The Spotlight Finds Someone Else
"Ah..."
The chill of an unfamiliar bed pressed against her skin as Irene slowly opened her eyes. The pattern of an unknown ceiling swam into her bleary vision.
Her head throbbed as if it would split, and her whole body felt as heavy as lead. She looked around her in a daze.
A lavish but unfamiliar room. This appeared to be a guest chamber in the Imperial Palace.
...I must have collapsed.
Fragments of memory floated up hazily — the fury that had seized her in the garden when she saw Logan and Anastasia together, his cold words, and the moment she had lost consciousness at the sight of him swearing himself to the Crown Princess.
"L-Logan..."
In the past, whenever she had been bedridden with nightmares left over from a monster attack as a child, or when she had pushed herself too hard with magical training at the Magic Tower Academy and collapsed from exhaustion, Logan had always been at her side the moment she opened her eyes.
His warm hand pressed to her forehead, worry written across his face. His gentle voice asking if she was all right.
"Ah..."
But now, this strange room was empty. The fact that she had been left here alone clawed at her heart anew. Logan's absence was a far deeper void than she had expected.
No... Logan is only angry for the moment. If I just try a little harder... things will go back to the way they were.
Irene desperately denied reality. The thought that Logan might actually leave her was beyond imagining. Everything he was existed for her sake.
And yet her pride was so badly wounded.
Why should she have to suffer like this over Logan? There was no reason for it at all.
Right — and besides, I have Rian. I don't need someone like Logan.
She forced thoughts of Logan aside and turned her mind to Rian instead. But as she scanned the room, Rian was nowhere to be found either.
He was surely the one who had carried her here when she collapsed. So why wasn't he at her side?
Knock, knock.
At the sound of a knock, a maid cautiously slipped into the room.
"You're awake, Lady Mage?"
The maid asked respectfully, studying Irene's complexion.
"Where is Rian... where is the Hero?"
Irene demanded Rian's whereabouts before anything else. The maid wore a briefly troubled expression, then answered carefully.
"His Excellency the Hero... the banquet has just begun, and he is attending it now."
"The banquet...?"
Only then did Irene remember that the celebration banquet for the Demon King Subjugation was being held this evening.
A deep hurt settled over her at the realization that Rian had gone off to the banquet alone, without waking her, without waiting for her.
But the maid's next words quickly lifted her spirits.
"His Excellency has prepared a beautiful banquet dress for you, Lady Mage. If you're feeling well enough, shall I help you dress and escort you to the banquet hall?"
At the news that Rian had prepared a dress for her, color bloomed in Irene's cheeks. Rian, unlike some people, hadn't forgotten her after all.
"Yes! Hurry, get me ready!"
Irene chirped at the maid with a vigor that made it seem as if nothing had ever been wrong. Her disgust over Logan and her disappointment in Rian had long since been wiped from her mind.
Her head was filled with nothing but the image of herself standing in the banquet hall beside Rian, basking under a brilliant spotlight.
Meanwhile, the Grand Banquet Hall of the Imperial Palace was ablaze with the fever of celebration for the Demon King's defeat.
Beneath glittering chandeliers, lavish delicacies, lilting music, and the laughter of guests drunk on victory wove together into a festival atmosphere at its height.
Sera stood surrounded by crowds of nobles and envoys, soaking in praise and flattery from every side.
"O Holy Saintess! That beauty of yours must surely be a blessing bestowed by the goddess herself!"
"It is thanks to your devoted prayers that we were able to defeat the Demon King and reclaim our peace!"
"We earnestly pray for your wisdom and guidance in the years of prosperity and peace to come!"
Sera answered their adulation with a smile of boundless, saintly grace.
"Thank you all. I will continue to do my utmost to live up to your expectations."
Inside, however, her mind was consumed by a single thought: what a chore.
Haah... Why do they keep saying the same obvious things over and over? So annoying...
Then a stir rippled through the banquet hall's entrance, and every gaze in the room swung toward a single point.
Murmur, murmur.
Anastasia was entering the banquet hall with Logan at her side.
Anastasia, in a beautiful lavender dress, glowed all on her own — but it was Logan, appearing as her partner, who truly captured the crowd's attention.
No, seriously... maybe I should have given him another chance back then...?
Sera very nearly let an honest gasp escape at the sight of him. Gone was the plain adventurer's garb he usually wore; in a deep blue formal suit tailored to his frame, he looked like a different man entirely.
His neatly combed black hair and deep blue eyes lent his features a striking polish, while his sturdy build and the quiet elegance that seemed to emanate from him projected a presence so overwhelming that most young noblemen couldn't have held a candle to him.
The noble daughters and other guests who had been clustered around Rian couldn't tear their eyes away from him either.
"Oh my, the Hero's surrounded by so many people anyway that we can barely get a word in. Shall we head over there instead?"
"Why not? The Hero is lovely, but that gentleman is surely one of the Hero's party too..."
In their eyes, curiosity and admiration mingled with something more — a thinly veiled, unmistakable desire.
Sera couldn't hide her displeasure as she felt the attention that had been fixed on her shift in an instant toward Logan and Anastasia.
At the same time, regret came flooding in — regret at having let Logan slip away.
Tch. Honestly, better that one than that idiot over there.
She shot a sidelong glance at Rian, blissfully oblivious to the shifting currents, still playing about with the noble girls, and grumbled inwardly.
Meanwhile, Emperor Valerius, presiding over the banquet from the seat of honor, watched Anastasia and Logan with an expression of mild astonishment.
Anastasia...
He had never once imagined that his daughter — the girl who looked at men as if they were paving stones — would attend a banquet with a partner on her arm.
Logan, was it...?
The Emperor dredged the young man's name from memory. Compared to the Hero Rian, forever preening and leering after women, this youth looked far more dependable and earnest.
When he recalled the church's scheme to pair the handsome Rian with the Crown Princess and turn the imperial family into their puppets, Logan's existence felt almost like a stroke of fortune.
His daughter was not being dazzled by appearances; she was finding her own path and walking it well.
And yet, looking at them now—
So my daughter... isn't entirely indifferent to appearances after all...
She had been introduced to him as a commoner-born adventurer, yet the young man carried himself with a dignity and grace that outshone any noble in the hall.
That boy went through a great deal of hardship, I heard..?
Reports had reached him as well of how Logan had taken on all the dirty, thankless work of the subjugation campaign. And so, if it was what his daughter wanted, he had no intention of standing in the way.
No matter how lowly his station, it doesn't matter in the least.
No — if anything, the humbler his standing, the better: a man with no power base would never entangle Anastasia in succession struggles or scheme for the throne once she became Empress.
So the Emperor resolved to throw his weight behind the two of them, spreading his arms wide to welcome them.
"Welcome, my daughter Anastasia and Sir Logan! These two are the true heroes of this Demon King Subjugation!"
At the Emperor's sudden declaration of praise and favor, the banquet hall stirred all over again. Sera couldn't keep the displeasure off her face.
That senile old fool! 'Sir'? He hasn't granted the man so much as a single title!
As if his bombshell declaration in the audience chamber — handing state affairs to the Crown Princess out of nowhere — weren't enough, now he was openly promoting those two as well.
This would not do. For her plans going forward, Logan — the one competent member of the subjugation who had actually contributed substantially to victory — could not be allowed to grow close to the Crown Princess like this.
But regardless of Sera's feelings, with Valerius endorsing them so openly, the crowd naturally surged toward Logan and Anastasia.
"Hahaha! Everyone knows Her Highness the Crown Princess carried out her role as expedition commander brilliantly!"
"Quite right! And I hear Sir Logan, known as Black Shadow, amassed no small record of achievements himself!"
What's more, the deeply influential Baldur and Elara, along with the leaders of several allied nations, came to pay their respects as well.
"Kehm! Logan... that outfit suits you rather well, I must say..."
"Krhahat! He's right! It suits you splendidly, lad! No wonder the pointy-ears over here's gone red in the face and can't think straight!"
"Shut your trap, you stump!"
And just like that, Logan and Anastasia had become the undisputed new center of the banquet.
Tsk..! What on earth is that half-wit doing..?
Sera had no choice but to click her tongue inwardly.
"Hahaha! And so I drove my holy sword straight into the Demon King—!"
"Oh my! How dashing, Your Excellency!"
"And then what happened?"
Because that fool Rian, utterly blind to the gravity of the situation, was still grinning goofily at the women lingering around him, enjoying the banquet to his heart's content.
After I told him so many times not to go getting familiar with any woman who crosses his path...
And yet the shameless wretch still came whimpering to share her bed every night. Which was exactly why she had no choice but to keep the illusion magic on him.
Anyway, this could not stand. Something had to change, and quickly. And in that instant, the thought of one particular woman flashed through Sera's mind.
Irene. Which only irritated her further.
What is she even doing? Surely it's been long enough for her to wake up by now?
The woman was the only one who might possibly turn Logan's heart back around — and Sera couldn't fathom for the life of her what the fool was playing at.
Then — speak of the tiger and it appears, as the saying goes.
As Sera turned her gaze toward the entrance of the banquet hall, there was Irene, making a belated entrance in a gorgeous gown.
The moment Irene stepped into the banquet hall, the shock struck her like a blow.
Is that... really Lo... Logan..?
Logan, standing beside Anastasia. Logan, beautiful and polished to a shine.
How had she never realized?
That he had always been so devoted to her, so busy sacrificing himself for her sake, that he'd never had a spare moment to dress himself up or care for his own appearance.
Even granting that the Crown Princess had fussed over him, after years of hardship his hair and skin should have grown rough and worn — and yet he could look like that?
The Logan before her eyes did not yield an inch to Rian, the man she had fallen for at first sight all those years ago.
No — if anything, he might have surpassed him.
Because the moment she turned her gaze and saw Rian giggling vacantly among the noble daughters, flirting and chattering away, there was no other conclusion to draw.
Rian's looks were as dazzling as they had been the day she first saw him — but now, somehow, they felt shallow. Frivolous.
While from Logan there radiated a deep, mature allure.
"L-Logan..!"
She wanted, this very instant, to tear him and Anastasia apart.
She wanted to run to him and scream — why won't you look at me, come back to me, back to the way things were!
But even someone as headlong and selfish as Irene knew better. The Emperor himself was here, and countless eyes with him.
If she made a scene here, she would be stamped down without mercy.
Logan..! Logan..! I'm right here..!
And so Irene could only fling a pleading, piteous gaze across the hall at him, begging him — please — to look at her once more.
If his eyes would turn to her just once, then surely he would understand how she truly felt.
But he spared her not a single glance.
"Won't you try this one, Logan?"
"Ah, I can feed myself, really—"
"Don't be stubborn, here! Say ahh~"
"...Ahh."
There he was, smiling softly, doting on Anastasia — so utterly natural about it, as if Irene had never existed in the first place.
At that sight, hot tears spilled down Irene's cheeks. She had barely been in the banquet hall for a handful of minutes, and already she could not bear to remain a moment longer.
Logan's indifference shattered the last shreds of her pride to pieces.
Logan, how can you do this to me!?
Blaming him, sobbing, Irene fled the banquet hall alone.
Any thought of standing in the spotlight beside Rian had vanished long before.
And—
Now she could no longer cling to the empty hope that he would ever come back to her.