"Regarding the sacred painting, I must have a serious conversation with Lord Rupert, so please wait in the drawing room."

The mere fact that the Saintess and a noble youth were together in the drawing room was unsettling enough.

When she finally emerged, stating that she would be alone with Rupert in the studio, the bishop and holy knights were left in a state of confusion.

Of course, they had no choice but to obey the Saintess’s orders, which were absolute, but they couldn’t easily understand her reasoning.

The idea that the voice of the Mother Goddess could only be conveyed to Rupert, an artist, felt somewhat unfair to them, as they too were children of the Mother Goddess. Still, they could not express dissatisfaction with the Saintess. Even the pope, the head of the church, could not directly hear the Mother’s words, whereas the Saintess was the only one who could communicate with the Goddess.

When the previous Saintess returned to the embrace of the Mother, somewhere on the continent, a new Saintess would be born.

When the new Saintess turns seven, the current pope dreams a divine message from the Goddess:

"My daughter has been born and raised somewhere on the continent. Go and bring her to me."

The process unfolds from there, with the pope personally seeking out and meeting the seven-year-old girl, marking the birth of the new Saintess.

This newly born Saintess takes on the role of conveying the will of the Goddess to the people of the church. As the daughter of the Goddess, her holy power surpasses even that of the pope, and while her position is technically equal to his, in practice, she holds the most importance within the church.

She is a being sent by the Goddess, who cherishes humanity, her creation, as her own reflection.

There was no one in the church who would dare challenge the words of the Saintess.

And now, in the studio, this very Saintess was delivering the will of the Goddess to Rupert with intensity.

“The veins in the arm should stand out more clearly, Brother.”

Rupert, even in the dead of winter, was sweating profusely as he poured all his energy into the drawing.

He was sketching a scene from the manga Ironblood Alchemist where the main characters, Edmund Eldrick and Lloyd Cavallo, stood with tense expressions, embracing each other.

The Saintess had been pointing out details, particularly the veins on Lloyd Cavallo’s arm.

Lloyd had rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows, and the Saintess repeatedly emphasized the importance of making the veins on his forearm prominent to Rupert.

“Oh my, Brother, you’re truly gifted,” she beamed as Rupert drew the expression of Edmund biting his lip. The Saintess's face glowed as if she had just witnessed the Goddess herself.

However, despite her enthusiasm, Rupert felt like he was losing his mind.

‘What is this even…’

He suddenly recalled his days as an illustrator before he began drawing webtoons.

‘So you want me to draw a cute girl with dog ears and a tail?’

‘No, I’m asking for a cute dog, actually.’

Even the mere explanations of such bizarre requests had felt like they were shattering his common sense at times.

Still, those clients always came with hefty payments, making it impossible for him to refuse. Those days were both joyful and tragic memories for him.

Even back then, Rupert had managed to fulfill those strange requests, but there was one type of commission he had always refused.

‘To think I’d end up drawing BL.’

Rupert, who had endured even the strangest of “furry” requests, had always felt that BL was a forbidden realm, something he couldn’t bring himself to create as a biological man.

But now, he had no choice.

He had thought the Saintess would request a sacred painting, but instead, she had asked for an illustration of two male characters.

Considering the favor the Saintess had done for him by protecting his lie in front of the Crown Prince, it seemed like a cheap price to pay. He didn’t harbor any particular complaints.

Yet, her passionate reaction made him a little uneasy.

If anyone discovered this illustration in the future, they would surely ask questions about its origin.

‘Lord Rupert drew it as a gift for me,’ she would say.

The church officials wouldn’t be able to question the Saintess, so they would probably come after Rupert with nails and hammers in hand, he mused.

“Saintess, while it is an honor to create a drawing for the Daughter of Gaia, I’m concerned that this might cause trouble for you…”

“Why would this be a problem?”

“Well…”

Rupert’s lips twitched as he thought, Isn’t it odd to draw two men embracing like this? But before he could voice his concerns, the Saintess responded nonchalantly.

“This is the noble camaraderie of warriors.”

“Camaraderie?”

“Yes, look, these two are comrades fighting for their own beliefs. How could anyone have improper thoughts while looking at such valiant companions, Brother?”

Because your eyes seem to suggest those improper thoughts, he wanted to say, but Rupert bit his tongue, suppressing his words with immense self-control and quietly resumed drawing.

At last, the drawing was finished.

The Saintess stared at it for a long time, satisfied, before carefully rolling it up. She then placed the drawing into a pocket hidden in the white frills of her garment, which Rupert had thought was just decorative.

“And what about the sacred painting?”

“Oh, the sacred painting was just an excuse, Brother.”

“Pardon?”

“I’d rather spend the money it would cost to create a sacred painting on feeding the Empire’s poor with bowls of porridge.”

The Saintess had never intended to commission a sacred painting. Her only goal from the beginning had been to acquire the BL illustration, and the sacred painting was just a pretext to meet Rupert.

Rupert was left speechless, realizing that everything had gone according to her plan from the very start. He couldn’t help but be impressed by how she used even unexpected situations as tools to achieve her goals.

Even if he were to tell everyone in town about this, no one would believe him. They would likely scoff at the idea that someone as pure and noble as the Saintess could behave like this.

Rupert had found drawing such a picture difficult, but in the end, he felt the reward was worth the effort.

“I’ll say that we’ll wait for another divine revelation before moving forward with the sacred painting,” the Saintess added.

“Understood. But isn’t it wrong to lie about the Goddess’s words?”

In this world, unlike Earth, gods clearly existed. The thought that the Goddess who brought him into this world might be watching filled Rupert with a sense of dread.

He feared she might strike him down with lightning for this deception.

But the Saintess, ever bold, replied, “Children always cause their parents some grief while growing up. I’m sure the Mother will understand.”

Seeing her speak so nonchalantly, Rupert couldn’t help but laugh, his tension easing.

After all, even the Daughter of the Goddess was still human, with her own desires.

Feeling a bit lighter, Rupert escorted the Saintess out of the estate and returned inside.

“What a long day.”

The Saintess’s visit, Amelia’s attempt to help him, and even the Crown Prince’s appearance—it had been a tiring day, but since everything had worked out in the end, it would become a good memory.

‘Good thing I’ve been working on my stamina.’

It wasn’t a joke; if he had faced today’s events still in the state of exhaustion and overuse of vitality potions, his legs would have given out multiple times by now.

Even some of the household servants, only after the Saintess had left, felt their tension release and sat down in relief.

“All right, everyone, you’re dismissed. Don’t overwork yourselves any further,” Rupert told the workshop staff as he approached them, insisting they finish early, even though there were still hours left in the workday.

“But isn’t it too early, sir? We still have time,” one of them protested.

“Don’t push yourselves. There’s not much work right now anyway, is there?” Rupert smiled brightly as he spoke.

The craftsmen felt a mixture of emotions—grateful for the early dismissal, yet oddly unsettled.

Since Rupert’s collapse and recovery, he had started promoting the motto, Health is productivity! and had even encouraged them to exercise in the mornings. At first, they suspected he had some ulterior motive.

But from that day onward, overtime had disappeared.

Though they were glad to leave early, they couldn’t shake a strange sense of discomfort.

Somehow, they found themselves wondering, Is this really all the work we have to do?

Despite their earlier complaints about overwork, now that overtime was banned, they almost missed it. Going home early just meant more nagging from their wives and disinterested children.

In some ways, staying late at the workshop, joking and chatting with their colleagues, had been more comfortable.

Oblivious to these conflicting feelings, Rupert continued urging them to leave as he headed toward his studio.

He needed to begin working on volume 5 of Ironblood Alchemist.

After the release of volume 4, his health had forced a brief hiatus, but the storyboard for volume 5 was already finished.

In fact, with his mind now clearer, the work was progressing more smoothly, and the release wouldn’t be delayed by much.

“The scene where the protagonist brothers go to the north to seek help from an ally will be next,” he thought aloud.

The dying words of Lloyd Cavallo’s comrade, Mark Hughes—The army is in danger—would lead the brothers closer to the truth.

Knowing they couldn’t face the homunculi alone, they would head north to seek the help of the northern duke, known as the Empire’s wall of defense.

Volume 5 would introduce many new characters, laying the groundwork for volume 6.

The villain who mastered explosive alchemy, the Rose Alchemist Kimball, would be a key character.

Additionally, the identity of the shadowy leader of the homunculi, the sin of Pride, Superbia, would finally be revealed.

And then there would be the appearance of the brothers' father and that being, throwing the readers into complete chaos.

‘It’s like making friends with millions of people,’ Rupert mused.

Every time he adapted and transformed the stories he had originally known, showing them to the people of this world, it felt like sharing manga with a group of friends.

Thinking about the countless people reading his work and sharing his excitement made his exhaustion fade away.

Rupert wanted to finish volume 5 as quickly as possible for his eager readers.

He wanted to share this exciting story with them, like friends bonding over a favorite tale.

Of course, he would avoid overworking himself and pulling all-nighters, but it was hard to hold back.

‘Just for today, cut me some slack,’ he thought.

Rupert’s eyes sparkled with energy as he sat at his desk and began drawing once again.