Everyone Realized the Saint Was a Fake, but She Still Thought She Was Fooling Them - Chapter 26

Ignoring Liana’s worries, Wallace boldly stood in Dustin’s way.

Dustin looked surprised and whispered to the Priest Wisledge, “Please, leave us alone.”

The Priest Wisledge, who knew Wallace, stared intently at him. But since Dustin’s demeanor suggested he had things under control, the priest found it convenient to slip away from the scene.

Once the Priest Wisledge had left, Dustin turned to face Wallace.

“You know, don’t you? You’re Wallace from the Kianan Ducal House. You’ve been hanging around Ernst lately…”

Wallace didn’t answer and simply asked,

“You’re Dustin Gilyard, aren’t you?”

“Oh? Am I famous now?”

Dustin chuckled.

“Yeah, and you’re about to get even more famous once your scandal comes to light.”

“Haha, not gonna happen. You’re talking about me stabbing Ernst, right? But there’s no proof.”

“Why wouldn’t there be proof? The victim himself, Ernst, says you stabbed him. We can arrest you right away.”

Wallace said this with a look that clearly meant, “Don’t underestimate me.”

However, Dustin remained unfazed.

“But you see, some people want to keep me hidden as the culprit. I bet there are folks willing to provide a false alibi for me. So, even if Ernst says I did it, as long as I keep denying it, it won’t be a done deal.”

“Oh, playing the ‘grown-up politics’ game, huh? But look at this.”

Wallace sighed, annoyed by Dustin’s arrogance. He reached into his pocket and carefully pulled out an object wrapped in cloth.

He held it up to Dustin and removed the cloth, revealing a dagger, its surface caked in dried, dark bl00d.

“Ah! Why do you have that!?”

For the first time, Dustin’s expression changed.

Wallace remained calm as he explained.

“That night, Ernst whispered your name after being stabbed. My friend Bartlett immediately sent his attendants to track you down. One of them found you but didn’t apprehend you right away. Instead, he followed you to see what you would do. He watched as you hid this dagger inside a tree hollow.”

In that well-maintained garden, if you had tossed it into the bushes or a pond, the gardeners would have found it right away. But the place was already on high alert—there was a chance you’d be searched, right? So, you couldn’t keep the dagger on you. That tree hollow must have seemed like the perfect hiding spot, so you threw it in there.

As Wallace explained, Dustin slowly regained his composure and met Wallace’s gaze with sharp eyes.

“Oh? So someone was watching me. But there’s no proof that this dagger belongs to me. ”

Wallace sighed, nodding with a hint of disappointment. But then, a sly smile appeared on his face.

“There’s no proof that it’s yours. But there is proof that you won’t like. Proof of who it belongs to. ”

“It’s just a gift, so it doesn’t matter, does it? ”

Dustin replied casually, but Wallace tilted his head.

“Really? This is a custom-made piece from the Maselesten Ducal House.”

Dustin’s eyes widened.

“What? The Maselesten Ducal House!? ”

“Yeah. Yelena’s family, right? ”

“Ugh, come on. How do you even know it’s from the Maselesten family? It’s just a dagger! ”

Dustin was starting to get flustered but tried to play it off.

“In this country, when craftsmen sell weapons to nobles, even an ordinary dagger gets a unique design. That way, we can identify who ordered it and when. You didn’t know that? ”

“What? No way! But it was Lucilda who gave it to me. Why the hell is it a Maselesten dagger? She could’ve just gotten me some cheap, mass-produced knife from the market!”

Dustin grumbled, as if blaming Lucilda.

“She probably planned to use you and Yelena as scapegoats. If things went south, Lucilda would dump all the blame on you two and pretend she knew nothing about it.”

“What the hell? That’s so unfair!”
Dustin was outraged.

Wallace nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, it is. You were just a disposable pawn. So let’s make a deal.”

“My friend Bartlett’s attendant saw you. He saw you hide this dagger. He can describe exactly what you were doing at the time, and I bet there are other witnesses who can confirm it. Lucilda might be trying to cover for you, but that’ll only raise more questions—‘Then who stabbed Ernst?’ ‘And what’s this Maselesten dagger doing here?”

“Yelena will be under heavy suspicion.”

Dustin’s eyes gleamed with a cold light as he fell silent.

But Wallace wasn’t about to stop there.

“Just say it was Lucilda’s orders. That’s all you have to do. In exchange, we won’t bring out this dagger. Yelena won’t be dragged into this. Not a bad deal, right? ”

Dustin groaned,

“Hmm, what should I do…? ”

Then he looked at Wallace.

“But, you know, Lucilda might be able to use her status to cover up the dagger’s origins.”

At that, Wallace’s expression turned ice-cold.

“How much do you plan to push your luck? Do you really think you can cover this up? Do you think Lucilda is all-powerful? Why do you think Ernst hasn’t fought back yet?”

“Ernst belongs to the Linbrick Ducal House. I’m from Kianan. Liana is from Gruber. Celeste is from Tronic. We all come from noble families. If we wanted to, we could turn black into white or white into black.”

A cold sweat ran down Dustin’s back.

“Man… that’s pretty ruthless.”

“Ruthless? You’re one to talk. That’s exactly the kind of game Lucilda and you have been playing. You’re not the only ones who know how to play dirty.

So, what’s it gonna be? ”

Dustin fell silent.

What should he do? Admit his crime? Try to talk his way out of it?

His mind raced for a solution.

But before he could speak, Wallace sighed and added,

“One more thing. Brode is willing to testify and tell the truth. Are you still going to resist? ”

“Brode!?”

Dustin’s eyes widened in shock.

Wallace nodded slightly.

“He’s sick of your methods.”

“So, what will it be? If you confess that you and Lucilda worked together, Yelena stays out of this.”

“Ugh…”

Dustin groaned, but eventually, he hung his head in defeat.

“Alright, then. It’s settled.”

Wallace let out a deep breath.