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It was as if I had dreamed, yet it didn’t feel like a dream.

In my dream, I occasionally saw Sirien. She would get angry at someone, or sometimes look at me with a face on the verge of tears.

As my mind, which had been submerged for so long, floated up to the surface, I realized that those scenes were not just dreams.

Perhaps I saw those things as I woke up and fell asleep again.

When I lifted my heavy eyelids, my vision was blurry.

“Ugh…”

My body creaked as if the joints were rusted.

My fists wouldn’t clench properly, and my consciousness hadn’t fully returned, making it feel as though I were still dreaming.

It was a bit warm. As I pulled the blanket down from my neck, I felt more comfortable.

‘A blanket?’

A slight sense of incongruity reached me.

We never had such soft blankets. All we had was a multipurpose blanket, and the floor was never this comfortable.

Come to think of it, the ceiling was unfamiliar. Not just the ceiling, but the whole space felt foreign.

I was lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room.

I managed to lift my stiff body and saw Sirien sleeping beside me, near my side.

She must have woken up from my movements because she was rubbing her eyes.

She seemed to have just fallen asleep, as it looked painful for her to wake up.

As our eyes met, the curtain fluttered from the breeze outside.

Morning sunlight streamed into the modest room.

Under the warm sunlight, her sleepy face opened its eyes wide.

Soon, her small, pretty lips curved into a smile. Her red eyes sparkled with laughter as she spoke.

“You’re awake? How are you feeling?”

It was the sweetest morning greeting I had ever heard.

* * *

To be honest, I was still bewildered by the changed environment.

Right after fighting the spider, it was as if the world had changed when I opened my eyes.

But I could guess what had happened.

It must have followed the original story.

The place I reached with all my might was the same place where Razen had arrived in the original story.

Sirien must have done the same. Her best efforts ultimately led us here.

I didn’t know the details of the process, but eventually, Sirien became the saint of Hibras here.

A saint of a god who would someday be called a demon god.

To be frank, Hibras being labeled a demon god wasn’t solely due to slander.

Of course, there wasn’t such a thing as a demon god in the first place. Each god had both beneficial and harmful aspects for humans.

Therefore, the declaration of Hibras as a demon god was merely a proclamation by several mainstream religious sects.

However, there were plausible grounds for Hibras being called a demon god.

“Aren’t you hungry? Let’s have a meal first. I’m hungry too.”

Right after Sirien went out briefly to call someone, a person dressed in black came in and brought us breakfast.

The clothes weren’t particularly luxurious; they were closer to mourning attire.

I had heard that the general followers of Hibras wore such clothes. For once, the knowledge from the novel came in handy.

“They said you shouldn’t push yourself today and should rest well. They’ll check on your condition tomorrow.”

“Is there a doctor?”

“No. There’s someone who can do something similar. You’ve seen him before.”

“Oh, that guy from back then.”

“Yeah.”

It seemed that the man’s clothes were the ceremonial attire of Hibras’ holy knights.

That’s why I didn’t recognize it. How could I have known the rituals of the long-gone order of holy knights?

In the original story, it was simply described as a ‘black robe,’ so there was no way to know.

There are countless black robes in the world, after all.

Anyway, the breakfast I received was mushroom soup and milk sweetened with honey.

Given that even a stranger treated me like a patient, it was clear what my physical condition was.

In fact, I wouldn’t have been able to eat anything else even if it had been brought, so I had no complaints.

Sirien had a salad consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables.

Now, she could have been a bit more selective with her food. It seemed she didn’t particularly like the food here.

“Is the chef here not very good?”

“Huh? Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

“Your meal doesn’t require any cooking. You have a sweet tooth and like sweet things.”

“That’s not it. It’s just… right now, this is what I wanted.”

“Really? I guess I was wrong then.”

At that, Sirien chuckled.

She burst out laughing just as she was about to take a bite of her vegetables.

“Actually, it’s not that great. I asked them to bake cookies a while ago, but they were too hard and didn’t taste good.”

“So you’ve been eating only salads since then?”

“No. The ordinary baked bread is okay. It’s what everyone normally eats. The vegetables and fruits are fresh because they’re grown nearby, so they taste good.”

“So the chef is more like a cook, huh.”

“Pfft. What kind of analogy is that? But it seems about right. They’re not exactly a chef.”

Even so, the soup was quite palatable.

The honey milk was sweeter than what I used to have at the castle. It might have been influenced by Sirien’s preferences.

Sirien liked sweet things. Come to think of it, Hena wanted to drink honey milk too, so I should bring some to her when I get the chance.

While eating, I heard about what had happened so far.

It was about what happened right after I killed the spider.

It wasn’t much different from what I had expected. Sirien received the baptism of the Hibras church and was recognized as a saint.

Although there were many ceremonies left to perform in the future, she said she could spend the free time preparing for them as she wished.

She didn’t tell me why she decided to become a saint. I could only guess that she secured protection here and my life in exchange for performing the rituals.

The stigma of Hibras appeared on her left hand. In the original story, the protagonist, Ellis, had it on her right hand, so even such things were opposites.

Seeing her once smooth and white skin marred like this made me feel uneasy.

“The people here are very pleased now that I’ve become a saint. They say they’ve fulfilled a long-cherished wish.”

“Are there many people in a place like this?”

“Not many. Maybe seven in total? I’m not sure if there are more.”

“Don’t you regret it? You never received a baptism when we were at the castle because you didn’t know which god to serve yet.”

“I do feel a bit of regret, but I don’t regret the decision. Even if time went back, I would make the same choice.”

As soon as Sirien finished her meal, she nestled into my arms.

I was forced to lie down, bearing Sirien’s weight. She seemed lighter than before.

Her soft cheek rubbed against my chest. I was about to say something, but seeing the sheer happiness on her face, I stopped.

Her eyes, curved like a crescent moon, were filled with joy. Her smiling lips, and arms that seemed to want to hug me tight, yet hesitated as if afraid of hurting me.

Sensing her emotional struggle, I gently patted her head.

Sirien liked this the most.

The motion of lowering her bangs onto her forehead. She didn’t like having her hair messed up but enjoyed being patted on the head.

Sirien savored my warmth for a long time before she was satisfied.

We lay entwined, looking up at the ceiling. The wallpaper, faded with time, came into view.

Sirien suddenly reached out her hand.

“Razen, I’m a saint now. Look, I can use holy magic like this.”

“Yeah, I heard. You’re good at it. All that studying paid off.”

A reddish light flickered above her hand.

It was a soft, lamp-like light. A warm light that seemed to radiate heat.

In the novel, Sirien used to wield dark divine power to bring death, but it seemed that such power could also be used this way.

“I can use healing magic now, too. The first thing I did after receiving the baptism was to heal you. Every day, I poured all my divine power into you. So when you woke up, I felt like I could fly.”

Sirien’s hand gently touched my arm. Then she found my wrist and held it with both hands.

Despite all the hardships, Sirien’s hands were still soft and tender.

“Hey, Razen.”

“Yeah.”

“I tried really hard. Just like you did for me, this time I fought with all my might. I put everything on the line and protected both of us. So, praise me.”

“You did well. This time, I really survived thanks to you, Sirien. Thank you.”

“I really wanted to hear that? Tell me a bit more. And I’d be even happier if you hugged me.”

If she asked, I had to oblige.

I wrapped my arms around her small waist. Sirien placed her hands over mine and giggled.

The hands we held felt warmer than usual.

My chest and Sirien’s back resonated with our heartbeats.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

Our alternating heartbeats felt as though they had merged into one.

We stayed like that for a long time, listening to the sound of our hearts. The occasional breeze felt pleasant.

“Razen, as a saint, I can now knight someone.”

Suddenly, Sirien gulped.

In the quiet room, the sound was distinct.

“Of course, you’ve always been my knight. Just as you protected me without asking for a vow, I think of you as my knight without needing any formal vow.”

Her clear voice continued without hesitation, as if she had thought about this for a long time.

The girl, who always seemed delicate, suddenly sat up.

“But I want to do it once. I don’t care if the world acknowledges it or not; I want to officially make you my knight. Even if it’s just our own ceremony. No, it’s better if it’s just the two of us.”

The girl who stood up first reached out her hand to me.

“Please, Razen. Will you be my knight?”

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