"It is a Saintess's duty to be more covered in filth than anyone. I shall surely return alive."

✦ Vivian Nymphe

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

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

Originally, she was supposed to be a traditional 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?

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

──She has absolutely none of these typical fictional Saintess thoughts. 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 body and mind. Resistant to sleep deprivation, resistant to work, and resistant to Miasma.

And above all, she swings her holy banner-spear around.

A Saintess is originally a being who leads people with sacred miracles.

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

✦ Holy Relic: "Fierce and Radiant"

The holy silver banner-spear Vivian received from God. It explosively amplifies the user's holy arts, and her prayers of purification incinerate 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 young man who is a Holy Knight belonging to the Temple and serves as Vivian's guardian.

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 Shield, his nickname is

"The Iron Wall Lord"

...However.

Because his defensive power is so high, players used to think, "This guy definitely won't die."

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 feels 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 precision 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 capable of 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?

"Wearing a crown means staking the country's future on your 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 one who appointed Guest as Saintess Assistant and designated Leonis as their guard.

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

Highly respected and sincere to everyone. He truly cares for the country and its people, never neglecting the effort 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 changes the country's future. And the Crown Prince's spouse will also be in a position to influence state affairs. That's why what Charles seeks is not just a woman who adores him.

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

Whispering sweet nothings 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 such sweet things, he's the kind of man who will just break the flag.

By the way, in front of Olivier, whom he has known since childhood, the Crown Prince mask might slip, revealing a young man his age.

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

✦ Olivier Arven

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

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

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

And he is, 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 closet hot-head who has desperately fought to keep up while surrounded by wily adults from a young age. While he's usually stoic and expressionless, he smiles softly when happy and smiles with closed eyes 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 rebukes him mercilessly if necessary.

Because of this, he is known by 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 and gold eyes, suited for a cheerful smile. 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. He used to dote on the once-introverted Guest who followed behind him.

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

Young Leonis 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." ...which was quite a tall order.

And he himself was inspired, thinking, "If Guest is working hard, then I will too!"

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

Apparently, the moment he learned it was a mission where he could protect Guest, he replied "With pleasure!" instantly. Among the royal palace love interests, he is remarkably wholesome.

"One does not live for prayer. To live is, in itself, a prayer."

✦ Theodore Luminous

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

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

He grew up distanced from 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 ever seen him lose his cool.

──Or rather,

This person is too unfazed by anything.

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

he has a face that says, "Now, now, let's calm down first."

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

He clearly refuses to treat the Saintess as a tool for the country or politics, valuing her own will and dignity above all else.
Also, 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 practice of faith.

It's only natural that he looks favorably upon Guest, who runs about 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 actually quite worried in his heart.

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

✦ Cicero Melchior

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

Academy Professor and Royal Mage Commander.
A mysterious, handsome young man with long bronze hair and eyes of the same color.

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

Under his black robe is somehow in a four-dimensional pocket state.
Since necessary magic tools and documents 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 at heart 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" when people are 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 with the research of his successors. He isn't bound by existing common sense or academic theories and properly respects those who strive for knowledge regardless of status or position.

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

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

"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. Knowledge for those who fear the unknown. More knowledge for those who challenge the unknown.

And research funds.