TNDM 05

Chapter : 05

Regardless of what Cecilia’s attitude had been like originally, she freely used the name she had bestowed upon her immature younger brother.

Perhaps the harsh language wasn’t particularly surprising to him, because Knox finally released her head and stepped back.

“Ta-da. All better now. See? There’s no one like your big brother, right?”

He said such nonsense with a perfectly shameless expression.

Judging by how unsurprised he is, the original Cecilia’s attitude must have been pretty similar to mine.

Perhaps siblings really were siblings after all.

So much for the romantic-fantasy big brother.

The idea of siblings having an especially tender relationship was frankly the creepiest thing imaginable.

“If you’re going to keep saying useless things, move.”

Cecilia changed her attitude as quickly as flipping over her palm, brushed past him, and entered the dining room.

At the head of the excessively long dining table already sat Patrick, the head of House Weberdine, whose golden hair looked remarkably similar to that of the siblings.

As Cecilia took the empty seat on the right, the marquis spoke to her as though he had been waiting for her.

“You were greeting your brother for quite a long time.”

Apparently, he had heard all the nonsense she and Knox had been spouting.

“I’m sorry. He—no, my brother wouldn’t let go of my head.”

“……Your head?”

The marquis gave a small cough before asking about her condition.

“Ahem! In any case, I hear you’ve been taking walks rather frequently lately. Have you recovered? There isn’t anything wrong, is there?”

Cecilia had suffered from such a severe fever that whenever the marquis happened to encounter her somewhere in the vast mansion, he would always check on her health like this.

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine.”

There was nothing wrong with Cecilia’s body, so technically, it wasn’t a lie.

“I’m so disappointed that you’ve become stronger than expected. I mean, relieved.”

Knox, who had followed her inside, took the seat on the left and casually added his comment.

“Knox.”

The marquis shot his son a brief glare as he shrugged, then turned his attention back to Cecilia.

“I’m glad.”

His voice was calm, but she could sense the heavy affection he held for his daughter.

Ah.

For some reason, her mouth suddenly felt rough and dry, as though she had swallowed sand.

Because the person standing before him wasn’t his beloved daughter.

She was merely a stranger from another world.

At first, Cecilia had been terrified that someone would discover her true identity.

Since she knew nothing about Cecilia’s original personality, she had no choice but to keep her distance and behave awkwardly.

Yet when no one suspected a thing, that only made her discomfort grow in a strange way.

Perhaps it was something resembling guilt.

I’ll find a way to get out of your daughter’s body as soon as possible.

She swallowed the apology she could never bring herself to say aloud.

As Cecilia lowered her head and mindlessly crushed the leafy appetizer on her plate into oblivion, the marquis continued his conversation with Knox.

“Is the capital still the same?”

“Yes. Still as bloody as ever.”

“And the approval?”

For the first time, Knox slightly furrowed his brow, apparently unsure what approval his father was referring to.

“I requested it, but it was rejected. His Majesty said that if we want his approval, the person concerned must come to the imperial capital in person.”

“Hah. His Majesty seems intent on picking an unnecessary fight. Just thinking about those Dilanche fools causing a commotion is already giving me a headache.”

Patrick set down his knife and fork, apparently having lost his appetite, and clicked his tongue in displeasure.

Dilanche? And approval…….

Could they be talking about approval concerning the heir?

Cecilia, who had been quietly listening in, abruptly stopped moving her fork.

She still didn’t know much about this world, but according to the various investigations she’d conducted while searching for a way home, the Imperial Family and the Temple were currently at odds.

Naturally, that meant the Imperial Family and the sacred House of Weberdine didn’t have a good relationship either.

Then the Imperial Family shouldn’t be able to interfere with Weberdine’s selection of its heir, should they?

At that moment, the marquis, who had been pressing his temples as though he had a headache, spoke.

“Cecilia.”

“Yes?”

Cecilia, who had been lost in thought, immediately raised her head.

Two pairs of eyes were already fixed on her.

“There is less than a month until this year’s Charity Festival…… So this time, you will have to attend under the name of Weberdine.”

“Pardon?”

The Charity Festival was an annual event hosted by the Temple. It was essentially a massive charitable effort in which the Temple opened its storehouses to provide food to the hungry, while priests personally treated the sick.

As one of the largest events of the year after the Founding Festival, the attendance of the “Saintess,” who was practically the face of the Temple, was considered essential.

Cecilia understood that now that her health had recovered, she would have to participate in the Charity Festival.

But she couldn’t understand why the subject had suddenly come up.

More importantly……

“I won’t be attending as the Saintess?”

She was being told to attend under the name of Weberdine rather than as the Saintess.

When she asked in confusion, Knox let out a faint sigh.

“I told you. We couldn’t get the approval.”

“Approval?”

“Cecilia, it means that for you to be officially recognized as the Saintess, you’ll have to go to the imperial capital yourself and meet His Majesty.”

What?

Cecilia doubted her own ears.

For me to be officially recognized as the Saintess?

That sounded an awful lot like she wasn’t the Saintess right now.

“S-so, technically, I’m not the Saintess at the moment?”

She stammered out the question in shock.

The marquis immediately nodded as though she had asked something perfectly obvious.

“I’m displeased about it, but for now, that’s essentially the case.”

Clatter!

The fork finally slipped from Cecilia’s hand.

No, what are you talking about, head of the house?!

You’re telling me I’m a fake Saintess?!

“I can’t believe I’m a fake……”

After the meal ended in a daze, Cecilia wandered through the garden like someone who had lost something precious.

Her walking companion, Charles, rubbed himself against her feet in an attempt to comfort her, but she couldn’t feel comforted at all.

It wasn’t as though she was particularly attached to the authority or status of being a Saintess……

Then why the hell have I been locked up all this time?!

More than anything, the mere fact that Cecilia was a “fake Saintess” was quite shocking.

They could have at least stopped calling me a Saintess in the first place!

Cecilia had discovered that she was a Saintess shortly after going through Plans B and C.

For reference, Plan B had been repeatedly going to sleep in bed without leaving it until she woke up from this ridiculously long dream, while Plan C had been giving herself a strong blow to the head.

After going through Plan B and then progressing to Plan C, a priest had appeared before her as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

[The Saintess injured her head?]

[Yes. It’s very serious.]

[Hmm. Her skin is torn, but it isn’t a severe wound. As expected of someone under the protection of God. Even after suffering an accident……]

[She struck her own head against a rock.]

[Oh, God!]

That was also because she wanted to treat both the outside and inside of her head.

[If even a scar were left upon the Saintess’s sacred body, God would be deeply saddened.]

The priests who came one after another had given her quite an earful before finally leaving……

Of course I thought I was the real Saintess.

If her theory that she had possessed a character in a novel was correct, she had been convinced that the genre was romantic fantasy precisely because of this position.

And yet, the story of how I turned out to be a fake Saintess.

After questioning Melanie, Cecilia learned that if no one with exceptional divine power appeared, the title of “Saintess” would be bestowed upon the eldest daughter of House Weberdine, the sacred family that had supported the Temple for generations.

After that, the candidate had to receive the Emperor’s approval to be officially appointed as the Saintess.

[Since no one with divine power surpassing that of House Weberdine has appeared for three generations, Lady Cecilia will surely become the Saintess this time too!]

Melanie had confidently declared that, but Cecilia had actually been skeptical.

Whenever a novel had a setting like this, the real Saintess always appeared later!

“Then is the real Saintess the protagonist?”

Cecilia pondered deeply before suddenly realizing something and letting out a short exclamation.

“Ha. I guess I really am the protagonist.”

Wasn’t villainess-possession fiction all the rage these days?

Perhaps this was one of those stories where the possessed fake Saintess did all sorts of things to protect herself before the real Saintess appeared, ultimately becoming the true protagonist herself.

Anyway, if I really have possessed a character from a book, maybe I’ll be able to return once I see the ending.

Her confusion lasted only a moment before Cecilia quickly came up with a new hypothesis—and Plan E.

Plan D, to begin with, had been to simply enjoy herself until she found a way back.

In other words, the more plans she had for returning home, the better.

However, even Plan E—seeing the story through to its conclusion—had one major obstacle.

The problem is my completely empty head.

If only Cecilia’s memories had been patched in the same way her language had been.

Going to the capital was absolutely essential if she wanted to move the story forward, but there was one problem: she knew nothing about etiquette or dancing.

A prince who perfectly led a protagonist who couldn’t dance existed only in fairy tales. In reality, she’d obviously be awkwardly dragged around, only to be looked down upon by both her partner and the surrounding nobles.

The knowledge I learned for a kindergarten talent show—the folk dance I learned back then will probably become the most useless knowledge of my life, but I don’t have much choice.

She would have to ask the marquis to find her a tutor.

“I can’t believe I have to study even here……”

And not just any studies, but things like aristocratic etiquette and ballroom dancing—knowledge that would be completely useless if she ever returned to reality.

She was still lamenting over things that had neither answers nor meaning when—

“Meow!”

Charles, who had been trotting a few steps ahead, let out a small cry and caught her attention.

“Charles?”

Then, as though deliberately showing off, he turned his body toward a familiar direction.

Realizing where those tiny footprints were leading, Cecilia belatedly reached out her hand.

“Charles! You can’t go there today!”

The excitement she’d once felt over things like picnics had disappeared long ago.

More than anything, she had just been hit with the harsh reality of what she would have to deal with from now on, so she wasn’t in the mood to put up with any of his tricks.

But Charles unnecessarily demonstrated his remarkable intelligence and slipped away with a gentle swish of his tail.

Straight toward the hole in the wall.