Chapter 344: Secret Meeting
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 344: Secret Meeting
After parting with Lin, the Saintess walked toward the confessional.
She moved with an elegant grace, her back straight and hands clasped over her lower abdomen. With every steady step, her pale gold hair and the hem of her white dress swayed in unison, like sunlight and clouds stirred by an evening breeze.
"Good afternoon, Your Highness."
No matter how busy they were, the nuns and clergy passing by couldn't help but slow their pace and bow respectfully when they saw her exquisite figure.
"Good afternoon."
The Saintess responded to everyone with a gentle smile and a nod. Then, her clear eyes shifted, and she called out to a little nun who was about to hurry away.
"Please, wait a moment."
"Eh?"
The little nun panicked. She hadn't expected the Saintess to address her personally and immediately worried she had done something wrong or that her etiquette was lacking.
But just as she was about to burst into tears from anxiety, a pair of hands—wrapped in white silk gloves yet still feeling warm—reached out to carefully straighten the collar of her habit.
"You're new here, aren't you?"
"Eh... Yes, yes!"
Being in such close proximity to the Saintess she had always idolized, the little nun felt a rush of heat go to her head. Her cheeks flushed, and she felt so lightheaded she could barely stand.
"Reporting to the Saintess! I-I am a new novice nun. I only started working at the Emiel Cathedral last week. I-if I have done anything wrong, please... please punish me!"
"Don't be so nervous. I don't bite."
The Saintess’s smile remained gentle. A holy radiance seemed to emanate from every strand of her hair, making those around her feel as if they were floating among the clouds, dazed and enchanted.
"There."
She fastened the top button of the little nun’s habit, which had come undone out of carelessness, and smoothed out the wrinkles in the fabric.
"Even if the work has been hectic lately, you must still maintain your appearance before the Goddess."
"Yes... Yes!"
The nun’s face turned bright red. At the thought of having the honor of the Saintess personally tidying her clothes, she trembled with excitement, nearly fainting on the spot.
By the time she regained her senses, she could only see the Saintess’s back as she walked away with peerless grace.
"The Saintess... she is so kind."
The little nun clenched her hands, tears of joy welling in her eyes.
Gentle, holy, and powerful—it was said that merely hearing her voice could grant a long life, and seeing her face could bring eternal happiness.
Yet, despite being worshipped by everyone, she was never aloof.
She would patiently guide an insignificant novice like herself, and she would respond to any believer’s plea.
Every single day, at the same time, she would go to the confessional to repent to the Goddess for the sins of humanity.
Such a person was simply... perfect.
The perfect Saintess.
Though no one knew why such a perfect Saintess had suddenly announced her resignation, surely the successor she chose...
Would be just as perfect.
"As expected of Her Highness."
The little nun made a blissful vow: "This habit that you touched... I’m never washing it again."
*
The Confessional.
The Saintess paused before the door.
As the Saintess of the Life Church, burdened with the responsibility of guiding countless believers, she spent one hour every day in this private confessional.
While it was called a place for confession, it was more of a place for quiet meditation.
It was here that she could find her peace.
But this time, before the door she knew so well, she hesitated.
Her gaze swept over the door handle before subtly glancing at her surroundings.
Finally, she reached out and opened the door.
She was greeted by a statue of the Goddess, a sight common throughout the Holy City, though this one was more exquisite and lifelike.
However, in this dim, poorly lit confessional, wisps of smoke from an unknown source were drifting upward, curling past the Goddess’s benevolent face.
The Saintess’s expression didn't change. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
The room grew even darker.
The Saintess clasped her hands over her chest and repented to the Goddess with deep devotion.
"O Goddess, please forgive my sins..."
Then.
She released her hands.
Turned.
Clenched her fist.
And swung!
She followed through with a fierce straight punch!
The movement was seamless.
With a gust of wind that dispersed the surrounding smoke, her fist slammed down, accurately striking... the Pink Bear who was napping nearby with a cheap cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Squish...
The Pink Bear’s belly visibly caved in, making a sound like shaking jelly. Jolted awake by the sharp pain, he opened his eyes in a rage.
"Who—"
But before he could finish a single word, his anger evaporated instantly. He had locked eyes with a pair of freezing, cold orbs.
"Turning my confessional into this... do you want to be hanged from the Heretic’s Gate with a rope woven from the hair of sinners right now? Mr. Pink. Bear."
The corners of the Saintess’s mouth curled into a smile that was a far cry from her usual gentleness—it was, frankly, quite cruel. She spat out terrifying words that should never have come from the mouth of a Saintess.
"It’s... it’s you."
The Pink Bear rolled up, quickly stubbing out his cigarette. He rubbed his paws together and gave a fawning smile.
"Ha, if you wanted me to wake up, you could have just given me a couple of kicks. No need to be so passionate."
"I was just afraid of disturbing your beautiful dream."
"Now you’re just being a stranger. No matter how beautiful the dream is, it’s not as important as seeing you."
"..."
In the lingering smoke, the Saintess narrowed her long, beautiful eyes, seemingly trying to see right through the man hidden inside the ridiculous mascot suit.
But she soon gave up and simply held out her hand to the Pink Bear.
"What?"
"Give me one."
"Huh?"
"I said, give me one," the Saintess repeated, her gaze growing colder.
After a brief silence, the Pink Bear tremblingly handed over a hand-rolled cigarette.
The Saintess took one look at it and showed immediate disdain.
"This? Have you really fallen this low?"
"Haha..." The Pink Bear laughed awkwardly. "For certain reasons, this is all I have right now..."
"Is that so?"
The Saintess gave him a deep, knowing look. Suddenly, catching him off guard, she delivered another beautiful straight punch—one that looked like it had been practiced ten thousand times—straight into his gut.
Then, she grabbed the Pink Bear’s distorted face and shoved her hand into the mascot's mouth, which had fallen open in pain, rummaging around inside.
"Wait... mgh... it's so thick... so deep... it's too big... I can't take it... hurry and pull it out..."
Amidst the Pink Bear’s muffled, incoherent cries, the Saintess withdrew her hand, now holding an aluminum cigar case.
"So you did have the good stuff."
The Saintess gave it a casual glance, ignoring the Pink Bear’s heartbroken look. She took out the top-tier cigar—the one he had gone to great lengths to hide from Professor Prang and hadn't even dared to smoke yet—expertly clipped it, lit it, and took a deep drag.
Wisps of smoke gathered into rings, playfully dancing out from between her tender pink lips. Mixed with the faint Holy Light emanating from her body, she looked both divine and bewitching.
"Speak."
The Saintess plopped down into a chair, crossing her snowy-white legs in an unladylike posture that would have shattered the faith of countless believers on the spot. She asked lazily:
"What do you want with me?"