The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 20

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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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# Episode 20.
“Yes.”
A lie.
How could I withdraw? This was my lifeline.
But the moment I saw his expression, all will to argue drained away.
Barely any time had passed since the Priest hurried out to fetch Liam before Liam came rushing in.
“Your Holiness.”
“Liam.”
“Allow me to assist you.”
I tried to get down from the bed but stumbled again. Without hesitation, Liam caught me in his arms.
“Forgive me.”
“I can walk on my own.”
“You cannot.”
Firm, weren’t those words.
I pouted my lips but settled quietly against him. Not that my condition was particularly good anyway.
The Armor was hard and cold, yet oddly reassuring.
Cheese, as if she’d been waiting, scrambled from Liam’s shoulder onto my lap.
Since Liam couldn’t see Cheese, he looked at me with some concern as I chuckled softly at empty air.
“Your Holiness?”
“It’s nothing.”
The Carriage bound for the Imperial Palace raced forward. With each bump, my stomach lurched.
I sat draped in Liam’s Cloak like a blanket. Cheese perched on my lap, her tail raised high as she peered out the window.
The closer we drew to the Imperial Palace, the harder my heart pounded.
The thought of facing the Spirit again filled me with dread.
“Do not overexert yourself.”
I nodded vaguely at Liam’s words.
Looking out the window, I realized we were already nearly at the Imperial Palace.
“You matter more to me than His Highness. So—”
“I won’t push myself. Really.”
After passing through the entrance to the Imperial Palace and riding for some time, the eastern annex came into view.
Unlike the grandeur at the Main Gate, the sprawling garden held no life whatsoever.
The trees drooped with withered leaves, and the fountains lay dry.
The Carriage came to a slow halt.
A chill swept in the moment the door opened, raising the hairs on my neck.
Nestled in Liam’s arms, I entered the annex.
Creak—the unlubricated door groaned with a bone-chilling sound as it swung open. I wrapped my arms tightly around Liam’s neck.
“I am here. Do not worry.”
…….
Even though he couldn’t see the Spirit. Strangely, it was reassuring to hear.
I could only frown and tighten my grip around his neck.
As we moved down the hallway toward the room at its end, a faint sound growing from a distance grew louder.
Lullaby, lullaby.
Our baby.
Lullaby, lullaby.
Do not cry.
‘A lullaby?’
Why would a lullaby suddenly fill this dead, empty building?
‘It’s terrifying!’
It was all the more horrifying because the voice was tender.
Several Imperial Palace Knights who knew of Demian’s condition stood waiting before the door.
Upon seeing Liam and me, they brightened and opened the way.
“Where is His Highness?”
“Inside. But…….”
The Knight’s words trailed off.
Then came the sound of something shattering from within.
Crash!
Followed by overlapping voices—Demian’s voice and that of another woman.
“Baby.”
My heart plummeted.
“My baby.”
Liam felt a chill creep up his neck.
He gritted his teeth and wrenched the door open.
The room was in ruins.
Teacups lay shattered on the floor, and curtains hung half-torn from their rods.
Through the cracked windowpane, cold air drifted in, carrying dust that swirled and danced in the moonlight.
And in the center of the room, Demian sat in a chair.
His profile troubled me—his face turned away, refusing to be seen.
In that moment, something pale and formless rippled, and as the moonlight deepened, it slowly took shape.
“……!”
A woman stood with her head covering Demian’s eyes, laughing as her hair whipped around her.
Water dripped steadily, pattering against the floor.
The woman’s wet lips cracked slightly as she smiled, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“My child.”
Demian’s whole body trembled.
“Mother.”
“……Your Highness.”
“Mother’s come to take you.”
Even at my call, Demian couldn’t bring himself to turn toward me.
Throughout it all, that chilling lullaby continued to drift through the air.
“Your Highness!”
At my desperate cry, Demian’s head snapped around with a sound like cracking bone.
Tears that had pooled in his eyes spilled down at the same moment his reddened gaze turned toward me.
His lips moved soundlessly.
Help me.
The Status Window appeared.
[Target Confirmed]
The drowned spirit is mistaking the Crown Prince for her child.
Save him quickly!
The woman, who had kept her gaze fixed on Demian alone, slowly bent her neck.
Crack.
Snap.
The sound of her vertebrae breaking backward echoed through the room.
Where her eyes should have been were nothing but empty sockets, now fixed upon me.
A voice like something submerged in water reverberated against my eardrums.
“Don’t take my baby.”
I swallowed my scream.
The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth where my teeth had cut into my lip.
The woman rested her chin on Demian’s shoulder.
Her wet hair cascaded down over his dark locks.
One strand, then another—they writhed as if alive, grotesque and sickening.
They began to coil around Demian’s neck and shoulders.
‘Why does he keep getting tangled up with things like this!’
Honestly, if I had to endure this kind of torment constantly, I’d become a tyrant and then some. How else could anyone survive without losing their mind?
I tapped Liam’s chest and pulled myself away from his embrace. My legs trembled, so I stood for a moment, and the knights turned to address me.
“Saint, are you able to resolve this?”
Their tone was unmistakably dismissive, and Liam was about to step forward when I cut him off.
“I can.”
I blocked his way.
The emotions in their eyes were crystal clear.
Doubt.
Interest.
A look that said: go ahead and try.
Even as a man was dying right before them, they wore such expressions.
I buried my seething emotions and smiled as childishly as I could manage.
“I’m still so young and inexperienced—I don’t think I can do it with people watching.”
Liam caught my discomfort and nodded before commanding the knights.
“Leave.”
At his low, firm tone, the knights’ faces hardened.
“We understand that the Holy Knight Commander holds high rank, but we have a duty to attend to His Highness.”
“Are you suggesting you will obstruct the Saint’s treatment?”
“……!”
“Then I shall report the matter to the Pope in full.”
The air froze.
A Liam who did not smile was terrifying indeed.
‘I never noticed, since he’s always smiling in front of me.’
As the knights withdrew one by one, the door closed.
“……And you, Liam?”
“I shall remain.”
A sigh escaped me.
“What should I do?”
“Please stand at a distance—you could be hurt. Come only if I’m in danger.”
“Yes, understood.”
Liam stood guard before the door, unwavering.
I approached Demian.
One step.
Then another.
The ground beneath my feet felt damp, but surely that was just my imagination?
“Your Highness. Come back to yourself.”
There was no answer.
The hand covering Demian’s eyes was deathly pale.
A woman’s voice whispered into his ear.
“My baby. Mother will put you to sleep.”
“Your Highness.”
“Hush now, hush―”
“Your Highness!”
Whoosh. The woman’s face, brought close to mine, twisted into something grotesque.
“Be quiet.”
“……!”
I trembled violently, my hand pressed over my mouth.
‘This is—this is far too frightening!’
By any human standard, she was hideously terrifying.
“The baby must sleep.”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince is not a child for you.”
“He is my baby! My baby!”
A shriek tore from the woman’s throat as she shook her head, flinging black liquid in every direction.
Tears streaming down my face, I seized Demian’s hand. It was ice-cold—so cold my palms burned.
“I—I’ll channel Holy Power into you.”
White light poured from me, and the woman screamed.
“No!”
Crash—a sound so violent it shattered the mirrors in the room. In the shards, dozens of the woman’s eyes stared toward me.
“Don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him don’t take him.”
The mirror fragments shrieked.
Liam, oblivious to what was happening, sensed something amiss and began to move.
“Stay back!”
“Holy Maiden.”
Ignoring Liam’s call, I pushed more Holy Power into the room. Tears were already streaming down my face in rivers of terror.
Then I saw a small Status Window appear.
[Fear Gauge Charging]
[Fear Gauge 80%]
Through my blurred vision, I watched the hand covering Demian’s eyes begin to slip away.
The Holy Power was indeed pushing the spirit back.
Demian drew in a sharp breath.
“Your Highness!”
“Hng…….”
“Your Highness, look at me.”
Then the woman spoke in rapid whispers.
“Baby. My baby. Come with mother, yes? Everyone abandoned you. Only mother can protect you. Come with mother. If you come with mother, no one will ever call you mad again.”
She spoke so quickly that all I heard were hissing sounds—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The red eyes that were beginning to focus grew clouded once more.
Perhaps she was speaking the very words he had longed to hear?

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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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