Chapter 13

Chapter 13

“I won’t lend a hand unless there’s something I can gain. Of course, the exceptions to this are my daughter, son and husband.”

There’s nothing wrong with what she said, so I just smiled awkwardly and nodded.

But, Mother.

Soon, you’ll have to get rid of any thoughts of cost and benefit to help the temple!

This confirmed what I knew about Mother.

My mother, the lord of Rogelio and the highest authority of the Duchy, would definitely help me because she wouldn’t just stand by and watch me dedicate my life to them.

The temple needs to change.

So that they could eat well and live well without a saint.

So that there would be no innocent people sacrificing or dedicating their lives.

The temple, as it was pure and benevolent, was a rare kind. I hope that they could remain as a temple that gets support from the people without any ‘devotion’ and a saint.

At the same time, I decided what I needed to do. I didn’t have any worries anymore.

Since Mother already told me the answer…

I plan to create a charity foundation under the temple.

Vocational schools, food drives, medical services, disaster relief. These could all be done under the temple.

If they had all these, even without a saint or the requisite of devotion, they could be worshipped continuously.

Not the saint, but the temple itself.

Of course, all of this is planned to be supported by the Rogelio family’s financing.

Don’t make me do saint stuff. This is my contribution. Be satisfied with this.

They could reject the idea at first, but Rogelio was known as the Empire’s most affluent household, and has been holding up the center of the Empire.

If they would retort with, ‘Just because you’re from a noble family? You’ll go to this extent?’ then I’d just cancel everything and reply with, ‘How dare you curse at my family? I’m not going to be a saint!’ and I’d just hole myself up at home.

I’m not someone who’ll give up right away, you know.

And even if I replied like that, it wouldn’t hurt my family, who had nothing to be ashamed of for being wealthy. There were even exaggerated rumors that all the money of the Empire flowed into the pockets of the Rogelio family.

“Then you’re my lifelong supporter, right, Mother?”

“I’d be at ease if you thought so.”

As I sat in silence pretending to be a polite, quiet child, my mother smiled broadly. I smiled in return with satisfaction.

With a strong backing, my promising, comfortable future as a saint was beginning now.

And most importantly, the day was finally approaching for Frey’s illness to be cured.

A week after I heard my mother’s answer, and after I decided what I should do, my left palm seemed to burn, and the stigmata finally became more pronounced.

The stigmata, which almost seemed to have settled onto my skin, was now visible on my palm, as though it was always meant to be there.

The dim light disappeared, and there embedded a pattern that meant I was given God’s love and therefore I was God’s proxy.

The day had finally come, but it shouldn’t have yet.

It’s only been a week since I talked to my mother.

The stigmata appeared as though it was waiting for my mind to be made up, and this made me swear a little. Even so, I had already prepared everything.

All I had to do was have a serious conversation with my mother.

But what would a child know?

Even though I have my memories and have the mentality of an adult, outwardly, I was still a child.

And that meant I could use a child’s privilege of leaving all this to an adult.

There was very little that a child could do. The wisest thing to do here was really just let the adults handle it.

When I grow up, I’ll have to do a lot of work on my own. But if I can’t reach out to my mother at a time like this, when will I ever be able to?

And apart from that, there’s no one else who’d listen to me.

I didn’t worry for long. I snatched up the plans I wrote up from my desk and headed straight for her office.

This plan was for a charity foundation for the poor, and it’s scheduled to be implemented as soon as I become a saint.

And that’s when the stigmata had definitely settled on my palm.

Then I’d reveal it to my mother and express my plan to change the temple.

And then, I’d get a job where I’d only sometimes need to commute to and from work!

There’s no way that she would refuse to accept the unerring support of the temple. The idea was so nice that it was like an angel was descending from heaven.

Well, if she was going to refuse, I could just cry and make her feel guilty.

If you’re weak-hearted, then get ready for my tears.

“Mom! I’m here again!”

And in order for this plan to be implemented, it’s necessary that the adults could prepare thoroughly.

“Come in.”

I sat on the couch instead of going to my mother’s side. Catching on quickly that I had something to say, my mother got up from her seat and sat on the couch as well.

The butler served some simple refreshments, then left the room. Darua, my mother’s aide, also tried to go out the door, but I called out to him.

“Darua, sit down, too. I hope you listen to what I have to say.”

He was perplexed, but I guess he was happy enough to be included in the conversation. He nodded right away and sat in the armchair opposite me.

Darua was the one who protected Yurenia until the end when both parents had already passed away.

He was extremely loyal to my mother, and he tried to exact revenge for the deaths of the twins’ parents, but he failed to kill Lisandro in the end because Lisandro looked so much like our mother.

So I can trust this person.

There was no one else who had as much information as him. And he was very good at his job.

He was an aide worthy of the Rogelio family. Darua considered it to be a very honorable position.

I pushed the plan towards the two, threw off my left glove, then showed my palm to them.

“…Oh, my baby. I wonder what you’re trying to do now? This doesn’t seem meaningless to you.”

Instead of getting angry, my mother touched her lips and looked as if she was finding this funny.

After I heard her joking tone, I cleared my throat. Darua was also thinking this was funny.

“Can’t you see this?”

I stuck out my palm to them and wiggled my fingers.

“Your fingers are cute.”

“Yes, Milady. Your fingers are very cute!”

No, no.

Look here. Your reaction isn’t right.

I stretched out my hand and pushed my palm in front of my mother’s face.

It’s clearly the stigmata that other saints also had.

My mother and Darua’s eyes narrowed. The two, who now took notice of the stigmata on my palm, then averted their eyes without lingering on it.

They probably knew it was real without having to look at it more.

And they knew I wasn’t the type to joke about something like this. I put on my glove again and looked at Mother and Darua.

“Why does my daughter have the stigmata.”

A small vein protruded on the hand that was gripping the armrest that was soon giving way.

She deserved to be angry. After all, her daughter had become the first saint to appear in seventy years.

And what kind of life did the saint have?

How did the people treat the saint?

The temple has not changed, but the people have.

They would force the saint to devote her life and take her for granted.

There’s no way that my mother didn’t know that a saint would be cursed at even if she did well, and then criticized even more if she did poorly.

She deserves to be enraged after knowing her daughter would have to live through that.

“…We need to come up with a plan, Your Grace.”

Darua touched his chin with a serious expression on his face, but I tapped my hand on the written plans I brought and intervened in their conversation.

“This! I have this!”

Their eyes instantly shifted towards the papers in my hand. Darua got up from his seat, took them from my hand, then handed them over to my mother.

Mother read it all for a while, then she suddenly chuckled.

“The reason why you asked me about the temple was because of that stigmata.”

“Yes.”

“You managed to hide it until now. Even before you came to me, there must have been signs that it was going to appear.”

I smiled a little bit cheerfully. Then, Mother turned back to the document, crossing her legs in the opposite direction.

“Just as Yuni said.”

“……”

“Now I have a reason to help the temple.”

Mother approved it without any hesitation.

It was a natural inevitability.

Being appointed as the first saint to appear in seven decades was a burden that a child wouldn’t be able to handle.

As she skimmed the plan to create a charity foundation for the poor, Mother continued speaking.

“As you proposed, if a volunteer organization is going to be established, we can always use the temple as a base so that we won’t have to build from the ground up.”

It took a long time to build something like that.

Just as Mother said, it couldn’t be more perfect if we used the temple as a base so that we wouldn’t have to create another organization or erect another building.

After the Imperial Family, there was no other institution that had more buildings and land for this purpose.

“Since the L’Aquila temple’s center is at the Imperial capital, it’s better to change the temple itself first.”

“Won’t we face problems if we change the temple first?”

When I asked carefully, Mother shrugged and said confidently.

“There won’t be any problem.”

Then, she added.

“So don’t worry about anything. Go out and play with Lisandro.”

“But, I…”

“Yuni’s the one who wants to keep this a secret.”

It’s like she wants me to focus on just being an older sister or something.

Mother laughed as she saw my dumbfounded expression.

“My daughter, you just need to act the way you usually do. This mother of yours will take care of it.”

She smiled, her hand on her chin as she spoke with a low voice.

“I’m capable enough for that.”

After that, I left my mother’s office, Darua still there, then sought out Lisandro to have some tea with him.

I didn’t say anything about us being separated later yet, so Lisandro was his usual bright self.

“Eat a lot, dear younger brother.”

And I was happy as well, so much that I couldn’t stop smiling. Lisandro’s voice dropped to a whisper as he asked me.

“Noonim. What kind of trouble are you in? Or are you out to make trouble yourself?”

“What are you saying?”

“Why are you in such a good mood? It’s enough to make people nervous.”

I was eating Lisandro’s favorite peach pudding then, but I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“Why are you nervous just because I’m in a good mood?”

“It’s been a while since Noonim’s mood has been this good, that’s why.”

Sure enough, since we’re twins, he knew me well.

Lisandro hated it whenever I was openly excited. If it was another time, I would have punched him, but not today.

I was just in that much of a good mood.

Even if I went to the temple, I’d be able to relax. Lisandro has changed.

“Just because. You’ve changed a lot.”

“…Me?”

Taking the peach pudding from Lisandro and eating the last of it all in one bite, I nodded.

“My pudding!”

As I ignored the astonished Lisandro, I patted his shoulder and gulped down the pudding.

“You know how to respect people now.”

“……”

Lisandro was grumbling, but as he heard my serious words, he looked at me slowly.

His sky-blue eyes trembled slightly.

“You try to be considerate of others, and you don’t force other people’s feelings anymore.”

“……”

“I’m so happy that you’ve changed so much for the better, even more than I thought.”

I wasn’t originally someone who’d come forward and say embarrassing things like this, but he deserves to be complimented.

Lisandro didn’t ignore my warnings and accepted them, then tried his hardest to follow my words. This was the result of his own efforts.

Lisandro likes me as always, and now he’s become a good friend to Frey while maintaining a certain distance between them.

Sometimes he still acted on his jealousy and he played pranks during his swordsmanship training, but he was a prodigy who showed frightening concentration once he set his mind on something.

He nods his head at me obediently because he hopes that his Noonim will approve, like a puppy wagging his tail as he chases after me.

He’s a really cute twin brother.

He’s my younger brother, and he’s no different from other children.

“I know you’ll be able to continue like this.”

“…What are you saying? Why are you being so awkward?”

I observed his expression as he murmured quietly, turning his face away.

I already saw it anyway, the way his face turned red, even his ears poking through his white hair because he was so embarrassed.

“Our Lisandro.”

“…S-Stop it!”

“Your face looks like a burning sweet potato.”

“Ugh, seriously! Why do you have to be like this, Noonim?!” he squawked.

I guess he didn’t like the mushy atmosphere because he’s used to me cajoling him all the time.

——

t/n: I’m not actually sure if Darua’s a man because there weren’t any pronouns pointing to their gender here, so I’ll keep the aide’s pronouns at he/him for now. If there’s a need to edit later on, I’ll write another note to let you guys know~

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