34.
My mind went distant.
We had promised our future to each other?
I had, with this person?
“Ah, are you perhaps worried because of the heresy charges?”
My flustered mouth only opened and closed over and over.
Serena, seeming to think it was because of the heresy charges, stepped closer and whispered as if to soothe me.
“What does it matter? Something like that.”
What does it matter, she said.
That very “something like that” was the reason we had gone through all this chaos until now.
Leaving me dumbfounded, Serena spoke as if it had never been a problem to begin with.
“Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, everything will be fine.”
Serena’s breath brushed past my ear.
Her suddenly changed attitude.
For now, since she said it was fine, it probably really was fine, but…
‘We promised our future?’
I had never made such a promise with anyone from the start.
The moment one problem disappeared, another one had appeared in its place.
As for why… it was almost laughable to even ask, because the cause itself was obvious.
Hypnosis.
Corrected memories.
Those were probably the culprits.
But…
‘Just how much did I even say?’
Had her suspicions of me been cleared? I said yes, and when she began to change her words again,
I had no choice but to hypnotize her.
Would no other inquisitors come? She said it could still be dangerous.
Naturally, I hypnotized her again.
And even when I tried to avoid suspicion in case her story didn’t line up with Chloe’s,
‘Because the one you pledged your future to is me.’
For it to ultimately arrive at a conclusion like this…
I didn’t know where things had gotten tangled, but every one of her actions was outside my expectations.
‘I’m going insane, seriously.’
To think such a complicated situation would come when I had already lost a night’s sleep.
My head throbbed.
“A-are you all right?”
Perhaps because of that, as I tried to stand, my body swayed heavily.
Serena hurriedly clung to me.
She paid no mind to our bodies pressing together.
No, rather, as if it were only natural, she pressed herself even closer,
to the point where she was practically embracing me as she supported me.
“You should rest for a moment.”
“No… I’m fine…”
“Your face is pale.”
As she tried to stop me, she dragged me toward the stairs.
I had thought she would have a delicate body from doing nothing but praying.
Yet she somehow succeeded in dragging me all the way up to the second floor.
Then she opened the door,
entered my room, and laid me down on the bed.
After that, she lifted the blanket, hesitated for a moment, then carefully covered me with it.
I could see her face flushed in a strange way.
“I think you can rest comfortably now. I, too, need a little time to calm my heart.”
“…Yes. Um, thank you for your consideration…”
Serena, who had been about to turn away, stopped.
With her hand on the doorknob, there was a brief silence.
“Lord Isaac.”
A moment later, she spoke.
“I think this will be the last time I enter Lord Isaac’s room as the Saintess.”
“…Pardon?”
“Because I heard Lord Isaac’s feelings earlier.”
“……”
Looking at me, who was too tired to even feel flustered inside anymore,
“If we do as we promised.”
She spoke with her face dyed bright red.
“Then… I will no longer be the Saintess.”
“…Pardon?”
Even in the midst of that, I asked back reflexively.
Because I couldn’t understand what on earth she meant.
She tilted her head slightly.
A shy glow bloomed within her pious expression.
“…After all, if I’m not a virgin, I can’t be the Saintess, can I?”
……
………
It took me a moment to understand.
No.
Wait a second.
“Lady Serena…?”
“And so—”
Serena clasped her hands together.
A posture of prayer.
Like that, she looked at me.
With eyes that were pious, yet dyed with something beyond return.
“—I shall leave it for next time.”
Leaving behind a trembling yet clear voice,
she left the room.
The stairs creaked.
Then, after the bell at the entrance below rang, the room grew quiet.
“……”
I stared blankly up at the ceiling.
The blanket still lay over me exactly as she had covered me with it.
Right now, I didn’t even have the strength to push it away.
Quietly, as I counted the wood grain in the ceiling,
her voice still echoed in my ears.
I shall leave it for next time.
Though she had said it while praying, it was something the Saintess should never have uttered in any form.
I closed my eyes.
Amid my aching head, one thing was certain.
“I have to do something about this.”
Though I had no idea what exactly I was supposed to do.
***
The next day.
At any rate, everyday life returned.
The heresy charges had been cleared, and there were no problems with business.
That was how it should have been, but…
“Haa…”
My head refused to work at all.
Even though there was something I had originally meant to do, I simply sat there in a daze, moving only as my body happened to move.
‘Because the one you pledged your future to is me.’
‘Not Lady Levantia, but me.’
From time to time, Serena’s words lodged themselves in my mind and wouldn’t come out.
And every time they did, only deep sighs burst from me.
“Ehew…”
Sitting still like this would only gnaw away at my mind.
I had to do something, anything…
“Teacher.”
“…Yes?”
When I raised my head, I saw a face staring intently at me from across the way.
It was Helen, the head maid of House Levantia.
Ah, right.
Today’s last guest.
It had been about ten minutes since the consultation began, but the only thing I had said so far was my greeting.
“Excuse me, but…”
Helen leaned her face in a little closer.
“You seem to have many worries.”
“……”
To think a counselor would be worried over by a guest.
Live long enough, and days like this really do come.
“Ah, it’s…”
I was in trouble.
Because this was the sort of problem I couldn’t tell anyone about.
Especially not Helen.
‘The young lady you serve and the Saintess are both clinging to me, each thinking she’s my fiancée.’
There was no way I could say something like that.
“Please begin by telling me. What troubles you?”
Looking at me, she said that.
The words I normally said.
When I looked at her again, her attitude was endlessly serious, as if she truly wanted to resolve my worries.
I supposed I had to say something.
“Well, I was wondering whether I should move…”
“Move.”
Helen widened her eyes and continued.
“Do you mean relocating your shop?”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t completely made up.
Because this really was one of my concerns.
An old wooden building where every step made a creak no matter where you stood.
It was a daily occurrence for nobles visiting for the first time to frown once as they entered.
It was bad enough that I had gotten sensitive when the Order of Knights came while I was saving money to move.
“Where are you thinking of moving?”
“Mm…”
Truthfully, I hadn’t thought of anything concrete.
Where would be good?
Going from a back alley to another back alley was out of the question.
A main street seemed like it would bring too many customers.
Then it had to be this, after all.
“I thought somewhere near the noble estates might be good.”
“Oho.”
Helen let out a sound I couldn’t tell was admiration or something else.
“You must have quite a lot of funds prepared.”
Awkward.
That wasn’t the case.
“Um, if I were to move around that area, about how much would it…”
“Quite a lot.”
As she said that, Helen moved her fingers through the air as if calculating on an abacus.
There was something strangely practiced about the way she did it.
“It wouldn’t be a grand mansion… Would a high-class salon suffice? Hm…”
A high-class salon…?
“Starting with furniture suited for the guests, then the deposit, key money…”
“Um, excuse me, but…”
“As for identity guarantees due to your status… Ah, that should be fine…”
She didn’t listen to me and just kept calculating on her own.
In the meantime, I also drifted into a brief daydream.
Since she didn’t seem to be listening anyway.
If the shop got bigger, I would have to hire people too.
Ah, should I have Marie work part-time?
I could add a massage course too.
From what I can see, that’s what maids need.
Work hard, Marie.
“Teacher.”
“Ah, yes.”
Helen seemed to have reached a conclusion while I had been lost in useless thoughts, and returned to a businesslike expression.
Then she spoke at length.
“I believe you will need around six hundred to eight hundred pieces in initial funds. This building you are currently using as both residence and consultation office likely has no key money, correct? Ah, you don’t need to answer. Such things don’t exist in back alleys to begin with. Then you would have to move using only the funds you have saved. The monthly rent should be manageable at around fifty pieces for a small boutique. If you want a place larger than that, you would have to go with a mansion, but that is realistically difficult.”
“…”
“What do you think?”
“Um, those six hundred to eight hundred pieces wouldn’t be copper coins, would they?”
“No. The entire amount is in silver coins.”
Her long speech had already been suffocating, but
hearing the required funds truly left me feeling choked.
I had been thinking of moving, but I hadn’t expected it to cost this much.
“I-is that so.”
“Teacher, you are weak in matters like this.”
“……”
“Ah, forgive me. That was rude of me.”
Contrary to her words, her face didn’t look sorry at all.
Was this person always like this?
“No, it’s fine, but, well…”
Sweat trickled down my back.
I decided to be honest.
Of course, only about the move, not about Chloe or Serena.
“Embarrassingly, I don’t have that much money.”
At my words, Helen’s eyes narrowed.
“…If it is not too rude to ask, how much funding do you have?”
“One hundred and twenty silver coins.”
Her eyes narrowed even further.
After hearing my answer, Helen closed her mouth just like that.
“…Since there are also various rumors going around, it might not be bad to have it done.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. I was speaking to myself.”
As she said that, she licked her lips.
She looked at me with eyes unbecoming of a maid,
as if weighing the value of my body on a scale.