This Reincarnation Requires a Subscription Fee

“Have this first, then take your bath. A proper meal will be ready for you afterward,” Lily said with a gentle smile.

“Yes,” I replied, nodding eagerly before taking a big bite of the chocolate muffin. The sweet, rich taste of chocolate spread throughout my mouth, and I felt the sugar melting away all the tension in my body.

‘Chocolate muffins are the best…’

And so is this life as a noble lady, where such delightful snacks can be enjoyed at any moment!

***

“Waaaah!”

The High Priest woke with a scream, eyes wide open in terror. He rolled out of bed and instinctively covered his head, glancing up at the ceiling. The fear that gold coins might once again rain down from above and attack him overwhelmed his senses.

“High Priest…?” 

A hesitant voice came from beside him, filled with concern. The High Priest snapped back to his senses, turning his head to see the youngest priest of the temple staring at him with wide, trembling eyes.

“Ahem!” 

The High Priest quickly straightened his posture. He had always prided himself on maintaining a dignified image, but now, having shown such a disgraceful display in front of the junior priest, his lips trembled with embarrassment.

“Where is the Saintess? And what happened with the gold coins?” he asked, trying to regain his composure. The tension on the young priest’s face eased slightly at the High Priest’s more controlled demeanor.

“High Priest, it’s a relief you’ve come to your senses! I was worried you might have hurt your head…”

The young priest’s voice wavered as he recalled the High Priest’s earlier frantic behavior, eyes beginning to glisten with unshed tears.

“Ahem!” 

The High Priest cleared his throat loudly, cutting off the priest’s emotional outburst.

“I’m perfectly fine, so explain what happened. Tell me everything.”

“The Saintess and the Tower Master have returned to Elpinard. The gold coins that fell from the sky were left behind as a donation from the Saintess, so they’ve been stored in the warehouse.”

“In the warehouse?”

“Yes, all 280,000 of them. They were coins marked with the divine stigma!”

The young priest’s voice was filled with awe as he recounted the extraordinary event, but the High Priest’s face darkened considerably.

“Coins marked with the divine stigma?” 

“Yes!”

The certainty in the young priest’s eyes made the High Priest bite his lip in frustration. Coins marked with the divine stigma were creations that only the gods could bestow upon humans.

‘Does this mean the Saintess truly communicated with the gods?’

If the Central Church were to find out about this…

‘Everyone who doubted the Saintess would lose their positions!’

The problem was that the High Priest himself was on that list of doubters. He had firmly believed that the Saintess was a fraud and had aligned himself with those opposed to Cardinal Bael. This news could not reach the Central Church under any circumstances. The Saintess had to remain powerless, and Cardinal Bael needed to fall as well.

The High Priest swallowed nervously, realizing the dire situation he now faced.

‘In a way, it’s fortunate,’ the High Priest thought. The Saintess had come to his temple, not somewhere else.

“…Who else has seen the gold coins besides you?” he asked cautiously.

“All the Holy Knights you summoned have seen them as well—about ten of them, I think,” the young priest replied, tilting his head as if wondering why the High Priest was asking.

‘Tsk.’

The High Priest clicked his tongue internally, frustrated. There were too many witnesses to simply hush it up. It would be difficult to handle this situation on his own.

“…I’ll need to send a letter to Cardinal Kaltas. For now, make sure everyone who saw the coins keeps their mouths shut.”

“Keep their mouths shut?” 

“Yes. This sort of thing needs to be announced publicly by the Church in Kydsha. We can’t let rumors start spreading from a small place like ours.”

“Oh! I see! I’ll make sure to tell them!” The young priest clenched his fists in determination, fully convinced by the High Priest’s plausible explanation.

***

After lunch, I was summoned by Duke Elpinard. The first time I had approached the heavy doors leading to his office, my heart had pounded like crazy, but this time, though still nervous, I felt slightly more in control.

‘Is there no reward for strong nerves after making a donation?’ I mused. I wasn’t asking for legendary-level nerves—just something at the heroic level would be fine!

Having a racing heart wasn’t the problem; the real issue was that when my heart pounded too hard, my thoughts and actions tended to regress to those of a child. If I didn’t find a way to manage this timid heart of mine, it could cause problems at critical moments.

“So, you want to take the exam to enter the Ivory Tower?” Duke Elpinard asked, flipping through some documents.

It seemed Axel had relayed my plan to him right away. After all, Duke Elpinard was the chairman of the Ivory Tower’s invitation committee!

“Yes,” I nodded affirmatively.

“It’s curious. Why would a Saintess be interested in the Ivory Tower?” The Duke looked directly at me, his gaze intense.

‘Creepy!’ 

Even with the mindset of a former black mage, the Duke’s gaze was terrifying. However, compared to the chilling look in Duke Kreutz’s eyes, Duke Elpinard’s stare was almost angelic. With Duke Kreutz, my instincts screamed that he was a bad person. In contrast, Duke Elpinard gave off no negative vibes—on the contrary, his presence felt pure and clear.

“B-because I’m a Saintess, I want to go to the Ivory Tower,” I answered as calmly as I could. The Duke’s eyes showed a flicker of interest, urging me to continue.

“Because the prophecy book is in the Ivory Tower. It’s said that the prophecy will save the nation. As a Saintess, I should be able to read it.”

Facing Duke Elpinard, my heart raced so fast that I ended up speaking more like a child. I tried my best to enunciate clearly, but my words still came out with that slight lisp, and I worried that the Duke might not understand me.

“The prophecy book, huh? A four-year-old knows about such things?” 

Fortunately, the Duke understood me perfectly! I nodded, relieved.

“Yes, because I’m the Saintess. I know.”

The Duke studied me for a moment, then set the papers in his hand aside and spoke.

“Very well. I’ll arrange for you to take the exam for the Ivory Tower.”

“!”

I was surprised by how quickly and easily he granted permission! I had expected him to ask a lot of questions to see if I was really qualified to take the exam, but he didn’t. The fact that I didn’t have to go through any tedious procedures was a relief, and I quickly bowed my head.

“Thank you.”

“Of course, passing the exam is your responsibility.”

“Yes, that’s right. It won’t be a fake exam.”

I had never intended to ask for any unfair advantage. After all, I had my legendary intuition to rely on, didn’t I? With that, I figured I could pass any exam by making the right guesses.

Duke Elpinard, unaware of my sneaky plan, frowned slightly, seemingly puzzled by my confidence.

“Hannah.”

“Yes?”

“It was your idea to send Hannah to the mines for labor, wasn’t it? For a four-year-old, you seem to have quite the cunning mind. Is that something a Saintess should be thinking?”

“That was…”

‘Honestly, Axel could’ve just taken credit for that!’

I sighed inwardly, feeling exasperated by Axel’s lack of flexibility, but I shook my head slightly to answer the Duke.

“No.”

“Then?”

“That’s because I’m smart.”

It might have sounded a bit arrogant, but I was confident. After all, I had the memories of a previous life, so for a four-year-old, I was incredibly smart, wasn’t I?

The Duke let out a sigh, as if he didn’t know whether to be amused or exasperated by my bold statement.

“Well… I suppose we’ll find out just how smart you really are when you take the Ivory Tower’s exam.”

“Yes. I’ll show you,” I said, raising both fists to express my determination. The Duke furrowed his brow slightly at my display of enthusiasm.