Hearing Souta's words, Najenda glanced at the unconscious Esdeath.
There was clear unwillingness in her heart, she very much wanted to eliminate Esdeath.
But if the God didn't approve, there was nothing she could do. She could only swallow her frustration.
"My God," the Lord suddenly stepped forward, "the Emperor likely won't cooperate in publicly executing the Minister. Is there any way to control him directly?"
"No need to control him. Just imprison him for now. For tomorrow's execution, the Saintess will impersonate the Emperor."
Souta glanced at Chelsea.
She needed something to do, or she'd keep getting lazier and lazier.
"You'll be active in the palace, so you'll need a proper identity."
He looked at the Lord, and a flash of golden light burst from his eyes, wrapping the man in a shimmering illusion.
Najenda and the others gasped in surprise.
The Lord now looked exactly like the Minister.
But their shock quickly faded.
After all, this was a god they were dealing with. If he couldn't do something this simple, that would be the real surprise.
The Lord looked down at himself.
He felt no change in his body, yet his appearance mirrored Honest's exactly.
It must be an illusion technique.
"Thank you for your blessing, my God. I will begin making preparations at once."
He bowed deeply to Souta with the utmost respect.
Souta nodded, clearly pleased.
A capable subordinate really did make things easier.
"Take Budo with you as well. When he wakes, he'll assist you."
The Lord glanced curiously at the half-buried and barely breathing Budo.
He didn't question why Budo would be helping them. If the god said it was fine, then it must be.
Soon, the Lord and the members of Night Raid all exited the palace to carry out their tasks.
Leone and the others were curious about Souta. Honestly, they wanted to go up and chat with him.
Despite his overwhelming power and cold demeanor, he wasn't hard to approach.
Their curiosity about this God was hard to suppress.
But Najenda wouldn't let them mess around. She grabbed the collars of the most restless ones and dragged them out of the palace.
Once everyone had left, Chelsea relaxed, her stiff posture melting away.
"Ahhh, finally. Pretending to be a dignified Saintess all the time is exhausting."
She tugged at her ceremonial robe, trying to cool off.
Her movements were a bit too casual.
"Saintess, I never thought you were that dignified to begin with. In every way, your performance was a letdown. I'm very disappointed."
Sitting on the throne, Souta gave her a disdainful look and didn't mince his words.
"Oh come on, drop the act already. There's no one else around, who are you pretending for?"
Chelsea reached out and smacked him lightly, complaining, "You'll never pull off Shinobu's tone no matter how hard you try."
"Watch your tone and behavior, Saintess."
Souta's eyes turned cold, his voice laced with scolding.
"Alright, alright, I was wrong, my God. Please forgive this poor, misguided lamb," Chelsea said with mock solemnity.
"Is that good enough?"
"You're really not very devout toward your god."
Souta waved it off. "Forget it. I'm tired today, I won't hold it against you."
He then ordered, "Saintess, help me to bed. Tonight, you'll attend to me."
"Oh my~?" She quickly dropped her sarcasm and put on her little devil expression. "Is that so? You want me to attend to you? It would be my honor to offer myself to my God."
She slid up to the throne, sat on Souta's lap, and wrapped an arm around his neck, her voice seductive.
"My bedroom skills are excellent. I can do any position. I'll make sure my God is satisfied no matter how demanding."
"Is that so..." Souta replied evenly. "Then I won't be picky. You'll be on top, do the work yourself."
Chelsea's face flushed, but she huffed lightly and replied as if nothing happened.
"Sure, sure. And I can even turn into anyone—Akame, Mine, Sheele—from any age. Imagine me on your lap as them, making you moan so loud you can't speak."
"Tsk... who knew you were such a pervert."
Souta stared at her like he was judging a piece of art.
"Hah, so you're finally acting normal? I thought you were addicted to pretending to be high and mighty."
Chelsea made to stand up.
But Souta pulled her back by the waist.
"What now?" she shot him a side glance.
"You just said you'd make me moan until I couldn't speak. Forgotten already?"
He pointed to the throne.
"Right here. Sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it?"
"W-Wait, you're not serious, are you?" Chelsea tensed up.
"You're the Saintess of a god," Souta said with a smile. "You should always be ready to offer yourself."
"Ugh... wait a second!"
As she felt his hands growing bolder under her robes, Chelsea panicked.
"I give up! I give up! I'll never tease you again!"
"Now that's more like it. Learn your lesson, Chels."
Chelsea quickly escaped.
But once she was outside, her face showed a trace of regret.
She glanced back at Souta's face... and swallowed hard.
If I'd kept teasing him a little longer... wouldn't that have been better?
It would've been the perfect revenge against that Tokisaki Kurumi woman. Let's see if she still dared to threaten her afterward!
Chelsea brooded for a moment, convinced she'd missed a golden opportunity.
I'm immortal now. Can't marry some ordinary guy.
Offering myself to a god... might not be so bad.
Next time, I won't let it pass. Next time, for sure!
Just as she was lost in thought, a noise echoed from below the steps. Esdeath had stirred.
"Looks like Esdeath's waking up."
Souta glanced down at the floor.
"Ugh... I really don't get along with that woman. If you're going to talk with her, I'm out of here."
Chelsea had no interest in dealing with Esdeath.
She'd read the manga. She remembered her original fate vividly: killed by Kurome, her head stuck on a pike, and her body dissected by Esdeath for information.
After failing to find anything useful, Esdeath fed her remains to Seryu's Teigu, Koro.
Only her head remained.
A fate too horrific to forget.
So no, she wasn't fond of Esdeath.
"Don't worry, she can't hurt you now. Only Murasame poses any real threat to you."
"It's not fear, it's just... diverging personalities."
Chelsea glanced toward the palace exit.
"I'll go help the Lord. This place is yours now."
Souta didn't stop her.
Not long after she left, Esdeath slowly opened her eyes and regained consciousness.
As light entered her vision, her body tensed.
She sprang upright, on high alert.
"You're awake. I've been waiting."