Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 17
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 17
“An introduction?”
“Yes. Actually, there’s a priest I know… and it happens that he’s coming today to pray for the children.”
“Then why an introduction in particular?”
The orphanage director whispered quietly.
“I thought I couldn’t simply send off people who have done such a good deed. How about receiving a blessing prayer from the priest before you leave?”
Listening to the director’s explanation, Rickshel smiled inwardly in victory.
‘It worked.’
Everything had gone according to Rickshel’s plan.
‘It would have been impossible without my brother’s good deed.’
If they had only provided material support, it might have ended with them being merely good benefactors.
But Lion’s sincerity had drawn out the director’s goodwill.
There was just one problem: a blessing prayer was, literally, no more than a prayer.
What Rickshel wanted was for a priest to personally wield divine power and perform a healing.
To make that happen…
While Rickshel was weighing his own concerns.
‘I didn’t know Rickshel was this serious about volunteering.’
Lion was the one who was impressed.
It seemed that while he had been spending time with Peter, Rickshel had done a great deal of volunteer work.
‘It can’t hurt to build a connection with a priest.’
Lion had no particular interest in meeting the priest.
He was simply satisfied that the last child, Peter, had polished off the bread so thoroughly.
“Would it be all right if we discussed it for a moment?”
“Yes. Of course.”
At the director’s permission, Rickshel led Lion aside and whispered in secret.
“Brother… could you postpone meeting the priest until a later time?”
“Hm? Even so, isn’t it a bit off to refuse the director’s goodwill?”
“Today, I would like to see the priest alone.”
It was a request from Rickshel with no discernible reason.
In a certain light, it could look like a mean-spirited scheme to receive a prayer all by himself.
‘But Rickshel must have a reason for doing this.’
His expression held earnestness, laced with a trace of tension and restlessness.
After mulling it over, Lion reached his own conclusion.
‘It must be because we belong to a prestigious mage family.’
Mages and clergy.
On the surface, the relationship between House Asteri, the prestigious mage family that represented mages, and the Holy Order was merely indifferent, like cattle ignoring a fowl.
But because they held different views on the methodology of pursuing truth, their relationship was never in good standing.
What would happen, then, if rumors began to spread that sons of House Asteri had met with a priest?
For better or worse, big or small, talk would inevitably arise.
Even more so in a situation where their disguises only went as far as changing hair and eye color, requiring extra caution.
And so Rickshel must have been making this request—a request that was not quite a request—out of concern that any trouble might splash back onto him.
‘This kid…’
Of course, Lion could pat his shoulder and tell him not to worry about such things. He could even insist on being the first to meet the priest himself.
But Rickshel was the heir of House Asteri, and his own clever younger brother.
Barging in and causing him concern would not be the wise move.
“So… I’d like to meet this priest on my own first, if that’s all right?”
Rickshel asked with great care, worried that his brother might be hurt.
Naturally, Lion, having reached his own conclusion, was not bothered in the slightest. Not even a single bit.
On the contrary, he was fully convinced!
In fact, seeing how well Peter ate the bread had made him want to make other things too.
Now that he’d learned baking, he wanted to return to the mansion kitchen and experiment with this and that.
“I am not excluding you entirely, Brother. I only want to prepare for any possible situations. And afterward, I will certainly bring you…”
Rickshel went on at length to explain his intentions, but Lion simply nodded with little concern.
“Hm, works out perfectly!”
“So until then… Huh? Pardon?”
“As it happens, I’ve got something to do back at the mansion, too.”
“Some… thing to do?”
“Yeah. I think I’ll take this chance to make some more bread. So it’s best if you meet the priest alone first.”
Rickshel looked a little blank, as if he hadn’t expected it to be accepted so easily.
Lion patted his younger brother on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about me. Go, comfortably, and do what you need to do. I’ll head back first, so take your time.”
“Ah… yes.”
…Thank you?
Rickshel had not imagined this difficult request would be resolved so effortlessly.
At any rate.
‘This works out.’
In the end, showing his brother to the priest was indeed the objective. But before that, he needed to secure a healing treatment using divine power from the priest.
And if the priest proved to be a dangerous figure with a grudge against House Asteri, he would have to be cut off.
After sending Lion back, Rickshel returned to the director and informed him.
“I will see the priest alone. My brother says he is feeling somewhat tired.”
“Ah! Now that you mention it, his complexion was pale. That’s a shame, but… it can’t be helped. Please wait inside.”
Rickshel followed the director in.
From a distance, Lion caught Peter watching him, signaled with his eyes that he would come again, and then headed back to the mansion.
‘I should go back and learn how to make confectioneries from the head chef.’
Lion had plenty of his own work to do, in his own way.
* * *
And then, later that same day.
‘I’m exhausted.’
Rickshel released a soft sigh in the solitary room the director had prepared for him.
It had been a frantic day.
He had disguised himself, baked bread, and volunteered alongside the residents.
It had become very different from the original plan of simply making a material donation.
‘No, perhaps material things alone would never have achieved this.’
This kind of experience was a first for him.
Of course, Rickshel had always thought about how to make the lives of the territory’s people more comfortable as the heir, and he had put those thoughts into practice.
But what had happened today was a little more…
How should he put it.
‘Direct.’
Yes. It struck closer to reality, one might say.
Perhaps moving his body directly made it feel more so.
It was a day filled with many realizations, and also many new concerns.
Rickshel smiled without realizing it.
‘It was a good experience.’
So much so that if the chance came again, he would want to visit this place once more as an ordinary noble brother…
Knock-knock-
“Ah.”
Was it time?
Rickshel rose from his seat and opened the door.
There stood a young priest whose very appearance radiated a noble and holy aura.
Tall and lean, with a sincere and kindly impression.
The priest looked only a few years older than his own brother, at most.
‘…Younger than I expected.’
As far as Rickshel knew, young priests generally lived inside the temple,
in order to foster firm faith, or so he had heard.
But this priest had come out like this, even all the way to an orphanage specifically to pray.
‘He is no ordinary figure.’
Had they met without a disguise, Rickshel would have been on guard.
But…
‘That man does not know who I am.’
Items from the magic shop guaranteed solid performance.
Even a fairly skilled priest would be unable to recognize him.
In that case, it was rather a good outcome.
If he could build a rapport with this priest as things stood, he would be able to show his brother’s condition to a better contact than he had anticipated.
“May God’s grace be with you. I am called Licht.”
“A pleasure. I am…”
Rickshel deliberately trailed off.
“I heard from the orphanage director. You wish to remain an anonymous benefactor.”
The priest, Licht, smiled as though he already knew everything and cut off Rickshel’s words.
“I shall call you my anonymous benefactor.”
“You embarrass me. I did very little. Ah, please, have a seat here.”
As the two took their seats, the director, who had entered belatedly, beamed.
“Such tall and handsome gentlemen together, you are truly a sight to behold. Ha ha. It’s nothing much, but please have some warm water and speak comfortably.”
After setting two old cups filled with hot water on the table, the director gave a wink toward Rickshel.
It wasn’t that he knew what was going on; he was simply offering a sign of encouragement, since it was no common thing for an ordinary person to meet a priest.
Click—
The door shut with the sound of old hinges, leaving the two of them alone in the room.
And at once, Rickshel opened his mouth according to his plan.
“Truthfully, I really did very little.”
“That is not so. Did not other people also come to volunteer, moved by the good deeds of you brothers?”
“I simply intended to provide material support. It was my brother who truly put his heart into it.”
“By your brother… you mean the gentleman who returned earlier because he was not feeling well?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Rickshel was not the type to lie.
But he was quite adept at the art of managing affairs, as a nobleman and as a future family head must be.
“The truth is…”
Rickshel let out a soft sigh and covered his face with both hands.
“I did not come here out of pure goodwill and a spirit of service.”
“…”
The priest Licht watched the distressed Rickshel and smiled.
“I will not divulge a single word to anyone, so please speak at your own pace.”
Glance.
Rickshel peered at the priest through the gaps in his fingers, then kept his head bowed low and continued.
He explained that their family circumstances prevented them from calling a priest, and that his brother’s physical condition was worsening.
“And so I wondered—perhaps this was because I had lived without giving to others. That thought brought me here. But it was not so with my brother.”
“…”
Rickshel lowered his hands and let out a deep sigh, different from before.
From here on, it was sincere.
“Though my brother was unwell himself, he baked bread for the children and devoted himself with genuine heart.”
“Ah, yes, I heard. They say a child named Peter opened the door to his heart.”
“I could not have done that, had I been in his place. And I would not have been able to meet you, Priest. So…”
“My benefactor. Would you give me your hands?”
Licht cut him off and took Rickshel’s hands in his own.
“Your brother is truly a remarkable person. To hear that such a person is suffering from illness… I have no choice but to see for myself. However… I, too, have come here secretly, evading the eyes of the Temple.”
“…”
Was it a refusal?
‘This priest. I can’t quite read his expression at all.’
His expression was endlessly kind, yet he was clearly listening to every single word Rickshel was saying.
If so, he shouldn’t be able to maintain just that kind expression.
Rickshel struggled to keep the disappointment from his face.
“So, three days from now, at this same hour. Could you visit again with your brother?”
“…!”
It had been a success.
“…Though I am ashamed to ask, I beseech you.”
“Yes. Then, I shall see you in three days.”