A Sudden Resolve
Rita’s eyes widened in shock at the completely unexpected words. “...What do you mean? All of a sudden?”
She barely managed to collect herself before asking Alice the question. Yet Alice didn’t even spare her a glance as she answered.
“I’m going back. To the Order.”
“......”
Rita squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, desperately hoping she had misheard. Then, forcing herself to appear calm, she asked in her usual tone, “...What are you saying all of a sudden? We still have time left, don’t we?”
“I know. But this should be enough, right?”
Alice’s voice remained utterly indifferent as she gave her reply.
“From the beginning, you know this wasn’t something we were doing for any special reason. We only did it because the Empire asked.”
“Even so… if you suddenly leave after we’ve already accepted, won’t the higher-ups in the Order and the Empire be surprised?”
Rita barely managed to offer a counterargument despite her swirling thoughts, but—
“They’ll be surprised, sure. But I doubt they’ll make a big deal out of it.”
Alice cut through her objection with a short, decisive sentence.
“......”
Rita didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t refute those words. Even in her own opinion, it was likely true. Neither the Order’s leadership nor the Empire’s upper echelons would treat Alice’s somewhat abrupt return as a serious problem. They would certainly be surprised—it was an unforeseen development, after all. But it wouldn’t become an actual issue.
No, the Order’s leadership would probably welcome it with open arms. They might be old-fashioned sticklers for procedure, but what they valued above all else was the Saintess’s safety. Even if it slightly disrupted the scheduled timeline, the moment Alice said she was returning to the Order, they would celebrate with both hands raised. After all, she would be returning to the Order—the one place that could be called safer than anywhere else in the world—compared to the relatively dangerous outside world.
The Empire likely wouldn’t raise any major objections either. Two other Saintesses had already completed their full terms, and Alice had spent a reasonable amount of time at the Academy. By any measure, she had already done more than enough. They might be a little flustered if she left immediately, but the reaction would stop at mere surprise and confusion. It was highly unlikely the Empire would lodge any formal complaint with the Bellinu Order over this. In the first place, it had never been a matter of great importance to the Empire’s leadership.
So, just as Alice said, there would be no real problems even if she returned to the Order right away.
Knowing all that, Rita still couldn’t simply nod obediently to the Saintess’s command. Because this sudden departure was the last thing she wanted.
She stood at a crossroads where a wish she had cherished in her heart for years might finally come true. If they left now, who knew when another chance would come?
That was why—
“I want to stay here a little longer!”
She shouted with forced cheer, but—
“Then you can stay here.”
The reply that came back was ice-cold.
In the end, Rita had no choice but to tuck her tail between her legs for now.
“...And that’s what happened.”
“......”
After listening to Rita’s explanation, I couldn’t hide the turmoil in my heart. Alice was leaving the Academy. It felt like my heart was dropping to the floor.
Of course, this was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t want to be separated from Alice. I wanted to stay by her side and watch over her a little longer. Above all, if we parted like this, I had no idea when I would see her again.
Julia and Lana had promised to meet again from their side. But Alice had nothing like that. We hadn’t even built any meaningful connection. If we separated in this state, reuniting with Alice would probably be extremely difficult.
Of course, if I could break the Geumje, it might be possible—but right now I didn’t even have the slightest clue about it. I had no idea whether I could even find a way to undo it, and even if I did, there was no telling how long it would take. There was even a chance I might never solve it before I grew old and died.
And if that happened? There was a possibility I would never be able to get close to Alice in my entire life. Just imagining it felt like my chest was being torn apart.
The mere fact that I wouldn’t be able to meet Alice was painful enough, but her current state made it even worse. If she left this place without any change at all, Alice would once again live with that bored expression, leading a boring life. A life without any meaning or joy.
I didn’t want that. No matter what, I wanted to change Alice. And for that, I couldn’t let her slip away like this.
Having reached that conclusion, I asked Rita, “Isn’t there any way?”
“Hmm… honestly, even I…”
Rita’s face twisted into a genuinely troubled expression at my question.
…Well, if there had been an easy solution, she wouldn’t have come to consult me. She would have handled it herself.
“Haa… what should we do…”
Rita let out a deep sigh.
“It’s not like we can forcibly keep the Saintess here…”
That was out of the question. Setting aside right and wrong, it would be practically impossible to carry out. I didn’t know exactly how strong Alice was now, but if her growth rate from childhood had remained the same, neither Rita nor I would be able to subdue her. We’d be lucky if we didn’t get crushed instead.
“......”
What on earth should we do? I racked my brain, but no good ideas came to mind no matter how hard I thought. Did that mean I really had no choice but to let Alice leave obediently?
Helplessness and anxiety began creeping up from the tips of my toes.
“…Rather than that.”
Rita suddenly spoke.
“Why don’t we try something simple?”
“...Pardon?”
At the abrupt suggestion, I stared at her with my eyes wide open in a way that didn’t suit the serious atmosphere. Rita looked straight at me with her large eyes and said,
“Just say it directly. Tell her not to go. That you want to stay together.”
For a moment, I could only blink at her. Then—
“You, Miss Rita?”
I asked in a low voice. Rita shook her head firmly.
“No. That’s not something I should say.”
“…Then who exactly is supposed to say it?”
This time, she didn’t answer with words. Instead, she raised her hand and pointed—directly at me.
“...Pardon?”
…Me?
The suggestion Rita made was rather… no, extremely sudden. It caught me so off guard that I was genuinely flustered for a moment.
Even the words themselves were strange, but she wanted me to say them? It didn’t make any sense.
“I think… that’s completely unreasonable,” I said, voicing my thoughts exactly.
“Even if someone else said it, the chances would be low. Yet you’re telling me—the one the Saintess finds unpleasant—to do it? There’s no way it would work.”
If anything, Alice would probably feel so disgusted that she’d leave the Academy immediately. That was what I genuinely believed.
However—
“No. It has to be you, Sir Kyle.”
It seemed Rita’s thoughts were quite different.
“If anyone else said something like that, there would be zero chance. Actually, there isn’t anyone else who could even say such a thing to the Saintess in the first place.”
“......”
…She wasn’t wrong. Since coming to the Academy, Alice hadn’t formed any connections with anyone. At least, not as far as I knew. Therefore, the only people who could even bring up the topic with her were Rita and me.
Among them, Rita was out of the question. No matter how things turned out, she would follow Alice. She had already said that her strategy of whining about wanting to stay here hadn’t worked either.
That left… exactly as Rita said, only me.
But still—
“…I don’t think she’d listen even if I said something like that.”
Would Alice really listen to words that sounded dubious no matter who said them—especially coming from me, someone she clearly disliked? I couldn’t imagine it at all.
“No.”
Rita shook her head.
“If there’s anyone with even the slightest possibility, it’s you, Sir Kyle.”
She looked straight at me as she spoke.
“......”
I studied her eyes carefully. For a second I even wondered if this whole situation was just one of Rita’s bad jokes. But there was no trace of mischief in her gaze. That meant she was saying this completely seriously…
“What exactly makes you think that?” I asked her.
What had she seen to come to such a conclusion? I couldn’t fathom the reason at all.
To my question, Rita answered,
“Because your presence is clearly shaking the Saintess.”
“...Pardon?”
It wasn’t something I could easily nod along to. Shaking her? Me? Alice?
“In any case, it’s true that she’s shown sides of herself in front of you that I’ve never seen before.”
“......”
Rita was Alice’s assistant priestess. Except in special cases like this, her role was to stay by the Saintess’s side at all times. As such, she must have observed Alice for quite a long time. If someone like her was saying it, it was probably true. The part about never having seen such behavior before, that is.
“It might fail. Actually, the odds of it not working are probably high.”
But—
“There’s no other way. If not this, we won’t be able to hold onto the Saintess.”
“......”
Those words sank heavily into my ears.
“Are you really going to just let the Saintess leave like this?”
Rita’s clear eyes gazed at me. As I stared into those pale pink irises and agonized, I finally came to a decision.
“…I’ll try it.”