The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 37

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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 37
“…….”
I closed my eyes slowly.
Pretend I didn’t see it.
I’d already been through enough on my first night in society.
“Oh, now that I think about it, the Debutante Ball is coming up soon. I think it would be nice if you came to see it.”
I was working up the nerve to say something in response to Gaitель when—
[Will you flee?]
No / No
“Seriously.”
I muttered under my breath.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
Where did your options’ sense of conscience go?
Before I could stop myself, I cursed silently.
“Your Holiness?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
My head was already throbbing.
A terrible premonition crept over me that I was about to get swept up in that Red Shoes Rumor.
Damn it.
I made a decision.
A rumor? It was just a rumor, that’s all.
The kind of idle gossip that spread before every ball!
It could happen, sure.
[New gossip detected.]
Don’t do this.
[The Red Shoes Rumor of the Imperial Palace Debutante Ball!]
I’m not looking.
[The dancing doesn’t stop even when the music ends? Then there’s only one way to make it stop.]
Stay quiet.
[Cut off your ankles!]
“Ugh! No no no!”
With a cute little ping-ping sound effect appearing for the first time in ages, followed by that sinister line, I couldn’t help but scream.
Gasp.
Every eye in the garden turned toward me at once.
And even the young ladies whispering the rumor some distance away.
I’m finished.
I hurriedly covered my mouth.
“Your Holiness?”
Gaitель looked down at me with concern, but something told me she could sense that I wasn’t just startled by something ordinary.
‘Could something else have happened…?’
I swallowed hard, deliberately avoiding Gaitель’s anxious, trembling gaze.
“I-I just saw a bug suddenly.”
The excuse was utterly unconvincing, and of course no one believed it.
One of the young ladies who’d been telling the rumor spoke up carefully.
“It seems we startled you with our story.”
“We apologize, Your Holiness.”
I shook my head frantically.
“No, I’m just easily frightened.”
“Hmm. The Red Shoes Rumor.”
The moment Gaitель murmured this, the young ladies’ expressions hardened.
“Your Highness, we were only…….”
“I know.”
Gaitель tapped her chin with her index finger, as if intrigued.
“It’s the kind of rumor that always goes around when the Debutante Ball draws near.”
I glanced at her in surprise.
“You know about it too?”
“Of course. I grew up in the Imperial Palace—wouldn’t it be odd if I didn’t know? Hehe.”
Right, that makes sense.
“However.”
A glint of mischief appeared in her eyes.
“It seems the Saint is interested as well, so I suppose there’s no harm in telling you.”
“Pardon?”
“You appear to be interested.”
“Pardon?”
Bewilderment flickered across the faces of the young women gathered here—and my own.
I had no choice but to sit beside Gaitель and the other debutantes, swept into the rumor’s dark current.
I leaned close and whispered so only she could hear.
“You said I was your friend, so why do you keep pushing me toward these frightening stories?”
I’d made it perfectly clear I hated anything scary!
When I pouted, Gaitель grinned wickedly.
“As your friend, I’m simply briefing you first.”
“Aren’t real friends supposed to run away together?”
“If necessary, we can flee together.”
She gave my cheek a light pinch.
“But to decide which direction to flee, I ought to know the terrain first, shouldn’t I?”
‘She really does talk well.’
It had been foolish to think I could win an argument with her in the first place.
The young women looked like they wanted nothing more than to escape, yet one glance from Gaitель was enough to send them obediently back into their seats, listening with rapt attention.
It was almost pitiful—but I had to listen to these horrors too, so misery loved company.
“The Red Shoes Rumor wasn’t actually a rumor from the beginning.”
Gaitель began her tale.
A wind swept through the Garden.
It wasn’t cold, yet somehow my nape prickled with unease.
“Twelve years ago, a young woman collapsed at the Imperial Palace Debutante Ball. The official record lists it as nervous exhaustion and overexertion.”
“Do people often collapse at the Debutante Ball?”
They all nodded in unison at my question.
“Quite often, actually.”
“Yes. Some women cinch their corsets so tightly they can’t eat and just collapse.”
“The anxiety is usually the main culprit. One misstep—a single dance, a greeting gone wrong—can ruin your reputation.”
“In any case, the young woman who collapsed that night didn’t die. But there was something odd.”
Gaitель’s voice dropped, pulling us deeper into shadow.
“She kept dancing even after the music stopped. Her partner let go, but she continued spinning alone. Her dress tore, but her ankles bent as she moved—she wouldn’t stop.”
Unease crept through me, and I glanced down at my own feet.
Purple Shoes—custom-made by the Pope himself. I’d loved them at first, but hearing about cursed footwear was making me want to slip them off….
‘Mine are purple, so they should be fine, right?’
My lips had gone dry.
“After that, similar incidents occurred several more times. Each time, it was women wearing Red Shoes at the Debutante Ball.”
“Then why do they wear them?”
I didn’t understand. If people knew these things happened, wouldn’t they just avoid wearing them?
“Because the shoes are supposedly beautiful beyond measure.”
“Not just beautiful—supposedly, when you see them, you instantly know they’re yours. You feel compelled to wear them out, and once you do, everyone will finally see you….”
Goosebumps rose along my forearms.
Shoes that make everyone see you—they fit the Debutante Ball perfectly.
These young women would do anything to draw even a fraction of the room’s attention to themselves.
“The most grotesque incident was eight years ago, when the eldest daughter of Count Sera of Ardin died.”
“Oh, I know that one!”
A young woman with orange hair clapped her hands and chimed in eagerly.
“She walked onto the Terrace smiling and just… fell right off, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
Chills ran through me. That was genuinely horrifying.
Smiling as she threw herself down—what kind of person does that?
“After that night, the rumor became complete. If you wear the Red Shoes, you must cut off your ankles—otherwise, you’ll never stop dancing.”
“Did they investigate?”
I asked.
“A woman died, after all.”
“Of course they initiated an investigation.”
Gaitель’s red eyes had turned cold and still.
“However, witnesses claimed the young woman from Ardin had shown signs of anxiety before the Ball and had been unusually tense.”
“That’s a rather convenient conclusion.”
“It is.”
She conceded without resistance.
“But the dead tell no tales. It will only remain an unsolved mystery.”
Hmm……
Gaitель paused to think, then broke into a soft smile.
“If you’re frightened, you needn’t come. The Debutante Ball requires one to be at least fifteen years old to attend, anyway.”
“Oh.”
I nearly threw my arms around her.
‘I really didn’t want to go!’
What a relief.
I barely managed to compose myself, forcing down my excitement.
That was when it came.
[Congratulations!]
You have obtained an invitation to the Debutante Ball!
[Linked Episode Condition Unlocked]
You may now access the Red Shoes Rumor at the Imperial Palace Debutante Ball!
Reward: 15 Good Deed Points
Failure will bring you close to death.
I closed my eyes and muttered quietly to myself.
“I never said I was going.”
The Status Window, offering no reply, added a single line instead.
[Note: The invitation has no reject button.]
This cursed Status Window.
“Ugh.”
“Pardon?”
I’m going, damn it.

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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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