Jeong So-hee, the Saintess?
Jeong So-hee? That woman is the Saintess?
Marriage is supposed to be one of the most important events in a person's life, yet here I am—moments ago I had no prospects whatsoever, not even the shadow of a woman in sight, and suddenly I'm a married man. And not just any woman, but one this beautiful.
Something about it feels strange.
I stole a glance at Marguerite and our eyes met.
Her face flushed bright red. Whether from embarrassment or not, she quickly turned her head away. Where had the courage gone that let her propose to a complete stranger?
I couldn't help but smile. Popcorn tilted its head, flew over, and headed straight for Marguerite's nose. It tilted its head again, then looked at me. Apparently, it found it odd that she wasn't looking my way.
Popcorn grabbed Marguerite's nose with both hands.
"Pii pii!"
It grunted and tried to turn her nose toward me. Maybe it thought we had fallen out, just like it had with Pudding.
The spirits watching from a slight distance giggled among themselves.
Marguerite's eyes darted around in confusion.
Wait a second.
"Marguerite, can you see the spirits?"
"Ah, yes."
She nodded. As her head moved up and down, Popcorn's body swayed along with it. Clinging with only its arms, Popcorn cried out in delight. It must have felt like riding an amusement park attraction.
Why was it using only its arms when it had wings?
Marguerite raised her arms halfway, then froze, unsure whether she should remove the spirit.
I reached out and lifted Popcorn away. In my palm, it let out a disappointed "pii."
Both Marguerite with Popcorn dangling from her nose and Popcorn itself were adorable, but I felt a little sorry for her being flustered by the spirit's sudden antics. Sorry, but the mischief ends here. Save the nose-hanging games for me alone.
Once Popcorn let go, Marguerite looked both relieved and faintly disappointed as she continued.
"Before, I could only see the spirits' light a little more clearly, but after drinking the droplet Popcorn gave me, I can see them properly now."
She laughed softly.
"I never knew the world could be this beautiful. Being able to see spirits is truly special and joyful."
....
I barely heard the rest of her words. My mind had caught on something she'd said earlier.
"A droplet...?"
Could that have been mine...? No, surely not.
Without thinking, I opened my hand and looked at Popcorn. The spirit stuck out its rear and began spinning in a little dance. I'd learned recently that this was the dance it performed when it was happy or had something to boast about. Its standards were a bit different from a human's, though—it would dance just as enthusiastically over finding a grain of sand or a sprout that looked ordinary to me but pretty to it. At first, I hadn't been able to tell what triggered the dance at all. Even now, I still couldn't tell what it was so pleased or proud about.
Marguerite closed her mouth, looking embarrassed. She must have thought my reaction was because she'd said something childish.
Before I could tell her the droplet was probably my sweat, I waved my hands in denial. The villagers burst into loud laughter.
"Ah! It's Pudding!"
One of the children shouted, peering between the adults' legs. Pudding was wobbling toward us, its body trembling as if flustered.
"Pudding, you're late."
"Teacher got married and Pudding missed it."
"Poor thing."
The children crouched down to comfort it. Hey, kids, we haven't actually gotten married yet. We only decided to.
Even though the words probably didn't reach it, Pudding went limp as if its life had ended, its body spreading out like melted candle wax. Its gaze—assuming it had eyes—was fixed on the dancing Popcorn.
With Pudding's arrival, Popcorn's dance grew even more energetic. It slipped from my palm and twirled through the air toward Pudding. It wasn't just my imagination; the movement looked deliberately teasing.
Grasshoppers leapt in every direction from Pudding's flattened body. It must have been carrying them around to show off to Popcorn. The excited children scrambled to catch the escaping insects.
When I turned to Marguerite, who hadn't moved, she was staring at Pudding with wide eyes.
"...Black and transparent... Could it be... the legendary slime...?"
At her sudden remark, the villagers clutched their stomachs and laughed. Sorry, but I laughed too.
Marguerite knew quite a few legends from her education as a crown princess—legends others didn't. One of them concerned a black slime.
Long ago, a black, transparent slime appeared in a certain village. Larger than a person, it collapsed upon arrival, either because its lifespan had ended or because it was injured. The starving villagers cut it up and ate it, and that's when the miracle occurred.
A dying child ate a piece of the slime and recovered. The sick were instantly cured. An old man whose finger had been cut off grew a new one. When a piece was placed in the mouth of a freshly deceased corpse, it drew breath again. The person had died in great pain, yet after reviving, they lived peacefully for five days without suffering before dying once more.
The villagers offered the slime to their lord, who also benefited from its effects. By the time it reached the king, however, too much time had passed, and it only slightly improved his skin.
Legends of the black slime were rare, but I had heard one or two existed in other countries as well.
"Good heavens."
Marguerite shifted her gaze from the black slime to the fluffy creature—Popcorn. She looked at the small bird, at the spirits all around, then back at the black, transparent slime. Finally, she looked at Jin-woo's face.
Beside the Saintess stood a phoenix-like chick and a black slime that resembled those from legend. Popcorn's appearance was a new form she had never heard of, but the way the other spirits behaved toward it made it clear this was no ordinary spirit. They treated it with the reverence due a king.
"It might be the Spirit King."
They said no new spirits had been born since the previous Spirit King died. If spirits began appearing again, that would be definitive proof that Popcorn was the Spirit King. Even if it wasn't, it was clearly something special.
When Marguerite had muttered that he was the Saintess, Jin-woo had panicked and insisted he was a man, but the title "Saintess" existed because most otherworlders summoned in the past had been women. There were records of rare male summonings, yet even then they had been called Saintess. The term didn't mean "woman"—it simply referred to a summoned being, like a king or a spirit.
"Good heavens."
Marguerite muttered again. A phoenix-like bird, a slime too small to truly be called legendary, and a strangely shaped spirit that commanded the awe of others. Any one of them could be dismissed, but all three together? Could that really be coincidence?
"The Saintess, a phoenix, the legendary slime, the Spirit King."
Something was happening. Something beyond human imagination was unfolding right here.
Without realizing it, she felt dizzy and swayed. Jin-woo quickly wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.
"Are you all right?"
he asked. Marguerite looked up at his face in a daze and thought,
"A legend beyond legends."
A new history was beginning. She was standing at the very place where that new history was starting. So was everyone in this village. And among them all, she would witness it from the closest vantage point.
Oh, good heavens.
"What did you say?"
Jin-woo smiled.
"Ah...."
Heat rose to Marguerite's face. She must have spoken her thoughts aloud. But the embarrassment quickly melted away in the warmth of her excitement. Without thinking, she clenched her fists.
"If there's anything I can do, if there's anything you want from me, please tell me. I'll do my very best."
At her words, this time Jin-woo's face turned red. She didn't know what he was imagining, but somehow heat rose to her cheeks as well.
* * *
"Watching this is making me embarrassed,"
Kenson said, fanning his face with his palm. Only then did I remember we were standing in front of everyone. I cleared my throat and let go of Marguerite's waist.
As we headed toward the village hall with our guest, several village men exchanged glances and spoke up.
"Chief, this might be meddling on our part, but..."
"Well... shouldn't you and your future wife have a proper conversation?"
"That's right. You're becoming husband and wife starting today—you should at least get to know each other a little."
"Why don't you two talk at your house for a bit?"
Huh? These people were rushing things far too fast.
"No, even if we're getting married, we should take some time to get to know each other first. Getting married today is just too sudden."
As I spoke, Marguerite shook her head vigorously beside me.
"I'm fine with getting married today. To be honest, I want to become husband and wife as soon as possible so I can stay by your side and watch over you... I mean, it's not that I have any ulterior motives..."
She trailed off, her eyes darting around as she made excuses. Honestly, if anyone here had ulterior motives, it was me. Every single cell in my body was filled with nothing but them right now.
At Marguerite's words, the villagers grinned.
"Chief, go home and have a talk with her."
"We'll handle the wedding preparations in the meantime. If the manager is here, he'll officiate the ceremony, won't he?"
That was true. Marguerite seemed eager to marry right away too... Well, maybe it was all right. I swallowed without realizing it.
Come to think of it, we didn't even know each other's ages. We really did need to learn a bit more about one another.
Kenson stroked his chin and muttered,
"Officiating a wedding... This would be the first time since I became governor of the Frontier. Somehow, doing it feels like it might bring me good fortune. Maybe thanks to performing the ceremony, I'll get the chance to live with a wife too."
Everyone seemed determined to hold the wedding today. Marguerite appeared to be thinking something over, then looked up at me.
"And... before we get married, there's something I absolutely must confess."
....
Did she have some enormous secret in her past? Feeling slightly tense, I walked home with her. Whatever she wanted to confess—murder, treason, anything—I was still going to marry her. Definitely.
When we arrived, Marguerite bowed her head deeply, her expression stiff.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you this earlier, but I let my greed blind me..."
Her face was serious. This must be something quite important. I steeled myself.
"Whatever it is, just say it."
No matter what came out, I would marry her. Marguerite moistened her dry lips and spoke.
"I don't know how it happened, but you are the Saintess summoned from another world."
....
The face I'd kept tense probably looked completely idiotic now. Marguerite continued with her head slightly lowered.
"If word reaches the royal palace, they'll surely come to greet you as the Saintess. You have far too much evidence for them to ignore."
"Pii...?"
Popcorn, who had been playing with the children until we got home, must have flown in through the window. It tilted its head between Marguerite and me. The tension in her eyes softened.
"This spirit, the little bird, the slime... and all the spirits filling this village are proof that you are the Saintess."
"I heard there's already a Saintess at the palace,"
I said. Marguerite nodded.
"Yes. A woman named Jeong So-hee. She probably came from the same world as you. But she isn't the real Saintess. I don't know how that came to be."
Wait, hold on. Did she just say Jeong So-hee?
Jeong So-hee? That woman is the Saintess? She's here? In this world? She came with me?
"Is that true?"
This time, my face really did go blank.