The High Priest, visibly flustered enough to break out in cold sweat across his forehead as he listened to me, finally spoke.

“You must realize how selfish it is to refuse the position despite clearly possessing all the qualifications of a Grand Saintess!”

So this is coercion. You’re going to play it this way?

I turned my gaze away from the fountain and fixed him with a glare.

“What exactly is selfish here?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’?”

“Yes. I genuinely don’t understand. I told His Highness the Crown Prince that day—I could at least brew potions for him.”

“Exactly!”

“But it was His Highness who rejected that offer. You were present there too, weren’t you?”

The High Priest drew in a sharp breath, eyes widening as if he’d just realized my point.

“He didn’t reject it! He merely stated he intended to change the law!”

“To me, that’s the same thing.”

Seeing that reason wouldn’t work, the High Priest clenched his lips shut. His beard twitched annoyingly again.

“What’s the problem if the law changes? The role of the Grand Saintess was always meant for this. If you’re simply not yet accustomed to direct healing, time will resolve that. After a few attempts, any sense of embarrassment will vanish entirely. Every Grand Saintess before you did it—even Ivy the Witch, who was fake, performed the duty well. It makes no sense to claim the real you cannot do it!”

Here we go again. I knew you’d say this.

You said the same thing last time—as if my personality or willpower didn’t matter at all, whether I wanted it or not.

“Even if every previous Grand Saintess could do it, I still can’t.”

Suppressing my anger, I enunciated each word clearly. The High Priest pressed his lips together once more and sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“I don’t entirely fail to understand why you’re acting this way—but the healing power of the Grand Saintess does not exist solely for Duke Edan Dietrich!”

At those words, something inside my head snapped.

“High Priest.”

At the sudden calm, lowered tone of my voice, the High Priest flinched slightly at the bridge of his nose.

I stepped forward, closing the distance between us.

“The person in the Empire who uses the most supernatural power and sacrifices the most—is Duke Edan Dietrich, correct? Do you admit that?”

“…Yes.”

“But Crown Prince Killian Dietrich forbade him from entering the temple.”

The High Priest choked slightly on his breath. I didn’t need his answer—I continued.

“It’s not just a simple ban on entry. You blocked him from receiving any healing power. Everyone else lives comfortably, receiving healing for mere discomfort and potions too—yet the Duke, who needed healing most, received nothing! And you, High Priest, agreed to that!”

The High Priest protested indignantly at my accusation.

“How dare you see me as such a person! Grand Saintess, you may not know this, but potions were indeed delivered to the Duke!”

Oh, please. As if I wouldn’t know that.

“True, it was done secretly—but His Majesty the Emperor consistently bestowed potions upon the Duke! And the one who delivered them? That was me! Me!”

The High Priest pounded his chest with his palm, beard trembling violently. The old man sure had energy.

“Do you understand? Thanks to me, the Duke has been able to—!”

“Liar.”

I stepped even closer and grabbed the High Priest by the collar.

“You gave him fake potions diluted with half water.”

At my words, the High Priest’s face instantly darkened.

The temple and the imperial court—all of them are in cahoots. Damned humans.

How dare you pretend to show kindness with half-watered fake medicine? Who’s really the selfish one here?

“If I come to the temple, will you allow me to keep using my healing power for Duke Edan?”

“That, that is…”

The High Priest frowned but ultimately couldn’t give an answer.

I smirked coldly, lifting one corner of my mouth.

“There you go. After leaving the Duke in agony for so long, you say that? Let me make this clear—I only want to heal the Duke. Understood?”

He probably thought it was nonsense. I knew it sounded a bit forced. But it was my genuine truth.

“If you ascend as Grand Saintess, you gain the right to choose one person to prioritize for healing at any time. Use that—”

“Yes, I won’t fall for it. If you say you’ll heal Edan, that right will vanish as if it never existed.”

At my sharpened tone, the High Priest fell silent. Then, trembling slightly with his fists, he finally spoke in a low, resolute voice.

“Then we have no choice.”

“No choice for what?”

“We’ll have to bring you here by force.”

Ha. I let out a hollow laugh and brushed off the High Priest’s collar I’d been gripping.

“Once the imperial court intervenes, no matter how hard Duke of the North resists, you’ll eventually bring the Grand Saintess to the temple.”

The space fell momentarily silent. In the brief pause following the High Priest’s determined declaration, I heard Ruben’s teeth grind audibly.

Turning my head, I saw Ruben gripping his sword so tightly veins bulged on his hand.

His eyes, fixed on the High Priest, held equal parts contempt and hatred.

I swiftly turned back to face the High Priest.

“So you only need me—but you’re choosing to make an enemy of me.”

“Enemy? His Highness the Crown Prince is fully aware of this matter! How long do you think you can resist?”

“As long as I possibly can.”

I can’t be bound to the temple like this.

“What absurd nonsense is this…”

Watching the flustered High Priest, I continued.

“So your plan is to inform the imperial court of my existence, forcibly bring me here, and exploit my healing power at the temple? Is that all?”

At my words, the High Priest’s beard twitched again.

“You must fulfill your duties as Grand Saintess.”

The High Priest frowned, clearly refusing to back down.

Thinking about it, siding with the imperial court over Edan—a bastard—makes sense. My power is useless except for healing. So, as the High Priest said, once the imperial court intervenes, even if Edan tries to protect me, it’s only a matter of time before I’m dragged to the temple.

Opposing the imperial court will only brand Edan as a traitor. But if I go to the temple, Edan might be the first to stir up trouble—he’s certainly capable of that.

I can’t let that happen. In this hopeless situation, I have only one option.

“Go ahead.”

The startled High Priest blinked rapidly.

“What?”

“I said, go ahead. Do it.”

The High Priest’s face twisted, clearly unable to comprehend my intention. Even after I told him to try, he hesitated.

It wasn’t just him. Ruben, who had stood silently like a shadow, couldn’t hide his bewilderment and spoke for the first time.

“Lady Latieana Merigold?”

“Ah, no… you’re really going to do it?”

“Yes. Do it.”

The High Priest looked visibly shaken by my sudden shift.

He glanced at Ruben, as if seeking interpretation of my actions—but Ruben was equally stunned. Amid their confusion, I slowly spoke again.

“But in return, the temple will only get the corpse of the Grand Saintess.”

The High Priest’s mouth fell open. Ruben’s expression mirrored his shock.

“Lady Latieana Merigold!”

“After I die, who knows when the next Grand Saintess will appear? Last time, it took five years. After me, it might be another few years—or if we’re lucky, within a year. If unlucky, perhaps ten or twenty years.”

“Are you seriously staking your life on this?!”

“Yes. Why not?”

Hearing my calm, resolute declaration, the High Priest’s pupils trembled uncontrollably under waves of shock and anxiety.

“Choose. Eternal secrets don’t exist anyway. The truth that the Grand Saintess was a witch will be revealed quickly, and you’ll face the Empire’s condemnation. Oh, and not just you—the imperial court’s prestige will plummet too.”

“…!”

“Since I’ve already decided to die, how about I leave a will claiming I was killed by a witch because the imperial court and temple failed to protect me? That’d be quite entertaining, wouldn’t it?”

“Are you insane?!”

Watching his corn-silk beard tremble violently, I promptly replied.

“Yes. I suppose I am.”

The High Priest’s flushed face was beyond frantic—he pressed his forehead, gasped for breath, pounded his chest, then nearly tore off his priestly hat.

After repeating this several times, he finally sighed deeply and spoke.

“F, fine. Then—how far are you willing to go?”

“I’ve clearly stated I can brew ample potions. There’s no one urgently requiring direct healing right now anyway.”

“You mean right now. The Empire isn’t stable. If the number of monsters suddenly surges, direct healing will be unavoidable for the sake of our full strength—especially for Commander Hillstain Mathias.”

“What if he says he’s fine with it?”

“For now, perhaps we’d let it slide. But if the Empire descends into chaos from monster attacks, forced healing will be necessary. Powerful supernatural users must always remain in peak condition. Monsters could inflict massive damage within a day or two—in such emergencies, they’ll demand stronger, faster healing, not mere potions.”

Oh, really?

His words only made me angrier.

“High Priest. You understand very precisely that powerful supernatural users must always remain in peak condition.”

“Well, naturally—as the temple’s chief administrator—uh…”

The High Priest fell silent.

He’d clearly intended to persuade me, but ended up essentially confessing that his own actions had pushed Edan into the worst possible position.

He shut his mouth and glanced furtively at Ruben, then cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Ahem. Anyway.”

“Have you decided?”

“Very well. We’ll proceed as you wish, Lady Grand Saintess. But I won’t take responsibility for the consequences. I’ll report the witch incident to Her Majesty the Empress, and state that while a Grand Saintess candidate exists, her condition is poor and we couldn’t properly verify her power. Will that suffice?”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Her Majesty the Empress?”

“Yes. She oversees the temple.”

Unbelievable—the Empress manages the temple?

“All major temple matters are first reported to Her Majesty the Empress of the imperial court. Since His Highness the Crown Prince possesses strong supernatural power, Her Majesty takes direct interest and manages it accordingly.”