Helmut’s eyes widened. When Ivy’s eyes met his, she quickly shut her mouth.

Helmut’s lip muscles trembled as he thought Ivy was just as dangerous as expected. Ivy’s words meant that there was a high possibility of her acting unpredictably.

If Helmut left the situation as it stood, it would only be a matter of time before Ivy escaped from his control and created a new opposition force. Ivy had already proved her extraordinariness from the start, and word about her was bound to spread even further. Furthermore, Helmut couldn’t disregard the fact that the Church had been disobeying the guidelines set by him more frequently than in the past, just like the time when the Order of the White Crow ignored his commands.

‘No, no. Let’s think about this from a different perspective…’

Helmut wondered whether he should be putting all the blame on the Saintess. Considering that it had already been over forty years since he came into power, it would only be natural for his power to become unstable as time passed. Helmut recalled there had always been attempts to shake his authority in the past, and thought that he might be able to use the Saintess as an opportunity.

‘However, that is only possible if I can ensure that she stays by my side.’

The Pope had a monopoly on His Majesty’s Grace, and had the right to distribute it freely according to his will. However, there was a limit to the amount of Grace and strength one could hold. Because of this reason, Helmut had to keep the Church in his palm—if he couldn’t get people to be on his side, it couldn’t be said that he held power.

Within the Church, the Saintess would be the best means to buy the popularity of the public and the respect of the Church at once, not to mention her ability to make prophecies. Although there had been unexpected problems caused by her up until now, Helmut thought that he would be able to control the unpredicted situation if he blocked the Saintess’ contact with the world outside as much as possible.

Helmut looked down at Ivy, and reached out near her head.

“Ugh…”

Ivy flinched as if she was nervous, but Helmut whispered a warning in a low voice.

“Stay still.”

The Pope controlled all of His Majesty’s Grace. The Pope was powerful enough to revive the dead, and kill thousands at once—it wasn’t too hard for Helmut to manipulate a person’s mind. But despite his power, Helmut always had to be cautious around Barth Baltic, which made him infuriated.

“Tear down the walls you have built inside your heart…and accept me.”

Helmut placed his hand on top of Ivy’s head, and he could feel her trembling like a small hamster under his palm. Helmut decided to make her submit to him completely, such that neither her body nor mind could escape him, and so that she wouldn't dare to have any other intentions. Helmut used Grace to dominate Ivy’s mind.

“All of my words and commands are on behalf of His Majesty and represent him.”

Mana spurted from Helmut’s hand and seeped into Ivy’s head without any resistance. The Grace he was using was a dangerous one which could cause memory damage and make one lose their mind if used incorrectly, but it wasn’t Helmut’s first time performing it. Helmut had no doubt that he would succeed.

“...Your Holiness?”

To Helmut’s surprise, Ivy didn’t show any reaction to his use of the Grace. Helmut looked down at Ivy with his mouth agape as he realized that he couldn’t see any sign of mental domination from Ivy. In fact, the mana he sent to her body had leaked out as if he poured water into a cup with a hole.

“What… but how…”

In frustration, Helmut performed the Grace once again without being able to carefully coordinate, but nothing he did worked on Ivy. She only sat still with a frightened look on her face which made Helmut feel as if she was laughing at the Pope’s ability to be able to use all types of Graces.

“How can this even be possible!”

“Your Holiness, you look unwell…”

“Shut up!”

Helmut unwittingly slapped Ivy’s cheek, and Ivy fell to the floor with a soft scream. Helmut felt both anger and fear at the same time. Helmut had already been frustrated recently due to the fact that no one had been following his orders properly, and now, the appearance of someone who was resistant to His Majesty’s Grace was the last straw that drew Helmut almost completely insane.

“Y-your Holiness… Ahhhh!”

“You fucking bitch! Popping out of nowhere and ruining everything!”

Helmut grabbed Ivy by her hair and swung his fist.

Ivy tried to desperately cover her face, which left bruises on her arms and shoulders.

The only thought on Helmut’s mind was that he must kill her. Helmut feared that she, who could deliver His Majesty’s words and was resistant against the effects of Grace, could destroy Helmut’s foundation; he didn’t even want to think about what she could do in the future.

“P-please stop!”

“This seat belongs to me! A trivial bitch like you will never be able to take it away from me!”

Helmut grabbed Ivy’s thin neck with his hand and began to tighten it strongly. Ivy tried to push Helmut off with a painful expression, but he didn’t move a single inch. Although the Grace didn’t work on her, physical pain still seemed to be very effective.

Ivy struggled desperately, then suddenly grabbed something that had been rolling on the floor with her hand and swung it at Helmut.

With a dull clanging sound, Helmut fell to the floor. Helmut looked at Ivy with a stunned look, and noticed the ashtray gripped in her hand which had been burning the incense up until a moment ago.

Ivy stepped back with a mixed look of pain and fear on her face, and then hastily ran out of the room.

“Huh…” Helmut sighed as he blankly stared at her back.

Feeling a warm and sticky sensation, he touched his face with his hand to find out that he was covered in ashes and blood—it was the first time he had been beaten by someone ever since he became the Pope.

It wasn’t long before Helmut realized what he had done; he had tried to kill the highly popular Saintess in his room. No matter how much influence he had in the Church, it was something that could drag him down until the day he died.

‘I’m on the edge of a cliff here.’

Helmut felt as if he had been driven into a corner which jeopardized his status due to his anxiety. Helmut had a hunch that he could collapse at any time if he didn’t come to his senses.

Helmut shouted to call the Priest who was waiting outside the room.

“...Bring me the Black Priests.”

Upon seeing the wounded Saintess running away from Helmut’s room which turned into a mess, the Priest didn’t ask a single question.

Helmut lied down on the couch and decided to organize his plans step by step; first, he planned to kill the kid who had been making a fuss in the south. Then he planned to kill the unfaithful traitors of the Order of the White Crow and the remnants of the Order of Huginn. Killing the Saintess who dared to rebel against him was the last on his list.

Helmut continued to organize his plans in his head, then suddenly smelled a scent of blood from his face. He picked up an ashtray that had his blood on it.

Soon, the room was once again filled with the smell of incense.

***

Juan slowly opened his eyes. The white steam was loosely wavering, and the temperature of the warm water surrounding his body felt pleasant. When Juan exhaled quietly, a thin nasal sound of a woman came out. Juan raised his hand to see the droplets of water flowing down along the smooth pale hand which didn’t have a single scratch.

‘I guess she was taking a bath this time.’

Juan had connected to Ivy’s spirit at this moment. It was already his fourth attempt to transfer his spirit to the original body, but he still couldn’t get past the Saintess. The more he attempted to transfer his spirit, the more natural his movements had become.

Juan tried to return to his body by cutting off the connection with the Saintess like always, but his eyes inadvertently turned to the mirror next to him.

The Saintess was a bit too skinny, but she had a beautiful face and body as she had been strictly selected to aim for public popularity. However, her appearance under the clothes that Juan saw for the first time didn’t look adequate to be the Saintess.

‘The wounds…’

Juan noticed wounds all over her supposedly smooth naked body, and realized that her eyes were bloodshot red as if she had been crying. Her wounds weren’t severe, but there were bruises all over the sides of her body and shoulders. Juan took a closer look just in case, but there were no signs of any other wounds except those from the beatings. The worst wound on the body was the red bruise on her neck.

‘It seems like someone tried to strangle her. I don’t think it was the assassin though.’

Rather than the professional work done by assassins, the traces showed that it was an ordinary beating and failure to choke the Saintess. Juan wondered the reason for the Saintess getting beaten, and thought the cause might be what he said at the ceremony.

‘The Pope.’

Juan made an eerie smile upon recalling the Pope’s greedy face.

To be honest, Juan wasn’t too fond of the Saintess as she too was nothing more than a person who borrowed his name to gain benefits like any others. However, the fact that the person who delivered his words was beaten for the consequence of doing so was unacceptable.

‘I’ll need to do something about it.’

Juan tried moving her body very slowly. When he first connected with Ivy, her body moved unnaturally as if he had been dreaming. All he could do back then was move her feet and speak, but he felt like he could do more this time.

Juan wiped off the water with a towel and put on some clothes. Looking in the mirror, the way he dressed the Saintess’ body looked a bit off, but Juan didn’t pay much attention to it.

Juan decided to move her body a little more while he was connected to Ivy. When Juan opened the bathroom door, he noticed an unfamiliar silhouette sitting on the chair in the middle of a dark room; it was a man wearing a Black Priest’s uniform.

Juan had a sudden feeling that the person in front of him was a gangster rather than a Priest—he wasn’t an assassin, but he was someone who had come to threaten the Saintess.

“What is it?” Juan asked.

“Saintess. I had been waiting for… I’ll give you some time to arrange your clothes.”

The Black Priest who had been sitting relaxedly turned his head upon seeing the Saintess.

Because the clothes of the Saintess were quite different from the clothes of ordinary people, Juan didn’t know how to wear them properly—in other words, Juan had tossed on some clothes rather than actually wearing them.

“If you have something to say, tell me quickly and leave. Don’t waste my time.”

Maintaining his spirit inside someone else’s body caused harmful damage to him. Although it was only an internal injury, and he could recover from it by resting for just a day, it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

The Black Priest cleared his throat and stood up with his face turned away.

“Neither do you speak like a Saintess, nor do you behave like one. I had heard that you were kind and plain.”

“You’re not in a place to educate me on etiquette when you’ve snuck into a woman’s room in the middle of the night with the lights turned off.”

“...You speak as if I’m a hooligan of some sort, Saintess. I’ve only come to deliver a message from His Holiness. ‘Please consider today’s incident as a light warning.’”

“Warning?”

The Black Priest approached Juan.

The fact that the Black Priest who was two heads taller than the Saintess was standing within reach in front of her was overwhelming alone. It would only be natural for the Saintess to be in fear since she was alone with the Black Priest in the middle of the night, right after having a bath.

However, the Black Priest couldn’t read any emotions from her face.

‘...What’s going on?’

The Black Priest had interrogated, tortured, and even executed many heresy and apostasy suspects until now. He didn’t hesitate in doing all the filthy tasks the Pope wanted done. Even many of the Priests shrunk back from those tasks. As such, the Black Priest was used to controlling people through fear, and could read their emotions with ease. However, he couldn’t feel anything from the Saintess other than shallow annoyance, disgust and irritation. It was an emotion that he never thought she could feel in this environment.

“So what’s the warning? I’m busy so hurry up.”

“...I wasn’t planning to dirty my hands, but I guess I’m left with no choice.”

Planting pain and fear or humiliating someone without leaving any wounds was simple. The Black Priest ran his eyes through the curves of her pale figure exposed under her thin clothes.

The Black Priest reached his hand toward the slender neck of the Saintess.

At that moment, the Saintess grabbed the Black Priest’s hand. The Black Priest tilted his head out of curiosity as he belatedly noticed the Saintess’ hand reaching out for him. But before he could even feel the soft texture of her hand, he let out a scream due to the pain of his finger bones shattering.

“Ugh-ahhhhhhhhh!”

The Black Priest toppled down on his knees while he screamed, but his fingers couldn’t escape from the Saintess’ hand. White bones were exposed, as his fingers had been completely folded back, while his broken bones clanked and bumped into each other whenever the Saintess moved her fingers.

“Make sure to ask for my permission the next time you wish to visit me during the day, and not in the middle of the night.”

“Ugh, I-I will! P-please…!”

Juan dropped the Black Priest’s hand as if he was throwing it away.

The Black Priest who barely managed to escape tried to crawl out of the room in a haste. However, Juan stopped him before he could.

“Hey.”

“Keuk, y-yes?”

“You know how to use healing magic, right? Treat my injuries before you leave,” Juan said as he held out the Saintess’ broken hand.

It was only natural that his hand was broken, since he broke the hand of such a strong man with the thin fingers of a girl.

Nevertheless, not a single shred of pain could be found on the face of the Saintess.

‘Who the hell is she…?’

The Black Priest had to drastically revise his perception of the Saintess. Apart from that, he had to treat the saintess’ fingers while his hand was in terrible pain.