A Saint Who Was Adopted by the Grand Duke

“Me? Do I?”

“Yes! You know what? If you keep looking at children, it’s tto get married.”

“What are you talking about!”

Esther jumped up in surprise at Dorothy’s whisper, and the latter’s smile deepened.

“Oh, let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Esther, who was striding ahead, turned and cacross a group of slaves.

The paladin who was leading the group recognized Esther and greeted her with a respectful expression.

“You have worked hard.”

“You too.”

Esther’s gaze naturally turned to the slaves.

All of them had worn out clothes, and they looked exhausted from working all day.

She couldn’t feel the will to live from them, who were chained together with heavy shackles on their feet.

“There is nothing to pity. All of the slaves brought here have committed unforgivable sins. They are people who should be thankful that they can pay the price for their sins.”

“…Yes.”

It was when Esther and the paladin had a brief conversation.

Suddenly, a shriek was heard from the very back of the group of slaves.

“Finally, we meet like this! I’ve been waiting for this day to come! I will kill you today and then I will die too!”

Startled by the anger in the person’s voice, Esther turned around.

A slave with shaggy hair covering his face and his whole body stained in dirt was struggling wildly.

“Why is this all of a sudden? Hey!”

The bewildered paladin tried to calm the slave by pressing down his shoulders, but the slave struggled even more and glared at Esther.

“Let go of me! Who do you think you are! Get your hands off me!”

Esther’s face hardened coldly when she belatedly recognized the identity of the slave.

“The Duke of Brions.”

Over the years, he had changed so much that he was unrecognizable.

“I heard that you were taken to a labor camp. Turns out it’s here.”

“I lost everything because of you! Reward my life… Argh!!”

The agitated Hudson Brions was struck by the sheath of the paladin who could no longer stand it and fell to the side.

“No matter how much you trample on me, it’s no use. I’m in such a humble place right now, but someday… Ugh, ugh! Argh!”

To stop Hudson from saying more, the paladin forced him down on his knees, pressing his head so that his forehead touched the floor.

“Saint, I am really sorry. I will educate him well so that this will never happen in the future.”

“Yes. I hope we never meet again.”

“Of course. Thank you for your mercy. He will not be receiving dinner.”

Hudson continued to struggle and shout, but there was nothing he could do with the shackles on.

Eventually, he was dragged off.

“Lady Esther, are you okay?”

Victor, her escort, had his hand on his sword the whole tafter Hudson first screamed.

“Yes. I was just a little surprised.”

“I’ll talk to the temple and have him sent somewhere else right away.”

“…It’s okay. It will be painful enough here too. Let’s see for a while.”

Compared to other places, the slaves of the temple were treated better.

This was because they only work for a set number of hours and have three meals a day.

However, it would be difficult for Hudson, who had lived without touching a drop of water his whole life, to endure this place easily.

(TL/N: ‘living without touching a drop of water’ is an idiom for ‘a very pampered life where one is served by others’.)

Clank, clank.

The sound of the shackles gradually receded.

Esther looked down at her arms and legs, recalling the chains that bound her a long tago.

A reversed situation.

However, the feeling of bitterness was greater than the feeling of relief.

‘Is Rabienne here too?’

It had been a long tsince she thought of Rabienne, whom she had deliberately erased from her memory.

***

Two weeks had passed since Esther shut herself in the prayer room and began sketching on the walls.

“Lady Esther! Be careful.”

“Don’t worry. You’re getting in her way.”

Esther was on a ladder, painting the higher portion of the wall.

Victor was holding on to the ladder just in case, but Dorothy was still uneasy.

But contrary to the worries of the two, Esther was happier than ever.

“It’s fun.”

Unlike when drawing on a piece of paper, she could endlessly expand her imagination. It felt like her imagination was coming to life.

Thinking that this was what it meant to draw to her heart’s content, her eyes twinkled.

After finishing the rough sketch, she began to think about what colors to apply and what type of paint to use.

Her concentrating eyes shone intensely in gold.

“Look at those eyes. Isn’t she the reincarnation of the goddess rather than the saint? I will take pride in having served the saint for the rest of my life.”

“Will I be that pretty when I grow up?”

“Will you?”

The saint candidates murmured, secretly peeking at Esther from the doorway.

A man suddenly interrupted the children’s chatter.

“Shh. You can’t interrupt.”

“Who are you?”

The children were surprised to see a stranger, but their eyes lit up when they took in his handsface.

“I’m her boyfriend.”

“What? Does the saint have a boyfriend? Really?”

“Well.”

Noah smiled and stuck his face beside the children, looking at Esther.

“I’m jealous of this. How can she be so pretty when she is working? I want to hide it and keep it for my eyes only.”

Noah stared at Esther, who was absorbed in her work, in admiration. Then he asked the children to help him with the flower basket he had brought.

“Can you put this next to the saint? Be quiet so she doesn’t notice.”

“yes!”

After watching Esther for a little while more, Noah went off, with a grin that couldn’t be hidden.

“To think I can be with Esther without her brothers… It’s like a dream.”

Looking forward to meeting Esther in the afternoon, Noah went to see the high priest in advance.

***

Esther roughly determined the colors needed for the mural and meticulously laid them out on paper.

“I can do it like this.”

Since the temple had already prepared all kinds of colors of paint, she thought she would be able to start painting from tomorrow.

Satisfied, she cleaned up and grabbed a cup of water.

“Oh?”

Then she belatedly noticed a basket of flowers. It was full of lisianthus, which she liked these days.

He smiled, picked up the basket, smelled the scent, and found the card inserted.

[I’ll wait at the cafe outside the temple.]

Having frequently exchanged letters with Noah, Esther recognized his handwriting.

“You’re here.”

Unable to hide her fluttering heart, she smiled brightly as she took another breath of the scent of the flowers.

Exiting the prayer room, Esther ran into the priestess who was managing the flower bed.

Since they met every day, they naturally becfamiliar with each other. The priestess smiled brightly upon spotting the flower basket.

“The flowers are so pretty. Are you going on a date?”

“Yes?”

“There are rumors that His Highness the Crown Prince has cto the temple. He cto see you, right?”

Although almost everyone was aware that they were an official couple, Esther still felt awkward about this kind of attention, so she only smiled shyly in response.

“Ah! There are good places for a date nearby.”

The priestess, who saw the expression positively, was excited and suggested.

“If you take a carriage north for about 30 minutes, there is a hot spring. It’s run by the temple.”

“A hot spring? How can a man and a woman who are not married…”

When Esther was taken aback, the priestess added.

“Besides the hot spring, there is also a warm foot bath. Soaking your feet and looking at the scenery will relieve your fatigue. You’ve been working the whole tsince you came.”

After saying goodbye to the priestess, Esther got on the carriage Victor prepared.

“Where shall I take you?”

“A village off the site.”

It was not a long distance, Esther thought walking would take a long time.

‘I want to meet Noah as soon as possible.’

The carriage was speedy, so she soon arrived at the village.

It was not big, but over the past two years, a shopping street formed.

Esther did not look around. Once she found Noah sitting on the terrace of a café, she hurriedly stopped the carriage.

“I’ll get off here.”

Esther glanced at Noah and pursed her lips.

“Dorothy, that…”

“We will stay here. We will pretend we didn’t see anything.”

Dorothy and Victor, who had already run into Noah during the day while Esther was working, decided to close an eye.

“Thank you. Um, excuse me… How do I look? Am I okay?”

Just before Esther walked to Noah, she hurriedly turned around and touched her hair.

“You are very pretty.”

“You are pretty. As always.”

Esther nodded at Dorothy and Victor’s thumbs up and slowly moved to Noah’s side.

“What are you drawing?”

“You’re here?”

Noah grinned as he showed what he had sketched on paper.

“I tried to imitate you because you looked so happy… It’s not working out. As expected, you are amazing.”

Esther looked at Noah’s drawing, which was almost like graffiti, and sat down in a chair with a smile.

“When did you arrive?”

“In the morning.”

Noah slightly lifted his butt from the chair and leaned his upper body towards Esther.

“But why are you doing this outside? What if people find out?”

“There are not many residents. It’s nice because it’s secluded and relaxing.”

“Yes. I like it too.”

There were no people on the street, so there was no need to mind.

All this while, they often went on dates in the capital and Tersia, but the two always had to be aware of others’ eyes.

Deheen and the twins always followed Esther when she left the mansion on rare occasions.

It was the first tthat the two of them were leisurely alone in such a serene place, so Esther’s heart kept pounding.

Credits goes to for raw providing and translating.