Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 52

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 52
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“Minor Saint, please stop crying…….”
Inside the carriage heading toward the Great Temple, Ayu wept as though her eyes would fail her.
Transparent tears rolled down her luminous, pale skin like pearls.
“I want to go home…….”
“Minor Saint…….”
“How could she change so much?”
The priests attending the Minor Saint were at a loss.
In the Northern Kingdom, everyone had loved her. She had lived happier and more beautiful days than anyone.
Her eldest sister had tormented her, yes—but it was petty, a trifle. Had Ayu been merely an ordinary younger sister instead of a Saint’s daughter, it would have been dismissed as a common sisterly squabble.
But Ayu was a treasure of the Northern Kingdom Royal Family. Whenever Lorelthiana troubled her, she faced swift punishment.
Lorelthiana had grown cold and austere, taking after her mother the Queen. She routinely dismissed Ayu and clung to etiquette with nauseating precision.
Because Lorelthiana achieved such remarkable results, even Ayu and her other sisters had to focus harder on their studies.
Despite all that struggle, Lorelthiana’s standing remained at rock bottom. Father adored Mother intensely, and so he despised the greedy Queen with equal intensity.
And yet that sister of hers…….
‘Her temperament changed three years ago…….’
Father had said she’d finally come of age.
Lorelthiana began treating everyone with kindness. To Ayu especially, she apologized for all the torment, confessing that her jealousy had driven it—she’d envied how beloved Ayu was by everyone.
Ayu couldn’t believe that proud sister would say such things, but it made sense.
‘She’s right. Father and my brother only love me, after all…….’
As the daughter of a Saint, Ayu was obligated to be virtuous and pure; she never once reproached her sister.
Instead, she forgave Lorelthiana on the spot and helped her to her feet.
After that, her sister was kind not only to Ayu but also to Father, with whom relations had been strained, and to her half-brother the Crown Prince.
At the time, if Ayu was honest, her joy had felt thin…….
She’d come to understand it suddenly.
That her sister possessed beauty so striking the word “ethereal” barely sufficed.
Lorelthiana wasn’t simply pretty. Through relentless study of etiquette, she appeared like an angel wrapped in radiance itself.
As her attitude shifted, people cautiously drew near—as plants bend toward light, so too did people. There was no difference.
Father and her brother, who had once disregarded Lorelthiana, began treating her with increasing favor.
Proposals flooded to Princess Lorelthiana, and Father, considering this, moved her from her modest quarters to the grand palace. It was then that Ayu’s suppressed tears finally broke free. She buried her face in the Bear Doll Father had given her and wept bitterly. Father rushed to her, cast aside his royal dignity, and soothed her.
Ayu was ashamed of her own jealousy toward her sister. But Father was so tender a man that he understood perfectly why she felt wronged.
“My dear child, think about it carefully. Hasn’t Father given our daughter plenty of little puppies and kittens as gifts? Ayu, all your sisters are like that. They’re all playthings meant to bring joy to our daughter. Why should you feel slighted?”
At Father’s words, Ayu nodded.
She had been wrong!
How could anyone resent cute, lovely puppies and kittens?
Ayu let go of her resentment and began treating Lorelthiana well.
When her sister was sent in her stead to become a concubine to the aging Emperor of Parsa, Ayu vowed never to forget her sister’s sacrifice.
As the daughter of a Saint, she would pray for her—surely the gods would look after her sister and guide her to a better place…….
Until then, Ayu had believed her life held no worries.
But unexpectedly, life had turned upside down, and she had been given the title of Minor Saint.
‘Deon Baetan!’
Ayu’s chest seized with anguish as she recalled the man who had captivated her at first sight.
‘A married man, and he hid it from me!’
She cried out.
“It’s all because of Lorelthiana. If not for her, I’d have ended up as a mere mistress……!”
The priests were as angry as Ayu was.
To deceive the daughter of a Saint and try to spirit her away to a castle—the audacity!
The priests tried to comfort her, saying:
“We cannot thank the Grand Duchess of Gonet enough for exposing the truth about Duke Baetan.”
“Indeed. She is so gracious and considerate. I have never laid eyes on anyone so beautiful and elegant…….”
“She is truly worthy of being the Minor Saint’s sister.”
“And yet…….”
Ayu clutched the Bear Doll, tears streaming down her face.
“Didn’t you say the House of Gonet is in difficult straits?”
A priest answered, trying to soothe her:
“Yes. The previous Grand Duke and Duchess were terribly extravagant, I’m told. The current Grand Duke inherited all their debts. He may even face ruin.”
“Ruin?”
Ayu’s eyes widened.

With the royal family bankrupt, she had become a Minor Saint instead of a princess.
‘Then Sister might not be the Grand Duchess of Gonet either, could she?’
“If Lorelthiana is cast out from Gonet, I’ll take her in. And since he’s her husband, the Grand Duke of Gonet would also….”
“The Grand Duke of Gonet will not do, Minor Saint.”
The firmness in his voice caught Ayu off guard.
“Why?”
“The Grand Duke of Gonet carries Beast-kin blood heavily mixed within him.”
“What did you say?!”
Ayu’s eyes widened in shock. Truth be told, when she’d first laid eyes on Sherkan of Gonet, her breath had caught. In all her years, she had never seen a boy so beautiful.
“Yet it is remarkable. Beast-kin blood flows through his veins, and yet he could be so lovely….”
The high priest spoke in a grave tone.
“Keep your distance from him, Minor Saint.”
Ayu’s face flushed crimson.
“I—I didn’t mean it like that!”
“I understand, Minor Saint.”
The high priest’s expression remained unchanged.
“The Grand Duke of Gonet is a man who would make a marriage proposal the moment you so much as glance his way, Minor Saint.”
“A marriage proposal…? The Grand Duke of Gonet? To me?”
Ayu could hardly believe it.
“That can’t be right! The Grand Duke of Gonet didn’t hesitate to resort to violence for Sister…!”
“Minor Saint. This is a secret of the Great Temple, but….”
The high priest exhaled softly.
“The Grand Duke of Gonet underwent the Purification Ritual here at the Great Temple for an extended period when he was young.”
“The Purification Ritual…?”
“Yes.”
The high priest did not elaborate further. Instead, his face grew gentler as he continued.
“It is a sort of side effect, but through the influence of that ritual, the Grand Duke of Gonet developed an instinctive craving for all that is sacred and pure.”
“Craving? For me?”
Ayu’s voice trembled slightly at the blunt word.
“Yes. Before a Minor Saint descended from Saint blood, the Grand Duke of Gonet will, without knowing it himself, find his heart undone. Such is the side effect of the Purification Ritual.”
“That’s impossible!”
Ayu denied it reflexively.
“It is fact, Minor Saint.”
“But….”
Her eyes wavered with distress.
“But Sherkan, the Grand Duke of Gonet, is Sister Lorelthiana’s husband….”
“That is precisely why you must keep as far from the Grand Duke as possible. He will place you in a difficult position, Minor Saint.”
“I understand….”
Burdened by this unexpected secret, Ayu felt her composure shake.
“Poor Sister. She took a husband who cannot help but love me…. I’ll have to be more careful. She’s already suffered enough.”
Ayu had just tucked her hair behind her ear when—
Bang!
“…?!”
The carriage lurched to a violent stop with a tremendous noise.
* * *
‘Damn it.’
I swallowed a curse as the nausea washed over me.
“Are these bastards seriously trying to pick a fight with me right now?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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