Prologue (プロローグ)

translated by: myonnie

"...Your Majesty, I have been informed that the saint has arrived."

"I see."

I stop working on the paperwork and notice that Byron, my close aide, looks as if he wanted to say something.

I prompt him to speak, and Byron, though still clearly hesitant, opens his mouth.

"Are you really going to take that 'Hollow Saint' as the empress? Even if she's basically powerless?"

"Yes. I'm serious."

Byron clenches his hands tightly to my response, and a look of impatience fills his face. The usual Byron is the epitome of calm and collected. Losing his cool like this means one thing; he can't bear his anger and grief any longer.

"Not only that they send us back a saint who can't even use magic properly, but now you're making her the empress... If the Fallon Kingdom ridicules us any further than this, we will lose our face!"

"I suppose so. But look at the state of our country; we're desperate enough that even an ornamental saint will suffice."

The once prosperous Reavis Empire is now called the 'Cursed Land'. With no births of new saints, it suffers the increasing demons, the spreading plague, and the unfruitful harvests.

And now, the saint we will finally welcome from another county is dubbed the 'Incompetent Hollow Saint' because she has almost no magic power, resulting in the inability to use magic adequately. It's no doubt a gesture of mockery towards the empire.

...But, the mere presence of a saint in this country will be a huge emotional support for the people. Besides, they won't know that the saint who's coming to the empire has no power.

"That doesn't mean you should make her the empress..."

"She needs to be in a high position since we're welcoming a precious saint. It's also time for me to settle down and reassure the ministers and the citizens. Consider it a contract marriage until we stabilize the country."

For this plan to work, it's more convenient to marry someone from another country than the high-ranking nobles in my own country to avoid possible political complications.

Yet Byron isn't at all convinced by the explanation. "There are plenty of other options you can pick. Someone who is more suited for you..." As my close confidant, he must've been that worried about me. "She's sent by Fallon Kingdom. Not only that she can't use magic, but she must also be quite hard to deal with as well. You need to make sure not to have yourself dragged by her."

"You don't need to worry about that."

I reassure my anxious aide with clear resolve and gently touch the wand full of scratches displayed on the side of my desk; the very same item which was used by the Great Saint right before her death.

(Seventeen years have passed since then.)

No matter how much gone were the days, my feelings for her had not faded; they've only grown stronger.

And that will never, ever change.

"...I will love only Else Reese until the end of my life."

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'Hollow Saint' will be updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Check all my releases here! If you find any typos or want to suggest corrections, you can find me on discord myonnie#9948

I rediscovered this author when I was organizing my novel collections before I move out... and found out that they had written so many new novels! Since I have quite a lot of free time before my internship starts, I decided to translate their latest web novel since it's quite short.

A lot of this author's works (or at least the ones I purchased before) are mostly short, light-hearted stories full of fluff. Though they consistently go with the 'main character rising from the mud' and 'doting, super-darling male character' tropes, they never fail to add their own spin to their stories. I hope it's as good as I hoped! :)

-myonnie