Noble Residence
"Um... excuse me."
Jae-un rested a hand on Hilde’s shoulder as she shook the pickpocket by the collar. Hilde’s unfocused eyes jerked back into place; she gave a startled shiver, released the man, and straightened up.
"Phew. I’m glad you’ve calmed down. You nearly had me cleaning up a corpse there."
"Hahaha... thank you for stopping me in time."
Hilde glanced down at the pickpocket lying on the ground. He was foaming at the mouth, his eyes rolled white, and he looked dangerously close to death. She had stopped him from being hauled off to prison on the eve of the victory procession.
"No, if it hadn’t been for you, we never would have caught the criminal. Thanks to you, this capital’s woefully lacking security is still being maintained."
"I’m terribly embarrassed. I just did what I could."
Hilde felt awkward under the man’s lavish praise. His speech had the kind of easy superiority that suggested someone used to being treated with deference, so she judged him to be a person of very high standing. It did not matter much to her how much power he had, but she was weak to praise when it was delivered so openly to her face.
"Over here! Ah...?"
As the sound of footsteps drew near, a woman called out. It was Rainie, the second daughter of a count’s house and the owner of Rainie Bakery. She had just reported the theft to the capital guard and rushed straight here, only to be startled by the pickpocket lying unconscious with foam on his lips.
She came skidding to a stop, snatched back the bag the pickpocket had been clutching, and let out a breath of relief. Then, remembering she should thank whoever had helped, Rainie turned—and her eyes flew wide when she saw Jae-un.
"Y-you! Why is Your Majesty here—! Mmph!"
"Ho ho. Truly, what a pleasure. Lady Rainie. We happened to cross paths on my way back after buying cake."
Jae-un hurriedly covered Rainie’s mouth with one finger. Despite his sly tone, his gaze toward her looked somewhat urgent. Rainie caught on and blinked twice to show her compliance.
While that was going on, the soldiers examined the unconscious pickpocket, and a small uproar broke out. They slapped handcuffs on him and, in addition, fitted an artifact around his wrist to suppress mana circulation.
Once the capital guard had secured the pickpocket’s body, an officer approached Jae-un and said, "We’re truly grateful! This man here is Orphel, a notorious thief from the bandit group currently causing trouble all across the kingdom. He’s always brazenly committing crimes and slipping away, so he’s been quite the headache. If you come to the capital guard and leave us a few basic details, we’ll gladly give you a substantial reward."
Jae-un scratched the back of his head. It was time for him to step away.
"Save the thanks for that young lady over there. I didn’t do anything."
The guard jerked around in alarm, as though realizing he had been terribly rude, then bowed his head. Mistaking Jae-un for someone young had been a serious discourtesy. If he offended a noble’s temper, it could turn into quite a scene.
"I beg your pardon for failing to recognize a distinguished person. Please forgive me."
"It’s all right. It happens. The reward’s enough. It wasn’t anything especially difficult."
Watching Hilde brush it off with a smile, Rainie opened her mouth to thank her, then frowned. That beautiful face looked terribly familiar. She thought hard, then recalled a photo she had seen in a magazine before going to bed the previous night. Once she realized who it was, her eyes widened.
"Ah! Lady Hilde from the hero party? Kyaaah!"
Rainie seized Hilde’s hand with both of hers and her eyes sparkled. She thought the real thing was even better than the photograph. Hilde was the hero who protected humanity, and these days she was one of the major topics in aristocratic society as well. The hero party had exterminated a high-ranking demon almost beyond reason and purified a portion of the Demon Territory, enough that even proud nobles had set aside their pride and come to admire them.
"Oh my, what do I do? Ah, thank you for finding my bag! Lady Hilde, you’re even prettier in person! If you’re planning to file a complaint with the magazine, leave it to me!"
At Rainie’s flustered barrage, Hilde gave an awkward laugh. Jae-un watched Rainie fondly, then spoke.
"I’ll repay this favor with a proper reward the next time we meet. Then, until next time."
"Ah— I’m sorry. That was rude of me..."
Only then, jolted back to herself by Jae-un’s voice, did Rainie let go of Hilde. She felt she had been far too forward, and the tips of her ears turned slightly red. She liked how Hilde treated her without pushing her away.
After the capital guard took the pickpocket away, Hilde opened her mouth. It was just a little curiosity.
"Do you happen to know who that green-haired man is?"
Rainie knew perfectly well that Jae-un was the strange prince who came by often in disguise to buy cake. He never openly showed his interest, but he always came with such persistence that whenever their eyes met, a strange atmosphere would hang between them. She wanted to tell Hilde who he was, but for some reason the way he had hastily tried to hide his identity bothered her.
"Hmm... I think you’ll know by tomorrow."
"I see. He must be a man of fairly high status."
Still, Rainie felt a little guilty that she couldn’t answer the person who had helped recover her bag. Then it suddenly occurred to her to wonder whether the main figure of tomorrow’s victory procession was here at all.
"Come to think of it, Lady Hilde, aren’t you busy with tomorrow’s victory procession? What brings you here?"
At Rainie’s words, Hilde let out a small sigh. The thought of having to stand in line for another two hours made her feel utterly fed up. But to say that she had abandoned the line just before buying cake, in front of someone who was thanking her? That would be monstrous.
She decided to enjoy the massage chair she had not used in nearly sixteen years sometime later, to her heart’s content.
Hiding her misery, Hilde forced a smile and said, "Actually, I heard there’s a cake shop here that’s incredibly delicious. I was told the name was Rainie Bakery—if it’s not too much trouble, could you show me where it is?"
"What perfect timing! I’m sorry for the late introduction! I’m Lady Rainie Volfer, who runs Rainie Bakery. For my benefactor, I’ll personally guide you through the shop’s back entrance."
What? Then you should’ve said so sooner...
As expected, doing good deeds brought good fortune. On the other hand, Hilde felt a little pathetic for having spent several seconds wavering over whether to catch the pickpocket or not.
On the way to the bakery, Rainie was rather close. Holding the hand of Hilde, who looked much younger than herself from the outside, she walked beside her. After about five minutes, they reached the back of the bakery building. A sign that immediately drew the eye was written in red letters.
Staff Only.
Rainie rummaged through her bag, took out a key, unlocked the door, and opened it. Seeing Hilde hesitate, as if she were somehow cutting in line, Rainie took her by the hand and led her into the bakery. It looked like a storage room, packed in every direction with bread flour.
"Please wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back!"
Before Hilde could even answer, Rainie nimbly slipped between the shelves, opened another door, and disappeared inside. She returned with a neatly wrapped cake box. But it felt somehow different from the cakes other people had been buying with such delight. Picking up on Hilde’s expression, Rainie explained further.
"Hehe. As a special thank-you, I gave you the cake I made specially for lunch today. Sometimes royal family members or high nobles order extra custom pieces, so I can promise the taste."
"I see. How much is it?"
Rainie suddenly waved her hands in alarm.
"It’s my gift to you. If I’m honest, if I were counting it as payment for finding my bag, it’s hardly anything at all. Hahaha!"
Warmth bloomed in Hilde’s chest, and she smiled. She wanted to become friends with kind-hearted Rainie. Somehow, she felt she had understood one reason why the cakes were so popular.
A special cake.
Someone immediately came to mind—someone who would surely love this.
"Thank you. I’m sure my party will be delighted. He was the one who introduced me to this shop."
"Hahaha. To think you came to such an insignificant little place on a recommendation—I’m truly honored!"
As Rainie spoke, she unconsciously connected the word party to Hilde’s companions and faltered.
"Um... if Lady Hilde’s companion is the saintess... then... is she the saintess? Kyaaak! What do I do!"
Listening to Rainie say she’d add a few more things for Hilde and then seeing her go fetch an entire bundle of cake, Hilde nearly panicked, bowed her thanks in a hurry, and went back outside.
—
"Uuugh. Did I eat too much cake yesterday...?"
A day passed, and the day of the victory procession arrived.
From the afternoon onward, grand music honoring the hero party rang out through the royal orchestra, carried across the entire capital by artifacts, and the people could barely contain their excitement. In the capital, each tavern gave out free drinks, and thanks to the hard work of the administration, flowers filled the streets everywhere. The procession itself was held only within the royal castle, but for the kingdom’s people it was a holiday all the same.
Irene had already dressed for the occasion before Hilde, thanks to the procession beginning at six in the evening. Since the makeover had started at three, everything from makeup to accessories had been provided by the royal family.
The hands of the maids who served the royal family made Irene—already naturally beautiful—look like a pure saint blessed by heaven itself. A dress in colors similar to a priest’s vestments was richly decorated with gold thread on a white base, harmonizing beautifully with her golden jewelry.
The only problem was that the corset size had been let out by a full two inches from usual, because she had devoured the cake Hilde brought.
But it was just so, so delicious!
The richer topping than the one from her last visit had been added with merciless generosity, and that was what had led to her gluttony.
"You look especially lovely today, Saintess."
Seeing the saintess go back and forth between sadness and delight, Edan and Lee Yu-seong stood there in black suits.
Edan had teleported in at lunchtime that day. The mage from Scoti Magic Tower cared nothing at all for the royal family’s feelings, as long as it was not the empire.
Even now, the hero Lee Yu-seong still hadn’t managed to go home. He had only drifted from one nearby inn to another before safely arriving in Ozenris.
Right now, they didn’t understand Irene’s emotional swings in the slightest. From a man’s point of view, it wasn’t even obvious whether her stomach looked any larger than usual.
They had thought her beauty was striking before, but once the careful makeup had been applied, her soft, luminous appearance possessed a force that made people want to kneel without argument.
Lee Yu-seong, trying to comfort her with no real thought behind it, was suddenly glared at by the saintess.
"Honestly, then are you saying I was ugly before? I can’t believe this from a hero. Are you insulting me because I’ve put on belly fat?"
"No, that’s not what I meant at all..."
"How about we all stop joking around? But Hilde is a little late."
The moment Edan finished speaking, the door to the dressing room Hilde had entered opened. The maids, looking almost reverent, politely took Hilde by the hand and led her outside.
The hero party had been bewildered, and then, the instant they saw Hilde, they were struck dumb.
A dress in a color matched to Hilde’s blue eyes was draped off one shoulder. The dress itself might have been considered fairly ordinary, but the maids’ careful makeup and accessories were nothing short of explosive.
Her earrings and necklace shimmered as a matching set. The earrings, crafted from white gold and diamonds and decorated like droplets of water, swayed shyly with the tilt of her head.
Hilde’s skin had always been so clear that even the fine veins beneath it could be seen, but with the meticulous application of makeup, the highlights came alive, and no one could tear their eyes away from her. The maids could not hide their pride in their work.
Ahem.
"How embarrassing. What are you all staring at?"
With an exaggerated cough as her opening, Hilde widened her eyes and complained.
In truth, this was the first time she had ever worn a skirt, and she had never imagined it would be a dress, so she was terribly embarrassed. It felt like she had crossed some kind of line.
Ugh... why is everyone looking at me like that? I’m dying of embarrassment here.