A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

Page 25

There wasn't even a wardrobe in the room, just a bedside table and a clothes rack. A quilt wouldn't do, and there was no balcony behind the curtains, so all that was left was under the bed.

Before Santa Karina could stop her, Lina slid in and dove in, making Santa Karina's lips twitch.

Hopefully, the two of them won't start fighting under the bed.

"..."

While Saint Karina was speechless, the two people under the bed stared at each other, bewildered.

"This is my first time visiting a human town, I'm a little nervous, and I'd like to say something to Saint Karina."

Hero was shy, so he made up an excuse first.

"Yes, I believe you, Sister Helo. I also came to find Sister Saintess to chat with me because I couldn't sleep."

Both of them tacitly lied, and the two sisters said they believed each other.

In reality, Hero thought to himself, "Looking like you're not even wearing pants, who would believe you're just here to chat with Saint Karina?" The younger Lina, on the other hand, thought, "Are you so nervous you have to take off your clothes? Who would believe you're not here to ambush the Saintess?"

Melissa, who had been waiting impatiently outside, came straight in.

Her shadow magic can easily unlock doors, for example, by letting her shadow slip through a crack in the door and then turn the doorknob from the inside, or by letting her shadow slip directly into the keyhole of the lock and mimicking the shape of a key to unlock it.

"Why aren't you asleep so late?"

Saint Karina greeted everyone normally, her expression and tone revealing nothing unusual.

"I can't sleep, I wanted to chat with you."

"Come up."

Saint Karina simply lifted the blanket, patted the empty space, and gestured for her to come over.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not trying to sleep and want to chat with me, are you planning to just stand there and talk?"

"Yes, what's the problem?"

Melissa didn't seem to be interested in exploring physical positions.

"If you're going to stand here and chat with me, then I'm going to sleep. You should go back to your room and sleep."

"Master, you can be really heartless sometimes."

Melissa snorted.

"I just wanted to tell Master that Miss Lina and Miss Helo both have feelings for you."

"Alright then, how about I tell you a story, Melissa?"

"Appreciate further details."

"That was about when I was working for Ernest VII. Once, I did something good, and she wanted to reward me. So, she sent me a blonde woman, then a silver-haired woman, and then a black-haired woman, and asked me which one I wanted to choose?"

Saint Karina spread her hands, making her choice:

“I told her that my favorite type of woman is blonde, but I want other women too.”

"why?"

"Because I haven't been with any other women. I need to have been with them before I can decide which one to keep by my side."

Melissa was shocked. This reason was too outrageous and shameless.

The two people under the bed exchanged glances, their eyes burning with intense passion. Both of them had had fleeting, intimate relationships with Saint Karina, but none had crossed that final line.

If Saint Karina said that even though she knew there were two people under the bed, then she must have had a deeper meaning.

They each speculated in their own minds, but neither spoke, preferring to listen quietly.

49. Tonight's winner

Before leaving, Melissa glanced meaningfully at the eye under the bed, making Santa Karina suspect that she had already discovered it.

However, she ultimately said nothing, closed the door again, and left.

"Alright, they're gone. You can come out now."

"..."

The two then emerged from under the bed, looking somewhat disheveled and covered in dust.

Lina's room was clean, but the area under the bed was a difficult spot to clean and still had some dust.

Left with no other option, Santa Karina could only continue the conversation by saying, "If we're not going back, shall we do something?"

"Three people... no way the first time."

Princess Hero blushed, seemingly imagining something, and shook her head in refusal.

How about drawing the Ghost card?

"what?"

"It's a game for three people. They take turns drawing cards from each other, and the person who has the joker card left has a sticker stuck on their forehead."

Drawing the Joker is a very simple way to play cards. The three of them didn't care whether they were clean or not. At Saint Karina's invitation, they sat directly on the soft bed.

So, Saint Karina was chosen to deal the cards, since the cards were face down with the back facing up and the sides with numbers and letters facing down. There was no concern that Saint Karina would cheat, and the three of them immediately began dealing the cards.

"Want to play some betting?"

Seeing that the two of them had picked up their cards like she had, Saint Karina said something.

"What's the stake?"

"For example, tonight's winner can make the loser agree to any number of conditions?"

Afterwards, seeing that neither of them objected, the bet was settled.

Helo was the least likely person among them to play this kind of entertainment game. After hesitating for a while, she discarded all but three cards in her hand and nervously showed them to Saint Karina and Lina, letting them draw.

Although Lina is skilled and a veteran player, she seems to be having bad luck this hand, with six cards left in her hand.

She glanced at Hero's expression and, based on her experience, judged that the Joker was not in her hands.

Knowing that Saint Karina had the Joker, she deliberately slowed down her card draws while observing Saint Karina's reaction. Just when she thought victory was in her grasp, she drew the Joker instead.

"Hey, Sister Helo, come here."

Despite wearing an innocent smile, Saint Karina knew that she was going to bully Helo.

She deliberately protruded the Joker card slightly, then looked at Hero.

As expected, Hero's face darkened as he drew the Joker card.

After that, she tried to imitate a similar technique to trick Saint Karina, but she had an anime-like effect: when Saint Karina touched the Joker, her background would turn into spring blossoms, and when she touched a normal card, it would be like a cold winter wind.

"Sorry, I won."

Given this trait that makes her unsuitable for gamblers, it would be difficult for Saint Karina to lose. As a result, almost all the slips of paper were stuck to Hero's head.

The loser's punishment was to prepare dinner for the winner, but Hero had absolutely no idea how to cook. Therefore, Saint Karina had to personally teach her. After all, Hero was a noble princess, with maids doing everything for her in her daily life. She lived a life of luxury where everything was done for her, and she didn't even know how to distinguish between ingredients and cooking utensils.

Saint Karina had originally expected her to be like the heroines in novels who had extraordinary backgrounds but possessed many commoner skills, suddenly producing several amazing and delicious dishes. Now it seems that she was completely overthinking it.

A princess is a princess; that's how Hero's character is portrayed.

No one stipulated that a saint could not learn to cook; Saint Karina had been a skilled cook for hundreds of years. Her birth was not noble, and the Church did not judge people by their social status; anyone with exceptional abilities could become a member of the Eternal God Cult.

At that time, Saint Karina was just an ordinary priestess, the kind who did odd jobs in logistics and sometimes had to cook. One day, Ernest VII, who was not yet emperor, visited the church and disguised himself as a believer who came to worship and make offerings, and enjoyed the curry rice in the refectory.

At that time, St. Karina's culinary skills had been recognized by the church, and she was exempted from tedious work such as cleaning the main hall and wiping the idols. She only needed to focus on preparing food for believers and important figures attending church banquets in the kitchen.

She cherished the job she had because her family was poor. As a church cook, she could earn one-third more than a regular priest, and if the important people were happy, she would receive extra money.

Behind the glorious identity lies endless sorrow.

Even if her hands bled due to someone else's mistake or deliberate sabotage, she still had to endure the pain and cook for those people. The church's healing magic was not used by lower-ranking clergy, as the higher-ups considered it a waste of resources.

Only those who are valuable to the church are worthy of having healing magic used on them, and Saint Karina was not considered a "valuable person" at that time.

By chance, she encountered a bright and cheerful young woman, Ernest VII. Ernest VII asked her to cook other dishes for him, and the other clergy in the temple treated the young woman with great respect. Saint Karina assumed she was a noble lady and readily agreed.

She also has some memories of recipes that are not commonly found in her mind, such as dishes that do not exist in this country. She knows how to cook many of them, and she can cook them for a large table.

For example, you can stir-fry chopped carrots, corn kernels, green peppers, and onions to make a dish called fried rice. Or you can grind rice, which is rare in this country, into a paste to make a dish called fried noodles.

No one had ever eaten Lorian before, so Ernest VII found it very rare.

"Are you... really just a lowly priest? I always feel like you're hiding many secrets. What other skills do you possess that I don't know about?"

Saint Karina looked shy, her head bowed, staring at the tips of Ernest VII's shoes.

“I am indeed just a priest. I don’t have any outstanding background. I can only keep learning various skills to make myself stronger, otherwise my quality of life will not be able to improve. As you know, I come from the slums. It was the bishop who made an exception and suppressed the voices of others that gave me the opportunity to work in the church. I am very grateful for all of this.”

"Keep your head up."

"Yes."

Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, Saint Karina looked directly at the girl before her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, a graceful figure—everything about her was perfect.

Her usually quiet heart was stirred for once.

The girl also studied her face.

“Starting today, I will hire you as my private tutor. I hope to learn more from you.”

50. Professor

At first, Saint Karina was reluctant to accept a stranger's request, after all, her duty was to dedicate herself to the Church of Eternity, not to joke and play around with a seemingly wealthy young lady.

In this era, wealthy young ladies often sought out companions or playmates, usually someone of similar age. Saint Karina and this girl were indeed close in age, and the bishop mentioned they even shared the same birthday—a truly rare coincidence.

After considering it all afternoon, Santa Karina remained steadfast.

People who are exceptionally good-looking may not necessarily be kind-hearted, and she doesn't want to waste her time on others.

“Your Excellency… I, I still want to stay in the church. Those rich people won’t treat people of humble origins like us well. They say they appreciate us, but it’s really just to satisfy their own curiosity and novelty. Once the novelty wears off, they’ll kick us aside like trash.”

“But Saint Karina, you can’t refuse her. Because she is—”

The bishop leaned down and whispered a few words in her ear.

Saint Karina's calm expression gradually turned to surprise, and a slight ripple stirred in her heart.

……

"Saint Karina, are you listening?"

Hero and Lina, who were beside her, kept calling her name.

The act of cooking brought back memories that had been buried for hundreds of years. She stared out the window in a daze for a long time, only reacting after being called more than a dozen times.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something just now."

"What are you thinking about?"

Hero put on his apron and placed the knife and ingredients on the cutting board.

"I'm thinking about what dish I should teach you. Something too complicated isn't suitable for you to learn right now. Today, let's make a beginner-friendly tomato and egg stir-fry. Anyone can learn this dish without blowing up the kitchen. As far as I know, you just haven't learned to cook before, so you shouldn't blow up the kitchen, right?"

"I don't know... My mother told me that I don't need to think about these things in my life. I just need to be a happy, carefree princess and wait for things to come to me every day."

"That kind of mom is really great, I want to get one too."

"If you want it too..."

Hero suddenly blushed.

This statement seemed to imply something, though Saint Karina didn't notice. Furthermore, Saint Karina didn't have any such thoughts or intentions; she was merely making a joke and expressing her envy.

"Let's start learning now, I'll teach you from the very basics of chopping vegetables. If you want to peel a tomato, you need to blanch it in hot water beforehand to soften the skin. Before you start blanching, make a cross-shaped cut on the top of the tomato with a knife."

She made two cuts on the plump tomato with a knife, placed it in a bowl, and then poured boiling water over it. The skin softened after being scalded by the hot water and could be easily peeled off.

Saint Karina only tore it in half, leaving the rest to the curious-looking Hero.

"Try the rest yourself. Also, be careful not to burn yourself; it's better to wear gloves."

"Ok."

Helo put on gloves specifically for handling food and carefully tore it open. It wasn't as difficult as she had imagined; she could do it by following the techniques Saint Karina had taught her.