The End of a Long Day
The End of a Long Day
"Your Highness, Sir Rupert has only recently recovered from the curse, so I believe it would be best for him to rest now."
"Ah, I completely forgot that you are still a patient. My eagerness to share good news made me inconsiderate. Forgive me."
The Crown Prince smiled sheepishly at the Saintess's words and patted Rupert on the shoulder.
Rupert could not make sense of the situation and could only force the corners of his mouth into a smile.
'What is this? Why is the Saintess suddenly—'
The Saintess's natural expression and answer were so convincing that if Rupert had heard them without knowing the circumstances, he would have truly believed her.
Moreover, the smile she shot him as she glanced his way, as if she knew everything, made Rupert deeply uneasy.
"Allow me to bestow a blessing upon His Highness."
"Ah, this wound has already healed with a potion—"
Despite the Crown Prince's refusal, the Saintess had already placed her hand on his right shoulder and begun reciting a prayer.
Her hand was soon suffused with a bright light, and the Crown Prince's expression shifted to surprise.
"What in the world..."
"Even a potion cannot regenerate nerves. With this much, you should feel no pain later."
"Thank you. I had no idea there would be such a difference."
"Not at all. For someone who has brought peace to the world, this is a shamefully inadequate repayment."
The Saintess beamed, and the Crown Prince looked bashful at the praise.
"Sir Rupert, I must return to the imperial palace now, so I shall take my leave."
"Your Highness..."
"Once the reports are complete, there will surely be a discussion of rewards for this affair. Let us meet again then."
With those words, the Crown Prince departed the mansion with his escort knights.
The Crown Prince gave Ada one more pat as she whined that he was leaving without playing with her, then departed.
He was an important figure who had appeared like a storm and vanished in an instant.
But the fact that two equally important figures still remained at the Somerset mansion gave Rupert a headache.
"The Crown Prince and the count's second son... this might work too?"
Rupert, the Saintess, and Amelia had come out to see the Crown Prince off.
Rupert caught a faint murmur from the Saintess, but he could not make it out clearly.
It was something about the Crown Prince and a second son.
"Lady Amelia, fortunately this matter passed without issue thanks to the Saintess stepping in. You need not worry too much."
"...Thank you."
She had certainly seemed like a confident person when he saw her at the banquet before. But perhaps because of the mistake she had made this time, she still seemed deflated.
'That's understandable. A rumor that the daughter of a ducal house made food and everyone who ate it collapsed is a bit....'
Nobles lived and died by their reputation, and as the eldest daughter of a ducal house, it was surely a story she wanted to avoid at all costs.
"Still, I truly thank you for coming to visit me out of concern."
Rupert spoke as he looked at the young lady who still seemed downcast.
His only connection to her was that he had made and sent a book for her younger sister. Did she think she had made an impertinent request of him?
She had attended the family banquet and graced it with her presence, and she had even come to visit him upon hearing he was ill. It was truly unexpected.
'She was always someone who cherished family.'
As he had said before, Rupert did not dislike her. No, perhaps he actually liked her?
In the original work she had always seemed so upright and elegant, but seeing sides of her he had never known made her feel real to Rupert in a different way from the Crown Prince.
"I'm sorry... I had grown too comfortable with my family, so I didn't know my own cooking ability."
But despite Rupert's consolation, Amelia finally let tears fall from her eyes.
Her family—mainly her father and younger sister Evelyn—were horrified but somehow ate the food she made.
And everyone around her only praised her, saying her cooking improved day by day.
So she had truly been confident, which made this incident all the more shocking.
And on top of that, she had shown this side of herself to someone she wanted to impress.
She could never face him again. Her terrible cooking was embarrassing enough, but she had caused such trouble at an important occasion attended by the Saintess of the Goddess Church and the Crown Prince of the Empire.
When she thought about how pathetic she must look to him, she could not lift her head.
'I was just imagining things and getting carried away on my own....'
Amelia suddenly even began to think that Rupert might not feel the same way she did.
In truth, every sign that she and Rupert shared the same feelings existed only in her own mind. They had never exchanged intimate letters or even spoken tenderly to each other, had they?
She was mortified that until recently, she had been imagining a tragic, impossible love with him during their academy days all by herself.
Amelia could not lift her head from sheer embarrassment.
But then—
"Please don't say that. Although I was unable to eat the food you made this time, I truly wish to try it someday."
Rupert offered her a handkerchief and warm words of comfort.
Amelia raised her head at the unexpected words and looked at Rupert.
The bright midday sunlight swept softly over his golden hair.
A faint halo of light shone behind him, but his face was clearly visible.
The Rupert reflected in her eyes was smiling slightly, as if to show that his words about wanting to try her food were not a lie.
The Rupert she had seen before had seemed almost cold.
There had been something weary and gloomy about him, and even his smiles had looked like a mask.
But now he looked so bright.
"Really...?"
"Of course."
Rupert answered her question without a moment's hesitation.
Watching Rupert, who still wore a smile on his lips, Amelia wiped her tear-stained eyes with the handkerchief and lifted the corners of her mouth.
Along with the thought that surely this time, it was not her imagination.
***
"Thank you for your help."
"Think nothing of it. The situation was becoming entertaining, so I merely lent a hand."
With Amelia Bluewell's visit resolved, the only remaining problem for Rupert was the Saintess.
She had been the first to arrive and the last to remain, a strange woman whose intentions he still could not read.
Rupert had initially thought she was the most normal of the major characters who had come to see him, but by now he was on maximum alert around her.
Because he still could not understand why the Saintess, who had been a complete stranger until today, had helped him.
Sure enough, once everyone around them had withdrawn, the Saintess faced him with a completely different atmosphere than before.
Rupert sipped the coffee on the table and cautiously observed her.
Behind the bright face and innocent expression that said she knew nothing, something was definitely hidden.
"It was about a month ago, I believe. Sir Yustaf and Sir Harun visited the imperial palace."
Even though she must have felt Rupert's gaze observing her, the Saintess continued speaking as if it were nothing.
"They apparently brought up a matter related to a dark wizard."
The Saintess then informed Rupert that the Goddess Church had also conducted its own investigation, so there had been various incidents.
What she said was shocking, but what surprised Rupert was the information network that allowed the Goddess Church to grasp even the cases the imperial family was secretly investigating in such detail.
'Indeed, it's not for nothing that they say the Goddess Church is the only force that can rival the imperial family.'
Rupert's wariness toward the Saintess grew even greater.
The story she had just told was important information that only the highest-ranking figures in the Empire would know, and the reason she was telling it to him without hesitation was frightening.
Usually after this kind of conversation, she would get to what she actually wanted.
If she had not only lied to save him from the crisis caused by the Crown Prince's misunderstanding but was also giving him such valuable information—
He had an ominous feeling that she might ask him to do something truly life-threatening.
"For some reason, His Highness the Crown Prince seemed to believe that the Somerset Count's House was being threatened by dark wizards."
The Saintess's amused smile no longer looked holy to Rupert.
"Sir Rupert."
"Yes, please speak."
"I consider this matter simply as helping a child of the Goddess in distress, but I worry that you might feel burdened by it."
It was an old-fashioned way of speaking, but interpreted plainly, it meant: 'You know I saved you, right?'
"You are correct. If I dared to ignore the kindness bestowed by the daughter of Gaia, I would not be able to sleep at night."
So Rupert also translated 'I get it, so hurry up and tell me what you want' into old-fashioned speech.
"It would be a shame to keep a devout believer from sleeping at night, so may I make a light request?"
"Yes, anything. Please speak."
Seeing the Saintess draw things out this much, Rupert suspected it might really just be a request to paint a mural for free.
Compared to the Goddess Church, our family's wealth was a speck of dust, so she would not be after that, and there was nothing particularly eye-catching among our possessions or qualities.
At most, she'd only need my drawing skills.
He had planned to politely decline a mural or holy painting because it would take too long, but now that things had come to this, he would have no choice but to paint it without complaint.
'This is going to be rough. Still, at least I got out of that crisis.'
The sudden workload gave him a headache, but he had to consider it as having safely avoided being dragged off for the crime of insulting the imperial family.
Murals and holy paintings were difficult to paint, but if he finished them well, they would surely be helpful in the future.
"Could you draw a picture for me?"
The Saintess asked him directly to draw a picture.
Yes, let's give it a shot! Rupert was about to answer with resignation—
"I thought about it a lot, but I'd really like a scene of Edmund Eldric and Lloyd Cavallo embracing each other!"
At the Saintess's next words, Rupert stopped thinking.