Unwelcome Guests
The truth of the rumor.
“……”
Saintess Lana had grown close to Kyle Berwen. Just hearing the rumor filled him with disgust. The first reaction Sebastian had upon learning of it was simple.
That can’t be true.
Denial. He refused to believe it. The two of them had no reason to be connected in the first place. One was a saintess of the Goddess Church, while the other was a disowned troublemaker cast out from his noble house. There was no way they could become entangled, and they shouldn’t be. That was what Sebastian believed. No—he desperately wanted to believe it.
However…
“……”
He could not completely shake off his unease. The possibility, however slim, could not be entirely dismissed. When he thought about it, it wasn’t entirely impossible. All because of Saintess Lana’s personality.
She was kind to everyone. Despite her exalted position as a saintess, she never discriminated against others. No matter who stood before her, she paid no heed to status and treated everyone with equal kindness and respect. If anyone embodied the very essence of benevolence, it was her. So even if the other party was Kyle Berwen, it wouldn’t be strange for her to listen to him without turning him away.
Of course, even taking that into account, it was still odd that someone as busy as the saintess—who was constantly surrounded by people—would have any point of contact with Kyle. But there was one thing that made it plausible.
…The Saintess of Astrea.
Saintess Julia of the Astrea Church. Sebastian had heard through rumors that she had often been seen with Kyle during her time at the Academy. He had also heard that the saintesses were practically like sisters to one another. If that were the case, it made sense that Saintess Lana might have learned about Kyle through Saintess Julia and grown close to him as a result.
Of course, understanding something and accepting it were two entirely different matters.
“……”
Tremble.
Sebastian’s hands were shaking. Anyone who knew him well would have been shocked at the sight. The ever-composed and rational Sebastian rarely—if ever—showed such intense emotion. Not even those closest to him had witnessed it.
Sebastian was always cold and calculating. He knew how to control his emotions and never let them sway him. Yet here he was, unable to contain the storm raging inside him.
There were two reasons for this.
The first was that Sebastian had finally realized his own feelings for Saintess Lana. What man could remain calm after hearing that the woman he loved had grown close to another man? Especially when it was the very first time he had ever experienced the emotion called love—the intensity was bound to be even greater.
The second and final reason was that the man in question was Kyle Berwen.
Sebastian was generally kind to everyone. Yet there was one person he truly, deeply loathed—and that person was Kyle Berwen. His personality, his behavior, his abilities. Sebastian hated every single thing about him. He wanted to wipe the man from his sight immediately.
And now that same Kyle Berwen was said to be close to the woman Sebastian held feelings for—Saintess Lana.
Shudder—
Just imagining the scene made it impossible to stop his hands from trembling. The fury rising from his chest consumed his entire body.
But.
…Calm down.
Sebastian barely managed to hold onto his reason. The rumor had not yet been confirmed. It was merely a possibility, and the chance that it was true was low.
Yes. It was surely nothing more than baseless gossip.
With that thought, Sebastian began investigating the rumor’s authenticity.
And then.
He received a report from his subordinate confirming that the rumor was true.
“……”
The expression on Sebastian’s face after hearing the report was far from pleasant. To an outside observer, he looked utterly devastated. It was a rare sight for him.
How long had he sat there with that dazed look?
Finally, light returned to Sebastian’s eyes.
…I’ll confirm it myself.
He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. So he decided to see the truth with his own eyes. After all, rumors often spread as if they were fact regardless of their veracity. One should never believe them too easily. Sebastian resolved to verify the truth personally.
Around the same time that Sebastian was reeling from the rumor about Kyle and Lana, there was another person whose brow furrowed deeply at the news.
“…What did you say?”
The golden-haired, blue-eyed handsome youth—Ernen—twisted his face into a scowl as he listened to his subordinate’s report.
“Saintess Lana… has grown close to Kyle Berwen?”
“…Yes.”
At Ernen’s sharp question, the subordinate answered while remaining on one knee.
“What the hell is…”
Ernen’s gaze turned vicious. Then,
“Are you certain?”
“…I confirmed it myself.”
“……”
Crack—
The pen in Ernen’s hand snapped in two. He had momentarily lost control of his emotions.
In order to ascend the throne, Ernen had devised a plan. A plan to make the saintesses his own. At first he had been confident, but things had not gone as expected. In the case of Saintess Julia of Astrea, he hadn’t even managed to have a proper conversation with her.
That was why, when he first met Saintess Lana, he had been delighted. Unlike Julia, she was someone he could actually talk to, and she possessed a sufficiently kind personality. The difference between being unable to converse at all and being able to have a real conversation was enormous.
So this time, Ernen had truly set his sights on the saintess. He worked hard to approach her and build a connection. Fortunately, because of their respective positions, there were many opportunities for them to meet face to face.
Each time, Ernen approached Lana and made an effort to speak with her. The feeling wasn’t bad. Lana always greeted him with a gentle smile, and during their conversations she consistently responded in a way that seemed genuinely pleasant.
However.
Despite receiving such favorable impressions, there had been no significant progress in their relationship. That was because Lana had rejected every single one of Ernen’s personal invitations and requests for private meetings.
Of course, she had reasons each time—perfectly understandable ones. But as the number of rejections piled up, even Ernen couldn’t help but notice. She was deliberately turning down his proposals.
By now, Ernen understood. She did not yet hold any affection for him.
Still, he had told himself it was fine. He felt some impatience, but there was still plenty of time. If he continued to knock on her heart over a long period, she would eventually open up and come to like him. That was what he had believed.
But then this rumor reached his ears.
There was no way Ernen could maintain his composure. She had rejected his proposals, yet she was secretly meeting with another man? And moreover…
Of all people, with that bastard…!!
The fact that the other party was Kyle Berwen made it even more unbearable. Ernen had already suffered humiliation at Kyle’s hands once before. A similar thing had happened with Saintess Julia of Astrea. The woman who wouldn’t even spare him a glance, let alone allow him near her, had constantly stayed by Kyle’s side for some inexplicable reason.
At the time, he had let it slide for various reasons, but the incident had left Ernen with a deep-seated grudge against Kyle. Objectively speaking, Kyle had done nothing wrong. However, Ernen simply could not see him in a favorable light. A worthless worm who had nothing to his name yet acted so arrogantly—it was utterly infuriating. And the thought that he had lost to such trash was something Ernen could never accept.
Yet now it had happened again.
There was no way Ernen could stay calm.
His body trembling with rising fury, Ernen finally came to a decision.
“…I’ll have to confirm it myself.”
He would see the truth with his own two eyes.
During what had become our daily treatment session.
“…Hm?”
I suddenly lifted my head.
“What’s wrong?”
Perhaps finding my behavior strange, Lana asked. After a brief moment of thought, I answered.
“…It seems someone is coming this way.”
It was true. Several presences were approaching our location. Though they were still some distance away, I could clearly sense that their destination was here.
Should we move?
The thought flashed through my mind. I didn’t want anyone to see me together with Lana. Naturally, the reason was that it might cause trouble for her.
Just as I was about to voice that suggestion—
“It’s fine.”
As if she had read my mind, Lana spoke.
“There’s no need to avoid them.”
“……”
At those words, I calmed my mind. She wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t as if we were doing anything improper, and the rumor had already spread anyway. I had never thought we could keep it completely hidden from the start. Therefore, there was no reason to hide.
In fact, acting evasively might only fuel even more suspicious rumors.
Having reached that conclusion, I settled my thoughts. Still, curiosity remained. I was simply curious about the identities of those heading this way.
This place wasn’t exactly secret, but it was relatively secluded. Located on the outskirts of the Academy, it wasn’t a spot people visited often. The fact that they were coming here meant they almost certainly had business with either me or Lana.
Who could it be? And what business brought them here?
As my curiosity deepened, the presences drew steadily closer. Soon, I was able to identify their owners.
And I was… a little. No, quite surprised.
Because they were faces I had not expected at all.
The unexpected visitors were the Empire’s prince, Ernen, and the next head of the Ebenros family—Sebastian.