“Hailey, don’t be so shy, this is a blessing bestowed by the Saint Lady.”
Idelila’s soft and supple flexibility was very good; with a gentle lift of her little foot she could poke Hailey’s cheek.
“Mm… in accordance with the ritual.”
“As if! What kind of Saint would play like this with a believer?!”
Even if we… cough cough, even if it were me, I still couldn’t—others even less so.
Hailey firmly grabbed Idelila’s foot.
Fair, tender skin; smooth texture and a small, delicate feel.
Have some restraint, Idel—
“No matter what, this kind of action shouldn’t be done in front of the goddess’s statue, right?”
“But, Hailey, the goddess agrees too. If you don’t believe it, look—”
Taking advantage of Hailey not reacting in time, Idelila planted another “mwah” on Hailey’s cheek, then hugged her even tighter while she was stunned.
Idelila gave a mysterious, mischievous smile and pointed to the still beautiful and elegant statue of the goddess nearby.
Her hands rested calmly on her chest, her eyes revealing benevolence and kindness toward the world, and she even wore a gentle smile.
“Look, the goddess is smiling at us all along. That means she doesn’t object at all.”
Seeing the goddess’s statue showing a gratified smile—no way, did the goddess really agree?
“Wait a moment… this girl is tricking me again!”
The goddess’s statue is always smiling!
“W-wait, I think our prayers don’t actually need to be this excessive…”
Idelila’s little foot kept tickling the soft flesh at Hailey’s waist, making her itchy and unsteady.
The two of them accidentally tumbled onto the grass.
It seemed that a light rain had fallen in the early morning, and the grass had become very soft.
Even so, Hailey still instinctively held Idelila’s body—well, not exactly instinctively.
She simply felt that girls should be a bit more delicate.
“Although it was a little heavy, the grass was soft, so it didn’t hurt much… it… wait a moment, did I forget that I also seem to be a girl right now?”
“Hailey, don’t you think that with our current identities, this is already quite excessive?”
Idelila nestled in her arms.
She knew that Hailey wouldn’t be so heartless as to abandon her, even if it was just a small test.
When she quietly lay on Hailey’s back, she was already thinking: “could she and Hailey continue such an intimate relationship?”
Between them stood a pope, a church, and even the identities of a puppet and a controller… all of these were things difficult to change.
So when Pope Isar came knocking, her worries came back once again.
She was afraid that Hailey wouldn’t be able to continue staying by her side, and she was afraid that someone would seize the opportunity to take Hailey away.
“You see, since even Hailey, as a believer, is so close to the Saint, that proves Hailey is worthy of being with me.”
Although it sounded a bit confusing, this was the conclusion Idelila reached after careful consideration.
“Since the Pope could allow her to reclaim the identity of Saint, how could he possibly let such a good opportunity slip by?”
They would surely squeeze out all of her remaining value before being satisfied.
Correspondingly, once the puppet Hailey had no more value to be used, how could the Church allow such an “heretic” to continue staying by her side?
Lying on the grass, Idelila held Hailey’s helpless and speechless face.
Although she couldn’t clearly see Hailey’s face, as her fingertips gently traced over her cheeks, she could still feel her touch.
Hailey’s cheeks were just as tender as her own, with a bit of baby fat adding a soft, moist texture, slightly chubby to the touch.
Hailey’s eyelashes were also very long… tickling her fingers.
“Hey, have you stared at my face long enough? If you like my face so much, why don’t you just look in the mirror yourself?”
“But a mirror won’t let me touch your face, and it won’t let me kiss you either…”
Held in Idelila’s arms like a doll, Hailey felt a little helpless.
This girl was clinging to her so tightly—’what should she do when they really went to the church tomorrow…?’
“Hailey, I’m hungry…”
“Didn’t you just eat lunch not long ago?”
“T4…..”
Alright, before dealing with that problem, she first needed to “feed” this Saint until she was satisfied.
Afternoon tea, dinner—slowly finishing an ordinary day.
The familiar night, the familiar bed, and the familiar… Idelila hugging her head and drooling.
“Hehe, Hailey, you smell so good, hehe…”
“Alright, let go of me already. Your chest is really hot…”
If only someone could be as honest with the believers tomorrow as she was being with me right now… of course, absolutely not that intimate.
The next day, the news that the Saint’s body had recovered filled the previously deserted church with people once again.
But after the lesson from last time, everyone appeared more restrained and quiet than usual.
After all, not long ago they had watched the Saint they adored being taken away by the temple knights, and only a single little girl dared to stand up.
The believers’ guilt and shame toward the Saint gradually spread through the hall.
“My dear believers, don’t worry about that… don’t mind what happened before. I didn’t hold it against you—cough cough—since I am already safe and sound, there is no need to feel sad over it. I didn’t get Hailey’s lines wrong, did I? Honestly, it was clearly this bunch who stood by and did nothing, and now I’m the one who has to comfort them? Ridiculous.”
“Alright, calm down a bit. Everyone in the church was actually very worried about me, worried about you, Saint. At that time it wasn’t something they could stop.”
Back then, the temple knights had surrounded the unarmed residents.
Even if they wanted to intervene, it would have been meaningless, and it wasn’t what they wished for either.
“If Hydra had been just a bit more extreme then… alright, Hailey really was too soft-hearted.”
But what she said did seem right—weak people simply had no way to help others; even protecting themselves was a luxury.
“S-Saint Lady, we are truly very happy that you have recovered. Thank the goddess! Thank the goddess!”
An elderly, devout man saw the Saint reappear in the church and excitedly stepped forward, wanting to grasp her hand.
Idelila felt somewhat resistant to this situation, even wanting to push him away…
“I’m sorry, sir. The Saint’s body hasn’t fully recovered yet, so please don’t get too close.”
“Phew—”
Idelihaily Senelle, the Saint’s personal believer, maid, cook, bed-warmer… smiling as she resolved this standoff for the Saint and soothed her tense emotions.
Of course, the above isn’t entirely accurate.
I’m only responsible for protecting Saint Idelila at her bedside—ptui, ptui, by her side as an apostle, that’s all.
“There is absolutely nothing overly ambiguous between me and the Saint… even if her hand keeps nervously needing to interlock fingers with mine, even if she has to lean against my shoulder, even if—anyway, this all looks very normal, right? Right…?”