Chapter 61 - New Situations

Claud was from a noble family. Since he wasn’t the firstborn, he couldn’t inherit the family name, so he was baptized and became a paladin of the Holy Empire. 

As a chosen person, he was extraordinary, even among the talented paladins. Although there were people who didn’t like Claud, none of them could make light of him—until now.

“I heard he lashed out.”

“How could a servant of God act like that?” 

Claud could hear people making snide comments about him. He acted like he didn’t care, but deep down he was annoyed. ‘How did this happen?’ It was all a mess. He grit his teeth.

“It was a mistake to make you a paladin. Thanks to you, they’re looking down on all of us!”

“Ugh!” 

Some of the paladins—the ones who couldn’t talk back to him and the ones who hated him—gathered around to hit him. But Claud couldn’t fight back. He couldn’t defend himself without a blessing. 

‘This is all because of that arrogant little kid.’ The saintess may seem innocent and naive, but she was more clever than she let on. She knew exactly what to say and do to shut her opponent up. ‘How could someone so young know how to use her head so well?’ 

“She’s just an orphan…!” Although they tried to keep it a secret, the insiders knew the true identity of the child who was paraded around as the saintess. 

She was born in the dumpster, where the lowliest people gathered. It was painful for Claud to see her look down on him—he had never felt so humiliated in his life. 

But he didn’t have any strength left. While she may be an orphan, she was the saintess now. She had more power than the Pope, and she was also Rahel’s princess. 

Even if he got kicked out of the Rahel Empire and went back, he would be ostracized by the other paladins and end up alone. There was no way he would be able to go back without being killed by beasts. 

A voice said, “Oh no, you seem like you need some help.” 

Claud looked up with teary eyes. “Who are you?” he asked the young man in a black robe who was smiling at him.

“Your savior,” replied the stranger. A black snake tattoo started moving next to his widening smile. 

* * *

There were a lot of presents in my room again, except this time, they were from the nobles instead of Miltiades. 

“They’re congratulating you on becoming the princess.”

“After all they did to oppose me?” I asked. Margaret smiled and said nothing. I thought the flurry of gifts would end with Miltiades, but the nobles started sending a second wave. From the number of precious gifts lined up, I could tell they wanted to stay on my good side. ‘Daddy probably gave me most of the good presents.’ But was it okay to accept them anyway?

I was lost in thought when I noticed a present wrapped in black. I frowned, “Is that one from Duke Ravenhook? Throw it away immediately.”

“Princess…” Luciana looked at me with a troubled expression, but Margaret simply nodded, “His Majesty also told us to put it aside.”

“Really?” I was amazed at how well my dad and I knew each other, “My dad’s the best!”

* * *

Most of the presents were jewels and luxury goods, but there were some interesting items as well. One of them was a small sword that would be perfect for a child. I immediately knew who to give it to. 

“Here, take it.” The person I gave it to frowned as soon as he saw it. If he kept frowning like this all the time, he would have wrinkles at an early age. 

“It’s a present,” I told Kais.

“What is it?”

“It’s obviously a sword.” 

I pushed it into his hands, “I know it doesn’t look like much, but I personally blessed it.”

“…” this made Kais look at the sword in a better light. I brought him a new sword because I knew he had been using the one he stole during his escape from the hideout. ‘He should be using a sword that’s suitable for his height.’ This sword wasn’t sturdy since it was made for kids, but it was better than the one he had now.  

“How was yesterday? Did anything happen?” After our last encounter, I went to see Kais more often. He seemed to be doing better, but I couldn’t get his expression out of my mind. I found myself dropping by whenever I had the time. ‘He’s also a young kid.’ Although he didn’t show it, he was lonely. I could relate to him, so I couldn’t leave him alone.