The Saint is Not My Sister, The Real Saint is Me - Episode 26

――For me, banquets have never been a source of good memories.

Although I was mistreated by my family and rarely participated in social gatherings, I wasn’t completely absent from them. In particular, I was forced to attend the banquets held at the Kotokoris Baronial House.

“Happy birthday, Emil-sama!”
“Emil-sama, I’ve brought many gifts for you. Please accept them!”
“Would you honor me with a dance, Emil-sama?”

Many visitors came to celebrate Emil’s birthday, the Saint of Kotokoris, offering their congratulations one after another.

“Thank you. I’m very happy to have everyone celebrate my birthday.”

“I’m glad for you, Emil.”
“Come now, Emil. Let’s go over there and have some cake. We’ve prepared a very delicious one for you.”

“Thank you, Father, Mother.”

As I glanced at my happy family, I sat alone on a chair placed at the edge of the venue, merely waiting for time to pass.

――Emil’s birthday was also mine, as her twin sister.

“Oh, it’s you, Yuna.”
“……Luki-sama.”
“Emil!”

Luki-sama, who arrived late at the Kotokoris Baronial House, ignored me entirely and headed straight toward Emil.

“Luki-sama! You came!”

“Of course. It’s Emil’s birthday. No matter what, I had to come celebrate.”

“I’m so happy!”

This was my first birthday since becoming engaged to Luki-sama. But just like last year, no one celebrated me.

Not my father.
Not my mother.
Not even Luki-sama.
Not a single guest who was invited.
No one even spared a simple “happy birthday” for me.

“So that’s the failure of an older sister?”
“She’s so gloomy. Completely different from the ever-cheerful and adorable Emil-sama.”
“I heard she’s jealous of Saint Emil and bullies her.”

I was always just a foil for Emil.
Always compared to my sister, sneered at, and subjected to harsh words.

Banquets were hell for me.

A time when I felt utterly miserable, surrounded by my family’s joyful faces and voices.

“…Sweet.”

I stuffed a bite of the cake prepared for me, sitting alone at the table.

A small, single-serving cake. It was sweet, yet it didn’t taste good at all.

“Happy birthday, Yuna-oneesama.”

A hollow, tacked-on birthday greeting.

After the banquet ended, at midnight when I went to check on Emil as she slept, she always confirmed the same thing with me.

“Hey, Yuna-oneesama. Did anyone else celebrate your birthday?”

“…No.”

“Then I’m the only one who got to celebrate you. I’m so glad.”

With a full smile, looking satisfied, Emil clung to me.

“Yuna-oneesama, I love you. Let’s always be together, okay?”

“……”

I hate you.

How many times have I swallowed those words?

I endured and endured, but that day, I reached my limit.

How many times had I been bound, hurt, and forced to endure because of those words—”I love you”?

For me, “I love you” was a cursed phrase.

Ah, I’m so glad.
At last, I can finally say how I truly feel.

I hate Emil.
I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her.

I hate her.

A Saint is a miraculous being who appears once every few hundred years.
They possess a special magic that grants power to the land, bringing life to barren soil.

The Saints who have appeared in the Finable Empire have all devoted themselves to the empire, aiding its people and enriching the land.

To express gratitude for such Saints, the royal palace hosts a grand event to honor them.

“Yuna, Saint of the Finable Empire. We deeply appreciate your service as a Saint. On behalf of the empire, I offer you my gratitude.”

Before the gathered nobles, the Emperor himself addressed me.

“Your words are too kind. I am honored.”

“Indeed. Everyone, enjoy yourselves to the fullest tonight.”

As the Emperor concluded his words, thunderous applause filled the hall, and the banquet began.

“Yuna-sama, thank you for revitalizing the lands.”
“Yuna-sama, I’ve prepared a small gift to express my gratitude. Please accept it.”

Once the banquet started, a crowd quickly formed around me, with people greeting me one after another.

“――Thank you all for your warm words.”

Having never been the center of attention at a banquet before, I was honestly overwhelmed.

Banquets had always been a time of silent endurance in hell.
Now, suddenly, I was the main figure in a grand royal event. The contrast was too extreme…

I had never been one for the spotlight, unlike Emil.

“Yuna-sama, would you honor me with a dance?”

“…I’m sorry, but I’m not very good at dancing. I must decline.”

The most baffling thing was how the very same noble sons who used to attend Kotokoris’s Saint’s birthday parties—utterly ignoring me—were now casually inviting me to dance.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re not good! I’ll lead!”

“Wouldn’t dancing with a gloomy person like me be dull? Please, don’t trouble yourself and invite someone else instead.”

“Wha—!? No, um—”

I know, you see? I know you used to badmouth me.
You even made sure I could hear it.
And now you think I’d dance with you? How incomprehensible.

“Viscount Gorliko’s son, you should give up. Yuna has no intention of dancing with you.”

“Rein-sama.”

Rein-sama, who was by my side, stepped in to help, clearly exasperated by the nobleman’s persistence.

Although one could bring a partner to such events, there was no rule against dancing with others.

Normally, the proper etiquette was to first obtain permission from the partner before asking the person directly. Yet, this nobleman hadn’t even bothered to ask my partner, Rein-sama, before inviting me.

How terribly rude.

“W-why is Rein-sama her partner!?”

“I courted her, and she accepted.”

“C-courted—”

Wait, that was supposed to be courting!? I nearly blurted it out but held my tongue.

“Damn it! In the end, even the Saint is taken by Rein-sama!”

“In the end?”

“I couldn’t beat you in looks, status, or magical prowess, so I thought I’d at least win in romance!”

“How laughable. That’s why you’re so unpopular.”

“Shut up! Even Kotokoris’s Saint was taken by Luki-sama!”

That’s inaccurate. Rein-sama was the one who rejected marrying Emil.

Where did this misinformation come from?

“From Baron Kotokoris and Luki. They wanted to protect their daughter’s pride and make themselves feel superior by spreading lies.”

Noticing my confusion, Rein-sama answered immediately.

To think they would spread such lies for such a trivial reason…
They truly cause trouble for everyone around them.