Chapter 9

She had heard about the Saintess’ doctrine in her past life.

According to the Twelve Commandments of the Great Saints, ‘the unforgiven will be imprisoned in purgatory until their souls are worn out’. Also, it was strict with the sins the sinner committed until he was forgiven. Therefore, the sinner had to seek forgiveness directly from the person who had been hurt, and it was strictly forbidden for the priest to issue pardon as a proxy.

In other words, giving pardon to a sinner itself was actually against the Saintess’ doctrine.

However, the Priest lied to Leticia, thinking that she didn’t know about it. He thought that it was nothing like cheating a young girl who knew nothing.

Gamal preached to Leticia on why she should forgive her grandfather.

“…Then, that means that it would also do good to the Princess if you were to forgive your grandfather. Do you understand?”

“Ah, yes….”

Leticia nodded as she listened to the sermon with an obedient attitude before asking back with an innocent face.

“But, what should I do, Priest? I hated the things they did to me, and I hated the person who did those terrible sins to me even more… Do I really become a bad girl if I don’t forgive my grandfather?”

Gamal stiffened at the words he heard. If Leticia didn’t give in, he was really about to shout at her and say, ‘Is the Princess really going to be a bad girl?!’

He was lost for words and barely answered her question.

“Ah, oh. That’s right. If you don’t forgive, you’ll be a bad girl! If you already have bad rumors circulating about your conduct as a person who will have children in the future and be responsible for educating them…”

Hearing so, she nodded with a calm face at the Priest’s nonsense talk.

Gamal let out a deep breath of relief after seeing Leticia show a stern attitude. Even though she held the position of a princess, she was still a young girl that couldn’t;t possibly stand the pressure of her grandfather and a priest from the Central Church for a long time.

“Then, please take my hand as we go to see your grandfather. Your one word ‘I forgive you’ shall solve everything…”

When the Priest was smiling contentedly, Leticia questioned him in a gentle tone as her hands were neatly clasped together again.

“Still, Priest, what if I don’t forgive my grandfather and decide to become a bad girl instead?”

“…Yes?”

At that, Gamal asked with a petrified face. After letting out a sigh, she gently patted her white, soft cheeks.

“If I won’t forgive my grandfather—even if I am to be sent to hell—what would happen, then?”

“H-have you finally gone crazy? Aren’t you afraid of saying that in front of a priest…!”

‘That is stupid.’

Leticia wiped off her innocent smile. She also loosened her shy intertwined hands as she crossed her legs and put her hands on her knees. At the same time, her eyes were full of ridicule as if she was looking down at the Priest.

“All right, I think I am bound to be with the devils now. I decided to become a bad girl, what do you think?”

She twirled her hair happily and smiled.

At that moment, she could hear him mumbled ‘crazy b*tch’, but she just sneered without changing her expression.

“You already gave Baron Momonto a pardon who committed the heinous crime of rape, so couldn’t you also give me pardon if I become a bad girl?”

“…Wh-what do you mean!”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

Gamal’s mouth widened at Leticia’s words.

“Wh-what are you talking about? Did you even listen to what I had just said to you until now? The Princess must have misunderstood what I meant…”

“I understand, of course. You are just using me to exploit something behind my back.”

Leticia replied, looking at the Priest with a twisted gaze.

Immediately, Gamal, whose complexion had changed from red to green, jumped up from his seat. This caused the chair to tip over and make a loud noise.

Creaak! Bang!

At the loud noise, Leticia reflexively shrugged her shoulders.

‘That’s right!’

Gamal captured that agile reaction without missing a beat. Leticia has long suffered from her grandfather’s violence, so yelling and raising his hands would be more effective than swearing.

With that thought, he slammed the table with both hands and shouted.

“Are you kidding me? You must have forgotten that I was from the Central Church…!”

Leticia squinted her eyes slightly as she saw how Gamal stared at her and grabbed the teacup that was on the table and threw it at the priest.

Clang!

The teacup hit the Priest’s upper body, fell and rolled over the carpet. The cooled tea gradually spread on the priest’s white uniform, leaving a yellow stain.

“I said I was going to throw my predecessor Duke to the ends of the hell—“

Saying that, she slowly leaned back on the backrest, sitting in her seat.

As she folded her arms and looked up and down at the bewildered priest, she continued her words.

“What are you to tell a princess to do this and that?”

“HA, are you really…?! What’s with you b*tch?! Princess, everything will be resolved as long as you forgive your grandfather! Do you want to cause disturbance just because I was ignoring you and your attitude? You idiot…!”

“How dare you.”

Leticia’s eyes grew cold at the Priest’s rude behavior. Seeing so, he bit his lips like a mute at the new aura surrounding the Princess. Whether she made a contract with the devil, Princess Leticia became a different person in three months…

Gamal, fascinated, pointed a finger at her and pursed his lips.

“So, you we*ch made a contract with the d-devil! Venomous we*ch…! You can’t forgive our grandfather because you made a contract with the devil, is that so?”

Leticia eventually stood up when insulting words came out of Gamal’s mouth. Then, she took a decorated book from the bookshelf and approached him.

“I’d rather make a contract with the devil than to hear b*stards like you.”

The Priest was startled by the thickness of a book the size of a human forearm and stepped back.

“The priest who swore to follow the teachings of the great saint was blinded by a few gold coins…”

Thud.

Losing strength in his legs, Gamal stepped back. His head went blank at the thought of a demon possessing the Princess’s body.

Instead of hitting the Priest in the head with a thick book, Leticia pulled out the dagger she was wearing around her waist. It wasn’t for baptism, though a dagger for self-defense that even the Priest couldn’t use properly because of his cut hand.

Seeing how she held the sword in her hands as if it wasn’t her first time, he thought the devil must’ve inhabited her body. Although he was trembling in fear, Gamal shouted again as he couldn’t give up the thirty gold coins.

“L-listen to me! Princess, your mother will also be taken to the purgatory if you don’t forgive your grandfather! I can make it happen if I pray as a priest!”

‘Oh, got you.’

At his words, Leticia had a happy expression on her face at the Priest’s words as though she was waiting for it. Because of that, Gamal made a blank face.

It was because of these words that she had blindly forgave her grandfather in her last life. While she didn’t believe in the Great Saintess, she firmly believed of Hildegardt’s doctrine of hell. Otherwise, there was no point in enduring her grandfather’s abuse since she was six, hoping that he would go to hell.

A year ago, her resentment turned into hatred when she couldn’t even protect her mother until her death due to her grandfather’s interference, but she forgave her grandfather with repeated sermons from the Priest Gamal.

They forced her to forgive while Leticia had no intention to do so. In the end, the grandfather she forgave in her last life, died a comfortable death. Because of that, Leticia hated, blamed and resented herself for years.

She regretted it even at the moment she was tied at the stake and died.

‘I don’t care if there is hell to fall from…’

A chance for a new life she barely gained after dying. Leticia made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t back down on this kind of thing.

‘Be happy, Letty.’

As promised with her mother, she has no desire to attain happiness. After all, happiness wasn’t for Leticia. She regretted that she had wanted affection and approval from her family, and wanted to change her foolish self. In order to do that, she had to let go of the expectation of others from her.

And, right now, her first choice was in the palm of her hands.

‘Don’t forgive your grandfather; withstand any pressure, Leticia.’

Leticia held the dagger tightly.

“My grandfather always told me: girls should be modest, must yield to the men leading the family, and to be obedient to the adults.”

“Th-that’s right! I’d be happy if you can realize how ignorant you are even now…”

“What would be left for me to live as an obedient person? My right to forgive myself was taken away, and I couldn’t even hate my grandfather.”

She despised herself terribly for the fact that she had forgiven him. She cursed, blamed, and resented herself.

“He wasn’t that sorry. He wants me to forgive him for a comfortable death. He didn’t have the courage to say it himself to me, so he sent the priest in front of me instead.”

Leticia bit her lip as she finished speaking. She would send her grandfather to hell even if it means she would have to dig into his flesh and cut his bones. She won’t forgive even the Priest Gamal standing beside her.

A life being used and then thrown away, grueling until death. Only then she was given a chance to live again. Whether if it was God’s or the demon’s play, it was her only chance to change her future…

“I have no intention of forgiving my grandfather. I’m thinking of throwing him at the bottom of hell’s end. And, you, too…”

Slash!

Leticia drew her dagger in front of Gamal who had gone mad. Gamal’s shaky eyes turned towards the tip of the dagger.