It's Okay
It's Okay
Iomene rose from her bed.
Without even thinking to straighten her tousled hair, she went to the mirror and washed up like a cat. She flinched when she saw that the countless self-harm scars on her arms had vanished.
Yesterday.
Yesterday, after that man in the strange clerical robe had placed his hand on her head, her limbs had tickled. When she checked, this was the result.
No matter how many times she looked, the sight startled her anew each time.
How?
He had simply placed a hand on her head.
She had known only people who feared her.
Yet he had entered without protective gear, as if he did not fear her at all.
And he had touched her body with his bare hands without hesitation.
In her nineteen years of life, yesterday's encounter with that man was the most shocking event.
Was he a good person?
Iomene thought for a moment.
She still did not know.
There remained the possibility that he was dangerous.
The people who came once every seven days, bound her, and made her suffer.
Today was that day.
Today was the day of that torment.
Iomene whimpered with fear and anxiety.
Reflexively about to scratch her skin, she realized the rough, bumpy scars she always felt were gone, replaced by smooth skin that greeted her, and she stopped herself.
He was a strange man.
The sensation of smooth skin felt so pleasant.
How on earth was she supposed to accept him?
As she pondered, a single thought surfaced in Iomene's mind.
Today.
She intended to see whether or not he would protect her from those oddly dressed people who came to make her suffer.
If......
If he was like the people who hurt her.
If he was someone who helped them.
She would claw.
She would bite with everything she had.
Since he entered without protective gear, it would be much easier to wound him.
Never.
She must never let her guard down.
Never let her wariness fully relax.
If she let her guard down, the pain would come again.
Resolving herself, Iomene let out a low growl.
***
Princess Iomene was frantically devouring the snacks I had brought.
I gazed at the sight with satisfaction.
"Princess. Please eat slowly. There's still plenty."
Whether she was listening to me or not, Princess Iomene was focused only on stuffing cookies and bread into her mouth in a trance.
I had heard that until now she had been fed only a diet for survival—nutrients and sedatives, rather than snacks or sweet foods.
This seemed to be her first time having such treats.
"Here. Try this too. This is also delicious. Peaches preserved in honey."
When I opened the jar lid and held the peaches out toward her, the princess seemed to catch the scent and cautiously approached me.
I took a fork I had brought, scooped out a peach, and offered it to her.
She sniffed at it, then bit off a mouthful of peach.
And then her eyes widened.
And then, as if it was delicious, she snatched the jar and fork from my hands and began wolfing them down.
With no dignity or manners whatsoever.
It was behavior that could be described as utterly feral.
But that did not matter.
She was eating well, and that was a blessing and a delight to watch.
"Eat plenty. I brought several other things besides that."
The way to befriend a beast was, after all, through food.
Was I looking at the princess with contentment while thinking such thoughts?
Somewhere in the detached palace, a grandfather clock must have been installed, for a clanging sound rang out twice.
The princess, who had been eating snacks in a daze, abruptly stopped as if struck by lightning at that moment.
Then she stared in one direction.
She was staring at the main gate of the detached palace.
Casting aside her food, she began panting breathlessly.
I looked at her with pity.
"Saint. Every Tuesday at two in the afternoon, they had always performed a divine magic treatment. And that is today. Since you, Saint, have come, we will no longer carry out the treatment, but...... when two o'clock this afternoon arrives, the princess will become extremely sensitive. You should be aware of that."
Before entering the detached palace today.
This was what the mage who had tried to hand me protective gear last time had said.
As expected, she was baring her fangs while staring at the detached palace's main gate with an expression of extreme terror.
"Kyaaaaaah!!......"
Clutching a fork in her hand, she raised her voice as if ready to attack at any moment.
I watched her for a moment, then slowly rose from my seat.
"They won't come. The people who hurt you aren't coming today."
But no matter how I said it, the princess continued to be anxious.
Eventually, as if she could endure it no longer, she raised her hand high, seemingly about to stab herself with the fork she was holding.
Seeing her attempt to harm herself, I rushed over swiftly and stopped her.
"Khaaah!!"
The fork bit into my forearm.
Fuck, it hurt!!
Just what the hell was going on since yesterday!!
It hurt!!
It hurt, but......
The princess before my eyes was more pitiful.
"It's not! It's okay! They're not coming! You won't hurt today!"
"Khaaaah!"
But the princess did not stop.
Seeing me interfering, she began to direct her fury at me.
She started stabbing me indiscriminately with the fork.
Blood spattered, and screams threatened to burst from the pain.
But I endured it.
Desperately stifling my screams, I approached the princess.
The moment the princess drove the fork into my shoulder.
I instead embraced her tightly.
"Shhh...... it's okay. It's okay."
Tears came from the pain.
Wow, it really......
Really hurt like a son of a bitch.
Still, I could bear it.
"It's okay. It's okay."
I patted the princess's back and repeated that it was okay.
Having driven the fork into my shoulder, she was growling and trying to bite me, but she seemed to calm down at my gesture and gradually began to lower her cries.
Because of the pain, tears were streaming from my eyes, but my mouth kept comforting her.
Yeah.
What did it matter if I got stabbed a little?
I could fix myself anyway even if I got hurt.
The pain you went through for sixteen years must have been far greater.
Isn't that right?
Cold sweat poured down, but when I finally felt the princess stop growling and slip neatly into my arms, I thought I had done well to endure it.
Cautiously.
Even after I pulled the fork from my shoulder and healed my body with Body Modification, I did not stop patting the princess.
"It's okay. It's okay. It won't hurt anymore. You don't have to do the once-a-week painful thing anymore. Calm down. It's okay."
As I continued to soothe her as if coaxing a small child, the princess lifted her head.
She was crying.
With eyes drenched in tears, the princess was trembling as she stared at the main gate.
"It's okay. It's okay."
I lifted her up into my arms.
And carefully walked to her room.
Her bedroom, with its splendid bed.
But it was empty, with no one else present.
I lay down there with her.
"There, there. No one is going to hurt you today. Understand? First, calm down and get some sleep."
The princess's rigid body gradually relaxed, as if she had been soothed.
And she burrowed into me little by little.
I held Iomene.
I patted her back and sang the nursery rhymes, pop songs, and anime songs I knew. I couldn't sing well, but I sang them in a goofy way. How many hours passed like that?
It was well into the late evening when Princess Iomene's body finally went limp.
I looked down and found her breathing evenly, deeply asleep.
I wiped away the tear stains on her face.
I was doing this work with the selfish intention of escaping a curse, but she was truly, utterly pitiful.
Had the emperor and empress truly made the right choice by deciding to keep Iomene alive?
Even I thought about it dozens of times in this short span.
Iomene was pitiful.
The emperor and empress were pitiful, and Princess Almene was pitiful.
And so, the pain I suffered today was just a trifle.
What did it matter if I got hurt?
If she could sleep like this, that was enough.
I gently pulled the covers over the sleeping girl, tidied the spot where she had eaten snacks, and then left the detached palace.
My pure white clerical robe had been stained red by the blood shed when the fork stabbed me, but for the sake of definitively avoiding a one-way trip to hell, this much hardship was nothing.
I could do it as much as needed.
"Saint!"
"Good heavens! The blood!!...... What on earth happened?"
My clerical robe was riddled with holes from the fork and soaked in blood, so it was no wonder their reactions came out like that.
Toward the priests and mages who were always on standby outside the detached palace in case of unforeseen circumstances, I waved my hand as if to say it was fine.
"Don't worry too much. It was nothing serious. I will come again tomorrow. Please be aware in advance."
Being stabbed with a fork did hurt.
But burning in hell would hurt more.
If I just endured a little, I could skip the trip to hell.
It was a profitable deal, all things considered.
"Saint......"
Several of the priests and mages were visibly moved, their eyes reddening.
"Thank you. For making it so we no longer have to do this."
"Every Tuesday, we thought we would rather die."
"Because of the screams of that young child, we couldn't even sleep properly. Truly...... truly, thank you."
Some of them even wept, stained by guilt.
I understood.
Would they have tortured a young princess because they enjoyed it?
"You have all worked hard until now."
I said that to them.
Yes.
You really worked hard until now.
And I really worked hard too.
While playing a saint that doesn't suit me one bit, I even ended up booking a ticket to hell.
Fucking bitch of a goddess.
Let's bounce to Korea quickly.
Now I just want to......
Stop living in fear.
***
A dark room.
In perfect blackness, where not a single ray of light entered except for the faint candle flame on the table.
A few people, visible only as faint silhouettes, were conversing.
"A variable has appeared. The saint has joined this matter."
A murmur of voices spread.
"Amael, the Healing Saint."
"The one acknowledged by the Pantheon."
"He was the one who found our brother who had infiltrated the Sun Order."
"How on earth? Even now, we cannot understand."
"The miracle was perfect. The Miracle of Concealment that the Evil God bestowed upon us was perfect."
"No divine magic. No miracle. No spell. No human effort or diligence could ever find us."
"And yet the saint found us."
"Does he intend to ruin things this time as well?"
The words that had been pouring out in confusion came to an abrupt halt.
After a long silence, one of the silhouettes spoke a single line, as if uneasy.
"He wouldn't also recognize the Chosen of the Evil God beside the princess, would he?"
At those words, a murmur spread.
"The disguise of The One with a Thousand Faces is perfect! He can deceive everyone except himself!"
"Never. He will never be discovered. He is one whom even the emperor and empress, for all their efforts, could never find."
"He is favored by the Evil God. He will never be found out."
But the voices could not conceal their anxiety.
For in that same regard, the brother who had infiltrated the Sun Order had also had a perfect disguise.
He was one of the most talented individuals who could wield the Miracle of Concealment more skillfully than anyone.
Another name for the Evil God was the Deceiver, the Blood Drinker.
The Evil God's miracle had even allowed them to evade the eyes of the gods themselves.
He had infiltrated the order's interior for over ten years in utmost safety, but the saint had simply found him through an unknown miracle.
The problem was that they could not know how on earth he had been found.
It was not an ordinary form of miracle. Nor divine magic employing holy power. Nor magic.
He simply found him.
That was the factor driving those gathered here mad with unease.
"It seems necessary to further strengthen the Miracle of Concealment placed upon the chosen one. The saint is far too close to the chosen one. Contact the Collector. Tell her to gather more human resentment and send it to the chosen one."
"I shall relay that."
With that, all discussion concluded.
Beginning with one silhouette rising from their seat, everyone rose.
"By the will of the Blood Drinker."
After everyone spoke those words in unison.
The candlelight went out.
The silhouettes vanished without a trace along with it.