Everyone Realized the Saint Was a Fake, but She Still Thought She Was Fooling Them - Chapter 21

Around the same time, Ernst’s fiancée, Yelena, summoned Brode to her mansion and complained without even offering him tea.

“Where on earth has Dustin gone? How can he not be by my side at such an important time? Brode, have you heard anything?”

“Uh… If I had, I would tell you. But I haven’t heard anything.”

Brode felt frustrated inside, thinking, “Why is she asking me?” but still maintained a polite demeanor toward Yelena.

However, despite Brode having no real connection to the situation, Yelena scolded him as if he were involved.

“You’re Dustin’s friend, aren’t you? And honestly, I’m disappointed in you, Brode. You told Miss Celeste what Dustin did. And isn’t Miss Celeste friends with Miss Lianna, the former fiancée of the Crown Prince? That means Miss Lianna must have found out too, doesn’t it?”

Yelena’s logic was a little off, so Brode hurriedly corrected her.

“Miss Lianna was the one who brought it up. She claimed to be an ally of Lady Lucilda, so I let my guard down.”

“Are you an idiot? Just by watching Lady Lucilda, you should know that she and Miss Lianna are at odds. Besides, isn’t Miss Lianna close to Lord Ernst and Lord Wallace? She’s clearly on Ernst’s side. Can’t you see that? Ugh, this is why I can’t stand country bumpkins like you!”

Yelena furrowed her brows and covered her mouth with her fan.

Being called a country bumpkin made Brode’s chest ache. It was something he was extremely self-conscious about.

That’s why he had been overjoyed when he finally managed to get engaged to Celeste, a noblewoman from the prestigious Tronic ducal family in the capital.

But because of his association with Yelena and Dustin, who were both awful people, his engagement had been easily broken. Brode was utterly disappointed.

—Now, he was just a country bumpkin again.

Brode had genuinely wanted to cherish Celeste. His engagement to her was, of course, partly driven by his admiration for the central nobility. But more than that, he had been captivated by Celeste’s beauty, refinement, and intelligence—things he had never encountered before in his life.

He had thought, “How happy would I be if I could spend my life with her?” Marrying Celeste had been a glimmer of hope in what he considered his dull life.

Yet, at the same time, because Yelena had been the first to take care of him when he arrived in the capital, he felt indebted to her and couldn’t bring himself to go against her.

Brode never thought highly of Yelena’s relationship with Dustin. He also knew that Dustin had shady financial dealings with Saintess Lucilda.

When he learned that Celeste was friends with Lianna, who opposed Lucilda, he felt incredibly guilty.

That was why he had tried to distance himself from Yelena and Dustin. He didn’t want to cause trouble for Celeste or her social circle. Brode intended to stand firmly on Celeste’s side.

But things didn’t go as planned.

Instead, Yelena, upon learning of Brode’s engagement to Celeste, saw an opportunity to use him as a spy on Lianna’s side. She believed she could extract information from Brode about Lianna’s faction.

Meanwhile, Dustin was involved in some kind of scheme with Lucilda. The more information they had about their enemies, the better.

For that reason, Yelena did not approve of Brode keeping his distance.

Somehow, every time, she managed to manipulate him with words, and Brode could never truly escape from her influence.

When Brode heard that Ernst had been stabbed, his first thought was that it must have been Yelena and Dustin’s doing.

Lucilda had a reason to threaten Ernst. If she subdued Ernst and created a situation where Yelena could break off the engagement for political reasons, Lucilda had promised to guarantee Yelena’s relationship with Dustin.

Simply put, Yelena wanted to break off her engagement with Ernst and be with Dustin. For that to happen, she needed Ernst to either voluntarily step away or give her a reason to end things. Lucilda had taken on that task.

So, at the tea party where Brode was first introduced to Wallace, he immediately asked Dustin if he had stabbed Ernst.

The answer was yes.

Brode felt as if the world went dark.

At that tea party, Celeste had been furious upon hearing that Ernst had been stabbed. Wallace, who claimed to be Celeste’s friend, had also declared his support for Ernst’s side. Brode was devastated.

He was associated with the culprit, Dustin. He could no longer face Celeste.

Feeling ashamed, Brode then encountered Celeste and Lianna together. At that moment, Lianna declared that Ernst was their enemy.

Brode must have been truly tormented by being caught between Celeste and Yelena. Perhaps he was so desperate to justify his position that he would cling to anything. So, he foolishly latched onto the false hope that Celeste’s friend Lianna was actually on Lucilda’s side.

And, as a result, he let himself be led by Lianna’s words and talked too much, earning Celeste’s resentment. What a blunder!

He should have been more cautious and suspicious of others!

But as a country bumpkin, he couldn’t fully grasp the nuances of the central nobility’s social dynamics.

He was an idiot.

Was there no better way to handle things?

At the very least, he should have kept his distance from Yelena and Dustin—at any cost!

He should have told Celeste everything from the start and openly declared his opposition to Lucilda.

What had he been doing all this time?

Yelena had no concern whatsoever for Ernst’s well-being after he was stabbed. Even today, she hadn’t asked a single thing about his condition.

Her personality was truly twisted.

As Brode was drowning in shame, Yelena, completely unaware of his thoughts, let out a disappointed sigh and said without hiding her discontent:

“What a shame. You were such a useful source of information about Miss Lianna’s side. But now that your engagement with Miss Celeste is broken, I have no more use for you.”

“Huh? No more use?”

“Exactly. Why would I associate with you otherwise? The only reason I kept you around was for information on Miss Celeste and Miss Lianna.”

Yelena spoke coldly.

“What? That’s all I ever was to you?”

Brode was stunned.

Something inside him—his thoughts, his emotions—felt like they had been completely hollowed out.

He had convinced himself that he owed Yelena too much to abandon her. But now, he realized it had all been for nothing. He had wasted so much time being torn between Celeste and Yelena.

If only she had discarded him sooner!

Yet Yelena, oblivious to his thoughts, scoffed.

“Of course.”

At her condescending tone, Brode snapped.

“If I had known that’s all I was to you, I would have cut ties long ago and told Celeste everything! Then none of this would have happened!”

“How rude. I helped you gain a foothold in the capital, and this is how you repay me? I may have discarded you, but I will not tolerate you speaking to me that way.”

Yelena frowned in displeasure.

“Helped me? You just used me.”

Brode’s voice was filled with anguish.

Yelena, slightly pitying him, offered a smirk.

“Well, you do seem pitiful now. If you find Dustin’s whereabouts, I might consider helping you a little longer.”

Brode clenched his fists, anger boiling inside him.

“I refuse! Find Dustin yourself!”

With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.