“What? What do you mean?”

“According to the records, the power should be enough to fill a room with light and have some left over. Today, the Great Saint’s light rose high but only spread around the vicinity.”

Maxium spoke with a doubtful expression, but Cole answered nonchalantly.

“Ah, that. I thought it was something serious. The artifact doesn’t always shine like that. It can happen when the Great Saint’s condition isn’t good.”

“Isn’t that strange then?”

“What’s strange about it? She’s already been verified and ascended to the position of Great Saint. It’s been almost a year.”

Maxium cast a suspicious glance. It was too unsettling to accept such an explanation. Cole shook his head as if Maxium was the one being strange.

“Look, Maxium. What are you thinking? Do you know how many people were present when Ivy showed her healing power to ascend to the position of Great Saint? Over ten people, including the Grand Priest and other priests, gathered to verify it. They say Saint Ivy emitted an incredible light that day. You wouldn’t know because you were in the archives, but the light was so big and beautiful that it covered the entire temple. Everyone knows about it.”

Of course, Maxium had heard about it too.

That’s why it made even less sense! You fool! Maxium widened his eyes, unable to accept it further.

“The difference between the size of the light then and now is too big. It’s strange.”

“Don’t you know? The Great Saint is desperately searching for her friend.”

“What does her friend have to do with her condition?”

“She’s just too kind, that’s why. She said she can’t sleep well because she’s worried about her friend and always feels uneasy. The Great Saint said her condition would return once she finds her friend.”

She looked too well for that to be the case. Cole, not hearing Maxium’s mumbling, patted his shoulder.

“Anyway, thanks for your help. I’ll treat you to something delicious next time!”

Cole took the artifact and left for the High Priest’s room.

Maxium couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

When he arrived at the archives, there was a small note on his desk. It was a message from Duke Edan.

“My Lord.”

Edan, who had been staring out the window with his arms crossed, turned around.

“Ruben.”

Ruben, with his sword neatly fastened at his waist, bowed deeply.

“Maxium is coming on the promised Friday, as you requested.”

“Did you relay the message?”

“I thought it would be better to explain the details in person, so I only conveyed that you wanted to secretly meet with Great Saint Ivy.”

“And the response?”

“He said he would make arrangements. We agreed to finalize the rest of the conversation on Friday.”

Seemingly satisfied with the desired answer, Edan slowly closed and opened his eyes before nodding slightly and shifting his gaze back to the window.

Ruben’s gaze followed Edan’s to the front yard.

As expected, at the end of Edan’s gaze was Latieana Merigold.

Lost in some kind of contemplation, Latieana was crouched in the garden, quietly looking at the collapsed castle wall.

It was a complex appearance that seemed both painful and lonely at a glance.

Several days had already passed since Jenald’s fraudulent actions were exposed.

Ruben, who had been quietly observing alongside Edan, asked.

“But are you really going to send her to the temple?”

She was the only woman with the impossibly perfect healing power they had been waiting for.

Whatever the power of Latieana’s healing ability, she was now someone Edan absolutely didn’t want to let go of, and Ruben felt the same. She was a precious woman who could alleviate the suffering of his master, for whom he could even sacrifice his life.

“If that’s what she wants, we’ll have to let her go.”

“But something could go wrong. Considering that the Great Saint sent Hillstain, it’s definitely not something to be taken lightly.”

“Ruben.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Edan continued speaking while still gazing out the window.

“Latieana knew.”

“Knew… what exactly?”

“That she would die if she went to the temple.”

“What?”

How could she know about such highly confidential information? Was that why she had run away, fearing death?

Because she knew her healing power was insignificant compared to her friend, the Great Saint?

“Then we definitely shouldn’t send her, right?”

“Well, the situation has changed. Hillstain told her that Ivy is looking for her.”

“So she knows everything? Even that Ivy put forth such conditions?”

“It doesn’t seem like she knows that far, but she absolutely doesn’t want to go to the temple. My guess is that if she meets the Great Saint, she might ask her to stop looking for her.”

“…Do you think it will be resolved that easily?”

As if that could happen. Edan raised one corner of his mouth in a sardonic smile.

The Great Saint had lied.

She had put forth the highest condition she could offer just to bring in one friend.

Does that make sense? Ivy’s words and Latieana’s words were completely contradictory.

And of course, Edan believed Latieana.

Ruben, who had been staring at Latieana with a troubled expression, hesitated for a moment before speaking with a serious face.

“She looks drained. How many hours has she been like that…”

“Two hours.”

“Pardon?”

Incredulous, Ruben looked at Edan and then back at Latieana.

Her cherry blossom-colored hair gently fluttered in the afternoon breeze behind her back, which looked even smaller due to her crouched posture. The only warmly colored figure in the all-green garden. Just then, the sunlight that had been shining down on her was obscured by a large cloud, casting a shadow. It made her back view look even more lonely.

“It must have been quite a shock. I thought she looked innocent, but to think she actually fell for such a scam. Even though she didn’t lose much money, being betrayed by a man she believed to be her fiancé for months must have left some aftereffects.”

“Maybe I should have stomped him to death after all?”

Edan’s brow furrowed unpleasantly at the thought of Jenald.

“…You already stomped him quite thoroughly, didn’t you?”

“He didn’t die though.”

“Yes, but he was on the brink of death.”

Ruben briefly recalled Jenald’s final appearance.

Compared to Edan’s usual aftermath of tearing monsters to shreds, it was barely a warm-up, but the target was human after all.

Still, considering Jenald’s loose lips about Latieana that day, Edan had been quite lenient.

Edan let out a faint sneer, as if regretting it.

“I let him live because it ended with just a monetary scam. If he had touched her, I would have killed him.”

“Yes, you showed great restraint. Miss Latieana will surely be relieved by your mercy. Even though he was a con artist, she might have felt guilty if he had actually died.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Crimes like fraud are usually punished with penalties, not death.”

“What a pity.”

Ruben looked at Latieana again.

“Why don’t you go and comfort her?”

Comfort…

“How?”

Edan’s gaze, which had been fixed on Latieana, shifted to Ruben.

“Well… I’ve heard that buying something they like can improve their mood. Women like pretty things, so maybe a gift would work?”

“What kind of gift?”

Ruben, who had been as distant from women as Edan and immersed only in the war against monsters, couldn’t provide an answer even if asked. He stammered, recalling conversations he had overheard from other knights.

“Well, you know, shiny things like necklaces or earrings.”

At those words, Edan glanced down at Latieana. Despite giving her quite a generous salary, there was no sign of sparkling jewelry anywhere on her.

“Latieana doesn’t seem to like such things.”

“Well, Your Grace’s princess is rather modest and doesn’t have many possessions. But I’ve never seen a woman who dislikes such things.”

Edan blinked slowly, as if deep in thought.

Shiny things, huh? Should I just buy out an entire boutique?

“If you remember anything that Miss Latieana has said was pretty before, that would be even better.”

At those words, Edan’s eyes sparkled as he smiled.

Something pretty that she likes. As it happens, I know just the thing.

There’s nothing to do. I’m just waiting for the day Edan will arrange for me to meet Ivy.

Anyone who sees me now might think I’m very sad because I was scammed. Sad? No. Not at all.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t hurt, but right now I don’t even have time to be sad about the wounds inflicted by Jenald’s scam.

In a situation where my life is hanging by a thread, Jenald’s fraud only fueled my determination to live well, as if to prove a point.

So for the past few days, I’ve been thinking about the answer to the homework Edan gave me.

‘Not bad. So what are you going to do, how much, and in what way?’

I didn’t have any specific method in mind. I just said it thinking that if I made a good impression, he might grant my request sooner.

Even after crouching in the garden for hours every day, pondering, there was only one thing I could do.

I’m not richer than Edan, I don’t have a powerful background, and I’m not physically strong, so the answer was to use my healing power as usual.

But… the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt, because Edan might interpret ‘doing well’ differently from me.

Judging by Edan’s usual behavior…

Various incidents with Edan flashed through my mind.

No way! Surely not! Really, no way! I didn’t include that kind of meaning when I said I’d do well, right?

I’m not Ivy, you know.

There are times when I acutely realize that this is an R-rated novel, and it’s whenever Edan approaches me in that way.

It’s not just Edan. The other male leads like Hillstain, Prince Killian, and Dante were all like that in the original work.

At first to escape the pain, then becoming addicted to Ivy’s healing power, and finally simply enjoying the pleasure of being with her. They spent time exploring each other day and night without hesitation.

In such a place, Ivy was the protagonist optimized to be the Great Saint.

After all, healing power is fully realized through skinship or such acts.

Even in the side story where she subdued Edan, who was rampaging mad after selling his soul to black magic, and spent time with him for treatment purposes, it was full of such scenes.

Spending nights with different male leads in turn.