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“!”

I was startled and looked back and forth between the Duke and Bael. 

When we talked yesterday about going to the temple together, there was no mention of an escort. 

Bael must have made this suggestion because of Axel’s advice, right? 

‘To think that I would be escorted by someone.’

It was something I could never have imagined with my modest, commoner’s mindset. 

But it made sense. 

As a saintess and the daughter of House Elpinard, it was only natural that I would depart with the Duke’s escort! 

Of course, even if it were just Bael and me at the temple, I was confident I wouldn’t be easily overpowered, but numbers are crucial in a fight. 

No matter how great a general is, there’s no answer to overwhelming numbers. 

Regardless of the escort’s skill, just having more people would be a significant advantage. 

The prestige of being under the protection of the Elpinard Duchy, the real power in the Empire, was just a bonus.

‘I’ve only ever been the one providing protection, never the one receiving it.’

It seemed like I was about to have a completely new experience.

“But not immediately. We need to prepare the escort… Let’s depart in five days.”

“If in five days…”

At the Duke’s words, Bael smiled knowingly.

“That works for me as well. Since all I need to do is bring myself, I’ll leave the departure date to Your Grace.”

“Thank you for saying so. I’ll make the preparations, Your Excellency.”

* * *

Following the Duke’s suggestion that it would be much safer not to disclose the schedule and route, my journey to Kydsha was planned in complete secrecy.

Only ten people knew: the Duke, his trusted retainer Logan, myself, Axel, Bael, two knights who would serve as the escort, and the three with flower names who attended to me.

It felt excessive to take three maids along, so Lily was the only one accompanying me to Kydsha. 

She was the most experienced of the three, so it wasn’t a difficult decision.

Perhaps because of the secretive preparations, the three with flower names seemed particularly busy these days.

In fact, it wasn’t just them—there was a slightly excited and chaotic atmosphere throughout the entire mansion.

Ever since the incident where the Elpinard estate had firmly shut its doors after the church barged in unannounced, the gates had now been flung wide open to receive guests.

It was the time of year when the vassals would gather to report their achievements to the Duke and present plans for the coming year, and now was exactly that time.

‘Wow…’

I marveled as I pressed my face against the window, watching the group head towards the annex.

I knew the Elpinard Duchy was vast, but seeing the number of vassals with my own eyes gave me a different sense of scale.

Having so many vassals meant having a lot of land, and having a lot of land meant immense wealth.

‘Of course, you could tell the Duke was wealthy just by looking at the Elpinard estate.’

‘I can’t believe the prickly young master I once hunted the Mad Dragon with is the son of such a wealthy family!’ That was how I felt.

If I said that, Axel would probably reply, ‘You’re the daughter of that great magnate now, too.’ But to think there are so many vassals…!

‘The daughter of such a wealthy man never gets to rest!’

“Rose! Daisy!” 

I called out to Rose and Daisy after changing into more comfortable clothes and donning a wide-brimmed straw hat. I probably looked like a little farmer.

“Let’s go pick some four-leaf clovers!”

That’s right. 

I had an important mission to collect as many Heaven Coins as possible before heading to the temple!

* * *

‘Ahh…’

Beautiful coins, no, a field of four-leaf clovers…!

I was buried in a lush field of four-leaf clovers, diligently filling my basket.

‘It’s such a perfect day for picking four-leaf clovers.’

Luckily, the weather was great. The sun was warm, and a gentle breeze blew, making me hum a little tune without realizing it.

Of course, more than half of my good mood was thanks to these four-leaf clovers that would soon fill my pockets.

With Rose and Daisy helping out, we quickly filled five baskets with four-leaf clovers. 

I filled one small basket, while Rose and Daisy easily filled two large ones each.

‘If Lily had come along, we could’ve filled seven baskets.’

But she was so busy preparing for the trip to Kydsha that I couldn’t convince her to join us.

Having completed our harvest, it was time to distribute the four-leaf clovers. 

With Rose and Daisy following behind, I briskly made my way across the annex.

I had heard that many of the vassals still regarded me as a fake saintess and were not pleased with me.

However, since they were here to deliver difficult reports to the intimidating Duke, wouldn’t they welcome a lucky four-leaf clover from a saintess?

People often turn to superstitions before big events, after all.

“Blessings from the saintess!”

“Saintess’s blessings!”

“The saintess brings you luck!”

My prediction was spot on.

At first, people were wary and didn’t approach me, but as soon as they heard I was handing out the saintess’s blessings and good luck, they started showing interest…

‘Look at this crowd!’

Now, I didn’t even have to go up to them to give the clovers; the vassals started approaching me, asking, “Saintess, may I receive your blessing and good luck as well?”

I was more than happy to hand out the four-leaf clovers from my basket.

The difference from my previous good luck campaign was that now I had holy power.

‘Bael used to give blessings like this.’

As I handed out the four-leaf clovers to the vassals, I infused them with a small amount of holy power. 

I was mimicking how I had seen Bael bless objects when meeting followers in my past life.

‘If I’m going to give them out, I might as well make sure they’re effective.’

If something truly fortunate happens to the vassals after receiving the four-leaf clover, they’ll undoubtedly think, ‘It must be because of that four-leaf clover!’ It’s obvious that this would lead to a more favorable evaluation of me, both as the Church’s saintess and as the daughter of House Elpinard.

Of course, the chances of such a thing actually happening are slim. But planting even a small seed of possibility wherever I go—that’s my way of doing things.

[Message from Heaven]

(Notification) Quest Success!

Congratulations. You have been awarded 100 Heaven Coins as a reward. Would you like to claim them immediately?

Every time a vassal accepted a four-leaf clover, a notification window popped up, announcing the successful completion of a quest. 

I giggled to myself and moved further inward.

“Miss!”

“Where are you?”

At the sound of their urgent calls, I turned my head to see Rose and Daisy stuck behind a group of vassals, quite a distance away.

‘It’s not like they’re out of sight, though.’

They looked much more flustered than the situation warranted for just being a little separated.

I decided to stay put and wait for them.

‘A child should never wander off alone.’

Even though I was an adult on the inside, it was important to follow such rules since I looked like a child on the outside.

“Saintess?”

At that moment, someone suddenly spoke to me from the side.

I turned my head to see a well-dressed man, like the other vassals, smiling at me as he extended his hand.

“Would you share some of your luck and blessings with me as well, Saintess?”

“Of course!”

Heaven Coins flickered before my eyes as I looked at his neat face. Excitedly, I reached into my basket and grabbed a handful of four-leaf clovers to give to him. 

But just as our hands were about to touch, I felt a strange sensation.

‘Instinct!’

I reflexively pulled my hand back.

The man’s hand, which had been reaching for the clovers, stopped mid-air.

“Saintess?”

He tilted his head, puzzled, as if wondering why I had pulled away.

Truthfully, I was wondering the same thing.

‘Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?’

Instinctively, I took a step back, my eyes fixed on the man’s face.