The Villainess's Reputation [Kingdom Building]

Richard gave a solemn nod. "Aye. It's an abomination."

The word seemed to weigh heavy in the air, like a curse given form.

"We'll need to notify Her Highness immediately," he continued. "But there's no cause for panic." He glanced around at the worried faces and raised his voice in reassurance. "Remember the divine light? With such a great power protecting our island, there is nothing in this sea, or beyond it, that can harm us."

The fisherman who had brought them here nodded briskly and took off toward the city, already preparing to deliver the urgent message to the castle.

Ravenna's office, Lord's Castle, Kim City, Kim Dukedom, Ancorna Empire

"I heard you didn't sleep! You were working straight through the night again, weren't you?!"

Alice's voice rang through the high-ceilinged study like a whip crack, making Ravenna glance up from the fortress of papers on her desk. She stifled a yawn, the kind that threatened to pull her jaw apart, and rubbed at her eyes.

The midday sun streamed in through the tall arched window, its light no longer the blistering fire of summer but a softer, golden warmth, still potent enough to make the dust motes dance in lazy spirals above the desk.

Alice marched in, expression set into the stern scowl of a woman on a mission. "Just because you are blessed with eternal beauty by Goddess Herptian herself, as her Apostle, doesn't mean you can toss your health out the window!"

She clapped her hands sharply at the maids arriving with her. "Well? Don't just stand there, help her freshen up! Wash her face, bring some scented towels, and for Goddess sake, someone open a window before she suffocates under all this parchment dust."

As the maids bustled around, Ravenna merely groaned and leaned back in her chair. Alice, meanwhile, was adjusting her spectacles, perched just so at the tip of her nose, like a general preparing for battle.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble I had this morning?" she went on, not even pausing to breathe. "High Priest James has been hounding me since dawn, demanding an audience with you. I had to pull every excuse in the book to keep him away, promising you'd personally share details about this 'supposed Saintess.'"

"I get it, I get it," Ravenna said, waving a hand in mock surrender as a maid dabbed her face with a warm towel. "You've had a lot on your plate since the battle, but really, must you lecture me first thing?"

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Alice ignored the protest entirely, already plucking a dress from the armful a maid had brought in from the bedroom. "Yes, I must. You can't keep pulling all-nighters like this. Goddess-given beauty or not, you still have a human body that needs the right rest."

Her voice lowered, growing curious. "So… was that divine light truly from the Saintess?" She gestured for the maids to leave, her sharp gaze flicking back to Ravenna. "And if it was… why in Herptian's name didn't you tell me that the Saintess is on the island?"

Before Ravenna could answer, the last of the maids brushed past someone loitering suspiciously in the doorway, a young woman with chestnut-brown hair, clearly trying to sneak in unnoticed. The maid collided with her, making both of them stumble.

"Och! I'm so sorry—are you alright?" the maid asked, steadying her.

Marie, cheeks pink, nodded quickly. "Y-yes, I'm fine…" she murmured, clearly hoping to escape before anyone paid her any mind as the last maid ran away.

"Yes," Ravenna said suddenly, her tone calm but deliberate. "It was from the Saintess."

Marie froze mid-step. Ravenna's dark eyes tracked her like a hawk spotting prey. "And what perfect timing," she continued, leaning back in her chair with an almost feline stretch. "Marie, why don't you come in and explain your little secret to Alice?"

Marie's eyes widened, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve as though she could melt back into the corridor.

Alice looked between Ravenna and Marie, confusion etched across her face. "Wait. What?"

"Yes, Alice," Ravenna said again, her voice carrying the weight of finality. "Marie is the Saintess."

The silence that followed was thick enough to taste, broken only by the faint ticking of the clock on Ravenna's walls.

Alice blinked once. Twice. Then her voice shot up an octave. "Whaaaaat!?"

Marie flinched at the outburst, her hands instinctively curling together in front of her. "I-It's true, Miss Alice," she said quietly, almost apologetically. Then, straightening just enough to meet Alice's gaze, she added, "I am the Saintess of this era."

Ravenna smirked faintly, leaning back in her chair. "Do you understand now why I was bashing my head against the desk all night, trying to cultivate a strategy against these terrifying odds?"

Alice's lips pressed into a thin line. She didn't speak immediately, her eyes flicking between Ravenna and Marie, searching their faces as if hoping for the punchline to a very ill-timed joke. Minutes ticked by before she finally asked, her tone more measured, "Who else knows?"

Marie clasped her hands tighter. "Master Aisha knows."

Alice's eyebrow shot up, and she turned her gaze on Ravenna with pointed incredulity, the kind that said Why does a low-ranking knight know this before your childhood friend and right hand?

"Don't look at me like that," Ravenna said dryly. "She only found out because she happened to witness Marie using her Saintess powers. Nothing more."

Alice exhaled, a long sigh that seemed to carry both disbelief and resignation. "So… what's the plan?"

Ravenna stretched, stifling a yawn before answering. "As you know, now that the cat's out of the bag, every single one of the Twelve Religions will try to claim the Saintess as their figurehead."

Alice's expression hardened instantly. "We can't have Kim City become that battlefield."

"Exactly," Ravenna agreed, her voice low but firm. "And don't forget: the Cult of Absolution is real, active, and far from idle. They will stop at nothing to eliminate the Saintess."