“There are no longer any critically ill people in our territory!”
After a long week, I could confidently say this. In fact, no one came to me anymore asking for healing.
“Our young master is someone sent by the gods!”
“He’s definitely a Gabriel sent from heaven.”
Instead, people came to praise me. The residents of the territory were all so busy praising me that no one was talking about witches or demons anymore.
Thanks to that, I was able to rest peacefully for the first time in a while. I spent some time without any worries.
But then, “Ceres, the emperor has invited you to a party.”
One day, Ares brought me the shocking news.
I had been quietly living as a patient in my room, and I was stunned by his sudden words.
I wondered if Ares was joking, but it wasn’t a joke. She looked as if she’d been poisoned.
“Emperor? You mean Emperor Baiol?”
“Who else could it be, if not that woman?”
Why is that crazy tyrant calling for me already?!
Baiol the Emperor.
He is the third male lead who appears in the original story, and among them, he’s the second insane psycho.
While Alios and Hames are fine initially, Baiol is already crazy from the start. He’s a violent emperor known as the tyrant in the story.
In the original, there’s a scene where he forcibly invites Ceres to a party because he wants to see her.
That’s how they meet, but the timing is way too early!
According to the timeline, Ceres meets Alios first, then Hames a few months later, and only after several more months does she meet Baiol. So I thought I still had time before meeting him.
Did he hear the rumors of the Saint and act faster than in the original?
I thought I had more time to prepare, but now I haven’t prepared anything yet!
“Wait a minute. I can’t even walk properly right now!”
In the original, Ceres is able to walk when she is invited to the party.
She was able to walk by the time the invitation came, which is why she was called.
“You’re asking someone who can hardly move to attend a party?”
“I said the same thing. But after hearing that you’ve healed the villagers, I thought you’d be able to attend the party by now.”
“…What if I say no?”
“Then they’ll send soldiers to drag you there!”
Looks like her awful personality hasn’t changed even after becoming a woman.
“When is the party?”
“It’s only a week away.”
How unreasonable! They give me just one week to attend a party when I can’t even walk yet?
“Ceres, don’t be so scared. I’ll try to figure something out.”
Ares said anxiously. She was trying to reassure me, but I knew it was impossible. The other party was the emperor, and since she was someone who didn’t follow common sense, I had no idea what she might do.
“…Mother, please invite the two people I mentioned to the mansion.”
I had no choice but to go. I would recover enough to walk and make it happen.
“First, please invite Alios.”
“She’ll come on her own without needing to be invited.”
“Then, just invite Hames, the Grand Chamberlain.”
“Why Hames, though?”
“I think I’ll need the help of spiritual power.”
I really didn’t want to do this, but I had no choice. I needed very strong spiritual power, so I had to call Hames.
“She said last time that I should call her, so she’ll definitely come.”
“Your body has already been tried to be healed with spiritual power several times, but failed. But maybe it’ll work with someone like the Grand Chamberlain?”
Ares seemed doubtful, but she trusted my words and contacted Hames.
Then, “It’s been a while.”
“Why is this person here?”
Hames, whom I called, and Alios, who came on his own, arrived.
“I was waiting, but you called earlier than I expected.”
Hames said bluntly.
“Is there something going on today? The atmosphere feels tense.”
I explained the situation to the two of them.
Upon hearing this, their expressions immediately twisted.
“You’re inviting a sick person who can’t even walk to a party? What a crazy, fresh idea.”
“That’s impossible!”
Alios reacted most strongly.
“Doing something so ridiculous again… Don’t worry, I’ll try to do something!”
“It’s impossible.”
I cut him off, trying to bring him back to reality.
“Do you think the emperor will listen to you just because you’re the heir of the Duke’s family and a hero?”
If she were sane enough to listen to you, she wouldn’t have invited me in the first place.
“Stop with the useless stuff and help me.”
“What kind of help?”
“I need your spiritual power and mana.”
When I said I would use them to heal my body enough to be able to walk, both of them looked at me blankly.
After a moment, Hames said reluctantly,
“As far as I know, Count Ares already tried but failed.”
“The people my mother called to treat me aren’t the Grand Chamberlain.”
“Can’t you heal yourself?”
“I can’t heal my own body with my power. I need your help. I’ll compensate you, just help me.”
“…I don’t need compensation. But I hope you won’t blame me if it doesn’t work.”
Hames seemed skeptical, thinking it would fail.
In fact, it would fail. No matter what you do with spiritual power, it can’t heal me.
The cause of my illness is divine power, which is a higher version of spiritual power. It’s not that I’m hurt or sick, but that I’m in pain because I can’t handle the power.
But that doesn’t mean spiritual power is completely useless.
In the original story, Hames, feeling guilty for doubting, tries to heal Ceres.
Even though it doesn’t work immediately, when she continues using spiritual power, something strange happens.
She doesn’t suddenly heal, but her health gradually improves.
At that time, people just thought it was due to the Grand Chamberlain’s remarkable skill, but later, the real reason is revealed.
Spiritual power is a lower version of divine power, but it’s a more familiar force to humans.
Exposing the body to spiritual power continuously builds resistance to divine power.
Spiritual power serves as a sort of bridge that connects them.
If the exposure to spiritual power is strong enough, such as with someone like a Grand Chamberlain, the effect increases.
“Ceres, mana isn’t a healing power like spiritual power, you know?”
Alios said awkwardly, but mana is also necessary.
“I’m not asking you to heal me. I want you to help me learn mana with your mana.”
“Learn mana? In a week?! That’s impossible!”
“As far as I know, it’s much easier to learn mana if someone with strong mana helps.”
Mana is injected into the body, moving it around to allow the person to experience the sensation of controlling it, which helps them acquire it quickly.
The mana I learn will play an important role for me.
While spiritual power builds resistance to divine power, mana helps physically endure divine power.
“Ah, my Ceres. After building resistance with spiritual power, if you learn mana and protect your body with it, you’ll be able to live a normal life.”
…Both methods were discovered by the great wizard male lead who appears later, so their effects are guaranteed.
Especially if both methods are used at the same time, the efficiency increases.
So, the great wizard male lead will handle the mana injection, and I’ll call Hames to supply the spiritual power.
It’ll take some time, but Ceres will recover to a level similar to an ordinary person.
Afterward, his physical condition will decline again, and his body will start to break down, but that was the plan I had in mind anyway.
I had planned to bring in regular priests and mages to heal me slowly.
But now, I’m meeting that crazy guy in just a week, so I had no choice.
Even if I don’t want to, I’ll call the strong ones and maximize the efficiency.
“Both of you, quickly inject your powers into me.”
As I urged them and took off my top, “Ahh!”
“What are you doing?!”
Alios and Hames were both shocked.
Alios was the first to let out a feminine scream, and Hames quickly covered me up with my clothes.
“Why? It’s more effective if you directly touch the skin.”
“So, you just took your clothes off out of nowhere? A man exposing his bare skin isn’t a good thing. Don’t you know that?!”
This is strange.
In this world, even though the roles of men and women have been swapped, a man’s bare upper body wasn’t considered sexual.
Why are they reacting so sensitively?
“What, what should I do? If you do it over my clothes, it’ll take longer.”
In the original, since Ceres is a woman, she couldn’t let anyone touch her bare skin, so they had to do it over her clothes, which took time.
“I’m fine with it, so just do it.”
“We’re not fine with it!”
Alios shouted in embarrassment, which was unusual for him.
“You can’t just take your clothes off like that without saying anything! You’re not doing this in front of other people, right?!”
“I didn’t.”
There was no reason for me to take my clothes off in front of others.
“Who do you think likes taking their clothes off? Honestly, I don’t like undressing in front of you two either. But it’s faster if you touch my bare skin.”
“Then why not hold hands or something more proper?”
“Hands are too small.”
It’s funny how the original even mentioned this couldn’t be done.
After thinking for a moment, I said, “How about doing it on my back?”
“My back?”
“I’ll lie down and only expose my back. You can put your hands there and inject your powers into me.”