discovered by the male leads, and her previous misdeeds are exposed. She is publicly executed, ending her life. After Adeline’s death, the story focuses on finding the male protagonist. While serving as a saint, Leona can’t marry, so the male leads passionately pursue her, waiting for her to step down. This is where I stopped reading before the serialization was discontinued.
***
“Squeal!”
Leona’s scream brought me back to reality as she stumbled on the steep and rough path. Looking down, I realized how far we had come from our starting point. We had climbed quite a distance, and just around the corner, we’d reach the inevitable scene where Leona sheds tears.
As in the book, there was a father holding his child who had collapsed from hunger in the alley.
“Wait a moment.”
Leona approached the father, kneeling down to meet his eyes.
The fact that she knelt to the level of a commoner and didn’t care about dirtying her expensive dress made people feel her sincerity and deeply moved them, gasps of admiration arose from those around her.
‘Living a life where you get praised just for kneeling and dirtying your dress. I’m really envious, Leona.’
While I was having such pointless thoughts, I heard Leona’s voice.
“What’s the matter? If your child is sick, I’ll call for a priest to help.”
“It’s not that. My child fainted from hunger, Saintess.”
“What?”
‘Leona probably has never experienced or even imagined such a thing.’
I thought this was why she looked not just surprised but utterly shocked. Leona, dumbfounded, caressed the child’s cheek.
“How did this happen…?”
Tears as large as hen’s eggs fell from her eyes onto the child’s face, and the father spoke again with a sorrowful expression.
“It’s because I’m incompetent and couldn’t provide for my child, Saintess. Please, punish me for my shortcomings.”
The father bowed his head to the ground, blaming himself for his inadequacy.
“No, it’s my fault as a deficient Saintess. I should have prayed more diligently to the Goddess Aria.”
“No, Saintess, I am sorry for causing you concern. Please forgive my inadequacy.”
“Forgiveness? Nonsense.”
Leona bowed her head with a sorrowful expression.
“It seems that incidents like this occur because I am unworthy as a Saintess.”
Leona swallowed her tears with a mournful face and then took off the necklace she was wearing, handing it to the father.
“It’s not much, but please take it.”
The necklace was studded with precious jewels, likely worth enough to buy a house for commoners. The father’s face turned even paler.
“No, Saintess. How can I accept such a precious gift? Just receiving your grace today is more than enough for me.”
In my mind, I was shouting for him to take the necklace.
‘Grace won’t fill your stomach. Leona, you have plenty of those necklaces, so just take it.’
But contrary to my very realistic wish, the father adamantly refused, and Leona insisted with a stern look. It was unclear who or what this battle was for.
In the end, Leona blamed herself and cried incessantly. Finally, the father took the necklace with a tearful expression, as if handling a sacred relic. He wept, as did the surrounding people.
The foolishness of it all was both bitter and infuriating.
‘They’re acting like typical protagonists in a novel, as if today is the only day they’ll live.’
I couldn’t believe that the Saintess of the most powerful group in the empire thought this was a solution. They thanked her and revered her without addressing the root of the problem.
Fuming with anger, I spoke out in a sharp voice.
“Why is what happened your fault, Father? The greatest blame lies with the incompetence and corruption of the Kinsteria Empire and the Myaria Church, which is ruining the country.”
Frankly, the biggest reason the Kinsteria Empire fell was due to the Myaria Order. Unfortunately, the imperial family was just a facade, and the Myaria Order was the true power behind the scenes.
“Instead of blaming yourself for doing nothing, demand that the priests and the emperor let you do something.”
The father looked at me in a daze, but I continued without caring.
“Leona, as a Saintess, instead of offering temporary relief, you should be devising long-term plans to care for these people. Prayers don’t produce bread or meat. Instead of just leeching off the blood of the empire’s people, pressure the Order to take action. Isn’t that the way to become a perfect Saintess?”
At my resonant voice, the priests’ faces turned aghast, and Leona looked at me in shock, her tears drying up instantly.
Hell yeah, tell them about themselves.