Mother clicked her tongue thoughtfully as we made our way back from the tunnels. Though I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or herself, her half-coherent mutters only aroused my curiosity further. 

“What are they thinking… Seriously, the temple? … on top of all that too, your father must be exhausted… and with the royal family involved…” 

“The royal family?”

Mother looked at me coyly. She was so used to toying with people that I doubted she even realized that she was doing it or how infuriating it was. 

“Your father didn’t want to tell you. But I think you ought to know, especially since he’s…” 

She trailed off again, and looked tantalizing to the side. I couldn’t help myself and took the bait. 

“Especially since what?”

Mother touched a finger to her chin and pursed her lips, wearing a smug smile. 

“No, it’s nothing. Anyways, there were royal knights at the diamond mine.”

My other questions were forgotten at this piece of news. A chill overcame me. 

“Why?”

“We don’t know, and we can’t be sure it was them either. The people at the nearby village led your father and our knights straight into an ambush, and the fighting techniques of the attackers matched the style of the royal knights perfectly.”

“Our knights still won?”

“Your father says the attackers fled when they realized that it would be a close fight. I guess they couldn’t afford to lose, if they were really royal knights.”

“But… that would mean…” 

It was impossible that the royal guards were at a diamond mine by accident. The royal family must have known about it, but how? They could have discovered the mine, but then why did they not tell the public? And when the female lead and the prince discovered it in the novel… was that a setup? 

Originally, the diamond mine was discovered by accident on a walk during a demon subjugation. The female lead had decided to help out some kids in a village nearby and they repaid her with ‘sparkling stones’ that they had found. The prince’s only reactions were surprise and admiration, and of course, increased affection for the kind female lead. Nothing hinted at prior knowledge. 

It was at this moment that my own realization first started creeping in, but I pushed it out of my mind. If I couldn’t trust the novel, then I couldn’t trust anything. 

I decided to ask Father about it later, and about the implications this might mean for our family.

“There you are.”

Father met us on our way to find him. Now that the priest was gone, his brow was furrowed and tense, revealing traces of apprehension. 

“Go on, Valentina. I have to discuss with your mother.”

I knew they would tell me anything important and the final conclusions they reached, so I excused myself. Besides, I had somewhere I wanted to go. 

The chapel wasn’t too far from the castle, and I knew the way there. It was beautiful, while maintaining a sacred holiness. The door was unlocked, symbolizing that God welcomed all. I opened it and entered. 

The large main chamber was where everyone living in the estate gathered for ceremonies on special occasions. Rows of pews faced the raised altar at the back, with a path down the middle and at the sides. The back wall was made of stained glass, the sunlight shining through creating pretty colours, and a statue of God standing before it. There were doors on the side walls, and a chandelier hung from the arched roof. All was tranquil and divine, and I almost felt an urge to confess my sins, though I had none. 

I hadn’t been religious in my past life, and I wasn’t very devoted either in this life, knowing that this was the world of a novel and the author was the closest thing to a real god. But whenever I came to the chapel, I always felt that I had to be pure and virtuous. Perhaps it felt nice, in a way, to think that a higher being was out there and would always love us. Perhaps it gave purpose. 

The priest held service here every Sunday, and all servants were permitted to attend, as long as enough was looking after our family. They were also allowed to come whenever they had time off. On the other hand, our family almost never came except for special occasions. Though this chapel may feel holy, the temple was a powerful political faction that Father had to deal with, and its persecution of mages didn’t help either. 

A few servants were sitting in the pews, hands folded and eyes closed in prayer. It wasn’t Sunday, and the priest wasn’t standing up at the altar. I went to the first door on the right and knocked, hoping for the best. When no one answered, I repeated the process until footsteps sounded behind one of the doors and it swung open to reveal Priest Norman. 

“Good morning, Priest.”

“Good morning, my lady. May God bless you.”

“And you as well. I was wondering if you could explain some things to me.”

The elderly priest looked mildly surprised, but pleased. 

“Certainly, my lady. Come inside, so we won’t bother the ones praying.”

The room was a modest study, with a desk and some chairs. Bookshelves lined the walls, and scrolls laid about. Priest Norman’s main duty other than performing ceremonies and managing the chapel was to translate ancient scripture, which he must’ve been doing here. 

We sat down at the table, facing each other. The priest smiled kindly. 

“What would you like to know, my lady?”

“What can you tell me about the holy dagger?”

His eyebrows rose slightly, but he nodded slowly, like he was deep in thought. 

“The holy dagger was a weapon personally blessed by God and given to the first saint, and it is the only artifact that can pierce through the demon king’s protection magic. The saint used it to weaken him enough to seal him. It is the most holy object to exist.”

“Where is it now?”

“It disappeared after the demon king was sealed. It will resurface to aid the next saint, when the time comes.”

Shortly after the start of the novel, the female lead helped a child, who gave her the dagger. That was the first event that made High Priest Nathaniel, who witnessed it, start to consider the possibility that she was the saint. He shared the information with the royal family, which was what made the prince interested in her. 

“Is it possible for anyone other than the saint to use it?”

The priest looked slightly startled at this, but thankfully, he still answered.

“Without the saint’s immense divine power, its effects against demons will be much weaker. Theoretically, though, if we assume that it acts in the same way as other holy artifacts, then it should still possess its power regardless of the wielder. That is, after it appears.”

I considered this, my heart beating fast. If I could somehow find the dagger before the female lead did, or steal it from her, pretending to be the saint wasn’t out of the question at all. I tried my best to prevent a smirk from slipping onto my face, and quickly moved onto the next subject.

“That was very helpful, thank you. What do you know about mana madness?”

The priest’s eyes glinted suddenly. He stroked his beard pensively. 

“I’d never considered it, but the holy dagger or the saint may possess enough divine power to be a cure. As you know, divinity can suppress mana, but no normal priest is powerful enough to overpower a mage. But since the holy dagger was blessed by God himself and the saint’s divinity is a channel to God… yes, it just might work.”

I actually hadn’t thought of that connection at all, only that these were two topics I needed to find out more about and that this man likely knew about both. This unexpected discovery thrilled me and my heart pounded as a thousand worries faded away. 

Damian could be cured!

I needed to find out more. Also, something he mentioned intrigued me.

“What more do you know? And what did you mean, that the saint is a channel to God?”

“Most people assume that the saint is like an extremely powerful priest, that she received her power as a blessing from God at birth. However, really, the saint does not have any divine power of her own. She awoke her connection to God in an intense moment, and all her power came directly from him. The channel had always been there-God chose her-but before she awakened, she could not use it consciously, though bits of divinity still trickled through. It was the same afterwards, when the demon king was sealed. God can not visit our world, and so his presence can not stay in our realm for long.”

I could not believe it. How could she be so overpowered? How did I not know this before now? 

The female lead did have an awakening in the novel. Damian, who had become her friend, was hurt badly during a demon subjugation. All of a sudden, there was a burst of golden light, and she was able to heal him completely. The trickling through made sense too. When the prince was slightly injured during a hunting competition, he realized that he healed faster near her. 

This was all too much. I was going against someone that literally had the power of God. I needed time to process, as well as to make an actual plan. 

“...thank you very much, Priest Norman. Could you send me some books about the saint, the holy dagger, and mana madness?”

“Absolutely, my lady. I’ll have someone send them up as soon as I’ve picked some out. I must say, I’m delighted that you’ve taken an interest in faith.”

The old man smiled benevolently, but he tilted his head. 

“However, I do wonder, why are you curious all of a sudden?”

“I, um, have finally realized the importance of, um, spirituality.” 

The priest nodded, with a content expression. So this was the power of faith, to believe the crappiest of lies. I nodded along, wanting to seem perfectly devout. 

“You’ve matured, my lady. May God bless you.”

“And you as well.”

As I left the chapel, I relaxed, as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Part of it was knowing that Damian had a cure, but part of it was also getting away from the place. It had felt holy and enlightening at the start, but it soon became stifling. I didn’t like the idea of God deciding my fate for me, especially if it was going to be similar to the path the author had planned out. 

In another life, perhaps I could’ve trusted and believed with all my heart. But with an ending like mine, who wouldn’t try to change destiny? If that was a sin, then so be it.