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Chapter 3
“How could this happen!”
The day I finally realized my situation, I was hit with an enormous shock.
The Frazer Empire granted noble children their first official debut into the imperial court at the age of fourteen.
So my mother had summoned designers several times to take my measurements and make countless dresses for my first palace debut.
While my mother, father, and the servants of the mansion worked so hard for one of the most important events of my life…
I was thinking about something else entirely.
‘There must be really delicious food in the imperial palace, right?’
For someone who had been so happy about reincarnation, I had actually lived quite unhappily.
The food at the Lockhart Duke’s mansion was nothing but vegetables.
At first, I thought, “So this is what life tastes like,” when I had steak for the first time. But that thought didn’t last long.
‘Ugh… what kind of national religion is this…’
Having been homeschooled from a young age, I already knew about the Iris Church.
“A pure soul resides in fresh food.”
It sounded simple, but it was one of the core doctrines of the Iris Church.
They emphasized purity so strongly that every rule was filled with long explanations about how to maintain a clean spirit.
And the first principle basically meant this:
The fresher the food, the better—meaning closer to raw was ideal.
And the dining table of our household was basically a living illustration of that scripture.
‘Why did you do this, Iris God? Why?’
Why on earth would you spread such a doctrine?!
Even while complaining, I had no choice but to eat what was given.
My parents followed the aristocratic trend of “obeying Iris doctrine is true nobility.”
And as a duke family, they had to be more noble than anyone else.
As someone who had lived in a Confucian-like culture in my past life, I couldn’t dare complain about food. Table manners mattered.
But the imperial palace was different—this was official high society.
‘The palace will be different. Even if Iris Church dominates society, surely imperial banquets will have better food, right?’
My heart swelled with anticipation.
There would be endless banquet dishes. And once I came of age and got married, this suffering would finally end.
“Hahahahaha!”
There was a time I laughed like that, full of false hope.
“…What is this?”
“Why, Priscilla?”
Something I had overlooked again.
The percentage of Iris Church believers.
The Frazer Empire guaranteed religious freedom by law, but in reality…
More than 95% of nobles were followers of the Iris Church.
Which meant religious freedom was practically meaningless.
At that time, I didn’t fully understand this.
So—
“…Why does this look exactly like our mansion’s dining table?”
Even the imperial family, which officially supported multiple religions for political reasons, was forced to follow Iris doctrine due to the overwhelming number of noble believers.
I stared blankly at the banquet food.
I was already sick of steak just by looking at it. On the side were endless vegetables.
The only choices were steak or salad.
And dessert? Just fruit—and juice made from fruit.
Just fruit.
Nothing but fruit.
“Priscilla? Are you okay?”
My neighbor Julia looked at me worriedly, but I couldn’t hear her.
Could this really be called imperial banquet food? Aside from steak, this was basically a vegan gathering.
No—this was an insult to vegans. Modern vegan cuisine had so much variety.
‘At least there are sushi variations and different styles…!’
Why only steak and salad? Why?!
I would later learn the reason.
Because the empire was landlocked, and due to Iris doctrine, the people had no desire to develop cuisine. Fish was rare and hard to preserve, so it wasn’t eaten…
What a ridiculous reason.
Is this even real life?
“Priscilla?”
I looked around. Everyone else was smiling as if this was perfectly normal.
I was the only one suffering because of food.
A deep sense of despair washed over me.
Maybe I had been avoiding reality all along.
I looked up at the sky.
“…Oh God…”
Tears welled in one eye.
This was basically a scam. Not just a housing scam—a reincarnation scam.
God, are you listening? I want to move out.
Damn it.
“Ugh…”
“Oh my, Priscilla. Are you praying before eating? How devout of you!”
What is she even talking about?
Julia kept rambling beside my sobbing self.
I felt all strength leave my body.
‘Am I supposed to live my whole life eating grass like this? Meat only grilled, salad only changing ingredients…?’
No. Absolutely not.
‘Don’t mess with me. I’m from the 21st century!’
Ramen, pizza, burgers, fried chicken.
My past life’s food flashed before my eyes.
And something buried deep inside me awakened again—my appetite.
The age of food delivery. One tap and any delicacy would arrive.
‘I refuse to live like this!’
Down with Iris God!
At that moment, I began desperately thinking about how to survive in this world.
If needed, I’d even grab Iris God by the collar in the afterlife.
A life-and-death struggle.
‘…Fine. In the end, I’ll win.’
After crossing countless trials, I would reach glory.
* * *
“Fufufu… fufufufu…”
“…My lady…”
“Fufufufufu…!”
“My lady, this is the imperial palace, you know…?”
“I know very well. Today… finally… kuek… hahahaha!”
“I think she might be seriously ill. What do we do, Chelsea…”
Chelsea looked at me with pity. Her disrespectful thoughts were obvious, but I generously ignored them.
I was in a very good mood today.
“Don’t be like that. We’re finally in the palace.”
We were currently at the imperial palace.
The news of my divine revelation had reached the palace, and I had been summoned to undergo a saint candidate test under imperial supervision.
Although religious freedom existed in law, all religions were still controlled by the empire.
“You say ‘finally,’ but everyone at the mansion is in chaos, you know.”
“My lady is still in shock…”
Chelsea’s words made my buried conscience briefly rise.
‘How can you sleep so peacefully after making your mother collapse?’
“Do I look insane to you, Chelsea?”
“…P-pardon?”
I stomped on my conscience.
“Yes, I slept wonderfully.”
“Actually, I might be insane.”
MSG addiction had ruined me. Damn it.
“Kukuku… hahaha… ahahahaha!”
“….”
Chelsea looked at me with cold eyes, but I ignored her and laughed for a while before suddenly going serious.
“Anyway.”
“You change moods too fast… it’s scary…”
“Adapt.”
What mattered now was the plan.
The saint test could be cleared with my hidden “secret weapon.”
As for my religion… claiming I was part of a known faith might expose me.
So I’d say I was from a completely new religion.
‘Yes. I’ll act like the saint of an unknown god. Perfect cult setup.’
Today, I would finally escape that damned Iris Church.
‘Perfect plan!’
…Or so I thought.
[System: Saint Awakening has begun.]
A translucent system window floated in front of my eyes.
Beyond it, I could see a man staring at me with a shocked expression.
How… did this happen again?
