I’m Not A Saint Though?

chapter 16

“You, you bitch!” The Duke, fuming and flaring his nostrils, sprang to his feet.  Perhaps due to my provocation, he even trembled all over.

But his rage quickly subsided.

*Slap!*

“How dare you speak such nonsense to the Saintess!”

The investigator slapped him across the face again.

“Because of what you did, the Saintess has suffered so much, and you have the audacity to speak so disrespectfully? Do you need to be waterboarded to come to your senses? Huh?”

The investigator raged as if he were the victim.

He was acting this way partly because I was the Saintess, but the bigger reason was probably the Duke’s charges.

A man who not only killed his father and stole his position but also threw his daughter to the lions.

Who wouldn’t be enraged by that?

But I quietly stopped him.

“Don’t do that.”

The investigator flinched at my gentle yet firm voice.

“I-I apologize. I shouldn’t have shown such a violent side in front of the Saintess…”

He apologized readily due to my status, but his expression was quite flustered.

It was understandable, as this was the man who had killed his father.

To be so upset over just slapping him a few times.

‘I guess the bond of upbringing can’t be ignored.’

Chuckling at his transparent thoughts, I slowly approached him.

“Don’t overwork your hands trying to discipline someone like him, Investigator.  They’re precious hands that uphold the Empire’s justice, we can’t have them injured.”

I gently caressed the investigator’s hands.

His bewildered eyes quickly filled with emotion.

“Injured? It’s my duty to reform such shameless people.”

Then, he smacked the trash on the head again.

“You!  Looking at the Saintess with those eyes again, get rid of that disrespectful gaze!”

The trash flinched at the investigator’s menacing aura.

He seemed quite intimidated by the violence he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

But perhaps not wanting to lose face in front of me, he didn’t lower his defiant gaze.

“You bastard!”

Just as the investigator raised his hand again,

“Investigator, could I speak with him alone for a moment?”

“What? But leaving you alone with him… He hasn’t confessed yet, and he’s quite a violent man…”

The investigator looked troubled, worried about my safety.

I smiled faintly and shook my head.

“Don’t worry. The Goddess’s Representative is with me.”

The investigator’s eyes widened as he finally noticed Delton standing beside me.

“Ah, I see. If that’s the case… Yes, I understand. I’ll excuse myself for a moment, so please call me if anything happens.”

“I will, thank you.”

The investigator bowed politely at my words and was about to leave when he hesitated.

Even if it was the Goddess’s messenger, a beast was still a beast.

He seemed afraid to pass by it.

“It’s alright, he won’t bite.”

“Ah, yes!”

The investigator nodded, seemingly reassured by my gentle tone.

But as if his fear hadn’t completely subsided, he walked around Delton and left the interrogation room.

As soon as the door closed, the trash yelled as if he had been waiting, “You wicked girl! How dare you falsely accuse me of such nonsense? A bastard child?  Don’t you feel sorry for your grandfather?!”

“Of course, I do. But what choice do I have? This is the only way to protect the family and remove you.”

I replied indifferently, walking slowly along the edge of the room.

‘This is too much.’

Even if it was a place for interrogating prisoners, this was too extreme.

The walls were covered in mold, the ceiling was full of cobwebs, and there wasn’t even a ventilation system.

As a result, the acrid smoke from the resin candles made from animal fat filled the room, stinging my eyes.

If the interrogation room was this bad, how much worse would the actual prison cells be?

‘Oh, this is good.’

The trash, born into a high-ranking noble family, was obsessed with cleanliness.

Changing clothes two or three times a day was a given, and he couldn’t even tolerate dust particles floating in the air.

If there was even a tiny stain on his bedsheets, he would make such a fuss that the whole house would be noisy all day.

How agonizing it must be for such a person to be sitting in such a filthy place.

Chuckling inwardly, I pulled out the chair opposite the trash and sat down.

“Your face has aged quite a bit in just one day.  Is prison life that hard?”

“Don’t be ridiculous…! How can I be comfortable when I’ve been dragged here for no reason and even slapped by that lowlife!”

“Ah, right. You were slapped, too.”

Clapping my hands as if I had forgotten, I grabbed the trash’s chin and turned it this way and that.

“Hmm, let’s see. Your left cheek is a bit red… Well, it’s alright. You’re so chubby that it’s not that noticeable.”

“What, what?”

As I smiled, the trash, who had been dumbfounded, furrowed his brows.

“You little…! Is that something you should say to your father who’s suffering this humiliation because of your ridiculous accusations? Huh, I raised such a wicked girl as my daughter for 19 years!”

“Oh, don’t act so surprised. I learned it all from you.”

I shrugged.

It was tit for tat, a father who tried to kill his daughter, claiming she was a coward who gave up on becoming a sacrifice because she was afraid of death, and a daughter who framed her father as a bastard and a murderer.

As I smiled shamelessly, the trash’s face turned as dark as a rotten tomato.

But perhaps because it was true that he had tried to kill me, he couldn’t refute it and remained silent.

The trash, flaring his nostrils unattractively, then gritted his teeth and asked, “So, why are you here? To see how miserable your father is?”

“Well, that’s part of it.”

“You damn girl!”

Did he have anger management issues?

Frowning at the trash, who kept squealing like a stuck pig, I calmly spoke, “Don’t get so worked up. That’s not the only reason. I’m also here to give you an opportunity, Father.”

“Wh-What? An opportunity?”

I smiled at the trash, who looked at me as if asking what I meant.

“Confess, Father.”

“What?”

“Admit to all the charges against you.”

“Ha, you’ve completely lost your mind. Confess? Why would I put a rope around my own neck? If I do that, I’ll be…”

“You’re going to die anyway, Father. You can’t avoid execution.”

I cut him off firmly.

“Think about it. Who would spare someone who dared to murder the heir of the Dukedom and steal his position?”

“That’s all a false accusation you made!  I’m the legitimate son of the previous Duke, Maitland Veloce, and his wife, Cassia Veloce!”

“Well, who would believe that?”

“What?”

“Now that there’s evidence, no one will believe you, Father. You’ll eventually be hanged. Miserably, in front of all the citizens of the Empire.”

I spoke of his death with an impassive expression.

“You’ll struggle in agony, unable to breathe as the rope tightens around your neck.  But no matter how much you kick your feet in the air, there will be nothing to stand on. And the rope will only tighten further.”

“…”

“Those lowlifes you always looked down on will laugh their heads off, watching you struggle like a pig to survive.  That’s how you’ll die, Father.  Humiliated, stripped of all honor and dignity.”

At my words, fear crept into the trash’s face.

He turned so pale and started gasping, I was worried he might actually die on the spot.

But his appearance didn’t stir any emotion within me.

If I hadn’t framed the trash, this would have been my future.

“Of course, no one will collect your body.  Your mistress and your bastard child will receive the same punishment. Your corpse will rot in an unmarked grave in the mountains, without even a tombstone…”

“Wh-What?  Are you saying Magda and Melina have been arrested too?”

“Not yet, but they will be soon.”

“That’s absurd! Why would they be arrested!  What crimes have they committed?!”

The trash yelled as if having a seizure.

He was completely different from when he had insisted on killing me to appease the Goddess.

‘Is this guy really not my father?’

I was dumbfounded, but it didn’t hurt.

We were a father and daughter who were worse than strangers.

“The crime of being your mistress and bastard child.”

At my calm reply, he looked shocked, then asked with a resigned expression, “So what difference does it make if I confess?  Unless I clear my name, all three of us are dead anyway!”

“It makes a big difference. If you confess, Father, I’ll use that as an excuse to plead with His Majesty to lessen your punishment.”

“…You will?”

He looked as if he couldn’t believe it.

Well, it was only natural, since I was the reason he was in this situation in the first place.

But I was sincere.

“You’re still my father, after all. I feel uncomfortable framing you and sending you to your death. I can’t make it all disappear, but I’ll at least try to save you from death.”

As I spoke magnanimously, the trash’s face turned red and blue.

Trembling with clenched fists, he finally couldn’t contain his anger and screamed,

“Aaaaaah!”

He seemed unable to comprehend how he had ended up in this situation.

After yelling for a while, he finally seemed to have exhausted himself and gasped for breath.

Then, he asked with a resigned expression, “…Can I trust your promise?”

His voice was devoid of its usual vigor.

“Are you really going to save me, no, all three of us?”

“Of course.”

I smiled and nodded.

Their survival, that was what I wanted.