The high priest, who had been listening to my words with cold sweat on his forehead, said:

“Realize how selfish it is to refuse to take the position when you have sufficient qualities as a Great Saint!”

It’s a threat. Is this how he’s going to play it?

I turned my gaze from the fountain and glared at the high priest.

“What’s selfish about it?”

“W-what do you mean… what?”

“Yes. I don’t understand at all. I told His Highness the Crown Prince that day. That I could make potions.”

“That!”

“But it was His Highness who refused. High Priest, you were there too, weren’t you?”

The high priest took a deep breath and, as if he had noticed my mistake, said with wide eyes:

“He didn’t refuse! He only said he would change the law!”

“To me, that’s the same thing.”

Seeing that words were not getting through, the high priest clenched his teeth. His beard swayed annoyingly again.

“What’s the problem with changing the law? That’s originally the role of the Great Saint. If you’re not used to direct healing yet, time will solve it. After doing it a few times, any embarrassment will disappear without a trace. All Great Saints until now have done it, and even the fake Ivy witch performed it well. It doesn’t make sense that you, the real one, can’t do it!”

The same old story again. I knew he would come at me like this.

He talked like this last time too. As if my personality or will doesn’t matter at all, whether I want it or not.

“Even if previous Great Saints were able to do such things, I can’t.”

As I spoke slowly while suppressing my anger, the high priest clenched his lips again and rubbed his forehead as if lamenting.

“While I understand why you’re doing this, the Great Saint’s healing power doesn’t exist solely for Duke Edan!”

At those words, I felt like a string in my mind snapped.

“High Priest.”

The high priest’s nose twitched at my suddenly calm, lowered voice.

I stepped forward, approaching the high priest.

“The person who uses and sacrifices the most ability in the empire is Duke Edan, right? Isn’t that correct? Do you admit it?”

“…That is correct.”

“But Crown Prince Killian has banned the Duke from entering the temple.”

The high priest’s breath caught. I didn’t need his answer, so I continued speaking.

“It’s not just a simple entry ban. It’s preventing him from receiving healing power. While everyone else receives healing power for even trivial pain and gets potions to live comfortably! The Duke, who needed healing the most, received nothing! And you agreed to this, didn’t you!”

At my sharp words, the high priest spoke as if feeling wronged.

“H-how dare you…! You may not know this, Great Saint, but potions were delivered to the Duke as well!”

This is ridiculous. Why wouldn’t I know that?

“Although it was done secretly, His Majesty the Emperor has been consistently granting potions to the Duke! And I was the one who handed them over! Me!”

The high priest patted his chest with his palm, shaking his beard. The old man sure has energy.

“Do you understand? Thanks to me, the Duke has been…”

“Fraud.”

Taking another step closer to him, I grabbed the high priest by the collar.

“Giving him fakes mixed with half water.”

At my words, the high priest’s complexion instantly darkened.

The temple, the imperial family, they’re all in cahoots. Damn humans.

How dare they pretend to be generous with fake medicine mixed with half water? Who’s really being selfish here.

“If I come to the temple, will you allow me to continuously use healing power for Duke Edan?”

“T-that…”

The high priest frowned but ultimately couldn’t give an answer.

I pulled up one corner of my mouth in a sardonic smile.

“See? After leaving the Duke in pain for so long, what are you saying? Let me make this clear, the only person I want to heal is the Duke. Do you understand?”

From his perspective, it must sound nonsensical. I know it’s a bit of a stretch too. But this was my true feeling.

“If you take the position of Great Saint, you’ll have the right to choose one person to heal with top priority at any time. Using that…”

“Yes, I’m not falling for it. If you say you’ll change the law, that’s the end of it.”

If I say I’ll use healing power on Edan, such rights will disappear as if they never existed in the first place.

At my sharp tone, the high priest closed his mouth. Then, trembling his fist, he opened his mouth in a subdued voice as if he had made a big decision.

“Then we have no choice.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ll have to forcibly bring you in.”

Ha. I let out a laugh and brushed off the high priest’s collar that I had been gripping.

“If the imperial family gets involved, no matter how much the Northern Duke tries to stop it, the Great Saint will eventually come to the temple.”

The space momentarily fell silent. In that brief silence after the high priest’s determined words, the sound of Ruben’s teeth grinding could be heard.

When I turned my head, Ruben was gripping his sword so tightly that veins were popping out on his hand.

His eyes looking at the high priest were filled half with contempt and half with hatred.

I turned sharply to look at the high priest.

“So you’re saying you’ll eventually make an enemy of me, even though you need me.”

“Enemy? His Highness the Crown Prince knows about this! How long do you think you can hold out?”

“Well, as long as I can.”

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

“What nonsense…”

Looking at the flustered high priest, I continued speaking.

“Your plan is to reveal my existence to the imperial family, forcibly bring me in, and use my healing power in the temple, is that it?”

At my words, the high priest’s beard twitched again.

“It’s telling you to do your duty as the Great Saint.”

The high priest frowned as if he wouldn’t back down.

Come to think of it, it makes sense to side with the imperial family rather than Edan, who’s an illegitimate child. My power is useless for anything other than healing. So as the high priest says, if the imperial family gets involved, it’s only a matter of time before I’m dragged to the temple, even if Edan tries to protect me.

There’s no point in going against the imperial family; it’ll only brand Edan as a traitor. But if I go to the temple, Edan might take action first. He’s certainly capable of that.

I can’t let that happen. In this hopeless situation, there’s only one method I can use.

“Go ahead.”

The flustered high priest blinked rapidly.

“Pardon?”

“I said, go ahead. Do it.”

The high priest’s face contorted as if he couldn’t understand my intention. Even though I told him to do it, he’s like this.

It wasn’t just the high priest. Ruben, who had been standing still like a shadow, couldn’t hide his bewilderment and spoke for the first time.

“Lady Latieana?”

“N-no… Are you serious?”

“Yes. Do it.”

The high priest seemed considerably flustered by my sudden change.

Then he looked at Ruben as if asking him to understand the meaning of my behavior. But Ruben is also in a state of confusion. Amid their confusion, I slowly uttered my next words.

“But then the temple will only get the Great Saint’s corpse.”

The high priest’s mouth fell open as he blinked. Ruben was the same.

“Lady Latieana!”

“After I die, who knows when the next Great Saint will appear. It was 5 years before, and after me, it could be several more years. If lucky, one might appear within a year, but if unlucky, it could take 10 or 20 years.”

“A-are you betting your life now!”

“Yes. There’s nothing I can’t bet.”

Hearing my words spoken calmly as if I had decided everything, the high priest’s pupils shook uncontrollably, overwhelmed with shock and anxiety.

“Choose. There are no eternal secrets anyway. The fact that the Great Saint was a witch will be quickly revealed, and you, High Priest, will face criticism from the empire’s people. Ah, not just you, the imperial family’s prestige will also plummet.”

“…!”

“Since I’ve decided to die anyway, how about I leave a will saying I died at the hands of a witch because the imperial family and temple failed to protect me? That would be quite interesting.”

“Have you gone mad!”

Looking at the trembling corn-silk beard, I quickly replied.

“Yes. I think I have gone mad.”

The high priest’s face, flushed red, was a sight to behold. He rubbed his forehead and took deep breaths, then pounded his chest, then tore at his priest’s hat.

After repeating this several times, he said with a deep sigh:

“F-fine. Then how much will you do?”

“I clearly said I could make enough potions. There’s no one who needs direct healing right now, is there?”

“That’s talking about now. The empire is not in a stable situation. If the number of magical beasts suddenly increases, we can’t avoid direct healing for the sake of our forces. Especially for Commander Hillstain.”

“What if he says it’s okay?”

“For now, he might let it slide. But if the empire is in chaos from magical beast attacks, healing must be done, even forcibly. The condition of strong ability users must always be at its best. Magical beasts can cause enormous damage to the empire even in a day or two, and in such emergencies, they’ll want faster healing with stronger power, not just potions.”

Ah, really?

The high priest’s words made me even angrier.

“High Priest. You know very accurately that the condition of strong ability users must be maintained at its best.”

“Of course, as the chief manager of the temple… uh…”

The high priest’s mouth closed.

It seems he wanted to persuade me somehow, but in the end, it’s no different from confessing to their actions that drove Edan to the worst situation.

The high priest, who closed his mouth and briefly glanced at Ruben, cleared his throat.

“Ahem, hem. Anyway.”

“Have you decided?”

“Alright. Then we’ll do as the Great Saint wishes. But I can’t take responsibility for the aftermath. For now, I’ll report the witch incident to Her Majesty the Empress, and say that there is a Great Saint candidate, but due to poor condition, we couldn’t confirm her powers in detail. Will this do?”

I tilted my head.

“Her Majesty the Empress?”

“Yes. She’s the one who oversees the temple.”

Damn, the Empress was managing the temple?

“Important matters that occur in the temple are reported first to Her Majesty the Empress of the imperial family. Since His Highness the Crown Prince has strong abilities, she’s directly managing it as much as she’s interested.”