A Slightly Strange Saintess (2)
The girl tipped her head back and leaned down. Her lips were drawing closer and closer.
Luid stared blankly for a moment, then blocked the girl's mouth with his index finger.
Thump.
With a moist, soft sensation, the girl's head stopped mid-descent. Luid regarded her with sheer bewilderment.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
She's definitely a lunatic.
Luid pulled his hand away. "I'm Luid."
The girl answered without a moment's hesitation. "I'm Lydia."
"This is my spot, so would you move?"
Luid demanded with perfect confidence. Lydia shook her head.
"This has been my spot for fifty years."
"Mine. A hundred years."
Luid only said it because he hated losing, for no particular reason. The girl narrowed her eyes.
"That's absurd."
"Absurd is my middle name."
"Do you even know who I am?"
"Who are you, then?"
She had asked the question herself, yet no answer came. The girl replied, a beat too late.
"…A commoner."
"You look the part."
In truth, she looked nothing of the sort. Hers was the measured diction of someone who had spent long years drilled in etiquette. Above all, her skin was milk-white, and the robe she wore was, at a glance, a garment of the finest quality.
She simply had no desire to press the matter.
"Don't you want to kiss me?"
"Why would I have to kiss you?"
"Because I want to."
"Well, I don't."
It was a perfectly level-headed answer, but Lydia didn't so much as blink. "Then let's sleep together."
"Knock yourself out. But get off me. You're heavy."
Lydia tumbled off Luid's body and lay down beside her, then burrowed into her arms and claimed half the pillow.
The pillow was generously wide, but Lydia was taller than Luid. For some reason, disliking the feeling of being shortchanged, Luid spoke up.
"That's my pillow."
"I know. It's a nice one. Warm, and soft."
"Would you move?"
"Can I hug you?"
"No."
Luid gave up on the conversation. So did Lydia.
Closing their eyes at exactly the same moment, the two of them thought:
Yeah, this kid is not right in the head.
What a strange girl.
Sharing the very same thought, they fell asleep.
[It's this way, ma'am!]
Hershey walked on, following Miho's guidance. "So this is why you needed somewhere to stay."
It stung that Luid had left the Academy, but Hershey was nonetheless content in the knowledge that she could still see her.
For nobles, even the closest of friends, seeing each other once a week was considered frequent. Their family estates simply lay too far apart.
Seeing someone every day was a privilege reserved for married couples.
…M-Married couples?
Hershey's cheeks flushed crimson. But she quickly shook her head and forced a bittersweet smile.
There's no way Luid would ever choose someone like me. Why would she settle? And besides, you have a family to lead, Hershey.
Luid's marriage prospects remained, as yet, nonexistent.
A noble with no succession to inherit would normally have a marriage already arranged, which made her quite the unusual case.
When Hershey had asked Amelia about it, she'd been told that Luid intended to marry for love.
"Knowing Luid's personality, that'll take forever. And besides, who would dare marry Luid? Not a chance. I certainly wouldn't allow it."
It wasn't merely a matter of standing. A spouse would need inborn grace and refinement, enough strength to keep from becoming a burden Luid found tiresome, and her intellect went without saying.
Wait… then wouldn't someone like me actually be a decent fit…?
Hershey walked on, spiraling deeper into her daydream. Just then, Miho let out a little "Kyah!" and pointed a snowy puff of fur forward.
[Over there, ma'am!]
"That's… a cathedral?"
It was the Grand Cathedral located in the Imperial Capital.
"Was Luid a deeply devout person? There's no way that's possible."
Hershey's expression turned grave.
Priests and mages did not get along. To be precise, there was an instinctive awkwardness between them.
The reason was simple: a priest who lost her faith became a mage, and a mage who gained faith became a priest.
The very existence of mana was itself a symbol of godlessness. Beyond that, priests and mages could not help but feel an instinctive revulsion toward one another.
Which was why each avoided meeting the other's gaze. A person's life could turn on a dime, after all, and if you spent years despising someone only to run into them later in the very same profession, it made for a mortally awkward encounter.
"If Luid became a priest…"
Hershey pictured Luid in vestments, her face going blank.
Even now, Luid was a young lady one could justly call flawless. If she became a priest, Hershey doubted she'd be able to look at her straight on. She would be overwhelmingly, unbearably sacred.
And above all, when she imagined Luid's that monstrous well of mana…
She wouldn't… sprout wings or something, right?
Hershey shook off her fantasies and entered the cathedral.
"What business brings you here?"
Anyone from the Imperial Capital could recognize an Academy uniform. The nun took one look at Hershey's attire and her face soured.
Seeing the nun, Hershey felt an instinctive aversion of her own.
"Would it be possible to visit the rooftop?"
"That is not possible."
Hershey assumed the nun was discriminating against her for being a mage.
"Of course, I understand that you're wary of mages, but I only need to look at something for a moment. Would that really be so difficult?"
The nun shook her head. "No. That isn't the reason. It is a matter of internal Church affairs. There is presently a person of great exaltedness upon the rooftop. Ordinary people may not enter, nor may even I."
D-Don't tell me she's already become a priest??
Hershey floundered, then bowed her head and retreated outside the cathedral. She looked at Miho. Miho was gazing up at the sky, tail swishing.
[Master is definitely up there. And it won't be what you're expecting, Lady Hershey. If she'd really converted to the clergy, her Familiar Contract would have been severed.]
"Ahem. Well, I never actually thought Luid would become a priest either. …But now what? That nun doesn't seem likely to let us in."
[Leave that to me, Lady Hershey!]
Miho scrambled up onto Hershey's shoulder and traced something in the air with a fluffy paw.
Letters of blue mana bloomed into being, and Hershey's body floated upward.
"Hup—!"
Startled, Hershey nearly lost her balance, but quickly steadied herself.
"I-Is this really okay? This is a cathedral, you know. We'll be in so much trouble if we're caught."
[I'm a spirit, so I'll be fine!]
Well… she's not wrong?
The use of magic near the cathedral was forbidden.
But strictly speaking, Miho's power was not mana, so there seemed little chance of being caught.
Hershey touched down on the rooftop. Miho scampered quickly ahead, and Luid came into view at once.
She was locked in a fierce struggle over a pillow with a girl dressed in pure-white vestments.
"That is my pillow."
"This is my spot."
Hershey stood dumbfounded, blinking.
"This is the best napping spot in the entire Imperial Capital, and I'm not giving it up."
"Then share the pillow along with the spot."
"It's uncomfortable. No."
"And I find it uncomfortable having someone in my spot."
"The spot is big, the pillow is small. Do you have any idea how much I suffered to make this pillow?"
"I suffered plenty building this cathedral."
Lydia released the pillow.
Luid, who had been hauling on it with her full weight behind her, flopped backward onto the spot, landing on her rear.
Lydia looked down at her and said,
"Then let's settle it with a kiss. First one to pull away loses."
At those words, Hershey snapped back to her senses.
Wh-What on earth is happening all of a sudden?!
"L-Luid is only twelve years old!"
With grim resolve, she planted herself directly in front of Luid.
"She's far too young for anything like that."
Hershey shot Lydia a wary glare.
A girl with silver hair and silver eyes. There was a certain mystique about her—perhaps because she was a woman of the cloth.
She looked young, though not as young as Luid. She was petite in build. Taller than Nia, but shorter than Hershey herself.
Hershey was no expert on the Church's inner workings, but she could distinguish rank well enough.
The method was simple: count the crosses on the vestments.
And on this girl's vestments, a single golden cross gleamed at her breast, while the long, draping shoulder-stoles were covered in countless smaller crosses.
…Cardinal rank, at the very least.
Gulp.
Hershey swallowed nervously.
A "person of great exaltedness"—that would certainly fit a cardinal. If that was true, then this girl outranked her by miles—an unranked student who hadn't even been granted a title yet.
"Twelve? So you did lie to me. Just now you clearly said you'd been here for a hundred years."
So saying, Lydia rested a hand at her waist.
"Tell one lie, and we sleep together."
"I don't take orders from commoners."
Luid was simply returning the favor—Lydia had claimed to be a commoner first.
"Are you a noble, then?"
But she had no wish to reveal her own standing to someone who hadn't disclosed theirs first.
"No, I'm a commoner too."
"I see."
Utterly at a loss for what to do, Hershey's gaze darted back and forth between Luid and Lydia.
Deciding this could drag on forever otherwise, Luid reached a conclusion.
…It's a little irritating, but if I cast something like a minimal-interference ward, it should be fine.
Because this spot was worth tolerating a bit of inconvenience. Truly, it was a space that was perfect from a sleep-science standpoint.
"Fine. We'll sleep together. But in exchange, no complaining about sharing the spot. I like it here."
Lydia nodded readily. "And I like you."
"……"
How does she arrive at that conclusion?
Luid found herself thinking she might have discovered a lunatic to surpass even Irene.
This girl was even less predictable than her sister.
Lydia seized Luid's arm without warning.
"Which is why we should get married. I'll treat you well."
An earthquake struck Hershey's pupils.
Amelia entered the drawing room of the estate with sad eyes.
She had always been alone more often than not, but now that she thought of Luid never setting foot in this house again, a hollowness opened up somewhere deep inside her.
She picked up the crystal orb resting on the side table beside her bed. A single-use communication orb—an extravagantly expensive piece, a hundred thousand gold apiece.
It seemed this was the moment to use it. Amelia activated the orb.
"Mother."
Sinking onto the edge of the bed, she called out with a gloomy face. The orb soon began to glow, and a quiet voice drifted through.
"What sort of childish tantrum is this?"
Ordinarily she would have addressed her as Head of the House. But there were times when she called her "Mother" outright like this—times when she wanted to throw a little fit, or when she had something strictly private to say.
And so the Duchess of Windsor's voice had grown noticeably softer.
"Um… Luid has left the Academy."
"…What?"
"She's probably on her way home right about now, and… the heartless thing left without even a goodbye to me."
Amelia sniffled.
She truly was so, so heartbroken.
"And after everything I did for her…"
"Mm. I'll call you back later, Amy."
"…I'm sorry?"
Amelia had wanted to hear even a few words of comfort.
But comfort was the last thing she got—
"Irene! Irene! We must prepare the celebration party—"
Click.
The orb went dead.
Amelia stared hollowly at the orb that had lost its light.
"Honestly… everyone is so cruel."
She collapsed onto the bed just as she was, sniffling into the sheets.
At the thought of spending two entire years alone in the Imperial Capital, tears clouded her vision.