Chapter 569: Saintess’s Blessing 2

A soft, warm light poured over Alice, wrapping around her like a gentle veil.

She closed her eyes, her expression softening as if she were being embraced by something divine.

Emilia lowered her hands slowly, the faint glow around her fingertips fading into nothingness. She took a cautious step back.

“It’s done now, Senior Alice.”

Alice opened her eyes again, blinking as if the world looked slightly different.

Tiny motes of light still lingered in the air around her, dancing like faint fireflies before dissolving into the stillness of the cathedral.

She straightened, her lips curling into a look of quiet wonder.

“So, you really are a clergy of the church, hehe~ I guess you weren’t just a cute junior, but a blessed one as well.” She touched her chest lightly as if feeling the warmth from within. “Somehow, I feel lighter… warmer… more at peace. Thank you, junior.”

“Hehe~ you’re welcome, Senior. You can come to me anytime if you want a blessing.”

Their voices carried softly under the tall arching ceiling, their laughter echoing gently through the holy silence of the place.

I stood off to the side, simply watching them.

We were at the center of the altar now. A little earlier, the church had been filled with other attendants and worshippers—quiet prayers, hushed footsteps, and the distant rustling of robes.

Yet the moment Anna gave one sharp glance, everything had changed.

No shouting, no resistance. Just silence and compliance.

The attendants, acolytes, even the casual worshippers—all left quietly, guided by the subtle pressure that came from Anna and Amon as they stepped forward in their paladin armor.

The armor itself hadn’t even been summoned fully—it was more like a half-formed shimmer of silver plate, a symbolic warning.

And yet, it was enough.

No one questioned. No one resisted.

I couldn’t help but think—people with such unshakable faith truly were something else.

To think all it took was the image of two paladins to make the entire congregation scatter without a word.

Although we were technically being blessed by the Saintess herself, Alice didn’t know that.

To her, Emilia was nothing more than her adorable junior, “Enna,” who happened to serve as a clergy member in the Holy Church.

I never told Alice Emilia’s true identity. Not yet.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Alice—if anything, she was the one I trusted most. But this wasn’t the right moment.

If she knew who Emilia truly was, she’d immediately connect why I had dragged her here under the excuse of a “church date.”

Right now, the blessing was a front, a ritual I could frame as nothing more than a symbolic prayer for our future together.

But the real purpose… was to purge whatever traces of my own abnormalities might have latched onto her because of me.

Emilia seemed to understand this without a word.

Her eyes had held no resentment when I chose not to reveal her identity, only the faintest glimmer of relief.

Almost as though she was grateful I was keeping her hidden.

That alone told me everything—I wasn’t alone in this game of quiet lies.

“It’s your turn now, Senior Riley.”

Her soft voice broke me from my thoughts.

“Got it.”

I stepped forward. Alice obediently moved aside, humming a little as if the whole thing was some kind of playful ceremony.

I approached the altar’s center where Emilia stood, her small frame almost swallowed by the vast light pouring through the stained glass above us.

I lowered my head slightly, mimicking Alice’s earlier gesture.

Emilia was shorter than me, so I adjusted my posture, dipping low enough so that my forehead would align with the space she raised her hands toward.

For a moment, our faces were close.

“Ah—” Emilia flinched, her blue eyes widening before she instinctively stepped back. The faint color rushing to her cheeks betrayed her composure.

“Sorry,” I said quickly, straightening my back a little.

“I-It’s fine, S-Senior!” She waved her hands rapidly, as if to erase the awkwardness.

Alice, who had been watching from the side with sparkling eyes, suddenly chuckled.

“Fufu~ who knew you had a secret clergy friend who’s this nice and helpful, Riley? Junior, please bless my future husband as much as possible, okay? May our marriage be as happy and graceful as it can possibly be!”

She clasped her hands together in prayer-like fashion, her cheeks pink from excitement.

“Y-Yes… l-leave it to me, Senior…” Emilia replied, her voice small, almost trembling.

She was smiling, but I caught the slight stiffness in it.

Her fingers fidgeted against her robe for just a moment before she forced them still.

Something was… off.

But when her gaze returned to me, all I could do was close my eyes, allowing her hands to approach the sides of my head.

“P-Please don’t move for a while, Senior,” she said softly. “A sacred blessing cannot be done with impure actions or thoughts… so, for now, think about the happiest moment in your life. The thing that makes you the most happy…”

Her voice carried a mixture of nervousness and quiet reverence, like she was clinging to the ritual itself to keep steady.

I nodded faintly and let my mind wander. It wasn’t hard—images of them filled my head instantly.

My girls.

Their faces.

Their voices.

Their warmth when they laughed, their stubbornness when they argued, their tenderness when they reached for me without hesitation.

Just the thought of them was enough to curl the corners of my lips.

As Emilia’s hands rested gently against me, a warmth spread across my head, seeping into my skull, then down my spine.

It wrapped me from above and below like a cocoon of light.

A familiar chime echoed in my ears.

[ Familiar Divinity Recognized]

[ Authority: Conceptual Oblivion – Sub-Divinity <Blessing of Change> Reacting]

[ Authority proceeding to synergize with Divinity]

[ Initiating Divine Absorption]

[ Divinity +5000]

I exhaled slowly.

So it really worked.

Because my authority originated from one of Eris’s scattered blessings, I had the innate capacity to digest divinity properly, almost as though it were food for my very soul.

Emilia didn’t know that, but I couldn’t deny the convenience.

“By the way, Senior…”

Her voice shifted. Lower. Closer.

I felt her breath against my ear, and though my eyes remained closed, I could imagine how near she must have leaned in.

This wasn’t part of the blessing.

“Did you really just come to me… for a blessing?”

The words were fragile.

For a moment, I hesitated.

My first instinct was to deflect, to laugh it off, to keep the balance steady.

But lying here would only sour the weight of this moment, and she would see right through me.

“Yes.”

“I see…”

Her tone cracked faintly on the last syllable.

A small pause stretched between us, heavier than the divine light coursing through me.

Then suddenly—

Thud…

A small, warm, soft yet firm sensation pressed against my forehead. I froze. The contact was unmistakable—Emilia’s forehead resting against mine.

“J-Junior…?” I muttered, half in surprise.

Her breath wavered as she answered, her voice shaky but determined.

“F-For some reason, Senior is absorbing far more divinity than Senior Alice did…! S-So, a special spiritual transfer needs to take place. P-Please, don’t move and keep your eyes closed, or else… s-something m-might go terribly wrong…!”

Her words tumbled out in nervous fragments, but I could feel the seriousness hidden behind them.

“…Alright,” I said quietly, closing my eyes and choosing to trust her.

In the game, this ritual had existed. Emilia had once performed a similar blessing for Lucas, the protagonist.

But even then, it was brief, ceremonial—a brush of light, nothing like this.

Did it really take this long?

Slowly, another sensation spread through me.

My hands—

A pair of trembling, soft palms pressed against them.

She hesitated at first, then her fingers slid between mine, intertwining tightly.

My heart skipped.

This position… isn’t it far too… intimate?

“Uhm… J-Junior…?” I whispered, unsure if I should break the silence.

“I-It’s almost done, Senior,” she rushed out, her tone uneven, “P-Please don’t worry…!”

…Easy for her to say.

Judging from the sharp, cold stare drilling into my side—Alice’s stare—I was already marked for death the moment this ritual ended.

The back of my neck prickled with her silent fury.

I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the cold sweat sliding down my back and focused instead on the warmth flowing from Emilia’s hands and forehead.

The energy inside me shifted, harmonizing, settling.

Finally—

“I-It’s done!” Emilia exclaimed breathlessly, immediately pulling her hands away.

I opened my eyes.

She stood there, face flushed crimson, chest rising and falling as though she had just run a marathon.

Her lips parted, struggling for steady breaths, and her gaze wavered when it met mine.

“…Are you alright, Junior?” I asked softly.

She forced a shaky smile, though the tips of her ears betrayed her fluster.

“Yes… I-I’m fine, Senior. Hehe… I completed the sacred blessing without any irregularities. You just… s-sucked way too much energy. I wasn’t prepared for that…”

“Is that so…” I muttered, scratching my cheek. “I guess I should try to hold back from absorbing so much next time…”

Her eyes flickered at my words, as though she wanted to say more but restrained herself. The faint blush still lingered, refusing to leave her cheeks.

It was pretty clear—something about Emilia’s blessing had been different compared to Alice’s.

My body still hummed with an unfamiliar resonance, though I couldn’t exactly pinpoint what had changed.

Before I could dwell on it further, Emilia suddenly leaned closer, her movements uncharacteristically hurried.

Her breath brushed against my ear as she whispered, voice trembling yet insistent.

“S-Senior… do you remember the request—no, rather, the favor you once asked of me?”

“Yes,”

Her fingers fidgeted against the hem of her robe as she continued, her words faltering but determined.

“Since you’ve… asked me for another favor again this time… it’s only fair if I get to ask something of you as well, right?”

I let out a quiet sigh.

“Well, that’s basically the only thing I can offer you in return for blessing us right now, so sure—”

Ahem!

The sharp sound cut through my words like a blade.

A grim, heavy aura washed over the altar.

Just hearing the voice once was enough to make even an ascended being like me lightly shudder, as though the air itself froze in warning.

I slowly turned my head.

Shadows seemed to pour from Alice’s golden eyes, spilling out like a veil of silent fury.

Her expression was cold, almost casual, yet at the same time unbearably intense—like a smile that promised ruin.

It was clear. She was upset. Very upset.

The change in atmosphere made Emilia instantly falter.

Her lips quivered, her hands clutching at her robe as she shrank back slightly, trembling under Alice’s gaze.

Even Amon and Anna, the steadfast personal paladin guards, looked uncertain of what to do for the first time.

Their disciplined postures wavered, unsure of how to react to the subtle yet suffocating pressure in the air.

Vanessa, who had been quietly chuckling from her seat just moments ago, had also gone silent.

Her smirk vanished, her chin resting on her hand as she studied the tension with sharp, wary eyes.

“…What exactly are you trying to do right now, cute junior?”

Alice’s voice rang soft yet cutting, directed squarely at Emilia.

The saintess-in-disguise visibly flinched. Her face paled as she stumbled over her own words, unable to answer under the weight of Alice’s stare.

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