Chapter 11 Part 5
“…Lynn? What is that?”
I did ask for grains, but I don’t recall asking her to raid the food storage.
What Lynn brought was a large, deep bowl.
It looked like a big pot you’d use to simmer soup that could last for days.
Inside, a mountain of diverse and luscious dried grains was piled high.
“Ah, well… I’m not familiar with real birds either, so I had no idea what it might like. I just brought everything I could see.”
Lynn answered sheepishly, showing a bright smile as if this was her best effort.
“Hmm… this seems like a lot for such a small bird… But I guess it’s fine.”
I took the bowl from Lynn and placed it in an appropriate spot.
Then I picked up Entrie from the bed and gently placed it on top of the grains.
“Here, Entrie. Eat whatever you want.”
Entrie froze momentarily upon seeing the abundance of food beneath it. It looked almost shocked.
“Hmm, it’s not eating. Maybe it’s not to its taste?”
Just as Lynn posed a worried question, suddenly Entrie’s quiet tail and wings began to flutter vigorously.
“Chirp!”
With its face buried among the food, Entrie chirped excitedly, wagging its small, thin tail energetically.
“Phew…”
Seeing this, Lynn and I both exhaled in relief. We had worried it might not like the food, but thankfully…
“It seems to like it, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does! That’s wonderful. Are you going to bed now, miss?”
Nodding at Lynn’s question, I headed to bed while watching Entrie, who had somehow hidden its body among the food.
As I sat on the edge of the bed, darkness fell over the once-bright room.
Lynn lit a small candle so Entrie could continue eating, then quietly opened the door. Pausing in her steps, Lynn looked back at me with eyes that seemed to have something to say.
“Miss, whatever choice you make, I’m unconditionally on your side.”
It was an abrupt statement without context, but it wasn’t unpleasant to hear.
I smiled gently as I met Lynn’s eyes.
“You’re stating the obvious. You’re my person, so no matter what I do, you should be on my side.”
At that, Lynn momentarily covered her mouth as if moved.
As I heard her giggling softly for a moment, Lynn replied with a joyful expression.
“Yes…! I really love that shamelessness of yours, miss!”
“That’s… wait, what?”
“Sleep well!”
After finishing her words, Lynn quickly closed the door and darted out.
I knew she was running away, but I had no intention of saying anything about it.
The room instantly became quiet after one person’s breath had departed.
It was so quiet… Entrie seemed to have fallen asleep while eating.
The rustling movement that had been active in the pile of food for a while had stopped.
The moonlight seeping through the window shattered into white fragments.
Looking at it reminded me of the moon shining on Hyle’s green eyes.
It was an incredibly trivial yet deeply impressive scene.
I slowly extended a vain hand toward the moon rising in the night sky.
“…Thinking about someone isn’t particularly pleasant.”
I see that person in every glance I take.
Suddenly, Fergio’s words came to mind.
“It’s not like House Laté. Dragging things out in such a pathetic way with a few boring men.”
Reconsidering it, it didn’t sound so bad.
Rather than disliking it, instead…
“The phrase ‘not like House Laté’… it might feel better than I expected.”
My world, having lived according to Laté’s ways for all this time, was gradually changing.
After that, several days passed, and today, like any other day, I spent my time handling affairs.
At this point, shouldn’t I be the head of House Laté?
I can’t even tell if Mattio is working or not, he’s nowhere to be seen. And Fergio is always wandering outside…
When the day comes that I purify my heart and leave Laté, will this family be alright?
“Miss, a letter has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
“Throw it away.”
“Yes, miss.”
Abel was still sending me letters.
Given that the sender was the Crown Prince, Lynn seemed to have no choice but to report it.
Additionally, I was receiving messages from Tia through a communication device.
It wasn’t as frequent as Abel’s, but it felt the same to me.
They looked good together last time I saw them, so why are they so desperate to insert me between them…
“Lynn, what about the engagement termination request?”
“Same as before. It was rejected again.”
Moreover, Abel was still readily rejecting my engagement termination requests. The ambiguous breakup was exhausting me.
It was tiresome and boring. I had no idea how long he intended to keep this up.
I couldn’t even peer into that pitch-black mind of his…
“Was breaking an engagement always this difficult…”
Having my hopes dashed yet again today, I couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
In my past life, when I didn’t even want it, I woke up to find myself suddenly divorced; yet now, when I actually want it…
As I was sighing heavily over my cruel fate, I heard a tapping sound from somewhere.
Turning my head toward the sound, I saw that Entrie had returned from its errand.
When Lynn opened the door, Entrie immediately flew to me and landed lightly on my hand.
It seemed Entrie had become somewhat accustomed to its life as my courier bird.
At first, it seemed quite afraid to fly among the growling demon beasts, but now it soared through the air excitedly, as if knowing they wouldn’t harm it.
A green letter was tied to Entrie’s ankle.
I couldn’t help but smile at the letter that strongly carried Hyle’s energy.
However, my smile disappeared when I opened it.
Starting from the first sentence: “Entrie has gotten fat, so please stop feeding it so much.”…
…Entrie has gotten fat? Hmm, it does seem to have put on a bit of weight compared to before.
But isn’t this much fine?
It looks good being plump. Above all, Entrie…
“Chirp-chirp!”
…seems excited. It looks happy in its own way, so this should be enough.
As I untied the letter from its ankle, Entrie, having completed its task, immediately plunged its face into the feed bowl.
Strangely, this had become a habit at some point. After finishing its job, diving headfirst into the pile of feed…
“Lynn.”
“Yes, miss!”
“About Entrie, has it gotten fat?”
At my question, Lynn’s face tilted from side to side with a contemplative “Hmm.” After examining for a while, she shook her head.
“Hmm, I’m not sure? To me, it looks pleasantly plump, which is quite pretty.”
“That’s what I thought, too. In that case, let’s add some more varieties of feed. It likes fresh grains, so bring some newly harvested ones.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea! I’ll prepare organic options.”
With a solemn look, Lynn received her mission and quickly left the room.
With a more contented feeling, I turned my attention back to Hyle’s letter.
Somehow, things seemed to have gone differently from what Hyle wanted… but what does it matter? Our little one is happy.
The letter contained various details, but the most eye-catching was…
“…What is this about?”
According to Hyle’s letter, after the last party, Abel had taken action against House Feros. More precisely, he had applied pressure using his power.
Although I had anticipated this, the impact seemed more significant than expected.
Apparently, Abel had criticized Hyle for excessively interfering with the Grand Temple’s affairs, questioning whether this contradicted the noble spirit of House Feros, which worshipped Renesia.
In other words, he was suggesting Hyle wasn’t qualified to be the Marquis of Feros.
Fortunately, the current head of House Feros, Izel Feros, had dismissed it as nonsense and put the matter to rest, but…
Izel was also someone who disapproved of the rumors linking Hyle with me, a Laté.
The letter mentioned that Hyle had been reprimanded by Izel as well.
“How can you write so calmly and nonchalantly about almost losing your position as Marquis of Feros?”
I was the one who found it absurd. The tone of the letter was as detached and serene as if discussing someone else’s affairs.
Of course, there was no need to get excited, but still… having received such unfair treatment… he could have shown a little anger.
More importantly, has Abel’s power grown that strong? To reach not just the Grand Temple but even within House Feros.
…Well, what people have seen is the rumored discord between House Laté and the Imperial family, but since there’s been no actual breakup of the engagement, they must think House Laté is still allied with the Imperial family.
That’s why I’ve been trying to expedite the engagement termination!
“Haah…”
It seems merely sending termination requests won’t be enough. The rumors about Hyle and me can’t continue like this either.
I need something new and radical…
“Why is Abel so obsessed with me anyway?”
I couldn’t understand the reason at all.
He had previously mentioned developing an interest in me, but it lacked plausibility that he was holding onto me so tightly for just that reason.
He couldn’t have suddenly fallen in love with me overnight. If anything, such an assumption would suit Hyle better, wouldn’t it?
Come to think of it, I’ve encountered Hyle more than Abel… Wait, why am I bringing up Hyle here?
Hyle and I aren’t anything special. It’s just business.
Anyway, if Abel’s goal was to gain House Laté’s power, there were plenty of ways other than through me.
Yet his insistence on me specifically left me frustrated, unable to comprehend his motive.
There was something suspicious about Abel’s vague display of affection toward me.
There was a time when I was momentarily swayed by such behavior… but not anymore.
The uneasy feeling simply wouldn’t go away.
“I don’t know what I’m missing here.”
As I was deeply pondering this, I heard Lynn’s knock.
“Miss, a confidential letter has arrived from the Grand Temple.”
“Leave it here.”
“Yes, miss.”
People are looking for me a lot this morning. If it’s a letter from the Grand Temple, it must be about that reason.
Opening the letter, as expected, it contained instructions to come for the spiritual power test.
As soon as I finished reading, blue flames appeared at the edge of the letter.
“…Spiritual power?”
The blue flames, emanating Xenoph’s spiritual power, burned the letter in an instant.
It seems a spell had been cast to automatically burn the letter once I finished reading it.
More importantly, I’ve never felt uncomfortable seeing spiritual power before… but strangely, Xenoph’s spiritual power feels unpleasant.
While Hyle’s spiritual power is warm and soft, Xenoph’s is just cold.
It’s like touching an old blade abandoned on the ground.
Just then, Entrie flew onto my shoulder.
Having eaten its fill, it seemed to be in a much better mood.
“…It would be difficult to ask Hyle to come with me after all.”
I couldn’t take someone who was at risk of losing his Marquis position to the Grand Temple.
Tsk, how annoying. Without Hyle, I don’t have much energy to block Xenoph’s nonsense.
“Entrie, stay here. I’ll be back soon.”
Thinking I might as well get it over with quickly, I sprang to my feet.
The letter mentioned it wouldn’t take long, so it seemed I could just go now and be done with it.
Donning a black robe, I used magic to transport myself near the temple.
If I used black magic, I could teleport directly to the center of the temple without any hassle… but I had promised Hyle to refrain.
Unfortunately, when it came to ordinary magic, I was only average.
While I was skilled in black magic, non-black magic had many limitations and complicated formulas.
After teleporting to a nearby location, I headed straight to the temple via a shortcut.
Upon reaching the entrance, somehow aware of my arrival, Xenoph personally greeted me, saying he had been waiting.
“Lady Laté, I’ve been expecting you.”
“…You knew I would come?”
“Renesia is always watching over everything.”
Even as he spoke with a gentle smile, his pale sky-blue hair occasionally peeked through his pure white robe.
He was still an unpleasant man as ever.
“Now, Lady Laté. Please, this way…”
The place Xenoph led me to was inside the cathedral.
Last time, I only saw the cathedral’s entrance with Hyle, but who knew there was such a large space inside?
“This is the place for the spiritual power test.”
As befitting a cathedral, it was an extravagant space filled entirely with white and gleaming gold.
In the center, a large stained glass window depicted the goddess Renesia, which looked bizarre even to me.
After introducing the interior, Xenoph handed me something.
It was a bottle shaped like a cola bottle, which seemed to be the “holy water” often mentioned by believers.
This was an aggressive liquid that could inflict mortal wounds if sprinkled on demon beasts.
Filled with pure spiritual power, it was completely opposite to me.
But the bottle Xenoph gave me was empty.
“Hmm, there’s nothing in it…”
“If you hold that holy water bottle and step onto the altar, the spiritual power possessed by the Holy Maiden—you—will fill the bottle.”
Xenoph kindly pointed toward the altar with a smile.
With such a simple explanation, all I could do was nod silently.
But does this man truly believe I’m the Holy Maiden?
I can’t fathom his intentions at all. Since it’s just the two of us, should I take a peek into that strange mind of his?
…If I did that, I’d probably be unconscious for a month straight. That… I should resist.
