The heat of July continued into August, and was no more bearable when we headed out for the demon subjugation.
The actual event itself was glossed over in the novel, as it had been before Catherine was officially recognized as the saint, and the focus was instead the effort she put into making a handkerchief for Damian as good luck. She attempted to do so in this life as well, but unbeknownst to her, her hard work was unfortunately lost in the mail. Thus, all I had to deal with was the demons themselves, but I wasn’t worried. There was no beast more horrible than men.
For example, annoyance boiled inside my chest whenever I thought of Catherine and Oscar in the opera together. That girl had no shame! I had barely a day’s warning from our spy before I received letters from the concerned ladies that had gleefully witnessed it. I’d reassured them that he’d only gone out of politeness, stressed how he’d left quickly, and pulled in many favours to keep the news contained. Thank god it wasn’t during the social season.
“Are you feeling all right, Your Holiness?”
“Of course, Nathaniel. Why do you ask?”
“I merely thought you may be concerned that you haven’t received the saint’s powers yet, as prophesied.”
I shot an irritated glance towards Nathaniel, who sat across from me in the carriage. And here I’d thought I might’ve accidentally revealed displeasure on my face! Alas, it was simply his bland nature as the childhood friend that all the readers knew never stood a chance. He wore an expression of deferential honesty, polite and weary, but unyielding as ever in his naive beliefs.
“As you’ve informed me, religious records can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. Besides, I have the holy dagger, and they’ve told me it’s enough.”
“It is for the purposes of this subjugation. However, you’ve also been warned that it would be extremely difficult to get to the demon lord himself without the saint’s powers.”
“I suppose that’s why I have you, no?”
I smiled, daring him to oppose me. He took the hint and nodded mildly. Satisfied, I decided to try to be nice to my future high priest.
“By the way, I checked the rings. Good work.”
“Thank you, Your Holiness, but I must say I disapprove of the blatant favouritism and inequality they represent.”
“Oh, just take the compliment!”
Once again, I recalled why I didn’t like him. He had been tolerable during the picnic, on our territory, where he was constantly reminded of the fact that he wasn’t in a stinking orphanage because of me, or so he thought. On the other hand, he was insufferable whenever I acted as the saint, because apparently embezzlement made me unworthy of worship. What a killjoy.
We arrived at the camp near Mount Basileus, the mountain where the demon king was sealed. More accurately, we were in the forest at its base, the furthest scouts could go without being mauled by demons. The military camp here had existed ever since the demon king was sealed, through different eras that all agreed he must never be allowed upon the world again. Evidently, they’d detected a gradual rise in demon activity for decades now, but it had been kept from the public so as to not spread panic, since they couldn’t deal with it anyways before me.
“Well, well, well. If it’s not the hypocrite saint!”
“Look who we have here. Did they decide to use you as bait, so for once in your life, you wouldn’t be a waste of space?”
Princess Elizabeth was not a welcome sight to be greeted by. Nathaniel had been led away to the priests’ quarters. Being a military camp, no one remotely valued was free enough to be around to wait upon my arrival, but nor to hear us. Having given up on peace, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes in true villainess fashion.
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“What are you doing here? Did His and Her Majesty finally come to their senses and decide to stop wasting the kingdom’s resources on scum?”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t be engaged to my brother. You’d be rotting in hell, where you and your vermin friends belong.”
“Oh? Could you possibly be referring to the future duchess of Finley? Or the Marquis of Tennesley’s only daughter? My, after everything they’ve done for the kingdom, their families will be so touched to hear the princess call them vermin.”
“I would call them far worse, but I fear my language would be too vulgar for the saint’s pure ears. Perhaps they would take it as a reminder to be kinder to their people, lest they fall short of their duties and have to be replaced. It would be a long time coming, but justice is always served.”
“By whose authority, exactly? You, Your Highness, with no power in society? And replaced by who? The lowlives you hang around? That would bring shame to our kingdom, indeed. And I would advise getting your hearing checked, for you seem to not have heard my question. Why are you here?”
Princess Elizabeth scowled, clearly as dissatisfied with the situation as I was.
“His Majesty is slave to societal pressure and forced me to come to try to improve my reputation. I thought perhaps a fortunate accident could occur to you, to leave the world with one less foul wench.”
She proceeded to call me, my family, and my friends words that a proper lady would’ve never learned or uttered in public. It was proof of my exceptional self control that I did not slap her or attempt to order her execution, and I could’ve done that, with Mikhail right beside me, God damn the consequences. Instead, I saw Priest Fernandez approaching and flung myself towards him. Though he was a priest, he was gentlemanly enough to catch me.
I concealed a smirk. A proper lady did not rely merely on her own blade to wound. I made tears come into my eyes and wiped them away dramatically.
“Teacher! I’m so glad to see you! Her Highness was speaking in sin, and I fear I’m not enough to make her repent, for which I’m terribly sorry. Yet in the way she spoke to me, she desecrated God himself! Why, she called me-”
I faked a blush and leaned up to whisper in Priest Fernandez’s ear. Princess Elizabeth rolled her eyes, as if she thought my tutor actually bought the act. My voice was in reality a cold command.
“Destroy her.”
I liked Priest Fernandez much more than Nathaniel, especially as he exclaimed immediately.
“Your Highness, how could you talk to Her Holiness like that! Why, Her Holiness is the embodiment of God, and this is nothing but pure blasphemy towards our lord himself! As you know, I’m one of the senior priests representing the temple in this subjugation, and I’ll be contributing to the report delivered to His Majesty regarding your behaviour here. Please repent now and apologize to Her Holiness to beg for God’s forgiveness!”
Princess Elizabeth’s eyes widened and she turned to stomp away. I covered my mouth with a hand, as if I were about to cry, but actually to hide my laughter. Priest Fernandez called out cheerfully after her.
“Worry not, child! Imbecility is simply a part of youth, so I shall pray that God does not strike you down!”
My tutor turned to me with a smile. With no one else in earshot, I burst out laughing.
“Oh, thank you!”
“It’s my pleasure to defend the dignity of God, Your Holiness. I trust there will be a direct donation coming my way?”
“Of course, of course!”
“Thank you for your kindness, Your Holiness. Now, then, I believe we have work to do. Tomorrow morning, the colonel will be expecting to see you at six, in his tent. He’ll make a brief speech to the soldiers, and you’ll set off. Your goal is to push as far into the forest as possible, reach at least the foot of the mountain by the end, and hopefully start making progress up it, as the demon king’s seal is at the peak.”
After learning everything there was to know, my tutor had evolved into my manager as the saint, and he was more than proficient at his job.
“I know. As I’ve told you, it should not be too difficult.”
“Good. For this afternoon, I’ll introduce you to the colonel, then the priests, show you our preparations, give you a tour around the training grounds, and let you practice with the holy dagger. At dinner, we’ll introduce you to the soldiers, and you’ll lead the meal prayer. Afterwards, you’ll be holding evening prayer in the chapel for our success tomorrow. Soldiers not on duty will likely join you, and they’re a religious bunch, so give them a good show.”
“All right!”
I was Saint Valentina, and God gave me this chance for a reason. Everyone believed this was what I was born to do, so I would believe it, too. I had made it happen, and that was even more impressive.