Chapter 22
- Rumors About Her Husband
“So that’s why she adopted her?”
Lucia’s bad habit emerged at Mia’s sharp tone.
It was a habit of affirming the truth.
Lucia, failing to notice the child’s misunderstanding, simply nodded.
“Ha, I knew it. Annie, wake up! Since when have you been using Divine Power? Since when!”
Mia shouted, but Nia was fast asleep and couldn’t wake up at all.
“You let a child use her powers to this extent? Are you crazy! A child who already grew up so pitifully…”
The skinny Mia already knew that the woman in front of her was the captain of the Black Knights.
She didn’t know how she had fainted, but she couldn’t forget the moment when the black masses of people parted like waves at this woman’s single word.
But the girl, who thought she had already hit rock bottom, wasn’t afraid of death.
She was just trembling with anger that had nothing left but malice.
Exploitation.
It was a game played by adults that made her nauseous just imagining it.
Mia was a smart child.
So, unlike cases where she was adopted as a maid, she was adopted by a noblewoman without a husband as a daughter to continue the lineage.
The clever Mia tried and tried to meet expectations.
And that effort was more than enough to satisfy her adoptive mother, and a life where she could only study was truly happy.
But the incident happened at a social party.
Children who were ashamed of losing to a mere adopted daughter accused Mia of being a thief.
And her adoptive mother came running.
She was a warm mother who seemed like she would believe in her, but the pain of her cheek being slapped away, beyond warm, to the point of being hot, was terrible.
And the mocking laughter and animalistic gazes of the people surrounding her.
What she realized while looking at them was that no matter how much she struggled, a fake could never become real.
It was like a curse for those who had nothing.
But Nia is real.
Everyone in the world knows that a child who uses Divine Power is precious.
Mia had also gone to the temple for baptism when she was young, so she saw how well the children there were treated.
In Mia’s mind, she couldn’t help but think that Nia had been adopted by this monstrous woman in order to exploit her Divine Power.
But Mia had to be calm.
If she only expressed anger, she would lose even the opportunity that Nia was born with.
She didn’t know how much her persuasion would work, since she had nothing, but she wanted to help Nia, who she had lived with like a sister, see the light of day, even if only a little.
Mia quietly knelt before Lucia.
“…You probably don’t know how hard Annie grew up. So please send her to the temple. I beg you.”
Lucia watched Mia’s resolve and parted her lips.
“Nia is a Saintess. But if she goes to the temple, she will die.”
“…Saintess? No, she’ll die? That’s ridiculous. It’s common knowledge that the temple is searching far and wide to serve the Saintess…!”
Mia, who had lowered her head, couldn’t control her anger again at the nonsense and shouted, but met Lucia’s serious gaze.
A sincere gaze that was completely different from the gazes of the adults she had seen, with no mocking laughter or contemptuous looks anywhere.
Mia somehow couldn’t continue speaking at that sight.
“It’s important information that no one knows. What do you think is the reason I’m telling you such information?”
Clearly, the woman in front of her is a black monster.
Why is such a woman trying to hide the Saintess?
Just because she’s as cruel as a demon?
Then why is she holding Annie like that… so preciously?
“…I don’t know.”
There were many questions.
But the meaning of the questions didn’t really come to mind with that affectionate touch.
“My child ran towards you so much that she left my side. And you are now kneeling for such a child. How can I not believe you?”
“…!”
This woman, it wouldn’t take even a second to shut my mouth forever. Just like that violent drunkard died in one blow at the hands of his subordinate.
Moreover, now that she’s asleep is the perfect time to keep it hidden from Annie.
But she didn’t do that.
‘She believes in me.’
Mia somehow felt her heart, which she thought had died somewhere, start beating again at those words.
“You can stay together.”
Lucia reached out her hand to the child.
Lucia was thinking absurd things like, ‘I’ll just take another childcare leave.’
But Mia just blankly looked at the hand in front of her and shook her head.
And she straightened her bent knees and stood up on her own.
“No, thank you. I’m sick of freeloading now… However, I’ll come to check on her sometimes.”
Mia felt her vision darken at the thought of joining another pickpocket gang, but what she hated more than that was living off the strength of others again.
“Then I’ll introduce you to a job. It’s nearby, so you can come see her often.”
“…Yes?”
Lucia pointed to the Imperial Palace outside the window.
She hadn’t noticed it until now, but this place was incredibly close to the Imperial Palace.
Mia ran to the window and stuck to it, looking down at the Imperial Palace.
A hill behind the Imperial Palace. This is the only place in the capital where you can look down on the Imperial Palace.
A magnificent building decorated with gold on snow-white walls.
And a lake covered with flowers and elegant gardens drawn like foreign patterns.
It was a breathtaking sight she had never seen before.
As it is for any girl, the Imperial Palace is the most admired dreamlike place.
To work in such a place, commoners naturally couldn’t approach it, and you needed a letter of recommendation, as well as a family name.
That’s why the Imperial Palace was even more like an actual fantasy for Mia, who grew up in an orphanage.
‘…In a place like this? Recommend me? Me? No way.’
“I, I’m a thief! What if I steal something from the Imperial Palace? Why are you recommending me?”
Mia, who had been excited about the dreamlike story, tried to regain her composure, but she couldn’t overcome her trembling inner self and began to stutter.
“Well, I guess everyday items are okay. As long as it’s not these things… For example, the Emperor’s crown. Treasure-oriented?”
“Wh, what did you say…?!”
“Anything but that is fine. It’s annoying to argue with the Emperor…”
Was the rumor that the black monster was afraid of even the Emperor true?
Mia was flustered by her words, which she didn’t know whether were real or bluff.
Her head was telling her to refuse, but her instincts were telling her to believe Lucia’s suspicious offer.
And Mia decided.
Her life was already at rock bottom, so she decided to bet on her.
…However, it was up to Mia to navigate her lonely daily life in the Imperial Palace, which was turned upside down by the black monster’s letter of recommendation.
*
White Wizard Division office.
Two administrative members remained, checking the documents to be passed on today.
“Jaina. Guess who I met when I went to Gus von Closet yesterday?”
Marien, a White administrative member, naturally handed half of the documents to her colleague sitting next to her and said.
“Let me see. Mrs. Hanna, who’s the hot topic these days? Count Deoni?”
Jaina also naturally organized the documents she received and replied.
“Oh ho ho, you’re joking. We only see them in social circles. That’s a place to get children’s clothes made.”
“Huh? Then who?”
When Jaina focused on the unknown smile, Marien whispered quietly as if she was delivering great news.
“…Captain Lucia!”
“…Oh! No way! Then, is she sending her child to the affiliated kindergarten?”
When she was surprised, Marien nodded with an excited face.
“But Jaina, what I’m curious about is who the child’s father is. According to rumors…”
When Marien spoke with a serious face, Jaina raised her hand as if she had heard it.
“Ah, that rumor! It’s a big deal among the young ladies these days. They said she said it herself. She doesn’t know whose child it is because there are so many partners? Oh my!”
“Ah, how cool. Really. She’s living a life that even married women like us can’t imagine.”
“That’s right. She changes men to her liking. Usually, she would have been pointed fingers at already, but our Lucia is a legendary Sword Master.”
The two looked towards somewhere by the window with dazed eyes.
Baroness Marien and Jaina.
The two grew up in an environment where they were oppressed as women and had children through arranged marriages.
It wasn’t that they weren’t satisfied with their current husbands, but they hadn’t been able to have various relationships when they were virgins, so they were incredibly envious of Lucia, who was the topic of conversation now.
They even put aside what they were doing and became dazed with their own lewd imaginations, but they came to their senses with a sudden afterthought.
“Ah! That’s right! I saw the child’s eyes that day, and they were golden!”
“…Yes? Golden eyes? Oh my goodness, then!”
“That’s right! Captain Leon. When I think about it that way, it explains why the captain is more obsessed after the child was born!”
“That’s right! That’s right! Men are sensitive to their own bloodline!”
Were they bored with work, or were they bored with life?
Perhaps it was both, they were enjoying themselves for a long time, agreeing with the baseless puzzle, but Marien’s face hardened again.
“But! We can’t be sure yet. There’s one more person with rare golden eyes, right?”
“Oh my, then… Could it be!”
The two, whose eyes widened as if they had been shocked, were matching their lip shapes as if they had learned a big secret.
‘Crown Prince Iren!’
‘Crown Prince Iren!’
‘Oh my oh my oh my~!’
‘Oh my oh my oh my~~!’
They made a fuss with silent screams at the well-matched lip shapes, and suddenly started imagining.
“…A forbidden, sacred angel and a decadent younger man full of beauty.”
“…It’s paradise.”
The two, who had already put work aside, were blankly lost in their own immoral imaginations.
-Bang.
“Aah!”
“Waaah!”
The person who opened the door and came in was surprised by their screams and took a step back.
“C, Captain. You’re here? Captain?”
“Hoo, it’s hot. Oh, you’re here. Captain.”
“…Why are you so surprised?”
He was the captain of the White Wizard Division, Leon Luwins.
When they saw Leon entering the office, they were busy hiding their inner thoughts as if a fire had fallen on their feet.
At such a suspicious sight, he walked slowly to his desk with a suspicious face and sat down.
There was definitely something going on, but Leon wasn’t the type to dig into it persistently.
He just started doing his work that he had to finish today.
But still, he couldn’t concentrate.
This was because his heated heart was not in a situation where it could be calmed down by work.
Lucia was hurt.
And he knew that it wasn’t life-threatening.
The spell had only taken a hit and hadn’t broken.
He knew this fact because he was the one who cast the magic on the captains’ bodies.
But since only the members had the Magic Stone that indicated the location, he was just getting anxious.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have secretly stolen the Magic Stone. Foolishly…’
For 26 years, he had been far from stealing because of the Imperial etiquette textbook, but today he hated that foolish honesty.
He used to just worry about things, but these days he had become so obsessed with her that he couldn’t bear the anxiety to the point where he was wandering around the empty training grounds of the Black Knights.
“Captain? Is there something you’re worried about?”
“There’s no reason to go see her… Ah, it’s nothing.”
He was surprised that he answered unconsciously, but he raised his hand to his forehead as if he had become gloomy again.
They shook their heads at the sight of the innocent captain who was always suffering from lovesickness.
They were more frustrated because he had been like this all the time these days.
“Again, again. Think about the gifts you sent without permission. It’s burdensome. You haven’t even received a thank you yet, right?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Especially in the case of having a child, you need someone to lean on. She’s someone who can’t settle down in one place.”
Even so, they were also married women without romance, so they couldn’t give very good advice, but in Leon’s case, they were already seniors who had even gotten married, so he had no choice but to listen to those words.
‘Settling down, huh. That’s the story of the rumors. How hurt was she that she said words that would hurt herself without hesitation.’
He didn’t believe the rumors.
The content he heard directly from the Emperor was that the man had abandoned the mother and daughter.
Moreover, Lucia didn’t even reveal her identity to protect that wretched man.
What other man would such a virtuous woman have met?
He smiled bitterly, thinking that he would rather the rumors be true.
“Ah, Captain. I saw Captain Lucia and her child at the tailor shop yesterday. It seems like she’s going to send her to kindergarten.”
“How unfortunate. You should have run into them by chance, Captain! To get to know the child.”
‘Ah, so it was a preliminary investigation.’
Leon didn’t read the book at their words, but he remembered the day when he was embarrassed to see the book that contained his childhood appearance and story, and he touched his forehead.
He only realized today why he had picked that book out of so many childcare books, but he couldn’t give the help that he had confidently promised that day.
Leon’s mother had been avoiding him for 10 years since the day he became an adult, for some reason.
He sighed again at not being able to help.
“Sigh. More than that, the entrance ceremony is next week, so it’s a pity. Everyone will be coming with a partner.”
“Ah, my. That’ll be a little noticeable…”
In fact, it would have been more noticeable for her, the captain of the Black Knights, to appear there, but they didn’t notice that fact because they didn’t have any prejudice against Lucia.
He was just imagining the discrimination that the kind-hearted woman would experience there as a single mother and was hurting alone.
They weren’t doing the work they were supposed to be doing in the office, and suddenly had bitter faces.
Then,
“…Ah. Wait? I just had a good idea!”
For some reason, Marien was looking at Leon with a lonely face, and she couldn’t lower her cheeks that were puffed up.
