“Hey… old man, is something wrong with your brain? I admit this sounds pretty interesting, but saying something like this and then laughing by yourself—do you really think you can replace that Idledra person and become the Saintess? This Pope doesn’t look old enough to have dementia yet, does he? Whether I could even beat her is uncertain, and even if we take ten thousand steps back and say she deliberately pretends to be weak and lets me win out of the goodness of her heart, is the position of Saintess really some kind of irresistible delicacy? Is it worth all that effort?”
“What are you thinking? Becoming the Saintess isn’t that what you’ve always dreamed of? And besides, as long as Saintess Idledra still exists, you’ll never see the light of day!”
The Pope seemed to see through Hailey’s confusion and continued to tempt her unwillingly. In his understanding, the little girl in front of him could not possibly refuse such a tremendous opportunity.
“No, sir. I don’t want to be locked in a pitch-dark room every day, living only on black bread and cold water.”
During the process of gradually opening her heart to Idledra, Hailey had already learned many of the unspeakable things done by the upper levels of the Holy See, especially the series of matters in which they used Idledra…
“Mr. Pope, I still haven’t forgotten how your Grand Priest wanted to tie me to the altar back then. How would I dare talk about any cooperation with people from your Holy See now?”
“Not to mention that if I were to join your Holy See and become the Saintess, who knows whether you’d take me to do some weird experiments or something…”
Looking at the doll girl in front of him who was putting on a joking front yet rejecting him decisively in both tone and words, the Pope’s expression grew gloomy and displeased.
The surrounding black magic aura became oppressive. This doll, like Idledra, seemed to be starting to slip out of control…
Perhaps leaving her by the Saintess’s side for too long had caused her to develop a rebellious mindset.
Unless Idledra’s control over her was already deeper than he had imagined. Seeing that ordinary persuasion had no effect, Pope Issar began using new methods…
Black energy seemed to spread gradually from Hailey’s feet toward her upper body, like a venomous snake tempting someone to eat a fruit, slowly trying to erode Hailey’s consciousness and soul.
This is bad—her consciousness was becoming blurry, and her body was starting to move uncontrollably toward that man…
Was he actually making her bow to him? What kind of sick amusement does someone in power have?
Forced by black magic, after losing control of her body, Hailey bent toward the Pope in front of her, performing a very standard bow.
She felt deeply humiliated, like when a captive is forced by the enemy to sing praises or hymns…
Yet, feeling the helpless state of her body being unable to resist, Hailey could only cling to the last bit of defiance, glaring viciously at the man who was grinning lewdly in front of her.
At this moment, he had already torn away his kindly disguise, completely different from the old good-natured man who still smiled even when Idledra talked back to him.
Now Pope Issar was filled with an aura of evil and arrogance, a typical villain image.
“I knew it—I should’ve run away the moment I saw that squint-eyed monster…”
But now Hailey was firmly seized by the man in front of her. Black mana had begun to erode her consciousness, even reaching toward her soul.
“Since you’re a doll with no magical attributes, why don’t I just remake you into a pure puppet… I think she would like that. Adapt to your new identity—what?!”
What the Pope did not expect was that when the black magic began to invade Hailey’s body, the originally overbearing black magic was instead devoured in reverse? And it gradually fused with Hailey herself?
Her consciousness seemed to slowly recover…
And that guy’s expression looked rather grim.
“Could it be that I really am the protagonist? Has the legendary revival at the brink of death really descended upon me?”
However, the Pope mercilessly shattered her foolish and naive fantasy.
There was no protagonist halo at all—this was simply because Hailey had long been chosen by Idledra—
“Because her black magic chose you earlier than mine did. Things of the same origin naturally repel each other, and for inherently cruel black magic, the result can only be mutual slaughter.”
“In other words, you have already been declared her possession by that person. Even if I wanted to do something, I would still have to ask the owner’s opinion.”
Perhaps due to the backlash, the Pope’s body visibly trembled. He seemed to make a twisted expression toward something nonexistent for a moment, then helplessly released the restraint on Hailey.
“Damn it, she still found out. It seems your luck is better than I expected, magic doll.”
“It looks like you’re more important to her than I thought. Farewell, little doll. I hope this isn’t the last time we meet.”
Black mist dispersed, and the two of them seemed to return to the street corner where Hailey had first wandered in by mistake.
Issar merely pulled his cloak back over himself and disappeared into the end of the street, as if he had never been there at all.
Only the Pope’s harsh words lingered in the air as he departed—
“We’ll meet again.”
What remained was only silence, along with hurried and anxious running sounds from not far away.
“Hailey? Hailey—Hailey!!”
An anxious voice accompanied a slender figure that suddenly threw herself at Hailey, who had not yet come back to her senses, holding her tightly.
Idledra looked almost frantic as she stared at the living Hailey standing before her. Hailey was still by her side.
She had not been taken away by that bastard…
“Thank goodness.”
“I’m really fine now. It even seems like it’s thanks to you… Hey, are you okay—your eyes!!”
As Hailey was thinking of saying something to comfort her, she looked up and saw that the originally pink, sparkling eyes had turned crimson, with a hint of dark red luster…
Idledra’s eyes had turned red because of Hailey’s disappearance, like she had cried intensely, and at the same time like the color of complete despair and fanaticism.
Even Hailey had never seen Idledra so flustered and frightened before.
The arms holding her seemed to be trembling carefully. She looked like a real, crying child…
At this moment, with her head buried in Hailey’s chest, Idledra seemed to begin sobbing softly.
Whether it was because of the so-called “finally reunited,” or because of her excessive anxiety over separation, Hailey carefully held her, gently patting her back, her mouth softly humming something like a lullaby.
“Alright, alright. I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here. I won’t leave you.”
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