## Chapter 180 – The Next Saintess (7)
Prin had fallen into a deep sleep.
It was due to the fatigue that had built up in her body.
Originally, she had only intended to lie down for a moment before getting up.
Today was an important day, as her beloved family member, her sister Aris, was bringing her friends to visit the mansion.
However, as soon as she lay down on the bed, her eyes fluttered shut, and she couldn’t shake off the drowsiness.
Unlike usual, her body felt unusually light, and she had moved around excessively, helping her mother, which turned out to be the problem.
Without even having the chance to try anything, Prin, who had fallen into a dream, was looking at scenes from the distant past one after another.
“Prin. Good morning.”
Prin turned her head to the side as if drawn by the welcoming voice.
There, Seri, dressed in a pure white dress, was looking down at Prin with a beautiful smile.
“Seri, good morning….”
“How are you feeling today? You looked very tired yesterday….”
“I’m okay. I slept hugging the bear doll you gave me as a gift…I had a good dream…so I feel great.”
“Okay. That’s a relief. Next time, I’ll buy you the toy you wanted as a gift. You can look forward to it.”
When she was a child, she spent much more time with Seri than with her own sister, Aris.
Her sister Aris suffered from severe colds most of the time and spent most of her time indoors, so Prin, who was relatively healthier than her sister, naturally spent more time going out with Seri.
In her endlessly young days, she simply enjoyed spending time with Seri, going here and there, rather than worrying about her sister.
“Um, Seri.”
“Yes?”
“Why…why do you…stay by our sisters’ side…and protect us…?”
“Hmm. It’s because Prin is going to become a very amazing person in the future.”
“An amazing person…?”
“It’s hard to understand even if I tell you now. I’ll tell you one by one when Prin’s body is ready.”
“Yes…. Thank you for always playing with me, Seri.”
Seri always followed Prin wherever she went, making her happy, and easily solved problems that were difficult for her to solve on her own.
Prin could only feel satisfaction while she was with Seri.
In the meantime, she was granted a Stigmata by the Goddess, and her health was completely restored. When she realized that the meaning of the word “amazing person” that Seri had said referred to the Saintess.
“Please take care of me in the future, Next Saintess.”
“O-Onni…. Those words…are embarrassing….”
“You’ll get used to it soon. Eventually, there will come a time when everyone will treat Prin as a Saintess, so let’s practice slowly from now on. Us.”
“Yes. I’ll practice…hard.”
Prin felt burdened by Seri, who called her Saintess and humbled herself endlessly, but on the other hand, she was reveling in the happiness of being able to live in the same order forever.
In fact, she wasn’t very interested in becoming a Saintess itself.
The only good thing about being granted the Stigmata as a Saintess was that she could handle her innate divine power more effectively, which naturally solved her health problems.
Everything else was full of inconveniences.
Those who came from the Order told her that as the next Saintess, she should be able to handle the Holy Law properly, and forced her to continue her tiring studies.
“Aris, I’m home….”
“……”
After becoming a Saintess candidate, her distance from her sister Aris quickly widened, and from some point on, she would frown and slam the door shut even if their eyes just met.
Every time that happened, Prin had to sigh deeply and fall into a gloomy mood.
She was filled with the thought that her sister’s complete disregard for her was all because of the Stigmata.
‘Is it because I’m the only one who got healthy…and my sister’s feeling upset…?’
Prin became more convinced of her own thoughts.
Otherwise, her sister’s change was incomprehensible.
But she couldn’t confide her worries to anyone.
She wanted her mother to always see them as sisters who were on good terms, and she knew that Seri would find her worries very burdensome.
So her worries only deepened, and as time went by, Prin realized that she was being very selfish.
Her sister was suffering from health problems every day….
But Prin, her sister, was just playing around with Seri, laughing and chatting happily, and dreaming of living her future with a body made healthy by the Stigmata, without even thinking of becoming a good Saintess.
That was not right.
The only way left for Prin was.
‘Goddess Elyssia. Can you heal my sister’s body instead of mine…?’
It was only the goddess who had given her the Stigmata and made her be called the next Saintess.
‘I can’t be a good Saintess. It’s better for my kind sister to become healthier than a playful and selfish child like me.’
‘I’ll pray to the Goddess every day, every day…I’ll come to ask you without missing a single day…so please. Make Aris…a healthy Saintess. Goddess….’
It was a very earnest request.
She didn’t care if she had her Stigmata taken away and lived the rest of her life with an unhealthy body like before.
Even if she couldn’t become a Saintess because of that, she could always be on good terms with Seri as sisters.
Her relationship with her sister Aris would naturally be restored, so Prin thought that was enough.
That was followed by about a year of prayer.
“Sister…. You were chosen…by the Goddess, right…?”
“……Yeah.”
“That’s a relief…. That Stigmata…is said to be proof…that you can become a very amazing person….”
The Stigmata that had begun to fade from Prin’s body eventually moved to Aris.
As a result, Prin became much weaker than before, but she didn’t care much.
It was the first time she had seen her sister so energetic and excited.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah…. Sister….”
There was nothing as happy as being hugged dearly by her sister, who had always been so cold.
Of course, there were inconveniences.
“……Prin.”
“Ah…. Seri….”
It was difficult to walk around the house, and she often stumbled and fell.
“A-Are you okay…?”
“Yes. I’m okay.”
Even smiling with the corners of her lips raised became a difficult task, causing Seri great concern.
“Now I’m not…a Saintess anymore…. Take care of our Aris…better than me….”
“……Okay. I will.”
Seri’s expression darkened rapidly when she heard about Aris, but fortunately, she did not refuse Prin’s request.
Prin was satisfied enough with that.
If Aris could become a healthy Saintess and be happy, it was the same as Prin’s wish being fulfilled.
Of course, there were quite a few regrets.
The Hero party that Aris had joined was very interesting and she was interested in it, but it was something she could never experience.
After moving to this mansion with her mother for safety reasons, she was no longer allowed to step outside the garden.
She thought that this was inevitable.
Aris, after recovering her health, always seemed to be worried about the safety of Prin and her mother.
So she could understand it well enough, but there was one thing she regretted more than anything else.
After Aris finished subjugating the Demon King as a member of the Hero party and returned, Seri, who used to come to visit two or three times a week, suddenly stopped coming.
So Prin had to shed tears as soon as she woke up from her dream.
“Seri….”
“So it’s true that you were close to Seri.”
“…Hick?!”
Prin was startled and covered herself with the blanket.
“W-Who are you…?”
“Ah, I’m sorry for startling you.”
Prin stared blankly at the man sitting next to her bed.
Even though he was sitting in a chair, she could tell that the other person was very large.
“A-Are you perhaps…Aris’s…colleague…?”
“Yes. I’m Choi Si-hyun.”
Prin paused for a moment to think.
“Ah…?”
And she succeeded in recalling a memory she had heard from Aris sometime ago.
“The knight…?”
“Yes. That’s right. It seems that Aris has introduced me in advance.”
“I remember…h-hearing about it…before….”
“Thanks to that, the conversation will be a little faster. Prin’s condition looked very bad…. I wanted to make you comfortable as soon as possible.”
“Ah…. Did you come to check on…my body…?”
Si-hyun nodded slightly and smiled.
“Then, can I ask you to undress first? It would be best if you could be in your underwear as much as possible.”
“Ah, yes….”
Prin slowly moved her body.
Then, she flinched for a moment and looked back at Si-hyun.
“Um, I’m sorry…. I don’t usually wear underwear on top…. Could you please turn around for a moment…?”
“Yes. I will.”
Soon, Si-hyun turned the chair around and sat down.
Relieved, Prin took off the clothes she was wearing, put on the white bra she had taken out of the closet, and called Si-hyun again.
“I’m done changing….”
Prin blushed as she felt Si-hyun’s gaze sweeping over her body as he sat back.
[Choi Si-hyun, a person trusted by Saintess Aris, has come here to check your condition and heal you using a special power.]
[You were informed of this fact by your mother, Merrill, before you went to sleep.]
Even though it was for treatment purposes, it was the first time she had stood in front of a man in her underwear, so she was very embarrassed.
However, she decided to endure it because her mother and sister had taken care of her.
“Prin.”
“Yes…?”
“Today is the first day, so I will proceed with the examination as it is. However, you will have to take off your underwear from tomorrow, so it would be better to prepare yourself in advance.”
Prin hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.
“Okay…. P-Please take good care of me, Knight….”
