Chapter 108
Or rather, was it not a dream but a return to reality? Had she woken up from the dream of being a Saintess, back to being an insignificant girl from the slums? Had everything she had enjoyed until now been an illusion?
Hildegard stood there with an empty face, then suddenly laughed, finding her situation amusing.
Sixteen years in the slums, she had lived so fiercely. Hildegard wanted to live. So she did everything she had to do to survive.
Hildegard’s main job was pickpocketing. But besides that, she had her hand in various things. She had begged by pulling on the clothes of passersby, lied about having a sick younger sibling to extort money, stolen bread from bakeries. She had kissed the slum gang leader when he said he would protect her if she dated him. She had stolen blankets from dying people and gotten into fistfights with groups.
Yes, it wasn’t a clean life. How could an insignificant girl from the slums live considering ethics?
But one day, Hildegard gained power after hearing a strange voice. From then on, Hildegard’s life changed. Priests who said they came from the temple sought out Hildegard and served her as a Saintess. When she showed her newly acquired power, the priests looked up to her.
Hildegard, who had lived her whole life watching out in the slums, didn’t miss what her instincts whispered to her at that moment. She recalled what the temple people who occasionally came out to volunteer would say, and pretended to be devout despite not knowing much about theology. She acted as if she had lived a kind life all along.
Hildegard’s efforts to appear sacrificial while volunteering after becoming a Saintess were simply because she knew that doing so would allow her to gain more. If someone were to investigate Hildegard’s past and find fault, she would have nothing to say. How could she make nobles who had fortunately been born into and enjoyed everything understand her life?
Strangely, she didn’t even feel angry. It felt like her mind was becoming extremely calm. Hildegard guessed that she would soon fall endlessly.
* * *
The letter sent from the Hamelsvoort family quickly arrived at the Lartman mansion.
“What? They’re holding a hearing for Hilda?”