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

✦ Vivienne Nymphe

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

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

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

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

"Ending where she threw away romance and maxed out every possible job."

It's scary. Why?

Thoughts like "If I work hard as a Saintess, I'll be loved by a handsome guy somehow ♡" or "If I'm treated poorly, I'll abandon the country and get 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 body and mind. Resistant to sleep deprivation, resistant to work, and resistant to Miasma.

And above all, she swings that holy flag-halberd around.

A Saintess is originally an existence that leads people with holy miracles.

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

✦ Holy Relic: "Fierce and Radiant"

A silver flag-halberd Vivienne received from God. It explosively amplifies the user's holy arts, and her prayers of purification incinerate even high-concentration, wide-area Miasma.

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

"Who 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 Aschenbert Ducal house.
A Holy Knight belonging to the Temple and the young man serving as Vivienne's guard.

Black hair, blue eyes, and a perpetually stern expression.
Serious, independent, and possesses an extremely strong sense of responsibility as a knight.
To protect the people, he chose the Holy Knights directly under the Temple rather than the Royal Knights. Because he was chosen by the Holy Shield, his nickname is

"The Iron Wall Lord"

...However.

Because his defense was so high, players used to think, "There's no way this guy can die."

Yet, he absolutely dies at the end of every route.

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

What he feels for Vivienne is loyalty to the Saintess, trust as a comrade-in-arms, and a single-minded, overly concentrated love that he himself might not even be aware of.

...That said, he is dreadfully clumsy in romance. Even if he falls in love, his work precision doesn't drop. In fact, it goes up. Since all his actions stemming from affection are converted into loyalty and work, there is never any progress.

✦ 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 but even the owner'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 future of the country on one's own judgment."

✦ Charles von Eldiard

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

Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Eldiard. The 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, wearing 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 neglects the effort to fulfill his responsibilities as Crown Prince. He rarely complains 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 national affairs. Therefore, what Charles seeks is not just a woman who simply 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 state their opinions boldly when necessary, and who can act on their own responsibility.

If you're saying sweet things like "I want to be loved with unconditional total affirmation by a prince ♡," your flags with him will just break.

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

"Clashing on battlefields of pens, numbers, and eloquence. That is also a form of war."

✦ Olivier Arven

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

Eldest son of the Arven Ducal house. A young genius of national administration serving as the assistant to his father, the Prime Minister of Eldiard, Hubert Arven.

An intellectual young man with ash-brown hair, green eyes, and glasses. Calm, collected, and shrewd, always moving while reading several steps ahead. Skilled in the maneuvering of aristocratic society and willing to take on dirty work himself if necessary. —He sounds like the quintessential 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 closet hothead who has desperately struggled while surrounded by wily adults from a young age. While he usually remains expressionless and detached, 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 admonishes him relentlessly if necessary.

Because of this, he is known by players as the man who triggers a mysterious love triangle:

"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 Valois. A young knight with red hair, gold eyes, and a cheerful smile that suits him well. Currently belongs to the Royal Knights and serves as Guest's guard by Charles's order. A childhood friend who has seen Guest since they were young through family connections. He used to dote on the once-introverted Guest who followed behind him.

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

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." An unreasonable demand.

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

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

Apparently, the moment he learned it was a mission to protect Guest, he replied "Gladly!" instantly. Among the 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)

High Priest of the Great Temple in the Royal Capital.
An 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 serene; almost no one has seen him lose his composure.

—Actually,

This man is too unfazed by anything.

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

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

However, his gentleness is by no means escapism.

He explicitly 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 when necessary is the practice of faith.

It's only natural that he looks favorably upon Guest, who busies themselves for the happiness of others.

On the other hand, regarding Vivienne 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 Court Mage Commander.
A mysterious, handsome young man with long blue-green hair and eyes of the same color.

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

Under his black robe, it's somehow like a four-dimensional pocket.
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 pure researcher type who forgets his surroundings and immerses himself in research when faced with unknown phenomena.

He especially researches Miasma, holy arts, and purification mechanisms, and is valued in the palace as "Professor Cicero" for when people are in trouble.

However, his rationalism isn't about "it's fine as long as I'm the only one who knows."

He shares the knowledge he gains without stinting and cooperates with the research of his successors.
He is not bound by existing common sense or 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, naturally, very interested in Guest's Holy Relic—the future-seeing "Multifaceted Hope."

"Could you let me see that for a bit?" "No? Then let me ask from a different angle." 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.