Chapter 2

"Quack, quack!"

Finally, the ducks moved out of the way, and Elizabeth shook out the last piece of laundry, a child's tunic, and hung it up with a snap.

Using wooden clothespins, the laundry line where the tunic was clipped was stretched every morning by all the sisters.

One end was attached to the church roof, and the other to the trunk of a large tree on the grounds.

The neatly washed clothes lined up on the taut line, fluttering in unison, creating a magnificent sight.

"Alright, done."

Just as she took a breath, a loud noise and energetic footsteps came from behind Elizabeth.

"Sister Elizabeth! Let's play!"

"Are you done? Let's play!"

"Hey, hey, Sister Elizabeth!"

Someone hugged her waist and pulled on her right and left hands.

They were the children who lived with her in the church.

After finishing her story, Elizabeth no longer looked like a villain to anyone.

Even if she did look like a villain, the honest children could see through her.

―――How wonderful... How moving!

Unexpectedly, she was now popular!

As she trembled with happiness, one of the children started to climb up her back, placing their feet on it.

―――I hope they aren't treating me like one of their peers or completely looking down on me...

"Sisters aren't for climbing, Tony!"

"Sister Elizabeth, you're so stingy."

"You're so stingy."

"Are you angry?"

Elizabeth scolded the most rambunctious child.

Tony was the oldest boy among the eight-year-olds.

To the children, whether they were novices or not, anyone wearing a sister's habit and veil was a sister, and they called them all with affection.

They were all like mothers to them.

"Hey, I'll carry the laundry basket for you."

With wide eyes, the seven-year-old Mart offered to carry the basket like a little gentleman.

"Tell us the next part of the castle story."

In a slightly precocious tone, the seven-year-old girl Felice, who loved stories about the royal palace, asked.

When Elizabeth smiled at Felice, she gripped her hand even tighter and pressed her body against her, which was incredibly cute.

―――Children are so honest... Ah, the happiness of being seen for who you are, not just your appearance.

Feeling elated, she started walking with a smile...

Elizabeth... now known as...

Sister Elizabeth was very fulfilled at the moment.

As Elizabeth walked with the children, she thought about the day she arrived here.

Back then, she was anxious about what kind of life awaited her...

And to add to that, her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Fontini, who had come to see her off, were so embarrassing that cutting ties with them was the right decision.

※※※

One month ago, when she arrived here.

After Elizabeth's carriage arrived at the Nortia Church, about half a day later, Duke Oleg Fontini and his wife, Duchess Sophia Fontini, arrived in a carriage that was overloaded.

The four-horse carriage was already tilting, and Elizabeth averted her eyes.

On top of the carriage, piles of luggage... huge trunks and leather bags were miraculously secured with ropes.

When the driver and servants worked together to unload them, they tumbled down like an avalanche.

Barrels even rolled out from the back, as expected.

Despite this, the duke and duchess regained their composure and, under their instructions, the churchyard was filled with the kind of luggage that would shock even nouveau riche nobles.

The three sisters and the priest who greeted them were silent with complicated expressions.

When the preparations were complete, Duchess Sophia, holding a fan, let out a high-pitched laugh.

"Oh ho ho! This check is a donation to the church... The other items are for my daughter to start her new life. Try to live a life that isn't embarrassing."

"Elizabeth, you are no longer related to the ducal family, but live a life that isn't embarrassing!"

Father Oleg seemed to be saying that this would help her get by.

While the preparations were sufficient, if the "non-embarrassing" life was based on the ducal family's lifestyle, it would be impossible for a lifetime.

These people must think that money will just naturally appear.

"I only brought five pairs of shoes and hats."

Sophia's comment made Elizabeth want to ask if she planned to attend a ball after being exiled.

"Try to avoid buying jewelry!"

Oleg also seemed to misunderstand Elizabeth's future life.

Elizabeth watched her parents leave with a sad expression...

She then sold most of the items!

She no longer needed them!

※※※

"Elizabeth, are you hungry? You don't look very energetic."

Suddenly, Tony, who had stretched up, peered at her, and Elizabeth snapped back to reality.

"N-no! I, the former duchess's daughter, am not that hungry!"

"Hungry?"

"Ahaha, silly Sister Elizabeth."

Even though her words were a mix of different things, the children laughed.

No one was actually hungry...

The Nortia Church practiced a self-sufficient lifestyle, but they didn't hesitate to buy things from the village or traveling merchants when it was faster.

Additionally, the rules were relaxed, allowing them to eat meat other than birds and fish.

Luxury was not forbidden, nor was owning personal property.

They didn't spend their days praying and living a dull life...

―――They only prayed quickly in the morning, before meals, and on Sundays.

Elizabeth looked up at the church building while holding a child's hand.

Including the former Moise Kingdom and the current Remiza Kingdom...

In this part of the Dacreston continent, the main religion was the worship of the goddess Helvera, who was revered through idols.

The Nortia Church, of course, had a statue of the goddess Helvera in the chapel.

The goddess, holding a lily, symbolized purity and chastity, and was depicted with a lily in her hand.

It was said that when the land was in crisis, the lily would turn into a sword to protect the earth.

The church's carvings and decorations were a fusion of lilies and swords, and this design was also found on the building.

When Elizabeth looked at the design carved on the chapel's pillar, one of the sisters was climbing a ladder to clean the pillar.

This sister, who had a slightly longer veil and had completed her novitiate, was...

"Ah! Elizabeth, tonight's dinner is roast pork with apples. Please help."

Elizabeth had made the meals a bit more luxurious since she arrived, and the red-haired Lucinda was thoroughly enchanted by the taste of meat.

With curious, friendly eyes and slightly tanned skin, Lucinda had cut her hair short because it was hard to maintain, giving her a lively impression.

"Sure thing!"

"Lucinda, you're amazing!"

"Like a monkey in the forest."

"......Hey, kids. Is that a compliment? What exactly is amazing about me?"

After giving the children a proud smile, she turned serious, which was quite childish.

Lucinda, who was twenty-one and often slacked off whenever she could, was older than Elizabeth.

She was reluctantly resuming her cleaning in front of the children.

She was an orphan and had previously been at another convent, which had closed down, and she had moved around before coming here seven years ago.

Despite her heavy past, she was the church's energetic one.

"Lucinda, stop bothering the children."

The stern voice came from Roxane, who had opened a window inside the building to start cleaning.

Despite being the youngest among the adults at seventeen, her silver-gray hair was well-maintained and turned into a translucent silver thread when it caught the light.

Her hands, which never roughened from cleaning or laundry, were regularly treated with a cream reserved for nobility, as Elizabeth had noticed.

Roxane's gaze was filled with a sense of cleanliness, and she always looked at things with a suspicious eye.

―――She smells like a troubled sister...

However, in the world of sisters, prying was not allowed.

Lucinda and Roxane often clashed and argued.

―――They must get along in some way.

In Elizabeth's impression, Lucinda was a mismatched but compatible sister.

"Sister Roxane! Pigs are delicious."

From the garden, Felice pouted, and Lucinda, on the ladder, looked proud.

"Exactly! It gives you energy and strength."

"Again, you talk about unclean animals... Try to live a more modest life."

Roxane, as if she were the last conscience of the church, shook her head.

―――These people are hopeless...

"Pigs!"

"Elizabeth's delicious recipe!"

"Wow, roast pork."

The excited children had already decided on the menu for tonight.

At that moment, the kitchen's back door, which opened to the garden, slammed open.

"Oh, you all look so happy."

Hilde, who wore a longer veil and a high-collared sister's habit, appeared.

With her black hair pulled back under the veil and her narrow green eyes, the twenty-nine-year-old sister superior had a dignified presence, elegantly plucking herbs...

Fresh rosemary and sage leaves from this morning...

Dinner was definitely going to be roast pork.

The sister superior was quite worldly and carnivorous.

"Yay!"

"Sister Hilde will make it."

"Yay!"

Hilde, who managed the church in place of the unreliable priest, was someone Elizabeth respected.

The comfortable atmosphere at Nortia Church was largely due to Hilde's management.

"Since I've raised their expectations, let's make it. Elizabeth, can you help?"

While pretending to be reluctant, Hilde called out to Elizabeth.

"Sure."

Elizabeth nodded and then bent down to the children's height.

"Tony, we'll play after the meal is ready."

"Okay!"

"Mart, thanks for the basket."

"Sure."

"Felice, stories before bedtime."

"Okay!"

Taking the basket from Mart, Elizabeth entered the kitchen in high spirits.

★2021/4/2 New work started. Please read if you like.

【Failed to Reincarnate as the Villainess and Became the Heroine Instead ～Giving Up on a Family Ending with the Villainess's Brother and Aiming for a Lover Ending～】

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7332gw/