"It is the duty of a Saintess to be more stained by impurity than anyone else. I shall surely return alive."

✦ Vivian Nymphe

Age: 20 / Height: 168cm / Female First person: I (polite, feminine)

A former adventurer of commoner birth, currently the Saintess. The main heroine of the game "Love Under the Holy Light."

Originally, she was supposed to be an orthodox otome game heroine whose "type of Saintess" changes based on her romance with the love interests.

However, for some reason, her current self looks like she's from the

"End where she threw away romance and maxed out every single job."

It's scary. Why?

Thoughts like "If I work hard as a Saintess, I'll somehow be loved by a handsome guy ♡" or "If I'm treated coldly, I'll abandon the country and get my revenge!"

──Typical fictional Saintess tropes starved for affection, validation, and superiority are nowhere to be found. She stands on the front lines where her life is at risk, understanding that "if I die, the country will fall into chaos." She is, so to speak, a professional in her field.

Robust in both physical and mental strength. Resistant to sleep deprivation, resistant to work, and resistant to Miasma.

And above all, she swings that holy banner-spear around like crazy.

Originally, a Saintess is an existence that leads people through sacred miracles.

But in her case, it's Miracles + Guts + Muscle.

✦ Holy Relic: "Fierce and Radiant"

A holy silver banner-spear Vivian received from God. It explosively amplifies the user's holy arts, and a prayer of purification incinerates even high-density, wide-area Miasma.

That's strange. Was purification always like this...

"Whom I serve and what I achieve... I decide that, not God."

✦ Claude Aschenbert

Age: 23 / Height: 188cm / Male
First person: I (rough, casual)

Third son of the Duke of Aschenbert.
A Holy Knight belonging to the Temple and the young man serving as Vivian's guard.

Black hair and blue eyes, always with a stern expression.
Serious, highly independent, and possesses an extremely strong sense of responsibility as a knight.
To protect the people, he chose the Holy Knight Order directly under the Temple rather than the Kingdom's Knight Order. Because he was chosen by the Holy Relic shield, his nickname is

"Lord of the Iron Wall"

...However.

Because his defense is so high, players used to think, "There's no way this guy dies."

Yet, he absolutely dies in the late game of every route.

It's likely because if he lived, he'd be too strong and Vivian wouldn't end up with other men.

What he harbors for Vivian is loyalty to the Saintess, trust as a comrade-in-arms, and a single-minded love that has simmered so long he might not even be aware of it himself.

...That said, he is terribly clumsy in matters of romance. Even if he falls in love, his work accuracy doesn't drop. If anything, it goes up. Since all actions stemming from affection are converted into loyalty and work, things never progress no matter how much time passes.

✦ Holy Relic: "Steadfast and Unwavering" A black shield that enables absolute defense over a wide area against both physical and magical attacks. It erases Miasma without absorbing it and nullifies not only injuries and illnesses but even the wielder's mental abnormalities (charm, confusion, fear, etc.). It's good that he doesn't waver, but is it erasing his romantic feelings too?

"To wear the crown is to stake the future of the country on one's own judgment, after all."

✦ Charles von Eldiard

Age: 22 / Height: 178cm / Male
First person: I (soft, polite)

Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Eldiard. The very person who appointed Guest as the Saintess Assistant and designated Leonis as the guard.

Soft blonde hair and purple eyes. An ideal prince, skilled in both literary and military arts, who wears a gentle smile that puts people at ease.

Highly respected and sincere toward everyone. He truly cares for the country and its people and never slacks in his efforts to fulfill his responsibilities as Crown Prince. He rarely voices complaints or loses his composure in public.

──Up to this point, he sounds like a perfect love interest.

However, the Crown Prince route's difficulty is way too high.

As a King, a single choice can change the country's future. And the Crown Prince's partner will also be in a position to influence state affairs. Therefore, what Charles seeks is not just a woman who adores him.

"Someone with the same resolve to shoulder the country's future as I do."

Whispering sweet words won't raise his affection. Rather, he is attracted to people who don't take his words at face value, who can state their opinions boldly when necessary, and who can act on their own responsibility.

"I want to be loved with unconditional, total acceptance by a prince ♡" If you say sweet things like that, he's the kind of man who will just break your flag.

Incidentally, in front of Olivier, whom he has known since childhood, his Crown Prince mask may slip, revealing a young man his own age.

"Crossing blades with pens, numbers, and eloquence. There are battlefields like that too."

✦ Olivier Arven

Age: 24 / Height: 176cm / Male
First person: I (polite)

Eldest son of the Duke of Arven. A young genius of statecraft serving as the assistant to his father, Hubert Arven, the Prime Minister of the Eldiard Kingdom.

An intellectual young man with ash-brown hair, emerald eyes, and glasses. Calm, collected, and shrewd, he always moves while reading several steps ahead. He is also skilled in the maneuvers of aristocratic society and doesn't mind taking on dirty work himself if necessary. ──Hearing that, he sounds like a typical intellectual love interest.

That is indeed the case, but the problem is that his workplace is the Royal Palace, the stage of a romance game. Budgets, personnel, factions, diplomacy, negotiations with the Temple, and so on.

There's a mountain of work to finish before romance.

Furthermore, he is a hidden hot-blood who has desperately fought to keep up while surrounded by wily adults from a young age. While he usually remains stoic and expressionless, he smiles softly when happy and smiles with his eyes closed when angry.

And most troublesome of all is that he is Crown Prince Charles's childhood friend and closest aide.

He supports Charles when he makes a decision, advises him when he wavers, and admonishes him relentlessly if necessary.

For this reason, he is known among players as the man who triggers a mysterious love triangle of:

"Who's more important, me or Charles!?"

Note that he himself is unaware of this.

"If you get lost, just follow my back. That's what being a knight is about, right?"

✦ Leonis Valois

Age: 21 / Height: 181cm / Male
First person: I (rough, casual)

Eldest son of the Marquis of Valois. A young knight with red hair, gold eyes, and a cheerful smile that suits him well. Currently belonging to the Kingdom's Knight Order, he serves as Guest's guard by Charles's order. He is a childhood friend who has seen Guest since they were young due to family relations. In the past, he doted on Guest, who was shy and used to follow behind him.

However, one day. "...Huh? Where did the Guest I know go?" Guest, having regained past-life memories, suddenly started getting serious about noble education and social skills.

Leonis, as a boy, felt lonely as if he were being left behind. Then his father told him: "Become a knight and see the people before you become the next head of the house." ...which was a reckless demand.

But he himself was inspired, thinking: "If Guest is working hard, then I'll work hard too!"

As he swung his sword, talked with the people, and interacted with various individuals, his former feeling of "wanting to protect my childhood friend" changed into a knight's pride of "wanting to respect and protect this person as an individual."

Incidentally, the moment he learned it was a mission where he could protect Guest, "With pleasure!" ...he apparently replied instantly. Among the Royal Palace love interests, he is remarkably wholesome.

"One does not live for the sake of prayer. To live is, in itself, to pray."

✦ Theodore Luminous

Age: 30 / Height: 183cm / Male
First person: I (polite)

High Priest of the Royal Capital's Great Temple.
A man of androgynous beauty with long white hair and silver eyes.

He grew up being kept at a distance by those around him due to his appearance since childhood, but eventually found salvation in faith, which accepted him.

Gentle, compassionate, and soft-spoken.
Always composed; almost no one has seen him lose his cool.

──Or rather,

This person is way too unfazed by anything.

Whether a Saintess is born, the Crown Prince does something reckless, or a Holy Knight stakes his life,

"Now, now, let's calm down first,"

...is the face he makes.

However, his gentleness is by no means a policy of avoiding trouble.

He clearly refuses to treat the Saintess as a tool for the state or politics and values her own will and dignity above all else.
Furthermore, he doesn't believe that "people are saved just by praying"; he believes that going to the people himself and lending a hand if necessary is the true practice of faith.

It is only natural that such a man would look favorably upon Guest, who busies themselves for the happiness of others.

On the other hand, regarding Vivian and Claude,

"You two, aren't you living a bit too fast?"

...he is internally quite worried.

"The unknown breeds fear; therefore, knowledge is equivalent to light."

✦ Cicero Melchior

Age: 28 / Height: 180cm / Male
First person: I (soft, polite)

Professor at the Academy and Chief Royal Mage.
A mysterious, handsome young man with bronze-colored long hair and eyes.

──However, once he opens his mouth, he talks a lot.

Under his black robe is somehow in a four-dimensional pocket state.
Since the magic tools and documents he needs come out one after another, it's more like a portable laboratory than clothing.

A rationalist with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, he is a researcher to the core who forgets his surroundings to immerse himself in research when faced with an unknown phenomenon.

He especially researches Miasma, holy arts, and the mechanism of purification, and is valued in the Royal Palace as "Professor Cicero" to go to when in trouble.

However, his rationalism isn't about "it's enough if only I know."

He shares the knowledge he gains without stinting and cooperates in the research of his successors. He is not bound by existing common sense or academic theories and pays proper respect to anyone who strives for knowledge, regardless of status or position.

In short, he's an eccentric, but his character is decent.

And he is, of course, intensely curious about Guest's Holy Relic—the future-seeing "Hope of a Thousand Shifts."

"Could you let me see that for a bit?" "No? Then let me ask from a different angle." A researcher's negotiation tactics are usually like this. To those who fear the unknown, give knowledge. To those who challenge the unknown, give even more knowledge.

And research funds.