I Unintentionally Cured the Grand Duke’s Insomnia - Chapter 129

65. — His Intention (1)

The event that had been prepared for a long time to celebrate Irene’s return became a literal mess due to its sudden cancellation a few days ago. People who were eagerly anticipating seeing the Saintess directed their criticism at Irene, who didn’t appear, and disappointment was evident on the children’s faces.

The people of the empire rushed to the castle walls to ask about the circumstances, though the knights merely repeated like parrots that the Saintess didn’t want the ceremony. Of course, while it wasn’t entirely wrong to give that answer in a situation where the truth couldn’t be told, it wasn’t the best answer either since such a response shifted all the blame for the canceled festival onto Irene.

I hated the fact that she was shouldering all the responsibility for this situation alone.

Lily, noticing the sigh that escaped me unknowingly, asked quietly.

“Is there something bothering you?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you’ve been sighing heavily for a while now.”

I shook my head as if to say it was nothing. Lily, who was tilting her head suspiciously at my appearance, looked out the carriage window and spoke.

“Well, I’m glad that’s not the case, but why was the festival suddenly canceled?”

“….”

“It wasn’t just postponed but completely canceled, so it makes me worry that those rumors might be true after all.”

“Rumors?”

I furrowed my brows in doubt at her prattling words. Lily then blinked in surprise at my reaction and asked with a slightly surprised face.

“You haven’t heard that rumor yet?”

“What rumor are you talking about?”

“The rumor that the Saintess hates Lian.”

“What do you mean? Irene doesn’t like Lian?”

My voice involuntarily rose in bewilderment.

Lily blinked her eyes a few times at my reaction before slowly nodding and continuing, “There has been such a rumor for a long time. It’s said that the Saintess had such a troubled childhood that she doesn’t have good feelings towards Lian, where she grew up.”

“….”

“So, there’s a rumor going around that the Saintess refused to attend the event held in Lian.”

“If Irene didn’t have good feelings towards Lian, she wouldn’t have helped the citizens of the empire for so long.”

“I’m not saying that’s true, it’s just a rumor! That’s just one of the rumors that’s been going around.”

Lily, seemingly flustered by my stiff expression, waved her hands. She observed my face as I bit my lip and fell into thought before she carefully continued speaking.

“I think the rumors spread even more because neither the temple nor the Saintess gave any answers to the question of whether she refused the return ceremony because she dislikes Lian.”

I thought that the temple and Irene couldn’t easily answer that question due to numerous interests and situations overlapping, though I knew I couldn’t pass those words on to Lily as they were.

I met her gaze, who was waiting for my answer, and responded firmly.

“It’s probably not for that reason. There must be other circumstances that we don’t know about.”

“Circumstances?”

“Yes, so until Irene speaks first, don’t add any comments or spread any rumors, Lily.”

“….”

“You saw it, too, how much pain I suffered from the rumors people spread.”

“….”

“I don’t want the people in my mansion to do that.”

She quickly nodded her head at my firm tone. Seeing that, I asked with a deliberately brighter voice to change the subdued atmosphere.

“How much longer until we reach the real estate, Lily?”

“We’ll arrive soon. I don’t think it will take more than five minutes.”

“Oh, and did Mrs. Passe act suspiciously or say anything unusual on the day of the return ceremony?”

Lily looked around for a moment in response to my question before she clapped her hands. She looked at my questioning expression as I tilted my head and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Actually, there was something Mrs. Passe told me when I went to ask about the date.”

“Something she said?”

“I didn’t mention it because this story is even more absurd than the rumors about the Saintess…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mrs. Passe said she knew why the event was canceled.”

“…What?”

Seeing me frown deeply, Lily quickly continued.

“W-Well, she said the event was canceled because the Saintess was no longer loved by God.”

“No longer loved by God? What does that mean?”

In response to my urgent question, Lily kept biting her lips as if her mouth was getting dry. When I urged her with a determined look, she whispered in a low voice as though she had made up her mind.

“She said the reason for the disappearances and strange deaths happening all over Lian is that the Saintess is no longer loved by God.”

“Irene isn’t loved by God?”

“Yes, when I asked what kind of nonsense she was saying, she said that if the Saintess were loved by God, there wouldn’t be a corpse hanging over the gate that she was supposed to pass through.”

“…W-What?”

“So, according to Mrs. Passe, a body was found hanging over the gate that the Saintess was supposed to pass through, and that’s why the event was canceled.”

“….”

“W-Well, Mrs. Passe spoke as if she were certain, though it must be a lie. Honestly, it doesn’t make sense. How could there be a corpse when there were so many knights guarding the city walls that day…? Young Lady?”

My lips didn’t part even at the sound of Lily’s voice calling me. All I could think about were the stories I had heard about Mrs. Passe.

〈 Mrs. Passe is a famous licensed real estate agent in Aren. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that all the rumors that spread in Aren started with her because she has a light mouth. 〉

An ominous feeling wouldn’t leave my mind.

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