The Saintess Is Too Good at Lying - Chapter 35

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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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The Saint Is Such a Good Liar! Episode 035
Dancing nine consecutive dances was no trivial feat.
I marveled at how the other debutantes managed it so effortlessly.
“Are you certain you’re well? You appear rather exhausted.”
“Not at all. I’m feeling quite invigorated at the moment.”
The lie flowed smoothly from my lips, conveniently raising my gauge.
[Mission completed. Additional rewards granted.]
[Current gauge: 36.0%]
The perfectly aligned number brought me satisfaction. Excellent—now I could finally go home!
“…Where has my carriage gone?”
But the carriage was nowhere to be found.
Alarmed, I turned to Cassandro, who responded with an awkward expression.
“The carriage wheel has developed an issue, so the coachman is currently making repairs.”
“Will it take long?”
“It may require some time. I apologize sincerely.”
“There’s no need to apologize. You didn’t break it.”
…
“Did you break it?”
I offered the jest lightly, and Cassandro shook his head in haste. For some reason, his reaction made me laugh.
“Why don’t you come inside and wait?”
Cassandro nodded in agreement.
The Palace, where the ball was being held, had comfortable waiting areas scattered throughout.
I was about to enter one of the Rest Rooms with Nora.
Cassandro stood motionless at the threshold, refusing to enter.
“Why won’t you come in?”
“I shall remain here on watch.”
“You’ve been standing all day. You must be tired—just come inside.”
“That’s right, Captain. Do come in.”
With Nora joining my persuasion, Cassandro reluctantly relented and nodded.
But the moment I stepped inside, I understood why he had hesitated.
There was no sofa in the room—only a single bed sitting conspicuously alone.
‘…Ah, so it’s called a Rest Room, is it.’
In reality, it was a room prepared for couples who had caught each other’s eye.
I glanced subtly at Cassandro, who was already looking elsewhere.
Yet I couldn’t very well ask him to leave now.
‘What does a bed matter, anyway?’
People who saw impropriety in it were the ones being improper—besides, it was arguably more comfortable than a sofa.
I walked briskly to the bed with Nora and sat down. Nora even stretched out fully.
“Won’t you sit as well?”
“I am quite comfortable as I am.”
“If it bothers you, just sit at the edge of the bed. The bed isn’t guilty of anything.”
“….”
At my words, Cassandro perched himself almost at the corner of the mattress.
I wondered if that would actually be restful, but I decided not to press the matter further.
Given Cassandro’s temperament, the fact that he’d entered the room at all was already a considerable concession.
“Oh, that’s right!”
Just then, Nora sprang up from her seat.
“Aren’t you thirsty, Your Holiness? Let me fetch you something to drink.”
“What? No, I’m fine….”
“You danced the entire time without drinking a single glass of water. I’ll be right back.”
No, Nora. Don’t leave me alone. Can’t you see the real problem isn’t that?
I tried to grab her with eye signals, my mouth gaping slightly, but Nora seemed completely oblivious to my desperation.
“You want me to bring snacks too, don’t you? Don’t worry.”
Nora winked and darted out of the room like an arrow.
I stared blankly at her retreating figure before turning my head away.
The moment our eyes met, Cassandro quickly averted his gaze.
“….”
“….”
An awkward silence settled over us. Of all times, the room had to be so quiet….
“Ah! Ah!”
“Harder…!”
…it wasn’t. The sounds alternating from the adjacent room made us both freeze like statues, staring straight ahead.
Everyone’s in good spirits, aren’t they? It was the kind of joke Nora would have giggled and thrown out, but my companion was Cassandro.
I felt a sense of responsibility to do something and jumped to my feet. Cassandro flinched in surprise, looking up at me.
“L-let’s go dance.”
“Dance…?”
Cassandro regarded me with a puzzled expression, but soon seemed to grasp my tearfully considerate gesture.
“Very well.”
He rose solemnly from his seat. We tried to leave casually.
“Ah.”
Then I noticed Cassandro’s shirt collar was folded crookedly.
Without thinking, I reached out to adjust it.
“Here, it’s folded wrong….”
When I suddenly looked up, our eyes met. In that instant, I felt my breath catch.
…Wait, if I point this out here, won’t it look too strange?
Though nothing had happened, I panicked and quickly withdrew my hand, opening the door.
If Nora had been here, I wouldn’t have faced such suspicious scrutiny, but alone with him, I couldn’t help but glance around cautiously.
Fortunately, no one was there.
“People will be quite shocked to see you dancing.”
I blurted out something random to clear the awkward atmosphere.
“Who would have thought the Holy Knight Order Commander of the Grand Cathedral could dance so well?”
“I’m hardly worthy of such praise.”
“Oh, come now. You were truly magnificent last time… Oh!”
While watching Cassandro’s reaction as we walked, I failed to notice the ground beneath my feet. My foot caught wrong, and my body lurched forward.
In that instant, I heard urgent breathing from somewhere, and a swift arm caught me firmly around the waist, steadying me.
“Oh…”
My pupils, widened in surprise, reflected his image perfectly. I gazed at him for a moment before murmuring softly.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. It was my carelessness…”
“That was remarkable. When you were dancing with the Cassini Noblewoman earlier, he just stood there gawking.”
“He was merely startled, I’m sure.”
“True, not everyone possesses such athletic reflexes as you do.”
I laughed softly, straightened myself, and brushed down the folds of my dress.
I should be careful. There’s a man beside me who blames himself for everything, even when I’m the one who missteps.
“Does it trouble you that you couldn’t dance with the Cassini Duke?”
What? Just when things were going well, what nonsense is this?
Cassandro flinched, perhaps noticing my expression betray my thoughts.
“…Unless it does bother you.”
“Actually, I was relieved. It gave me more time to rest. Dancing is quite exhausting, I’ve discovered.”
“If you’re tired, you’re welcome to rest.”
“In that room?”
As I asked teasingly, Cassandro’s eyes wavered like a tsunami.
Ah, I was being too mischievous. I quickly shook my head.
“I’m not that exhausted. Don’t worry. Especially when my partner dances so brilliantly.”
As Cassandro and I entered the Ballroom together, I noticed far fewer people than before.
Alfonso had left, and it appeared the Cassini Duke had departed as well.
Yet I found this quieter atmosphere far more pleasant.
“My goodness, isn’t that the Saint? I thought you’d left.”
“And the gentleman beside you is the Holy Knight Order Commander, isn’t he? Goodness, what an extraordinarily handsome man.”
“He’s famous. When he first arrived in Scalia, so many young ladies came to the Temple to see him that it became quite crowded.”
Hearing this, I smiled and asked.
“Is that so? Why don’t I remember that?”
“Well, the Saint isn’t one to concern herself with such trivial matters. It’s likely an exaggeration.”
“Though the part about him being handsome doesn’t seem exaggerated at all.”
Cassandro’s face was beginning to flush rapidly when new music started.
Since they’d placed the faster-tempo pieces in the first half, the current song was a slow, graceful waltz.
“How unfortunate—such an easy piece won’t let me showcase your full skill.”
“Is your purpose to boast of my abilities?”
“Not entirely, but there’s a natural desire to show off something remarkable, isn’t there?”
At that moment, Cassandro took my right hand. Compared to his large left hand, mine appeared impossibly small.
“The better you hide it, the better.”
His right hand grasped my waist. I placed my left hand on his shoulder and asked.
“Why?”
“Because someone will grow jealous.”
“With a face like yours, you’re already a walking embodiment of envy—dancing skill hardly matters.”
At my words, Cassandro offered a faint smile.
For reasons I couldn’t fathom, that smile carried such a peculiar sorrow that I found myself unable to tease further.
Following the slow melody, my feet began to move in measured time.
Dancing here felt entirely different from when we practiced in that cramped Choir Loft with only the organ’s voice. Now that the stage was set beneath us…
‘He’s even better than I thought.’
His movements were so flawless, so economical, that they could serve as a waltz textbook. I gazed at Cassandro in admiration.
He had been looking elsewhere, but now he turned his gaze to meet mine. When I smiled softly, his crimson eyes reflected me like a still lake.
Then, suddenly, an odd sensation crept over me. As I shifted my gaze, I found someone standing at its end—someone I had never expected to see.
‘…What? How did he get here?’
It was Formoso.

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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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