The Saintess Is Too Good at Lying - Chapter 50

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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 050
“Why have you suddenly decided not to eat dinner, Saint?”
Nora asked with a bewildered expression when I abruptly refused supper after eating well at lunch.
I gazed out the window, muttering with a bitter smile.
“The Archbishop is observing a fast. It wouldn’t be right for me to eat my fill here.”
“But you’re a patient, Saint!”
“Before being a patient, I’m a member of the clergy.”
“That makes no sense. Why are you suddenly like this? Please eat. Your bones won’t heal if you don’t.”
“Thank you for worrying, Nora. But skipping one meal won’t prevent my bones from mending.”
Nora looked ready to tear her hair out. Then she clapped her hands once and made me a proposal.
“What if you ate in secret? I can sneak something from the kitchen for you.”
I was momentarily at a loss for words at Nora’s bold confession of her theft plan right before a saint. Still, it was rather endearing—far better than simply accepting my refusal.
“I’m truly fine. Just go eat for yourself.”
“Saint…”
Nora whispered several more times afterward—”Are you really not eating anything?” and “I’m really good at stealing”—but I resisted the temptation.
“That small bread is something I can really hide well and bring back…”
“Why are you so skilled at that? Did you do this often at the Temple?”
“…Not often. Only when the Archbishop was fasting.”
“I’m glad I brought you here. Go have dinner. Eat my portion too.”
“How could you be so disloyal?”
Despite her words, Nora faithfully departed to fill her own belly.
So my worry about her suspecting I was starving myself turned out to be entirely unnecessary.
“If you get hungry during the night, please tell me right away. Understood?”
Nora said this, but Justitia was someone who had done fasting with Formoso countless times.
“I’ve fasted so many times. Missing just one meal won’t make me hungry.”
I went to bed immediately. But sleep did not come quickly.
‘…I’m hungry?’
Never mind what I said earlier. Ah, I should have accepted the bread when Nora offered it.
I couldn’t fall asleep because of the hunger. I’d grown accustomed to eating three meals a day since arriving here.
‘Still, I shouldn’t be unable to skip just one meal.’
As I kept my eyes closed and struggled to fall asleep, someone entered my room.
“Nora?”
There was no answer. It wasn’t Nora.
My body tensed immediately. Could this finally be someone truly suspicious? But Cassandro was outside…
“Sir Cassandro?”
I whispered the question, and the light came on.
When a familiar face appeared, a sigh escaped my lips unbidden. Cassandro spoke with a startled expression.
“My apologies. It seems I’ve startled you.”
“Please make some noise before entering.”
As I steadied my racing heart, I noticed something cup-like in his hand. I regarded it with curiosity.
“Is it barley tea?”
“Something similar.”
Either it is or it isn’t—what does “similar” even mean?
Since water was permitted during my fasting prayer, I thought it fortunate and reached out my hand. At least filling my stomach with water before sleep would help.
‘It’s warm.’
Without much thought, I brought the cup to my lips and tilted it, when a warm, viscous liquid touched them.
It wasn’t water.
When I looked at Cassandro, he was regarding me with perfect composure.
“This isn’t water.”
“I never said it was water.”
I responded with an incredulous expression.
“I’m fasting.”
Without thinking, I licked what clung to my lips, and tasted something savory and mild.
It seemed like some kind of soup or grain drink.
“I mean no disrespect to the Saint’s resolve, but a meal of this caliber could reasonably be considered within the bounds of fasting.”
To be honest, since I wasn’t fasting out of any profound conviction, Cassandro’s words were quite tempting.
Among everyone I’d met here, he seemed like the most honest and upright—the kind of person whose words I could trust?
…That couldn’t be right. Originally, even grain drinks weren’t allowed!
“I never thought you capable of such rationalization. Am I corrupting you?”
As I muttered this seriously, Cassandro blinked a couple of times before speaking.
“If that were the case, I would have brought you bread.”
“And ham too, while you’re at it.”
“…Would you like that?”
He takes my jest as earnest once again.
Seeing his expression—as if he’d fetch it immediately if I merely nodded—I hastily shook my head.
“I can’t let you corrupt yourself any further here. This is….”
I glanced at the cup he’d given me, then played along.
“It is similar to water, isn’t it? I’ll drink it gratefully.”
But once I drank it in earnest, it was far too much food to call water.
I tasted walnuts, pine nuts, beans… it was like a grain powder drink.
“Where did you find this in the middle of the night? Did you steal it?”
“I requested it from the Kitchen as my share of a late-night meal.”
“You lied for me.”
I was a little shocked and a little moved. But I was also somewhat troubled. Was I really corrupting this man?
Despite such worries, I’d eaten nearly all the grain drink, though I’d left one sip out of conscience. That’s when Cassandro took the cup back.
Then he tilted the cup and drank all the remaining grain drink. As I stared blankly at him, he met my eyes and smiled faintly.
“Now it’s not a lie.”
Watching him, my heart felt strangely at ease. It was like changing from a solo crime to being accomplices?
After drinking even the water, my stomach finally felt full. Now I could sleep.
“Thank you, Cassandro. Sleep well.”
“Sweet dreams.”
Perhaps blessed by those words, I slept well—dreaming of gorging myself at a five-star hotel buffet.
* * *
The effects of my fast became apparent the following afternoon.
After skipping dinner the previous evening, then breakfast and lunch, Sergio appeared at my door.
‘He’s been avoiding me like the plague ever since that day.’
Despite my protests, he ordered Nora to bring me food. I gazed at Sergio with resentment and asked.
“Are you disregarding my wishes?”
“There’s no need for this kind of protest.”
“You’re being excessive. Protest? I did this frequently back at the Grand Cathedral, following the Archbishop.”
“I know. But is that truly your only reason for fasting now?”
Sergio pressed his lips together and studied me intently before asking.
“It’s not because you resent me?”
“What do you mean?”
“No need to pretend. I found delphinium in your jacket.”
“….”
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”
Even after receiving Sergio’s apology, I remained silent for a long time, avoiding his gaze. As the silence stretched, I sensed his growing anxiety.
“Who did it?”
“….”
“Brother.”
“What will it take for you to stop fasting?”
Sergio chose evasion.
“What must I do to earn your forgiveness?”
It was as good as admitting Lumiel was the culprit. I had to suppress the urge to burst out laughing.
“You haven’t wronged me enough to require forgiveness.”
My deception gauge soared. Finally, I lifted the corners of my mouth and continued.
“So regardless of what you do, I have no intention of stopping. This is my calling, after all.”
In the end, Sergio couldn’t persuade me and had to turn away—never once mentioning my fall on the Staircase.
‘But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know.’
Keep your eyes closed like that, Sergio. Eventually, you’ll be the one who suffers, won’t you?
“Cassandro.”
As he left, Sergio spotted Cassandro and asked.
“Isn’t it your duty to protect the Saint?”
“It is.”
“The Saint is harming herself through fasting—what do you make of that?”
Why is this madman picking a fight with an innocent person? I was about to say something, but Cassandro spoke first.
“Compared to the injuries sustained from falling down the Staircase, fasting can hardly be called harmful.”
I was startled by his unexpected words, and Sergio was rendered speechless in an instant. But Cassandro’s voice did not stop.
“Moreover, it cannot compare to the wound inflicted upon the heart by being misunderstood by one you trust.”
“Cassandro.”
I hastily cut him off.
“That’s enough.”
Cassandro finally fell silent, and Sergio, his face rigid with tension, left the room without a word.
His retreating figure looked utterly humiliated. Really, what was he thinking, picking a fight over nothing?

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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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