Actually, I’m not the Saintess

(Lumiere’s perspective)

I still faintly recalled what I heard in my previous timeline.

Even though I had been confined to the manor by Father, it didn’t stop me from desperately listening for any news pertaining to his highness. I had refused to believe that he truly abandoned me, that he had willingly annulled our engagement. There must be some mistake, I had told myself.

While I had moped in my room, hidden underneath the covers in near total darkness, with the curtains drawn and the lights off, I sometimes paid attention to the gossip of the maids who cleaned both my room and the corridor outside.

“Haven’t you heard what happened at Arcana Academy?”

All along, I had rarely spoken to the maids because they regarded me as the unwanted child of Duke Ombre. They had learned, early on, that Father didn’t care if they mistreated or neglected me, and so they openly ostracized me.

Even so, they were my only source of news regarding the outside world, and I had leaned against the door, pressing my ear against the heavy wood and straining to hang on to every word.

However, this particular conversation stood out in my memory – and in my past – because Arcana Academy was mentioned. Though I was unable to use magic, like every noble girl, I had dreamed of enrolling in Antares Kingdom's premier institution for aspiring mages. I had heard his highness intended to enroll there, and I would often fantasize meeting him in school and living a normal life just like any other young noble lady.

“I did! What a tragedy!”

“What is it, what is it?” A third maid enthusiastically jumped into the conversation. “What happened at Arcana Academy?”

“There was a terror attack,” the first maid had replied, her voice slightly muffled by the rustling of a broom as she swept the floor. “Apparently, a group of witches and warlocks attacked the students in Arcana Academy during their annual debutante ball for new students. Um, what did they call themselves again? The what cult?”

“The heavenly demon cult,” the second maid had supplied helpfully.

“Ah, that’s right! A cult of insane witches and warlocks.” There was revulsion in her voice. “The royal guard has yet to discern their true purpose, but apparently, they trapped the young noble gentlemen and ladies, then massacred them. Fortunately, his highness and the Saintess survived.”

“I heard the Saintess being hailed as a hero. She did her best to protect everyone, but alas, her powers weren’t enough at first. The witches and warlocks broke through her barrier. However, here’s the interesting part!”

The second maid’s voice had risen an octave. The brushing had stopped, the servants’ focus having shifted from their duties to the tale. I was in no mood to reprimand them, for I was more interested in knowing what had transpired than the thoroughness of their tasks.

“They said the trauma of seeing her schoolmates massacred in front of her caused her holy magic to fully mature, and she was able to break the survivors out of the threat. His highness was a hero, leading the counterattack and driving the cultists back. Unfortunately, the majority of them escaped, but if it weren’t for that, it would have been a complete catastrophe for the kingdom!”

I had shuddered, wondering how close Antares Kingdom had come to losing its second prince and Saintess. Despite my resentment against Lady Silvia, I certainly didn’t want her dead. I did feel briefly vindicated that she suffered from losing her friends, though guilt at reveling in the pain of others crushed that pettiness.

This time, though, I had the opportunity to redo everything. I had the strength. I was going to prevent a complete massacre from occurring.

Glancing at Trevor in concern, I could see that he was totally drained. Even though I wasn’t as knowledgeable about magic as he was, I knew that dismantling such an immense boundary field was no simple matter. It must have taken everything he had. His eyes closed and his pallor pale, he leaned against the pillar I had propped him up against.

“Well done.” I cracked my knuckles, feeling hot rage boil my blood. Whirling, I stomped toward the massive double doors that served as the entrance to the ballroom and raised my leg. Flames blazed around my foot, traveling past my knee and reaching to my thigh. “Leave the rest to me.”

I could feel the immense power saturating my body, and for a short instance, I reveled in it. Then I unleashed all of that fury in a single kick.

The doors disintegrated instantly, the inferno blowing back blackened splinters and ash. There was a yelp, and I vaguely caught sight of two hooded figures in black cloaks being blasted off their feet and sent spinning across the hallway. Stepping inside, surrounded by soot and embers, I surveyed the situation within.

To my utmost relief, I saw that – aside from the two scorched cultists I had just sent flying – there were no dead bodies lying around. In fact, the students had all gathered behind a heaving Silvia, who had set up a golden, glowing barrier to protect them. Hooded cultists in black cloaks surrounded them, the dark magic unfurling from their hands kept at bay by the soon-to-be Saintess’s Herculean efforts.

But judging from her condition, I knew that she couldn’t last much longer. The holy energies emanating from her were weakening considerably by the second. However, at one glance, I understood why she was desperately pushing herself so hard.

All of the other students appeared to be in a worse condition, their pallor ghastly and ill. I recognized the signs of victims who had their vitality drained, and their mana output was clearly unstable. As Trevor said, the boundary field must have sapped them of their strength, inhibiting their magic and weakening them considerably. As a wielder of holy magic, Silvia was the only one unaffected, and so she took it upon herself to protect everybody.

But right now, she wasn’t a fully mature Saintess yet, and her enchantment was about to collapse. Speaking of collapse…

“What the hell happened?” One of the witches demanded, swiveling her head around. “What happened to our boundary field?”

“How did you get in here?” A hulking warlock snarled, turning to confront me. “What did you do to our barrier?”

Black miasma engulfed him, turning into writhing shadows that corroded everything they touched. The once pristine marble floor and pillars blackened and blistered, their surfaces peeling away from the caustic touch of black magic. I recognized that spell. It was a vicious curse that stripped the flesh away from living creatures.

But I was no ordinary living being.

Without hesitation, I punched him in the gut, the flames around my fist swirling before releasing in a titanic detonation. The shadows shrieked silently as they were incinerated by my crimson fire, and the hulking warlock was tossed across the ballroom like a doll, slamming into the base of the second story before his broken body flopped back to the first floor in a shower of debris.

“One down.”

“You…” The witch began, but she never finished her sentence. My kick struck her in the face, and she vanished in another explosion. I doubted it would kill her, but given that she was now lying in a smoldering heap, her eyes rolling in their sockets, she wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.

“Who…who…?!”

“How?!”

The cultists were now in disarray, unable to comprehend what had just appeared in their midst. All of them spun to face me, black magic erupting from their hands as they struggled to process what had just happened.

“Heh…” I smirked and assumed a combative stance, beckoning for them to come. “Let’s settle this once and for all, you demon-worshipping lunatics.”

A black serpent lunged at me, the manifestation of the ravenous black miasma from one of the stronger witches. I dodged it, glimpsing how the immense jaws crushed the marble floor with horrifyingly corrosive effects, but I was already darting forward before I could assess the full scale of the devastation. The witch scowled and sent smaller, but more numerous black energy snakes at me, the writhing horde reminiscent of a nest of vipers.

I weaved through their snapping assault, evading their shadowy and corrosive fangs by the slimmest of margins, and closed the distance with a burst of speed. Swerving to avoid another destructive charge, I vaulted over the viper and incinerated a second that tried to sink its fangs into me. Ducking under a third, I twisted and kicked off the ground, launching myself toward the stunned witch.

“You…!” Her eyes went wide, but that was the last I saw of her face, because my fiery fist connected. Crimson flames erupted, and the witch’s fuming figure toppled.

Pivoting, I dodged a torrent of decay and lashed out with a kick, my foot connecting with the temple of a wrathful warlock and sending him spinning facefirst to the ground in a destructive detonation.

“That actually felt good,” I remarked, refreshed. Stretching myself, I readied for my next victim…uh, target.

To my surprise, there were fewer cultists left than I thought. Not because I had beaten all of them, but because my fellow schoolmates had finally rallied, led by a single familiar figure.

“You’ve taken very good care of us earlier, haven’t you?” Leonard’s smile was grim, even as golden lightning crackled and illuminated his silhouette. “Time to repay the favor.”

A tempestuous storm arced from his fingers and crashed against one of the warlocks, electrocuting the screaming cultist. Around the prince, the other students charged, an assortment of elements bombarding the reeling witches and warlocks.

Visibly, they seemed to have recovered, the color swiftly returning to their complexions now that the boundary field was broken. The only person who didn’t participate in the counterattack was Silvia, who was leaning against a pillar and struggling to catch her breath. In contrast to the others, her condition had only worsened, aggravated by her earlier exertion.

I was about to approach her, but a furious voice cut in.

“This is all your fault! If only you hadn’t shown up! You ruined everything!”

A lanky warlock bellowed from across the hall, almost unnoticeable because he had apparently been cowering in a corner while his comrades were fighting. Black lightning danced around him, corroding his surroundings and emitting a foul aura. I recognized it as an advanced curse that would envelop the entire ballroom in a storm of decay, ensnaring all of us within and turning us into husks. Even if I could blow away the malicious energies with my flames, I had no way of protecting my schoolmates. And given Silvia’s current exhausted state, it was impossible for her to put up another barrier to defend everybody.

“You…!”

Both horror and rage filled me, and I sprinted toward the cackling warlock – visibly drunk on his perceived triumph – but I was aware I wouldn’t be able to reach him in time.

Then, to our astonishment, the black lightning flickered for a few seconds before fizzling out.

“What the…?!” The warlock spluttered in disbelief, staring at his hands. “How…? There’s no way I made a mistake. I set up the curse properly…”

“Yeah, you did,” a familiar voice replied. I spun and caught sight of Trevor staggering into the ballroom, a smirk on his face. Faint traces of azure mana swirled around his fingers. “Thanks to you taking your own sweet time to set up such a complex spell, I had every opportunity to ‘read’ and analyze your spell. Fortunately, you weren’t using a basic spell…”

He snapped his fingers, and the warlock suddenly found his legs encased in ice.

“...I wouldn’t have been able to neutralize it.”

Watching Trevor stumble, I suspected that he normally would be able to completely freeze his target, but because he had expended most of his mana to dismantle the boundary field earlier, this was all he could currently manage.

“A little trick like this won’t be able to stop me…!” With a single stroke, the warlock shattered the ice and turned on Trevor, black energies suffusing his hands. “If you want to get hit by a basic spell so badly…”

“Even so, Sir Trevor has immobilized you for just long enough for me to reach you.”

“Huh?” The warlock whirled and froze, realizing I had already reached beside him. My fist blazing, I smiled and savored his horror for a second before I socked him in the face, breaking his nose and roasting him.

Again, he wouldn’t die from that, but neither would he be in any condition to mouth off as well.

“L…Lady Lumiere.”

To my surprise, it was Lady Silvia who called out to me. Despite her exhaustion, she pulled herself up and limped over. I rushed toward her.

“Lady Silvia! You mustn’t force yourself!”

“No. I owe you an apology.” She hesitated, then lowered her head in shame. “When you…when you first broke the doors down and came inside, I thought…I thought you were on their side.”

“On their side?”

My brow furrowed, but then my gaze wandered over to the unconscious cultists – by now, his highness Prince Leonard and the other students had subdued the rest of them. The witches and warlocks might be more experienced and stronger individually, but without their meticulously set up boundary field to weaken my schoolmates, they were able to overwhelm the demon worshippers with sheer numbers.

Silvia nodded sheepishly. “I was barely holding on, and when you showed up, I despaired. I thought you were in league with them…that you’d join them to kill all of us and summon a monster…”

“Why would I do that?”

She looked surprised and glanced at Trevor, who had taken a seat near the banquet tables to catch his breath. Blinking, she shook her head.

“So he didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“No, it’s just me being delusional. I’m very sorry!” She bowed deeply. “I always thought you were a witch.”

“Well, obviously, I’m not.” I waved her apology away. Feeling awkward, I examined the devastated interior of the ballroom and watched my schoolmates brag with shaky laughter to each other, or exchange relieved remarks. They were all battered and beleaguered, but every single one of them was alive. “Still, I’m impressed that there are no casualties on our side. I saw the barrier earlier. Well done protecting everybody, Lady Silvia.”

“Ah…” She brightened. “I got lucky. Right before the witches and warlocks showed up, I received a clairvoyant vision and was forewarned of the danger. With his highness’s help, I managed to gather everyone behind me and cast a barrier before they activated their spell and trapped us all inside. By the time they broke in, everyone was already safely behind the defenses I had erected. It’s just that we didn’t expect their enchantment to sap the strength from everybody, and so we were unable to fight back.”

“If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I don’t know how much longer we would have lasted.” His highness joined in, approaching us. “I doubt Silvia could have held out until reinforcements…assuming reinforcements were coming at all.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Not only that, I could feel pride swelling up in my chest. I had done it. In my second chance at life, I had prevented a tragedy and ensured that nobody died this time. Though I hadn’t experienced the incident personally in my previous life, I had come to know my schoolmates well during my few months here, and it would hurt if any one of them perished unnecessarily.

“Still…” His highness cocked his head curiously. “How did you break the barrier? If I’m not mistaken, these witches and warlocks set up an advanced boundary field. It’s not an enchantment you can simply break through with brute strength.”

“What do you think I am?!” I protested hotly. Then I cringed when I remembered how I almost attempted to blow the barrier up with force. If Trevor hadn’t stopped me… “Well, I wasn’t the one who broke the barrier. It was actually Sir Trevor who dismantled it.”

“Ah. I should thank him too. It was because of him that we are able to use magic again.” His highness clenched his fists and glared at the prone figures of the cultists. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t get to hit them at least once. Still, we need to interrogate these bastards. We need to find out their identities and motives…why they’re attacking us.”

I didn’t say it was because of Silvia. I wasn’t supposed to know, and I didn’t want to burden her with guilt. Besides, it was the heavenly demon cult’s fault for choosing to be murderers. It was not as if Silvia chose to be their target.

“Yes, you should.” I glared at them. A measure of shame surged within my chest as I remembered that I had taken a similar path to theirs, and paid a heavy price for it. I vowed I would not repeat those mistakes in this life. “Their actions are inexcusable.”

Silvia winced. “It’s strange that I didn’t foresee their actions or existence in any of my clairvoyant visions until the last moment. The forewarning came almost too late.”

“They’re black magic practitioners. Perhaps they’ve a way of blocking your visions?” His highness suggested.

“Maybe.” Silvia didn’t sound convinced. Her eyes darted toward Trevor for a second, which caused me to frown. What was that look supposed to mean?

“Anyway, I’ll take my leave for now.” I turned my back on the royal couple. “I’m bringing Sir Trevor back to the dorm. He worked hard to save everybody, so he deserves a rest. The same goes for Lady Silvia – your highness, if you could escort her back to her room.”

“Of course.” His highness straightened and glanced past the ruined entrance. “Somebody, call the teachers. We’ll need to inform them about this.”

“On it, your highness!”

I shot my bustling schoolmates one last glance before supporting the weary Trevor. “Let’s go.”

He nodded and cracked a grin as he stared at the smoldering forms of the cultists. “Good thing you stepped in before things got too heated.”

“If you’ve the energy to make jokes, then you can walk on your own.”

“Of course I can! Don’t worry, I’m not injured at all.”

“On second thought…” Somehow, I was reluctant to let him go, so I continued to cling onto him. “It seems I’m more exhausted than I thought, so I’ll be relying on you.”

“...eh?”

I ignored his puzzled reply and leaned against him, ignoring the stares and whispers from the rest of our schoolmates. I caught wind of “something, something couple,” but at least they were no longer calling us “black-haired demon couple.” Though, right now, I couldn’t care less what new label they had come up with.

Right now, all I wanted was to return to my room and sleep the rest of this eventful night away.