The Saintess Is Too Good at Lying!
Chapter 1
Justitia saw it clearly.
Before Lumiella threw herself down the stairs, she had locked eyes with Justitia and offered a faint smile.
By the time Justitia realized what was happening, Lumiella had already tumbled down the staircase.
Her slender frame rolled down the steps before anyone could reach out to stop her.
"Aah, Lady Lumiella!"
People who had come running at the sound discovered the tragedy before them and were horrified.
Among them, someone shouted loudly.
"The Saintess pushed Lady Lumiella down the stairs!"
Everyone looked at Justitia with shocked eyes.
Soon, looks of resignation appeared on their faces, as if to say this was exactly what they expected from Justitia.
This was because Justitia had a history of being caught trying to undermine Lumiella several times before.
But Justitia was innocent.
She shook her head hurriedly.
"That’s not true. I didn’t—!"
"Saintess!"
Just then, someone cut off Justitia’s words and barked at her.
As Justitia turned her head with a bewildered expression, she saw King Alfonso climbing the stairs with a face hardened by rage.
Behind him, Lumiella was being carried away, having fainted.
"Just how far do you intend to sink? Last time, you tried to frame Lumiella by claiming she lied."
It wasn't a frame-up.
Last time, Lumiella had truly lied, claiming Justitia had done things she never did.
Justitia had asserted her innocence and pointed out that it was strange for Lumiella to be telling such lies.
But no one believed her.
"Did it bother you that Lumiella only spoke the truth? Is that why you tried to kill her?"
"How can you say such things, Your Majesty? I do not lie. You know that better than anyone..."
"I don't know. Perhaps you are using that rigid, upright image of yours to frame Lumiella."
"What reason would I have to do that? I am your fiancée and the Saintess of Scalia."
Justitia denied it firmly.
"This time, too, Lady Lumiella fell down the stairs on her own. I clearly saw her look at me and smile before she rolled down the stairs!"
Slap!
A sharp, cracking sound erupted against Justitia’s cheek.
As a stinging pain followed, Justitia turned her head with a dazed expression.
"How much further must I be disappointed in you?"
Her brother, Duke Sergio Cassini, was looking at her with eyes full of contempt.
"Are you framing the real one because you’re afraid of losing your place?"
"Framing her, Brother? That is not true."
"Shut your mouth, Justitia."
Sergio cut her off with a cold voice.
"By the authority of the family head, I am excommunicating you from the Cassini family. You are no longer a Cassini, nor are you my sister."
A murmur erupted from the surroundings at the sudden declaration.
Even if excommunication was the right of the family head, there had never been a case where a Saintess was excommunicated so recklessly.
However, Alfonso stood by, watching the scene and implicitly agreeing.
Justitia could not believe the situation.
"It should have been this way from the start. Now that the real one has returned, there is no need for a fake sister."
"…A fake."
Justitia, who had muttered in a hollow voice, asked in a sorrowful tone.
"Have you ever, even once, considered me your sister?"
Sergio laughed coldly, leaned his face close to Justitia, and replied.
"You know better than anyone that I never have."
Sergio turned on his heel.
Before following him, Alfonso left one last remark as if he had just remembered.
"I intend to hold you strictly accountable for today’s events later. Even if you are the Saintess, the crime of attempting to harm a daughter of the Cassini family will not be light."
"..."
"Don't do this again. I say this for the sake of the Saintess's safety."
It sounded as if he were saying this was the last time he would let it slide.
How ridiculous.
She had never done anything wrong, not even once.
* * *
Fortunately, Lumiella woke up safely and expressed that she did not wish for Justitia to be punished.
Justitia requested to meet and speak with Lumiella, but the request was denied as Lumiella refused out of fear.
As the news spread, everyone praised Lumiella’s generosity and maligned Justitia.
"Everything was originally Lady Lumiella’s to begin with. Both the position of the Saintess and the position of the Cassini daughter."
"Since the real one who disappeared seven years ago has appeared, it’s no wonder the fake is desperate. Still, to think of pushing someone down the stairs..."
At some point, Justitia had become a fake who envied and undermined the real one.
"I am truly innocent, Archbishop. The position of the Saintess, the name of Cassini... I can give it all up. I have never once harbored impure feelings toward Lady Lumiella."
"If the Saintess is truly innocent, God will know."
"…So even you do not believe me, Archbishop?"
"No matter what kind of person you are, Saintess, I am on your side."
Archbishop Formoso held Justitia’s hand and said earnestly.
Justitia looked at him with wounded eyes, then eventually shook off his hand and left.
Some time after that.
"I order the execution of the Saintess Justitia, who attempted to poison Lady Lumiella Cassini."
Justitia met her death.
Abandoned by her family, her fiancé, and the temple—by everyone.
So.
'That means I have become that Justitia.'
I looked into the mirror with cold, dead eyes.
A woman with silver hair that shone elegantly as if dyed by moonlight and eyes as blue as a lake stared back at me.
Justitia.
A kind, rigid Saintess who didn't know how to lie.
A tragic woman who was helplessly swayed by the schemes of the 'real' one who appeared out of nowhere, eventually losing everything.
"Saintess, you look truly beautiful today! There has never been such a beautiful Saintess in the history of Scalia."
I could see Nora, my maid, trying to lift my spirits with a bright, smiling face.
She immediately added cautiously.
"Try not to run into Lady Lumiella today, if you can help it. Strangely, whenever you get involved with her, only bad things seem to happen."
This friend has quite a sharp intuition, doesn't she?
When I looked at Nora with an expression that said she was quite perceptive, she flinched and hurriedly continued.
"O-of course, that doesn't mean Lady Lumiella is a bad person. It’s just... strangely, you often end up in unfair situations whenever you are with her."
If it were the original, kind Justitia, she would have scolded her, saying not to speak ill of Lumiella.
"You're right."
But I am not the real Justitia.
"You saw it accurately. The daughter of Cassini keeps making things up to put me in a difficult position."
Perhaps because it was an unexpected answer, Nora’s eyes widened.
"Y-yes! That’s right! Last time, you told people as if you had ridden the carriage alone from the slums, leaving Lady Lumiella behind! In reality, you were rushing an injured child to the hospital."
Just as Nora said, Lumiella constantly distorted the facts like this to make Justitia look like a strange person.
"I was so frustrated when you just stood there and watched back then..."
That’s right.
Before the problem became serious, Justitia didn't bother to correct the facts.
She would only say frustrating things like, "Well, it is true that I rode the carriage alone."
Because of that, even the people who trusted Saintess Justitia gradually came to believe Lumiella’s words.
By the time Lumiella’s lies and distortions became so severe that Justitia tried to set them straight, it was already too late.
"So, I should have listened to you."
Justitia, it wasn't as if you didn't have advisors around you.
How could you be so soft when you had such a smart maid?
As I nodded readily, Nora looked at me as if I were someone unfamiliar.
"You seem a bit strange today."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Last time I said something like this... you didn't like it very much. You said that as a Saintess, one should overlook the minor faults of others."
"I’ve changed my mind. Spreading false information doesn't seem like a minor fault."
I replied nonchalantly.
"A person who steals a needle will eventually steal an ox. Who’s to say she won't tell bigger lies later?"
"That’s exactly what I mean!"
"Of course..."
I stared blankly at the top of Nora’s head and added one more thing.
"I still think Lumiella is a good person."
The moment I uttered those words.
[It is a lie]
[Lying gauge increased by 0.1%]
[Current gauge: 0.1%]
Letters floated before my eyes.
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