DFCWD 64

Chapter 64

Elberdo was often away from home because of his studies and knightly duties. The duke must have been using that vast dining table all by himself for both breakfast and lunch.

…No, stop it. Don’t start imagining things and getting sad over nothing. Am I in any position to pity the duke?

Right now, there’s only one thing I should be doing: studying hard so my father’s donations won’t feel wasted, and becoming a daughter he could be proud of—
Wait, no! What am I saying? This isn’t about some wholesome family bonding—it’s about survival!

Besides, becoming a daughter an evil villain could be proud of would mean becoming a super piece of human garbage, wouldn’t it?!

Ugh, seriously. Am I… lonely?

Why do I keep imagining those people like they’re my real family?

* * *

I wanted to take it easy at school. I mean, I already spent twelve years in school—do I really have to go through it again in a romance-fantasy world?

But becoming friends with Seraphina meant following her through her hellish schedule.

Today, I got dragged along to volunteer at the temple.

“Sol! Thanks for coming. We were really short on people to clean the temple!”

“You’re welcome… Wait, are those people volunteers too?”

Inside the shaded part of the temple, a few young men were sneaking glances at Seraphina. For “volunteers,” their clothes looked awfully expensive.

Seraphina went right up to them, catching each one and chatting with them. Judging by their smug grins, it was easy to tell what was going on.

Scumbags were trying to flirt with the heroine.

“My lady, you look so beautiful while volunteering. Won’t you join me for some tea later? I’ve got some fresh, delicious plum juice to serve you.”

Plum juice? At your age? If you really wanted to woo someone, at least offer to treat them to a steak.

Of course, Seraphina handled it gracefully, unlike me.

“Oh my, thank you! How many cups of juice would you be able to buy me?”

“As many as you want, my lady. How many times are you willing to meet me?”

“Well, actually… The children’s prayer session is later today. With each cup you buy, two children could be made happy!”

With Seraphina’s radiant smile, the man instantly backpedaled.

The others who approached her met the same fate.

“My lady, it’s such a fine day. Would you like to join me for an evening stroll?”

“That sounds nice! I just happen to be escorting the elderly home after their evening prayers. Would you like to help me with that?”

“Uh… I’ve got a bad shoulder, you see…”

Second man, third man—retreat.

Finally, after chasing them all away, Seraphina looked genuinely confused.

“Why do they all act like that? They came here to do good deeds, yet they don’t want to do anything. Are they mocking me?”

“They’re hitting on you.”

“Hahaha! Don’t be silly. No one would like boring old me!”

…Of course. The perfect romance-fantasy heroine: convinced no man could ever like her, even while everyone is falling for her. Any chatter from her gossiping sidekick would just go in one ear and out the other.

“Seraphina, you’re not interested in men?”

“Mm, no. My parents pressured me into my debutante ball, but I never really felt anything.”

“What kind of men do you like, then?”

“Hmm… That’s such a sudden question. Nothing comes to mind.”

“But surely, you prefer handsome ones, right?”

“All of God’s creations have their own unique charm.”

…Damn it. I was trying to advertise Elber’s face!

At this rate, even if a man had a sea slug for a face, she’d probably call it “refreshingly unique.”

Fine, I’ll just go straight at it.

“You remember my brother from last weekend, right?”

“Elber? Of course. His hair was the same beautiful shade of black as yours. Truly lovely.”

See? She’s more perceptive than Elber himself!

“Right? You remembered well! He’s my brother, but honestly, he’s handsome, isn’t he? What do you think?”

“He was dashing. Especially the way he threw himself into action without hesitation. But…”

“But…?”

“I don’t think he should have thrown that criminal into the water. That’s what the law is for.”

“……”

“I suppose he couldn’t help himself out of love for his sister. He couldn’t take his eyes off you the whole time.”

…Crap.

Sure, in the original novel their first meeting was a disaster too. But at least the mood was good—heroine soaking wet, hero wrapping her in his coat.

If she had posted about it online like, “You won’t believe the jerk I met yesterday”, people would’ve replied: “Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like romantic tension?”

But if she’d mentioned the guy’s little sister was involved, the replies would’ve been: “Girl, run. That’s a nightmare in-law situation waiting to happen.”

Now what? If I keep bringing up Elber, I’ll just look like some desperate little sister trying to marry off her brother.

My thoughts ended when Seraphina handed me a broom.

Even while we cleaned the prayer hall, people kept coming and going.

Some of them even stomped right in with muddy boots. Ugh, I wanted to smack them upside the head. At the very least, couldn’t we put up a “Closed for Cleaning” sign? But Seraphina shook her head.

“The temple must always be open to everyone.”

…Even public bathrooms close for cleaning, you know.

When the cleaning was mostly done and Seraphina left to return her broom, I took out the mana pearl detector—the loupe—from my pocket.

First, I looked at Seraphina.

“…Wow.”

Through the lens, she glowed like she was made of hundreds of pearls. As expected of someone destined to be a saintess.

From using the loupe back in Flogel, I’d learned that people with special talent usually had mana pearls in their bodies. Most of them became mages or priests with strong divine power.

I turned the loupe toward the Great Temple.

“Whoa!”

As expected, it was full of mana pearls in motion. Even the city streets showed more than I’d ever seen back in Flogel—lights I might have glimpsed once a year back there.

Truly, talent gathers in the capital.

…And surely the people proudly walking these streets wouldn’t be dragged off like lab rats the way orphans were.

But I didn’t have time to worry about others. I should look for treasures lying around in the temple. Forgive me, O Lord—I just want to be prepared in case I get kicked out of the house.

Maybe I should check another building instead, so I wouldn’t be suspected if anything went missing here?

But before I could find anything, I had to stop. Seraphina—light itself—was walking toward me.

“Sol, what’s that in your hand? It’s not a telescope, is it?”

“Uh, just! Just a toy magnifying glass!”

“I see. Some temple knights said they saw a suspicious girl peering around with a telescope, like a thief. How awful of them!”

…Sorry. They were right.

“I… see.”

“But don’t worry! I told them it was just my classmate, Sol Schlaeger, and that you’re a really kind person.”

“They believed you, even after hearing the name Schlaeger?”

“You can’t define someone by their family. If a knight had such prejudice, I’d whack him with a broom!”

“Haha, that’s reassuring.”

I smiled gratefully—only for her next words to freeze me.

“Sol, do you happen to know a knight named Ignatz?”

…Unfortunately, yes. One-sidedly.

“Uh… I-I don’t know. Why?”

“He was among the knights earlier. He asked a lot of questions about you—your age, your real name, things like that.”

“Ugh, what did you say?”

“I told him it was creepy for a grown man to be that interested in a student ten years younger than him, and that he should stop.”

“Seraphina, I really, really like you.”

“Thanks, I like you too!”

We hugged each other briefly. Funny—when reading To Save You, she wasn’t one of my favorite characters, but experiencing her in person… I might really get attached.

“Sol! Do you have some time? Want to come pray with me?”

“Huh? Not here?”

“There’s a prayer room only open to priests. This is a secret… but I can hear God’s voice there.”

“You can tell me that?”

“Of course! The fact that you believed me right away proves I wasn’t wrong to trust you!”

…I didn’t really believe you, but… Forget it.

I just quietly followed behind the heroine.

The Great Temple was massive—probably as big as Gyeongbokgung Palace. Huge buildings stood here and there, while smaller shrine-like ones were tucked away beyond groves of trees.

One of them, a small clay-and-wood building, greeted us. Its door wasn’t locked, just tied shut with a thick rope.

Seraphina skillfully untied it.

“When we leave, we have to tie this knot again. Otherwise…”

…We’ll be cursed?

“…The next person will be annoyed.”

“……”

“It’s a pointless rule. But those who can keep such small rules for the sake of others are the ones allowed in here.”

“By who?”

“By God.”

…Wow. God’s really petty.

The door creaked open.

The prayer room was tiny—barely enough for two or three people. But with its dirt floor, it felt cozy instead of cramped.