That was when I realized I was done for.
In an instant, silence fell over the café, and all eyes turned to me.
And the knight who had recognized me looked at me with such reverence and delight, as if standing before him was a deity descended into the human world. He had already begun to approach slowly, and at that moment, I sincerely wished I could dissolve into thin air and disappear right then and there.
No, seriously... what the hell?!
Why now, and why like this?!
The last thing I expected on this unremarkable outing was to run into someone who knew the real heroine!
"Saint, is it really you?" he repeated excitedly, his voice noticeably trembling. "I... I truly did not think I would meet you in a place like this!"
He looked at me as if a miracle had appeared before him, and he seemed absolutely stunned that a saint could even be in an ordinary, unremark little eatery.
Meanwhile, I needed to quickly figure out how to get out of this situation without losing face... and without completely revealing my secret.
"...I am sorry," I said the first thing that came to mind, trying to speak as calmly and distantly as possible, "but you seem to be mistaken."
And this was not even a complete lie.
I truly had never seen this man before.
However, the knight was clearly confused. He blinked several times, as if trying to make sure he had heard correctly.
"You... do not recognize me?" he repeated, pressing his hand to his chest. "I am Albert! From the village of Melbourne! Do you remember me?"
"Um..."
To be honest, this explanation did not make the situation any clearer.
Nevertheless, the man did not stop there and continued explaining with even greater fervor:
"A year ago, the village of Melbourne to the south of here was attacked by monsters," he spoke quickly, tripping over his words. "The Order of the Holy Sword came there... and you were with them. You saved us! Thanks to you, hundreds of people infected with corruption survived! I... I was among them too," his voice faltered for a moment. "Only because of your blessing did I stay alive and can stand before you now..."
"..."
"...At that time, I was just an ordinary bandit," he continued, and tears glistened in the corners of his eyes. "I robbed houses, attacked carriages... And yet the saint’s mercy descended even upon such a scumbag as me."
He sniffled, hastily wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
"Despite my past... you saved and healed me when one of the monsters wounded me. Even then, when I did not deserve it... you simply reached out your hand and said that everyone has a chance to start over."
I listened to him in silence, feeling a strange, somewhat poignant sensation rise within me.
"Then... then I swore," his voice grew stronger, gaining confidence. "That the life the saint saved would not be wasted. That I would prove — your mercy was not in vain. I promised myself that I would start living honestly."
"..."
"And I kept that promise," he straightened up, and pride appeared in his posture. "I left the past behind and joined the city guard. Now I protect people, catch criminals, and keep order. All of this — just so you would know: you did not save my life in vain, Saint!"
When he finished his impassioned, sincere speech, I froze for a moment.
No, I still did not remember him.
But, nevertheless... listening to him, I could not help but notice that his words sounded strikingly sincere. It seemed that this truly was not a lie.
To be honest, I vaguely remembered the scene of saving the village of Melbourne from the novel, but I did not recall the specific episode with this man. Perhaps because while reading, I was always more focused on Kayla than on the main characters, so I might have forgotten or overlooked some details.
Nevertheless, given the righteous image of the main heroine, it was entirely in her character. So I could easily believe that such a scene had indeed taken place in the plot.
But...
Even that did not solve the main problem: I urgently needed to get out of this situation!
Feeling the tense gazes not only of the other café patrons but also of Mrs. Farris, who sat across from me and looked at me with a silent question, I gathered all my will into a fist and declared with as much confidence as possible:
"I am sorry, but you seem to be mistaken. I am not at all the person you take me for."
"...What?" The knight froze, and his ecstatic expression faltered, giving way to confusion.
I tried to put on a casual smile.
"As I said, I am no saint. You are mistaken."
The man stared at me even more bewilderedly.
"But... but that is impossible!" he exclaimed, scrutinizing my features with even greater intensity. "You... you look so much like the saint! How can you not be her?! I would never forget her face, I swear!"
I hesitated, feeling my palms sweat under the table.
"Well..." I shrugged awkwardly, "perhaps I bear some resemblance to the person you are talking about. There are many people in the world with similar looks. But I am truly not her. Honestly."
Nevertheless, the man clearly still could not believe my words so easily. He continued to bore into me with a gaze that mixed hope and doubt. It seemed he was ready to swear that before him stood the very woman who had saved him from death a year ago.
But just at that moment, as he opened his mouth to add something, one of his companions — a stocky, mustached guard with a tired face — suddenly approached and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Albert, what nonsense are you spouting?" His voice carried slight irritation and condescension. "How could this woman be the saint? Do you hear yourself?"
"...What?" Albert turned to his friend with a lost expression.
His companion sighed, clicked his tongue, and shook his head with an expression as if explaining the obvious to a child.
"Should not the saint be in the capital right now? At the central temple? Why would she be in our backwater city? Use your head, Albert."
The man looked first at his friend, then at me in confusion, and his face slowly began to lengthen.
"That is..."
"...And besides," his companion continued impatiently, "have you not heard the recent news? The saint and Grand Duke Eclipse were married not long ago. It was a grand event! The saint surely has plenty of other things to do now, so why would she come to our city? And even if something like that happened, the city authorities would have been shouting it from the rooftops long ago."
The logical arguments of his friend sounded quite reasonable, and I mentally thanked this mustached guard for his common sense. Albert indeed found it hard to disagree with them.
Nevertheless... he still found it difficult to shake the thought that this woman was very, VERY similar to the one etched in his memory a year ago. He cast another long, doubting glance at me and, it seemed, mentally weighed all the pros and cons.
Could there really be people in this world who looked so much alike? Or was his imagination simply running wild?...
Meanwhile, Albert’s companion slapped him on the shoulder again and this time addressed me:
"Miss, please forgive us for disturbing you. My comrade is a bit... impressionable. And a fantasist to boot. It seems he simply mistook you for someone else."
"Nothing terrible," I smiled politely, feeling the tension in my shoulders gradually ease. "It is quite all right. We all make mistakes sometimes."
After that, the knight hurriedly led his friend away to avoid making the situation even more awkward. He whispered something in his ear, apparently calming him down and explaining that he should not make a scene in such a place. For his part, Albert continued to cast suspicious and strange sideways glances at me until the very end — right up until his friend dragged him to a table at the other end of the hall, behind a column, where they finally disappeared from view.
Only then was I finally able to exhale.
And... remember that I was not actually alone here.
Mrs. Farris, after what had happened, was still looking at me a little strangely.
"...Ah, forgive me," I coughed awkwardly, adjusting a stray lock of hair, "it seems that man just mistook me for someone else."
The old woman was silent for a moment, looking at me intently, and then asked:
"Miss Rider, do you really look that much like the saint?" Genuine curiosity sounded in her voice. "To be honest, I have never seen her, so I cannot compare... Do not take offense at the question."
"To be honest, I do not know," I answered with a slight carelessness. "I have never seen the saint either. But some people I meet say I look like her. Ha ha... it sometimes leads to awkward situations."
"Is that so..." Mrs. Farris nodded understandingly and returned to her long-cold coffee, softly clinking her spoon against the edge of the cup.
I hesitated. At that moment, for some reason, I suddenly felt like asking:
"Mrs. Farris, what do you think of the saint?"
"...Huh?" She raised her gaze, clearly surprised by the change of topic.
"Just curious," I hastily added, trying to speak as calmly as possible. "The saint is quite a famous figure in the empire. And I became interested in what you think of her."
"Ah, that is what you mean..." The woman clutched her cup a little tighter. "Well... I have great respect for the saint."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes," she nodded slowly. "After all, it was the saint and the Order of the Holy Sword that saved our empire and restored peace to it. Thanks to her power, thousands of lives were saved. If not for her, who knows how it would have ended. Therefore... even despite the situation with Her Grace, I still hold the saint in great respect and reverence. She did for the country what no one else could have done."
"...I see," I replied quietly.
I pressed my lips together slightly.
Something in the woman’s words seemed strained to me, as if she were reciting a memorized phrase behind which far more complex and contradictory feelings were hidden...
Of course. After all, it was because of the conflict with the saint that her mistress and the entire Regwerd family had fallen into an abyss. And now the woman I saw before me was forced to live with this rift in her soul. On one hand, the saint was an enemy to the house she served. But on the other... how could she hate someone who truly possessed a pure soul and noble intentions, and who had saved the empire from certain destruction?
I put myself in her place and understood: in such a situation, it was impossible to feel only one emotion. Only respect or only hatred. Most likely, in Mrs. Farris’s soul, these two fires clashed, unable to extinguish each other.
I sighed quietly.
In any case, because of that scene in the café and the sudden appearance of the knight, our relaxed, almost warm atmosphere with Mrs. Farris had noticeably soured. Damn it...
Oh well. The main thing was that I had gotten out of this situation without catastrophic consequences.
I made a mental note to myself: next time, no walks around the city without a disguise. Better yet, try not to go out at all.
Bringing the cup to my lips, I took a small sip of the now-cold cocoa.
But I could not dwell on this for long.
Right now, I had a far more important task.
I needed to talk to Kayla about Irene as soon as possible.