The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 60

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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 60
Behind Gaitel, whose eyes glistened with tears she was struggling to suppress, Demian had appeared at the corridor entrance.
His expression remained pallid and lifeless, but his gaze was anything but.
‘Grim… deadly grim.’
He was staring directly at me.
As if to ask: what exactly are you doing?
But he didn’t move to stop me.
I chose to interpret that silence as tacit consent and pressed forward.
‘Honestly, backing down now would look terrible, wouldn’t it?’
I turned my attention back to the young nobles.
“And even if it were true that His Highness had done such a thing―”
My voice came out colder than I’d expected, and I was startled by it.
‘Am I… angry right now?’
Perhaps. But I had to say what needed saying.
“That would only be because he was suffering.”
They had no answer.
I tilted my head to one side.
“Why would you laugh while speaking about someone in pain?”
Silence descended.
From somewhere distant, a priest’s voice reading an inventory list echoed faintly.
“I genuinely don’t understand.”
I asked it plainly, as though I truly didn’t know.
“At the Temple, we don’t laugh when we’re worried about someone who’s ill. Is it different in the Imperial Palace’s noble etiquette?”
The children’s faces drained of color.
“We didn’t mean―”
“The Holy Maiden is correct.”
Gaitel looked silently at Demian, who had been standing without a word, then back at the young nobles.
“What you’ve just done brings dishonor to the Imperial Palace.”
Gaitel’s voice was soft, which somehow made it all the more frightening.
With a tone like that, one could silence someone with a word and no one would ever know.
“You are those who represent the Imperial House, are you not?”
The lips of the young noble who had been most gleefully tearing Demian apart trembled.
“Y-yes, Your Highness.”
“Then I suggest you express yourselves with rather more dignity going forward.”
Gaitel spoke with casual indifference.
“It is unseemly to make gossip of someone’s suffering.”
They bowed hastily.
“We will… bear it in mind.”
“We had no intention whatsoever of bringing shame upon the Imperial House!”
Only then did I take a breath, and I stole a glance at Demian.
He stood quietly, saying nothing.
But I saw it anyway.
For just a fraction of a moment, an expression that flickered across his face.
The look of someone who had heard such cruel words so many times that even being wounded by them had become tiresome.
Gaitel, too, was still smiling, but there was something terrible in her eyes.
Both of them seemed accustomed to this kind of whispered malice.
If even these children spoke such things, how unfiltered must the words of the adults behind them have been?
The thought made something inside me roil with indignation.
They say children are mirrors of their parents, after all.
When talk like this flows so freely at home, the children simply take it as truth and repeat it without thinking.
“Go on, now. Watch your tongues in the future.”
Gaitel waved her hand dismissively, and they all snapped into hasty bows before fleeing without so much as a backward glance.
Only once they’d gone could I breathe properly.
“Hhh… hhh…”
I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding my breath for so long.
My chest felt tight, and the bandage Becky had wrapped around my fingertips—soaked in Holy Water for protection—chafed uncomfortably.
My fingers tingled, probably from clenching my fists too hard.
Whether facing spirits or people, it all felt equally difficult.
“Holy Maiden.”
Gaitel approached slowly.
It was an elegant, composed smile that never wavered in formal settings, but I could tell she was furious right now.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I straightened my posture at once. I couldn’t afford to let anything slip.
That’s when it happened.
Gaitel’s hand rose slowly to the crown of my silver hair and moved along with the strands.
My mind went blank and my mouth fell open.
‘Is Gaitel really petting me right now?’
“I was a bit startled just now,” Gaitel said.
Her hand continued its gentle motion without pause.
“I didn’t know such a small, adorable Holy Maiden could show anger.”
“……!”
“Where on earth did you learn to be angry?”
“W-was I scary?”
“You were cute.”
“……!”
I couldn’t tell if this was a compliment or a criticism.
As I rolled my eyes slightly, Gaitel shrugged and turned my body around.
Before I could react to the sudden rotation, Demian appeared before me.
After spinning me toward him, she rested her chin on the crown of my head and spoke in a relaxed tone.
“It’s better than being insulted and having nothing to say about it, like someone I know.”
It was obvious she was referring to Demian.
Demian still slouched like a man devoid of all energy.
Suddenly, I felt a surge of anger welling up inside me.
His gaze remained clouded and sorrowful. And it all looked far too familiar.
So.
“Your Highness.”
I let it out.
“Do you have to keep going on like this?”
My voice came out sharper than I’d intended.
Was I being too blunt?
“Pretending to suffer when you’re not in pain. Playing the victim.”
Gaitel stepped back from me. The atmosphere had grown too tense for her to continue teasing.
Demian stared at me for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“Then what?”
“……!”
“What else am I supposed to do here?”
At his cold expression, which I hadn’t seen in a while, my heart sank.
“Have you ever been the target of an assassination attempt just because you were healthy?”
“……!”
I looked like I’d forgotten how to breathe.
‘What did I just hear?’
Gaitel gave my hand a gentle tug and a shake, as if suggesting we should leave, but my body wouldn’t move.
I could only stare at Demian’s lips, devoid of all humor.
‘An assassination attempt?’
“Before I ended up like this, anyway. That is, when the Empress was still alive.”
He let out a bitter laugh and pulled up his shirt.
“Oh my!”
I hurriedly covered my eyes, then peeked through my fingers.
A long, jagged scar ran across his bare chest.
“…M-my God, Your Highness!”
Who? Who on earth could have…?
My mouth opened and closed without sound.
Gaitel also averted her gaze and let out a long sigh.
“I was two years old? The Empress barely managed to dispatch the assassin before he killed me.”
A self-deprecating laugh erupted from him.
“Why? Does it look pathetic?”
“……!”
“Living this way, so miserably, so pitifully…”
Demian’s voice trembled as he spoke.
“Is it funny?”
“…….”
I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.
“Holy Maiden. I……. I have no choice but to live like this.”
Demian let out a hollow, strained laugh.
“This is how I survive.”
“Your Highness…….”
“A pathetic Crown Prince who pretends to be helpless, who can barely survive only when others let their guard down. That’s me.”
How’s that?
He laughed dryly and wiped his face with the back of his hand.
As his hands fell away, all emotion drained from his features.
Expressionless, Demian turned to me.
“Pretending to hurt when you don’t, playing the victim.”
He was repeating the very words I’d spoken to him.
“I’m not sure what you expected a Crown Prince to be.”
I said nothing, my hands trembling at my sides.
All I knew was that I’d just inflicted something terrible on him.
“Sorry I’m not as impressive as you’d hoped.”
“……Your Highness. That’s not what I meant at all―”
“I know.”
He gave a bitter smile and muttered something under his breath.
“Damn it, I know well enough. Everyone sees how kind you are.”
“I only thought it might be better if you showed yourself as you truly are.”
My voice was shaking uncontrollably.
Don’t cry, Diane.
Don’t cry. Just speak.
And apologize.
But Demian seemed to have no more interest in engaging with me.
He turned and walked away with long, deliberate strides.
“……Where are you going? Demian!”
Gaitel called after him, but he didn’t stop.
It was the first time I’d ever seen Gaitel hesitant. She studied my face, then let out a long, heavy sigh.
“I’m not really the one to say this. After all, it was those who wanted to make me the successor who did it.”
Gaitel patted my shoulder, speaking in a sorrowful voice.
“The late Empress struggled to bear children. So everyone naturally assumed I, as the firstborn, would become Empress Regnant.”
“…….”
“But then Demian was born as the second child. A strong boy.”
Tears kept welling up, blurring my vision.
“How desperate they must have been. Those who’d invested everything in my succession suddenly stood to lose it all in an instant.”
For such a trivial reason.
“So they tried every method to kill Demian. That’s why I’ve kept my distance from him.”
“……Your Highness.”
I wiped my nose.
Something fell away, and my blurred vision suddenly cleared.
“I……. I need to apologize.”

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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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