“Come in.”
At my words, Decarabia immediately entered the room.
The cool-headed demon, who would normally have come in with a blank expression, was frowning as if something unpleasant had happened.
She said to me, who was looking at her with puzzled eyes.
“A letter has arrived from the temple.”
“From the temple?”
I realized as I asked back. It was about time for the temple to urge me.
They would ask if I had caught any traces of the demons in Vine.
However, I couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling that there would be something worse.
There had been so... good things lately.
Suddenly, I opened the letter. And I tightly shut my mouth.
[...The time has come. I received a message that they had decided to go to Vine to inspect it at a time when the demons of Vine would let their guard down.]
If we leave out the rhetoric, it was a letter saying that they would conduct a surprise inspection of Vine.
I’m not ready yet.
Beryl glanced outside where construction was in full swing.
[Then I’ll see you then.]
It was a letter that was almost like a notice, but I couldn’t refuse. If I did, I’d immediately be met with suspicious looks.
“Um...”
In my view, the problem wasn’t just the exterior of the mansion. The demons were also a problem.
I thought back to when I first came to the mansion. It felt like a long time ago, but I had a hard time pretending not to know that everyone was a demon.
And that hadn’t changed much even now.
“We’ll need a plan.”
The audit schedule was much earlier than expected.
As far as I knew, the temple had been holding a ‘cleaning prayer’ where they would continue to pray even after the main prayer.
During that time, they would reduce their outdoor activities. Maybe it was because I had acted differently, but many things had changed in my past two lives.
In a temple where most people wanted to avoid demons, who on earth had taken the lead in this...
[Priest Claddah]
“...Ah.”
I let out a short breath without realizing it. It was a name I could not have known.
'This is also a holy war.'
That was what he had said when I got on the carriage heading to Vine, and in my past life, he had raised his voice saying that 'the Saintess who failed to properly catch the devil' should be sacrificed.
'God will lead us to heaven!'
Claddah's eyes were filled with madness as he shouted that. I unconsciously tightened my grip on the letter as if the voice was ringing in my ears.
"Your Highness?"
Decarabia immediately noticed my anomaly. I was worried and barely managed to release my grip before I could make a report that would disrupt Belled's work schedule.
"The temple will be audited soon."
"If it's an audit..."
Decarabia narrowed her eyes. I looked at her and said,
"You mean to come see if there really is a devil here."
They would have thought that there might be one or two hiding in the mansion at best. They had no idea that all the servants of the mansion were devils.
The problem was that Claddah was one of the most devout priests. That meant that he was sensitive to magic and crazy about going to heaven.
'If you catch and offer up those who are tainted by magic, God will know!'
That was what he said. It was not even a funny thought. If the Gods were as holy and just as Claddah thought, the world wouldn't be this twisted.
No, you don't have to look far; the temple wouldn't be filled with people who only care about their own interests.
"I have to hurry up with the mansion remodeling."
It would be busy if I had to educate the demons. I eventually decided to interrupt Belled's work a little.
"Please give this letter to Belled right away."
They would meet soon because it was dinnertime, but it was information that needed to be shared as soon as possible. Of course.
"This priest in particular."
I said after looking at the name Claddah.
"He was famous for being able to sense demons."
He had definitely been like that in my past life. Decarabia hesitated at those words.
I bit my lip. Could he really come here and not feel strange?
My hands became tense with a new sense of tension.
That evening. I looked down at the table that had been set for dinner.
Belled was someone who didn’t necessarily need to eat, but one day he sat in front of me and ate.
Of course, his meal ended sharply the moment I finished my meal. I was grateful that he didn’t let me eat alone.
Of course, at first, I was so nervous that I couldn’t tell if the food was going into my mouth or my nose, but not anymore.
Maybe it was because I spent so much time with him day and night...
I, whose cheeks were flushed, lowered my gaze to my plate.
‘How well done do you like it?’
I, who couldn’t even answer the question at first, eventually figured out how well I liked it. I liked it medium-done.
However, it took a lot of trial and error to figure that out.
First of all, since I had never eaten this much steak in a temple, I had to figure out my taste by trying different degrees of doneness.
Of course, the process wasn’t painful. The problem was ...meat again.
I looked at the plating on the steak plate that was gradually improving and made a troubled expression.
At first, there was only meat, then there was asparagus and sauce, and now there was even a picture of fruit hanging from a tree branch as sauce, which was nice. It was pretty and nice.
The problem was that it had been like that for several days. For several days, only meat had been served. Do people here only eat meat?
...No, they don’t eat it in the first place.
I never dreamed that I would bite into meat. I picked up her knife and fork with a troubled expression, then eventually put them down.
“Is there a problem?”
Belled asked right away. There was a plate in front of him too, but it seemed that he was watching me rather than eating.
Was it okay to complain like this?
No. This wasn’t complaining. It was a preparation.
If the visiting priests refused to eat meat after a while... They would definitely suspect the Grand Duke who couldn’t even offer a piece of bread or a single vegetable.
I raised my head with a troubled expression.
“Do you have any other food besides meat?”
Belled asked cautiously, and the chef... Instead, he looked back at the demon who had handled 'meat' amazingly with his ability to manipulate fire.
"What else...?"
"Um, bread or... foods made from wheat."
I said in a voice that could not hide my embarrassment.
"Wheat?"
The demon, who had a look on his face that said, "Why are you eating that?", met Belled's eyes that were like, "Oh no."
It was a problem they had not thought of since they had long ago stopped needing to eat.
"Well, it's good to be given delicious food every day."
When I was in the temple, there were times when I thought it would be nice if every day was a special meal.
It was like that when worldly food was given once a month.
Surprisingly, people were so cunning.
"I'd like to try a little bit of a regular meal. Besides, the priests probably don't enjoy meat."
It didn't have to be white bread. Belled closed his eyes with a face that made a mistake at those words.
"... I guess so. Every day has to be special to become routine."
He seemed to think the same as me. However, he was speaking as if the priests didn't care.
Wasn’t he nervous?
“I guess I forgot because I was only looking for stimulation.”
He looked back at the demon who controlled fire, slightly bowing his head.
“Find a chef who can handle regular dishes.”
“Understood.”
Meanwhile, Belled asked,
“Is there anything you would like to eat?”
“Um...”
I tilted my head slightly. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to take it personally, so I felt at ease.
What kind of delicious food was there...
I’m not ready yet.
Beryl glanced outside where construction was in full swing.
[Then I’ll see you then.]
It was a letter that was almost like a notice, but I couldn’t refuse. If I did, I’d immediately be met with suspicious looks.
“Um...”
In my view, the problem wasn’t just the exterior of the mansion. The demons were also a problem.
I thought back to when I first came to the mansion. It felt like a long time ago, but I had a hard time pretending not to know that everyone was a demon.
And that hadn’t changed much even now.
“We’ll need a plan.”
The audit schedule was much earlier than expected.
As far as I knew, the temple had been holding a ‘cleaning prayer’ where they would continue to pray even after the main prayer.
During that time, they would reduce their outdoor activities. Maybe it was because I had acted differently, but many things had changed in my past two lives.
In a temple where most people wanted to avoid demons, who on earth had taken the lead in this...
[Priest Claddah]
“...Ah.”
I let out a short breath without realizing it. It was a name I could not have known.
'This is also a holy war.'
That was what he had said when I got on the carriage heading to Vine, and in my past life, he had raised his voice saying that 'the Saintess who failed to properly catch the devil' should be sacrificed.
'God will lead us to heaven!'
Claddah's eyes were filled with madness as he shouted that. I unconsciously tightened my grip on the letter as if the voice was ringing in my ears.
"Your Highness?"
Decarabia immediately noticed my anomaly. I was worried and barely managed to release my grip before I could make a report that would disrupt Belled's work schedule.
"The temple will be audited soon."
"If it's an audit..."
Decarabia narrowed her eyes. I looked at her and said,
"You mean to come see if there really is a devil here."
They would have thought that there might be one or two hiding in the mansion at best. They had no idea that all the servants of the mansion were devils.
The problem was that Claddah was one of the most devout priests. That meant that he was sensitive to magic and crazy about going to heaven.
'If you catch and offer up those who are tainted by magic, God will know!'
That was what he said. It was not even a funny thought. If the Gods were as holy and just as Claddah thought, the world wouldn't be this twisted.
No, you don't have to look far; the temple wouldn't be filled with people who only care about their own interests.
"I have to hurry up with the mansion remodeling."
It would be busy if I had to educate the demons. I eventually decided to interrupt Belled's work a little.
"Please give this letter to Belled right away."
They would meet soon because it was dinnertime, but it was information that needed to be shared as soon as possible. Of course.
"This priest in particular."
I said after looking at the name Claddah.
"He was famous for being able to sense demons."
He had definitely been like that in my past life. Decarabia hesitated at those words.
I bit my lip. Could he really come here and not feel strange?
My hands became tense with a new sense of tension.
***
That evening. I looked down at the table that had been set for dinner.
Belled was someone who didn’t necessarily need to eat, but one day he sat in front of me and ate.
Of course, his meal ended sharply the moment I finished my meal. I was grateful that he didn’t let me eat alone.
Of course, at first, I was so nervous that I couldn’t tell if the food was going into my mouth or my nose, but not anymore.
Maybe it was because I spent so much time with him day and night...
I, whose cheeks were flushed, lowered my gaze to my plate.
‘How well done do you like it?’
I, who couldn’t even answer the question at first, eventually figured out how well I liked it. I liked it medium-done.
However, it took a lot of trial and error to figure that out.
First of all, since I had never eaten this much steak in a temple, I had to figure out my taste by trying different degrees of doneness.
Of course, the process wasn’t painful. The problem was ...meat again.
I looked at the plating on the steak plate that was gradually improving and made a troubled expression.
At first, there was only meat, then there was asparagus and sauce, and now there was even a picture of fruit hanging from a tree branch as sauce, which was nice. It was pretty and nice.
The problem was that it had been like that for several days. For several days, only meat had been served. Do people here only eat meat?
...No, they don’t eat it in the first place.
I never dreamed that I would bite into meat. I picked up her knife and fork with a troubled expression, then eventually put them down.
“Is there a problem?”
Belled asked right away. There was a plate in front of him too, but it seemed that he was watching me rather than eating.
Was it okay to complain like this?
No. This wasn’t complaining. It was a preparation.
If the visiting priests refused to eat meat after a while... They would definitely suspect the Grand Duke who couldn’t even offer a piece of bread or a single vegetable.
I raised my head with a troubled expression.
“Do you have any other food besides meat?”
Belled asked cautiously, and the chef... Instead, he looked back at the demon who had handled 'meat' amazingly with his ability to manipulate fire.
"What else...?"
"Um, bread or... foods made from wheat."
I said in a voice that could not hide my embarrassment.
"Wheat?"
The demon, who had a look on his face that said, "Why are you eating that?", met Belled's eyes that were like, "Oh no."
It was a problem they had not thought of since they had long ago stopped needing to eat.
"Well, it's good to be given delicious food every day."
When I was in the temple, there were times when I thought it would be nice if every day was a special meal.
It was like that when worldly food was given once a month.
Surprisingly, people were so cunning.
"I'd like to try a little bit of a regular meal. Besides, the priests probably don't enjoy meat."
It didn't have to be white bread. Belled closed his eyes with a face that made a mistake at those words.
"... I guess so. Every day has to be special to become routine."
He seemed to think the same as me. However, he was speaking as if the priests didn't care.
Wasn’t he nervous?
“I guess I forgot because I was only looking for stimulation.”
He looked back at the demon who controlled fire, slightly bowing his head.
“Find a chef who can handle regular dishes.”
“Understood.”
Meanwhile, Belled asked,
“Is there anything you would like to eat?”
“Um...”
I tilted my head slightly. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to take it personally, so I felt at ease.
What kind of delicious food was there...
The first thing that came to mind was, strangely enough, my previous life.
In this life, I had only eaten tasteless, dry, unidentifiable lumps and bitter liquids at the temple.
On the other hand, I definitely remembered eating good food in my previous life. Of course, the two Dukes had brought me delicacies just before my marriage, so I had no memory of receiving anything from them.
“Take this with you, Sir.”
“How frustrating would it be to come to a strange place and not be able to eat, huh?”
When I was in Orobas, at dawn. It was what the cook said when he encountered me sneaking out of the room because I was hungry.
The cook seemed surprised to see me, and he was surprised to see me sneak out, so he called me out.
The middle-aged cook, who had a warm expression, couldn't even call me out loud and said.
'Are you hungry?'
The Saintess had learned not to react to such 'small desires'. But as my hunger grew, my instincts seemed to take over.
So I nodded to the cook. Then the cook's expression changed.
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