I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

Episode 2 – Hearing the Saintess’ True Feelings (2)

At first, I thought Victoria was just messing with me.

Her personality was so bothersome and venomous, you could say a viper had coiled up in her heart.

Like that one time I was drunk and addressed her respectfully as “Saintess,” and she teased me for days on end with “Yes, it’s Victoria, your Saintess.”

“Hey, Victoria. Did you put some kind of magic on me or something?”

“…Me? Are you truly insane? Or have you lost your mind from the fact that you’ve made a beautiful saintess like me your lover?”

Victoria, scoffing in disbelief, shot me a look of utter contempt.

However,

– Oh no…! It really seems like the contract relationship is working! What if he’s starting to see me as a woman…! Ah, I’m not ready yet…!

Another voice, hesitant and flustered, trailed off. A completely opposite voice that I was hearing of her started once more.

– Is this finally the result of one year of unrequited love! Thanks for the advice, Heavenly Being…!

“Am I losing my mind or something….”

I muttered to myself, dumbfounded. Victoria, who I always bickered with, was actually in love with me?

That’s ridiculous. There’s absolutely no way.

The iron-faced Saintess, who never hesitated to throw insults and criticisms my way, who confiscated my cigarettes and alcohol… there was no way she could be capable of love.

“I know you’re not in your right mind, but I’ll let it slide this once.”

Victoria sighed deeply, as if she had no choice, and placed her hand on my forehead. A warm sensation spread up my body, morphing into a soft feeling.

“You don’t have a fever… Did you eat something bad? Well, since you drink and smoke so much, it might be withdrawal symptoms.”

To an outsider, we would have looked like a couple. That’s how used to physical contact we were.

After all, we had crossed countless life-or-death situations to defeat the Demon Lord. Seeing our companions’ bare bodies or reattaching severed limbs was commonplace.

– Oh, his eyelashes are long. How can someone be this handsome? Did the Heavenly Being make a mistake while creating him or something?

A voice completely contradicting Victoria’s calm, expressionless demeanor as she gently placed her hand on my forehead.

“……”

“… ? Why are you staring like that?”

I stared intently at her, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. It could have been a nasty prank, a way for her to later exploit some weakness of mine.

– Ah, I feel like I’m getting sucked into those blue eyes. I wish time would just stop like this….

Back in the Azure Magic Tower, where I used to be, it was common to prank each other with staffs and magic. So, such suspicion was reasonable.

“Hey, did I do something to upset you? This whole contract relationship was suspicious to begin with, are you trying to mess with me now?”

I carefully kept the flower on Victoria’s body from getting harmed and pulled away from her slightly.

The flowers on Victoria’s body were a side effect of the miracles she used. They were sensitive areas connected to her nerves, so I couldn’t risk touching them carelessly.

“Why would I go to such lengths for a man as oblivious and unattractive as you? That’s really a worthless question.”

Victoria, now slightly distanced, narrowed her brow and glared at me as if I were strange.

– Yes, I am messing with you. Because I want you to understand my feelings…

The hallucination that sounded again was such an absurd remark that anyone would be dumbfounded.

She, the most beautiful woman on the continent, the envy of every man on the streets, surely wouldn’t be scheming such an elaborate plan just to hold onto a guy like me.

“…Dispel.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around it. In the end, I even resorted to casting a dispel spell on myself.

I’d rather believe this was a mental attack from someone jealous of my relationship with the Saintess.

I was being considered for the next Azure Tower Lord, and had been called a genius since childhood. I never thought I’d find myself in such a perplexing situation.

“Is it an enemy attack? Just in case, let me use my holy power…”

“No, no matter what, don’t use your miracles on me.”

I immediately stopped Victoria, who was about to use a miracle. Her miracles sacrificed her body and mind to make the impossible real.

“Don’t start crying all night because you’re in pain again, save them for when you really need them.”

I was only using potions and healing magic to get by because I hated Victoria sacrificing herself.

Just because she was chosen as the Saintess, I didn’t want to see an innocent person suffering.

The flowers that bloomed on Victoria’s body with each miracle were accompanied by excruciating pain.

I had found out when I discovered her one day, biting on a blanket or cloth, trying to bear the pain with a cold sweat.

“…You are so consistent even at times like this.”

– That’s exactly what I like about you.

“……”

Victoria, with a slight smile curling the corners of her lips, seemed relieved as she looked at my reaction.

For the first time, something felt like it clicked into place.

“So, don’t you think something feels… empty?”

Victoria, standing beside me, taps the back of my hand with her finger. She was making moves that suggested she wanted to hold the hand I’d just been holding earlier.

– If, if I do this, I can make it clear I want to hold his hand without being awkward, right? Surely, dating books say to, like, naturally initiate physical contact!

It was then that I realized this second voice was Victoria’s inner thoughts. I didn’t know the cause, or the principle, but there was emotion behind the words.

“I wasn’t considering my girlfriend’s hand. I let go of it on purpose because it was cold.”

Suddenly, on a whim, I said these cheesy words and grabbed Victoria’s hand roughly. If it was really true that another voice was expressing her inner thoughts, then this kind of action should elicit a reaction.

“I thought you’d have less awareness than that.”

– Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no….

Victoria’s breathing was excited. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and the redness had climbed all the way to her ears.

– I, I think I’m sweating right now… I hope he doesn’t think I’m being a nuisance…

I could hear her panicked voice as her hand in mine began to sweat suddenly.

At this point, it seemed that one of two things was true.

Either I had really gone insane from being in a contracted relationship with a saint, or I really could hear Victoria’s inner thoughts.

“What do you even think of me?”

“You’re a drunk, a chain smoker, someone who’s amazing at magic but doesn’t understand a thing about women’s feelings.”

– You’re a drunk, a chain smoker, someone who’s amazing at magic but doesn’t understand a thing about women’s feelings.

This time, the voices overlapped. It was the first time it seemed like her inner thoughts and spoken words matched.

“I figured you’d say that…”

I let out a sigh, thinking I’d gotten my hopes up for nothing.

– But, you’re also the kindest person out there.

Seeing my reaction, Victoria purposefully brushed her shoulder slightly against mine.

“Even so, I think you’re a pretty decent wizard.”

Smiling brightly, like the sun, she let out a cheerful giggle.

“……”

It seemed like I was the one who had gone mad.

Because I’d just received a compliment from Victoria, something I’d hear maybe once a year.

* * *

‘D, did he not catch on…?’

The saint, Victoria, half Gold Dragon and half human, walked a little away from Astal, reflecting on the situation just now.

‘I thought my heart would explode…’

Victoria was taking deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She hated how flustered she was, even just from holding hands.

The idea of a contract relationship wasn’t Victoria’s plan to begin with. It was a method that came up when she sought advice from the heavenly being she served.

– [You secretly liked Astal? For a whole year, too? You’re really something. How could you like such a good-for-nothing…]

– Please refrain from such harsh words. Even if you are a heavenly being, I cannot forgive you for insulting my love.

A few days ago, in a drunken prayer, Victoria confessed her feelings for Astal.

– [So, in the end, you want to win him over? There’s also a way to make a contract with the god of love, a method that charms the other person.]

– Isn’t there a more natural way, besides artificial methods?

Victoria didn’t want to force Astal to love her. She wanted to see him fall for her purely, completely smitten.

– [There is a way to make him realize you’re a woman naturally. You can try dating him for a trial period.]

– A contract relationship…?

That was the solution that came up – a contract relationship.

– [If it doesn’t work out, you can go back to being friends, and who knows? Maybe actually dating will make you see him differently.]

– …….

– [He is really handsome, but looks aren’t everything, right? What’s important is his character.]

Victoria couldn’t help but agree a little. When she was under the Succubus Queen’s illusion, she actually mistook Astal confessing to her as real.

The moment she saw it, Victoria was so happy that she screamed and fainted.

– [Now that it’s come to this, tell him we also need a countermeasure for the Succubus Queen’s illusions. If you collapse like last time, it will be a real disaster.]

A secret between women that couldn’t be shared with others. The heavenly being worried about Victoria and helped her think of countermeasures.

‘I am truly grateful… heavenly being.’

Victoria thought back to the events of a few days ago and offered a deep prayer of gratitude in her heart.

Victoria could take one step closer to the man she loved, using their contract relationship as an excuse.

“…In the name of the heavenly being Lumina, please forgive me for lying to you.”

Victoria tapped her own shoulder and made the sign of the cross. It was a habit of hers that came out because she didn’t know how to deal with the guilt-ridden state of her mind.

“It is because my feelings for you, which have already grown beyond my control, make me afraid of being rejected.”

She was continuing to lie to the person she loved.