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Although she had thought about it a thousand times since Mikhail left, Liena could never understand it.
What did she do so wrong? Is it wrong to use the abilities that the Goddess gave her to use?
Do they feel bad because their emotions are being manipulated?
"Even if that's the case, does that mean it's a serious enough offense to be accused of a fraud I didn't commit?"
It was clearly unjust retaliation.
Moreover, Liena was not the only one who benefited from the Goddess's blessing.
Those who received the blessing also experienced the utmost happiness loving themselves.
Liena returned joy to Duke Cassius, who had closed his heart after losing his wife, and taught people like Roland and Isaac, who had lived their whole lives without knowing love, what love is.
What she did was not wrong.
Because she believed so, Liena believed her other followers would soon offer her a hand.
But after a few days, there was no news.
No one even designated a lawyer for her.
"Those traitors…!"
The sadness that arose from being abandoned by Mikhail gradually turned into hatred.
When things were going well for her, they were eager because they couldn't see her, but when she faced a crisis, they immediately turned their backs on her.
"Just because I initially used the goddess's blessing, does that make the time we spent together a lie?"
Liena made a promise as she bit her nails, all crushed from constantly biting them. She would never let it end like this.
All of these were just tests organized by the goddess to help Liena grow even more. So the only thing left to do is lightly jump over it.
"Now I have no choice but to use the last resort."
And the last resort would be a public trial, which would be held soon.
One early morning, while Liena was distressed thinking about how to use her last resort more effectively.
"—Miss Liena, are you awake?"
A voice came from outside the door that was neither the inspector's nor the food service manager's.
Liena knew the owner of this voice.
"—Cardinal Morton!"
As a representative of the temple, he was the person who signed a contract with Liena regarding the trade of magic stones.
"I was worried, so I came to pray for Miss Liena."
"How did you get here…?"
"There are many people with deep faith even within the imperial palace."
In other words, it meant he stealthily entered through the back door with the help of an official.
"Do you believe in me?"
"Of course I do. Miss Liena is good and kind."
"Cardinal…"
"Then, I believe you'll offer everything you have left to the Goddess before washing away your sins."
At that moment, Liena's heart grew cold.
"Do you want me to give you money?"
"I'm not necessarily saying that, but if there is money among what's left, that would be correct too."
"Hah, you can't hire a lawyer for me, but you can get money?"
"Isn't it wealth collected illegally anyway? If you offer it to the goddess, your soul will also be saved."
The cardinal spoke in a disgustingly kind tone.
"When we were discussing the contract before, Miss Liena said, 'I'll use the funds for bribes I've hidden when the time comes, so don't worry about Bunny going bankrupt.'"
"Was that something you really wanted?"
"It's not about personal greed, it's about benefiting people in general. Isn't this money something you can't spend if you're stuck here anyway?"
"That's funny. If it really was for a pure purpose, is there any reason to come here secretly?"
Liena called out through the door.
"If I give it to you, it'll end up in your pocket!"
That's why she disliked temple members so much.
In her previous life, Liena had lost a lot of money after being deceived by a priest who promised to increase her wealth.
Although she usually donated less than other believers, that person spoke kindly to her, so she trusted him and entrusted it to him.
At that moment, Liena's antipathy toward the temple did not disappear even after she returned and turned the priest into a street vagabond and starved him to death.
Furthermore, due to certain circumstances, Liena couldn't feel favorable towards the temple.
Because of this, she really didn't want to be loved, so the goddess's blessings didn't apply to those connected to the temple.
"Well, that's enough."
Just because she wasn't loved didn't mean she couldn't make use of it.
"Cardinal Morton."
Liena spoke softly to the man who was probably cursing her in his mind.
"I can give you something more valuable than a few pennies."
"That's absurd…"
"Do you want to succeed? If you cooperate with me, you will."
The cardinal looked at Liena as if she were crazy.
* * *
A few days later, the date of Liena's trial finally arrived.
"The roads are frozen from the snow that fell yesterday. Be careful."
Terence got off the carriage first, looked down the street, then reached out his hand to me.
"Whoa!"
Although I was careful, my body leaned because the ground was slippery.
But Terence wrapped his arm around my waist and held me steady.
"Are you okay?"
His face right in front of you.
"... I'm fine. Thank you for catching me."
I smiled and stepped away from him.
"Ethel."
He looked at his arm, which was touching me a moment ago, and spoke softly.
"Isn't there something you want to tell me?"
It was a question as sharp as a knife.
The memories the real Ethel had of Terence, whom she had seen a few days ago, kept uncomfortably pressing on her heart.
After that, I tried to act as normal as possible, but it seems I couldn't completely avoid his eyes.
Full Chapter Here☜ (AntiC0pyr1ght)