Everyone Realized the Saint Was a Fake, but She Still Thought She Was Fooling Them - Chapter 2

Sensing a strange presence, Lianne and Wallace turned around. There stood a woman, extravagantly dressed and acting high and mighty.

She was beautiful, but her outfit was quite revealing and lacked elegance. Holding a fan decorated with fluffy feathers near her lips, she fixed her glaring, hostile eyes on Lianne.

“Saint Lucilda…”

Lianne took a step back, overwhelmed by her intense presence.

Wallace, noticing Lianne’s hesitation, stepped forward protectively and asked in a firm tone,

“Is something the matter, Saint Lucilda?”

“I came to warn her that this isn’t a place for criminals.”

Lucilda spoke while looking down on Lianne with a sharp glare.

“I-I’m not a criminal…”

Lianne trembled at the outright hostility but managed to reply firmly.

Wallace immediately came to her aid.

“That’s right. Lianne is not a criminal. That incident happened two years ago. If she were truly guilty, she would have been charged long ago. The fact that she wasn’t proves her innocence.”

Wallace cast Lianne a quick, reassuring glance.

Feeling saved, Lianne’s heart eased a little.

However, Lucilda did not seem pleased by their exchange. Her eyes narrowed angrily as she thrust her fan toward Wallace.

“And who are you? You do understand what it means to side with Lianne instead of me in this kingdom, don’t you? I am the only great Saintess of this nation and the Crown Prince’s fiancée!”

“Yes, exactly. That’s why I don’t want to argue with you. Let’s go, Lianne.”

Wallace had no intention of engaging further with Lucilda. He gave her only the bare minimum of courtesy with a bow, then gently took Lianne’s arm and tried to leave.

However, since Lucilda had gone out of her way to pick a fight, she had no intention of letting them off so easily.

“Hold it right there, Lianne! If you dared to show up at the royal palace for the formal ball, that means you still have lingering feelings for the Crown Prince, don’t you?”

That provocation made Lianne want to respond.

She tugged slightly on Wallace’s arm, turned around to face Lucilda, and, mustering all her courage, shouted,

“I have no lingering feelings! It’s true that I was once engaged to the Crown Prince. But when you, the ‘Saintess,’ appeared and were recognized as the rightful partner for him, I accepted the law and formally annulled my engagement. Nothing more, nothing less!”

Hearing Lianne’s clear and firm declaration, Wallace and Celeste both looked relieved.

Even so, Lucilda did not seem pleased.

Instead, her expression darkened even further as she scowled.

“Hmph. If you even think about approaching the Crown Prince again, I won’t forgive you! And I’ve noticed that you seem to have quite a few noble friends… Don’t even think about plotting any revenge against me!”

She continued to rant furiously.

Wallace, clearly fed up, glanced at Lucilda with an exasperated look.

“And it seems you don’t have many friends yourself, do you? Well, not that we’re planning anything like revenge in the first place. Let’s go, Lianne, Celeste.”

This time, Wallace was firm, and he led Lianne and Celeste out of the grand hall without looking back.

Once they stepped out of the hall, the three of them let out a deep sigh of relief.

“What an absolute disaster,” Wallace said sympathetically to Lianne.

Beside him, Celeste nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

At that moment, someone rushed toward them in a panic and crashed straight into Wallace.

The person quickly turned around, looking apologetic.

“Sorry for bumping into you—wait, Wallace?! Perfect timing! I need your help!”

“Bartlett! Of course, I’ll help, but what’s going on?”

Wallace was relieved to see a familiar face, but Bartlett’s sudden request was suspicious, so he asked cautiously.

Bartlett stepped closer, his face tense with urgency.

“Ernst Lynbrick has collapsed, bleeding. I couldn’t just leave him, so I need you to lend a hand.”

Hearing that, Lianne turned pale.

“What?!”

Ernst Lynbrick—the very man she had been watching earlier.

Wallace briefly glanced at Lianne, who looked shaken, then turned back to Bartlett and asked with a serious expression,

“When you say collapsed… Is he dead?”

Bartlett, perhaps affected by Wallace’s composed demeanor, took a deep breath to calm himself and replied,

“No, his injuries seem deep, but I don’t think they’re fatal… probably.”

Wallace’s face relaxed slightly in relief.

“I see. We need to report this to the Queen, the event’s host. She should call the royal physician immediately. I’ll send a fast messenger to the Lynbrick family. As for the city guards… let’s hold off on that for now. There might be circumstances we don’t understand, so we should let the Lynbrick family handle it.”

Then, turning to Lianne—who was still pale and trembling—he opened his arms and gently pulled her into a comforting embrace.

“A….”

Lianne looked up, meeting Wallace’s slightly troubled gaze.

Wallace gave her a reassuring smile and spoke softly.

“It’ll be okay. Lord Ernst won’t die.”

Then, as servants from Wallace’s household rushed over after hearing the commotion, he gave firm instructions.

“Escort Lianne and Celeste back to the estate. Make sure they get there safely!”

“Wait, Wallace…”

Being suddenly told to leave, Lianne instinctively reached out toward him.

Wallace gave her another troubled smile and gently took her hand in his.

“I’m going to Ernst now. Tomorrow, meet me in front of Coco at Celeste’s house. Go straight home.”