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“Ah, were you startled by my correction?”  

The Pope turned his head towards me, smiling kindly.  

As our eyes met, his smile deepened.  

“Saintess.”  

The Pope approached me and, without hesitation, knelt down.  

He bowed his head and kissed my feet—a perfect expression of submission.  

Simultaneously, the priests who followed the Pope also knelt and bowed their heads. Among them was Bael.  

A gasp was heard from all around, the sound of people inhaling sharply at the astonishing sight.  

Everyone’s eyes were filled with shock. Even the Duke, who rarely showed such emotion, watched the scene with wide eyes.  

But without a doubt, the most surprised person was me, the one who had received the Pope’s kiss.  

“Y-Your Holiness?”  

Stumbling over my words in shock, the Pope raised his head again and spoke to me with the same gentle expression.  

“When the great pillar of light that you summoned rose up, the illness that had been devouring my body was miraculously cured.”  

The Pope slowly stood up and took both of my hands in his.  

“Those who lack faith always seek proof. My recovery before everyone present here will serve as proof that you, Saintess, are truly a messenger sent by the heavens.”  

As the Pope finished speaking, the priests cried out.  

“The Apostle of God has arrived!”  

“Glory be!”  

“Praise the Radiance!”  

The voices of the priests, infused with divine power, rang out with fervor, and the retainers were so overwhelmed that they clasped their hands together. Some even made the sign of the cross and began to pray.  

The Pope observed this scene for a moment before slowly approaching the Duke. In a voice low enough that the retainers could not hear, but loud enough for me, who was nearby, to catch, the Pope spoke.  

“I understand that you have detained our priests and holy knights. I must take them to Kydsha.”  

“Your Holiness,” the Duke’s lips tightened.  

“They abducted the Princess.”  

“The Princess is also the Saintess of the Church. Furthermore, I trust you are not ignorant of the clergy’s immunity.”  

The Pope bowed his head respectfully.  

“Upholding the authority of the Church is directly linked to elevating the authority of the Saintess. If Your Grace affirms this immunity today, the Princess, as the Saintess, will likewise benefit from these rights in the future, will she not?”  

The Duke kept his mouth firmly shut.  

With the Pope himself requesting clerical immunity, even Duke Elpinard could not continue detaining the clergy.  

‘But something feels off.’  

The Pope I knew was not one to assert the Church’s authority so forcefully. In fact, I had heard that he was so indifferent to such matters that many priests who valued the Church’s authority were displeased with him.

I couldn’t quite grasp what was happening, so I shifted my gaze to the back. I made eye contact with Bael, who was standing in the first row of the priests. He smiled gently as if to reassure me not to worry.

“Your Holiness,”  

The Duke, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.  

“Please explain the situation in detail. Only then can I cooperate with you.”  

“……”  

The Duke and the Pope had known each other for a long time. Their connection was so strong that the Duke had even adopted me. It seemed the Duke had noticed that the Pope was behaving differently than usual.  

“……Within the Church,”  

The Pope, after a moment of hesitation, lowered his voice and whispered.  

“There is a faction that refuses to recognize the Saintess. It was that faction that confined me to my sickbed. To deal with them, I need the testimony of those responsible for this incident.”  

“If that’s the case, I would very much like to assist, Your Holiness,”  

The Duke responded, a sly smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he gave a slight nod.  

“However, I suggest you not rush things. Perhaps you should enjoy the party first.”  

“That’s true. It is the Saintess’s birthday, after all. I must have been too focused on serious matters.”  

The Pope smiled softly, just as he had when he first appeared, and approached me.  

“This old man did not come empty-handed. Since it is your birthday, you deserve a gift.”  

At the Pope’s words, Bael, who had been waiting behind, approached with a small, elongated box.  

“You have safely reached your birthday and shown the miracle of healing this wretched servant…”  

As his voice trailed off slightly, Bael opened the lid of the box. Inside was an ornate, cylindrical object made of gold.  

The Pope grasped the top of the cylinder and twisted it, revealing a roll of paper tied with a ribbon inside. It seemed this was the gift the Pope had mentioned.  

“Now, no one will be able to doubt that this ‘revelation’ belongs to you, the Saintess.”  

The Pope untied the ribbon and unfurled the scroll. Written on it in neat script was a prophecy.  

The Pope began to read it aloud, his voice resonating through the grand hall.  

“On the Day of Water, when the moon is swallowed by darkness and the dragon thought to be lost awakens, the world shall be consumed by fire!”  

The sacred voice filled the hall, and the ominous words caused people to inhale sharply in fear. But the revelation did not end there.  

“The one who will stop this shall appear alone before the sanctuary on the Golden Day, in the form of a newborn child. This one is the Saintess!”  

A prophecy containing both despair and hope. It was the same revelation that Bael had received from the gods on the day Reshia was born, now declared once again, confirming it as mine.  

* * *  

The birthday party started with much fanfare and ended with even more. Between the retainers invited by the Duke and the belated congratulations from the newly arrived clergy, I was utterly exhausted.

On top of the Pope’s official declaration that I was indeed the Saintess, there was also the prophecy that “the dragon will awaken and the world will be engulfed in flames.”  

‘Is a birthday party supposed to be this exhausting…?’  

Having never celebrated a birthday party in my previous life or this one, I had no way of knowing.  

“Ugh…”  

Too tired, I let myself go limp in Lily’s arms as she carried me back to my room.  

‘I shouldn’t get used to this.’  

Being carried by someone else was so comfortable that I feared I might become addicted to it.  

‘I’ll have to ask Bael again for a precise interpretation of the prophecy.’  

With that thought, I entered the Sapphire Room, where the gifts from the birthday party had already arrived.  

‘Wow.’  

I had thought they were impressive when I received them, but seeing them all piled up in one place made them even more overwhelming.  

In fact, some of the more valuable items weren’t even here because the Duke had decided to store them in a personal vault he had prepared for me.  

The gifts from the Duke and Axel were also classified as “to be stored separately,” so they weren’t here either.  

The Duke had given me ownership of the gold mine where Hannah had been sent for labor, and Axel had gifted me a rare magical artifact.  

Both the gold mine and the magical artifact…  

They must be worth an astronomical amount of money, yet both of them handed over these gifts as casually as if they were giving me a single gold coin from their pockets.  

‘Just how rich are they?’  

It was a level of wealth far beyond the limits of what I could imagine as a commoner.  

Although the gifts from the retainers weren’t at that level, there were still plenty of valuable items, so about a third of them had been sent to the vault as well.  

Yet, even with that, the pile of presents still towered over my head!  

‘Of course, I’m rather short, but still.’  

It was a lot, no matter how you looked at it.  

It was amazing that so many people celebrated my birthday that it was difficult to count them all.  

“Is it okay if Rose and Daisy take care of organizing the gifts?”  

“Yes!”  

I nodded energetically at Lily’s question. I had been worried about how I was going to sort all of that out, so I had no reason to refuse when Rose and Daisy offered to do it.  

For some reason, however, Rose and Daisy looked at me with tearful eyes of gratitude as they took on the task.