How bad can a person truly be?
Lucia Aiden, the Saintess of the Holy See, occasionally pondered this question.
She did not consider her life happy, but it was certainly not tragic either. Her parents had died in an attack by demon cultists when she was young, and she was sent to an orphanage run by the Holy See.
Though life there was poor, the priests and nuns were kind and good-hearted, and the children supported one another. That warmth filled the void left by her missing parental love, allowing her to grow up healthy and strong.
Such a background instilled in her a firm belief: at their core, human beings were ultimately good.
However, this belief suffered its first shock after she was selected as a Saintess candidate.
In her simple understanding, becoming a Saintess naturally required honing one's mind, praying devoutly, and improving one's abilities to make oneself worthy of loving all living beings in the world.
It did not mean using resources to smear rivals' reputations, poisoning food, and employing every despicable means to push others aside like the other candidates did.
She was not an innocent white lotus who knew nothing of the world. She understood full well what the title of "Saintess" entailed, which was why she attributed others' actions to "being led astray by the temptation of empty fame."
The Goddess taught people to be humble precisely to prevent such things from happening.
This was normal.
The second shock came after entering Saint Uriel Academy, from a person she could not comprehend in the slightest.
Roseliel von Rosenwal.
To Lucia, the first half of this girl's life was practically perfect to an unrealistic degree: noble birth, a happy family, free from worries over food and clothing, surrounded by adoration. In this world, there were probably very few people happier than her.
Yet a person who possessed everything held an inexplicably suffocating malice toward her.
She used her status to instigate other noble youths to smear her reputation, damage her belongings, and even hired gangsters to intimidate her. Roseliel spared no effort to attack her at every given moment.
Lucia could not understand it.
What was she after? What could attacking her possibly bring her?
At times, Lucia even wished Roseliel were a spy sent by some pagan cult—at least that would explain her behavior.
Fortunately, Roseliel's petty tricks could not truly harm her. She was not entirely powerless; the title of "Saintess Candidate" alone was enough to contend with the "daughter of a grand duke." Her classmates were not all on Roseliel's side either, and many companions had gathered around her as well.
Therefore, for a long time, she simply treated Roseliel as an annoying child, ignoring her.
Until yesterday.
When she caught Roseliel's two accomplices and learned from their mouths that Roseliel was very likely the culprit who brought the Snake Cultists into the academy, she experienced true rage for the first time.
Yesterday should have been a happy day. The year-end tests had just ended, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, gathering together as was customary to review the year's gains and envision a bright future.
Instead, because of one person's selfish desires, so many vibrant lives were frozen forever in yesterday.
Lucia realized then that natural-born evil people truly existed.
If not for fear of causing trouble for Bishop Seraphin, who had always taken care of her, she really wanted to barge into that mansion right now, grab that young lady by the collar, and demand: What on earth do you want?
Precisely because of this, when that young lady appeared before her as if nothing had happened, she could hardly believe her eyes.
“Respected Saintess, I have obtained permission from Bishop Seraphin to assist you in investigating this incident.”
“Huh?!”
Lucia's first reaction was—she was here to provoke her.
In her ears, that sentence automatically translated into another version:
“See that? With my status, even if I really did it, nobody dares do anything to me. I can even use my influence to openly join your investigation team.”
The Holy See actually bowed to power?
Lucia was instantly filled with disbelief.
She could not understand how Bishop Seraphin, who usually held the nobility in contempt, could make such a concession.
“I don't need your help. Leave.” She spoke coldly, swiftly turning her head away as if she didn't want Roseliel in her sight, her high pink ponytail swinging in an exaggerated arc.
Roseliel was not surprised by her attitude.
In the game, Lucia's rise to Saintess didn't rely on being an innocent, flawless white lotus.
To put it bluntly, she could practically be described as "righteous to an unhinged degree," a phrase commonly used on the internet in her past life.
At the beginning of Chapter 2 in the game, upon learning that the culprit Roseliel died at the hands of the Snake Cultists, her first reaction was, "I should have killed her sooner."
The fact that she didn't strike her down right now was probably because she believed there would be a fair judgment for her.
“I know it's hard to believe,” Roseliel said in a sincere tone. “I also know you have countless grievances against me. But I really just want to help you.”
“If you really want to help me—”
Lucia suddenly drew the sword at her waist, pointing the tip directly at Roseliel's chest.
“Then go die right now.”
Her voice had never been so cold.
“Don't hurt Master!”
Just then, Mona, who had been instructed to wait outside, heard the commotion and burst in. A thick cluster of black fog condensed in her palm, sweeping toward Lucia with a piercing shriek!
Lucia's expression didn't change in the slightest. Her amber eyes glowed faintly as she raised her hand and slashed out a golden arc of light.
“O Light, purge the filth—”
The arc of light easily tore through the black fog and, with unabated momentum, flew straight toward Mona herself.
“Watch out!”
Without time to think, Roseliel instinctively lunged toward Mona, pulling her into her arms to protect her.
When the arc of light hit her back, she only felt a wave of warmth. This kind of ordinary purification spell did no harm to normal humans, but for someone like Mona, who was soaked through with dark magic, it would probably be devastating.
“M… Master!”
Mona was completely stunned. Even Lucia froze for a second.
“Are you crazy? Mona did nothing wrong!” Roseliel let go of Mona and shouted at Lucia angrily, “Direct whatever grievances you have at me! It has nothing to do with anyone else!”
“…I'm sorry.” Lucia sheathed her sword and apologized candidly. “I was too hasty and forgot about Miss Mona's special constitution.”
Meanwhile, Mona just wrapped her arms around herself, as if still immersed in the warmth of that embrace from a moment ago.
“Master…” she murmured softly in a low voice, as if relishing the memory.
“However—”
Lucia's gaze landed back on Roseliel, carrying unextinguished anger. “Roseliel, I will never forgive you.”
“Perhaps not today, but one day, I will kill you with my own hands for the sake of those lost lives.”
“I don't beg for your forgiveness,” Roseliel's voice was calm. “I'll say it again: I hope the truth comes to light so the dead may rest in peace, and so my family and I can wash away this stain. You may not be able to believe me right now, but the messenger from the Holy See should be arriving shortly. He will explain everything to you.”
Sure enough, moments later, Lucia received a handwritten letter from Bishop Seraphin.
The contents were simple:
First, Roseliel had proven her innocence before the Goddess;
Second, cooperate with her investigation—the Holy See needed to make use of her noble status to gather internal intelligence.
Lucia read the letter three times back and forth.
She had only gotten Roseliel's name from those two culprits this morning. How much time had passed, and the situation had completely reversed?
She was utterly baffled.
Rate on N.U.
