Chapter 57 : Really, really the Saintess.

Behind the stage. A massive carriage stands imposingly.

Though the makeshift stage isn’t that large, the carriage’s sheer size rivals it. It appears to be at least six times larger than an average carriage.

“How does this thing even fit on the road?”
The thought immediately crosses my mind.

Perhaps it was designed to function as a sort of mobile lounge. Plus, making it this big adds to the grandeur of announcing the saintess’s arrival. Regardless, it was clear that Lilith was inside that carriage.

Approaching the carriage, I knocked on the firmly closed door. Soon after, the priest I had seen earlier stepped out.

“Who are you?”

From a distance, he seemed like just an old man, but up close, he appeared sturdy despite his age, with a strong, commanding presence.

“I’m sorry, but the saintess needs her rest right now—”

“It’s been a while, Grandpa Cordas. How’s the priest life treating you after quitting as a butler?”

“…Your Highness, the Princess?”

“That’s right. It’s me.”

From their conversation, it was evident that they knew each other. Judging by Seria’s casual tone and demeanor, they seemed to share a close relationship.

A former royal butler turned priest?

That wasn’t in the game, as far as I remember.

Then again, implementing every minor relationship in the game would have been impossible without blowing up the file size.

“Still helping others, huh? Guess it’s your true calling?”

“It seems so.”

“Why’d you suddenly quit being a butler, then? Do you know what kind of chaos we went through trying to replace you?”

“Haha, even an old man sometimes feels the need to pursue new aspirations.”

The old man, whom Seria had called Cordas, chuckled as he replied, his smile warm and sincere. Then, his gaze shifted to me.

“And who might this be?”

“A friend from the academy.”

“Rudion,” I said, introducing myself.

“Haha, no need to bow so deeply to an old man like me.”

I had instinctively bowed in greeting, but his words felt wrong to me.

Showing respect to someone of his age was natural—anything else would feel disrespectful.

My deeply ingrained Confucian upbringing as a Korean made it almost sinful to act otherwise toward such a kindly elder.

Once the introductions were over, Seria casually brought up the main reason for our visit.

“We need to talk to Lilith. Mind giving us some privacy?”

“Of course. If you’re friends of the saintess, you’re surely welcome in the eyes of God.”

“Keep sounding so pious, and I’ll drag you back to the palace myself.”

“Oh dear. I beg for mercy.”

The negotiation, if it could even be called that, was quick. After all, it wasn’t unreasonable for friends to meet. With Seria’s playful threat lingering in the air, Cordas stepped aside and exited the carriage.

“Wow, it’s even bigger inside than it looked from outside.”

Once inside, the carriage revealed its true grandeur.

This wasn’t just a means of transportation—it was a mobile residence.

If the royal carriage I rode recently was akin to a supercar, then this was a luxury RV. It was practically a small room on wheels, fully equipped for comfortable living. Talk about opulence.

But regardless of its size, it wasn’t big enough to avoid running into Lilith.

As soon as we entered, Lilith sprang up in surprise, as if she’d seen a pair of burglars.

“Wh-Who are you? How did you get in here? Where’s Cardinal Cordas?”

Judging by her reaction, she hadn’t expected anyone other than the priest to enter.

“Wait… Cardinal? Seria, is that guy a cardinal?”

“Now that you mention it, I think he was recently appointed.”

“When exactly did he quit being a butler?”

“About four years ago?”

What? So, he became a cardinal in less than four years? I guess that’s what working for the royal family does for your résumé. Still, it was puzzling why someone like him wasn’t in the original story.

“You barge in here and start chatting amongst yourselves?! What’s wrong with you two?!”

Fair enough. As Lilith pointed out, chatting like this in front of her was undeniably rude.

Ignoring her protests, I plopped myself onto the plush sofa inside. Seria followed suit, sitting beside me.

“Hey! Why are you just sitting down like you own the place? Get out right now!”

She seemed intent on driving us out.
Unfortunately for her, we had no intention of leaving quietly.

“Wow, Lilith the Saintess, your accomplishments are amazing.”

“Right? Everyone’s reaction to you has been incredible. Guess that’s what being a saintess means.”

“…Can you please not bring that up?”

“Hey, Seria, what do you think about Lilith’s outfit?”

“Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone pull off a nun’s habit this well. Though now, it feels like she’s back to her usual self.”

“You’re so insufferable…”

I wanted to tease her more, but Lilith looked genuinely ready to lash out, so I decided to let it go.

After a brief moment of calming herself, Lilith flopped onto the sofa across from us with a sigh and broke the silence.

“Anyway, what are you two even doing around here? Are you on a date or something?”

“Well, if you look at it a certain way, maybe.”
“What do you mean, ‘a certain way’? It’s obviously a date.”

“Yeah, obviously a date—wait a second. Seria, you’re not even embarrassed?”

I guess teasing Seria was the original goal, as Lilith kept steering the conversation in that direction. But surprisingly, Seria didn’t take the bait. Instead, she boldly pushed back, leaving Lilith looking flustered.

“…Now that I think about it, didn’t you say you were visiting the imperial palace? Hey, Rudion, spill it. What did you really do there?”

“Nothing much, honestly.”

“Something must have happened if Seria’s acting like this. Tell me what it was. Now!”

“Seriously, nothing happened.”

Okay, so I sparred a bit with the knights, accidentally broke the royal family’s treasured magic stone, took care of a sudden demon outbreak, and, while I was at it, helped prevent an apocalypse. But those are hardly things I could casually bring up.

Stripping away all the drama, technically nothing major had happened.

But Lilith clearly didn’t believe me and kept pressing for answers. Just then, Seria decided to toss a verbal grenade into the mix.

“Nothing happened. Except that my parents acknowledged Rudion. That’s it, right?”

Seria said it so nonchalantly, even flashing me a mischievous smile.

She acted natural, but I knew right away—she was doing this just to mess with Lilith.

Well… if the emperor heard this, he might clutch his chest and pass out, but technically it wasn’t a lie.

When Lilith stared at me in disbelief, I nodded, silently confirming Seria’s words.

Lilith’s mouth fell open, utterly unable to process the situation.

“No way. For real?”

“For real.”

“No freaking way! Really, really for real?”

“Really, really for real.”

If she wasn’t going to believe me, why did she keep asking if it was true?

Sensing we were about to get stuck in an endless loop of “reallys,” I changed the subject before the count reached three.

“By the way, have you eaten lunch yet?”

“Don’t change the subject so casually! …No, I haven’t eaten yet.”

“What are you planning to do about it?”

“Usually, Cardinal Cordas brings me something to eat, and I just eat that…”

As Lilith muttered, glancing outside the carriage, Seria suddenly seemed to get an idea. She swung the door open with a burst of magic and called out.

“Grandpa Cordas!”

“What is it, young lady?”

Despite the relatively soft call, he appeared instantly, as though still wired to his old butler instincts. Of course, he was a cardinal now, but…

Seria didn’t bother with small talk and got straight to the point.

“We’re taking Lilith out for lunch.”

“By all means, please do.”

And with that, Lilith’s next plan for the day was decided: lunch with us.

“Shall we go now?”

“Let’s go.”

“Wait a minute! I can’t go out dressed like this. Let me change first. Wait outside.”

“Why? You look great.”

“Exactly. I think it suits you perfectly.”

“I’m seriously getting angry. Get out, now!”

In the end, we had no choice but to wait outside the carriage for Lilith to change.

A little while later, we were walking down the street with Lilith, now dressed in casual clothes, when Seria suddenly tapped her finger against Lilith’s arm.

“Hold on. Lilith, someone’s following us.”

It seemed like someone was stalking us.

But Lilith, hearing this, didn’t seem surprised at all and calmly responded,

“That’s normal. They think I’m really the Saintess.”

It seemed like this was an everyday occurrence for her.

But… you are the real Saintess.

Seria, as if sensing the same thing I was, voiced her doubt,

“You’re really the Saintess, right?”

“…Yeah, I guess I am.”

She should at least acknowledge that she’s the Saintess, right?

Anyway, it was more important that someone was following us right now. It was definitely a risky situation—not for us, but for the stalker.

Sure, Lilith said it was something that happened all the time, but things were different now.

With the Saintess and the Princess of the Empire walking together, it would be a dangerous situation for anyone who tried to interfere.

If anyone was caught following us, they could face serious consequences.

But we couldn’t just deal with this ourselves.

Neither a Saintess nor an Imperial Princess could afford to get involved in a public altercation with a commoner, right?

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

If we let this go, it might end up disrupting our meal, and I could handle a citizen-level threat easily with my stats.

It didn’t take long to realize that I was wrong in this assumption.