A Saint Who Was Adopted by the Grand Duke
chapter-ss2

“I felt it’s perfect as a viewing snack the last time I tried it, so I deliberately requested it from the chef and brought it.”

Nom, nom—

Esther’s eyes folded into cresents as she chewed on the snack.

This time, the fried corn had a sweetness after a savory taste, perhaps because it was caramelized.

“How is it?”

“It’s absolutely delicious.”

When Esther, who had tied her hair up in a ponytail, smiled, the surroundings lit up.

“Put your hand out.”

Dennis grinned and poured the fried corn into Esther’s sunken hand.

“It looks funny.”

Then Deheen, who had his eyes fixed on the podium, suddenly reached out and grabbed some fried corn.

“…Father? You don’t like sweets, do you?”

“Concentrate. The second trumpet has sounded, so it will begin soon.”

Dennis was shocked at Deheen’s unfamiliar behavior, but the latter simply stared sharply at the podium as he chewed on the snack as if nothing had happened.

★★★

The cloth covering the faces of Rabienne and Hudson came off almost at the same time.

Standing in the bright sunlight for the first time in a while, Rabienne squinted and spotted her father.

“Father!”

Since she was suddenly locked up, she hadn’t seen her family in a long time.

She couldn’t hide her delight at the thought that she had finally found someone on her side, and called loudly.

“Hmm.”

But her father’s response was lukewarm.

Hudson winced at his daughter’s call, glanced at her, then turned his head around and climbed the stairs.

“Why are you here?”

Rabienne’s expression darkened tremendously as she sensed something was wrong.

“You must go up.”

“Yes.”

Rabienne stared at her father, who went up the podium first, and hesitantly climbed the stairs as well.

Then she looked around, and was startled. Her shoulders trembled.

It was because of the hostile and cold gazes of the people who filled the square.

‘I want to run away.’

Ever since she was young, the eyes of those who looked at Rabienne were always full of longing and envy.

It was the first time she had ever received such frosty stares, so it was unfamiliar and scary.

But she had nowhere to run.

The stairs, which Rabienne had hoped would not end, soon came to an end, and she was dragged to the center of the podium.

“The public trial begins now.”

The judge declared in a solemn voice as soon as both Rabienne and Hudson were placed in the middle of the podium.

“Hudson de Brions and Rabienne de Brions, who are on trial today.”

The judge read the proclamation prepared in advance and recited the charges in detail.

“Hudson de Brions brought great confusion to the empire by turning his daughter, who lacked the qualifications, into a saint. As a result, an epidemic spread throughout the empire and caused countless damages. He also tried to kidnap the real saint and killed the late grand duchess’ sister. Do you admit all your sins?”

“I don’t admit it.”

When questioned by the judge, Hudson adamantly denied his guilt.

“Let the witnesses come out.”

At this, the judge beckoned, and several priests from the temple, Lucifer, and Albert appeared.

Hudson immediately recognized Lucifer and frowned.

‘Why is Lucifer here? Could it be… he knew I was looking for Catherine’s whereabouts and sent that bastard to spy on me?’

Hudson smiled bitterly when he realized that it was all Deheen’s trick that led him to find Lucifer by chance.

The witnesses came forward one by one and finished their testimony in order.

Their words were conveyed clearly through the loudspeaker to the people gathered in the square.

Not long ago, when the imperial family announced that Rabienne was a fake saint, many people did not believe it.

It was because the ducal family of Brions was the family that consistently produced the most saints.

However, when the revelation of the witnesses made it a foregone conclusion that Rabienne was a fake, they couldn’t help but believe it.

After the witnesses had finished speaking, sighs erupted from all over the place.

“I will ask again. Hudson de Brions, do you plead guilty?”

“…The work of the late grand duchess’ sister is slander, and everything related to the saint was done by my daughter in my name. I was unaware of it all.”

With no way out of the situation, Hudson decided to blame everything on Rabienne.

“You mean, your daughter who is not yet an adult? Rabienne de Brions, speak.”

Rabienne panicked as the arrow suddenly turned to her, she shouted.

“I didn’t do it! It was my father who made me a saint, and I never ordered that man to kidnap her.”

“Hah, can’t you just admit it? Because of you, our family’s long history has come to an end!”

Hudson burst into anger and severely scolded Rabienne.

“But it was all Father…”

Rabienne’s eyes reddened with resentment. She anxiously glanced at her father, only biting her lips awkwardly.

Hudson looked at his daughter, telling her to accept it like this.

The worst situation was that the family had already been arrested and their territory and property were all confiscated by the imperial family.

At least one of the two had to get out of here. For even the slightest chance of reviving the family.

“…That’s right. I did it. I did it because I wanted to become a saint. I was so stupid. I was wrong.”

After reading her father’s thoughts, Rabienne forced out the words to turn herself in.

And she squeezed out tears in order to win people’s sympathy.

“Are you admitting to the crime of trying to kidnap the real saint?”

“Yes. But my intention wasn’t to abduct her, I just wanted to talk.”

“You hired an assassination guild to have a conversation?”

When the judge caught a hole in her words, Rabienne flinched and stammered.

“I-I was acquainted with the saint, but she refused to meet me. Judge, Your Honor, I have the most divine power in the temple. At that time, I couldn’t find the saint, so I became the saint. I was scared that the position would suddenly be taken away. Please consider my situation as well.”

No matter how hard Rabienne tried to make excuses, it was useless.

Since she had already admitted her guilt, the plaza was noisy.

“Oh my God, she is really a fake?! How shameless. Then the reason the epidemic spread is because of her!”

“Look. Didn’t I say the imperial family couldn’t be wrong?”

“I can’t believe it. The prestigious Brions family did such ugly things.”

“Maybe all of the saints who came out of Brions so far were fake.”

The angry crowd started tossing the eggs they were holding towards the podium at random.

Of course, most of the eggs fell to the ground without reaching the high platform.

“Your Honor! Please send the people away. It’s too dangerous.”

Seeing the furious crowd, Rabienne trembled and was unable to hide her agitation.

It was then.

“Because of you, my son died without even receiving treatment! You wicked woman!”

An egg thrown by a tall middle-aged man flew with great force.

And with a puck, it hit Rabienne’s shoulder.

“Ugh.”

The raw egg cracked and the sticky liquid inside seeped into Rabienne’s clothes.

Rabienne frowned as she ran her fingers through it in surprise.

The pain aside, she couldn’t stand the shame she felt upon being treated like this in front of many people.

“Who the hell did this!”

Her lips quivered and she looked down the podium to find the person who had thrown an egg at her.

But it wasn’t just one.

There were many people with eggs in their hands.

Fear flickered in Rabienne’s eyes as she sensed their hostility toward her.

Backing away, she muttered in a dazed voice.

“Everyone, don’t do this. Please calm down.”

★★★

Under the podium, Esther and her family were watching seriously with different expressions.

Among them, Judy’s bright smile stood out, like he was looking at something very interesting.

“Esther, do you know why the people are throwing eggs?”

“Why?”

“Usually, stones are thrown, but since Rabienne is a sinner who has not yet reached adulthood, eggs are used instead.”

“Ah, I wanted to see her baptized with stones. It’s a bit unfortunate.”

Judy licked his lips in disappointment at Dennis’ explanation.

“Even though she is a sinner, a child must be protected. If she gets hit by a stone, she can get seriously injured. On the other hand, it’s a shame eggs are wasted.”

At that time…

“Eggs for sale—! These eggs were harvested this morning and are very fresh and easy to break––! There are also juices—! Refreshing juice with grated lemon––!”

Vendors running around and touting customers could be heard.

At an event where a lot of people gathered, such as a public trial, there would always be merchants looking to make a profit.

“Father, shall we buy eggs too?”

With his ears perked up, Judy showed interest and begged Deheen.

Dennis glanced at Esther and added,

“Let’s buy juice too. I think my throat is off because I kept eating sweets.”

“All right, good. Pay with this and come back.”

After receiving a gold coin from Deheen, Judy excitedly ran to the merchant.

“Four bottles of juice and eggs… Give me eight eggs.”

“Ah, what can I do? I don’t have any change for gold coins.”

“You can keep the change.”

The merchant’s lips twitched as he wondered what kind of windfall this was, and brought a basket full of juice and eggs.

Judy took them back to the front row and handed them out one by one.

“Is it tasty?”

Esther, who was already thirsty, gulped down the lemon juice and smiled at how delicious it was.

“Esther, you can have mine as well.”

“If it tastes good, I’ll buy you another one.”

While Dennis and Deheen paid attention to Esther…

Judy grinned evilly, picked up one of the eggs he bought, and threw it at Rabienne without hesitation.

“Take that!”

However, perhaps because he was throwing it for the first time, the egg fell helplessly to the floor.

“Oh, why didn’t it work?”

“You need to pull your arm back more. The angle of opening is too narrow, so the egg can’t fly very far.”

“Ah, is that so? I’ll try again later. I bought plenty of eggs just in case, I’m glad I did that!”

Hearing Dennis’ advice, Judy scratched his forehead and stretched his arms out in front of him.

Then, using the thumb and forefinger of both hands, he made a square shape, and closed one eye as if looking at a target.

“I’ll make sure to get it right next time.”

Ame: Judy, are those muscles for show? xD