He approached me and lay down on the ground.
I was confused by his behavior and quickly picked him up.
“Shouldn't that priest Aaron apologize instead of you, High Priest?”
“It's all my fault.”
“Why on earth did he do that?”
“He is a pitiful boy.
His parents were killed by a moneylender, and he struggled to raise his little brother alone, but even his brother was cheated by that moneylender...”
“Hmm… that’s unfortunate, but what do I have to do with this?
I’m not the moneylender.”
Is it possible that crazy Bella had practiced usury before?
Well, Bella didn't have the money to do that anyway.
"The moneylender's name is said to be Robert.
He confessed to me that you had mentioned that name, and he seemed to have greatly misunderstood.
He said his eyes had grown dark and he could no longer see anything."
What did you say?
I said it looked like a robot...
I felt dizzy.
Even if I fall backwards, my nose will break.
Oh, unlucky Bella.
I calmed down in the reception room, and hoped that the bedroom would be ready quickly.
"Can I at least take a shower?
I want to take a shower."
“The bedroom will be ready soon.
Please wait a moment.”
“No, how many times have you said that it will be ready soon?
I can’t take this dirty feeling anymore.”
"I'm sorry."
The moment he said “I'm sorry,” I had no words to say.
I sighed deeply, put my arms on the armrest of the sofa and lay down.
I longed to take a warm shower and lie down on a soft bed to rest.
If Cassia hadn't taken my room, this wouldn't have happened.
Yes, it's all because of Cassia.
I suddenly got up.
“Take me to the Saint’s room.
I have something I want to discuss with her.”
“The saint is praying now.
She said that she is sensitive and does not allow anyone to approach her room.”
"Ah, my head!
I've got a bad headache from that priest shaking me.
I'm going back to Esther.
If the Duke asks me why I'm back so suddenly, I'll have to tell the truth.
The Duke may be a bit reckless, but... by the way, who gave up his room to the Saint?
The Saint and I have a special relationship, as you've seen."
The High Priest's face turned white.
It looked like another wrinkle had been added to his face.
He sighed deeply and finally led me personally to Cassia's room.
When he was about to knock on Cassia's room door, I raised my hand to stop him.
“Wait, you can go now, High Priest.”
I whispered softly, and he hesitated, confused.
When I held my head and mentioned Leon's name again, he returned with a pale face.
I stood in front of Cassia's room for a moment, then grabbed the doorknob.
What if Cassia was searching for the sacred symbol inside the room?
It was unbecoming of an aristocrat, but I made up my mind and quickly opened the door.
Contrary to my expectation that it would be closed, the door opened easily.
Through the crack in the door, I saw Cassia sitting at a desk in the dark room, her back to me.
'She was really praying.'
I glanced around the room.
It was clean, showing no signs of inspection or holes in the floor.
Just when I was about to feel guilty, Cassia suddenly turned around with a confused face.
“How rude is this?!”
Cassia screamed loudly, which was unusual of her.
There was something at her mouth.
I craned my neck and narrowed my eyes.
'That's definitely…'
I moved towards her with confident steps.
Cassia quickly tried to cover the desk with her arms.
“Saint!
What is this now...”
I doubted my eyes.
She was trying to hide pieces of bread and small fruits.
What she had in her mouth were bread crumbs.
“Duchess, this is really rude.
Get out immediately!”
“...Didn’t you abstain from food to pray?
Didn’t you say that you would not eat?
Or was it a prayer of food and not abstinence?”
Her face turned red and blue.
It seemed like I wouldn't move, so she looked at the open door and ran to close it.
“I see the saint eating bread while praying, right?”
“You saw a mistake!”
She confidently opened the desk drawer and threw the bread and fruits inside.
What is this?
This is a completely new character.
“If my eyes are healthy, then what I saw is true.”
“This is really rude.
I did not expect such behavior from the Duchess.”
Because of this unexpected aspect of it, I completely forgot the real purpose of my coming.
I suddenly remembered my purpose and said to her: “Actually, I haven't been assigned a room yet.
So I came to use the bathroom.
Since I gave up my room to you, I think I deserve this much preference.”
Her lips, which were always smiling gently, were closed tightly.
“And I'll ask out of curiosity, did you ask to switch rooms with me because you were hungry and secretly wanted to eat as quickly as possible?”
“What are you saying?
When did you accuse me of eating food?!”
Cassia screamed as if she were really wronged, but she held the tray into which she had thrown the food tightly for fear that I would open it.
"It's okay, I won't tell anyone.
There's no need for all this.
This could happen to anyone."
Despite my words to calm her down, she kept looking at me cautiously without any reassurance.
After looking at me silently trembling for a while, she suddenly collapsed to the ground and started crying loudly without me being able to stop her.
“I'm hungry... very hungry.
Why can't a Saint do so many things...”
Cassia started complaining constantly.
Where should I agree with her and where should I console her?
I approached her and sat next to her.
Cassia, who had always seemed so refined and calm, was now a little girl just my age.
I felt a strange sense of familiarity and patted her shoulder gently.
After crying and complaining for a while, Cassia pushed my hand away and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her dress.
“I hope you forget everything you saw about me a little while ago.”
She got up, looked at me with condescending eyes, and spoke.
Have you started acting again?
I laughed softly.
“I am not someone who takes advantage of other people's weaknesses.”
Cassia felt guilty and looked at me sharply.
“Do you think I am like this?”
“I didn't say that, but you felt guilty, didn't you?”
“…Guilt?
I thought I was being too lenient with your circumstances.”
I closed my lips tightly, smiled and nodded.
“Yes, you're being too lenient.
Anyway, don't worry.
Hunger is a basic human desire, I understand.”
Cassia bit her lips hard, then looked at me with eyes full of resoluteness and said, “Since things have gotten here, I will ask directly.
Did you really come here just for the sponsorship event?”
“Otherwise, what?
Even if I have another purpose here, I am not a saint, how will I find a holy symbol?
When there is a guest… I mean, a precious guest in Esther, I came here purely out of faith, and I have come a long way.”
“…But I didn’t mention anything about the sacred symbol.”
She narrowed her eyes with a look full of doubt.
'Ah, it seems I made a mistake.'
“I just had the idea.
I'm a very imaginative person.
When you suddenly asked for my room, I thought for a moment that there was a holy symbol in my room.
Since my faith is so deep, I thought I might be lucky.”
I emphasized my deep belief in every detail.
"Unfortunately, it seems that you are out of luck now, Duchess.
I searched your room, and did not sense any energy of a sacred symbol."
I felt a headache when I heard Cassia's words.
Her words amounted to an admission that she had taken my room because of the sacred symbol, although hunger was a secondary reason.
It also seems that the saint does not know the exact location of the holy symbol.
It seems that Cassia can sense the energy of the symbol.
“But why are you so interested in sacred symbols, Duchess?
And how did you know that there was a sacred symbol here?
I, as a saint, received a signal from the ruler, but...”