The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 59

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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 59
The Imperial Charity Organization arrived just past noon.
The Temple’s main entrance had been bustling since morning.
Blankets, medicine, dried provisions that could last long in storage, and new clothes for the children rescued from the Lumen Orphanage arrived in boxes stamped with the Imperial seal, filling them to the brim.
I stood beside Becky and watched the sight with quiet satisfaction.
“Your idea really was the right one, Becky. Now we can get closer to Seria, don’t you think?”
Perhaps because I’d been building rapport with her alone, the word “sister” came naturally to my lips.
Becky smiled and gently stroked my hair. “Of course.”
Today my Holy Maiden robes were a little more subdued than usual.
My condition wasn’t great—I’d strained my Holy Power back at Lumen—and Becky had chosen this outfit with the peculiar goal of making me look neither sickly nor too extravagant.
‘Sometimes Becky gets weirdly meticulous about the strangest things.’
Especially when it came to dressing me up.
The Debutante ball had been truly exhausting.
I’d changed clothes so many times that day, my energy had been completely drained.
A ornate carriage passed through the entrance.
From the bearing alone, I could guess who was inside, so I smoothed down my robes self-consciously.
“Wow.”
The first to descend was Gaitel.
Today Gaitel was as beautiful as ever—though her attire was a little softer than what I’d seen at the Imperial Palace.
In a pale blue dress and white gloves, she carefully descended from the carriage, her long black hair cascading to her waist rippling with each movement, and adjusted her appearance.
A small pearl ornament adorned her head.
‘Isn’t she just too beautiful?’
Despite the muted colors, her sharply angled eyes and the crimson irises within them still maintained her air of noble aloofness.
Gaitel was truly a renowned ice princess.
Aware of her own beauty, she smiled continually and looked around her.
Demian stepped down from the carriage next.
I held my breath.
‘Ah, so his Holy Power really is almost completely depleted.’
Demian stepped forward slowly.
His fingertips trembled slightly. His ruby-colored eyes were dull and clouded, and his face was pale.
Anyone looking at him would think he hadn’t fully recovered yet.
As he walked unsteadily, he swayed precariously.
“……!”
I moved instinctively, stepping forward.
Then our eyes met.
‘What are you looking at?’
Ah.
So it was an act?
My eagerness to rush over and support him evaporated instantly.
I gave him a sidelong glance and quietly retreated to my original spot.
A few more carriages arrived. Several young nobles walked in behind Demian.
They were much older than I was.
Around ten years old perhaps, dressed in fine clothes and exchanging meaningful glances—they didn’t look like innocent children at all.
But then, nobility receive education to mature early from childhood.
They entered the Temple and bowed their heads politely.
“We are honored to meet the esteemed Holy Maiden.”
I’d never heard myself called “esteemed” before.
‘Their manner of speech is very mature.’
Just then, Gaitel, who had been beside me with her mouth opening and closing as she tried to speak, noticed the moment and quietly stepped forward.
“Holy Maiden, it has been a while.”
I bowed my head as demurely as I could.
“Your Highness, I am honored to see you.”
Gaitel’s expression became ambiguous—perhaps she’d hoped I would respond more warmly.
“But your condition seems poor?”
Her keen observation caught me off guard.
“You look quite pale.”
“My skin is naturally rather fair.”
“Haha.”
The hollow sound of her laugh suggested my excuse hadn’t convinced her at all.
Demian stood alone at a small distance away.
Perhaps because so many were watching, he kept his distance from Gaitel as well, his face still pale and drawn.
“…Saint.”
Demian called to me slowly.
His voice was pitched so low he sounded genuinely ill.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Gaitel’s lips curved up slightly as she observed us.
Perhaps she found it amusing how awkwardly formal we were being with each other.
“It’s been a while.”
“Have you been well?”
“Yes.”
The conversation ended there.
* * *
The distribution of donated goods took longer than expected.
There were so many boxes and so many ledgers that there was mountains of work to organize.
The Imperial Palace attendants read through the inventory while the Temple priests verified each item one by one.
The noble children watching at first bowed their heads and stood quietly in place.
‘They’re not helping at all.’
It seemed they had made the journey simply to demonstrate which house had sent the most.
Some of them barked orders whenever the attendants began unloading goods.
“Be careful with that. If it breaks, it comes out of your wages.”
“Hey, don’t shake it like that!”
I frowned at the irritating tone in their voices.
Who was that?
A man I’d never met before approached me with an unpleasant smile.
“I’ve heard that the Saint played quite an important role.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I wonder how taxing it must have been…”
When he reached for my hand unbidden, I stepped back smoothly.
“Oh, it was nothing at all.”
I gave a perfunctory answer and hurried over to Becky, who was overseeing everything from a distance. Behind me, I heard a soft click of the tongue.
‘Tsk, ridiculous.’
Excuse me, I can hear you perfectly well, you know.
“Becky…”
“My, Saint! Why that expression? You’ll be giving Seria her gifts soon—you should be delighted!”
Ah, that’s right.
In truth, I’d orchestrated all of this because I wanted to befriend that child.
‘The scale really is massive.’
So this is what power tastes like.
I’d been marveling at the spectacle, but as time wore on, the constant flow of people began draining my energy.
“Saint, please don’t overexert yourself. Why not go to the Temple for a while and rest?”
Becky too was visibly exhausted. It would be difficult for her to look after me in this state.
I nodded and walked toward a quiet corner.
That’s when I caught fragments of quiet conversation drifting from somewhere.
“Don’t you think the Crown Prince looks worse than expected?”
“Hush, someone might hear.”
“I wasn’t speaking loud enough to be overheard.”
Hmm? What was this about?
I perked up my ears and searched for the source of the voices.
“Did you see his hand trembling earlier?”
“My mother mentioned that the Crown Prince still sees things that aren’t there every night.”
“He speaks to empty air, does he?”
“That’s why the Saint keeps watching over him, or so they say.”
Someone snickered mockingly.
“How unstable must his mind be to entrust his life to a child? The Crown Prince is worthless after all.”
I went rigid where I stood.
Demian had endured so much suffering alone, struggling through those dark hours, and now these children were mocking him and diminishing everything he’d borne.
The conversation continued.
“To be honest, the Princess seems far more stable. She handles most of the duties on her own anyway.”
“If the Emperor were to pass the throne to someone, who do you think he’d choose?”
“The Princess, obviously.”
“Oh, well, he’s still the Crown Prince.”
The conversation was creeping further and further across the line.
“The Holy Maiden must have it so difficult. He was practically a baby, and at that age you have to keep looking after someone like that.”
I bit my lip.
I couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Excuse me.”
The noble children spotted me and fell silent all at once.
Their faces shifted in an instant.
The twisted smirks that had been playing at their mouths became prim and proper, and the glint in their eyes dulled to something carefully respectful.
I tilted my head with the most innocent expression I could muster.
Truth be told, I didn’t understand high society’s unspoken rules very well. But the only thing I could use was that ‘age’ they’d kept mentioning—the license it gave me to act however I pleased.
The privilege of youth.
“We are honored to see you, Holy Maiden!”
Noble, really—when they’d been going around saying I was so young I couldn’t help myself.
“I had a question, actually.”
“Yes?”
I asked as though I were genuinely curious.
“You said just now that the Crown Prince was speaking to empty air, didn’t you?”
The nobles’ faces went rigid.
Realizing the seriousness of it all, one of them fumbled for an excuse.
“That is to say—!”
“Did you see it yourself?”
“Pardon?”
“You said the Crown Prince seemed mentally unwell?”
He shifted his lips nervously.
“I didn’t see it directly, but…”
“Then who did see it?”
“My mother—”
“Oh, she saw it herself?”
“Well, that is…”
The answer trailed off.
I blinked.
“That’s strange.”
“…”
“Nobody actually saw it with their own eyes, yet somehow you all know the details so perfectly?”
Innocently, speaking plainly as though I truly understood nothing, stating only the facts as they appeared.
“Wow, that’s really amazing. Is it okay to say things like that even when you don’t actually know?”
I clapped once—and their shoulders flinched.
“I’m still young and don’t know much about these things. Could you teach me?”
That was when it happened.
A stifled laugh suddenly came from behind me.
What—what is that?
I spun around in surprise and found Gaitel with her hand clamped over her mouth, shoulders trembling.
“…”
Oh. Really.

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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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