Chapter 10

***

“My, what a beautiful young lady!” cooed Countess Liesel.

Because of everything that happened with Viscountess Iskinder, Violet was extremely nervous to welcome Countess Liesel the very next day.

The countess, a woman with dark blond hair and kind brown eyes, smiled at Violet as soon as she saw her. Violet thought she looked like one of the ladies you’d see in paintings, and wondered if all high nobles were as pretty as her.

Nervous, the little girl curtsied just as she had been taught. The woman’s eyes widened. “My, my,” she muttered.

Violet looked up to see the countess eying her seriously. She froze, wondering if she had done something wrong. Perhaps a curtsy hadn’t been appropriate.

What the countess said next, however, was what she least expected to hear. “I don’t think there is anything I can teach her! I mean, she seems to have better manners than my own daughter,” the woman said to Anne, who smiled and nodded in agreement.

The maid seemed delighted that Violet was being so highly praised. “His Lordship wants her to learn not only etiquette but also about the kingdom in general.”

“Oh, I see.” The countess smiled warmly.

Violet’s heart pounded, but she remained stony-faced. She was afraid that this new tutor might become like the viscountess at any moment. She prayed that she would not be lashed today. Since the countess was a high-ranking noble, she was sure to be very strict.

“Not like that, Your Holiness.” As expected, Violet’s posture was found to be lacking after just three steps. “Your head drops lower and lower with each step. And you’re beginning to hunch your shoulders. Why don’t we straighten up?”

The countess’s voice was kind as she gently helped Violet straighten her back. The viscountess had merely barked orders as if she did not want to even touch the little girl. With the countess’s gentle guidance, however, Violet thought she might be able to get the hang of it.

“My, how smart you are! You got it right away. My daughter was a far worse disaster when I tried to teach her,” the woman said as if to comfort Violet.

The little girl had a difficult time absorbing her words, however, as she was too busy trying to remember and practice what the noblewoman had just taught her.

Next, Violet was going to eat lunch with the countess. The little girl seemed anxious at the test of table manners, which appeared to be the most crucial aspect of noble etiquette. She had been unable to eat properly in front of anyone ever since being chided by her so-called family, which worried Anne. Unfortunately, the maid’s fears were not unfounded.

“The other way, Your Holiness.” Violet jumped at the countess’s words and dropped her fork. When the countess explained further that she was cutting her fish in the wrong direction, she even dropped her knife, which clattered on the plate noisily.

Violet suddenly got up from her chair. The countess seemed confused, but Violet nonetheless tugged up her dress and exposed her ankles.

“What is this about, Your Holiness?”

Violet just hoped that the beating would not be too harsh. “I have made a mistake, and I will accept my punishment,” she said.

The countess was silent for a moment. Violet glanced up at her, wondering if she had somehow upset her even further.

The woman, however, seemed confused. Anne was waiting outside, and she was unable to ask anyone else what was going on, so the countess resorted to asking the little girl directly. “Was this how Viscountess Iskinder disciplined you?”

Violet nodded, wondering why the woman was silent again and not pulling out a switch. Is the countess very angry?

She shut her eyes and flinched as she felt something warm press against her.

“Oh, Your Holiness,” the woman whispered, embracing Violet. The little girl scrambled to pull up the hem of her dress again, but the countess grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry. I am not going to hit you.”

Violet felt a slight breeze against her head as the countess sighed. She smelled warm and pleasant.

Violet, however, remained frozen. She couldn’t believe that this woman was not going to hit her. Perhaps she was planning some other kind of punishment.

“There will be no physical punishment, I promise. It’s barbaric to beat a child. I have heard about it, but I never imagined…” She trailed off.

Fortunately, the kind countess did not seem to intend on ever hitting Violet. Glancing at her nervously, the girl sat down and continued eating her meal. Each time she did something correctly, the countess encouraged her. Thanks to this, the mealtime she feared passed by quickly. While Violet was still scared, she came to believe, at least somewhat, that the beautiful countess would not harm her.

She grew more relaxed and confident as she received encouragement in the coming days. Daniel told her that she was beginning to look like a lady. Even Aiden pouted when she sometimes ran into him, as if he wanted to say something mean, but couldn’t find anything wrong.

But her problems had not come to an end.

“I’m not sure…” Violet still could not read. Though the viscountess had started instructing her and Daniel was helping her, she had not yet gotten a perfect grasp on the letters. The viscountess was not very good at taking her level of understanding into consideration, so Daniel was the only proper teacher she had.

When Violet looked at Countess Liesel nervously, the woman realized she had a ways to go. “Don’t worry. Let’s take our time learning to read. Now, how about I teach you about what an incredible being our little saint is? You don’t need to take notes… Well, I suppose that doesn’t need to be said.”

Violet nodded as they looked at the book. The story was similar to the one she already knew. As evil took over the world, people lost their faith in the Goddess. The Malum, the spawn of a demon, was so frightening that not even the greatest knight could stand against it. Then Saint Agresia, the first saint, appeared and ended the darkness.

The evil always returned, and whenever it did, a new saint would rise to vanquish it. A country was formed on the land where the first saint was born and where she vanquished the Malum, and it was named after her. Thus, the Holy Kingdom of Agresia was born.

This version of the first saint’s story from the history book was the same as the one told by Violet’s mother, with the exception of the boy, the young man, and the elder that her mother mentioned. The saint also seemed more otherworldly in her mother’s stories. In the mainstream, she was considered to be a great historic figure.

“The Goddess must have blessed us, since we were able to find the saint so quickly after her awakening,” the countess explained. “And you are the new saint, Your Holiness.”

As the symbol of the Goddess, the saint had the same amount of prestige as the pope or the king. But am I really above the king and the pope? It doesn’t feel that way, Violet thought. Rather, the people here seemed to hate her. She could sense that while they revered her, they also held her in contempt.

Even the maids felt this way. Only Fynn had been kind to her, though Anne was thankfully just as nice. Violet’s face fell as she remembered her old maid.

“You’re the one who appeared in our time of need. You will save the world,” the countess said.

Lina and Rose always said they were waiting for the saint. Violet still wondered what a saint was supposed to be like. In her mother’s stories, they had all sounded like princesses. I’m sure that’s what Saint Anastasia and Saint Lucia must have been like, unlike me.

“Do I have to fight the Malum as well?” Violet asked.

The countess nodded.

“When will the Malum come?”

“The Malum is a wicked and mysterious being,” the countess said. “We’re never sure exactly when it will come.”

Violet felt a pang of fear. Being powerless, she felt like she was hardly a saint at all yet. How can I possibly defeat the Malum? “I have to do it by myself?”

“Of course. Here in the book, it explains how the first king of Agresia made a decree.”

With difficulty, Violet read the line the countess pointed to. It was printed in red as if to emphasize its importance.

“This is an important decree from King Lisandros, the first king of the Holy Kingdom of Agresia. It forbids any Agresians from meddling in the battle between the saint and the Malum.”

Violet gulped. “Wh-why? I’m scared to do it alone. How can I vanquish the monster on my own?”

“Only the saint can vanquish the Malum. I think King Lisandros did not want innocent people to get hurt, as he saw how many people died at the Malum’s hands before the first saint appeared.”

Violet hung her head. The idea of facing the mythical Malum was scary enough, but it was worse that she had to do it alone.

“Don’t worry. You were chosen by the Goddess,” the countess assured her.

Violet, however, was sure the Goddess had made a mistake. It was difficult to accept that she was the saint.

“What if the Malum appears tomorrow?” she asked. It was one of her greatest fears. If the Malum appeared, the world would end, since she wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it.

“You don’t have to worry about that either, Your Holiness. According to the records, the Malum only ever appeared after the saint reached adulthood. The Goddess has already taken care of such things.”

A girl was deemed a woman once she turned sixteen, which meant that Violet would be safe for at least another six years, as long as the Goddess hadn’t made a mistake.

“I can’t do it,” Violet mumbled.

She wondered how she would defeat the Malum when the mere sight of men in armor scared her. The Malum was supposed to be an entity as big as a castle, with glowing red eyes. Just thinking about what she would have to do made her want to run away. I have no powers that can defeat a monster like that.

“Of course, you can do it. Every other saint has done it,” the countess replied.

Something sounded off to Violet. While the countess spoke warmly, it sounded as though she was telling the little girl she had no choice.

Violet was made a saint overnight, then immediately told that she had to defeat the frightening monster in her mother’s stories, and that nobody could do it but her. But she was still just a little girl who could not yet read or even walk elegantly. Her only power was understanding animals once in a while, but it wasn’t as though she could order a bird to kill the Malum.

“Your predecessor Anastasia did it, as did Lucia, her predecessor. You can do it too, Your Holiness,” the countess reassured her.

Violet was sure both Anastasia and Lucia were like princesses from a fairytale—not at all like her, a mere commoner. She remembered the viscountess telling her that this was the first time a commoner had become a saint. The previous saints all had been ladies from strong noble families.

The viscountess would always stare at Violet with eyes full of doubt, as if she couldn’t believe this pathetic girl was the saint. When Violet informed her that her parents were butchers, the woman had frowned as if it was terrible.

However, nobody doubted that she was the saint as much as Violet herself. She couldn’t help but ask, Why me? Why?

Still, she knew that being the saint was the only reason she had been allowed to stay in the marquess’s manor, eat good food, wear pretty clothes, and sleep in peace while being spared of beatings. She could not question why she had been chosen. She buried the doubt deep in her mind, feeling as though she could never dare to ask such a thing.

Why do I have to do this? Many people had a similar question ever since the founding of the kingdom—how and why were saints chosen? It felt even more relevant now that a new saint had appeared after more than a hundred years of absence.

The countess continued her lesson. Noticing that Violet seemed disturbed by the story of the Malum, she tried to shower her with praise to improve her mood. Thankfully, the little girl seemed to relax after the countess complemented her elegance. The Malum was far away, and the young saint did not have to worry about it—not yet.

Violet focused on the countess’s lesson. While she did not trust the woman completely, she slowly began to believe that the countess would not beat her. She also came to realize that the reason the viscountess had stopped coming was because of the beatings.

***

Violet grew used to her new life. Summer and autumn passed, and winter was upon them.

Violet often sighed, worried about the incoming cold. She remembered how she would shiver under thin blankets as she tried to get to sleep on the cold wooden floor. For some reason, though, the people here did not seem too concerned about winter. It was quite unlike her life on Flower Street.

“It’s getting cold. It seems like it will snow soon,” the countess commented.

Violet looked up at the sky, marveling over how it was already winter. She glanced at the calendar. “Huh…?” she murmured.

“What is it, Your Holiness?”

“It’s my birthday in a week,” Violet replied.

“Pardon?” the countess said, alarmed.

“Pardon?!” Anne cried, setting down the tea she’d brought for them to drink as they concluded their lessons for the day.

Violet wondered why they were reacting so dramatically and hoped Anne would not be scolded for being so loud. Anne, however, made no attempt to close her gaping mouth. The countess had also unfurled a fan to conceal her shocked face.

As Violet stared at the two curiously, the maid cast aside all manners and shook the little girl by her shoulders. “Why? Why are you only telling us now, my lady?”

Violet felt like her head was spinning as she was shaken violently. The countess merely stood by and watched the maid shake the poor saint around. I thought they claimed I was as noble as the king, but they wouldn’t shake him, Violet thought to herself.

“Should I have announced my birthday?” she asked.

Dazed by her ridiculous answer, the two women stared at the little girl. Violet wondered if she had somehow made another mistake.

In the coming days, Violet noticed that something was wrong. Everyone at the mansion seemed very busy. She anxiously watched the people rush about, seemingly as nervous as herself, but she was unable to bring herself to ask what was going on.

One day, when her anxiety had nearly pushed her to her breaking point, Anne came to Violet with something. “Can you please try this on, my lady?” she asked, handing her a soft, violet-colored dress.

Violet stared up at the cheerily smiling maid. Without much hesitation, she shook her head. “No,” she said, in her characteristic bluntness when she refused something.

When Anne looked at her in reproach, the little girl explained, “I know it’s not going to look good on me.” Indeed, she couldn’t imagine anyone in this mansion who would tell her that the dress suited her.

“Oh, come. How could you say something like that?” Anne asked.

“Aiden and Lord Ethelmund said so.”

Anne’s face froze in shock. “What?! Did Lord Ed really say that?”

Violet nodded. She could still recall the boy frowning and telling her that the dress did not suit her, though she wasn’t sure if she was misremembering any of the details now.

“How heartless. I wonder why he would say that,” Anne grumbled as she offered Violet the dress. “Lord Ed is not a bad person. I’m sure he had his reasons.”

“What reason could he have for telling me the dress looked bad?”

The maid giggled. “Oh, how adorable. I love it when you speak out, my lady.” She continued to smile as Violet glanced at her nervously.

Violet thought the maid was truly strange. Anne would never tattle to the marquess, no matter what awful things the little girl might say. Instead, she always played along, praising her for the littlest things.

“By the way, my lady…” Anne looked at her as pitifully as she could. “I’m going to be scolded by the marquess if you don’t put on this dress.”

To that, Violet had no choice but to nod in reluctant agreement. The maid grinned.

After changing into the dress, Violet quickly walked down the hallway. Thankfully, wearing a dress was not as uncomfortable after the countess had taken over her lessons. Her legs were no longer bruised and bleeding, so she walked much more steadily.

However, as much as she tried to hide it for Anne’s sake, she still found the dress overly cumbersome. After all, a dress like this was fit for a noble lady, and it did not suit a commoner like her.