Under the gaze of the Goddess statue, Bai Shuang was escorted by three nuns into the church’s prayer room.
As a little half-witch, facing the stares of the surrounding nuns, she couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous.
Before Bai Shuang could even realize what was happening, the three of them found a spot and pulled her directly beneath the Goddess statue.
Intense holy light bathed the entire church.
Perhaps because of that radiance, or perhaps because a miracle was descending, the largest part of the church—which normally shouldn’t have been touched by sunlight—was now brilliantly illuminated.
The other three nuns hesitated noticeably after witnessing the divine manifestation.
They glanced at Bai Shuang sandwiched between them, all three visibly curious about what might happen if a witch prayed to the Goddess.
“Are we really doing this?”
“What if that nun superior finds out…”
“If she blames us, worst case we just spend half a year reflecting in the confession room…”
***
It was nearly noon, so the prayer room was empty of other nuns.
Apprentice nuns were outside handling their own tasks, while ordinary nuns were usually occupied with healing or helping people unburden their hearts.
At first Bai Shuang felt uneasy inside—seemingly sharing the belief that a witch could never be worthy of asking the Goddess for a blessing.
Uncertain, she looked back at the three behind her.
“Starting today, you’re officially a nun of the Holy See. The superior personally vouched for your identity…”
“That’s right. Daily prayer is something every nun has to do…”
Bai Shuang, who had still been hesitating slightly, heard those words and forced down her inner anxiety.
Slowly, she knelt before the Goddess statue.
After all, she was a witch—and in the Holy See, witches were the very symbol of corruption.
Praying to the Goddess in such an identity?
Bai Shuang didn’t even need to think to know what would happen: she would surely be rejected by the Goddess and then leave in embarrassment under the nuns’ matter-of-fact stares.
After all, how could a witch possibly dare to hope for the Goddess’s blessing?
That was something everyone already took for granted.
Yet the moment Bai Shuang slowly knelt on the ground, not only did the entire church fall silent—the light itself seemed to take on shape.
Qiming Nun had still been discussing what might happen, but when a faint silhouette appeared within the sunlight, all three of them widened their eyes in shock.
Bai Shuang closed her eyes.
In an instant, something seemed to gently touch her forehead.
From the perspective of the other three, the now-shaped sunlight appeared to wrap around a goddess veiled in white gauze, who bent down and placed the softest of kisses upon the witch’s brow.
The black-haired goddess had her eyes gently closed.
Though she was merely a carved stone statue, under the sunlight she seemed imbued with color.
When the three nuns saw their most revered Goddess actually kissing a witch, feelings of jealousy—or perhaps sheer astonishment—surged through their hearts.
Yet when Bai Shuang opened her eyes again, she touched her forehead in confusion, seemingly unaware of what had just occurred.
She only felt as though she had been bathed in warm sunlight from head to toe, her whole body suffused with comfortable warmth.
“Wait—I didn’t imagine that, right? Why would the Goddess’s light…”
“Could it be that this witch actually believes in the Goddess?”
“If that’s the case… could a witch learn divine arts…?”
The moment one of the little nuns said those words, the room instantly fell quiet.
If anyone had said something like that before, the other two would have mercilessly mocked her.
But after witnessing the scene just now, no one dared guarantee that such an absurd thing as a witch learning divine arts might not actually become possible.
“I… I think my body felt kind of strange just now. Sisters, did you…”
Bai Shuang had wanted to ask about the odd sensation she had just experienced, but as soon as she turned her head, she saw all the nuns staring intently at her—eyes filled with jealousy, and perhaps a trace of curiosity as well.
Startled by their gazes, Bai Shuang jumped.
Before she could even get out a second sentence, they all crowded around her at once.
“You were just blessed by the Goddess! Did you feel anything amazing?!!”
“What does receiving a blessing feel like? Does it hurt?!!”
Faced with the excited crowd, Bai Shuang felt like a small, helpless lamb.
Wanting them to calm down, she could only answer their questions in a flustered panic.
“You! You didn’t feel any discomfort anywhere, right?”
“N-no… none…”
***
“You didn’t feel any burning pain?”
“N-nope…”
***
“The Goddess blessed you—did you feel any part of yourself become stronger??”
“I… I don’t know…”
Surrounded by the nuns, one question after another came flying at her.
Bai Shuang answered in flustered confusion.
Somehow the news spread, and soon even more nuns came rushing in from outside.
The nuns who had once looked at her with fear now showed far less of it—replaced instead by overwhelming curiosity.
Facing so many nuns at once, Bai Shuang felt as though she could hardly breathe.
After all, a witch receiving the Goddess’s blessing was completely unprecedented.
For an existence that should be hostile to the Goddess to instead receive Her grace—if word of this got out, even the Saintess would likely be shaken.
“S-so… so many people… what should I do…”
Just as Bai Shuang felt overwhelmed and short of breath, a loud shout cut through the crowd.
Immediately afterward, one nun stepped forward with hands on hips and shoved the others aside.
“Quiet down! So a witch got blessed—what’s the big deal?!”
After the little nun interrupted everyone, she instantly drew every gaze.
She brushed back the long hair beside her ear and put on an extremely smug expression.
“But it’s a witch receiving a blessing! Weren’t you super shocked just a minute ago too?!”
One of the nuns shot back at the boastful little nun, only to receive a disdainful look in return.
“I was only mildly surprised earlier. But now I understand everything~!”
“??!”
Hearing the little nun’s words, the rest of the nuns looked utterly baffled.
The little nun spun around, pointed directly at Bai Shuang, and declared:
“When the Central Nun chose to take her in, it must have been because she already had a goal in mind…”
“Bai Shuang, as a half-witch and the subject of an experiment, is naturally a little different from the rest!”
“And all of this was already within the Central Nun’s calculations!”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone in the prayer room sucked in a sharp breath.
Even Bai Shuang froze for a second upon hearing them.
“So that’s how it is… I thought Sister Zhou was just trying to give my identity a legitimate reason…”
Bai Shuang rubbed her head in confusion, still feeling like something wasn’t quite right.
Yet looking around, nearly ninety percent of the nuns seemed to have completely bought the explanation.
“No wonder the Central Nun suddenly treated a witch so kindly…”
“Right, right! So the Central Nun had already noticed how special this Miss Bai Shuang was…”
“But… couldn’t this just be a coincidence…?”
“Superficial. No wonder you’re just an ordinary nun!”