There was one thing I needed to make absolutely clear.

My goal was to take the curse extracted from the imperial princess and die alone from it—not to let the poor girl suffer abuse and die tragically in the process.

If I wanted to remove the fragment of the Evil God while protecting the imperial princess, then obviously, I needed to understand more about it.

I headed to the White Order.

“Saint! A servant of Dulaneor greets the Saint of Healing.”

The priests bowed so deeply that it was almost overwhelming. But right now, that worked in my favor.

“I want access to all available information on the fragments of the Evil God.”

“The fragments of the Evil God?”

“Bring me everything. Do not hide a single detail from me.”

“Of course!”

Even if I was a fake saint, having the title of saint still had its perks.

I could freely access the highest-level secret archives of the White Order—records that only the High Priest himself was allowed to see.

Once inside, I began scouring every document I could find—from old, musty parchment scrolls to freshly printed reports on crisp white paper.

Information on the fragments of the Evil God.

A method to extract them safely without further tormenting an already unstable host.

A way to ensure that their destructive power would only affect me, leaving everything else untouched.

Was there really no solution?

I sat cross-legged on the floor, flipping through pages without pause for more than half a day.

The priests of the White Order looked on in awe.

“To see a Saint so devoted to the eradication of evil…!”

“Look! Even a saint from another Order dedicates himself so fervently to the cause! Are you, chosen ones of Dulaneor, going to just stand idly by?! You must devote yourselves even more!”

They even started bringing in young trainee priests to gawk at me, like I was some kind of zoo exhibit.

Oh well.

If being a spectacle was the price for unlimited access to confidential records, then I’d play the monkey for now.

And then, after nearly half a day of relentless searching—

I finally found it.

A way to extract the curse safely while keeping the imperial princess  alive.

If the host’s soul becomes loosened through continuous divine magic, the fragment of the Evil God will instinctively seek out a new host nearby. If someone the host relies on is present, the fragment will prioritize them as its next target and attempt to transfer into their soul.

Thus, if the connection between the soul and the fragment is weakened, no family, lover, or child should be near the host. The fragment will immediately relocate and bind itself to the new host.

While the original host will be freed, the new host will then require another lengthy and arduous process to weaken the bond between their soul and the fragment once more.

In other words—if I became the one Iomene relied on, the fragment would jump out of her and burrow into my soul instead!

And now, let’s see… I think I saw something about what happens next in another document—

Ah, here it is.

Once the fragment of the Evil God transfers from Iomene to me—

If the host’s soul is of no concern, at least three priests must simultaneously invoke the Miracle of Exorcism to eradicate the fragment within the soul. When the fragment is destroyed, it will unleash a powerful curse that will obliterate the host’s soul.

However, the fragment itself will be erased from existence at that moment.

So all I had to do was find the priests and ask them to fire off the Miracle of Exorcism at me—sacrificing my soul to destroy the fragment.

Since they obviously wouldn’t want the world to be doomed, they’d have no choice but to comply.

Soul obliteration!

Korea reincarnation!

Perfect.

The only problem… was how to make Iomene rely on me in the first place.

My first thought?

Just use absolute hypnosis and make her believe, “I can’t live without Amael!”

But… could a girl who had suffered sixteen years of unimaginable abuse really have an intact mental state?

She’d attempted suicide multiple times. If I forced absolute hypnosis on someone already mentally fragile, wouldn’t her mind crumble like a cookie before she even had the chance to develop feelings for me?

If that happened, then Almeine, whose soul was connected to her, would die as well. And there was no way the emperor would let me off the hook for that.

If I was executed in a normal way—without my soul being destroyed by a curse—I’d end up in the afterlife completely intact.

Which meant…

Straight. To. Hell.

F*ck that.

I wasn’t taking that risk.

I had no choice.

I had to meet Iomene, slowly earn her trust, and make her rely on me—so the fragment would transfer into my soul.

Then, I’d get hit with the Miracle of Exorcism, shatter the fragment, get obliterated by the curse, and wake up back in Korea.

Meanwhile, the imperial princess  would be saved.

I rose to my feet.

“I sincerely appreciate your generosity.”

“You are welcome anytime! Anytime at all!”

“Thank you.”

With that, I bowed and exited the White Order’s archives.

That Evening.

The Imperial Palace.

I arrived in front of the secluded palace where Iomene was confined.

The palace, which must have once been beautiful, now looked nothing short of eerie.

Massive magic circles and sacred relics were installed around the perimeter, and the walls and doors were covered with countless talismans.

Did the genre suddenly shift from fantasy to occult?

“Saint, the curse is dangerous. You must wear this protective suit before entering.”

Among the several wizards and priests standing by outside the palace, one of the wizards handed me a thick protective suit.

At first glance, it looked like a radiation suit.

But if I walked in wearing this, wouldn’t it scream ‘I don’t trust you’?

“I won’t wear it.”

“Pardon? Saint! This is a curse! Not just any curse, but a pure, high-level one directly cast by a fragment of the Evil God!”

I wasn’t scared at all.

I was trying to get hit by the curse and die—why would I be afraid?

If anything, it’d be a relief. I wouldn’t even have to go through the hassle of extracting the fragment; my soul would be destroyed instantly.

Besides, if I wanted Iomene to trust me, what would she think if I walked in dressed like this?

“Wouldn’t Iomene be hurt if I entered wearing something like that?”

“......”

The wizard looked at me with admiration.

Admiration, my ass.

I was just desperately trying to die and go back to Korea.

“It’s more important that she doesn’t get hurt than whether I do.”

After saying that, I refused the protective suit and slowly, carefully stepped inside the secluded palace.

As I pushed open the doors, covered in layers of talismans and magic circles, the first thing I noticed was the coldness.

For a very long time—

This place had never felt even the slightest trace of human warmth.

Of course, the temperature was physically normal, but…

That wasn’t what it felt like.

As the doors closed behind me, I took a short breath.

The key was to make Iomene trust me.

She had lived through sixteen years of abuse.

I needed to be cautious.

I couldn’t rush this.

I had to take my time and slowly build a connection.

“Princess Iomene?”

I walked around the secluded palace.

But Iomene was nowhere to be found.

Only the excessively clean, eerily empty halls greeted me.

This place looked like something straight out of an RPG horror game.

—The palace seems empty.

—Where could the princess be?

—Ah!

It was the perfect setup for one of those classic horror-game moments where the princess suddenly appears behind me—

…Holy shit!!

She was behind me!!

Startled by the sudden presence, I spun around.

A girl, identical in appearance to Almeine, was standing there, staring at me.

The only difference—her wings.

A massive pair of black wings fluttered behind her, nearly filling the palace hallway.

Unlike Almeine, Iomene had her right eye closed.

That must be the magic keeping the soul link blocked.

Tattered clothes.

Lifeless, empty eyes devoid of emotion.

A blank, unreadable expression.

The perfect trifecta of unsettling.

She gazed at me with the vacant stare of a broken person.

I swallowed dryly and offered her a smile.

She seemed surprised by that.

Flinching slightly, she stepped back.

I carefully spoke to her.

“Hello, Princess. My name is Jericho Amael. It’s nice to meet you.”

But Iomene didn’t respond.

Could she not speak?

That was definitely a possibility.

“There’s no need to be wary. I’m not here to hurt you.”

It seemed like refusing the protective suit was the right choice.

She still looked at me with an unreadable expression, but at least she wasn’t lashing out or screaming.

That alone was a relief.

“I came here to heal yo—”

But in the very next moment—

No, the instant the word heal left my mouth—

“Aaaaaah!!!”

She let out a beast-like scream and convulsed violently.

Her wildly swinging hand left a deep gash across my forearm.

A wound so deep it was hard to believe it was just from fingernails.

Blood immediately gushed from the wound.

Ah, fuck!

Damn, that hurts like hell!

But…

I can bear it.

A wound?

It doesn’t scare me at all.

I have Body Modification.

The torn skin sealed itself, and the bleeding stopped.

I made sure Iomene saw the entire process.

As my wound healed in an instant, the princess—who had been screaming and thrashing like a wild beast—suddenly stopped and stared at me.

For the first time, an emotion flickered in her lifeless eyes.

Surprise.

Or maybe… curiosity.

“Amazing, right? I don’t really understand how it works myself, but I have the ability to heal people.”

I spoke in a cheerful tone, but she didn’t respond.

I wasn’t even sure if she understood what I was saying.

She just stared at me blankly, her expression more akin to a beast’s than a human’s.

For a moment—

I felt sorry for her.

She was only nineteen, barely past her coming-of-age ceremony.

This was the time when she should be hanging out with friends, buying makeup, and enjoying street food.

Instead, she was stuck in this occult nightmare of a palace, burdened with ominous black wings on her back, completely alone.

And on top of that, she couldn’t even speak.

I shouldn’t be surprised.

She had endured sixteen years of torture.

Expecting her to be normal would be far stranger.

I wanted her to rely on me, but with a mental state closer to that of a beast, wouldn’t it be better to approach her like one?

I’d have to build trust the way I would with a wary animal.

Alright.

Then I’ll do just that.

I slowly stepped closer to her.

And carefully—

Like reaching out to a skittish cat—

I placed my hand on her head.

She didn’t move.

She simply stared at me with that same blank expression.

But she allowed me to gently stroke her hair.

Taking the opportunity, I used my skill to check her physical condition.

Just as I suspected.

Beneath her tattered clothes, her body was covered in countless self-inflicted scars.

And she was so thin—far too thin for a nineteen-year-old girl.

It was pitiful.

Wouldn’t it be possible to use my skill to extract the fragment of the Evil God and remove it directly?

As if reading my thoughts, the system window popped up with a notice.

Well, of course. The fragment wasn’t a living thing.

Damn it.

If only I could use my skill on it, this would be over in one shot.

No choice, then.

For now, I erased all the scars that covered her body.

And since she was malnourished from not eating or sleeping properly, I adjusted her physique to match Almeine, whom I had seen yesterday.

The only thing I couldn’t change was her wings.

The moment I tried to remove them, I felt an external force resisting the modification—like something was actively blocking me.

No doubt about it.

Since those wings grew because of the fragment, the fragment itself was preventing their removal.

That would have to wait.

Once the treatment was complete, Iomene purred slightly, as if feeling ticklish, then stepped back to examine her body.

As she realized her scars were gone and her once-skeletal body had been filled out with a healthier balance of fat and muscle, her blank expression finally broke into visible shock.

Watching her panic as she fumbled to inspect herself made me chuckle.

That was… unexpectedly cute.

That was enough for today.

Pushing things too far in one go might scare her.

“I’ll come back tomorrow. Let’s meet again then. So don’t get hurt, and don’t be in pain—just wait for me.”

I smiled as I spoke, but Iomene remained frozen, unable to respond.

I left the secluded palace.

Fortunately, it seemed like our first meeting hadn’t gone too badly.