The Saintess Is Too Good at Lying - Chapter 11

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Saint Is Such a Good Liar! Episode 011
Alfonso and Lumiel sat side by side on the bed, staring at me with expressions of shock.
Sad thoughts, I need sad thoughts.
I let my lips tremble as I drew a deep breath through my nose. Then I opened my eyes as wide as possible and held my breath. Tears began to well up in my eyes rapidly.
It was around that moment when the frozen Alfonso finally came to his senses.
“Justitia, do you enter without knocking?”
Ah, scratch that comment about him coming to his senses.
“…Your Majesty.”
I made my voice quaver as much as possible, alternating my gaze between Alfonso and Lumiel.
“Why is the Cassini Noblewoman here…?”
A man in the King’s Bedchamber with his former fiancée. A scene that looked unmistakably like infidelity. Good luck explaining that away.
As I stared at Alfonso with that expression, he naturally grew flustered and couldn’t find his words.
“Welcome, Saint.”
Of course, it’s always her who uses her head. I looked at Lumiel as if I’d expected exactly this.
“You must be quite shocked, aren’t you? That I’m here. I only came to treat His Majesty the King with my sacred power….”
“But you said that to me, Noblewoman.”
I cut off Lumiel’s words with a trembling voice.
“You said you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. That you wouldn’t cause me pain….”
“It’s a misunderstanding, Saint. I….”
“I made it clear to you. If you couldn’t forget His Majesty, and since it’s common knowledge that you came first, I said I would step aside.”
“No, the reason I came here….”
“And yet, after saying no, how could you….”
As I kept interrupting her attempts to explain, Lumiel seemed to grow slightly irritated. Then Alfonso interjected.
“Justitia, you’re being excessive right now.”
“I understand Your Majesty’s intentions well.”
I sniffled and made a motion of wiping my cheeks.
“I love Your Majesty very much… but it seems I truly should step aside.”
[Lie Gauge increased by 0.3%]
[Current Gauge: 2.9%]
“…Sob!”
Having finished what I needed to say, I openly burst into tears and rushed out of the room.
I could sense the Central Palace attendants’ bewilderment at the sight of me.
“Saint, please calm down first….”
“I don’t want to hear anything.”
They tried to grab me and calm me down, but I quickly evaded their grasp and made my way outside.
Now it was time to show everyone this version of me. I hastily wiped away the tear stains from my cheeks and returned to the Party Hall.
Then I approached the nobles I’d been conversing with earlier, my expression as melancholy as could be.
“I apologize, but I think I must take my leave. I’m not feeling well.”
“Saint? Your face….”
“Did something happen?”
I hesitated before opening my mouth to those concerned faces.
“It’s nothing serious….”
In that moment, I burst into tears again. With the growing crowd of onlookers, the tears streamed down my cheeks abundantly.
“Why are you like this, Saint? What on earth has happened?”
Someone gently wrapped their warm hand around mine and asked.
Yes, this was exactly what I’d been waiting for.
I pretended to barely compose my breathing.
“I simply cannot bring myself to say it….”
“Weren’t you just returning from the King’s Bedchamber? Is His Majesty in such grave condition?”
“That’s not quite it….”
I continued repeating only vague responses.
“In the King’s Bedchamber….”
I stopped right there and sealed my lips shut. But the nobles, well-versed in gossip, were quick to catch on.
“My goodness, surely His Majesty didn’t…!”
“No, that can’t be. He hasn’t shown any romantic interest in all this time.”
“But if that weren’t the case, there’d be no reason for the Saint to be like this.”
As I remained silent and wept—or rather, merely pretended to weep—the crowd grew excited and began pouring out their words.
“Saint, please tell us. Was there really a woman in the King’s Bedchamber?”
“How dare anyone approach His Majesty, the Saint’s betrothed…!”
“But isn’t the Cassini Noblewoman nowhere to be seen right now?”
Exactly. I knew someone perceptive enough would step forward like this.
“What? No, that’s not it. She was definitely here just moments ago… Huh?”
The moment someone realized that Lumiel was absent from the gathering, a cold atmosphere descended over the Party Hall.
Instead of denying it, I wept even more sorrowfully. Nearly everyone simultaneously covered their mouths.
“Oh my, so the Cassini Noblewoman really did….”
“I, I should be going now.”
I decided to make my exit at the opportune moment. They wouldn’t be able to gossip freely if they kept watching my expression.
Lumiel would probably show up late and try to salvage the situation, but what did I care.
I’d already accomplished my goal for the day, and the crowd would be absolutely captivated by this delicious scandal.
Ah, what a pleasant feeling.
As I wiped away my tears and headed toward the carriage, I spotted Cassandro waiting in the distance.
‘Will he be concerned?’
I remembered how seriously he’d examined the wound on my leg last time.
But unexpectedly, he regarded me with a completely expressionless face.
As if he knew I’d merely been pretending to cry.
‘He wasn’t fooled.’
Why?
I’d wager that not a single person in that banquet hall doubted my tears.
My performance was that flawless. I’d even returned with tear stains still visible on my cheeks.
‘Have my tears already dried?’
Confused, I touched my cheek, and suddenly a handkerchief was thrust before me.
Pure white silk with no pattern or embroidery. Do knights carry such things?
I stared at it intently and asked.
“Was my acting really that poor?”
“No.”
Cassandro answered in a calm voice.
“It was excellent. Enough to make my heart skip a beat in that moment.”
“…Then why didn’t you fall for it?”
“The saint I know would never show tears before others.”
“That means the same applied to you. You know remarkably well that my tears were fake.”
“…I apologize.”
I raised my eyebrow skeptically at him as he suddenly apologized.
“What are you apologizing for?”
“It wasn’t intentional, but unintentionally…”
“Unintentionally?”
“…I have seen the saint crying.”
“In secret?”
“Well, it’s not quite accurate to say in secret…”
“If you saw me when I didn’t know, that’s spying, plain and simple.”
“…I apologize.”
Cassandro lowered his head, and I grew serious for a moment. So others could notice too.
“What if everyone becomes suspicious…”
As I muttered gravely, Cassandro replied as if to reassure me.
“Others won’t know.”
“But you figured it out?”
“…”
Cassandro fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“Most people simply don’t pay that much attention to the saint.”
“Does that include my fiancé and my brother?”
“…”
“I was joking.”
Seeing Cassandro unable to answer, I laughed bitterly and climbed into the carriage.
During the ride, Nora kept watching my expression.
“Don’t worry about it, Nora. I had a rough idea anyway.”
“H-how did you…?”
“Just… women’s intuition, I suppose.”
Lumiel, who covets Justitia’s position, wouldn’t have left Alfonso wavering. Besides, Alfonso has opportunistic tendencies.
“What will you do?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Are you considering breaking off the engagement?”
“If it’s possible.”
But it seemed unlikely that Alfonso would choose Lumiel despite the suspicion of infidelity. It was obvious that sympathetic public opinion would turn toward me.
Rather, Lumiel and he would likely join forces to frame me and have me killed. Just like the ending of Justitia that I knew.
‘Besides, I never had any intention of manipulating Alfonso into my camp anyway.’
If things came to that, I’d have to bundle up that pair of cockroaches and send them off together.
After all these thoughts, the carriage arrived at the Temple.
Formoso, peacefully watering the flower bed unaware of the chaos outside, approached when he saw my carriage.
“What brings you here so early? Did something happen at the banquet?”
“….”
As I maintained a gloomy silence, Formoso glanced at Nora as if asking what was wrong.
Nora hesitated before recounting what had happened today.
“So the Saint wept the entire way here.”
…Did this one also need to fill up her lying gauge? Who exactly was crying?
I stared at Nora with a bewildered expression for a moment, when an even more bewildering remark came from Formoso.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————