Originally, Hames had come to meet Ceres with a light heart.
He thought that since she had asked him to call her when the time was right, now was that time.
She came to check if he was truly a saint and to see his face.
Without much thought, he had arrived, but soon he was shocked.
“What are you doing?!”
Ceres had suddenly taken off her top and exposed her upper body.
When he tried to stop her, she looked at him with an expression that seemed to wonder why he was stopping her, leaving him dumbfounded.
‘Does she not realize how her appearance might be perceived by others?’
Normally, a man exposing his upper body isn’t something encouraged, but it’s not forbidden either.
But Ceres was different.
She was widely acknowledged as the most beautiful woman in the empire.
‘Think about how women will see you. Even the knight next to you, Alios, is pretending to be embarrassed but is still looking at you.’
It was already shocking enough to see a delicate man undress in front of women, but then he asked her to touch his back as well.
‘Are you trying to seduce us right now?’
She was speechless, but since he asked, he had no choice but to proceed.
‘He’s so soft.’
The first time she touched Ceres’ body, it felt incredibly good to the touch, even surprising Hames, who had dealt with many luxury items as a high-ranking official.
‘Why is it so delicate?’
She could already tell that his body was frail just by looking, but feeling it made it all the more real.
‘He seemed healthier than I imagined. Was that just a facade?’
She had heard rumors that he was sickly. However, the first time she met him, he had confidently treated many people and seemed to be in better shape than the rumors suggested.
Hames, sensing something strange, used her magical energy to examine Ceres’ body.
Her expression immediately hardened.
‘Is this really the body of a living person? How has he managed to survive until now in this condition?’
His powerful magic was causing damage all over his body, preventing it from functioning properly.
At this point, just being alive seemed to be a form of torment.
‘He treated so many people without rest despite having this body?’
She recalled the first time they met.
Many people had come to him, and without complaint, he had treated them all.
He had done all of this with a body in this painful condition!
“Ugh, ugh…”
As she was in shock, Ceres kept groaning in pain.
‘Of course, injecting mana and performing such strenuous tasks for a long time would be painful with his body.’
She understood his intention to recover as much as possible before facing that tyrant.
But honestly, she doubted it would be effective. She feared it was only making him suffer more.
She even tried to make excuses to leave, but in the end, she couldn’t resist his desperate plea and continued with the painful task.
‘You want me to treat those full-body burns in this condition?’
Seeing a patient brought by a neighboring count, Hames frowned.
If Ceres were to use his remaining strength to heal such injuries, how would his body react? She couldn’t predict what might happen, and she was worried.
She considered stepping in himself to treat the patient, but Ceres kept trying to take charge.
“Listen, Ceres Hyperion! Don’t think of others before yourself with that body. If you live for yourself, no one will criticize you. Live for yourself!”
She shouted without realizing it.
‘What? Did I just say that?’
The words that came out of her mouth surprised even her. Why did she say that? Was it because she felt sorry for Ceres, who was sacrificing himself despite his painful body?
‘…Anyway, after saying this much, I hope he understands.’
She wished for him to understand, but instead, Ceres responded coldly.
“You seem to be mistaken.”
He spoke bluntly.
“I’m not doing this for others.”
“What?”
“I’m already living for myself, so you don’t need to tell me to.”
Is treating others for your own benefit?
“If you’re not going to help, I’ll go on my own. Let go of me.”
“I refuse!”
Ceres and Alios had a scuffle in front of the stunned Hames.
After watching them for a moment, Hames made up her mind.
“Alright, I’ll help.”
“Hames?!”
“Don’t worry, Knight Alios. I’ll assist with the treatment using my divine power.”
Now, Hames thought she would take over most of the work so that Ceres wouldn’t need to exert himself.
“Ceres, you…?”
As the two reluctantly helped him, Ceres got closer to the patient. Ares was horrified.
“I’m fine.”
Ceres reassured Ares, then turned to speak to Hurion.
“Please promise me one thing. If I treat your daughter, I want you to forget all ill feelings that arose from today.”
“Of course! If you treat her, you will be the benefactor of our family, and how could I harbor ill feelings? Ceres, you and Hyperion will be our eternal allies!”
After making the promise, Ceres placed his hands on Hurion’s daughter, whose entire body was burned.
At that moment, Hames placed her hand on top of his.
“As I said, I’ll assist with my divine power.”
“…Do as you wish.”
Ceres reluctantly said, and as his hands began to glow, Hames poured her divine power into him.
While helping him as much as possible so that he wouldn’t have to use his own strength, she realized something.
‘This is divine power.’
By overlapping their hands and releasing their power at the same time, Hames could tell that the strength Ceres was using was greater than his own divine power.
But then, ‘Is divine power really this ugly?’
It harmed its own wielder and, in the end, forced healing due to the strength it gave.
‘Oh divine beings, is this really divine power? Is it really your will to force someone to live in agony and burdened by great responsibility just because they have this power? If so, then…’
It had already been three days since he treated the neighboring count’s daughter.
After overcoming a difficult hurdle, it was time to continue what he had been doing.
During that time, he had kept inserting mana and divine power to attempt body enhancement.
“Ceres, do you feel anything?”
“Hmm, I think I do?”
He gave a half-hearted answer to Alios, who was asking as she poured mana into Ceres’ back.
“Let me try it, and you check if it’s mana.”
Alios took her hand off his back for a moment, and Ceres stood up.
He recalled the sensation of the mana moving through her body.
He followed the correct path, which he had learned thanks to Alios.
Soon, he could feel the mana speeding through his entire body, and it felt as if his whole body was brimming with strength.
“It’s mana! It’s definitely mana!”
As Ceres successfully felt and controlled the mana, Alios was amazed.
“I helped a bit, but you learned it at an incredible pace. Maybe Ceres has talent!”
“Then, can you also enhance your body with mana, like you do with lifting people and handling objects?”
“After just awakening, it’s impossible to be like me. But even basic enhancement brings incredible effects.”
Alios smiled broadly and pointed to a large clothes rack next to Ceres’ bed.
“Try lifting this, with one hand.”
“Let’s do it.”
Ceres lifted the long, heavy clothes rack with one hand. Normally, this would have been impossible for his body.
It was incredible.
His strength had increased several times!
Even though his body was still weak, it was now much stronger, possibly even close to that of a beast.
“Ceres, walk!”
Alios, seeing his enhanced strength, shook his long golden ponytail with excitement.
Ceres also felt hopeful for a moment.
If his body had grown this much stronger, wasn’t he already healed?
But then, after getting out of bed and trying to walk, he almost collapsed.
“Ceres!”
“Are you okay?”
Alios and Hames hurriedly caught him. Ceres, now supported by both, felt dazed.
This was crazy.
He had been strengthened, but the pain remained!
Despite the enhanced physical strength, he still felt the pain in his body.
Wasn’t this supposed to be different?
Now that he thought about it, in the original story, Ceres had used mana to become healthier, but it didn’t enhance his body.
On the other hand, Ceres’ body was strengthened, but the illness was still there, so something was clearly wrong.
Was it because he was being assisted by someone different than in the original story?
But Alios was the only one he could rely on.
“This isn’t working. Let’s keep injecting more mana until I can get the right sense.”
“Got it.”
Now that he had awakened his mana, he kept trying to use it to protect his body.
He continued to inject divine power to make his body more familiar with divine strength.
He had to make sure the effects were dramatic.
That meant more time was needed, and so the two stayed longer at her house.
“Hames, I’m grateful you’re taking the time for me, but are you alright?”
He asked Hames, who hadn’t returned to the temple for a long time despite being affiliated with it.
“Does it matter if I don’t go back for this long? And didn’t you say you were investigating whether I’m a saint?”
In the original story, James discovers Ceres’ divine power while meeting her, and he realizes she’s the saint.
Back then, Hames had feelings for her, but didn’t know he loved her yet.
Although he knew becoming a saint wasn’t an easy thing, he reported it to the higher-ups, and as a result, Ceres became officially recognized as a saint, starting her hardships.
However, as Hames stayed with Ceres, there was no trace of that development happening, unlike in the original story.
It felt suspicious, so Ceres asked him directly.
Hames, who had been touching his back, flinched and answered, “…I’m not sure. But since I haven’t felt divine power until now, I don’t think so. I reported to the temple, though.”