*
The audience began to whisper as they watched Pina’s actions.
“Is that person the princess’s… dance partner?”
“Unexpected, right? I feel like I haven’t seen her since she was a kid.”
A mix of surprise and confusion filled the air. Occasionally, someone recognized my face.
“Oh no, could it be… she caught the Demon King this time?”
“I saw that guy at the Academy. So he’s the one.”
Ugh, there are classmates here too. Pina, what are you doing?
“Pina, isn’t this a bit too much…? There was no need to make it public like this…”
I whispered to her.
It seemed like Emperor Rock couldn’t make it since he was busy, but it’s officially a social gathering for the upper-class aristocrats.
At this rate, Pina would be in danger. There might be people approaching her with ill intentions towards me.
“…Why? Aren’t you my knight?”
With a proud expression, she subtly grabbed the black choker I had tied on her.
That’s true, but what if rumors spread about us dating at the Academy?
“Light, if there’s anything difficult ahead, please tell me.”
Despite my worries, Pina grabbed my hands and adopted a praying posture.
The princess with a soft tail and fluffy wolf ears.
“I’ll be the first person to believe in you.”
What she said was something I had heard many times before.
“….”
My vision blurred. The chandelier’s light sparkled on Pina’s white hair, reminiscent of someone.
As I continued to watch her soft smile, I felt death was about to find her again.
“Light..?”
As if to respond to the vow, I knelt briefly and then stood up.
“…Pina, just hold on. I need to go somewhere for a moment.”
If I don’t complete the Grand Route, it’s a guaranteed bad ending.
‘Since the sage saw the future and the penalty remains, they’re not going to let us be happy easily.’
If this game were a comfortable world, Pina, the Nameless Saintess, wouldn’t have been unhappy.
I headed back down to the first floor towards where Asha was. A striking woman with a phoenix emblem made of gold.
“Long time no see, Duchess.”
The living sun. Asha Aureus.
I caught her secretly watching her son and approached to talk.
*
Asha Aureus had pain from the war.
Despite having a legendary phoenix spirit among spirits, she failed to protect the person she loved most.
Her husband had died because of Demon Kings, and she had lived with regret ever since.
What if she had been stronger? What if she had never fallen in love?
Regrets like these are common, aren’t they?
“Long time no see, Nex.”
In order not to pass on the same wounds to her child, she schemed.
“I heard you won’t be attending this social gathering.”
“Hello… Asha Aureus.”
Asha was sitting on a prickly cushion of discomfort.
She joined Nex and Schartines at the table. The Black Knight’s advice made the other guests willingly leave.
‘That child is the second Saintess…’
Even if she covered herself in a black nun’s habit and wore a purple rosary, a vampire’s bad reputation wouldn’t vanish.
Red irises and pointy ears.
The fangs slightly visible in her mouth bluntly revealed that trait.
“Is it true that the God of Light humans worship… has elevated her as a Saintess?”
Asha’s sharp words came forth. Knowing the first Saintess had once been human, her reaction was understandable.
How could such a fool be revered as the next Saintess?
“Am I seeing things? Or has the social club become so lax that anyone can be invited now? Nex.”
With a displeased expression, Asha felt like she could flee the scene at any moment.
“That statement dishonors the princess. Duchess. Please be cautious with your words.”
She couldn’t leave due to the man bedecked in a golden wolf brooch.
If that brooch was a symbol made from melted gold, the Aureus family’s phoenix was also included, but that was different.
A distinguished guest. The brooch indicated a partner of someone wielding absolute power in the Empire.
And witnessing the princess wearing a choker left her utterly shocked.
‘If it were normally, it’s a sign of total trust between partners from the old Inrang Tribe…’
To be on such close terms, Asha had no choice but to alter her tone with Licht in the north.
If Emperor Rock had been here, he would have been furious and tried to chop Licht down.
“…Excuse me, Asha. I’ve heard about your remarks.”
“Nex spoke of me? Ha, this must be a joke. It has to be a lie.”
Shartines tried to break the tension as she fidgeted.
“You were the one who led the victory in the Demon God War along with His Majesty—you’re the living sun, right, Asha?”
Though she could hardly maintain eye contact, the vampire Saintess didn’t make a completely false statement.
“I heard Nex admired you from way back.”
“Shart…”
Before despair set in when the spirit long refused to appear, Nex had indeed admired her as a child.
Flattered by the compliments, she took a sip of her tea.
“So why did you call me here, Nex?”
She tried to adopt a relaxed expression to face her son.
“Please grant permission for me to wed Schartines here. Duchess.”
With hands clasped together across the table, the two declared their intention.
The reckless count and the vampire Saintess.
Asha witnessed what could be described as a forbidden love with her own eyes.
“…Why should I?”
Fwoosh, golden flames flickered behind Asha.
“Are you perhaps underestimating the position of the heir? That’s a question in my mind, Nex.”
The heat that seemed like it could burn the social gathering hall spread around.
“Duchess..!!”
Immediately, Nex pulled out a purple phoenix to shield Schartines with its wings.
“W-well, Asha, we… love each other…”
Seeing the vampire Saintess hiding behind the wings, Asha frowned.
“This generation’s Saintess only has words. To think she was just a loose woman aiming for our family’s status.”
She was furious that her son had been swayed by such sweet words.
Especially when it was none other than that vampire Saintess! It was said she was abandoned as an orphan left before the church, picked up by the cardinal.
Without noticing that Licht was listening nearby, Asha began to spit venom.
“Love, you say? Do you know how easily that can be extinguished?”
Crack, the teacup she held cracked. Someone kept overlapping in Asha’s vision.
“If I were to support you and allow the marriage, do you think you’d be able to overcome the differences in status?”
Beginning from servant and master.
A man with a strand of gray hair returned to its original color.
“The Virgin of the Ain race is getting married? Wouldn’t the church set ablaze because of humans?”
Nex’s father. Asha had loved him; the things she did to gain acceptance in society mirrored her past actions.
“…If that’s the only demand, I’ll refuse. Nex.”
Knowing how catastrophic the end would be, she continued to struggle against her feelings.
“Duchess, please reconsider just once. It’s possible for you, isn’t it?”
“Asha…”
With memories of her husband now unreachable, Asha could not grant permission.
“I refuse. I will leave this place.”
That’s when it happened. Creep, Asha felt someone’s presence blocking her from leaving as she pushed the chair back.
“…What does it matter if the Virgin is of Ain race?”
A boy with frightening eyes.
Grinding his teeth, he spoke in a chilly tone instead of getting angry.
“Li-Licht. This is between parents and children. Please don’t meddle.”
Licht, wearing the Black Knight’s helmet, approached exuding a disturbing aura.
“Frey Aureus. You know him?”
Thud, the name that fell from his lips was like thunderclap to Asha.
Nex’s father’s name. It was surely a name that’s been erased from everyone’s records.
“…I don’t know that name.”
“I told you before. I know hidden information.”
She wasn’t sure why he was getting angry, yet Asha maintained her silence.
“Want me to tell you more, Duchess? There’s a library in your estate. If you arrange the books in a specific order…”
There were books he read to Asha during his days as a servant when she was unable to sleep from anxiety about the spirits not appearing.
“…Stop! What do you want, Licht?”
The secret room would reveal itself only if ‘Frey’ was mentioned precisely.
A hidden place behind the library filled with memories of her husband. Watching Licht pinpoint it made Asha gasp in disbelief.
“I want the two of them to get married, Asha.”
“I refuse. You’d best behead me.”
But she also couldn’t back down. In the end, it would be better to create a harem to strengthen the spirits.
Otherwise, she might encounter tragedies like herself losing a loved one.
“….”
She reluctantly received the request to see Nex’s true nature, yet there were areas she could not accept.
“…Nex-senpai, let’s talk for a moment.”
“I understand. Junior.”
Licht, lost for words, followed the violet-haired man as they briefly exited the social gathering.
“Hey, Nex…?”
“Ugh, this is such a hassle… A private talk with a vampire— the first Saintess will weep.”
Leaving Asha and Schartines behind at the table, the two men took time to strategize to persuade the Duchess.
*
