chapter 13

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“I won’t lend a hand unless there’s something I can gain. Of course, the exceptions to this are my daughter, son and husband.”

There’s nothing wrong with what she said, so I just smiled awkwardly and nodded.

But, Mother.

Soon, you’ll have to get rid of any thoughts of cost and benefit to help the temple!

This confirmed what I knew about Mother.

My mother, the lord of Rogelio and the highest authority of the Duchy, would definitely help me because she wouldn’t just stand by and watch me dedicate my life to them.

The temple needs to change.

So that they could eat well and live well without a saint.

So that there would be no innocent people sacrificing or dedicating their lives.

The temple, as it was pure and benevolent, was a rare kind. I hope that they could remain as a temple that gets support from the people without any ‘devotion’ and a saint.

At the same time, I decided what I needed to do. I didn’t have any worries anymore.

Since Mother already told me the answer...

I plan to create a charity foundation under the temple.

Vocational schools, food drives, medical services, disaster relief. These could all be done under the temple.

If they had all these, even without a saint or the requisite of devotion, they could be worshipped continuously.

Not the saint, but the temple itself.

Of course, all of this is planned to be supported by the Rogelio family’s financing.

Don’t make me do saint stuff. This is my contribution. Be satisfied with this.

They could reject the idea at first, but Rogelio was known as the Empire’s most affluent household, and has been holding up the center of the Empire.

If they would retort with, ‘Just because you’re from a noble family? You’ll go to this extent?’ then I’d just cancel everything and reply with, ‘How dare you curse at my family? I’m not going to be a saint!’ and I’d just hole myself up at home.

I’m not someone who’ll give up right away, you know.

And even if I replied like that, it wouldn’t hurt my family, who had nothing to be ashamed of for being wealthy. There were even exaggerated rumors that all the money of the Empire flowed into the pockets of the Rogelio family.

“Then you’re my lifelong supporter, right, Mother?”

“I’d be at ease if you thought so.”

As I sat in silence pretending to be a polite, quiet child, my mother smiled broadly. I smiled in return with satisfaction.

With a strong backing, my promising, comfortable future as a saint was beginning now.

And most importantly, the day was finally approaching for Frey’s illness to be cured.

* * *

A week after I heard my mother’s answer, and after I decided what I should do, my left palm seemed to burn, and the stigmata finally became more pronounced.

The stigmata, which almost seemed to have settled onto my skin, was now visible on my palm, as though it was always meant to be there.

The dim light disappeared, and there embedded a pattern that meant I was given God’s love and therefore I was God’s proxy.

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