Taming the Evil Saintess

---

The only proficient sorcerer who could lead the world with strength wasn’t Ophelia.

“So what? You have no complaints, right?”

Thus, after a very peaceful dialogue, I reached an agreement with the archbishops of the Empire. Although a bit of force was mobilized during the process, it was minimal at best.

As a result, Ophelia and I announced our engagement—a marriage between the Hero and the Saintess. It was an outrageous topic, but it couldn’t even make the front page of the newspaper. The state of the Empire wasn’t good enough to leisurely release congratulatory messages.

Even now, Elgore was pillaging the Eastern Coast. The entire Empire’s focus was drawn to that place.

In the Eastern Coast, our next destination, Yurede and Owen would be.

I wanted to help, but there were still tasks left at the Cathedral.

There were regulatory issues that caused friction with the archbishops, and establishing an organization to protect the Possessors was also on the agenda. I assigned that role to the Cathedral Knights, including Wan and Emily, who had the list of Possessors, Malefica Room.

And now.

Ophelia, recognized by the archbishops as the next pope, had moved from the clergy residence to the luxurious rooms of the Holy See.

However, the situation wasn’t good enough for her to fully enjoy her freedom.

“Ophelia, what’s wrong since earlier?”

Again, Ophelia is a grown child.

This meant her body is mature, but her mind can’t keep up, and that’s how I decided to interpret her actions.

In this sense, when I casually mentioned the significant word “engagement” without prior consultation, the grown child Ophelia exercised her right to remain silent.

Of course, our country is not a nation under the rule of law, and the right to remain silent can easily be interpreted as the crime of being possessed by an evil spirit, leading to being weighed down with stones and diving deep into the river.

Thus, Ophelia’s silence was more accurately described as ‘embarrassment.’

“Hey. Hiding your body won’t work like that.”

Ophelia was crouching on a chair behind the curtain of the Holy See, and her face, occasionally visible due to the wind, was bright red.

Since returning from the conference, she’d remained in that state. She couldn’t even make eye contact with me.

“We’ve seen things we shouldn’t have by now. Actually, your nasty personality and your naked body.”

“Why did that come up?!”

Ophelia shouted, clearly aware of her embarrassment.

But then her voice went quiet.

“T-That’s different….”

“…What’s different?”

“W-Well, it’s just… anyway, it’s different!”

That’s her desperate attempt at an explanation.

It seems absurd that while we can share a bed, she suddenly feels embarrassed about getting married.

I have no idea how to keep pace with this world’s concept of chastity. Is premarital purity a thing of the past?

“Ophelia, I’ve said it before. Once everything is over, let’s live together in a cozy place. You haven’t forgotten our old promise, have you?”

“Y-Yeah, I know! Who would forget that?! So! Saying it and really doing it are different!”

“…Is it different?”

“It’s really different, okay?!”

As something sharp flew between the curtains, I raised my hand and caught it.

It was a hand mirror.

“…Hmm.”

Thinking back, it seemed Ophelia reacted sensitively to the keyword “marriage.”

Well, for someone like her, who doesn’t quite fit her personality, she did have somewhat girlish aspects. How should I say this? A strong desire to live a normal citizen’s life, marrying and having children in a moderate manner.

That must mean she has led a life quite distant from ordinariness.

With such thoughts in mind, the sight of Ophelia, ticking away before my eyes, made her irresistibly cute in a way. My heart swayed, and I got up from the bed, making my way to the dressing table where Ophelia sat.

Conscious of my presence, it seemed she shivered slightly.

“Ophelia.”

“I’m busy. If you want to do something, do it at night. Right now, I feel like my waist is about to break.”

“I’m not trying to do anything; I was just saying what we talked about earlier.”

“I told you not to say it….”

“Marriage.”

“Hey!”

“…Once we’re married, let’s build a nice house in a place without a church, as far away from the Empire or the Cathedral as possible. The Great Forest would be nice. Well, now that the pope is dead, renting a big mansion here in the Cathedral wouldn’t be such a bad idea either.”

Ophelia’s eyes peeked out from the drapes and widened.

“And we would live merrily by embezzling the tithes that come from the Cathedral. If the circumstances allow, we could invite friends like Emily or Albrecht over for dinner and enjoy ourselves.”

“…W-What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“How many kids do you want?”

“Huh?”

“Two? Or maybe three? I’m not sure about the fertility outlook in this area, you know. Just for reference, in my world….”

Ophelia’s eyes roamed, unable to keep up with my line of thought.

Then they stopped, focusing right on my face. Staring at me without restraint, Ophelia’s embarrassment seemed to fade away as she twisted her mouth.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Are you saying that just to be considerate?”

“My bad. I’m not exactly an expert on the female heart.”

“Hmph. You clueless idiot.”

Ophelia snorted and turned back to me, finally seeming to be in the mood to converse.

I parted the curtains, and Ophelia adjusted her clothes as the Holy Garment slipped down her shoulders.

“So, what nonsense are you talking about?”

“Well, we’re engaged now, right? Plans for the marriage are important. In my world, when three couples married, one pair would end up breaking up.”

“Because they died?”

“No, they didn’t match each other.”

“Such a dumb story.”

“Indeed, it’s a really dumb story.”

I could only agree.

“Anyway, that’s how it is. This is my first marriage in life, you know?”

“Hey! Who says it’s yours to have multiple!!”

When Ophelia erupted in anger, I raised both hands.

“Okay, okay. It’s our first for both of us. So it’s better to have some plans in place.”

“….”

“So don’t be embarrassed. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing for me too if our engagement news made it to the newspapers? I’ve seen Cecilia avoiding me for five days because of it.”

When our eyes met, she jumped back, repeatedly trying to escape.

I didn’t expect the Empire’s top knight could be so flustered over such matters.

Maybe Ophelia thought of that scene and let out a scoff.

“Why are you so sensitive about marriage?”

“…I mean, getting married to you, well… how should I put this… I still can’t grasp it.”

“Can’t grasp it?”

“I used to think of you as a nuisance, but at some point, you became… the biggest part of my life… and now I’m getting married.”

It’s certainly something I can relate to.

I never imagined I would have the kind of relationship with Ophelia that we have now when we first met in the Cathedral.

But…

“Rolling around together feels real enough?”

“Hey! That’s a different matter!”

“…That’s hard to understand.”

“I know… I’m really strange. I didn’t think much about it, but once I started picturing you as my lifelong partner… my head started heating up.”

What a fresh youthful vibe she has.

Honestly, I kind of wanted to tease her a bit longer because Ophelia blushing was simply charming.

Whether it’s the gaze of a spouse or one toward a cute junior or sister, I can’t help but smile while looking at Ophelia.

It feels like a long time since I’ve seen her this way.

“You look pretty.”

“…Aren’t you a bit too brazen since that day?”

When I shrugged, Ophelia was blushing as she looked at me.

Well, what can I do if it’s the truth?

After lingering a while and not saying anything first, I gently pulled Ophelia into my embrace, and she didn’t resist.

“Anyway, you don’t need to be embarrassed. You were the one who… ugh, last night…”

“I told you not to bring that up, you bastard!”

After throwing three perfume bottles, Ophelia’s anger didn’t cease.

“Get out! Get out!”

“Hey, I got it, so don’t throw things, alright? You’ll hurt your hands.”

“You should be the one to get hurt!”

She threw a knife, but I caught it between my fingers.

“Don’t catch it!”

“That’s a rather difficult order to follow.”

I stepped back and opened the bedroom door. Well, I think things have somewhat improved, so I should come back for a chat in the evening.

Just as I was about to leave the room, Ophelia suddenly opened her mouth.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

Ophelia had turned her gaze to the mirror, and her lips were pursed as she looked at the reflection. She cast a side-eye at my face reflected in the glass and closed her eyes tight.

“…So…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Ophelia continued.

“I would prefer two kids… one son and one daughter…”

With those words, it seemed the conversation ended, as Ophelia flung the curtain aside, and I couldn’t suppress the twitching smile on my face.

“…Alright. One son and one daughter.”

Chuckling, I closed the door to the bedroom.

“This is nice.”

*

The organization meant to protect the Possessors was set to operate from various churches. This group mainly deployed the powerful Cathedral Knights and the Inquisition Officers skilled in intelligence work, though it was also effective to persuade those who had once been Possessors.

“Ruin, Luna. You two will hunt the Possessors.”

“H-Hunt?”

“Ah, I don’t mean you should kill fellow clansfolk. I mean you should capture them alive.”

Most of the members of the Cathedral were extremely busy handling Ophelia’s aftermath as the newly elected pope.

Currently, we needed all the hands available, even if it meant employing children. In this case, the children referred to the siblings who were Possessors.

“…Us?”

Ruin frowned.

“You know it, but betrayal is a grave sin.”

“In the grand scheme of things, you are traitors of the continent. In that sense, I’m giving you a chance to atone.”

“Don’t you know about the Mark? How many Possessors do you think managed to escape until now? They all…”

“I know. I once almost died because of a single Possessor’s Mark. It exploded spectacularly.”

If Ophelia hadn’t rushed to the Great Forest at that moment, I would have perished without a doubt.

Having been vaccinated once, I had a general plan in place for hunting Possessors.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die because of the Mark. At least as long as you follow our instructions.”

“What do you mean?”

“I created an Artifact.”

“Artifact?”

“It’s not expensive. Don’t get your hopes too high.”

I handed over a long, charm-like token that was created through the collaboration of Ophelia, Emily, and Archmage Eldarian.

It couldn’t use the ignorant method of removing the Mark and implanting a new one, like Princess Adelheit, but at least there was a way to block the Demon King’s interference as a stopgap measure.

This was conceived by the fact that Ophelia had cleared out a territory through the Sanctuary, with crucial spells inscribed onto the item. Last time, it was a protective magic that enveloped the entire town of the Redrick clan in the Great Forest. It was just the scale and density that had shrunk down to roughly the size of a person.

“…Wow.”

After hearing the story, Possessor Ruina was amazed at the prospect of escaping the influence of the Mark.

She eagerly inspected the charm.

“I want to go back to my original world. I should sue that damn game.”

“…Right!”

“…Well, right.”

While Ruina seemed lukewarm in reaction, it was clear she was longing to return to Earth as well.

Eventually, after inspecting the charm for a while, Ruina remembered what Ophelia had presented in the Sanctuary and nodded, accepting it.

“There are other Possessors aside from the ones on Ian’s list. Write those down.”

From that day onward, she became cooperative with us.