Chapter 03
When Lisa was locked in solitary confinement,
I knelt before Bert and begged.
I told him I would do anything he asked—just please release Lisa.
I truly meant anything.
Back then, Bert did not even blink.
“You listening to me is only natural. And you call that a favor?”
He added those humiliating words as well.
That was why—
“Stop, stop! Ugh—aaagh!”
Even as Bert continued screaming, I did not stop swinging my arm.
The sound was sharp and satisfying. It must hurt—but not more than the pain Lisa and I had suffered in the past.
“H-Hic—waaah!”
At last, Bert burst into tears.
At that moment—
The door flew open with the sound of approaching footsteps.
“What is going on here?”
The stern voice that fell over our heads made both Bert and me freeze.
Standing at the doorway was the current Duke of Agnito—Bert’s father.
And my uncle.
Behind him stood several nobles who had been visiting the estate.
“F-Father!”
Bert scrambled to his feet and ran to the Duke.
“Hanisha hit me!”
“…She hit you?”
“Yes! I came to visit her because she was hurt, and she hit me! Look—see this bump!”
The reason I was injured was because Bert had shoved me.
Yet he left that part out completely.
My grip tightened around the bread. I wanted to hit him again.
But I stayed silent.
Because I knew what would happen next.
“…It seems there has been some misunderstanding. Stop crying.”
“What? What do you mean—”
Bert blinked in disbelief at the Duke’s words.
“Children often quarrel over small matters.”
“They grew up like siblings, didn’t they? Ha ha… our children were like that too.”
The nobles behind him awkwardly added their comments.
The Duke always sided with his son.
Of course Bert looked shocked.
“She hit me! And not just that—she beat me with the bread I gave her!”
Bert glared at me.
“Hanisha, say it yourself! You did it!”
“Bert, that’s enough—!”
Just then—
“What is happening here?”
A low voice sounded from behind them.
Priests in white robes had entered.
People who disliked me very much.
My birth had ended the Saintess bloodline.
Perhaps they hated me even more than the Agnito family did.
“Your Reverence!”
And Bert knew that very well.
“On this sacred day, I came to visit Hanisha because I heard she was ill. Yet instead of being grateful, she assaulted me.”
The same boy who had just been crying now spoke with formal politeness.
The High Priest narrowed his eyes.
“You are saying Miss Hanisha assaulted the young master?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“With what?”
“With that bread. The one I brought as a get-well gift. She used it to strike me—”
“As a get-well gift… you gave her that hard piece of bread?”
“…!”
Bert’s mouth snapped shut.
Idiot. I hadn’t kept silent for no reason.
He had clearly said:
“Today is a special day. I secretly took it for you behind the adults’ backs.”
The “special day” meant the Day of Mercy.
On the Day of Mercy, the Temple opened its granaries and gave food to children on the streets.
The Temple valued human life—especially the lives of children.
It was said to be God’s message: no matter what, children must not be killed.
That was why Agnito, despite hating me enough to want me dead, merely neglected me instead of harming me directly.
Naturally, orphans without parents fell under the Temple’s jurisdiction.
House Agnito, which maintained friendly ties with the Temple, managed those orphans in the name of sponsorship until they came of age.
It was largely for appearances—but to maintain status, they had to pretend to be merciful.
And now—
Bert, the heir of House Agnito, had given a hard, partially burned piece of bread to his cousin who was wrapped in head bandages.
They knew very well what that implied.
This was my chance.
I quickly waved my hands.
“N-No! Bert did nothing wrong. I just tried to pick up the bread that fell on the ground and accidentally hit him.”
I lowered my head and spoke softly.
“It’s bread even the children on the streets struggle to eat. He shared something so precious with me, but I dropped it by mistake. It’s all my fault…”
At the same time, I subtly revealed how poorly I was being fed.
No matter how much a child deserved scolding, seeing such a situation with one’s own eyes stirred a sense of human sympathy.
“To have such an incident on the Day of Mercy…”
“Ahem… it does not look very good.”
As expected, someone coughed uncomfortably.
“No! She—she did it! I only gave her bread—!”
Bert’s arrogant expression turned pale.
“It’s true! She hit me!”
“That is enough!”
The Duke of Agnito quickly cut him off.
Silence fell instantly.
The Duke forced a smile and turned to the priests.
“It seems there has been some misunderstanding. Perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere—”
“Come to think of it, we almost forgot our purpose.”
“…Pardon?”
“We came to review the records of the donations provided by the Temple and to inspect the children sponsored by House Agnito, did we not?”
The High Priest’s face was stiff.
For them, God’s name was both shield and banner.
To act beneath that name was an irreplaceable honor.
Yet in this moment, with me exposed before everyone, God’s teachings had been tarnished.
The teaching that children must be protected at all costs.
And this had happened in House Agnito, one of their closest allies.
Of course they would try to smooth it over.
If Agnito resisted here, it would be no different from declaring hostility toward the Temple.
“…We will move locations.”
The Duke spoke in a cold voice.
The priests left first. The nobles followed awkwardly.
When everyone had gone, the Duke glared at Bert.
“Bert, you are confined for one week. You will not step outside the estate.”
“What? B-But tomorrow I have a sparring session with the other young masters—”
“If you crave the sword that much, I shall provide you with a suitable opponent. That will suffice.”
“…!”
Bert’s face turned pale.
It meant corporal punishment.
His nurse hurried him out of the room.
Clicking his tongue, the Duke turned to leave—but not before casting a look at me.
I lowered my head as if frightened.
“Useless thing.”
“….”
“Of all days, you had to cause trouble today?”
“….”
“If only you resembled your sister Esther even half as much…”
He clicked his tongue again and left.
The door closed.
I slowly straightened my hunched posture.
Normally, those words would have wounded me deeply.
But my heart did not ache at all.
‘Bark bark. That’s all it is.’
I turned around—
And froze.
Lisa was standing there, stiff with shock.
Ah.
Until yesterday, in her eyes, I had been a child who could barely speak properly.
The Agnito family constantly belittled me, and I always stayed silent.
Some even believed I was slow-witted.
I spoke fairly well when alone with Lisa, but whenever I faced members of the family, my body would freeze.
Yet just now, I had headbutted Bert and even explained the situation calmly in front of adults.
Of course she was shocked.
‘To smooth this over naturally…’
I glanced at her, then raised a hand to my forehead.
“Ah… my head…”
“Oh my goodness, my lady!”
Lisa rushed forward to support me.
After all—
Nothing works better than pretending to be sick to calm a situation down.
