The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 16

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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 16
As I released my power and opened my eyes, I felt my hair settle back into place.
It was always like this. Whenever I used my power as a Saintess, these effects would appear without my realizing it.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t realize because you’re so very young.”
The girl’s eyes, which had been gleaming as she studied her already-healed palm intently, dimmed.
“When did you acquire such power?”
Hmm?
Apparently my expression seemed odd, because the girl hastily changed her tone.
“I’ve never seen a Saintess before, so I was curious—forgive my rudeness, please.”
“It hasn’t been long. That’s why I’m clumsy with using it.”
It was the truth. The girl seemed embarrassed, fidgeting with her fingers as she tried to strike up a conversation with me.
“Um, so….”
She leaned forward and seized my hand firmly. I was about to pull back from the sudden contact when—
“Are you perhaps close with the Crown Prince?”
“…!”
She was asking about Demian.
“No.”
The denial burst out of me before I could stop it, and the girl tilted her head in confusion.
“But my father said you and the Crown Prince are in a special relationship.”
A fishing expedition disguised as ignorance.
The more I looked at this young girl, the more it seemed she had an unrequited crush on the Crown Prince.
“I was just curious if that was the case!”
“Absolutely not.”
That one will grow up to be the person who kills me, after all.
When I turned serious, the girl fell silent too.
But the next question was something I hadn’t anticipated at all.
Her expression changed in an instant.
“Then is that why you’re treating him the way you treated me?”
The Crown Prince’s illness was classified information.
‘…!’
Had she come to extract information?
Her emotionless face stared at me with an intensity that was almost frightening. Now that I looked closer, I could clearly sense her intention to observe my reaction.
‘This is absurd.’
Who on earth would use a child this young to extract secrets?
“The Crown Prince seems so healthy that I doubt there would ever be such a need.”
Then I added a plausible justification to support it.
“We simply appear together for the sake of harmony between the Temple and the Imperial Palace—nothing for you to worry about.”
“Worry? What do you mean, worry?”
“Weren’t you worried that the Crown Prince and I might end up together?”
For the first time, the girl’s composed expression cracked.
Her pupils were shaking rather violently.
“I-I actually snuck out without my father knowing! Because I was curious about the Saintess….”
Yes, that seemed to be it.
“So the Crown Prince was just an excuse, wasn’t it?”
“…!”
“It seems you really just came because you wanted to know about me.”
A silence fell as I waited to see if I’d guessed right.
In truth, I wasn’t displeased. It made sense that anyone from this world would be curious about the Saintess.
And more than that—
‘This is the first time I’ve talked with a girl my own age.’
Even though I appeared to be five years old, I was an adult at heart, which made me weak to children.
Especially since I found myself thinking of the children I’d cared for at the orphanage.
‘I wonder how they’re doing.’
I almost found myself slipping into nostalgia while sitting right across from someone.
“I’m sorry.”
My voice had changed tone.
No longer bright and cheerful like before, but sincere and serious.
“I must have frightened you with such an approach.”
“It would be a lie to say I wasn’t,”
I gestured at the girl’s hand with a slight smile.
“I’m just glad I could heal it for you.”
“…!”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, does it?”
“…No.”
“Well, you know what?”
Maybe I was overstepping. I was commoner-born myself, but this person seemed like nobility.
But what did it matter?
“Would you be my friend?”
I extended my hand boldly.
I didn’t dislike honest people. Rather, there was something refreshing about hearing that someone wanted to meet me like this.
‘It’s all about building connections, after all.’
If there was a father who’d heard about the existence of a Saintess, that man was surely a high-ranking official.
‘The better I cultivate these connections now, the better my chances of surviving in the future.’
Right—I was still an extra with a ninety percent chance of dying.
As I was suddenly reminded of my precarious situation, goosebumps prickled across my skin.
I was about to awkwardly lower my extended hand when a warm hand grasped it in a handshake.
‘Oh.’
“Y-yes, I’d like that.”
* * *
The First Princess Gaitel looked down at the young Saintess, whose head barely reached her chest.
‘So small.’
She was so thin she’d break if you poked her. Commoner-born, just as the information said—Gaitel observed to herself.
Dyeing her hair brown to conceal the jet-black locks characteristic of the imperial family was the right choice. As expected, there was no sign she recognized her.
‘She’s healing me with her Holy Power.’
It was an odd feeling.
Was it all right to use such precious Holy Power on this?
“Come visit often! I get lonely here since I don’t have any friends.”
The Saintess’s eyes sparkled as if she hadn’t seen another person in ages.
From the moment Gaitel had watched her walking through the mystical garden, she’d sensed it instinctively.
Her brother must have been captivated by that sight as well.
Beyond mere whiteness, the way sunlight scattered across her hair and her porcelain skin possessed a beauty untouched by the dust of the worldly realm.
That was why falling backward, contrary to plan, had truly been a mistake.
Yet she’d used Holy Power—the kind meant only for the Crown Prince—on someone she’d just met, with no calculation whatsoever.
‘Am I in my right mind?’
Was it because she was young that she couldn’t strategize? Her resolve to use the girl had crumbled to nothing.
Even as Gaitel reached this conclusion, she felt an unexpected warmth and paused in confusion.
“Um, what’s your name?”
The small lips moved, articulating the question with childish sweetness.
Gaitel was momentarily flustered. She’d only changed her appearance; she’d never settled on a backstory.
The moment of hesitation was brief.
“Idel.”
She’d blurted out her true nickname without thinking, and Gaitel clenched her fist.
Her vigilance had grown too soft—a consequence of the unexpected beauty of this appearance.
‘Damn it. Of all names.’
“Nice to meet you, Idel. I’m Diane.”
Her smile was radiant, almost puppy-like.
‘Not even a trace of interest in Demian?’
Then was she simply acting on the Temple’s orders?
“Diane, can I really visit you often?”
Maintaining a smile she’d never worn in her whole life caused her mouth to twitch.
There was a stark dissonance between the innocent Saintess before her and her own approach—playing shy, feigning ignorance, concealing her identity.
Gaitel felt a chill of discomfort, but she quickly suppressed it.
‘I’ve done far worse than this.’
Besides, strictly speaking, this wasn’t even wrongdoing.
A noblewoman happening to befriend a Saintess she’d met by chance—there was nothing extraordinary about it.
“Yes!”
The Saintess gave an enthusiastic nod and beamed.
Everyone who had passed by her side until now had come with a hidden agenda.
Those scheming to attach themselves to her, who controlled everything in the Imperial Palace in Demian’s stead, desperate to gain even a scrap of advantage.
Gaitel was already worn down by such things. Besides, noblewomen close to her in age always tried to befriend her by tearing others down, and noblemen wanted nothing more than to become her subordinates.
‘How dare they.’
Gaitel loved Demian. She cherished him as a brother, and when he had been in his right mind, he was shrewd enough that she believed him suited to become Emperor.
But,
‘If I hadn’t been born a woman.’
The longing for an impossible dream was something she could not help but feel.
Still, she had no intention of dragging Demian down.
Living and breathing within the Imperial Palace came with countless checks and suspicions. Over thirteen years, Gaitel had experienced much and learned these truths in her bones.
Which made it all the more—
“I’ll tell the Pope! So you can visit whenever you’d like!”
“Ah, no. There’s no need. It would be burdensome.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
……Rather, when someone approached with such pure-hearted innocence, it was ambiguous how to respond.
‘The Pope, of all people.’
The Pope would certainly have seen through her identity.
‘This won’t do.’
If she lingered any longer, she might draw the priests’ attention, and if she happened to encounter high-ranking clergy, things could spiral out of control.
Gaitel collected herself.
‘Suspicion hasn’t been fully cleared yet, so I need to keep watch from nearby.’
“I’ll come again next time. Greet me warmly when we meet then.”
“Of course……!”
Then she turned her back. Behind her, the Saintess’s warm voice echoed.
* * *
The area beneath my eyes felt like it might twitch.
I forced a smile, trying not to look at the popup window before me.
Gaitel waved her hand as she left the Garden. I watched until her chestnut hair swayed and disappeared beyond the fence.
The moment I turned around, I let out the breath I’d been holding in all at once.
[You have encountered a major character.]
Target: Gaitel Bellium / First Princess

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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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