The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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# Chapter 13.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut, concentrating on the shimmering Holy Power that composed my body.
Then, as I slowly moved my energy along the path the status window had opened for me, I heard Demian let out a small gasp.
“Really…… that’s beautiful.”
“Focus.”
I felt beads of sweat forming on my forehead. More than half my Holy Power had already drained away—I could feel it, my body like an empty waterskin with all the liquid gone.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘Once a week definitely won’t cut it.’
Then again, if we saw each other more often, we might grow closer as he said—maybe this was for the best after all.
Once I grasped the feel of manipulating it, the Holy Power began flowing out on its own, smooth and effortless.
It felt oddly refreshing, and I was curious about it, so I just let it continue…
but gradually my consciousness…
I was about to open my eyes to grasp at the fading thread of awareness when it happened.
“Meow.”
A fluffy bundle of fur scampered up my back and onto my shoulder in an instant, crying out right against my ear.
And then rough fur brushed against my cheek.
“Ah!”
I violently jerked my hand away from Demian’s, staggering backward. An amount of Holy Power incomparably greater than what I’d given him before was now rippling from Demian’s body.
Fortunately, it seemed to have stopped just before a runaway surge.
I breathed hard, stroking the cat who’d saved me—Cheese—and exhaled in relief.
That was when it happened.
“……Wait.”
Demian pointed at my shoulder with trembling fingertips and asked.
“Did that cat… did it always exist?”
“……Yes.”
It seemed like a side effect of the excess Divine Power. This was bad.
“You can see Cheese?”
“……!”
Demian’s eyes rolled back.
He slumped into the chair—the sight was almost funny, though I wasn’t sure whether to laugh.
In a lifetime, how often did one directly encounter a spirit?
Demian had endured Possession repeatedly, but perhaps he’d simply dismissed it as poor condition.
‘Maybe it’s fortunate his first experience was with a cat.’
I tapped Demian’s shoulder gently and sighed.
So if too much Holy Power entered someone, they could see spirits too.
I pressed a hand to my chest, reliving that vertigo-inducing moment.
Mew.
Cheese cried softly, placing her front paws on my lap, her expression oddly expressive.
“You woke me up, didn’t you?”
I scratched the bridge of Cheese’s nose—the cat who now followed me like her owner.
“Thank you.”
That was when it happened.
“……Diane.”
Demian called my name in a low voice and raised himself up. The way he stumbled to his feet was a sorry sight.
“What on earth……”
His hoarse voice trembled.
“What is that thing?”
I sighed and picked up Cheese. When I stretched my arm to offer the cat to him, he flinched and stepped back.
“As you can see, it’s a cat. The one that possessed the Crown Prince before.”
“…….”
“You remember, don’t you?”
His face flushed crimson—he clearly remembered well enough.
“Why does it still exist here? If you try anything strange with me again, I’ll immediately―”
“Cheese is fine now. I’m taking good care of her.”
“……You’re not afraid at all?”
No, I was afraid.
But……
“I’ve gotten used to it a little.”
The afterimage of that woman offering me her gratitude lingered vividly in my mind.
Whenever I recalled that moment, my heart would ache with a tender longing.
“Your Highness likely received an excessive amount of Holy Power all at once, which is why you’re seeing things temporarily. I’m still clumsy at controlling it, but I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“……A cat of that caliber isn’t so bad to see, actually.”
Perhaps trying to console my dejected state, he adopted a slightly more relaxed manner toward me.
“So you……always live alongside creatures like these?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It doesn’t wear on you? I mean, there must be plenty who died in absolutely horrifying ways?”
“To be honest, it is frightening.”
The corner of Demian’s mouth twitched upward. He pressed his lips self-consciously with his hand and muttered under his breath.
“Being the Daughter of God isn’t all ease and comfort, I suppose.”
“Pardon?”
He’d mumbled too quietly for me to catch it. When I asked him to repeat himself, he merely shook his head.
“It’s nothing. So, is it over now?”
“You might be able to see spirits all day long! Since you shouldn’t be lacking in Holy Power, there’s no need to worry about that.”
Demian nodded. Cheese let out a small cry and hopped onto his shoulder.
“……!”
Watching his entire body go rigid was rather amusing.
A tyrant destined to rule the entire empire, rendered helpless by nothing more than a single animal spirit.
“Ahaha……!”
“…….”
“It’s all right. Don’t be so startled.”
It’s only a cat, after all.
Despite my explanation, as he continued to stare at me, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Why?”
Why was he looking at me like that?
Worried something was on my face, I hurriedly rubbed my cheeks.
“I should be on my way.”
“Yes, please take care on your journey.”
Demian glanced at me once more, then abruptly turned his head away and disappeared with quick strides.
Brushing dust from the shoulder where Cheese had been perched.
“……What is his problem…….”
How infuriating, truly!
* * *
What was that.
What on earth was that.
When I covered my ears to shut out the thundering of my heart, the ringing only moved deeper into my skull.
Feeling as though breath was rising all the way to my throat, I loosened the buttons I’d fastened tight.
Demian was bewildered.
It seemed to be the fault of the excessive Holy Power.
Otherwise, how could that small child…….
“Sigh.”
Startled by the spirit, startled again by the saint.
It wasn’t merely that his body had moved of its own accord—witnessing and feeling the actual presence of that being held an entirely different meaning.
“A soul, as it were.”
Yes, if saints existed, why should spirits not?
Demian finally composed himself and put his appearance in order. However much the Temple treated him, it remained in a position of restraint relative to the Imperial Palace itself.
He could not afford to appear disheveled.
“……Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
At the voice that suddenly reached his ears, Demian turned around, his expression hardening.
He found it difficult to meet the Pope’s gaze as the holy man regarded him with startled eyes.
‘I suppose I’ll go mad and die in the end, won’t I.’
Not long ago, he had cursed God and stormed away in anger before this very man.
Demian merely gave a slight nod.
In truth, he had no idea how to conduct himself toward the Pope now.
Six years of struggling together over how he might heal had been rendered trivial by Diane’s mere existence.
“I hope you have been well.”
The Pope hesitated a moment, then offered his greeting with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Yes, thanks to the saint, I have been managing.”
“I’m relieved to hear there has been progress in the treatment.”
“……I,”
Demian, who had been watching carefully, began speaking slowly.
“I—I was truly sorry back then—”
“Do you happen to like candy?”
Crinkle.
Demian looked up at the Pope, his gaze fixed on the small Lemon Candy held in his palm.
His deep green eyes were brimming with pure goodwill.
“I’ve heard children like candy.”
“……Oh.”
Demian faltered, suddenly embarrassed.
“I do like it.”
“I see.”
The Pope watched as Demian slipped the candy into his pocket, and found himself murmuring softly.
“Have you grown close to Diane?”
“More so than when we first met, I think.”
He nodded silently.
Demian noticed the Pope’s pockets, bulging visibly and lumpy with their contents.
“The Saint probably likes candy too.”
“……Yes, she does.”
The Pope’s smile turned rueful.
“I still don’t know how to approach children, so it’s rather difficult.”
“I think you just need to tell them what you’re really feeling.”
Demian answered plainly.
“Tell them you’re thinking of them.”
“……!”
“You’ve never said it directly, have you?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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