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Chapter : 03
When Lisa was locked in the solitary room,
I knelt before Bert, begging.
“I’ll do whatever you want, please let Lisa go. Anything at all!”
Even then, Bert didn’t even blink.
“Of course you’d listen to me. And you call that a request?”
The insult came along with it. That was why—
“Stop, stop it! Ugh… ughh!”
Even though Bert’s screams continued, I didn’t stop my hand.
From the tone of the cries, it was painful, but surely not worse than the suffering Lisa and I had endured in the past.
“Ugh… ughhh!”
Eventually, Bert broke down in tears.
With the sound of footsteps, the door suddenly swung open.
“What on earth is going on here?”
At that raised voice, both Bert and I froze.
Before the door stood Duke Agnito, Bert’s father.
‘And my maternal uncle as well.’
Behind him were nobles visiting the Duke’s residence.
“F-Father!”
Bert jumped up and rushed to the Duke.
“Hanishia hit me!”
“You… hit you?”
“Yes! I came to check on her because she was hurt, and she hit me! Look here, see these bruises!”
I was hurt because Bert had pushed me, yet he left that part out entirely.
I felt a sudden urge to hit him again, tightening my grip on the bread.
But I stayed silent, knowing what would happen next.
“…Seems there’s been some misunderstanding. Stop crying now.”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
Bert blinked in disbelief at Duke Agnito’s words.
“Well, sometimes people get upset over trivial matters, don’t they?”
“They’re children raised together like siblings, aren’t they? Haha… my children were the same.”
The nobles behind them began trailing off in their speech.
The Duke always took his son’s side. It was no wonder Bert’s eyes widened.
“I’m telling you! Hanishia hit me! Not only that, she hit me with the bread I gave her!”
Bert glared at me.
“Hanishia, tell them yourself! You did it!”
“B-Bert, stop it already…!”
Then—
“What seems to be the problem?”
A low voice came from behind them.
Clad in white priestly robes, the clergy had arrived.
‘These are people who truly despise me.’
Because when I was born, the line of the saint ended. Perhaps they hated me even more than the Agnito family.
“Priest…!”
Bert knew this very well.
“On this precious day, I came to check on Hanishia because I heard she was unwell. Yet instead of being grateful, she assaulted me outright.”
The whining boy had suddenly adopted a formal tone to plead his case.
The senior priest narrowed his eyes.
“Hanishia assaulted Yeongsik?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“With what?”
“With this bread. I brought it as a get-well gift, but she…!”
“You gave such hard bread as a get-well gift?”
Bert, who had been pouting all this time, snapped his mouth shut.
‘Fool. I didn’t stay quiet for nothing.’
Bert had said it clearly:
“Today is a special day. I secretly took it out without the adults knowing, just for you.”
The special day was the “Day of Mercy.”
On the Day of Mercy, the temple would open its granaries and distribute food to street children.
The temple valued human life, especially children.
‘One of the messages of God: no matter what, children must not be killed.’
This explained why the Agnito family, who openly disliked me, left me unharmed.
Naturally, orphans without parents fell under the temple’s care. The Agnito family, maintaining good relations with the temple, acted as patrons until the children became adults. Outwardly, it was just for appearances, but it was about maintaining the temple’s and the family’s prestige.
Yet now, Bert, heir of the Agnito family, had given hard bread to a cousin with bandages wrapped around her head—one side even charred.
They understood perfectly what that meant.
This was my chance.
I quickly waved my hands.
“N-No, Bert did nothing wrong. I just tried to pick up bread that had fallen and accidentally hit him.”
I said, looking gloomy.
“Even street children can’t usually eat such bread. He gave me something precious, and I just made a mistake. It’s all my fault…”
At the same time, I subtly indicated that I hadn’t eaten properly.
Even if a child deserved scolding, seeing this with their own eyes would naturally evoke some human sympathy.
“To think this happened on the Day of Mercy…”
“Hmm… that doesn’t look very good.”
Someone cleared their throat awkwardly.
“N-No! You, you did it! I only gave you the bread…!”
Bert’s smug expression paled more and more.
“It’s true! She hit me!”
“Enough!”
Duke Agnito quickly cut off Bert.
Silence fell instantly.
He forced a smile and turned to face the priests.
“Seems there’s been some misunderstanding. Perhaps it would be better to discuss this elsewhere…”
“Now that I think of it, we momentarily forgot our purpose.”
“Eh?”
“We came to review the donations we’ve provided and to see the children under Agnito’s patronage, didn’t we?”
The senior priest’s face was rigid.
To them, the name of God was both a shield and a banner. Acting under that name was an honor beyond anything else.
But now, with me exposed in front of everyone, God’s teachings were being undermined.
The teaching that children must always be protected—
Even in Agnito’s territory, where they had close ties.
‘They’ll try to smooth this over somehow.’
Resisting now would just be a declaration of defiance against the temple.
“…Let’s move elsewhere.”
Finally, Duke Agnito spoke in a grim tone. The priests went ahead, and the nobles awkwardly stepped back.
Once everyone left, the Duke glared at Bert.
“Bert, you’re grounded for a week. Don’t think you can step outside the mansion.”
“W-What? But tomorrow I have sparring with the other Yeongsiks…”
“If you want to train with the sword, I’ll find you an appropriate opponent. That should suffice, right?”
Bert’s face instantly turned pale. It was a form of punishment.
The nanny, who had been watching cautiously, took Bert out of the room.
Tsk, Duke Agnito clicked his tongue at me before leaving. I slouched, pretending not to know what to do.
“Useless, it seems.”
“…”
“Of all days, you had to cause such an accident?”
“…”
“If only you took after your sister Esther just a little… tsk, tsk.”
Even as he spoke, his anger rose. He clicked his tongue again and left.
Finally, the door closed. I slowly straightened my bent body.
Normally, I would have been hurt by those words, but not at all.
‘Nonsense, just think of it like that.’
I snorted inwardly and turned, only to find Lisa frozen, staring at me.
‘Ah, right…’
From Lisa’s perspective, until yesterday I had barely spoken a word.
The Agnito family always scolded me, and I always kept quiet.
Some even thought I was a prodigy with issues.
At least with Lisa I spoke freely, but with the family, my body froze.
Yet now, I had not only shoved Bert but also calmly explained the situation in front of the adults. Naturally, Lisa was surprised.
‘To get through this smoothly…’
I glanced around and put my hand to my forehead.
“Ah… my head…”
“My goodness, Miss!”
Lisa rushed over and supported me.
Indeed, pretending to be ill was the best way to smooth over a situation.
