Chapter 03
From that day on, Duke Cassini began searching for a girl who was the same age as Lumiella, resembled her in appearance, and possessed divine power.
That was how Yustitia, who had been raised in an orphanage, was chosen.
She was immediately adopted as Duke Cassini’s daughter and sent to the temple as the new Saintess.
Thanks to the swift handling of the matter, it seemed that the chaos caused by Lumiella’s disappearance had finally subsided.
But Sergio was extremely displeased with the situation.
“I believe that Lumi will return someday. So don’t expect me to treat you like a brother would. I have no intention of acknowledging you as my sister.”
He had cherished his younger sister dearly, so he denied Yustitia’s existence and firmly kept his distance.
That attitude only fueled the longing of Yustitia, who had finally gained a family of her own.
She desperately sought the attention of the older brother who hated her, stubbornly continuing to call him ‘Brother.’
So it was impossible for anyone not to realize that their relationship was completely one-sided, with only Yustitia clinging to him.
That was why everyone assumed that Yustitia must have been afraid of losing her family when Lumiella appeared.
But there was no way I would consider a man who had watched me being executed at the guillotine my brother.
“You wanted things to be this way too, didn’t you, Duke?”
When I asked with a bright smile, Sergio remained silent, his expression stiff.
He even looked a little surprised, which I found amusing.
Before, no matter how many times I called him ‘Brother,’ he had never even pretended to hear me.
Was he suddenly upset because I was drawing a line between us?
“Yes.”
Sergio slowly opened his mouth.
“From now on, I will also be more careful in official settings. After all, you are the Saintess.”
“……”
“I suppose I have been far too informal with you until now.”
“Not at all. I was the same, so please don’t worry about it.”
I casually smiled and put an end to the matter.
Because of that, even though the Saintess, who had desperately wanted to win her brother’s affection, had drawn a line between them for the first time, no one seemed to find it particularly strange.
“By the way, could you take a look at the item I brought to donate to today’s bazaar, Saintess? I’m worried it might be too shabby.”
Lumiella conveniently changed the subject.
I gave her a slight smile as if to say, ‘Let’s see.’
But the moment I saw what Lumiella was holding, my lips stiffened involuntarily.
“This is it.”
It was a pair of pearl earrings with pink ribbons that Yustitia had frequently worn until she underwent her coming-of-age ceremony at fifteen.
After her coming-of-age ceremony, Yustitia hardly ever wore accessories.
So most of the accessories she had worn as a child were kept at Duke Cassini’s residence.
Lumiella had taken one of them without even asking its owner’s permission.
“It’s a little old, and the design is a bit childish for me to wear. But would something like this be too shabby to put up at a bazaar?”
I was momentarily dumbfounded and looked at Sergio.
There was no way he didn’t know these earrings belonged to Yustitia.
But the moment his eyes met Yustitia’s, he merely turned his gaze away.
Just like he had avoided the eyes of Yustitia standing at the guillotine at the end.
But if I got angry here and said that they were mine, and asked why Lumiella was disposing of my belongings without my permission—
“I’m so sorry, Saintess. I only recently returned home, so I didn’t know. Please forgive me…!”
It was obvious.
Then I would become the hypocritical Saintess who told everyone else to donate while refusing to donate anything herself.
And on top of that, I’d gain the image of someone bullying the ‘real’ one who had only just returned home.
“It couldn’t possibly be, Lady Cassini. What matters with any item is the heart behind it.”
I calmly shook my head.
“This shows how much you care about helping the poor, doesn’t it?”
Lumiella’s smile trembled slightly at my words.
Of course it did.
I had sarcastically implied that the supposedly good heart of the ‘real Saintess’ amounted to nothing more than a single pair of old children’s earrings she didn’t even use anymore.
“I think noble ladies with young daughters will like them very much.”
I smiled sweetly and turned away.
It was a little disappointing that I hadn’t managed to raise the gauge, since I hadn’t told an outright lie.
‘Still, it would probably be best not to get involved with her whenever possible, just as Nora said.’
I could tell lies in plenty of other situations.
“By the way, those pearl earrings Lady Cassini brought earlier. Aren’t those the ones you used to wear often when you were young, Saintess?”
“Hm… No. They aren’t mine.”
I raised the gauge by about 0.3% while chatting with the other nobles.
Apparently, half of all conversations in high society consisted of lies.
I had just turned around to find another person to lie to when—
“Ah!”
I felt myself bump into something, followed by the sound of a glass shattering and a familiar-toned groan.
With a bad feeling, I immediately looked down.
Amid the shattered glass was Lumiella, her dress stained with wine.
Oh, you again.
“Are you all right, Lady Cassini? Are you hurt?”
I hurriedly checked Lumiella’s condition with a deliberately concerned expression.
She looked startled as she caught her breath.
“I… I was just waiting to speak with the Saintess…”
“Yes. This happened because you didn’t expect me to turn around. You must have been startled.”
I completely cut off Lumiella’s attempt to make it sound as though I had deliberately bumped into her.
Then I personally wiped the wine from her stained dress.
“Are you all right? I think you’ll have to change your dress.”
“Ah… Yes…”
“Please take care of Lady Cassini.”
I spoke to the maid standing beside Lumiella, fidgeting anxiously.
She was a face I had occasionally seen at Duke Cassini’s residence.
While the attendants cleaned up the broken glass, the people around me expressed their concern for me.
I reassured them that I was fine before casually continuing my conversations.
A little while later, Lumiella appeared in a new dress and apologized to me.
“Saintess, you must have been very startled. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for, Lady Cassini. That was simply an accident.”
I ended the conversation with the polite smile of a customer-service worker.
“The bazaar will be starting soon, so I should be going.”
Then I quickly left the area where Lumiella was.
Nora firmly grabbed my hand as if to say I had done well.
“Why do accidents only seem to happen around Lady Cassini when she’s near the Saintess?”
“Let’s not think too deeply about it. We need to start the bazaar now.”
Traditionally, the queen’s chief lady-in-waiting was responsible for hosting charity bazaars.
But since the position of queen was currently vacant, I, as the future queen, had been asked to take charge.
Items had been submitted in advance for the bazaar, but donations were also accepted spontaneously at the event.
After conducting the auction for the third charity item, I walked around the hall carrying a pretty basket.
The nobles would place whatever they wanted to donate inside it.
“Thank you.”
Every time a noble placed jewelry into the basket, I smiled faintly and bowed my head.
It felt a little like begging…
But at least it was for a good cause.
Finally, I reached the place where Lumiella was standing.
I wanted to pass by her immediately, but Lumiella was rummaging through her pocket rather frantically.
Then—
“Huh?”
At some point, Lumiella’s face went pale.
Sergio, who had been standing beside her like a bodyguard, immediately reacted.
“What is it, Lumi?”
“Brother…”
Lumiella turned toward him with a distressed expression.
“My earrings… My earrings are gone.”
“The pearl earrings with the ribbon?”
“Yes. I was sure I kept them safely…”
“Didn’t you drop them while changing your dress earlier?”
“Oh.”
Lumiella clapped her hands as though she had only just remembered.
“Come to think of it, I forgot to take the earrings out of my dress earlier. Lila, go and get them quickly.”
“Yes, miss.”
“Then I’ll take a lap around the hall and come back.”
I was about to leave after saying only that.
But at that moment, someone grabbed my wrist.
I turned my head and found Sergio staring directly at me with his water-blue eyes.
I calmly looked back at him as if to ask what was wrong.
Then Sergio slowly removed a crescent-shaped brooch from his chest.
It was a brooch intricately decorated with black onyx and white pearls.
He placed it inside my basket without taking his eyes off me.
I avoided his gaze and looked only into the basket before giving a small nod.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
[That is a lie.]
[Lies Gauge increased by 0.1%.]
[Current Gauge: 0.5%]
This status window really was amazing.
How did it know that was a lie?
Honestly, I wasn’t particularly grateful no matter what Sergio donated.
In the end, he was still the piece of trash who had refused to treat Yustitia as family and abandoned her first.
I was about to turn away when Lila, Lumiella’s maid who had disappeared earlier, came running toward us in a hurry.
“Lila, did you find the earrings?”
“Miss…!”
Lila answered tearfully.
“The earrings are gone.”
“What? What do you mean? Did you look properly?”
“I searched everywhere around the place where you were, but they really aren’t there.”
At those words, Lumiella looked shocked.
Sergio, with his normally cold face, deliberately softened his expression and comforted Lumiella.
“Don’t worry too much, Lumi. I already donated the brooch in your place.”
“Brother, but…”
“It wasn’t particularly valuable anyway.”
At those words, I stopped walking without realizing it.
Even though he clearly knew they were earrings Yustitia had frequently worn.
‘What a piece of trash.’
I hid my displeasure and was about to walk away again when—
—Clink!
Something fell.
Very close by.
In other words—
The pearl earrings Lumiella had supposedly lost had fallen right at my feet.
