The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 9

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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 9
“Diane is right.”
He always wore a smile, but not in this moment.
Gordon trembled, glancing about the Funeral Hall, bewildered by the Pope’s sudden defense of the strange child.
“Last night, Diane received a Divine Oracle, and on the basis of that oracle, we gathered evidence.”
“A lie! That’s impossible!”
“Wasn’t the brooch you wore when you met the young lady of the Triel house still missing?”
……!
“Confess, Gordon Black.”
Bang!
Before his words had even finished, knights came rushing through the entrance of the Funeral Hall.
Not holy knights, but imperial knights clad in golden armor.
“We have come to apprehend the criminal Gordon Black. Step forward at once and confess your crime.”
“So Gordon really did kill our daughter?”
The Baroness, foam at her lips, threw herself at him with a shriek.
“Ah, stop—stop it!”
“That Marriage Document was forged too. On the day she was murdered, the young lady demanded an annulment.”
At my words, the Pope, like the others, handed a scrap of letter to the knight who appeared to be their commander.
[Quest Progress: 70%]
Make sure everyone knows the truth of this crime.
“He borrowed money from Miss Camilla for gambling.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“A Promissory Note.”
I spoke coldly toward him.
“There must be one.”
……!
“How much in a daze were you not to notice your brooch being torn off during the struggle?”
At my words, Gordon staggered.
In that instant, the Pope stepped forward in my place, shielding me. As if protecting me from Gordon.
“Indeed. While performing the autopsy on the body, we recovered a brooch engraved with the Black family seal from within her clenched fist.”
He withdrew the blood-stained brooch from his breast.
Now that all the facts were known, those present gasped in horror, rose to their feet, and cursed him.
“No……. No! It’s not true!”
“You wretched bastard!”
“Where did you kill her, only to play the victim?”
“……Thank you.”
I clearly heard the quiet voice cutting through the tumult.
Clutching the doll tightly, I whispered.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more than this.”
The doll shook its head vigorously.
“You must have been so frightened because of me?”
“……Yes.”
I hesitated before answering.
It was true enough, after all.
I’d genuinely been terrified.
Was it because of that memory—of being strangled to death—that made me stretch my neck so far?
Gordon thrashed against the knights, writhing and cursing, but could never break free.
That was when it happened.
The Baron, who had been standing silent all this while supporting the Baroness, strode forward with purpose.
Seeing the Baron, Gordon begged with a face full of hope.
“I didn’t, I swear I didn’t! You know me!”
“Yes. I know you well…….”
The Baron seized him by the collar with brutal force. His hands trembled with such fury.
“I forgave you your infidelities, time and again.”
……!
“How dare you lay a hand on my daughter……!”
“No, wait, there’s been a misunderstanding—”
Crack!
With the sound of impact, Gordon’s face snapped to the side.
The Pope, shielding my eyes with his hand, whispered softly.
“Baron Triel is a retired mercenary, so he has quite the fighting hand.”
“……Ah.”
“Honestly, it’s satisfying to watch. But it’s not something children should see.”
Thwack. Thwack.
Gordon couldn’t say a word.
The sound of his face being struck repeatedly, over and over, echoed through the silence.
No one stepped in to stop him.
Not even the Imperial Knights.
“……My dear.”
Unable to watch any longer, the Baroness called out to him, but the Baron’s fists did not cease.
If anything, they grew faster and harder, until one of the Knights finally moved to restrain him.
“How dare you—how dare you touch my daughter! My daughter!”
“My dear!”
As his focus returned, the Baron stared blankly at the Knight holding his arm, then tears began to stream down his face.
The Baroness too wept as though she could barely breathe, shaking her head.
“Stop……please.”
Gordon’s face had been beaten beyond recognition, a mass of blood and broken bone.
Gordon coughed and spat blood, then laughed—a low, bitter sound.
“Damn……it hurts.”
An enraged Knight kicked his face. Gordon’s body went limp, consciousness slipping away.
“Our apologies for the disturbance. We will take this man for interrogation.”
“Please do.”
The Knight Commander saluted the Pope and ordered the Knights forward. Gordon was dragged away, his arms bound behind his back.
It was finally over.
[Quest completed.]
[Enlightenment Condition 2. Convey Camilla’s heart to Liam Patrick.]
Please deliver the heart of the dead spirit to Liam Patrick in her stead.
“…….”
I looked at Liam with a complicated expression. He was still staring at Gordon being dragged away.
I carefully stroked the fur of the doll I was holding, hesitating for a long moment.
Something heavy settled in a corner of my chest.
‘Is it really right to tell him?’
Kindhearted as he was, Liam would surely suffer.
‘Adult love is complicated…….’
Liam was a typical holy knight. Upright in character, strong in justice, honest—someone who believed only what he could see.
Yet I was supposed to tell such a man about a ghost’s unrequited love.
‘What if he thinks I’m talking nonsense and doesn’t believe me?’
I myself had only confirmed the existence of ghosts yesterday, and I still didn’t fully accept it.
But then I shook my head.
She had said that Liam was the last person she thought of before she died.
Thinking of Camilla, who had spent countless nights yearning for one person,
‘I can bear that much embarrassment.’
In the end, I approached Liam, holding the doll to my chest.
“Liam.”
He turned to me. His eyes were more serious than usual, somewhat tired, but when our gazes met, he reflexively offered a smile.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
I spoke calmly.
He was the first person in this world to show me genuine kindness. To be honest, I wanted him to think well of me.
“It might sound strange, but please hear me out.”
“Yes, please speak.”
I swallowed hard. What if he dismissed me as someone unhinged and simply left?
Would the Quest fail? Would I lose Liam as well?
“For the past few days, there’s been a spirit—no, a ghost attached to you.”
“……I’m sorry?”
I continued speaking as I watched his face grow pale.
“She loved you. Before her death, and after.”
He went rigid.
“Do you know Camilla Triel?”
“That person…….”
I answered as I watched his gaze turn toward the coffin.
“That’s right.”
“……!”
“The truth is, she wanted to break off the engagement and confess to Liam. She said she didn’t mind being rejected—she just wanted to reach him once, even for a moment…….”
My voice trembled.
Slowly, I peeled the doll away from my chest. It must have been pressed against me for so long that I’d absorbed something of her emotion.
“P-please, Your Holiness…….”
“Keep listening.”
I continued with what I’d been saying.
“The last person she thought of before she died was Liam.”
“……I.”
“You don’t need to know. She said he didn’t need to know either. She just wanted to be remembered. She wanted someone to know that she had been happy watching Liam, even if only for a moment.”
“…….”
Liam bowed his head.
I gave him the space to grieve.
“……Thank you. Truly.”
That was when it happened. As the small voice fell silent, a thread-thin ribbon of golden light unfurled from the doll toward the sky, and the air filled with a delicate floral fragrance.
“I’m at peace now.”
A final farewell came from within the doll. The next moment, the space before my eyes rippled like glass, and Camilla Triel appeared.
Long, wavy brown hair; a pale but warm smile; eyes wide and luminous.
It was Camilla Triel as I’d seen her in the carriage.
She gazed at Liam one last time, then smiled radiantly.
Soft.
In that instant, she pressed her lips gently to his forehead.
“……What was that just now?”
Liam touched his forehead dazedly, struggling for words.
“You felt that?”
“Ah, something slightly warm…….”
It was miraculous. Camilla’s eyes widened in wonder, then faded to transparency, dissolving into light.
It happened in moments, yet the afterglow lingered long.
I watched her fade, then touched my face with my fingertips. Something felt wet.
I was crying.
“……Why are there tears?”
I was stunned. She’d been a terrifying spirit, nothing more. I’d hoped she’d disappear quickly—and now my chest ached with regret at that thought.
Liam said nothing. He simply stood beside me in silence.
“Camilla left smiling. Happily.”
I sniffled.
“If she was happy, then it was for the best. I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”
I nodded at Liam’s words. Very slightly.
And so we stood together in silence for a while.
[Quest ‘Grant Ascension to the Spirit of the Murdered’ completed!]
[Virtuous Deed Gauge increased by 5.]
[Current value: 7 / 1000]
‘Perhaps there’s meaning in this after all.’
To speak words left unsaid in life, to bring forth forgotten feelings and let them be remembered.
It was the first moment I truly understood that something small could be salvation for someone.
I held the doll close, feeling—for the first time—not fear, but something else.
Something warm.
“……Farewell, Camilla.”
The doll made no further movement.

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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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