“Good grief, this girl… running around again even though her body hasn’t even recovered yet.”
Hailey hurriedly threw on a coat, put on a simple disguise, and left the mansion.
Idledra had already vanished without a trace.
It was true that Idledra had drained quite a lot of Mana from her, but what if she accidentally exhausted it all and collapsed by the side of the road?
If she saw news tomorrow about the Lady Saintess sleeping on the streets, Hailey feared she would be stewed alive by those old geezers at the Holy See…
“Lady Saintess? Weren’t you just…”
While Hailey was frantically searching, a confused female voice suddenly sounded near her ear.
Luna looked at the Lady Saintess, who had just left her presence not long ago, only to now appear here in such a bizarre fashion.
What was going on?
“Didn’t you just say you were going out for a walk? And your outfit…”
If it were just a simple difference in clothing, she might have dismissed it, but the impression this Hailey gave her was far more familiar.
Compared to the person from earlier, the Lady Saintess before her seemed much gentler, yet also appeared less mature.
Moreover, under the night sky, those violet-gem eyes seemed even clearer, carrying a color that was both melancholic and innocent…
“You, you really are the Lady Saintess… Then the one I saw just now was…”
“What? Where did she—ah, I mean, Miss Luna, did you see ‘me’ in that state?”
Fortunately, Hailey managed to slam on the brakes just as her emotions were getting the better of her.
Aside from herself and the high-ranking officials of the Holy See, no one else knew about this.
Although Miss Luna was a very kind and gentle person to her, she shouldn’t be dragged into this matter…
“Well, actually… I have a bad habit of sleepwalking at night! I’ll just run out on my own!”
‘Huh? Sleepwalking?’
As Hailey shouted this with an expression of extreme embarrassment, Luna stood frozen in place, unsure of how to react.
‘To keep this from being exposed, I’ll give it everything I’ve got—’
“Actually, I sleepwalk every single night and turn into a completely different version of myself. I become a very, very bad little demon and wander around.”
In truth, Hailey didn’t know how to describe Idledra.
After all, even in front of her, that girl had two faces.
During the day, she was the elegant young lady who would gently stroke her hair with her hand, but as soon as night fell, the Demon would reveal her desires…
Thinking of a certain someone’s overbearing and aggressive methods toward her at night, Hailey’s face inexplicably flushed for a moment.
“Ahem… anyway, once night falls, it’s like I become another person, completely out of control.”
“There’s nothing I can do about it. To avoid causing trouble for everyone, I’ve been keeping it a secret. Miss Luna, you have to help me keep this a secret too, okay?”
Though she was still a bit skeptical, Luna nodded half-comprehendingly.
While it sounded fantastical, since it came from the Lady Saintess, it surely couldn’t be a lie.
After all, in the public’s perception, the Saintess was supervised by the Goddess and was a being who was absolutely forbidden from lying.
But who was Hailey?
She was just an innocent Body Double Puppet.
What did the Saintess being unable to lie have to do with little Hailey?
“That’s roughly the situation. Can you tell me where she… er, where the sleepwalking me went?”
“I need to go apologize to the residents who were accidentally affected. After all, it is my responsibility.”
‘What if Idledra is accidentally recognized by someone, or if she gets bullied by someone again…’
‘No, no, no! No one is allowed to touch her except for me when I’m getting my revenge! If she’s gone, the Holy See will kill me!’
Hearing Hailey’s half-guilty, half-fabricated nonsense, Luna actually found it very reasonable.
‘As expected of the kind Lady Saintess. Even if she hurts others unintentionally, she feels such deep guilt…’
“Please don’t take it to heart, Lady Saintess. Everyone will understand your difficulties.”
To soothe Hailey, Luna explained everything she had seen not long ago to her in detail.
“Thank you, Miss Luna… Please remember to keep this a secret for me.”
‘Move faster! I hope that stupid girl Idledra doesn’t cause some sudden disaster…’
—
Meanwhile, at Julian’s Mansion in the Wealthy District, the merchant was forcing himself to stay calm while hosting this uninvited guest.
“Julian, Julian… Fox. You really are just like your name—crafty and greedy.”
Idledra had changed into a dark purple night-traveling cloak, looking like a succubus of the dark night.
To describe a lady that way might be a bit too rude; it was perhaps more appropriate to compare her to a dark night elf.
“Lady Saintess… To enter at such a late hour and in the manner of an assassin, are you truly not afraid that I will report this to the Holy See?”
While stalling the young woman before him, Julian secretly signaled to his subordinates outside the door.
But this little trick couldn’t escape those mischievous pink eyes.
Her long eyelashes flickered slightly, and with a heavy *thud*, the man outside suddenly collapsed to the ground.
“You—what did you do to him?! This is Black Magic! It’s forbidden magic!”
Seeing his subordinate suddenly lose consciousness and fall, Julian could no longer maintain his forced composure.
He became even more terrified.
The Saintess, enshrined by both The Empire and the Holy See, could actually use evil Black Magic?!
This was a capital offense!
“What are you thinking? You’re not wondering if I’m some kind of Witch or Demon God, are you?”
At that moment, the subordinate who had collapsed actually began to let out faint snores.
His expression looked as though he were having a sweet dream.
“I simply let him have a nice dream so he wouldn’t disturb the conversation between you and me.”
The world knew that the Saintess possessed the holy Mana granted by the Goddess, which could heal others.
Naturally, it could also soothe and induce sleep.
She was merely using it in a different way.
In the end, wasn’t it still the Goddess’s Blessing?
It was just like what he did—acting like a benefactor on the surface by lowering rents, while secretly arranging for thugs and hooligans to extort even more wealth.
“We are both just using a different method to accomplish what we do, aren’t we?”
Idledra’s smile had lost its original elegance.
‘Except for Hailey, no one is worthy of my tenderness…’
Her gaze toward the slumped Julian turned into one of disdain and mockery—the look one gives to trash.
It wasn’t until he saw those pink eyes hidden in the darkness clearly that Julian suddenly remembered the purple eyes he had once seen at The Church…
“Your—your eyes! You aren’t the Saintess at all! You’re—”
*Thrust.*
A black spike pierced through the despairing Julian’s chest while he was still alive.
“You… you Witch…”
These were Julian’s last gasping words before his breathing stopped.
That was right.
This was true Black Magic—evil, forbidden, and deadly magic!
“You’re right. I am no Saintess. Or perhaps, what you saw before was the real Saintess.”
Perhaps due to the consumption of Mana, Idledra’s thirst became even more intense.
She craved love even more.
The Saintess that everyone loved… pure, kind, and beautiful.
Those traits only suited Hailey.
My Hailey…
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