Before the Intrusion

"Your Holiness, perhaps you might sit with us a while before you go..."

"...."

"Ha... haha, I suppose not, then... your knight is glaring at me so very fiercely..."

Today as ever, the holy knight Thern stood culling the lecherous throngs that dared approach the Saintess. Honestly speaking, he found his work deeply rewarding. And little wonder — it was his privilege to attend upon the Saintess herself.

He still could not forget the faces his comrades had made on the day that duty fell to him. The faces of men vowing that if they could not have the meal, neither would he. It was a look ill-befitting holy knights who lived in ascetic devotion — and yet Thern understood it, in his own faint way. For the duty he had been given was, to a holy knight, the most meaningful duty there was.

"My, Your Holiness — your gown is simply beautiful today!"

"Haha... thank you for your kind words, Sister Haren."

To attend upon the one hailed as the Goddess's proxy, and to hold back the lust-drunk crowds so that none might come near her — for holy knights who had sworn a lifetime of obedience unto God, was there any labor more rewarding? Thern knew this truth well, and so he strove all the harder, determined that the Saintess should walk her path with whatever small comfort he could win for her.

"Your Holiness, perhaps now would be the time to return to your chambers..."

"...."

"Your Holiness?"

And yet — something was strange. This was a woman who, on any ordinary day, would have been begging to return to her room at the first opportunity, and all this while she had not spoken a single word. Even when he himself had suggested they head inside, she had given no answer.

...Could she be wrestling with some grave worry?!

Surely that had to be it. She was the vessel through whom the Goddess delivered her oracles. Perhaps even now she was deep in secret communion with the divine.

I'm certain of it — she hasn't spared a single glance at those dishes she loves so dearly.

Before long, his suspicion hardened into conviction, and from it he drew a resolution.

Then I must not disturb her, come what may. All I can do is hold back, with all my strength, anyone who might approach the Saintess.

Why is that man here?

Of course, the truth of it was simply that her mind had been wholly consumed by thoughts of a very different kind.

Meanwhile, with Thern thus redoubling his vigilance for reasons entirely his own, the mind of the Saintess under his protection had descended into utter chaos. She had just encountered someone she had never dreamed of meeting there — at a banquet hosted by the Imperial Family, of all places.

Uh... so, in other words... the banquet itself was held because of that man...?

If what the Emperor had declared partway through the evening was true, then this was true as well. The Emperor himself had opened the banquet — for no purpose but to celebrate that man. The Imperial Family had stepped forward, in person, to extend her an invitation — so that she might bestow her blessing upon him.

Which was to say, he had forged a personal tie with the Imperial Family...

Since when? No — more than that... you're the Saint! You of all people!!

Even if the title is in name alone, he still formally bears the title of Saint! And he knows perfectly well that the Church and the Empire have stood at each other's throats for ages! Do you have any idea how worried I was when the rumors came back from the Great Forest — and all the while, off you went to the Imperial Family...!

Th-this won't do... hm.

"Your Holiness? Does something ail you?"

"Hm... well, I am the Saintess, after all. Merely hearing that people were hurt is enough to worry me terribly."

"Your Holiness?"

"...Come to think of it, the Pope must have known all along, mustn't he? That's why he sent me here..."

"Y-Your Holiness... w-wait just a moment — what has come over you?!"

Ugh... I can't stand either of them—

"Huh?!"

In that instant, the Saintess's arm was seized and pulled by someone — from a spot where, mere moments before, no one had been standing at all.

Had circumstances been ordinary, Thern would have sensed it and moved to counter it in advance. Unfortunately, the situation at hand could hardly be called ordinary.

"By the way — are we seriously allowed to do this? She's the Saintess, you know?!"

"It does not matter."

For even the most accomplished holy knight could not pierce the Charlotte family's arts of stealth at a single glance.

"Saintess."

"Uh... huh? Why are you...?"

"The other day, Your Holiness, you told me that if I ever needed help, I was to ask at any time. Remember?"

"Uh...? Ah, w-well, yes, but—"

"Then I would like that help now, please."

Had it been anyone else, she would have ignored them outright — might well have snapped first, at the audacity of anyone daring to address the Saintess in such a fashion. And yet...

"Ugh... honestly... fine...!!"

"...?"

"Where are you even taking me?!"

"My lady, please — at least a little of this... won't you?"

...What am I even doing here?

Today, as without fail, Aria turned her back on the maid who stood pleading, offering food yet again. She remained burrowed deep in her dreadfully plush blankets, refusing to come out — and, for reasons she could not name, she went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on blaming herself all the while.

I... right now...

"My lady... what's wrong?"

"...."

"Oh! Could something be hurting you...?!"

"...No. It's nothing."

Lest there be any doubt, let it be said once more: Aria was extraordinarily strict with herself. She always drew up her plans, and those plans were always carried out, without exception. A woman born into a ducal house, she believed, had to shoulder the weight that came with the name — and solely to bear that weight, she had tempered herself with merciless discipline for years.

In a house called a lineage of knights, she had studied the theory of magic without pause. She learned the sorcerous arts, learned to wield mana, and passed her days buried in every spellbook she could open.

Cradling the man who had once been her idol deep in her heart, she had striven on and on without end. All to become a woman worthy of the name she carried.

"My lady... please..."

"...."

"If you go on like this, you really will waste away..."

"Hey... you know..."

"...Yes?"

"What am I even doing right now, I wonder?"

"My lady? Whatever do you mean, all of a sudden..."

She had worked hard. For her father, and for her house. In sheer volume of effort, she could swear that no one had ever outdone her — for while the others took up the sword, she had taken up her books and spread her mana wide.

And where had it all led? The idol of her childhood had come crashing down, shattered beyond any hope of rising again. If anything, glimpsing the ugliness beneath that idol had only left a fouler taste in her mouth — and the victim of that ugliness had been the very family she had so despised.

"...."

"My lady? What's the matter...?"

"...I want to go out."

"...I beg your pardon, my lady... but the Duke has..."

On top of it all, she was trapped here with no hope of leaving, unable even to call upon magic — because of the Mana Restraint still rattling softly against her body.

...Dad must have supplied this as well. So that whoever came for me could take me away, no matter who they were.

In truth, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it went without saying. Mere kidnappers could never have gotten their hands on such a thing.

The Mana Restraint. An artifact that bound mana itself, just as its name promised — one that had seen heavy service even in wartime. Once fastened upon the body, it meddled with the wearer's control of their own power and forbade every last drop of their mana. It was an item of use not merely against mages, but against nearly anyone alive.

Which was all the more reason it could never be obtained with ease. Its sale was banned outright, and even smuggling was all but perfectly controlled. Possession was permitted, in theory — but even that was next to impossible, for only a holder of a title of Marquis or higher, bearing the Empire's explicit sanction, could lawfully keep one.

Far too precious a thing, in other words, for a mere band of kidnappers to carry. Which meant, naturally, that a supplier existed. A supplier — one possessed of considerable power.

"...And that supplier would be my own family. Wouldn't it."

"My lady? Is something the matter again..."

"No... it's nothing... You may go now."

"Y-yes... if you should find yourself wanting a meal, please, just call for me."

"...Fine."

How very dutiful — never once honoring a request to be let out, yet punctiliously obeying every request to be left alone. Today of all days, that nameless maid struck her as unbearably galling.

...No. What is the point of thinking like this? It was all on Dad's orders anyway.

She turned her head away once more, listlessly — toward the scenery beyond the pale blue window. For the woman she was now, there was nothing else left to do. Nothing but to pass the hours like this, and wait for the Duke's judgment. She had become, in the end, a bird in a cage.

"...Are you certain it is this way?"

"No — this mansion is just uselessly enormous, that's all! It's not my fault!!"

"Hahh... just... a little slower, please..."

Though, of course — should someone reach into that cage and carry her out, well. That might be another matter entirely.

At that same moment, in the training yard of the Reinhardt estate, someone was swinging a wooden sword. All day long, without pause — and without the faintest sign of tiring.

"Young Master Allen... my sincerest apologies for disturbing your training, but..."

"...What is it? Speak."

Allen Reinhardt's tone was honed to a razor's edge — as though the mere interruption were an offense. His mind, in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any case, was already a hopeless tangle. Because of her father. And because of Aria, his own younger sister.

"Th... that is..."

"If it proves to be something trivial, you would do well to brace yourself. Out with it."

"A report has just come in, my lord — it appears someone has entered the estate."

"...Where? Lead the way."

And now, at long last, the wooden sword fell from his hand. To cut down the vermin who, ignorant of their own station, had dared set foot inside House Reinhardt.

And to overcome, once and for all, the heart demon that kept flickering through his mind.