Seijo no Hazu ga, Douyara Nottoraremashita – Chapter 71

There are many kinds of people. 

It didn’t take long for rumours of the neighbouring kingdom’s Saint, who people hadn’t met but knew a little about, to spread.

Saints are people with pure and beautiful hearts. They don’t tell lies. That is the common knowledge of this world. 

It seems that there are many people in this world who admire pure and innocent Saints.

If she wanted to, Hime could act like a good person. I had been impressed by her ability to see what made others happy and what moved them even before coming to this world. 

Even though her ‘Charm’ skill was apparently sealed, she was able to show off her natural social abilities and honey coated words, becoming a seemingly kind-hearted maiden with no evil intentions and was immediately adored by some of the servants who took care of her. 

Imitate her? I can’t. 

She’s a genius at it. She could tell heartfelt lies even though she didn’t really mean what she said. I can’t do that. 

I don’t think anyone would think that someone who has always acted like my friend would try to kill me as soon as she got summoned into another world and gained power. At least I didn’t think she would do that. 

If I hadn’t been in this situation, that is, if I hadn’t become her target, then I would probably still think of her as a nice person without knowing anything about her. 

Soon, I realised that two factions had been created. The first faction is ‘I don’t care who they are, a prisoner is a prisoner. It’s our duty to obey the General’, and the second faction is ‘I feel sorry for the neighbouring kingdom’s Saint. She’s such a nice person but she’s being persecuted’…

Hmm… I feel like the problem is getting bigger since I don’t really act like a ‘Saint’. 

This wouldn’t have happened if people thought I was better than Hime. Maybe they were supporting Hime because she acted like a ‘Saint’. 

I wonder if it was wrong for me to be running around busy every day.

Ah, I actually haven’t been running though, have I? Yes, I have been faithfully following Alice’s teachings, so of course I keep a composed expression on my face, but I was desperately walking as fast as I could. 

But as a result of my daily efforts, the people’s initial suspicions of me being a fake because I was plain and tactless should have been dispelled, but it seemed that I didn’t have the charismatic charm that Lector exudes from time to time. Well, I don’t have it at all. Yeah, I know. 

Even so, I’ve been getting along well with everyone in the fortress lately and have been spending my days peacefully. 

Some of them began calling me ‘Saint~’ in a friendly tone as I got to know them better. 

Hmm… I wonder if their friendliness will harm me.

Recently, the maids who serve Hime have been really charmed by her and have been pleading, “That poor Saint has been saying that she wants to talk to Lector-sama and Anise-sama. Can’t you just talk to her for a little bit?”

They even say, “She’s not a bad person at all, she’s very kind. She just wants to clear some misunderstandings that you have. That’s all she wants. She’s a really nice person! I’m sure you’ll see that if you just talk to her once. I’m sure you’ll like her too if you just talk to her. We guarantee it!”

I don’t think… I would ever like her…

I don’t think we will ever understand each other no matter how much we talk. But even if I told the maids about Hime, they wouldn’t believe me. 

I remembered that the heroines in novels and manga were able to get the servants on their side and had everyone rooting for them like Hime. People enthusiastically appear one after the other to help her. 

Am I the stubborn, cold villainess who doesn’t understand anything? 

But I can’t think of any plans to stop Hime, which is a problem. 

No matter what I say, Hime is more persuasive. 

No matter what I say, if she sadly says, “It’s a misunderstanding!” then even I would think for a second, “Huh? It’s a misunderstanding?” That’s how persuasive she is. 

I don’t feel like opposing a person like that at all. I may be persuaded by her if I talk to her. 

I always smile in disappointment and reply, “Lector has forbidden me from seeing her, so I can only see her with his permission.” Thank you, Lector, for giving me a good excuse. 

But Hime’s heroine powers are amazing. 

In the blink of an eye, the devoted maids, who could almost be called her followers, pleaded even more frequently. I finally got a direct plea from one of them the other day. 

Well, I don’t mind her doing that. After all, this castle, or rather fortress, is located in a remote area near the border; it was like an isolated island in the wilderness, so naturally, people in the fortress got along like they were family, and they weren’t formal towards each other. Therefore, there weren’t any strict rules of clear penalties against them talking to the mistress, and it’s common for me to talk directly with someone on a daily basis since it was homey. But…

It’s already winter. 

I don’t know when Lector’s life will be in danger. 

I’d rather concentrate on protecting Lector rather than be pushed around by Hime.

Was what I thought but… I’m also a coward who doesn’t want too many enemies in the fortress.

“What do you think, Liza?” I was so troubled about this that I finally asked Liza, the maid, for her opinion. 

She was a maid who Lector had brought in when I was becoming increasingly busy with my work as a mistress. I’ve learnt a lot from her, and it’s thanks to her help and advice that I’m now able to handle my work as the mistress of the house. 

“It’s really troublesome. I’ve also warned them about this, but they get very emotional.”

Liza and I sighed. 

In the end, the three maids, who were devoted to ‘Saint Hime’ came to me every day and they also brought other people to come and talk to me. 

‘Lately, we’ve been trying to solve the misunderstanding Anise-sama has with ‘Saint Hime’, get you two to get along and build international goodwill!’ and ‘It’s wonderful to get along!’ have been their slogans lately. They’re strangely motivated and burning for justice. 

“Misunderstanding they say. Exactly what am I misunderstanding?”

Are you saying that it’s a misunderstanding for people to think that I’m a saint? I thought and asked. 

“They said that the reason why you don’t see Hime-sama is because you don’t like her and that’s definitely because you’re misunderstanding something,” Liza said with some difficulty.

“I see…”