Everyone Realized the Saint Was a Fake, but She Still Thought She Was Fooling Them - Chapter 20

At that time, Lucilda was sitting on the bed, leaning against the crown prince.

“Hey, Your Highness. I heard that Celeste, that noble lady who is Lianna’s friend, doesn’t recognize me as the saint. Can’t you do something about it?”

Even though she was leaning on him, the atmosphere wasn’t very sweet. She was only complaining about the noble lady who spoke ill of her.

The crown prince listened, looking annoyed.

“Do something? Like what?”

“Don’t you think it’s an insult to me? The woman who will become your crown princess is being mocked. Doesn’t that make you angry too? If they look down on me, they’re looking down on you as well.”

Lucilda straightened her posture, looking directly at the crown prince as she spoke.

“Being mocked, huh? I guess that’s not great.”

The crown prince responded lazily, thinking to himself that he really didn’t care to hear about such trivial things.

Since the crown prince didn’t seem interested in the conversation, Lucilda suddenly stood up from her seat beside him. She crossed her arms and tilted her head as she stood right in front of him.

“Oh?”

The crown prince looked up at her with a smirk.

He knew this kind of behavior from Lucilda. And he knew exactly what she was thinking.

The crown prince reached out and pulled Lucilda by the waist.

“Trying to act tough by standing up like that is foolish. Just sit beside me. As long as you stay by my side, you can be whatever kind of saint you want.”

Yes, this was the kind of Lucilda who would offer her body to get what she wanted.

As she was pulled close, Lucilda lost her balance slightly and instinctively placed her hand on the crown prince’s shoulder. The crown prince let go of her waist and instead grabbed her left wrist.

“Ah.”

Lucilda tripped and fell forward, landing right against the crown prince. He caught her, seeming to enjoy her weight against him. But soon, he seemed to lose interest and easily flipped her onto the bed.

“Oh my,” Lucilda let out a small, sweet sound, while the crown prince smirked and leaned over her. His slightly long bangs were so close they almost touched her face.

“But you can’t just let it go, Your Highness. You have to punish those who mock me.”

See? The crown prince thought.

Even in moments like this, she brings up the same topic.

“What would make you satisfied? Should I put her under house arrest? Her personally? Or her father, Duke Tronic? Maybe banning them from social events for a few years would be good.”

The crown prince spoke casually, not meaning anything seriously.

But Lucilda, not realizing he wasn’t serious, lit up with excitement.

“Can’t you take their land away? Give it to me instead.”

“Their land? That would be a bit difficult without legal grounds.”

The crown prince laughed.

Hearing this, Lucilda quickly changed her request.

“Then, a fine will do. Something simple.”

The crown prince chuckled deep in his throat. How greedy, he thought.

“A fine? Do you need more money?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you’re already receiving bribes from everywhere? You still need more?”

The crown prince asked in disbelief.

“Don’t call them bribes. I simply receive consultation fees. I give them the valuable advice of the saint.”

Lucilda made a flimsy excuse, her expression twitching slightly.

The crown prince sighed and dismissed it.

“Honestly. What do you even spend all that money on? Jewels? Dresses? Well, do as you please.”

“That’s why I love you, Your Highness.”

Lucilda leaned forward and kissed the crown prince.

He ran his fingers through her hair, traced her eyebrows, then caressed her cheek.

“My life as the crown prince is boring. As long as something makes it less dull, I don’t care. Even if you’re not really a saint.”

Lucilda stiffened.

But she quickly covered it up and forced a confident smile.

“What a joke. Of course, I am a real saint.”

“I see. That’s good. A real saint is at least better than a fake one.”

The crown prince said it without any real emotion.

Lucilda pretended not to hear and clung to him, wrapping her legs around him. But her mind was elsewhere.

That noble girl, Celeste, who insulted her, was Lianna’s close friend.

And that man, Brode, who was once engaged to Celeste, was a friend of Dustin Yelena, the one who ordered Ernst to be stabbed.

According to Brode, Celeste broke off her engagement with him and then declared that she did not recognize Lucilda as the saint.

Did Celeste hate her just because she was Lianna’s friend? Or had she actually noticed something about Lucilda’s true identity?

No, no, that couldn’t be. There was no way anyone could discover her secret. She had the holy mark. Not even the crown prince or Lianna had noticed anything.

The real problem was Ernst.

That man wanted to get rid of her. Maybe forcing him to pay bribes had been a mistake. Even though she had reduced the amount for him, he didn’t appreciate it. Instead, he started investigating her, snooping around persistently.

That man couldn’t be left alone.

The crown prince knew about the bribes. But he didn’t know what she used them for—to maintain her position as the saint.

She would keep this secret no matter what.

She was the saint.

As a child, she had done anything to survive—washing dishes, cleaning vegetables with frostbitten hands in freezing water, just for a piece of bread.

Winter’s icy water was still a blessing, as long as she could get food. There were much worse things. She had done whatever it took to stay alive.

One day, a beautiful noble girl had spotted her from a carriage window and saved her from being whipped by the coachman.

For whatever reason, the girl had asked a few short questions in a clear, beautiful voice and, looking sympathetic, had sent Lucilda to the temple’s welfare facility.

That was how Lucilda became a child of the temple, repaying the priests’ kindness by following their instructions even now.

She never wanted to go back to that life again.

She was the saint.

The priests called her a saint.

So, she was a saint.

Being a saint required money. If that was the case, then she would gather money.

As long as she followed the priests’ orders, everything would be fine.