Johanne Green is a 15-year-old girl who lives in Golden City, the capital of West Land, the place where everyone has a guardian angel to protect them and guide them towards purification.
Johanne's mother is the mayoress of Golden City, Linda Black...
Joan widened her eyes in dread - she tried so hard to hide her identity! How could he possibly find out?
"Well, um..."
Cedric scratched his head. He raised his forefinger at her as if pointing her at something.
Joan blinked in surprise at first, but once she caught the direction of his forefinger, she looked down at her bandaged chest. She grew red, covered it with blankets, and screamed:
"Ah!"
Cedric laughed:
"Well, if you wanted to stay hidden in a monastery, you should've thought better than getting your chest bled by a demon attack."
So he knew everything, even that she got attacked by a demon that night?!
Damn, not only has he uncovered my secret, but he also knows I've interacted with a demon! At this point... If this somehow leaks out, I'll be...
She nervously clutched her throat. Yes, if she were found out, there would be just a single path left - the gallows. The society strictly forbade women to engage in Angel Craft and become healers. She had done both. Death was the only thing that awaited her now... And, as a matter of fact, Cedric was the current High Priest's very son?
She gulped - true, as far as she knew since years of living here, Brother Cedric Ivory was the only son of the current High Priest, Leon Ivory. They had quite a good relationship, too.
"Yeah, now take good care of yourself_"
Cedric wasn't able to finish his words - the young woman sprang out of her bed, fell to her knees before him, grabbed the hem of his robe, and sobbed out:
"I beg you, don't tell anyone! They'll put me to death! There was no other way I could act... Have mercy upon me!"
She wetted his robes with tears, her eyes swollen. Her coughs intensified, and blood followed them. It seemed that her wounds had reopened.
She felt strong arms grab her up. She gazed up at the monk, whose face had turned grim. She trembled:
"W... What are you doing?"
"When I tell you to lie still in your bed, you should listen, child!"
Cedric carried her back to the bed, put her there, and uncovered her bandages.
"Ah, what are you doing?" Joan reddened up.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Stay put! It is your own fault..."
He uncovered her blighted chest, held his hand above her, and let a great surge of light energy emerge. Joan was stunned:
Cedric is... this powerful?
The wounds closed up. Cedric bandaged them anew, and gave Joan a reproachful look:
"Do you truly think I'm such scum as to doom an innocent woman to such fate?"
"But..."
"Stop it. I'm not going to do anything. This is just between us now. Whatever happens from now on, I'll cover up for you."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes. So don't worry so much, and take care of yourself. Stay put in that bed until I permit you otherwise."
"Huh?" Joan flared up now, "You can't confine me to my bed!"
"Patients have no right to complain!" Cedric grinned and flicked her on the forehead.
"Ouch!"
Joan rubbed her forehead. Cedric laughed. He wanted to get up and leave, but the woman's voice stopped him:
"Anyway..."
"Huh?"
"W... Why are you doing so much for me?"
He stopped. He heaved a sigh and cast his eyes down:
"I don't know, honestly... Maybe I just like you."
"Like me?!" Joan grew red like a tomato.
"Yeah..." Cedric scratched his head with a smile. "You remind me of my little sister. She too was a bookworm and a rebel blondette like you. She always argued with our father that girls should be treated the same way as boys."
"Oh... Where is she now?"
"Not in this world anymore... She died twenty-five years ago, from fever, on November 25. I shall never forget that day. I was there, right beside her, yet I could do nothing..." He clenched his fists with bitterness.
"November 25? That's when I was born..."
Cedric widened his eyes and glanced at her, petrified:
"Excuse me, but how old are you?"
"I'm... twenty-five."
Cedric froze.
"No way..."
He drew a cross sign in the air, and shouted:
"My guardian angel, I invoke you!"
Light energy emerged out of his hands and formed into a tall blond young man with blue eyes, a bare chest, and cloudy white wings. Joan gasped in a stupor:
"Archangel Michael is your guardian?!"
Cedric did not reply. He instead frowned at the angel:
"Michael, tell me - is what I suspect, true?"
"Yes," Michael spoke in his divine voice. "Your sister, Jewel, fell victim to a demonic disease that had struck your town back then. As a result, the reincarnation of her innocent soul was immediate, and she acquired a new life, in the form of her." He pointed at the astounded Joan. "The soul of that woman is your sister, Cedric."
"So, it is true..." Cedric stared at Joan with tears in his eyes, "You're truly her..."
"Huh? No way..."
Joan was no less astonished - she had a brother in her past life, and he was still alive?! But she couldn't think for too long - the young man dashed at her and embraced her tightly:
"So, you've come back to me, just as you promised! Jewel..."
