Everyone Realized the Saint Was a Fake, but She Still Thought She Was Fooling Them - Chapter 4

Lianna watched in shock as Brode hurriedly left with a stern expression.

“He left without even looking back. Was it something urgent?”

“Who knows? But Celeste, he seems like a serious person.”

Wallace had some idea about Brode’s background, but he kept it to himself in front of Lianna and Celeste.

After lightly seeing Brode off, Celeste returned, tilting her head at her fiancé’s strange behavior. She still made sure to say, “Thanks,” to Wallace.

Wallace asked with some curiosity, “When are you getting married?”

“I don’t know yet. I have to wait until my older sister gets married first, so it might take some more time,” Celeste answered.

Lianna and Bartlett exchanged sympathetic looks. “Ah…”

Wallace tilted his head. “What?”

Lianna glanced at Celeste before quietly explaining, “Celeste’s sister is engaged, but she hates her fiancé so much that she keeps running away from the marriage. So, nothing is moving forward.”

Celeste let out a deep sigh. “Yeah. But honestly, it’s not just about waiting for my sister. Still, her situation is a problem. Lord Brode is waiting for me, but if nothing changes for a year, he might give up on me. For some reason, he seems really eager to get married. If it’s just because he can’t wait to be with me, that’s fine. But if he has some other urgent reason to marry quickly, then… he wouldn’t necessarily need me, would he?”

Wallace immediately spoke up. “Then Bartlett, why don’t you just marry Celeste?”

Bartlett looked up in surprise. “Huh?”

Wallace grinned. “Come on, has that idea never come up between you two?”

Celeste turned bright red. “O-of course not! Bartlett and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”

Bartlett also looked slightly flustered and turned a bit red. “Y-yeah. We’re close, but marriage is a different matter.”

Watching them, Wallace sighed in exasperation. “I don’t know. Personally, I’d want to marry someone I like and get along with.”

Then he glanced at Lianna.

“W-what?” The oblivious Lianna asked.

Wallace sighed again. “I guess my feelings will never reach her…”

Then he turned serious, looking down as he explained bluntly, “Look, Lord Ernst has a fiancée, so I don’t think he’ll let Celeste or Lianna do whatever they want. But Bartlett and I were summoned to Lord Ernst’s estate. I have a feeling we’re going to get caught up in something… But Lord Ernst is engaged, so don’t expect anything, Lianna.”

“I never expected anything in the first place! But Brode mentioned it too earlier—being invited to Lord Ernst’s estate.”

Lianna stared at Wallace, wanting to know why.

Seeing her sudden interest, Wallace frowned. Then, with a slightly teasing smirk, he said, “What? Are you jealous, Lianna?”

“Idiot! But seriously, don’t get involved in anything dangerous. Even if Lord Ernst is fine, I’d hate for you guys to get hurt.”

Wallace looked surprised at her concern. “Are you worried about us? Well, we’ll be fine. Bartlett’s here, and he’s strong.”

He pointed at Bartlett’s muscular arm.

Bartlett immediately interjected, “You train too. By the way, what were you really doing in the neighboring country? Did you actually go just to study politics? The way you move is suspicious…”

“No idea what you’re talking about. Grown-up talk is hard, isn’t it, Coco?”

Wallace dodged the conversation by crouching down and roughly petting the little dog at his feet. He even tried to kiss it, only to be rejected.

Bartlett sighed at being ignored, then whispered to Lianna, “Wallace might sound carefree, but he’s right. The situation with Lord Ernst is serious.”

“I know. Stabbing yourself in the back is strange.”

“That was Wallace’s lie.”

“Huh?”

“Both Wallace and I heard the truth from Lord Ernst. He can’t talk about it yet, so Wallace is deliberately lying about it. He’s being obvious about it too, so he probably has some plan.”

Bartlett glanced sharply at Wallace before sighing in frustration.

Lianna grew even more worried. “What do you mean, he can’t talk about it? Is it really that serious?”

Seeing Lianna’s anxious expression, Bartlett scratched his head and spoke seriously. “A little. But Lianna, don’t get involved. You like Lord Ernst, right? He’s engaged. If you interfere with ulterior motives, it’ll cause a lot of problems.”

“I don’t have ulterior motives!”

“Really? You always watch Lord Ernst. No matter how much you try to hide it, Celeste and I can tell. If you actively involve yourself in his affairs, his fiancée, Lady Yelena, won’t stay quiet. This situation is delicate. If Lady Yelena starts claiming that ‘some woman is seducing her fiancé,’ things will get messy.”

Bartlett spoke calmly.

Lianna flinched at his words but managed to respond, “But I’m worried. If there’s something I can do to help, I want to.”

Bartlett sighed at her determination but steeled his heart and said coldly, “We’ll handle it. Besides, remember this—Lord Ernst has nothing to do with you. And more importantly, you’re at odds with the Crown Prince and Saint Lucilda.”

“I’m not at odds with them!”

Lianna shouted in frustration, but Bartlett shook his head firmly. “The whole royal court knows about your broken engagement with the Crown Prince. They also know Saint Lucilda dislikes you. If you get involved, Lord Ernst’s family will be wary of you. Even if you don’t mean harm, no one wants to go against a saint protected by divine law.”

Lianna hated discussing her broken engagement, so she immediately fell silent.

“S-so you just wanted to warn me, Bartlett?”

“Yeah. I’m telling you not to interfere.”

Bartlett’s voice was gentle despite his firm words.

That kindness only made Lianna’s chest ache more. Everyone was worried about her.

“I understand…”

“Good girl, Lianna.”

Bartlett smiled.

But deep down, Bartlett was thinking something else.

Something else—

Wallace wouldn’t want to see Lianna obsessing over Lord Ernst.

When Bartlett found Lord Ernst collapsed, he had been focused on saving him. But for a brief moment, Lianna crossed his mind. He had thought maybe he could be a bridge between them. But the moment he saw Wallace’s face, that thought vanished.

Wallace had always liked Lianna since they were kids.

Having heard Wallace’s feelings over time, Bartlett realized—

Lord Ernst had a fiancée. Lianna’s feelings were misguided.

If saving Lord Ernst brought them closer, Bartlett had to keep Lianna away. The one meant to support her wasn’t Lord Ernst—it was Wallace.

As Bartlett stepped away, Wallace approached him with sharp eyes. “Hey, Bartlett. What were you talking about with Lianna?”

“Huh? Curious?”

“Yeah.”

“Ask her yourself.”

“I’m asking you.”

Bartlett studied Wallace’s stubborn expression, then sighed. “You changed a little after going to the neighboring country. Well, whatever. I just warned Lianna not to get involved with Lord Ernst.”

“You sure talked for a long time.”

Bartlett smirked. “Were you watching the whole time? Creepy.”

“…”

Embarrassed, Wallace scratched his head.

Bartlett chuckled. “You’ve always been all about Lianna. Why doesn’t she notice? She’s too busy thinking about Lord Ernst.”

“…”

Wallace’s eyes darkened.

Bartlett sighed. “If you’re that frustrated, confess. Otherwise, she’ll never notice.”

Wallace pouted. “She’d just reject me. She likes Lord Ernst.”

“Then you’ll have to wait for him to get married.”

“Ugh, waiting sucks.”

“Then give up.”

“I can’t…”

Seeing Wallace sulk, Bartlett decided to cheer him up. “Want me to tell you a way to win Lianna over? It’s not exactly noble, though.”

“What?”

Wallace stared at Bartlett in shock.

Bartlett hesitated for a moment, then threw an arm around Wallace’s shoulder and whispered his ‘not-so-honorable’ method.