The sound of the door closing seemed especially sharp.
‘High Priestess, what do you want to do?!’
Phyllis felt a chill run down her spine, cold sweat breaking out uncontrollably.
Huh?
High Priestess, I can understand you being nice to me.
But what’s the meaning of closing the door, meow?
And, if it were just the two of us, that would be one thing.
But, there’s more than just the two of us in this room right now!
Carola is here too!
‘I’m not worried about my own safety, but I can’t guarantee your safety, High Priestess!’
The room was now eerily quiet.
Phyllis watched Iona, who was leaning against the door after closing it, and nervously swallowed.
“H-High Priestess? What are you…”
Phyllis’s voice trembled with tension.
Iona didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she slowly walked past Phyllis towards the windowsill, reaching out to gently touch the leaves of the catnip plant.
“Phyllis,” her voice was calm, yet carried a serious tone.
“From the first day you arrived at the Sacred Ground, I had a feeling.”
“W-what feeling, meow?”
Phyllis’s heart pounded wildly.
The Mirror Magic Tool in her arms was clearly getting hotter!
This wasn’t Phyllis’s imagination, it was genuinely burning up!
“I felt that you would definitely become the Catkin’s official Saintess.”
Iona withdrew her fingers from the catnip leaves.
When she turned, her gaze towards Phyllis was calm and profound.
“Huh?”
Phyllis was stunned.
She had been considering what kind of strange play Iona was going to subject her to after closing the door, but instead, Iona very seriously told her that she believed Phyllis would become the Saintess?
This development…
Isn’t there something off about it?
If you were just going to say that, why close the door?
Phyllis silently complained in her mind.
“So that’s why the High Priestess has been so good to me?”
Phyllis asked.
“No, not just that. I feel a great deal of guilt towards you now. I failed to protect you, letting you get kidnapped by that Blood Princess of the Blood Tribe. It was my dereliction of duty.”
Iona slowly walked back to the door, but showed no intention of opening it.
“High Priestess Iona, that wasn’t your fault.”
Phyllis retorted.
‘It’s because Carola was too strong!’
“Perhaps!”
Iona smiled slightly.
“But I absolutely cannot let something like that happen again. So, for this period of time, you will stay next to my room!”
“O-okay, meow!”
Phyllis quickly nodded.
“Then… I’ll go practice now?”
Iona stared at her for a moment, finally raising her hand to open the door.
“Go. Remember to come to the Temple this afternoon. I will teach you how to communicate with the Cat God.”
“Yes!”
Phyllis practically fled the room.
High Priestess Iona stood somewhat coldly on the second floor, watching Phyllis leave.
“Something’s wrong, very wrong…”
High Priestess Iona murmured to herself.
Only after running a good distance from the small building did Phyllis lean against a tree and let out a long sigh of relief.
“That scared me to death! I thought High Priestess Iona was going to do something to me!”
Phyllis seemed to be talking to herself.
“Is that so? It seemed to me like you wanted something to happen.”
Carola’s voice echoed faintly in Phyllis’s mind.
Just moments ago, Carola felt that if she hadn’t been able to calm her emotions by drinking Phyllis’s blood, she might have really been unable to stop herself from jumping out and tearing that Iona apart.
Daring to be alone in a room with her lover.
She really doesn’t want to live!
“How could that be, meow!”
Phyllis lowered her voice, hurriedly comforting Carola.
“I don’t want to be any Saintess at all! And…”
Phyllis paused, her cat ears drooping slightly.
“And right now, I just want to be with you, meow~”
“…”
Carola was silent for a long time, saying nothing.
“Phyllis.”
Carola’s words echoed in Phyllis’s mind.
“Hmm?”
Phyllis tilted her head.
“Before, I said you had no chance of becoming the Saintess. But now I’ve changed my mind. I want you to become the Catkin’s Saintess!”
“??? Why, meow?”
Phyllis was puzzled.
Why the sudden change of heart?
“Because I like it.”
Carola’s words were as domineering as ever.
“Alright, alright, I get it!”
Phyllis stroked the mirror.
“I’m going to practice now. You be quiet too, don’t get discovered!”
The morning passed quickly.
The afternoon practice at the Temple was even more tedious than Phyllis had imagined.
Iona had her kneel before the Cat God’s statue, learning a special meditation method said to allow contact with the Cat God.
Phyllis’s knees ached from kneeling, but her mind was filled with thoughts of Carola.
‘I wonder if she’s sleeping now?’
‘If she’s awake, is she bored?’
‘She drank so much blood last night, that should be enough to sustain her for a while, right?’
“Phyllis, focus.”
Iona’s voice suddenly sounded by Phyllis’s ear.
Phyllis’s ears twitched in fright.
“S-sorry, meow!”
“What were you thinking about?”
Iona sat down beside her, her robe spreading on the stone floor.
“You seem so distracted.”
“N-nothing, meow…”
Phyllis’s eyes darted around.
“I was just thinking… can a Saintess really not get married?”
She regretted asking as soon as the words left her mouth.
Wasn’t that basically admitting she was thinking about “that kind of thing”!
“Haha…”
Iona chuckled softly.
“Theoretically, yes. However…”
Iona looked towards the statue.
“Our Cat God is a loving deity. If a Saintess truly meets her destined one, the Cat God might even bestow a blessing.”
“Really, meow?”
Phyllis’s eyes lit up.
“Of course,” Iona’s tone shifted.
“However, that person must be a member of the Catkin. If it were some vile, filthy creature…”
Iona’s gaze rested on Phyllis’s face.
“…it would only defile the sanctity and incur Divine Punishment.”
“I-I understand, meow!”
Phyllis quickly bowed her head, not letting Iona see her flustered state.
“I’ll focus on meditating, meow!”
“Phyllis, did you know? You are already deeply favored by the Cat God,” Iona’s voice sounded by Phyllis’s ear.
“I have never seen any other clansmember with such a strong Cat God’s Blessing.”
“High Priestess Iona, am I really that special?”
Phyllis opened her eyes, looking at Iona with confusion.
As a transmigrator, she knew she was a bit special.
But, was she really that special?
She had never seen the Cat God, and she didn’t know why the Cat God would give her such a strong blessing.
The System Panel was her cheat, but after spending time with Carola, she learned something else.
It turned out her blood also had special properties?
Even before, when she went out, she encountered a Machine Race member who gave her a weapon.
It made Phyllis wonder if she came to this world with some hidden mission?
One she just forgot?
Otherwise, why were there so many fortunate events?
All these miraculous experiences made Phyllis a little afraid.
“Of course you are special. Otherwise, how could you have become a Candidate Saintess?”
Iona smiled as she answered Phyllis.
“However, if you have any other questions, you can also pray wholeheartedly. If you can establish a connection with the Cat God, you can ask Him yourself.”
“I will!”
Phyllis closed her eyes.
This time, she truly calmed her mind and focused on meditating.
She wanted to find the Cat God and ask.
If you become a Saintess, can you not fall in love with a Blood Tribe member?
Can’t you make an exception?