I Was Reincarnated as a Mob Noble, and I Swear I'll Protect the Villainess Who Got Married Off to Me No Matter What ~To Dodge Our Total Downfall, I Went All Out Training My Trash Skill [Super Recovery] Through Crazy Hard Work, and Before I Knew It, I Could Totally Wreck the Game Protagonist Who Condemned My Wife Easily - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Sweet Revenge. Saintess Alicia’s Plan to Assassinate Valeria Fails, and She Finds Out About Zenon’s Skill—Now She’s in Huge Trouble

[From Saintess Alicia’s Point of View]

“Harold-samaaa~! Thank you so much for the donation to the orphanageee!”

That night, I—Alicia the saintess—threw myself at the crown prince Harold with the sweetest, most sugary voice I could muster.

It happened in the palace hallway, where the chandeliers were sparkling like crazy.

Compared to those stinky poor boys at the orphanage, this guy was a total sparkling hot prince. My super important pawn for grabbing power.

I finally kicked that annoying Valeria out of the way and snagged the top spot as Harold’s favorite.

Heh heh heh, I could feel the laughter bubbling up inside.

“It’s nothing. As long as I get to see your smile, it’s worth it.”

Harold gave me a refreshing smile and patted my head.

“More than anything, thanks to you, Alicia, I really realized just how many orphans there are in this country. Making sure they get a proper education and support for their lives is obviously my duty as crown prince.”

“You’re so amazing, Harold-samaaa!”

I went full cute mode, looking up at him with big puppy eyes.

Well… even with all that support, about a quarter of those orphans end up getting turned into secret agents working for the holy church anyway.

If clueless Harold ever found out that the assassins who helped poison all eighty Schwarz Ritter members were raised that way, wonder what he’d think?

Oh yeah, fun fact: I started out the same way—trained as a honey-trap agent.

So manipulating guys? Piece of cake.

I studied exactly what kind of girl Harold likes and played the part perfectly.

An innocent, kind-hearted saintess? Pfft, this crown prince has way too many fairy-tale dreams about girls.

Keep this up, wrap Harold around my finger, and I’ll lock down the queen position.

Not for the holy church or anything—for my own happiness.

I pressed my proud, well-developed chest against his arm. Harold got all shy and looked away, then started talking in that serious tone again.

“Oh, right… according to the report from the holy church, the monster outbreak in the south has already been dealt with—the royal army led by Duke Asphodel started the cleanup. Since Valeria tried to kill me, the duke felt obligated and moved fast. Really helped us out.”

“Wow! Now everyone can live without worrying!”

That whole monster outbreak was actually caused by holy church agents, though.

We dug up graveyards on purpose and scattered human corpses everywhere—monsters’ favorite food. Boom, their numbers exploded in no time.

All to pin the royal army and Duke Asphodel down in the south so the Balzark Empire’s invasion could succeed.

“Word came in from Sword Saint Baldo that they’re struggling against the empire’s forces… but as punishment, I sent Valeria and her elite knights as reinforcements. That side should be fine too.”

“Yes!”

Actually, I wiped out those reinforcements, so big problem there.

The royal family way overestimates Sword Saint Baldo’s power.

And they’re underestimating the empire’s new weapons too much.

From what I hear out in the borderlands, even that Sword Saint Baldo panicked like crazy when he thought his son would get the [Sword Saint] skill but ended up with a dud instead. Now he’s desperately counting on Valeria and Schwarz Ritter’s strength.

Everything’s going exactly how I want it. I can’t stop laughing inside.

Down south, tons of people got killed by monsters, and the calls for the saintess to come save them are getting louder.

All that’s left is for me to swoop in as the savior when the empire’s invasion pushes this country to the brink of destruction.

Hehe, everything’s set up perfectly.

“I’m really worried about Lady Valeria… Just thinking about her makes me so anxious I can barely eat.”

“A-Alicia! After all the horrible things Valeria did to you, how can your heart be so pure!?”

Harold was way too easy.

The king too—after I casually fixed his illness with [Miracle of Healing], he started adoring me. What an easy father-son pair.

Pfft, well, that illness was from a maid agent I snuck into the palace slowly mixing diluted poison into his food so no one would notice.

“So, Harold-sama… tonight, I’d really love it if you stayed with me~”

“W-what…!”

When I leaned in close, Harold swallowed hard.

“Actually, the kids at the orphanage pooled their tiny bit of money together and got this super yummy wine as a thank-you gift for you. Wanna drink it together?”

“S-so thoughtful… of course, I’d love to.”

“Yayyy~!”

If I get Harold drunk tonight and make him promise to get engaged to me…

“Saintess, there’s something you need to hear.”

Just when I was riding the high of my mood, some rude voice cut in.

I looked over—old man Gideon, a [Necromancer] from the dark side of the holy church, was beckoning me from the corner of the hallway.

“Tch…”

I couldn’t help clicking my tongue.

I’d ordered Gideon to use an S-rank undead to take Valeria out.

I set it up so that bitch who scratched my face would suffer like hell and then die pathetically against the empire’s army.

Did something go wrong?

“Alicia…?”

“It’s nothing, Harold-sama! Looks like there’s a little problem at the orphanage, so excuse me, okay!”

I flashed a huge smile and reluctantly left Harold.

Then I headed to my room to hear what Gideon had to say.

“…So? What? If this is some stupid crap, I’m seriously gonna kill you.”

I tossed aside my pure saintess mask, crossed my legs, and sat down.

“Sorry to interrupt your enjoyable time. The truth is… the Soul Eater we had possessing Valeria has been defeated. The assassination plan against her has failed.”

“Huh…?”

I was about to open a top-shelf bottle of wine to cheer up, but I froze solid. As the words sank in, rage started boiling up.

I smashed the wine glass I was holding right into Gideon’s bald head.

“What kind of ‘holy church’s number-one assassin’ are you?! Can’t even kill one little girl? I’m speechless!”

“…Please forgive me, Saintess.”

Gideon barely wrinkled his old face and bowed low.

“Ughhh! You just ruined my perfect mood! If Valeria ends up making a name for herself out in the borderlands, that’s the worst, you get that!?”

“B-but… didn’t you yourself order me to make the girl taste despair, to make her suffer as much as possible before killing her, Saintess?”

That one sentence pissed me off so bad.

“You’re blaming me!?”

“No, never that. It’s just… if possible, I thought we should follow His Holiness the Pope’s orders exactly.”

Ohhh, I get it.

The Pope—the top of the holy church—had ordered that Valeria be killed before she even reached the borderlands.

I changed that on my own whim, and now the Pope’s pissed about it.

“Ugaaahh!?”

I swung the wine bottle and smashed it right into Gideon’s head.

The bottle shattered loudly, and red liquid—wine mixed with the old man’s blood—splattered all over the carpet.

Then I stabbed the jagged broken bottle straight into Gideon’s neck.

“I told you at the start—if it’s stupid crap, I’d kill you, right? This failed because you’re useless, didn’t it!?”

With a loud thud, Gideon collapsed to the floor.

“Heal.”

I cast [Miracle of Healing] on Gideon.

His wounds closed up and he came back to life, choking on his own blood.

“Goh! Goh…!”

“Where’s the thank you? It’s supposed to be ‘Thank you so much for granting the worthless piece-of-trash-below-garbage me your magnificent [Miracle of Healing], Saintess.’ Right?”

“Y-yes! I’m terribly sorry. ‘Thank you so much for granting the worthless piece-of-trash-below-garbage me your magnificent [Miracle of Healing], Saintess.’”

Gideon hurriedly prostrated himself and rubbed his forehead on the floor.

As the saintess, I’m number two in the holy church right after the Pope. The church treats the saintess as God’s chosen savior. So Gideon had no choice but to obey me completely.

Seeing him look so pathetic actually cheered me up a little.

I’d been playing the innocent good-girl act in front of Harold forever, so I had a ton of pent-up stress.

Letting my real self out and taking it out on someone weaker felt insanely good.

Ahh, power is the best.

“I’m busting my ass so the holy church can expand its influence! And you don’t show me enough respect or gratitude! Worship me more! Respect me more! The saintess’s words are God’s words!!”

I stomped down hard on Gideon’s head with my shoe still on, slamming it into the floor.

“Gof!?”

“Sounds like a squashed frog. Gross.”

I said it coldly and ground my foot in harder.

“All I want is results. Hurry up and bring me Valeria’s head!”

“Yes…!”

“Ugh, so annoying! If it ever comes out that you were the one who tried to assassinate Harold—not Valeria—we’re done for!”

Looking back, bragging about my crimes right in front of Valeria was a huge mistake.

That woman has to disappear no matter what.

Duke Asphodel’s influence is massive, and people still give me—a commoner from an orphanage—a ton of dirty looks.

One slip-up and our positions could flip in an instant. From future queen to major criminal. Straight from heaven to hell.

“Dammitttt! I’m way prettier and my skills are way better than hers! Just because she’s a duke’s daughter, everyone fawns over her!?”

I bit down hard on my thumbnail.

Harold even started saying stuff like “Maybe things ran so smoothly in the palace before because of Valeria.” Now he’s suddenly praising her.

I’ve been faking it, playing nice to match Harold’s vibe, but…

A commoner like me with zero noble connections—and actually hated by most nobles—could never support the crown prince the way Valeria did.

“Annoying trash girl! Die die dieeee!!”

I stomped on Gideon over and over to vent.

“Gah!? P-please stop! There’s more to the report!”

“Huh? Then spit it out quickly!”

I snorted and plopped back down in the chair.

Gideon opened his mouth hesitantly.

“I-it’s… very hard to say, but please calm down and listen. It seems… there’s a terrifying magic user—a user of the same [Miracle of Healing] as you, Saintess—who’s protecting Valeria. The Soul Eater was taken down by that person.”

“Huh…?”

For a second I didn’t even understand what he said.

[Miracle of Healing] is a divine power only the saintess is allowed to use.

They say it can even sway the fate of nations.

If someone else besides me can use [Miracle of Healing], this isn’t just bad—it’s catastrophic.

Worst case, that person could steal the savior spot from me!?

My whole plan to become the savior could get completely wrecked!?