Chapter 20

“Oh, my. I’m sorry to startle you, child.”

A middle-aged woman with gray hair showing the years falling like frost, entered the chapel.

She wore a long scarlet robe over her shoulders above her white priest’s robe, and at a glance anyone could tell that it was a cardinal’s attire.

In fact, Ellet felt a considerable amount of divine power.

Whoa, a real cardinal? It’s literally the perfect timing.

“Were you praying in the morning?”

“Ah yes. I come every morning.”

“You are a rare and faithful child. And……..”

The cardinal’s gaze, which stretched out, rested on my head.

“Quite a special one, too.”

For a moment, I instinctively felt a little startled at the feeling that something was being read.

Who the hell is this person? Why is she on the Count’s manor?

“You seem to be wondering who I am. Since this is the Count’s manor, you may call me Matron Gillete.”

“Ah!”

Matron Gillette. So she is the Countess’ mother-in-law and Bianca’s grandmother.

As an employee of Count Gillette, she has no choice but to hear a lot of stories. The Count’s servants remembered Matron Gillette as a strict and faithful master.

Strict. Faithful.

Those who are described by these heavy words usually had conservative inclinations, so it seems that she was not able to become the mother-in-law to a commoner-born Countess.

Still, there were no actual problems.

A few years after Bianca’s birth, the Matron declared that she would devote herself to religious life and moved to Elpenheim.

‘I heard she was a devout person, I didn’t expect her to be a cardinal.’

It seemed that this kind of family relationship became possible because the church allowed marriage.

Putting her thoughts aside, she decided to say hello first.

“Greetings to Matron Gillette. I am…….”

“Ellet Rodellaine. I remember.”

…The presence of my transmigrated body may have been quite impressive.

At that moment, I wondered why the hallway become noisy, and then a group of people appeared.

At the forefront were the Countess and Bianca.

“Uh, mother, are you here?”

“Welcome, Grandma.”

TheMatron looked carefully at Bianca’s expressionless greeting. The direction in which the old eyes were facing was above the head, not straight at the face.

It was also a peculiar height that made a gaze feel uncomfortable.

At that time, God hinted as far as he could intervene.

[‘The world-building God’ observers ‘ Cattleya Gillette ‘ with interest.]

What? Cattleya Gillette?

Cardinal Cattleya?

‘…Ah, then.’

I remembered the name and at the same time, what is the unique ability that she was born with, independent of her divine power.

✠

Religious people who regard hard work and temperance as virtues eat breakfast at dawn.

In keeping with Cardinal Cattleya’s life pattern, the count’s family stumbled upon a breakfast they would not normally eat.

Bianca sighed quietly as she returned to her room after the family meal was over. I asked, offering a potion with a digestive effect.

“You don’t look good. What happened at breakfast?”

“No, I’m just having a hard time with my grandma.”

“Hard time?”

I wonder if this is the top of the food chain because Bianca, who is evaluated as giving people a hard time, is having a hard time with someone else.

Come to think of it, Cardinal Cattleya and Bianca have a bit of a similar vibe. Is it a biological inheritance?

“Because Grandma hates me.”

“Huh?”

I decided to listen quietly for now.

“Because she didn’t like mother, who was a commoner, I guess she doesn’t like me either. Mother said that when I was a baby, my grandmother wouldn’t even look at me. Then she suddenly moved over to the Church.”

“……”

“But it’s kind of weird. When Brother Romdio was born, he was baptized by grandmother herself, and I had heard that the relationship with mother wasn’t all that bad. But why am I…”

“……”

Bianca tried her best to hide her disappointment and brought out her positive story.

“Still, the family meal today was better than it was three years ago. In the old days, she didn’t even look at me, and she didn’t talk to me.”

“Did you talk this time?”

“Yes. First, she asked what’s my relationship with you. First of all, I only replied that we were playmates…”

Bianca’s complexion, which she had wanted to brighten for a moment, darkened again. She was worried about whether her grandmother would harm her commoner friend.

“…it will be fine. She’s not the kind of person to bother her subordinates, even if she looks cold.”

Albeit Bianca thought she was hated by her grandmother, her blunt remarks defended the person in question.

Gosh, she has a lot of complex affections.

Then I’ll step forward.

I placed my hands on Bianca’s somber shoulder.

“You know, Bia. Everything you think about the Matron, maybe it’s all a misunderstanding.”

“What do you mean, misunderstanding?”

Then a knock was heard and the butler entered.

“Excuse me, Miss Bianca. The Matron wants to see Ellet Rodellaine.”

“…Grandma wants to see Eli?”

Bianca’s eyes fluttered slightly.

“I will go with you.”

“I’m sorry. The Matron said that she wants to meet Ellet alone.”

“……”

By now, the possibility of harm and discrimination must have been blooming in Bianca’s mind.

I grabbed Bianca’s hand.

“Bia, don’t worry. And…….”

whisper whisper.

Bianca widened her eyes at my whisper. Seeing her rabbit-like red eyes, I smiled.

It was a sly smile.

✠

In the Count’s manor, the Matron was like a special guest. The Countess and the servants were all on edge to treat her with the utmost respect.

This is the case even if the meeting was arranged for a private talk.

In the quaint garden, the Countess has set a splendidly handcrafted tea table herself. It’s wan unbelievable to think it was all prepared for tea time with a commoner’s little maid.

‘There are a lot of desserts.’

In the church, food cravings would be considered a sin, but the table was full of accessories-like pretty desserts. So is it all for me?

“Eat as much as you want.”

“Oh, yes.”

It was time to take a bite without hesitation.

Cardinal Cattleya asked, taking a sip of chamomile tea.

“What is your relationship with Bianca?”

Hmm, quick entry to the point. Not bad.

I changed my mind while trying to express our business relationship while being only a playmate.

“It’s my friend. A very close one.”

Seeing Cardinal Cattleya’s one eyebrow twitch, I brightened up my look like the shining sun itself.

“Bia is the best. Pretty, smart, sweet, and kind! There are no books she hasn’t read at the Count, she can memorize all the faces and names of the servants, and it’s much better at counting numbers than adults.”

“……Really?”

“It’s not just that. She saved my older brother while he was being beaten…”

Cardinal Cattleya listened to me with great concentration.

When I looked in front of me after my full blast of words, her eyes were full of joy. After all, the truth is hard to hide, and a person like Cardinal Cattleya was even more so.

I nudged it.

“I think Bia resembles the Cardinal a lot.”

“Yes, I’ve been thinking like that for a long time… Hmmm.”

Cardinal Cattleya, who was unintentionally affirming her true feelings, covered her mouth with a teacup.

She came back with a cold expression on her face, but I didn’t give in.

“Did you come to see Bia when you visited the Count’s Castle this time?”

“……”

This is the silence of positivity.

“I don’t know if I’m being rude, but wouldn’t it be better to spend time with Bia rather than me?”

“Bianca was…I saw that she was unharmed and well.”

It was a meaningful word. Of course, it would sound different to anyone who knew her ability.

Let’s slowly stab the Matron to the climax.

“Now, there must be no reason to stop being attached to Bia anymore, can’t you be nice to her now?”

“What?”

“You’ve seen that Bia’s lifespan has changed.”

“You…….”

Eyes that can see the lifespan that has been lived and the remaining lifespan, Eyesight of Vitality.

That’s Cattleya Gillette’s unique ability, so she habitually looks over her opponent’s head, not her opponent’s eyes.

The reason she said I was special was probably because she knew that the lifespan I had lived was not that of a ten-year-old girl.

“I wondered why you remembered the name of a mere maid. Perhaps it was because Bia and I had the same life expectancy. It must have been that the news of her scheduled death had not been heard, so you made a sudden visit to the Count.”

Cardinal Cattleya did not let it go unnoticed.

“You are really out of the ordinary. So, what is your identity?”

“If you look over my head, I know you can get a rough guess.”

It’s either regression, transmigration, or reincarnation.

“Are you really one of those who came back? So, knowing the future, you were able to twist Bia’s fate.”

Of the three possibilities, Cardinal Cattleya took the first.

She would have known me as a helpless, ordinary child, and would have thought that to avoid fate, I had to exactly know about the future.

She was wrong, but I had no intention of correcting it.

It was enough that she understood the situation and lifted her suspicions towards me, and above all, explaining the transmigration was like a rebellion against this world’s setting.

Sharing secrets is an activity that makes each other closer, so Cardinal Cattleya showed a remorseful expression in front of me.

“I really regret it. If I had known that this would be the case, I would have done the best I could to treat her nicely. I did a terrible thing to my granddaughter.”

Her ability only foretells the time of death.

It is not known when, where, or how death will come nor can she intervene in the exchange of life or death.

As a bystander, she merely silently accepts the scheduled death.

What was the magnitude of the despair she must have felt as soon as she confirmed that a short-lived future hung over her newborn granddaughter’s head?

She repeatedly tried her best not to give her affection, but it must have been very painful. For a granddaughter that resembles her is very lovely.

So she must have been more aloof on purpose, and eventually even left the house.

“Bia now has a normal lifespan. Thank you very much.”

After thinking about it for a moment, she took out the necklace she was wearing and handed it to me. The cross pendant necklace looked like pure gold.

“Take it.”

“What is this?”

“It is a keepsake of my close friend. I am giving it as a request to remain good friends with Bia, so please do not refuse.”

“Oh, yes. thank you!”

As I took it, Cardinal Cattleya bent her eyebrows slightly.

“As a courtesy, I thought you would say no.”

“Hehehe, you gave it while making a request like that, if I don’t get it right away, I think Bia will get hurt.”

“Hmm?”

It was when Cardinal Cattleya, who felt suspicious, stopped moving while tilting the teacup to her mouth.