The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 94

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

Chapter 94
I was taken aback by Arden’s reaction.
But if I showed my confusion here, it would all be over. I blinked very naturally and replied with a blank expression, as though I knew nothing.
“It’s written in the Third Saint’s Biography.”
I pushed back while simultaneously rifling through my memories. Had I actually written in the biography that my Mace was named Wilson? I’d written that biography late in life, and there were many parts I’d scrawled down from memory, so I couldn’t be certain.
But at the very least, only Valente truly knew that my Mace was named Wilson and understood the meaning behind that name.
Surely Valente hadn’t passed down word of my Mace’s name to his descendants like some ancestral legend.
‘The Third Saint named her Mace Wilson, you see. If you ever need to strike at the Church, make sure everyone knows the holy Mace is called Wilson—it’ll tarnish the Church’s reputation nicely.’
I could vividly imagine Valente in his later years speaking so affectionately to his sons and grandsons. If it was the late-life Valente I knew, he’d absolutely do something like that!
Arden observed me for a moment, then nodded.
“Ah, I see.”
His expression showed acceptance.
Whew. I’d almost been exposed as the Third Saint.
That mixture of tension and relief, washing over my eyes one after another, prevented me from noticing what was odd about Arden’s reaction.
Shortly after, I heard a knock, and Calianna came to visit me.
I immediately resumed my performance as the Saint, overwhelmed by shock. The moment Calianna entered the room, she saw my impassioned act and her face filled with concern.
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I was simply startled in spirit by coming face to face with such human malice at close range.”
At my words, Arden’s eyes narrowed and he looked down at me.
What? What’s wrong?
Calianna cautiously approached the bed.
“Johan keeps requesting that your assailant be transferred to the Main Temple, but Grand Duke Kroen is blocking it.”
“The Grand Duke?”
“Yes. Since the assailant is an Imperial infiltrator, he claims that we who brought them here disguised as an Attendant Priest are, strictly speaking, also subjects for interrogation. He said if we keep pressing for the transfer, he’ll treat us as accomplices and handle matters according to the law.”
I couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. The Grand Duke’s hand was so skillful it made me want to applaud.
That man truly had a gift for strangling people with words. He’d touched the Temple’s honor while simultaneously preventing them from pushing back easily.
No matter how stubbornly Johan insisted, it was still the Temple’s own party who had brought an Imperial spy here disguised as an Attendant Priest. If anyone dug too deeply into that, even Johan himself wouldn’t be safe.
“So everyone is being cautious right now. Especially the Attendant Priests who spent time with that Imperial Secret Knight Order member.”
Of course they would be. If sparks flew their way, they might end up dragged to the Underground Prison themselves.
But Calianna kept glancing sideways at Arden as she spoke. From the way she looked at him, it was clear her visit wasn’t purely about checking on my health.
“Perhaps…….”
Calianna hesitated before opening her mouth.
“Are you asking me to leave?”
“No?”
Calianna shook her head with a very flustered expression.
“Could you have Hawelin step out for just a moment?”
Arden’s expression hardened immediately.
“Absolutely not, Your Highness.”
It was the response I’d expected.
“Given that your assailant was disguised as an Attendant Priest in the first place, we cannot easily trust anyone right now.”
“My identity is confirmed!”
Calianna protested as though wronged, but Arden didn’t even blink.
“That does not guarantee safety.”
“I’m a High Priestess who made a lifelong vow to Caritas.”
“The one who just attacked you was also dressed as an Attendant Priest.”
“I’m the real thing!”
Calianna scuffed her toes in frustration.
I looked between the two of them. To be honest, I was also curious about what Calianna’s real purpose was.
At this timing, to deliberately avoid the eyes of Johan and the Attendant Priests, and ask for even Arden to be removed—it meant she had something up her sleeve. And someone with a scheme usually proves useful.
Someone with a scheme usually proves useful.
“Arden, step outside for a moment.”
“Your Highness.”
“That’s an order.”
Arden studied me for a moment.
Again, he didn’t protest. Without a word, he bowed and left the room. Even as the door closed, his gaze never fully left Calianna.
Once the door was shut, I leaned back against the bed and regarded Calianna.
“Well, speak.”
Calianna didn’t open her mouth right away. She glanced back at the door once, then approached me cautiously. She lowered her voice.
“Johan has been constantly attached to you, making it hard to separate him for a proper conversation. The Attendant Priests might also be the Archbishop’s eyes. So I thought there wouldn’t be another opportunity to speak with you properly if I didn’t seize it now.”
I tilted my chin slightly.
“So what are you trying to say?”
Calianna answered my question directly.
“I deeply admire the Third Saint.”
“I know that.”
Anyone devoted enough to follow my dietary habits would truly admire who I used to be.
“So I wanted to become a Saint.”
“I know that too.”
Which is why she’d asked me to give it up when we first met during the selection process. Calianna lowered her eyes for a moment.
“But it wasn’t simply the title of Saint that I coveted. I wanted to transform the Temple—the way the Third Saint transformed the Caritas Church into a prosperous faith.”
Her words exceeded my imagination by such a margin that I forgot to maintain composure and let my mouth fall open.
But Calianna paid no heed to my reaction and continued.
“The Temple as it stands is utterly rotted. It extorts money from the poor under the guise of donations, trades in indulgences, and shields itself with the authority of the divine while forgiving all its own sins. Charity and healing remain, yes, but they’re often merely ornamental—serving only to bolster the Temple’s image.”
“Harsh words from the Archbishop’s great-granddaughter.”
Her words showed she saw the current state clearly. My admiration drew a bitter smile from her.
“Which is precisely why I understand it so well. Because I am the Archbishop’s great-granddaughter.”
Calianna looked directly at me.
“That’s why I wanted to become a Saint. If I became one, I thought I could at least stand against the Archbishop under that title. I believed I would gain legitimate cause to overturn this rotten Temple.”
Calianna’s eyes held that lucid madness as she gazed at me.
“I wanted to become a second Third Saint. Just as the Third Saint is remembered for revitalizing the Church, I wanted to be remembered throughout history as the Saint who uprooted the Church’s corruption and restored it to righteousness.”
This woman… she’s deranged.
I’d never met anyone with eyes like that who was sane.
Unaware of how I was evaluating her, Calianna continued.
“But instead of me, Your Highness became the Saint.”
“So you resented me?”
“At first, yes.”
Her answer was honest.
“But not anymore.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“You don’t move at the Archbishop’s whim. You wouldn’t simply sit idle relying solely on Caritas’s endorsement, nor would you ignore the Temple’s corruption. I’ve made that judgment.”
“What grounds this judgment?”
“At the Norwald Marquis Estate, you didn’t bury the Temple’s shame when it was exposed. You punished the nobles who conspired with heretics and handed their accomplices to the Heresy Inquisition. And you removed the Archbishop’s watchers strategically.”
That alone? When I looked taken aback, Calianna added her explanation.
“Any other Cardinal would have used that as leverage to demand continuous payments through threats of heresy charges. They’d claim that exposing those heretics on the pyre would reveal the Temple’s failure to prevent heresy’s spread, so we must conceal this shame. But you didn’t. You delivered them directly to the Temple.”
Calianna spoke without hesitation. My God, how far has our Church truly fallen?
“So what is it you want from me?”
To my question, Calianna answered as if she’d been waiting.
“Reform the Church! I’ll do everything in my power to help!”
“You’re saying the Archbishop’s great-granddaughter—the Church’s greatest current liability—will help bring down the Archbishop?”
“If necessary, gladly.”
There was no hesitation in her answer. This girl is truly mad.
I found myself curious about Cardinal Marius’s intentions in putting such a woman forward as a candidate for Saint. Had he not understood her ambitions despite his age? Or did he think her easy to control, with her head in the clouds?
Slowly, I rose from the bed.
Calianna Greilton. Now Calianna Benedicio.
The Archbishop’s great-granddaughter.
The original candidate he’d intended to elevate to Saint.
A woman who knows the Main Temple’s inner workings and the Archbishop’s people, and through her closeness to him, can reach his vulnerabilities.
Properly leveraged, she could be invaluable—indeed, extraordinarily so—in removing the Archbishop and seizing control of the Temple.
But…
I couldn’t rule out that this proposal itself might be a trap the Archbishop had laid.
“Calianna Benedicio, High Priestess.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“From now on, you will answer every question I ask without falsehood.”
Calianna’s eyes shone even more brightly.
“As you wish.”
I regarded her with solemn gravity and asked.
“Do you have the evidence to bring the Archbishop down?”

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