The Saintess's Preference
My only goal was to make Julia happy. Honestly, though, I wasn't confident. I had no way of knowing whether she would actually find it enjoyable. Still, the outcome was better than I'd expected. At least to my eyes, it looked like Julia was having a good time. I couldn't read her true feelings, but the fact that she neither rejected me nor walked away made me think she must be enjoying herself in her own way.
Time passed like that until the sun finally set.
“Then I’ll see you next time.”
With a brief farewell, I returned to the dormitory. It had been a satisfying day. After all, I’d spent time with Julia, and it seemed she had enjoyed it quite a bit.
Only…
This will probably be the end of it today.
I didn’t know why Julia had taken an interest in me. But I didn’t expect it to last long. Most likely, by tomorrow I wouldn’t be able to spend time with her like this anymore. Her curiosity was probably nothing more than a fleeting whim.
With that faint sense of regret, I fell asleep—and woke to the next day.
“......”
For some reason, Julia had come looking for me again.
I was flustered by Julia’s second visit, yet deep down I didn’t dislike it. Whatever the reason, it meant I could stay by her side. So once again, I didn’t push her away. Just like yesterday, I planned to take her around the academy and show her everything.
That plan fell apart the moment a certain man appeared.
“Saintess, so this is where you were.”
Saying that, he walked toward us. It was a face I couldn’t possibly forget. Ernen Rihel. The emperor of this vast empire and the current student council president of the academy.
Even in the game, Ernen had been a fairly well-known character. His status was so high that you couldn’t recruit him as a companion in the early stages, but once you brought him into the party in the mid-to-late game, he performed exceptionally well. His personal abilities weren’t bad, but that wasn’t where his true value lay. It was his position as a prince.
If you recruited him and supported his rise to the throne, he became an enormous help in advancing the story. Because of that, I had used him in my party multiple times before. He was a familiar face to me.
And now that same Ernen was approaching us with a smile. For a brief moment, his gaze landed on me. His expression remained smiling, but I recognized it immediately—the emotion in his eyes was far from friendly.
It wasn’t outright hostility, though. If I had to describe it, I’d say it was closer to annoyance than hatred. It was difficult to pinpoint the exact feeling because his eyes only rested on me for a split second.
Ernen shifted his gaze away from me and looked directly at Julia, smiling brightly.
“I heard you’ve been touring the academy grounds. If the Saintess has no objections, I would like to take on that role myself.”
Only then did I understand why he had come. Ernen was here to claim Julia. It wasn’t strange. As both student council president and a prince of the empire, it was only natural for him to take charge of entertaining Julia, the Saintess of the Goddess Church, on behalf of both the empire and the academy.
However… I didn’t think his intentions were entirely pure. The look in his eyes when he glanced at me lingered uncomfortably in my mind. If his approach toward Julia had been completely innocent, there would have been no reason for him to find me irritating.
Was he hostile because of Kyle’s past behavior? I dismissed the idea. There was no reason for Ernen to hold a grudge against Kyle just because the guy had acted like a spoiled brat. If anything, he might have looked down on him, but that was all. There had never been any personal incident between them that would justify a grudge, and Kyle—despite being an absolute scoundrel—had always been careful about who he offended.
So why exactly did Ernen look at me with such displeasure?
There was only one plausible reason. This guy had developed some kind of ulterior interest in Julia.
If it was simply a romantic crush, I could understand. Even though he was a prince, he was still a young man in his twenties. Falling for Julia’s appearance at first sight wouldn’t be strange at all. In fact, it would be perfectly natural. If that was the case, I had no intention of interfering.
But if his intentions were impure… I had no plans to tolerate it. I didn’t care whether he was the emperor’s son or not. If he was approaching Julia with wicked motives, I would not stand by quietly.
That said, I couldn’t stop him right now. I didn’t know his true thoughts, and the justification he presented was perfectly reasonable. I couldn’t block him based on nothing but a bad feeling. He was a prince, and I was merely a student who had been expelled from his family.
So I naturally took a step back.
“As the student council president, I know every corner of the academy. I’m certain the Saintess would be satisfied.”
Ernen flashed another brilliant smile—the kind of picture-perfect smile that could make an entire crowd swoon. Julia stared at it quietly for a moment, then spoke.
“...I dislike it.”
She refused, calm and direct.
“...Pardon?”
Ernen’s smiling face froze in place.
“Saintess.”
At that moment, the priestess Iona stepped in. Her usually rigid expression now carried unmistakable discomfort. I felt the same way. No matter how much of a Saintess Julia was, basic courtesy was still expected when dealing with a prince. Yet she had spoken casually and rejected him outright.
Well, Julia has always been like this…
Even back in my days as Gunter, she had called me by name instead of “uncle.” I just hadn’t expected that habit to remain unchanged after eight years. It seemed Ernen hadn’t anticipated this reaction either; he remained stunned for a long moment.
But he soon recovered.
“...I heard you’ve taken quite an interest in the academy’s interior. In that case, please allow me to guide you.”
He tried to hide the slight tremor at the corner of his eye as he made the offer again. Julia’s response was immediate.
“...Not interested.”
By now, the trembling in Ernen’s eyes had become impossible to conceal.
“......”
A frigid silence fell over the area. It was so icy that no one dared to speak. After forcing a smile, Ernen finally opened his mouth.
“...It seems you’re not in the mood today. I have been discourteous. I will visit again another time.”
His voice trembled faintly as he spoke. Then he turned and left.
I stared blankly at his retreating back before turning to Iona.
“...Um, is this going to be all right?”
I knew asking Julia wouldn’t get me an answer. Iona’s expression grew troubled.
“...It shouldn’t develop into a major issue.”
“That’s a relief, but…”
I was still worried. However, I decided not to dwell on it too much. Strictly speaking, Julia had been rude, but my judgment told me it wouldn’t blow up into anything serious. While courtesy was expected, the position of Saintess was by no means beneath that of a prince. In fact, one could argue the Saintess held higher standing. Any observance of etiquette was merely out of consideration for relations with the empire.
Of course the empire could choose to make an issue of it, but I doubted they would. This wasn’t enough to qualify as a serious offense. The empire wouldn’t want to create friction with the Goddess Church over something so trivial. So there was probably no need to worry.
Still… What am I supposed to do about this?
Today I had planned to guide Julia along a similar route as yesterday. There were still restaurants we hadn’t tried and games we hadn’t played. But during her conversation with Ernen, she had said she wasn’t interested. Of course I hadn’t taken those words at face value. The problem was the possibility that she might have meant them.
Yesterday she had seemed to enjoy herself, but maybe that had been my own misunderstanding.
“...Um. Have you lost interest in touring the academy?”
I asked Julia carefully. She looked at me with puzzled eyes. Then, as if realizing something, her expression changed. She shook her head. A clear denial.
I felt relieved, but at the same time I was confused. If she was still interested in the tour, why had she gone out of her way to reject Ernen’s offer? After all, having someone show her around the academy should be the same no matter who did it.
Fortunately, that question was answered right away.
“...That person. Not interested.”
It was a short statement, but the meaning was clear. She wasn’t uninterested in the academy tour—she was uninterested in Ernen.
“...I see.”
Honestly, I was happy. In other words, she had chosen me over Ernen. Of course, it probably wasn’t as meaningful as I wanted to believe. I wasn’t Gunter, and the connection I had built with this new Julia wasn’t particularly deep. Her interest in me couldn’t be that significant.
Even so, happiness was happiness. It meant I would get to spend more time by her side.
Still, there was one part that bothered me. I knew Ernen would not take this situation well. After having his offer rejected, only to see her touring the academy with me instead? His mood would undoubtedly sour. And it was obvious who his resentment would be directed toward.
But I decided to set that worry aside for now. I had no intention of pushing Julia away just because of something like that.
“Then shall we go?”
Shaking off the unnecessary thoughts, I led Julia forward.