God’s Tolerance

Wang Ning looked at her tears and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? I remember this candy wasn’t sweet.”

It wasn’t sweet, but extremely sour.

Theia was expressionless, her eyes welling with tears. She opened her mouth, wanting to spit out the irritant.

But Teacher Ai Er had said that food should be finished properly. Spitting it out was a rude and indecent act.

Theia had never had this kind of candy before, nor had she ever eaten anything so sour. Her diet was bland and tasteless—before she had tasted such a strongly stimulating food, she had always believed that food was either flavorless or had a very faint taste.

And so, Wang Ning watched as the silver-haired little loli chewed on the candy while shedding tears, making it impossible for her to guess whether Theia found it delicious or disgusting.

‘Could it be that her parents are very strict and she rarely gets to eat candy, so she was moved to tears just by having one?’

The more Wang Ning thought about it, the more it made sense.

‘Since she didn’t spit it out, it definitely can’t be because the candy tastes bad!’

Wang Ning was reminded of her younger self and was suddenly filled with affection. She couldn’t help but pat her on the head. Theia looked up at her blankly, her large eyes filled with shock.

Then she took a step back and looked at Wang Ning with a serious expression. “Please, do not, randomly, touch, my, head.”

“You will, be, punished.”

But with the candy still in her mouth, her words were muffled and unclear. Combined with her stuttering, broken sentences, her small face made the statement carry no threat at all.

Wang Ning wanted to tease her and said with a smile, “But you touched my hair just now too. It’s only fair that I touch yours, right?”

“One can’t have double standards, can they?” Wang Ning said without batting an eye.

Theia blinked. The reality before her conflicted with what she had learned in her mind. Her small brows furrowed again. Her snow-white cheeks, still chubby with baby fat, moved as she sucked on the candy.

‘Hahahaha, whose kid is this? How can she be so fun and adorkable, hahahahaha!’

Wang Ning looked at her conflicted expression and was dying of laughter on the inside.

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Wang Ning had had her fill of patting, was internally satisfied, and decided to let Theia off the hook. “You must stay away from strange people when you’re outside, okay? It’s right not to let people touch you, and don’t take candy from strangers either.”

Thus preached Wang Ning, who had just committed all of the above.

Theia had slowly gotten used to the sourness of the lemon candy, and the expression on her face had calmed down considerably. Listening to the strange person in front of her spouting contradictory words, she was no longer surprised.

She looked up at Wang Ning and said, “God, forgives, your, flaws.”

Wang Ning said calmly, “Mhm, I’m pretty forgiving of myself too.”

The faint fragrance of white roses drifted in the air. The solemn and majestic church stood there, its bell tower chiming leisurely. In this place closest to the divine, the person with a face favored by the gods was speaking… such disrespectful words.

Theia recalled the doctrine.

The people of the world are often full of empty promises and little faith, frivolous and profit-seeking. Their words are ethereal and without substance, and their faith is often fickle. Therefore, few receive the favor of the gods.

And the duty of the Holy See is to guide these lost people, to help them find the meaning of life.

Therefore, the person before her naturally needed guidance.

Although her duties did not require many words, she could still guide Wang Ning, as a reward for that “candy.”

She had thought it through and was ready to speak.

Then, a sudden voice interrupted her.

“Your Highness, the Saintess, how did you run off to here!”

Wang Ning heard the sudden cry of alarm and hurried footsteps.

Two people in white nun’s habits strode quickly towards Wang Ning—no, towards Theia. A gust of wind scattered her long, silver-white hair, and her pure red eyes glanced at them.

It was still the same face, but her aura had changed completely.

—Or rather, this was her true aura.

There was no childishness, no softness.

“F-Forgive me, Your Highness,” the person who came over kept their head bowed the entire time, stopping a short distance away. Theia didn’t look up at them, and the two nuns felt their hearts pound with anxiety.

Half an hour ago, Her Highness, the Saintess, had gone missing.

Due to conservative traditions, the church had not installed modern equipment, so they couldn’t use surveillance to find Her Highness. A group of people, anxious as ants on a hot pan, could only search every corner by foot.

They had finally found the Saintess, but the two nuns were not overjoyed. One stood silently to the side, while the other quickly turned back to inform the others and the Bishop.

Theia felt the candy in her mouth completely dissolve. The sourness gradually faded, and wisps of another, unfamiliar taste began to rise.

‘…Is this the “sweetness” Wang Ning spoke of?’

The scene was quiet for a moment, except for the wind. Then, the sound of a large group of urgent and neat footsteps approached.

“Ma’am, thank you for your temporary care.” A nun with a stern posture stood before Wang Ning and spoke politely. Although her face was lined with wrinkles, it was proper and severe.

A group of people surrounded Theia. The nuns all had their heads bowed. Only the Bishop and the person communicating with Wang Ning had natural expressions.

Wang Ning: “Ha, ha, it’s nothing, it’s nothing. I just happened to run into her…”

“No, we thank you for your patience and care for Her Highness, the Saintess, which prevented a greater incident from occurring. We are very grateful to you.”

Wang Ning, who had gone from shocked to numb: “…”

‘The Saintess going missing… really is a major incident!’