Reincarnated and Regressed Villain - Make heroines beg for forgiveness

"S-sorry?" Hearing Diana's words, the High Priest, who was standing, felt slightly confused, as even the knights behind him looked at each other, trying to understand the meaning behind her words while also noticing how Diana referred to the saintess informally.

"Nothing, take a seat," Diana gestured with her hand for the children who had arrived to sit while observing them, her mind thinking about how things had become slightly difficult for her due to Edward falling into some kind of deep sleep in Aurora's nest.

Added to her situation was that she was prohibited by her sister—Luna Riantain—from meeting Ryuk. She only had one hope, which was using the Oculus—the artifact that she once used to keep an eye on him inside the Titanora. But the problem was that it was on cooldown, with four months still remaining.

So, the most she could do was work outside while preparing to give a very warm welcome hug to her beloved.

"Miss Diana, first of all, I would like to apologize for my unannounced visit." The High Priest repeated his apology, aware that it could be a problem for her that he had arrived here without prior notice, and then he took a seat.

"Fine. So, how is my little sister Maria?" With a small smile, Diana looked towards the High Priest, who for a moment flinched, including the knights who heard Diana referring to the saintess as her sister.

"O-oh, S-saintess is alright; she was just missing you," the High Priest said, slightly taken aback while stammering his words due to the surprise of knowing how the child they had brought from Heindal had come to be the little sister of someone from Ardoros.

"Eh? Saintess? Don't tell me, is she?" Diana, already aware of Maria's status from the moment she decided to go to Heindal to deal with some particular old teammates, feigned ignorance to show her surprise, finding it an opportunity, considering that she could get her hands on Maria soon.

After all, unlike in her previous life, she was not in the mood to keep idiots who could ruin her plans near her now. And among all the others, Maria could be an easy target to eliminate.

Furthermore, she had already orchestrated an environment free of distractions or foolish actions that could compromise her schemes—Henna had been transformed into a machine with all her memories erased, Amayara had attracted the interest of Vampire Prince Keith (a match arranged by Diana), Olivia had fixated on building a ship while members of the Riantain family observed her activity in secrecy, and Alia felt powerless since Diana had kidnapped her aunt—this left only Jenny and Maria, whom Diana deemed too unthreatening to engage, given their lower IQ levels.

But just now, Maria herself had presented herself to be slaughtered at Diana's doorstep, so it wouldn't be a hassle to get rid of her.

"Y-yes, the saintess had joined the Sanctum after leaving Heindal," the High Priest said, hearing her words and understanding that Diana was not aware that Maria was a saintess. However, the way she referred to Maria made him somewhat guess that they had some close relation previously, though he was not exactly aware of how.

"I see. So, where is she right now?" Diana, knowing that she still had four months left before taking action, decided to deal with Maria in the meantime and inquired about her whereabouts from the High Priest.

"Um, how should I say it?" The Priest clenched his fist while seated, his gaze turned down, avoiding her sight, as he felt it was hard to reveal to Diana about the present situation of the saintess. Seeing how she appeared on friendly terms with her, he gathered his courage and revealed, "The saintess is infected with a demonic seed."

"Ah, how sad," with an air of indifference, Diana replied calmly, leaning back against the sofa and folding her arms. Although she recognized that she was somewhat out of her depth regarding Maria and felt outmaneuvered, she didn't feel disheartened, especially since it was her beloved who had already dealt with Maria.

"....yes, and before falling into a deep sleep, she wanted to contact you, Lady Diana," the High Priest informed while not noticing Diana's uncaring expression, taking it as her normal behavior. He informed her, feeling that he might be able to get some support from the Riantain family regarding the matter of the demon seed.

"I see. It must be hard for her," Diana shook her head upon hearing about the situation Maria was in, prompting her to feel that Maria was indeed lucky to have already fallen into a peaceful sleep; otherwise, Diana would have made sure that Maria would fall into an eternal sleep.

"Yes, Lady Diana, I hope you help us," the High Priest didn't know exactly how Diana could help them, but considering how Saintess had tried to contact her, and that Diana seemed to have a familiar opinion of Maria, he thought maybe she would be able to understand or at least hear what the Saintess had to say.

"Help? Hm, if it's Maria," Diana feigned an expression of deep thought as she held her chin, appearing as if she was pondering something with closed eyes, attracting the gazes of the knights and the High Priest who patiently waited for her answer with expectations.

Already knowing how she needed to use the fools who walked to her door, a grin formed beneath the cover of her palm as she mumbled, "Then was it about the arrival of a new Saint—"

'!?!?'

"S-saintess?!" Suddenly hearing her words, and given that the room was quiet, made her whisper loud enough for the High Priest and the knights to hear, and all of them showed intense reactions to her words. The High Priest instantly stood up while the knights clenched their fists with wide eyes.

This particular news, if true, could definitely shake the whole four factions of the sanctum into taking action.

Given that there were four factions divided in the sanctum surrounding Malevolia—the continent of Demon Queen Morana—each faction wanted to be at the top, as the one that possessed the saintess would be considered the highest in the hierarchy, which was currently held by the faction to which these three belonged.

After the arrival of saintess in their faction, they had the upper hand over the other three. But now that they heard Diana Riantain revealing the presence of another Saintess, they were all taken aback.

"Wh-who might that be? Please tell us, my Lady?!" The High Priest, all of a sudden, couldn't control his emotions and slammed the table as he leaned in, trying to get the information as soon as possible, considering that even walls have ears, and the other three factions could eventually get this news.

"Let's see..." Diana, seeing the way these people reacted, felt amused as she thought about using them to her benefit. Though, of course, they were not more than pawns that she could discard at any moment. She thought to use them well, adding, "I said it could be about the arrival of a saint, not a saintess."

"Huh? A-a saint?" Hearing her words, the High Priest and the knights looked towards each other, not caring about the gender, though of course thinking for a moment. It was unexpected for a goddess to choose a male as her apostle, yet they inquired while also prepared to ask for valid proof from Diana, "By the way, who that saint might be?"

"Oh, that's?" Diana, looking at their gazes patiently waiting for her reply, slowly revealed a smile as her lips curved before revealing, "His name is Ryuk."