The emperor did not look amused, causing the Saintess to sigh.
The Saintess noticed how the emperor tightened his grip on the omega in his arms, and he sighed.
"Don't worry. I am not planning to steal General Meria from you. At least, not you. I am a gentleman and will only take an omega to my bed when the omega specifically asks for it. Now, would you hand the security of your precious general to me?"
The Saintess asked seconds before a shadow jumped and reached for the omega.
The emperor caught that grip and put pressure on the thin arm.
"Hey brute, let Meena go. She's my retainer and a beta. She will take general to an empty room."
Emperor Kerin did not trust the Saintess, but he did want his omega not to have a hard time.
So, with much difficulty, he handed the unconscious omega over to the retainer while controlling himself.
"Meena, I will leave my lovely general in your hands. Can you send someone else inside with freshly brewed tea? The emperor and I need to chat about his condition."
The retainer did not look shocked to see the dead emperor sitting before her.
She had likely seen everything from start to finish.
'Should I kill her to keep her mouth closed? That will be the best way to ensure my secret-'
"If you are thinking about killing my retainers to keep their mouth shut, then there is no need to do that. I am willing to make a vow on their behalf to assure you that they will keep their mouth quiet."
The Saintess offered, but the emperor wanted more than mere words.
He looked impatiently at the Saintess, saying, 'Hurry up and make that vow already.'
"Oh my! You are such a bastard. I wonder what you ate that made you like this. Now I regret not cursing you when I had the chance to-waohhhh, calm down. I just said that I did not get a chance to curse you."
The emperor did not calm down, so the Saintess had to make a sacred vow to him.
Only after that did the emperor lower his sword and sit on the other side of the table.
"Speak! What did you want to discuss, and how did you know about my curse? As far as I know, I never appeared before you or let my situation slip out. How the hell did you figure out what happened to me?"
The emperor was more suspicious than shocked at what happened.
He continued to look at the Saintess in an accusing manner.
"You might think you are a sly mastermind who can hide their secrets, but the temple has its ways (that meant spies and magic) to get their information. Besides, I felt a disturbance in the world's energy the day you got cursed."
The Saintess admitted, and even the emperor had to acknowledge the power of the Saintess.
"So, you know who cursed me? Did the goddess tell you anything?"
Kerin asked with a curious look on his face.
He had heard about the close bond the goddess and Saintess shared, so he was shocked when the Saintess's face turned pale and red.
"Goddess? What goddess? That useless thing does not deserve any respect from the people of this world. All she does is eat and play around. And when I ask for help, she makes excuses like 'humanity's good' and wiggles her way out. And she even-"
The Saintess continued to complain about the goddess, causing the servants to turn their heads away.
This was not the first time the Saintess had gone on such a rant.
"So, you could not get any information out of the goddess? Then you are useless to me."
The emperor spoke confidently, causing the Saintess's self-esteem to get hurt.
"Hey, I might not be able to get a straight answer out of the goddess, but I can make her tell me some of the future. Like the fact that his ex-fiancé will hire people to kidnap General Meria and greatly injure him in the process…oops, I was not supposed to tell anyone this."
The Saintess had a single second before he was grabbed and shaken around.
His back touched the table, and a pair of predatory shining eyes pinned him down, causing his alpha to rise.
"What did you just say? Who will do what to whom?"
The alpha emperor looked shocked and angry at the same time. His grip was painful, and the Saintess grabbed his arm to pull it away from his shoulder.
"Hey, calm down and listen to me. This is just a possibility. And get off me before I attack you-"
"Oh my god! What the hell is going on here? Cousin, you never told me you had hots for the Saintess and…your curse? Is it gone-"
Rucia finally returned, and her broad back luckily stopped other soldiers from seeing the ridiculous scene before her.
"Miss Rucia, what happens-"
"Send them all out and close the door, Rucia. There is something we need to discuss with the Saintess."
Rucia carefully closed the door behind her, not allowing anyone else to peek inside.
Once she had separated from the outside world, she looked at the emperor and the Saintess cautiously.
"So, brother, looks like you found your mate-"
Both pastries made a disgusted face, and the sour scent of displeasure came from both alphas before her.
'Wait! Both alphas? Was the Saintess an alpha all along? And the Saintess is also male?'
"Keep what you saw a secret from everyone. I might be an alpha, but the Saintess is supposed to represent a soft-spoken omega. The temple has taken great pain to ensure this illusion up until now."
Rucia did not need to listen to the Saintess's words to understand his meaning.
"I understand. What I saw here today shall not leave my mouth in the future. I don't want the empire to rise in panic over this."
Rucia understood that there were times when you needed to keep your silence.
The temple was too powerful to make an enemy out of.
'Besides, having the temple owe me one will be nice. I can use their help during difficult missions and keep an eye on the priests.'
As infuriating as the Saintess was, somehow, he was not the worst part of the temple by a long margin.
No, that title belonged to the old pope and his council of priests.