The Saintess's Secret
When Director Lee Sia first told her she had been chosen by the Holy Grail, Ryeonhwa had been unable to believe it.
And when she learned that the Saintess herself would travel to Korea carrying the Grail to personally conduct her knighting ceremony, it became even harder to accept. She had assumed she would be disciplined for engaging a demon without authorization — instead, far from punishment, the thing she had longed for most desperately was being handed to her, and she could only stand there dumbfounded.
Even after the ceremony ended and the Saintess offered her blessing with a gentle smile, part of Ryeonhwa remained convinced she was dreaming.
"Congratulations, Knight Ryeonhwa. You are now a full Knight of the Order."
"…Ah, yes. Thank you… Your Holiness."
Clad in her ceremonial uniform, Ryeonhwa faced the Saintess with a dazed expression, her mind still foggy.
Half-lost in a trance, all she could manage as she stared at the woman before her was a silent, repeating litany of praise — beautiful, simply beautiful.
"Ahem!"
Only at Director Sia's pointed cough from beside her — the woman who had overseen the ceremony — did Ryeonhwa finally drag her senses, adrift for days now, back into reality.
This was the assembly hall of the Order's Korean branch. Having just drunk from the Holy Grail the Saintess had handed her, and been formally appointed a Knight, Ryeonhwa understood now that this was no dream — and joy and happiness welled up from the deepest part of her chest.
Finally… I'm a Knight…!!
But rising alongside that joy was another emotion entirely. Vengeance. The knowledge that she now possessed the power to kill the demon who had murdered her family set her whole body ablaze.
The sacred power that had settled into her as she drank from the Grail — a searing heat melting into her flesh — surged up inside her like she could do absolutely anything. She wanted to ride this momentum, hunt the demon down this very instant, and take her revenge. But this was not the time.
"I swear I will never bring shame to the name of Knight."
Placing her clenched fist over her heart, Ryeonhwa swore her oath firmly before the Saintess, the heat building behind her eyes until they threatened to spill over as she struggled to calm her surging heart.
"Yes, Knight Ryeonhwa. I look forward to working with you."
The silver-haired Saintess in her pristine white dress smiled warmly at her. That stainless, unblemished smile alone seemed to purify the very air around them into blinding white — proof enough in the way everyone nearby, gazing at her, found themselves wearing soft, relaxed smiles without realizing it.
When the supreme authority of the Order — the cleanest, most beautiful existence in this world — singled her out with such kindness, Ryeonhwa felt as if she might take flight. Every single word from that strong, noble woman, one whom even Archdemons feared, ignited in her a fierce loyalty to the Order and the Saintess alike.
"Now that I think of it, I heard a civilian became involved in our affairs a few days ago…"
But the Saintess's next words froze the atmosphere solid in an instant.
She had realized who Ryeonhwa was — the civilian Ryeonhwa had dragged into the fight against the demon without reporting it. With the warm mood still lingering, the branch's greatest blunder had just been laid on the table, and Sia went deathly pale while Ryeonhwa's face drained of all color.
"According to the report, it was a Korean man named Yoon Dohyun. Is that correct?"
When the Saintess tilted her head and asked with an innocent, guileless face, it was Director Sia standing beside her who cut in before Ryeonhwa could answer.
"As the current measure, we plan to erase his memories of the demon. I will see to it promptly."
As the Director delivered her course of action as tersely as possible, the good-natured smile vanished from the Saintess's face for the very first time. At that change, Sia's already tense expression hardened further still.
D-did I make some mistake…? Or was the response to that civilian too slow? Or is she angry that a civilian was dragged into this at all?
Cold sweat running down her back, Sia rolled her eyes this way and that, racking her brain desperately to read the Saintess's thoughts.
Ryeonhwa, too, went pale at the shift in the Saintess's expression — and at the same time, an uncomfortable unease settled over her.
That day — the day she killed the male demon — she remembered it all too clearly. Barely hauling herself up from where the demon's attacks had felled her, she had ambushed it a second time as it stalked Dohyun. She'd only been able to kill it because her attention had been locked on him; without him there, finishing off the male demon would have been impossible.
On top of that, he had taken Seohyun — who should have been her responsibility first and foremost — and fled with her, protecting her. And for that she was grateful.
He was an innocent citizen, cleared of any suspicion of ties to demons. And now, after owing him her very life, they were going to wipe his memories — and a heavy guilt rose up in her chest.
Thump…
…Huh?
The moment she thought of Dohyun, Ryeonhwa's heart suddenly pounded hard. Heat flushed through her body, brimming over with affection for him. She wanted to see him. She wanted to meet him and talk to him. And then…
When her thoughts, chasing one after another, finally arrived somewhere, Ryeonhwa flushed crimson.
She couldn't understand why, not even herself — but the suspicion was there. No way… no… but that could have been the trigger… no… can you even call that a trigger…?
Confused by emotions she couldn't comprehend, Ryeonhwa forced her attention back to the matter at hand.
"Your Holiness…"
"Director Lee Sia, I'm sorry, but I'd like you to reconsider that."
Ryeonhwa had opened her mouth carefully, intending to beg for the decision on Dohyun to be reconsidered even if it cost her a reprimand — but the Saintess's firm words forced her mouth shut again. At the weight in them, Sia spoke up urgently.
"Then what measures should we take? Tell me, and I will implement them at once."
As Sia asked, still straining desperately to read the Saintess's mood, the Saintess answered in a grave voice.
"This Yoon Dohyun learned of demons through no fault of his own — because of our mistake. More than that, I've heard he cooperated with us in the process. Am I wrong?"
"N-no, ma'am…"
Sia shot a resentful glance at Ryeonhwa, and Ryeonhwa, meeting her eyes, bowed her head in shame, her guilt toward Dohyun deepening all the more.
"As you know, memory erasure can leave lasting aftereffects. It means an utterly innocent man, guilty of nothing, would suffer harm because of us — whether great or small. I cannot do such a thing to someone who cooperated with us. To someone who even rescued a human captive from a demon."
Gentle as it was, the Saintess's voice carried an irresistible force. Sia tried to fathom her intentions, but in the end she couldn't grasp what the woman wanted at all.
"Then what should we—"
"I want to make him — Yoon Dohyun — a Companion of our Order."
At the word Companion, Sia and Ryeonhwa both started slightly.
Civilians who learned of demons were normally handled one of two ways: either they joined the Order, or their memories were erased and they returned to their ordinary lives. But on very rare occasions, as an exception, there were those who were neither recruited nor wiped — civilians deemed friendly to the Order and valuable enough to keep as cooperating allies. The Order called such people Companions.
"Understood!"
Privately, Sia had objections to the Saintess's decision — but it was the Saintess's will, no less, so she swiftly placed a hand over her heart, bowed her head, and complied without reservation.
"He may not yet know much about our Order, so Knight Ryeonhwa — I would like you to help him as his partner."
"Y-yes, Your Holiness!"
Beneath the Saintess's kind gaze, Ryeonhwa bowed her head in gratitude — thankful that, at least in some small measure, the guilt she carried toward Dohyun could be lightened. At the same time, a premonition stirred in her: that from here on, she and he would be living in close quarters, bound together.
"And I owe him my thanks, so I will deliver them myself, in person, later on."
"I'm sorry — your thanks? You will, in person, Your Holiness?"
At the Saintess's words, not only Sia and Ryeonhwa but everyone else in the room cried out in astonishment. It was only natural — this was a figure akin to a nation's president, no, standing far higher than one, announcing she would personally call on a single private citizen to express her gratitude.
To be sure, the Saintess was famous for caring nothing for protocol or formality, and she overflowed with compassion — but even accounting for that, this was extraordinary.
"There's no need to worry. I'll only offer my greetings quietly and leave, without any public exposure. Naturally, my bodyguards will accompany me."
Perhaps she had read the room's reaction differently, because the Saintess simply beamed and reassured them all. The other Knights, including the attendants who had followed her, exchanged uneasy glances and wore helpless expressions — but in the end, not a single one could bring herself to dissuade her.
They all knew her well: a woman who listened earnestly to others and readily incorporated their views, yet on the things she herself believed to be right, almost never bent. And for some, hearing that the Order's supreme authority would go personally to thank one ordinary man was another chance to be moved by her beautiful character all over again.
"Well then, I'll be on my way. Thank you all for your hard work."
With a small, graceful bow to those assembled, the Saintess took her leave, her silver hair — the very picture of her nobility — swaying gently behind her.
Click.
Softly declining the attendants who tried to follow her in to attend her, the Saintess locked the door behind her and was left alone in the room. Leaning against the soundproofed door, she drew her phone from a pocket in the hem of her dress and began to work it.
On the screen was the report on Ryeonhwa's incident — with a photograph of one Yoon Dohyun attached, crisp and clear.
Heheh.
As she gazed at Dohyun's photo on the screen, the Saintess's beautiful, sacred face slowly crumpled, and a wicked grin spread across it.
"Pfft… pffthah!! Pffthahahat—!! Hihiihihit――!!!"
Bursting into a grotesque fit of laughter, as if she had become someone else entirely, the Saintess pressed the phone right up to her face with the eyes of a fanatic and stuck out her tongue at the screen.
"Master Dohyun♥ Haah!! Haah!! My beloved Masteeer Dohyuuuun――!!! Your servant shall soon be in your presence! Haah-haah!! Lick♥ lick♥"
Licking Dohyun's face on the screen over and over like a dog in heat, the Saintess roughly hiked up her dress and plunged her hand inside.
Squelch!
"Nnngh♥ there… ah…♥ Master Dohyun… thereeee♥♥"
The mere thought of him, her fingers buried inside herself, was enough to bring her over the edge with a shudder, and she collapsed to the floor with an expression of pure rapture.
Squelch, squelch…
Being careful as she touched herself — so that the maidenhead she would one day offer to him would remain unbroken — the Saintess kept her eyes glued to the phone screen on the floor, confessing her ardent love to one man.
"Master Dohyun… ahh, my beloved Master Dohyun♥ Please, defile me — this lewd, filthy, slut-of-a-Saintess, Ariette♥ Ruin my insides with your cock, Master Dohyun — wreck my body and my soul into utter ruin—♥♥♥"
Unable to contain the ecstasy of knowing that soon she would be able to offer everything she was — all of it — to her god, the Saintess came once more.