Early next morning.
In the temporary guest room (the original one was now Lin Ling's, so the room next door was used as the temporary guest room).
Leticia opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw wasn't the familiar pure white ceiling of the White Tower's top floor.
Nor was it the silver silk curtains soaked in holy light.
Instead, it was an unfamiliar dark grey stone ceiling.
Demon patterns she didn't understand were carved into the stone.
The light was dim.
The air was heavy.
There was no scent of the holy flowers she knew, and no prayer bells ringing on time.
Leticia lay in bed, watching quietly for two seconds.
Then she frowned.
“Milly.”
No response.
Leticia’s frown deepened.
Her voice grew cold.
“Milly.”
The room remained silent.
No maid rushed in.
No change of holy robes.
No holy incense to be burned before morning prayers.
Leticia slowly sat up.
Her silver-white hair slid from her shoulders. She looked down at her still-neat holy robes, her gaze turning cold.
“Milly.”
The third time.
Her voice carried obvious displeasure.
Still, no one answered.
Leticia’s expression darkened completely.
“Where has that careless maid gone?”
She had never liked waiting.
Especially in the morning.
As the Saintess, every step after she woke should be perfectly organized.
A maid should have warm water and holy incense ready before she even opened her eyes.
Her robes should be ironed in advance.
The silver prayer cup should be on the left side of the table.
She didn't need to speak.
Because those were things others were supposed to complete.
But now, Milly hadn't appeared.
Just as Leticia's anger flared, she suddenly realized something was seriously wrong.
This wasn't the White Tower.
She looked up sharply.
The room wasn't large and the furnishings were simple.
A bed.
A table.
Two chairs.
No holy runes on the walls.
The windows were sealed by a heavy barrier, letting in very little light.
Several grey-black stones were placed in the four corners of the room.
Faint white patterns flowed slowly across their surfaces.
They had no strong magic fluctuations.
But they made Leticia instinctively feel disgusted.
There was no holy light here.
No aura of the Holy See, no sense of purity belonging to the White Tower.
There was only a sickening, cold demon aura.
Leticia’s expression shifted.
She immediately raised her hand, wanting to cast a cleansing spell.
As the Saintess, she couldn't tolerate waking up in an unknown environment without purifying her body with holy light.
However—
Nothing happened.
No holy light lit up her fingertips.
No divine magic in the air responded to her.
Even the Holy-attribute magic that should have been flowing through her body was as still as stagnant water, suppressed by something invisible.
For the first time, Leticia’s expression changed significantly.
She tried again.
“Cleanse.”
No response.
“Holy Light.”
Still no response.
She couldn't mobilize her magic.
No.
More accurately, she couldn't even sense the holy light magic around her.
The divine aura that flowed year-round in the White Tower had vanished.
The blessing circuits placed on her by the Holy See felt as if they were isolated far away.
Leticia’s heart sank.
Someone had taken her from the most sacred and heavily guarded place in the Holy See without her noticing.
Leticia gripped the sheets.
How was that possible?
Who would dare?
She was the Saintess of the Holy See.
The only girl in the Camillaya Empire blessed by the gods.
The symbol of sacred purity, crowned by the Archbishop and prayed to by the people.
Who would dare kidnap her?
Humans wouldn't have the courage.
Not the royals, not the nobles.
Certainly not anyone within the Holy See.
Unless—
Leticia looked up, her gaze landing on the stones in the corners.
She couldn't feel holy light.
But she could feel a strange pressure that made magic stagnate.
Demons.
Only demons would use such a filthy, disgusting method to desecrate the sacred and noble Saintess.
Just then, footsteps came from outside.
Leticia turned immediately.
The door was pushed open.
Phelan walked in.
He held his recording board, with two detection crystals floating beside him.
His expression was calm as always.
He had simply come according to the plan to confirm if the brought-back Saintess was awake and attempt preliminary communication.
After all, while last night's operation had been smooth, how to handle Leticia afterward was the truly troublesome part.
They didn't intend to harm her.
Temporarily preventing humans from forming an alliance, or even letting them naturally collapse into internal chaos, was the optimal solution for the demons.
Phelan pushed the door open, just about to speak.
In the next instant.
Leticia’s face turned ice-cold.
“Who are you?”
Her voice was sharp and arrogant.
Phelan stopped.
“I am—”
“Who gave you permission to enter?”
Leticia stood up abruptly.
Her silver-white hair cascaded behind her. Her eyes held no confusion from waking up, only intense fury at being offended.
“Filthy demon.”
“How dare you step into my room?”
Phelan: “...”
He looked down at his feet.
Strictly speaking, this was a room in the Demon King's Castle.
But he didn't correct her immediately.
Leticia glared at him.
“It's you.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“Damn demons.”
“How dare you lock me in such a dilapidated, dark place filled with a disgusting demon aura.”
“Lowly, barbaric.”
“You shameless, filthy creatures dare to desecrate the Saintess.”
She said it all in one breath, her chest heaving slightly.
That originally sacred and dignified face looked exceptionally sharp due to her anger.
Phelan watched her quietly.
He wasn't angry.
He didn't argue.
He simply raised his recording board and wrote a few lines.
——Target is highly emotional upon waking.
——Strong hostility toward demons.
——Obvious tendency toward verbal aggression.
——Currently lacks the conditions for rational communication.
Leticia saw him recording and grew even more furious.
“What are you writing?”
Phelan looked up.
“Observation records.”
Leticia’s eyes were cold.
“You dare observe me like an animal?!”
Phelan answered calmly:
“From an objective standpoint, yes.”
Leticia turned pale with rage.
She raised her hand, habitually wanting to manifest holy light to punish this demon who dared offend her.
But her magic still didn't respond.
The magic suppression stones in the corners flickered slowly.
Not even a spark of light appeared at her fingertips.
This made her even more humiliated and annoyed.
“Take these filthy stones away!”
“Now!”
“Do you even know what you're doing?”
“I am Leticia.”
“The only Saintess recognized by the Holy See.”
“The child chosen by the gods in the mortal realm.”
“You lowly demons actually dream of binding me with such inferior things?”
After listening, Phelan nodded slightly.
“Confirmed.”
Leticia gritted her teeth.
“Confirmed what?”
Phelan looked at her.
“Your self-perception is highly tied to your external titles.”
Leticia: “...”
For a moment, she didn't even know if that counted as an insult.
Phelan continued:
“Miss Leticia.”
“Judging by your emotional state, you are not currently suited for rational dialogue.”
“I suggest you calm down first.”
Leticia sneered.
“Rational dialogue?”
“With you?”
“Demons are fit to talk about rationality with me?”
Phelan watched her for a moment.
Then he closed his recording board.
“Assessment complete.”
“Today's talk is canceled.”
Leticia was stunned.
“What did you say?”
Phelan turned toward the door.
“You need to calm down first.”
“Once you can handle basic communication, we will talk again.”
Leticia shouted:
“Stop!”
“Who gave you permission to leave?”
Phelan didn't stop.
“This place is not within your range of command.”
Leticia’s expression shifted.
“You—”
Phelan reached the door and glanced back at the corners of the room.
To prevent Leticia from forcibly attacking the seal in an emotional outburst, he took out two spare magic suppression stones from his robe and placed them inside the door.
The faint white patterns resonated with the stones in the corners.
The suppression range became more stable.
Leticia clearly felt the magic around her body grow even heavier.
A flash of true panic finally appeared in her eyes.
“What did you do?”
Phelan replied:
“Strengthened the security measures. I also advise you not to try anything with them; the chaotic magic inside them is no smaller than your temper.”
Leticia ground her teeth.
“You despicable demons!”
Phelan didn't respond further.
He stepped out and closed the door.
Then, one sealing spell after another lit up on the door.
“Click.”
The lock engaged.
The soundproofing barrier activated.
Leticia’s angry voice was completely cut off inside the room.
The hallway returned to silence.
Phelan stood outside, looking down at his recording board.
After a moment, he suddenly smiled.
It was a very slight smile.
It didn't even seem like mockery.
It was more like he had reached a surprising conclusion after a subtle comparison.
The Saintess of the Holy See, Leticia, was worshipped by humans as the darling of the gods.
Noble, sacred, dignified.
A symbol of light and faith.
Yet, after being taken from her safest place, her first reaction wasn't to confirm her situation, think about her position, or even judge if she was currently safe.
Instead, she was angry that her maid didn't answer after she woke up.
Angry that the room wasn't clean enough.
She was even trying to provoke her kidnapper.
Phelan looked up toward the other end of the hallway.
It led deeper into the Demon King's Castle.
And to the experimental fields.
He thought of the other so-called Saintess in the Demon King's Castle.
Lin Ling.
The Saintess from another world who was judged as a low-rank Hero, had her contract dissolved on the day of her summoning, and was brought back by the demons.
When she first arrived at the castle, she had been afraid and panicked, too.
She had muttered nonsensical things to herself in her room.
But she didn't use the word “filthy” to define everyone who approached her.
She would complain painfully about the black bread being too hard.
She would seriously thank Niya for bringing her a meal.
When she discovered the demon lands couldn't grow food, even though she had no obligation, she proactively offered to help.
She would work in the experimental fields until her face turned pale with exhaustion, yet still push herself, saying, “Let's try one more time.”
She would hurriedly reach out to stop him when he was about to record her embarrassing statements.
“You’re not allowed to write that!”
“Lord Phelan, you really can't write that!”
“This is the Saintess's final shred of dignity!”
Thinking of this, Phelan’s lips curled up a bit more.
Lin Ling had stood in the experimental field that day.
Black soil beneath her feet.
Her hair a bit messy from the magic wind.
A bit of mud on her face.
But when the first patch of green grew from the earth, her smile was brighter than any holy icon.
She was simply happy because the demons might finally be able to eat their fill.
Phelan looked down and slowly wrote on his recording board:
——Leticia: Recognized Saintess of the Holy See.
——Personality traits: Arrogant, irritable, highly exclusive, obvious tendency toward self-sanctification.
——Lin Ling: Summoned individual from another world, currently referred to as Miss Saintess within the Demon King's Castle.
——Personality traits: Timid, easily panicked, strongly driven by appetite, frequent occasional strange statements.
He paused.
Then he continued writing:
——Supplementary assessment: Compared to Leticia, Lin Ling fits the concept of a Saintess who is “willing to bring salvation to others” more closely.
After writing this sentence, Phelan looked at the recording board and was silent for a moment.
Then, he closed it.
“The so-called 'true' Saintess, huh.”
He spoke softly.
“For now, the definition is pending re-examination.”
The sound of Leticia angrily banging on the door came faintly from inside.
But the soundproofing barrier suppressed most of the noise.
Phelan glanced at the door.
“Let her cool down for a few days.”
“It's reasonable that she can't calm down immediately after being brought here by force.”
“Until then, I don't recommend arranging formal negotiations.”
He finished speaking and turned to leave.
Only the few magic suppression stones by the door remained, quietly glowing with a faint white light in the hallway.
Inside the room, Leticia remained locked within the unfamiliar Demon King's Castle.
Unable to cast spells, unable to call for holy light.
She also couldn't understand why the world wasn't revolving around her as it usually did.
Meanwhile, the instigator who had proposed the kidnapping plan had just crawled out of bed.
She rubbed her eyes, completely unaware that the Saintess of the Holy See had been placed in the room right next to hers, or that Phelan had judged the newcomer as “unsuitable for communication.”
She just thought on her bed for a few seconds, seemingly feeling like she hadn't slept enough.
So, she hugged her blanket and gently rolled over. Not long after, a faint snoring sound came from under the covers.
Outside the window, the morning at the Demon King's Castle remained dim.
Rate on N.U.
