Chapter 3: A Glimmer of Hope Amidst Doubt

“Lucia?”

“Lucia, are you listening?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! My mind was just wandering!”

Snapping back to reality, Lucia finally registered Imeline calling her name.

She apologized frantically to Imeline, who stood before her, then sheepishly scratched her head.

The wounds Lovelenica had inflicted moments ago were now completely healed.

“Honestly, you’ve been spacing out ever since.

Did that wicked woman scare you senseless?”

Inside the church, Imeline sighed with a hint of exasperation, observing Lucia slumped somewhat dazedly on a pew.

“Lucia, let’s go speak with His Eminence, the Bishop.

You should train with our family instead.

Stop following that wicked woman; there’s definitely something wrong with her.”

“Huh? Wicked woman? Are you talking about Teacher Lovelenica? What… what exactly is wrong with her?”

“Huh?”

Hearing Lucia’s barrage of questions, Imeline’s temper flared.

It was clear Lucia hadn’t absorbed a single word she’d just said.

“What’s wrong with her? Everything about her is wrong!

Why does she always use such an abusive method to train you?

The amount of training she assigns is clearly abnormal, isn’t it?

During sparring, she never holds back, completely disregarding whether you’ll get hurt.”

“She completely ignores your well-being, leaving you to live in the convent next to the church.

You are the Angel’s Dust, chosen by the gods as a Saintess!

Is this how she treats you?

Even His Eminence, the Bishop, sometimes can’t bear to watch.

If you hadn’t insisted on continuing to learn from that wicked woman, he would have assigned you to someone else long ago!”

“She can’t just torture you like this just because you have regenerative abilities!

And today, she even attacked your eyes!

With your current power, if your eyes were scratched, that would be a permanent injury!”

“Are you really this loyal to her just because she picked you up?

Wake up, Lucia!

She absolutely wants to use you for something!”

As Imeline ranted on, Lucia silently lowered her head.

She knew full well that Lovelenica’s training methods were utterly unreasonable; if she weren’t chosen by the gods, she would have died a hundred times over during their sessions.

Yet, it was Lovelenica who had rescued her from the bandits who murdered her parents.

It was Lovelenica who had brought her to the church and raised her.

Could it be that Lovelenica had saved her from the very beginning purely to exploit her?

After all these years, did Lovelenica truly harbor no affection for her at all?

Each time she recalled Lovelenica’s cold gaze, a chill would strike Lucia to her very core.

This feeling of being deceived and betrayed caused her immense anguish.

The reason she continued to learn from Lovelenica was her desire to prove that Lovelenica did, in fact, hold some affection for her, even if only a glimmer.

And now, it seemed…

‘No, that’s not right!’

Lucia suddenly remembered the final moment of her sparring session with Lovelenica earlier.

Lovelenica’s sword tip had almost touched her eyeball, yet at that precise instant, Lovelenica had pulled back her force.

Moreover, a flicker of panic had distinctly crossed Lovelenica’s eyes at that moment, and she had even told Lucia to step back.

Though the panic had been fleeting, Lucia was certain she hadn’t been mistaken.

‘Lovelenica… was she afraid of genuinely hurting me?’

Lucia’s eyes immediately brightened.

Following this line of thought, it meant Lovelenica still harbored some feelings for her after all!

“No, Lady Imeline, Teacher is not like that.”

Lucia, raising her head, appeared to have regained her resolve.

“Lucia! You!”

Imeline slapped her forehead in exasperation, fuming at Lucia’s words.

She had assumed Lucia’s silence and lowered head meant she had accepted reality, only for her to look up and utter such a statement.

“I don’t know what to say to you!

You’ll be sold by her and still help her count the money!

If you want to follow her, then follow her!

In any case, I’m going to investigate her background.

You’ll only wake up when I shove the evidence in your face, won’t you? Hmph!”

Imeline’s face flushed crimson.

Puffed up with indignation, she stormed out of the church after delivering her parting shot.

Lucia watched Imeline’s retreating figure, her gaze dimming slightly, before she finally whispered a phrase only she could hear.

‘…I’m sorry, Lady Imeline.’

Just as Lovelenica had anticipated, her timely act of holding back her strength had indeed altered the timeline slightly.

In the original plot, after Lovelenica blinded one of Lucia’s eyes, Lucia’s heart had completely died towards Lovelenica, and she had faced the truth.

However, she had not trained with Imeline’s family as Imeline had suggested, but instead continued to follow Lovelenica, as this facilitated Lucia’s gathering of information about her.

Although Imeline felt this would be somewhat arduous for Lucia, upon seeing Lucia’s resolve, she had accepted her proposal.

Subsequently, Imeline and Lucia had jointly investigated Lovelenica, both openly and covertly, and ultimately uncovered the issues behind Lovelenica and the Crimson Family.

Now, with the timeline altered, only Imeline had decided to investigate Lovelenica and the Crimson Family, while Lucia continued to follow Lovelenica.

Lovelenica remained unaware of the conversation between Lucia and Imeline, or their subsequent decisions.

She merely believed that if she hadn’t gone as far as in the original story, their relationship wouldn’t have deteriorated so quickly.

As it turned out, the situation had its pros and cons.

After Imeline departed, Lucia remained seated in the church.

Today’s sparring session had once again left her body aching all over.

She gazed at the stained-glass windows within the church, intending to rest there for a while before returning to the nearby convent.

Just then, an abrupt female voice reached Lucia’s ears, interrupting her reverie.

“Oh, isn’t this the student of that good-for-nothing woman?

Has that good-for-nothing woman disciplined you until you can’t stand again?”

A young woman, also clad in a black and white nun’s habit, with a veil draped over her head and short, curly golden hair, was leaning against a pew, gazing down at Lucia, who was resting on the bench, with a look of mockery.

However, this young woman’s golden hair possessed less luster and more dryness than Lucia’s, appearing more yellowish, while Lucia’s long golden hair was considerably smoother by comparison.

“Shut up! You are not to insult my teacher!”

Lucia glared at the young woman, coldly interjecting to stop her.

This young woman was also a nun of the Church.

She belonged to the Crimson Family, Theresa’s daughter, named Julie Crimson.

She shared the same golden hair color as Theresa, and several followers, also nuns of the Church, stood behind her.

Since Julie was also a direct descendant of the Crimson Family, she naturally knew Lovelenica’s true identity.

This was why she spoke disrespectfully of Lovelenica, calling her a “good-for-nothing woman.”

“Oh my, oh my, is the Saintess getting upset?

That good-for-nothing woman abuses you like this, and you still defend her?”

“Clang—”

A gun-sword instantly materialized in Lucia’s hand, its tip striking the floor with a resounding clang of metal.

“Are you looking for a fight…?”

Lucia’s tone grew increasingly frigid.

Her action startled Julie’s followers.

Had Lovelenica truly blinded her today, she might have genuinely ignored Julie’s taunts.

But Lovelenica hadn’t, and so, as Lovelenica’s student, Lucia still bore the responsibility of defending her honor.

“Don’t be so tense, Saintess.

I didn’t mean it like that.”

Julie quickly waved her hand with a forced smile, yet her words dripped with disdain for Lucia.

“I’ll retract what I just said about Miss Lovelenica.

However, what I don’t understand is why His Eminence, the Bishop, would choose an orphan like you, picked up from who knows where, to be the Saintess, when even the person who found you turns a blind eye to you.”

‘…If you want to fight, let’s go to the training ground now! Stop with these useless words!’

Julie’s words evidently struck a raw nerve for Lucia, yet she found herself at a loss for how to retort, resorting instead to using force to silence Julie.

However, Lucia’s stance with the sword was merely a bluff.

Nuns in the Church were not permitted to engage in private duels anywhere other than the training grounds.

Any duel had to take place there, or they would face punishment from His Eminence, the Bishop.

Julie, however, had no intention of dueling Lucia.

“Heh heh, I wouldn’t fight you.

With your monstrous stamina, it would be a waste of time trying to defeat you.”

“Oh? Are you perhaps scared, Miss Julie?”

Lucia subtly arched an eyebrow, casting a sidelong glance at Julie before her.

In truth, Julie simply dared not fight Lucia.

She knew she couldn’t defeat her, but even if she couldn’t win physically, she wouldn’t lose verbally.

After all, due to the Church’s rules, private duels were forbidden.

As long as she didn’t accept a challenge, it became a battle of wits.

“Who’s scared? I just don’t want to waste my time.

Next month, during the Monster Hunt Exercise, I’ll show you who is truly more qualified to be the Church’s Saintess.

As for you, try not to get killed by Lovelenica before the exercise.”

“That won’t trouble you.

You’ll see then just how correct Teacher’s training methods are for me.”

“Heh heh, easy for you to say.”

After both sides had exchanged their threats, Julie departed the church with her entourage of followers.

Having argued with Julie, Lucia sat alone on the pew, an unconscious melancholy settling over her.

‘Teacher… are you truly just using me, or do you genuinely have feelings for me? I really don’t understand.

Please, give me a definitive answer…’