Proposing a Contract Engagement
“Then let’s set off before the priests come barging in.”
I already knew that Priest Harkan was on his way after the temple inspection.
He’ll probably arrive sometime today.
Since Priest Harkan had also sensed the Saintess’s awakening, he might even get here sooner.
There was nothing good that could come from letting the Saintess cross paths with the High Priest’s close aide.
Besides, it’ll be easier to protect Ivetta once we reach the imperial palace.
“I’ll look after the children with Ivetta. Ed, could you borrow a carriage from Baron Orso?”
“Will do.”
After Everett headed off to the lord’s residence, Ivetta and I woke the children and gathered them in the temple courtyard.
The children, who had been sleeping soundly, were dragged out of bed. They rubbed their eyes and whined.
“Sis, I’m sleepy.”
“Can’t we go back to bed?”
Ivetta and I frantically tried to soothe them.
Nancy, the only one who hadn’t been asleep and had already heard the explanation, raised her voice toward the group.
“We’re moving!”
“Moving? All of us together?”
“Why?”
“Where are we going? Are we moving again?”
The children forgot their complaints the moment Nancy spoke and started firing off questions.
“We’re going to the capital. We’ve all been given a much better place to live than our current home.”
When Ivetta explained it calmly, the children—who I expected to jump for joy—grew strangely quiet instead.
To them, the orphanage had been their entire world. The news that this whole world was being uprooted seemed to fill them with unease.
They kept glancing at Ivetta and me, then huddled together in a tight little cluster.
It was as if they were afraid of being left behind if they strayed from the group.
The sight was heartbreaking, but I told myself that time and the new environment would eventually heal those wounds.
Thanks to the children’s unexpected cooperation, we finished preparing to move before Everett returned with the carriage.
Oh, wait.
I had almost forgotten.
“Just a moment!”
I asked for their understanding and hurried back into the temple.
My destination was the head priest’s quarters.
Where would he have put it?
I rummaged through drawers and ornaments.
Fortunately, I found what I was looking for almost immediately.
As I’d noticed before, he really was the type to hide things carelessly.
No surprise there—he is a minor villain who gets written off early.
I clutched the item and returned to the courtyard where the children were waiting.
While I had been searching the head priest’s room, Everett and Ivetta had arrived and were already helping the children into the carriage.
I slipped the item I’d pocketed into a secure spot and joined them in loading the rest of the children.
Then we headed straight for the ancient teleportation circle.
We woke the sleeping mages and teleported to the capital as soon as the sun rose.
“You’ve arrived.”
Kylus was there to greet us the moment we appeared.
It seemed Everett had contacted him in advance.
“A Saintess, huh…”
Kylus observed Ivetta with a measuring gaze.
His features were soft, but his personality was anything but.
Perhaps finding his stare uncomfortable, Ivetta’s small shoulders drew in even tighter.
These guys.
In full “must protect our female lead at all costs” mode, I stepped between them and spoke to Kylus.
“Perfect timing. The children will need a place to stay right away.”
The moment I mentioned work to the workaholic, his attention snapped back to me.
“The Seymour County will protect the children for now. Naturally, the Saintess will need to go to the imperial palace.”
At the mention of being separated from the children, Ivetta’s expression clouded with anxiety.
“Can’t we all go together?”
“The public’s attention will be centered entirely on the Saintess.”
The words were meant for the children’s sake.
Ivetta, who understood how serious the situation had become, accepted Kylus’s explanation without argument.
“My mother used to work as a nanny. She’ll take excellent care of them, so please don’t worry.”
When I promised they could meet regularly, Ivetta finally relaxed.
The children, crying and clinging to Ivetta because they didn’t want to leave her, were gently coaxed by Kylus—who sounded almost like a kidnapper.
“If you ride in that carriage, you’ll reach a place full of toys and delicious snacks.”
The effect was immediate.
“Is there chocolate?”
“There might even be a chocolate fountain.”
“Really?”
Completely enchanted by the promise of toys and desserts, the children obediently climbed into the carriage.
They departed in the Seymour County carriage that Kylus had prepared.
Ivetta watched the carriage roll away, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, clearly still worried about the children.
Meanwhile, the three remaining adults boarded the carriage bound for the imperial palace first, giving Ivetta a moment to collect herself.
It was a plain black carriage without any crests to conceal its imperial affiliation, yet the interior was surprisingly spacious.
We left a seat open for Ivetta and sat in a row—me, Everett, and Kylus.
Now that the children were no longer present, we resumed the discussion about the future we had cut short earlier.
“You’re saying everyone with divine power knows about the Saintess’s awakening?”
Kylus confirmed the current state of affairs.
Everett started to answer but flinched and closed his mouth instead.
What’s going on? Did they fight?
I hadn’t seen the two of them together often, but I had always assumed Everett and Kylus were fairly close.
Seeing them avoid even speaking to each other made me wonder if I had misread their relationship.
Instead of the clearly uncomfortable Everett, I spoke up.
“It seems so. Since hiding the Saintess’s awakening is impossible, we’ll need a different plan.”
Everett nodded firmly with his lips pressed shut, signaling his agreement.
“The High Priest is going to raise hell demanding her return. This just became a massive headache.”
Kylus also seemed to find eye contact with Everett awkward; he kept his gaze fixed on me as he spoke.
No matter how absolute the Emperor’s power was, he could not simply ignore a formal request from the temple.
If they insisted that the Saintess—as the representative of God Minos—must reside at the temple, the Emperor’s position would lack proper justification.
The information that the Saintess has awakened has already reached them, and we’re running out of time.
The way Ivetta’s awakening had been revealed was far too loud and flashy.
I don’t recall any Saint or Saintess in history whose awakening was announced in such a dramatic fashion.
Even in the original story, Ivetta’s awakening had happened far more quietly than this.
In the original work, the head priest noticed that Ivetta—who had regressed to the age of eighteen—had awakened as the Saintess and eagerly reported it to the High Priest.
The High Priest had personally traveled to the Peram territory to collect her.
He then tried everything to win the Saintess’s favor, but it was doomed from the start.
To Ivetta, who carried memories of her first tumultuous lifetime, the High Priest was simply an evil that needed to be eradicated.
While she played the part of an obedient Saintess who listened to his every word and waited for a chance to escape the temple, opportunity finally arrived.
She received an invitation to the New Year’s ceremony hosted by the imperial family.
The Emperor was the only one capable of standing against the temple, which had grown powerful after the Saintess’s appearance.
Ivetta, attending the ceremony, managed to slip away from the monitoring priests under the guise of performing her duties and succeeded in securing a private audience with the Emperor.
And she proposed joining hands with him.
The Emperor in the original story had already been looking for a way to suppress the temple, so their alliance formed smoothly.
Even then, the Emperor’s justification for protecting the Saintess had been weak.
That was why they had chosen a contractual romance.
It became the official reason for announcing that the Emperor and the Saintess, who had fallen for each other at first sight during the New Year’s ceremony, had begun a relationship.
The Saintess then resided in the imperial palace as the Emperor’s fiancée.
To be honest, there really isn’t a better solution.
I presented the information from the original story as if it were my own idea.
“His Majesty happens to be unmarried, after all.”
The moment I brought up the Emperor, both Kylus and Everett looked startled.
Especially Everett.
Why is he reacting like that?
The unexpected response puzzled me, but since Kylus had already spoken, the two men’s strange reactions quickly slipped from my mind.
“He is unmarried. But what does that have to do with our current problem?”
It has everything to do with it. If he were already married or had a fiancée, we couldn’t use the contractual romance strategy!
It was odd that the quick-witted Kylus couldn’t piece together the contractual romance plan even after I had hinted this much, but I chalked it up to the early hour and moved on.
“A justification for the imperial family to protect the Saintess. What if we announced that His Majesty the Emperor and the Saintess have formed a destined connection?”
Everett’s face stiffened. He raised his voice.
“That’s ridiculous!”
If I exaggerated even a little, Everett was reacting more violently than the Emperor himself would have.