Chapter: 391
When Benedict heard that Lucy had started training with her friends after waking from a long slumber, he thought it was an action to shake off her sadness.
It was best not to leave room for thoughts in his head when sorrow would engulf him just by thinking about it.
Having faced similar situations in the past, Benedict understood Lucy’s feelings and decided to leave her be until she could soothe her sorrow.
He made excuses, saying that pushing himself into her space would only hurt her feelings.
“You’re just hesitating because you don’t know how to comfort the young lady, aren’t you?”
After watching him struggle all day, the butler finally couldn’t hold back and scolded Benedict.
Witnessing how the person had regressed back to a sad state after spending time alone with Lucy was simply pathetic.
“…Butler. It hurts when you strike me with the obvious truth.”
“Then just make it so I don’t have to give you advice.”
“If it were that easy, would I be in this situation?”
Benedict knew what was right. He just couldn’t move his feet because the image of Lucy, weeping alone in the crypt, kept flashing in his mind.
“Thinking back to that scene, I wonder if our dear daughter is forcing herself to forgive her foolish father out of concern.”
With his eyes reddening again, Benedict hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief, which made the butler’s gaze turn cold.
The sight of a man who once instilled fear across the continent wiping away tears with a handkerchief smaller than his hand was utterly ridiculous.
“Does the current young lady you envision in your mind comfort others with lies?”
“That’s…”
“I bet the young lady would be truly pleased to hear you talk like that.”
There was a hint of mockery in the butler’s tone, but Benedict couldn’t retort to his words.
He felt too ugly in his own eyes. Disgusted that he was inferior to his daughter, who was trying to overcome her sorrow without the help of her foolish father.
He tightly grasped the handkerchief soaked with tears.
“What should I do?”
“You already know, don’t you?”
“…”
“I believe that you won’t run away from the desk anymore. So, please repay my faith.”
After the butler left with those words, Benedict stared blankly at the documents on his desk, letting out a sigh.
He knew what needed to be done. He understood that treating his daughter as he usually did would suffice. Yet, how was he to act on it when his heart wouldn’t allow him?
Knock knock. Just as he sighed, a sound came from the door.
Benedict recognized who was outside just from that sound.
The tiny footsteps he heard earlier on the way here.
The unintentional humming that slipped out without being conscious of it.
The thud thud of a small hand knocking on the door.
It revealed who was on the other side.
“Come in, Lucy.”
“…How did you know? I didn’t say anything.”
“How could I not know when my daughter is coming?”
“Wow. It’s a bit creepy, like a pervert. I feel like I want to run away from the disgust.”
“…W-whoah.”
Receiving Lucy’s look of disgust, Benedict blinked in surprise, not knowing how to respond. It suddenly occurred to him that it might sound a little strange to her.
As Benedict’s silence stretched, Lucy’s expression darkened, and she began to take a step back.
“No, no! Lucy!”
Seeing her, Benedict sprang up from his desk to stop her.
“What’s not true?”
“That! Anyway, I have no bad intentions! I’m serious!”
“How can I believe that after seeing the creepy eyes of pervy papa?”
My eyes were that creepy?! Shocked, Benedict collapsed onto a chair, and with a crack, the chair broke under his weight.
Even in that moment, he somehow managed to regain his balance with superhuman reflexes, but he couldn’t do anything about the wreckage of the chair below him.
Pffft. Ha ha ha!
Staring blankly at the broken chair, he heard Lucy’s laughter and turned his head.
There she was, laughing heartily, clutching her belly as if she couldn’t suppress her laughter.
It was a sight he hadn’t seen since before his wife left, and after a while, he saw the real Lucy lift her head and hurriedly fixed his expression.
“Haah, really. Papa, you’re so sloppy that it’s not even worth teasing you. When will you stop being so pitiful?”
“Weren’t you… mad?”
“Do I look like the kind of person who has a bad temper? Was I that kind of person to stupid Papa?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Pfft. You’re overreacting to my jokes. B-baka. Baka-baka.”
Only then did Benedict realize he was being teased by Lucy, and he slumped, relaxing his shoulders.
“So, Lucy, why did you come to see this foolish papa?”
“I need to do our usual duel, of course.”
“A duel… you say?”
“Yes. Why? Are you scared that you’re going to lose soon? Are you getting cold feet?”
Benedict, chuckling at Lucy’s teasing tone, swept the documents on the desk to one side.
Then he approached Lucy and gently patted her head.
“…What are you doing? It feels gross having such unnecessary tenderness. I feel like throwing up.”
“I’m just proud of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“My daughter, who’s far better than her foolish father, makes me proud without realizing it.”
With a smile in his voice, Benedict lifted Lucy up and placed her on his shoulder.
“Are you really confident? This papa won’t go easy, no matter who the opponent is.”
“Is it okay to say that? Papa? If you do, you’ll lose your excuses later on.”
“Haha. Then I’d have to admit that this papa is sloppy. But it’s okay, that won’t happen.”
*
A few days into the new year, Phoebe received a vacation thanks to the pope’s favor and was on her way to the Allen territory with Johan.
While Phoebe could have teleported directly to the territory using the church’s teleportation spells or space mages, she opted for a carriage journey.
It wasn’t that she wanted to suffer. It wasn’t that she wanted to cause trouble for the church.
The reason she was traveling town to town in a carriage was simply to help those who might be in need.
There weren’t many skilled doctors or clergy on the continent, but the people who needed them were overflowing, so Phoebe chose to travel by carriage to assist them along the way.
As she examined the flower ring given to her by a child from a village she visited yesterday, she recalled the child’s bright smile, saying, “Thank you, pretty sister!” and felt a warm smile spreading on her face.
It was the right decision to hold back her desire to see the Young Lady quickly and move as usual. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have seen that child’s smile.
“Soon we shall arrive at the Allen territory.”
Hearing Johan’s words, Phoebe looked outside the carriage window. There in the distance, the neatly built castle walls came into view.
The Allen Marquess. A protector of the kingdom’s borders, ensuring that many countries dare not invade the kingdom.
And right now, it was a land where Lucy Allen, the person most precious to Phoebe and her steadfast support, resided.
“Are you excited to meet your friends again?”
“Of course! Bishop Johan. Just thinking about being with my friends makes me so happy.”
But Lucy wasn’t the only one there.
There was her longtime friend, Joy Partlan.
There was the seemingly polite yet frequently teased Arthur Soladin.
And there was the free-spirited yet frank Frey Kent.
She could finally spend time with comfortable friends after spending many tense days at the Holy Land. How could she not be happy?
“Ah, Bishop Johan. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“You’ve stayed in the Allen territory for a long time, right? Have you seen the training of the Allen Knights?”
“Yes, I have. I’ve seen their rigorous training that even I, who have a strict reputation, could never force upon the holy knights of the church.”
Johan recalled the year he first arrived at the Allen territory.
At that time, he thought that the knights were being forced to undergo trials to pressure the newly appointed him.
However, that was a misconception. The grueling training was merely an everyday occurrence for the knights of Allen.
He was astonished to discover this truth.
Remembering that shock from back then, Johan couldn’t help but chuckle and asked Phoebe in return.
“Why do you suddenly ask about that?”
“My friends are training in the knights now.”
“…What?”
“When I arrive at the Allen family, won’t I join them as well?”
In that moment, Johan thought he had to stop Phoebe.
He could acknowledge that she was indeed a person who was fitting of the title of Saintess.
The Saintess was a vital individual for the future of the church.
Yet, he could not stand by and watch her walk into hell.
Could it be that Johan’s astonishment was evident on his face? Phoebe chuckled lightly.
“Don’t worry, Bishop Johan. If Young Lady is by my side, what’s there to fear?”
“But…”
“And also, this kind of trial must be gracefully overcome to be called a Saintess, right?”
Understanding Phoebe’s resolve, Johan chose not to persuade her further and proceeded with his lecture on Divine Magic as usual.
And just like that, as another day passed, Phoebe arrived in the Allen territory and greeted the church before heading with Johan to the Allen family’s mansion.
Seeing Johan worrying like this, the training of the Allen Knights must be quite harsh.
However, she wasn’t worried. She knew that the hardships would lead to her growth.
More than that, she was longing to meet the Young Lady quickly. The Young Lady, who had an enriched expression—would she even be able to look at her properly?
“Bishop Johan. And… is it okay to call you Saintess?”
“Yes. Guard, I am Saintess Phoebe of Lord Jushin’s Church. I have come upon the invitation of Lady Allen.”
The guards at the mansion, stunned by Phoebe’s appearance, quickly regained their composure.
Swiftly regaining their calm, they guided Johan and Phoebe toward the Knights’ training grounds.
“Hahaha! Everyone looks so much better now!”
What Phoebe saw there were her friends sprawled on the ground, and in the midst of them was Benedict, laughing without a single wound.
Oh? What on earth was going on here?
Is this also some kind of training? But everyone looks like they’re in pretty bad shape, right?
Phoebe, blinking at the horrifying sight, was startled by the sensation of a soft, warm hand gripping her wrist and turned her head.
“You’re too slow, you lazy sloppy saintess.”
“Y-young Lady?”
“Come here. Even if you’re a useless, clumsy saintess, your divinity will still be somewhat useful. It should help a little.”
“…Huh? Huh?! W-wait! Young Lady! Can you at least let me explain? Young Lady?! Can you not hear me!?”
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