“You want to make Celesta the Saintess?”

“…Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“……”

Ethan stared at me in disbelief after hearing that I planned to make Celesta the Saintess. His reaction wasn’t surprising, considering what I had just said.

‘It’s not exactly something a person who’s actually a Saintess would usually say out loud.’

Becoming a Saintess meant gaining power and recognition of an unmatched status. The title was accompanied by honor and rank higher than that of even most noble ladies or heads of noble families.

Considering the honor that would follow Celesta and Lillis at the end of their journey, it was obvious that this wasn’t a power to be easily given up.

But that perspective only applied to ordinary people, not to me. After all, I had already experienced the journey of the Hero’s party from the “Luminor Academy” 25 times, albeit indirectly, so I had no interest in the duties and honors that came with being a Saintess.

“As I mentioned before, this power is unnecessary for me. In fact, it’s a burden that would hinder the life I wish to lead.”

“…Then what kind of life is it that you want, Lillis?”

“At the very least, it’s not a life where I graduate from the Academy with the Hero and then travel around the world working for peace. I don’t have the resolve to take on such grand tasks. I’m satisfied with a simple life where I can live quietly, perhaps using the magic and swordsmanship I’m learning at the Academy, but I definitely don’t want to live in a constant state of life-threatening danger.”

In the first place, the only reason Lillis became a Saintess was because her previous life was so miserable that she had no choice but to accept the title. Her mother had died of illness, and her father was a gambling addict who sold his daughter to pay off his debts—a worthless scum of a man.

For Lillis, becoming a Saintess and working with the Hero to benefit the world might have been a better option, but that wasn’t the case for someone like me, who had lived an ordinary life in a previous existence.

As I’ve mentioned before, there were many people more suited to struggling to survive in the Hero’s party than someone like me.

“A life where you can use what you’ve learned at the Academy while living normally… It sounds easy, but it’s not as simple as it seems….”

“Pardon? What did you just say…?”

“…It’s nothing. Anyway, I understand why you don’t want to be a Saintess, Lillis. But let me ask you this: is the method you mentioned actually possible?”

“You mean transferring the power of the Saintess to Celesta?”

“Yes, that.”

“Yes, it’s definitely possible. At least, it was in the future I saw.”

Though, to be honest, that future was still about 7-8 years away, but that wasn’t information I needed to share right now.

After all, as long as I relinquished the power of the Saintess and Celesta desired to become the Saintess, the power would naturally find its way to an appropriate host.

“From the future? Ah, you mentioned that you saw various events in the future when you received the Saintess’s power, didn’t you?”

“That’s correct.”

“…Just to clarify, could you share a few of the things you’ve seen in the future that I would know about?”

“The most prominent example would be that Prince McHart had already allied himself with the demons. The curse I uttered at the banquet slipped out because I knew what Prince McHart had become.”

“Indeed, you did seem a bit taken aback at that time. What else?”

“For example, Lady Luc is not actually a man but a woman who was disguising herself as a man, or that Lady Agnes would struggle with making a spirit contract due to her poor affinity with spirits, and then…”

To reassure Ethan that I could pass on the power of the Saintess to Celesta, I explained some of the events we had experienced together.

I told him how I knew the monster’s weakness the first time we fought the Hookfangs several years ago, and how I navigated the palace without getting lost, even on my first visit, by understanding its layout—things that only someone who had seen the future could know. Ethan nodded, seemingly convinced.

“Alright, I understand. If what you say is true, it seems that the future where Celesta receives your power as the Saintess is certain.”

“That’s correct, Young Master Ethan.”

“But are you sure that future will come to pass without change this time?”

“What?”

“To my knowledge, I’ve never heard of anyone becoming a Saintess and then transferring their power to another. I’ve never heard of such a thing happening.”

“B-but in the future I saw…”

“Just because you’ve seen the future doesn’t guarantee that events will unfold exactly as you saw them. There have probably been many times when the future you foresaw didn’t come to pass. For example, when you defeated the Hookfangs in Blackwood’s territory without causing any casualties, or when Lady Agnes successfully made a spirit contract—those were futures you changed, weren’t they?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Ethan’s logical argument left me unable to refute him, and I could only nod in agreement.

As he pointed out, the knowledge I possessed was merely a glimpse of what might happen at certain pivotal moments, and there was no guarantee those events would occur.

The fact that Ethan was even talking to me so calmly right now was the result of a future I had changed, so there was indeed a possibility that the future where Celesta didn’t receive the power of the Saintess could exist. After all, even during my 25 playthroughs, I only succeeded in meeting the conditions to pass on the power once, and it wasn’t something I had repeatedly verified.

“What I’m asking about is what happens if things don’t go as planned, Lillis.”

“……”

“If you fail to transfer your power to Celesta in time, the Aurelia Church will likely begin searching for the true Saintess soon after. As I understand it, the presence of a Saintess’s aura is something high-ranking priests can’t overlook. The reason Celesta is repeatedly being tested to confirm whether she is the Saintess is because her aura isn’t convincing enough, correct?”

“…Yes, that’s true.”

“So, if you fail to transfer your power to Celesta and the Aurelia Church comes to take you away to crown you as the Saintess, what do you plan to do then, Lillis?”

Although I had intended to reveal this information eventually, the way Ethan was cornering me made me feel like I was committing some kind of crime. It was as if I was being forced to reveal something I had deliberately kept hidden.

But since I had resolved not to hide anything from Ethan anymore, I decided to explain the “condition” that the Hero had once demanded of me.

“Young Master Ethan, there’s no need to worry about that future. I can prevent it from happening.”

“…How?”

“If I join the Hero’s party as he requested, all of this can be resolved.”

“…………”

…What? Why do I suddenly feel a chill running down my spine?

I glanced at Sei, wondering if she was playing some kind of prank, but she was just floating idly in the air, looking relaxed.

“Lillis, repeat what you just said.”

“I-I said, if I join the Hero’s party as requested, then we can avoid any danger to Celesta’s life…”

“Why?”

“B-because if I’m with the Hero’s party, people won’t be able to distinguish between me and Celesta, so they won’t know who the real Saintess is…”

“…Why?”

“B-because Celesta is already widely recognized as the Saintess. No one would suspect that I, a stranger who suddenly appeared, could be the real Saintess. And if Celesta’s identity as the Saintess is revealed, it’ll be easier to explain.”

“…So why?”

“To protect me from the demons who would target the real Saintess, we could claim that she was pretending to be my shadow all along, risking her life to protect me…”

“Lillis.”

“Y-yes.”

“Do I look like I’m asking you the same question over and over because I’m worried about the life of that fake Saintess, Celesta?”

“…What?”

…Wait, when did he get so close?

He was definitely sitting across from me at the table just moments ago, but now, Ethan’s face was right in front of mine, as if he had closed the distance between us without me noticing.

Ethan leaned in, his face nearly touching mine, and his expression made it clear that there was something he was deeply dissatisfied with. His sudden proximity startled me, and I instinctively stood up from my chair.

-Clatter!

“…Lillis, where are you going?”

“N-nowhere… It’s just…”

“I’m asking you. Do I look like I’m upset because I’m worried about some priestess named Celesta, whom I barely know?”

“A-are you angry…? Young Master Ethan…?”

“…So, you didn’t even realize that I was angry or why I might be?”

-Thud!

Ethan grabbed my wrist, preventing me from retreating any further as I backed into the wall. He pulled me toward the other side of the room, then shoved me onto the bed as if throwing me.

-Thud.

“Y-young Master Ethan?! W-what are you doing all of a sudden…?!”

“Lillis, you just said it yourself.”

“…What?”

“If you can’t make Celesta the real Saintess, you’ll have no choice but to join that damn Hero’s party.”

“T-that’s only if things go wrong. If I keep the power of the Saintess, the issues I mentioned earlier will definitely arise. And I absolutely don’t want to spend years suffering in the Hero’s party…”

“I know. But, Lillis.”

“……”

“…As far as I know, there’s another way to lose the power of the Saintess.”

-Slide.

“Eek?!”

Without warning, Ethan’s hand slipped under my skirt, and I let out a squeal like a startled girl.

The seriousness in his expression as he talked about a way to lose the power of the Saintess made it clear that I instinctively understood what he was implying.