Gabrielle, who had been waiting for Ted’s answer, was also somewhat taken aback. She hadn’t anticipated Ted responding in this manner. She had naturally assumed he would support her along with Acid.

The unexpectedly fierce look on his face was something she had never seen before.

Just as Gabrielle was about to speak with a bewildered expression, Ted beat her to it.

“If you knew, why did you specifically call for me to attend the tea party that day and stay there for so long? Was it to prevent my meeting with Acid?”

She was caught off guard for a moment.

Gabrielle rubbed her parched lips with the back of her hand and mumbled.

“Well, I… I didn’t think that little Acid was particularly important. If I had known he was a healer, I might have thought differently, but anyway. Isn’t it more important for you to guard me at my tea party, don’t you think?”

Watching Gabrielle mutter and stumble over her words, Ted’s expression grew even colder.

The priestess’s ugly side was becoming more and more apparent.

“Whether Acid is a healer or not, he is my precious younger brother.”

“Even if he’s a beggar?”

“Yes. It doesn’t matter what he is.”

A sharp anger flickered across Gabrielle’s face.

“More than… more than me?”

Ted felt it was a waste of time to devote any more to Gabrielle.

His gaze turned as cold as thin ice.

“Do I really need to say that with my own mouth?”

“That’s…”

“I have never once thought of you, Lady Gabrielle, as the master I serve.”

Until now, he had overlooked things thinking she was just a young girl, but now he had completely closed his heart to her.

Gabrielle clenched her teeth, her face shocked.

“Lies. How dare you…!”

“I’m being sincere. If you truly thought of me as your knight, you shouldn’t have acted so selfishly.”

As he looked at Gabrielle, Ted’s mind flashed to Sien’s clear face.

The face of that wise child who had given him such an immense favor by finding Acid, and then gave him the choice.

And then…

Ted spoke with the same resolve he had made to serve Sien.

“I will be leaving the temple now.”

“What…!”

Gabrielle’s face turned pale as if she had realized something had gone terribly wrong.

“I’m going to leave the temple and join Acid.”

“Ted!”

Gabrielle shouted as if in a frenzy.

“If you leave like this, I’ll never see you again!”

Ted laughed coldly at her words.

“That would be an honor.”

Bang.

The door closed with a loud sound.

It was a perfect separation.

***

After Ted left with a cold expression, Gabrielle was left alone.

She bit her nails until they bled, then suddenly stopped.

She couldn’t allow herself to be this weak.

Like the strong Melodia, the woman from the streets who had raised her…

She had reached out to Gabrielle, the insignificant third daughter of a fallen noble family. She told her that she had holy power.

‘Go to the Senoa Temple, Gabrielle.’

‘What…?’

‘Make sure to win over the people of the temple. Like the future saint you are.’

‘Fu-future saint?’

At that moment, what flashed through Gabrielle’s mind, which had been filled with inferiority complexes, was…

A splendid debutante.

All sorts of magnificent carriages.

Elegant knights from noble families, and people who only had eyes for her.

‘If you become a saint in our empire, you can have everything. Even the position of the flower of high society won’t be out of reach.’

Melodia had told her to wait at the Senoa Temple.

She said that if she dominated the Senoa Temple, the world would call for Gabrielle. That the entire world would be arranged for Gabrielle.

Soon Melodia would become a saint, and Gabrielle could succeed her as the next generation saint…

But how did things end up like this?

Gabrielle bit her lip hard as she recalled Melodia’s words.

‘You need to win Ted’s heart. Act like a lovable young girl.’

‘Yes…’

‘You must never try to subdue a holy knight by physical means. They’re beings whose true abilities are only displayed when their hearts are opened.’

But the holy knight’s heart was set to open for Sien Mirmod, that damned little brat.

Ted, whom Melodia had said she must absolutely obtain, was planning to leave the temple.

According to the papal office’s policy, even if a holy knight going through the process of returning to secular life had a period of contemplation, they could leave the temple immediately.

Even if she tried to forcibly keep him here, the words ‘a being whose true abilities are only displayed when their heart is opened’ nagged at her.

How did the situation end up like this? She had thought it would be smooth sailing until she became a saint.

‘…This can’t be happening.’

The things she could have had were falling apart one by one.

And finally, Melodia’s words floated up in Gabrielle’s mind.

‘It probably won’t happen, but if there’s a problem, call for me. I’ll save you.’

She remembered Melodia’s bright white smile.

She had gone somewhere with the Pope’s hand in hers, but she should be able to receive letters.

Yes. There’s no way Lady Melodia could be wrong.

She was a very precious daughter of God.

Unlike that stupid and foolish child Sien.

That child was just lucky, but Gabrielle herself was planning to pioneer the world.

At last, Gabrielle began to write a letter.

***

After eating lunch that day, I yawned.

Since I was destroying the content of the original work, it was about time to reorganize the timeline of again.

If not much has changed, Melodia in would now be in the process of expanding her influence to become a saint.

Her power was growing to the point of overwhelming the Pope.

And then… after falling in love with the Crown Prince, she joined hands with him to massacre the Mirmod family.

‘Looking at this, Saint Melodia doesn’t seem to be just a good person.’

Maybe I’m thinking too much from the perspective of the Mirmod family members.

Although it’s a minor detail, the evil deeds of the villainous Mirmod family were described relatively in detail. It was as if the Mirmod family must necessarily fall, and Melodia’s massacre of the villain family was portrayed as if it were natural.

‘But surely there must be many innocent people in this family too, for example, like my dad or the muscular maid sisters… they’re good people. There’s no need to massacre everyone.’

Maybe because I was empathizing from the victim’s perspective, no matter how I thought about it, Melodia’s actions didn’t seem righteous.

‘I’m not going to live according to the original work. I’m just going to save my people my own way.’

I sighed deeply, poof, and started counting Melodia’s actions.

Right now, she would be outside the empire, in the eastern continent, spreading the word about the temple’s good deeds along with the Pope, while sweeping up valuable talents and magical tools from the eastern continent. Among those talents was someone who could steal others’ powers.

If I were to confront Melodia, that person who could steal others’ powers would be a major variable.

‘When Ted arrives later, I should also find out more details about the temple and the saint. About their forces too.’

As it was confirmed that my foolish dad was a member of the Mirmod family, I had to be careful in dealing with the protagonist of the original work.

I would need to make thorough plans in preparation for when I face them in the future.

‘For now, I’ll take a nap first…’

I grabbed my tired head tightly and let out a deep sigh.

If I let my mind wander, my thoughts turn childlike again.

Today was similar. Especially, I keep nodding off.

But right at that moment.

The muscular maid sisters knocked on the door, knock knock, and entered.

“Lady Sien!”

“I’m going to sleep…”

My speech became even more slurred due to sleepiness, and the end of my words became more blurred. If it wasn’t really important news, I just wanted to lie down and sleep today.

But then. The maid who grasped my soft hand as if holding a rice cake said,

“A holy knight named Ted has arrived.”

“What?”

My eyes snapped open at the mention of Ted.

This was a superhuman realm that even my lagging physical abilities couldn’t interfere with.

***

At the same time, Acid also heard that Ted had arrived.

Acid, who had been debating whether to go down to meet his brother or not, finally made a decision after hearing the maids’ whispers.

‘If I meet my brother, I’ll be able to see Sien again too.’

Although he wasn’t fully aware of the principle behind his actions, he was following Sien like a baby bird following its mother.

‘…I’ll just act cool with my brother.’

Perhaps because they hadn’t had a proper conversation yet, his anger towards his brother who hadn’t searched for him hadn’t completely subsided.

Of course, in his mind, he knows his brother wouldn’t have abandoned him.

He saw his brother’s desperate expression when they first met.

‘But even on the day of the holy power test, my brother wasn’t there…’

With these complex feelings, Acid descended the stairs and finally reached the reception room where Sien and his brother were said to be.

The door to the reception room was slightly open.

The muscular maids guarding the front nodded to Acid and whispered with their lips.

‘Hey kid, go on in.’

Encouraged by their casual words, Acid opened the door slightly, and at that moment, he encountered a somewhat peculiar scene.

His brother, Ted, was kneeling on one knee like a knight, holding someone’s hand reverently.

It might have looked a bit ridiculous since the person standing in front wasn’t an elegant lady but a very small, cotton candy-like girl, but…

Perhaps because he was wearing the attire of a holy knight.

His brother’s oath seemed very solemn.

And then a baritone voice flowed from Ted’s mouth.

“I want to make a knight’s oath to Lady Sien right now.”

It was clearly his brother.

Even though he was resentful, his heart had been gradually softening, but…

The moment his brother said he would make a knight’s oath to Sien, his heart felt like it was about to freeze.

‘Brother is making a knight’s oath to Sien…’

A knight’s oath.

Every knight has only one lady in their lifetime.

The fact that his brother, Ted’s lady would be Sien meant… that Sien would have someone to protect her.

He wanted to be the one to protect Sien.

Acid, standing in the doorway, quietly slumped his shoulders.

Unlike himself, who wasn’t yet an adult and had no knowledge of healers… his brother was a perfect adult, and in a position where he could make an oath to Sien.

It should be a good thing for Sien. The small girl could survive against the evil Matthias Mirmod, so he should congratulate her.

Strangely…

Why did his heart ache at the fact that Sien had many people to protect her, even if it wasn’t him?

It was right at that moment.

Once again, Sien noticed him first, standing quietly in the doorway.

“Oh? Baby?”

And she welcomed him as if it was natural, smiling brightly.

“Come here!”

Acid followed Sien’s command as if it was natural, as if his earlier hesitation had been a lie. Even then, Ted was still holding Sien’s hand.

His eyelashes were lowered, as if he was about to make his oath.

“I, I want to too.”

Seeing this, a hot flame flickered in Acid’s eyes.

“I want to do it too.”

He didn’t even stutter.

Sien tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“Huh? What do you want to do?”

Her expression seemed to ask, what is it that you want to do?

Acid gathered all the courage from within and opened his mouth.

“I want to make an oath of loyalty too!”