Everyone Realized the Saint Was a Fake, but She Still Thought She Was Fooling Them - Chapter 25

Lianna, after receiving advice from Celeste, waited for the right time. She entrusted her body to Mesha and Celeste and set out for ‘night stroll’.

Her destination was, of course, the main temple in the central city of the southern region.

This temple had a history full of problems.

In recent years, the royal palace had declared the central temple in the capital as the kingdom’s first temple, overseeing all regional temples. However, the southern main temple was different.

Normally, priests who gained experience in small regional temples would be promoted to main regional temples, and the most outstanding ones would eventually move to the central temple. But in the southern main temple, priests who started their training there remained indefinitely. There was little movement in or out—no priests came from smaller temples, and hardly anyone transferred to the central temple.

Because of this lack of movement, the southern main temple became closed off, developing its own culture.

It all started long ago when a heroic priest was given special permission to stay in his hometown’s southern main temple. The central temple was hesitant to interfere, and over time, this “exception” became the norm.

Even though it was just an exception, the southern main temple held strong pride and resisted the central temple’s authority.

The people of the southern city also took pride in having a temple that wouldn’t bow to the central temple. As a result, the southern main temple became an isolated entity, separate from the central temple’s control.

In that very temple was the chief supporting priest of Saintess Lucilda.

Saintess Lucilda had been recognized for her holy stigma at the southern main temple and was declared a saintess there.

And that was the problem—a saintess appearing in an ambitious yet closed-off temple.

Of course, the central temple also officially supported Saintess Lucilda.

According to the Saintess Law, a saintess who would become the crown prince’s consort needed recognition from the central temple. Politically, it would be unbalanced otherwise. So, the central temple served as her official patron. However, in reality, the southern main temple controlled almost everything about her, making the central temple’s support meaningless.

Using this position, the southern main temple made demands, raised complaints, and attempted to gain power over the central temple.

On the other hand, the central temple had little understanding of what was happening inside the southern main temple.

Tonight, Lianna slipped into this secretive southern main temple during her “night stroll.”

Since she had no physical form, no one could see or stop her.

Suddenly, Lianna noticed a cheerful-looking young man sneaking out through the back entrance of the temple.

As she wondered why,

“Dustin, what are you doing?”

A high-ranking priest called out to him in a commanding tone, making Lianna freeze.

So, this is Dustin!

“Priest Wisledge. I was thinking of returning to the capital soon,” Dustin replied casually.

“Dustin, you can’t leave yet.”

“What? Come on! Let me go already! I want to see Yelena!”

Dustin playfully put his hands together in a pleading gesture.

“You do realize that you’re the one who stabbed Ernst, right?”

Priest Wisledge scolded him, but Dustin only shrugged.

“Yeah, I know. So what?”

“Ernst is a high-ranking noble. If you get caught, you’ll be put on trial. You could even be executed!”

“Haha, I won’t get caught.”

“And why are you so confident?!”

“I’m really good at handling these things. There’s no proof that I stabbed him, so I’ll be fine.”

Dustin smiled, but his eyes were cold.

A chill ran down Priest Wisledge’s spine.

“That’s… reassuring, I guess. But even Lucilda told me to keep an eye on you.”

“Ugh. Lucilda, huh? Things get annoying whenever her name comes up.”

Dustin looked up at the ceiling with a sigh.

“Watch your words. She’s a saintess, so show some respect.”

“Lucilda is your prized student, isn’t she? But talking about respect is funny coming from you. You’re the one who found that fake saintess, after all.”

Dustin spoke in an amused tone.

Priest Wisledge smirked.

“Hmph. That condition of hers is rare. An old medicine for skin diseases leaves a mark on the forehead that looks like a holy stigma.”

“Yeah, it really does look like one. You’re a bad man, Priest Wisledge. Normally, no one would do something like this—taking someone with a skin mark and making them a saintess.”

Dustin laughed.

“Well, Lucilda wanted this too.”

“But you’re the one benefiting the most, Priest Wisledge. Lucilda is doing whatever she wants as a saintess, and she’s collecting bribes from everywhere.”

“There’s no choice. The modern version of the medicine doesn’t cause the holy stigma effect anymore. Only the old formula works, but the ingredients are rare and expensive.”

Priest Wisledge pretended to look troubled.

But Dustin scoffed.

“I bet you tell Lucilda it costs more than it really does, and you pocket the extra money. Just how much have you made?”

“Hmph. I was the one who made Lucilda a saintess. I deserve that much.”

“Sure. That’s why Lucilda listens to you. And because of that, I have to listen to her. …Wait, doesn’t that mean I’m the one getting the worst deal?”

Dustin pouted.

“Don’t say that. Lucilda promised to protect your relationship with Yelena. Normally, a romance like yours would get you thrown in prison. You should be grateful.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s why Yelena tells me to obey Lucilda. But if she won’t even let me see Yelena, why should I listen?”

Dustin let out a long sigh, then glared at Priest Wisledge with eyes sharp enough to kill.

Priest Wisledge shuddered.

“D-Dustin…?”

Dustin’s eyes gleamed in a chilling way.

“I’m a very capable man, you know. If I wanted, I could just take Yelena and run away somewhere. I don’t actually need Lucilda’s approval. The only reason I’m playing along is because Yelena cares about her noble status.”

“D-Don’t say that. Well, if Ernst reconsiders and forms an alliance with Lucilda, we can resolve this. The key is how much money we can take from his flood control project. He probably wants a quick solution too. Once things are settled, Ernst and Yelena’s engagement will be broken, and you’ll be free to marry her!”

Priest Wisledge said cheerfully on purpose.

Dustin sighed in disbelief.

“It’s all about money, huh?”

Lianna listened to their conversation with growing anger.

Everything about this was insane!

Corrupt!

Rotten to the core!

Lianna clenched her lips, struggling to contain her frustration toward these corrupt priests.

Just then, she saw a familiar figure enter the room.

Her heart pounded wildly.

W-Why?

No! It’s dangerous!

I can’t take this anymore! Please stop!

The person had only one knight accompanying him—it was Wallace.

After hearing everything, Lianna was certain—Dustin was completely insane.

He had stabbed someone yet felt no guilt. He acted like it wasn’t even a big deal, convinced that no one could catch him.

A normal person wouldn’t think this way.

Someone like him couldn’t be reasoned with—he was dangerous, unpredictable.

Even if he was Ernst’s attacker, even if Ernst had almost died, it wasn’t worth facing this madman directly.

She didn’t want Wallace to confront Dustin either.

She just wanted Wallace to stay away from this danger.

At this point, she cared more about Wallace than Ernst.

Dustin was an enigma.

Maybe just exposing Lucilda was enough. Her fake holy stigma was proof of her fraud. If she was brought down, Wisledge and Yelena could be punished too.

But if they targeted Dustin, wouldn’t he strike back? He would have no hesitation in killing!

Lianna felt a deep fear as she looked at Wallace.

Without thinking, she rushed toward him, trying to wrap her arms around his waist to stop him.

But her spirit form had no physical presence. Her arms passed right through him.

“Wallace!”

Even her voice had no sound.

Why are you here, Wallace? What are you planning?

Please, stay safe.