Idle Life of a Saintess

‘I think I heard something amazing.’

When Noah looked surprised, Gabriel laughed.

“It’s a secret.”

“……Yes!”

“He is now a loyal paladin of the Church, but the fact that he is a prince of Aranta will not change.”

“Yes!”

“And the Empress is a very political person. Until the announcement of the engagement between Princess Kyria and Sir Alcaray is published, it will be a secret for now.”

“Yes! Yes!”

Noah nodded vigorously.

It was a close call.

An insignificant priestess who uses her fiance as an escort. How much would Princess Kyria hate her!

It was burdensome at first, but the more she listened to the story, the more she learned that Lan was a character that she should not be entangled with.

“And Sir Gould is the Knight commander. The position of leader is also the position of managing the entire paladin. Therefore, he has to stay here and serve the Pope.”

Noah choked at Gabriel’s words.

Noah Kaplan! You daring priestess!

To dare take the Pope’s hands and limbs as an escort! If you describe recklessness in two characters [1], it would be Noah!

Noah’s face turned red.

What on earth was she thinking when she asked Darren to be her escort!

“If it’s okay with Noah-nim, can I pick one?”

“Yes, please.”

Noah bowed her head.

Gabriel smiled as he tucked Noah’s hair behind her ear.

“Leave it to me.”

Noah only wiggled her hands awkwardly.

‘Oh… I would have thought you were seducing me if you weren’t a cardinal. As expected, it’s easy to misunderstand the kindness of a handsome man.’

Noah was captivated by Gabriel’s face and unknowingly grabbed his hand and returned to the place where the paladins were gathered.

“Noah-nim, I think it would be better for Sir Stockwell to escort you.”

“It’s an honor.”

Heron Stockwell greeted her with a mischievous smile.

“…….”

Lan Alcaray looked at Heron unexpectedly, but didn’t ask why he was not the escort.

Reassured, Noah stroked her chest.

Afterwards, Noah was caught by the group of paladins, reciting a few prayers, and even flying sands with an offensive prayer—Iyap!—was released.

All the Paladins were in awe of Noah, and Lan’s eyes were unique among them.

His gaze was so hot that Noah felt like a burning moth.

‘I don’t even know why I’m doing so well!’

The conclusion came easily.

“Noah-nim is really a great saintess.”

Noah looked at the paladins with blurry eyes.

Everyone was convinced. Noah will participate in the subjugation of Urvas as the representative saintess of the church.

‘Hahaha……’

That’s what life is all about.

* * *

After meeting with the Paladins, the steps back to the room were heavy.

Lina patted Noah on the shoulder, saying that she was rooting for her, and Will said he would work hard to help. Anas gave a pitiful look.

The other controllers didn’t seem to show their ability even if they recited the prayers diligently.

“Is it burdensome to be called a Saintess?”

Gabriel asked.

Seeing his apologetic face, what she wanted to say, ‘Yes! It’s too burdensome, and I don’t want to go to dragon subjugation!’, didn’t come out.

Noah replied softly.

“I’m just lucky, I’m not a great figure like a Saintess. Until now, I didn’t even know I had the talent to express my abilities with prayers.”

“If Noah feels uncomfortable, you can ask Lina-nim to play the role of the Saintess.”

“Yes?”

Can she really do that?

“After all, the Church needs only a female priest with an image that will stand up to Princess Kyria.”

“But Princess Kyria is a great wizard…… Controllers like us are really incompetent priests from the outside.”

“The church didn’t expect anything great from the beginning. In the first place, if there was no priestess who could rival Princess Kyria among the controllers, even the most beautiful priestess among the entire church was going to be selected as a Saintess.”

The most beautiful priestess was going to be chosen?

“The dragon subjugation is something that affects the world beyond the empire. We are using that move because we can’t let our people be seduced by Princess Kyria’s well-packaged image.”

Noah nodded.

“It’s just that Noah-nim was a controller we were looking for by coincidence, a beautiful woman who showed her divine power through prayers.”

At this point, it sounded like, ‘Shouldn’t you just be the Saintess?’

“I, I am not that beautiful.”

To be honest, Noah was far from a gorgeous beauty or a sensual woman.

Since she is from a small town called Soal, she only heard that she was pretty.

Noah knew this well.

Gabriel looked at the hesitating Noah and said.

……Noah-nim, this is beyond my personal opinion.”

“Yes.”

“Noah-nim is really beautiful.”

Gabriel’s expression was so serious that Noah seemed to have no objection at this moment.

“Um, I am not blonde or have charming curly hair.”

“You have charming pink bobbed hair.”

Noah couldn’t answer because Gabriel was talking with such a confident look.

“And since when did a beautiful woman have to have luscious blonde curls?”

“Oh, that’s…….”

“The church is trying to break the false perception that only blonde, coveted curly hair is beautiful, capable, and a woman who will represent the world.”

“Uh……”

“So when selecting a Saintess, I was going to exclude hair colors that look blonde or are really blonde.”

Gabriel’s eyes were speaking.

Noah Kaplan is a great priestess who meets all the conditions as a Saintess to represent the church.

He really seemed to think Noah was a good match for a Saintess.

“I, I’ll do my best.”

Noah answered without realizing it.

“You don’t have to work hard. You already have it all.”

Noah avoided Gabriel’s gaze in shame.

“Since Noah-nim has made a decision with a lot of effort, let’s set things up today.”

“What?”

Do, doing it today? What?

Gabriel took Noah’s hand.

Noah followed Gabriel into his study.

There were several women in colorful costumes waiting there.

Noah was so surprised.

“This is Saintess Noah Kaplan, who will be with us in this fight against Urvas. Noah-nim? These are the people who will make Noah-nim the best Saintess.”

“H, hello?”

To Gabriel’s introduction, a woman gave a brief introduction, giving her and the others names.

“Hello? I’m Jenny, this is Daisy, and the one holding the box is Amanda.”

Daisy and Amanda bowed slightly when their name was introduced.

“We will be responsible for the clothes and accessories of the Saintess.”

Having said that, Jenny and her group measured Noah’s body and began to put various colors of cloth, ribbons, lace, and jewelry on her face and body.

“I think this style suits her. What do you think, Saintess?”

“Ah, I’m f……”

Noah, who was half mesmerized, had a hard time thinking properly.

It was Gabriel who answered Jenny’s question.

“Princess Kyria will also go with this subjugation. She’ll be dressed splendidly, so I want Noah-nim to show a holy and beautiful side as a Saintess.”

“The Saintess really has lovely pink hair.  A black hood would look good with this hair color.”

“No. It has to be an image that represents the church, so please use white as much as possible.”

“Shall we make all the jewels white?””

“No, you can use different colors for jewelry. I want the overall color of the outfit to be white. You can add a different color to the pattern or point.”

“The priests’ outfits have been in a style that covers their bodies, are you going to go with it?”

“No. I want to get rid of the old-fashioned and clunky feeling of the Church, so I would like a silhouette that is trendy these days.”

“I will.”

“Ah, but it’s difficult to dress too suggestively, so just limit the sense with a lace. Please make sure that the lace is white.”

Gabriel spoke as if he were reading a piece of paper with an answer on it.

All Noah had to do was sit still and wait for the others to do something.

Gabriel has certainly given her the choice of being a Saintess earlier, but she feels like she has been deceived because there were already people who had been prepared in advance.

“This opportunity is to raise the status of the Church and let the world know about Noah-nim’s ability and beauty.”

“…….”

Noah smiled awkwardly at Gabriel’s determined voice.

‘I don’t know about that…… Please let me out…….’

Noah was only able to enter her room that day when her soul was stripped away and her legs were shaking.

* * *

The next day, Noah was walking stiffly.

“You don’t have to be too nervous.”

“Yes.”

Gabriel said there was no need to be nervous, but it was impossible not to be nervous when meeting the Pope.

When she was at the Divine Power Training Center, she could only look at the Pope from afar. Not all priests of the Church can meet the Pope.

“Well, is this okay?”

“Of course.”

It was the teacher’s attire she always wore in Soal’s education center. She couldn’t wear the clothes that were tailored yesterday because they weren’t organized yet.

She washed it cleanly, but somehow she kept thinking, ‘Isn’t this not enough in the presence of the Pope?’

Upon arrival, the door of the Pope’s reception room was engraved with an embossed image of God’s last judgment.

Noah trembled because she thought she would be judged if she talked nonsense.

Gabriel patted the back of the terrified Noah, whether he felt sorry for her or not.

“I’ll be there by your side. It’s nothing important. Don’t worry too much.”

Only then did Noah see Gabriel.

Come to think of it, she has His Eminence the Cardinal next to her.

“P, please make sure I don’t make a mistake…….”

“Of course.”

Seeing Gabriel’s smile calmed her down a little.

After a while, the paladin guarding the reception room announced the visit of Noah and Gabriel, and the door soon opened.

TL Notes:

          [1] Noah (노아) has two characters in Korean.