“Huh?”
Lin Ling’s eyes snapped open.
She stared at the ceiling for several seconds.
Her mind was still a bit foggy.
The images from moments ago still lingered in her head.
The capital.
The dilapidated streets.
The little boy being sent flying by a scabbard.
And the carriage in the forest.
Lin Ling blinked.
“Was it just a dream?”
She slowly sat up from under the covers and looked down at her hands.
It was still the body she was supposed to have as Miss Saintess.
“I feel like I did something super incredible,” she whispered to herself.
After saying it, she felt something was off.
If it was just a dream, why did she remember it so clearly?
Even the night breeze in the forest, the smell of damp wood in the slums, and the frightened yet worried look in that child’s eyes were all too vivid to be a dream.
Lin Ling rubbed her forehead.
“Wait.”
“When did I fall asleep?”
She clearly remembered that last night, while Phelan wasn't around to check on her, she had secretly taken out some Rock Iron Ore, planning to make a few more magic suppression stones.
And then?
Then it seemed like something had flashed.
And then there was nothing.
“Oh, no.”
Lin Ling slowly covered her face.
“If Phelan finds out, am I going to be recorded in ‘The Collection of Miss Saintess’s Dangerous Behaviors’?”
She climbed out of bed and walked to the window.
It was already dawn outside.
The early morning at the Demon King's Castle was tinged with a grayish-blue light.
Near the experimental fields in the distance, several demons were busy at work.
Some were checking the ridges of the fields.
Some were pushing carts filled with Rock Iron Ore casings.
Others were carefully navigating around the areas where the magic slow-release stones were buried, as if they were tending to something incredibly precious.
Lin Ling leaned against the window and watched for a while.
Seeing the figures of those demons made her feel a bit more at ease.
“Good.”
“Everyone is still here.”
She raised her hand and cast a Cleanse spell on herself.
A faint light swept over her body.
Lin Ling stretched, and just as she was about to head back to the bed to put on her shoes, she suddenly stopped.
There was something extra by the bed.
A playing card.
Lin Ling stared at it for two seconds.
“That’s not right.”
“Was this by my bed before I went to sleep?”
She bent down and picked up the playing card.
The face was pure white.
The edges were decorated with fine silver patterns.
In the center was a strangely smiling devil icon.
On the back, a line of beautiful yet exaggerated script was written:
To my dear Lin Ling.
I hope you enjoyed the performance~
Kavia.
Lin Ling stared at those last five letters.
“Kavia?”
Her expression slowly turned strange.
Wasn't that the villainous Deceiver character from the game she played before she transmigrated?
She loved the stage, loved lies.
She loved making fools of everyone before taking an elegant bow under the spotlight.
Clutching the playing card, Lin Ling remained silent for a long time.
“Did she follow me here?”
“How?”
“Did I accidentally bring her along when I transmigrated?”
“No, that makes no sense. This isn't a buy-one-get-one-free deal.”
The more Lin Ling thought about it, the more her scalp crawled.
She looked down at the playing card.
The devil icon seemed to still be smiling.
Lin Ling immediately flipped it over.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
...
Meanwhile, in Leticia’s room.
A pair of eyes slowly opened.
And those eyes carried a very faint layer of light.
Leticia lay on the bed, staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling.
Where is this? The Demon King's Castle?
She was still confined in the demons' room.
There were only the cold but clean stone walls and the suppression stones by the door that continued to dampen her magic.
Leticia slowly sat up.
“Was it a dream?” she whispered.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, she dismissed the thought.
At least, not entirely.
The things she saw in the dream were too clear.
The stench in the trash heap.
The coldness of the sword against her neck.
The narrow streets of the slums.
And the Goddess sitting before her in that pure white space.
Leticia raised her hand and lightly pressed it against her chest.
If that really was the Goddess...
Then why didn't She scold her?
Why didn't She take away her Holy Light?
She got out of bed and walked to the mirror.
In the mirror, she was still wearing her holy vestments.
But she realized her eyes were different.
Leticia leaned closer to the mirror.
She saw that deep within her pupils, there seemed to be a very, very faint light.
It was as if a small lamp had been gently lit.
She suddenly remembered the words the Goddess had said while brushing over her eyes at the end.
—May you see clearly from now on.
Leticia raised her hand, her fingertips lightly touching the corner of her eye.
“Is this...”
God’s mercy for her?
Leticia slowly turned her head, looking toward the adjacent room.
Then, she froze.
On the other side of the wall, she saw a mass of light.
A mass of pure radiance so bright it was almost dazzling.
No impurities.
None of the heaviness that came from being wrapped in ritual and desire like the Holy See's Holy Light.
The light was brilliant.
Just like when that girl in the dream had reached out her hand to her.
Leticia murmured, “Lin Ling?”
She remembered what the Goddess had said.
The light on her own body was wrapped in gray.
But the light on Lin Ling was clean.
Pure.
Clean.
What should the true Holy Light look like?
And what should a Saintess do?
She wanted to know.
She desperately wanted to know.
She wanted to see Lin Ling.
The moment the thought appeared, Leticia was already at the door.
As her hand pressed against the door panel, she suddenly realized something.
She was currently a Saintess of the Holy See who had been captured by demons.
She lowered her eyes and tried to circulate the magic in her body.
No response.
The suppression stones still held her firmly in check.
Leticia fell silent for a moment.
Of course.
She couldn't do anything right now.
But just as she was about to pull her hand back, the lock suddenly clicked softly.
Clack.
The door opened.
Leticia was stunned.
A playing card slid from the edge of the doorframe, drifting lightly to the floor.
She bent down to pick it up.
Two sentences were written on the card:
Go ask what you want to ask.
Go do what you want to do.
There was no signature.
Only a crooked devil icon.
Leticia looked at the card, her brow furrowing slightly.
She didn't know who had opened the door.
Nor did she know what they wanted.
But right now, she had something she wanted to do more.
She pushed the door open and walked out.
There were no guards in the hallway.
Or rather, the guards seemed to have been lured away by something.
Following that dazzling light, Leticia walked to the door of the room next door.
She paused.
Then she raised her hand and knocked gently.
Lin Ling’s voice came from inside.
“Is that you, Niya?”
“Miss Saintess is already out of bed today!”
Footsteps approached.
The door was opened.
Lin Ling poked her head out, her face still carrying a bit of post-sleep drowsiness.
But when she saw clearly who was standing outside, her entire body instantly froze.
The person standing outside wasn't Niya, who usually came to wake her.
It was a woman dressed in pure white robes.
Long silver-white hair cascaded down.
Her eyes carried a faint layer of light.
She stood there like a messenger stepping out of a divine statue.
Lin Ling blinked.
Leticia looked at her as well.
Up close, that mass of light was even brighter.
It was so bright it almost made her forget what she had originally intended to say.
She raised her hand and gently touched Lin Ling’s face.
The moment her fingertips landed on the cheek, Leticia whispered:
“It really is very clean.”
“Lin Ling.”
“W-W-What are you doing?!”
Lin Ling never expected this beautiful woman to suddenly reach out and touch her face.
Her face turned red instantly.
She nearly bit her tongue as she spoke.
“Who-who-who are you?”
“Wait.”
“How did you get in?”
“Wait, wait, wait.”
“Put your hand down first!”
Leticia looked at Lin Ling, whose face was flushed beet-red.
For some reason, she suddenly found it a little funny.
In the dream, Lin Ling had been so small, yet she always acted like an adult.
She would stand in front of children.
She would suppress her rage to ask soldiers what a human life was worth.
But the current Lin Ling was so flustered she was stammering just from having her face touched.
This version of her seemed more real.
And a bit cuter.
Leticia said softly, “My name is Leticia.”
Lin Ling froze.
Leticia continued, “You can also call me...”
She paused for a moment.
As if remembering the name from the dream.
“Sia.”
“Lin Ling.”
“I have many things I want to know.”
Lin Ling’s face was still red.
But hearing the name “Sia,” her mind suddenly flashed to the ragged, hollow-eyed girl from the dream.
Sia.
Sia.
Leticia.
“Sia?”
“Sia?!”
Lin Ling’s eyes widened bit by bit.
“Gah!”
She jumped like a startled little animal.
“Y-You... are you the Sia from my dream last night who looked so pitiful?”
After saying it, she immediately covered her mouth.
“Wait!”
“Then... was that not a dream last night?!”
Lin Ling’s expressions were changing too fast.
One moment she was shocked.
The next, it was realization.
Then, as if suddenly remembering the incredibly dangerous things she had done in the dream, her face began to stiffen.
Cradling her face, Leticia looked at her and finally couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
It was very quiet and brief.
But it carried a hint of genuine warmth.
Hearing that laugh, Lin Ling stiffened even more.
“What are you laughing at?!”
Leticia looked at her.
“Nothing.”
“I just think...”
Before she could finish her sentence.
From the other end of the hallway, an incredibly terrifying pressure suddenly erupted.
The air grew heavy in an instant.
The magic runes on the walls lit up layer by layer, only to be suppressed into dimness.
A chill ran down Lin Ling’s spine.
A voice, so cold it was almost devoid of temperature, came from nearby.
“You.”
“What are you doing?”
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