72.
“I’m all right now.”
Prien, who had been holding me up the whole time while I couldn’t get a hold of myself, let me go.
I staggered back a little.
“Ah, wait……”
Just as Prien said that and reached out to me again—
Click.
All I’d done was briefly set my hand on the edge of the shelf to steady myself.
“Huh?”
As if drawn by magnetism, an artifact sitting on the shelf instantly rolled toward my wrist, and then……
“W-why won’t this come off?”
I struggled desperately to remove the artifact, which looked like a silver bracelet wrapped around my wrist.
But the groove that had clearly latched with a click was now stuck fast, as if it had been soldered shut.
Flustered, I looked at Prien.
At a glance, it was an artifact that looked exceedingly old and precious.
Until just moments ago, it had been neatly kept inside a glass case on a shelf in this place where outsiders were surely forbidden to enter.
……Well, my tears dried right up.
“It must be something the temple treats as precious, right?”
“For now, it is an item whose removal is strictly forbidden, but……”
Prien trailed off.
“They say it sometimes reacts when it meets a user with good compatibility.”
What just happened didn’t seem like it was merely reacting.
“……Is there no way to take it off?”
Prien took my wrist and examined it from every angle.
He infused it with divine power, and he also seemed to try some kind of treatment that I couldn’t understand even while watching.
But.
“……It seems it will be difficult for the time being.”
“I really didn’t do anything.”
“I saw it too, so I know.”
Prien smiled faintly.
“It’s not dangerous for an ordinary person to possess, is it?”
“It is not. According to the records, it has the ability to discern wicked things.”
Just hearing that made my heart churn. It was no ordinary object.
“Wicked things?”
Because of the dim lighting, I had stretched out my hand to check the bracelet properly, and I lightly bumped into Prien, who hadn’t managed to step back.
And at that moment, the jewel set into the bracelet turned opaque and became dyed a vivid red.
Considering what we had just been talking about, we looked at each other awkwardly.
“……”
“Ah, I get it.”
I quickly realized.
“This is because of the potion, right? That’s amazing. It can even detect something like that.”
Prien slowly nodded.
Anyway, that aside.
“So…… what happens to me now?”
If they held me responsible for arbitrarily stealing an artifact from the temple, honestly, I’d feel wronged.
It wasn’t as if I’d done it on purpose!
This bracelet-like thing had latched onto me of its own accord!
With a small shred of hope, I shook the hand the bracelet was stuck to with all my might.
……As expected.
It didn’t budge.
“Hmm.”
Prien briefly frowned as if troubled, then suddenly stared intently at me.
Had he thought of some method?
When Prien noticed me looking at him full of expectation, he smiled slightly.
“I think you can simply wear it for the time being.”
“Huh? I can do that?”
“Yes, I don’t think there will be any problem.”
“……Could I possibly end up causing trouble for Sir Izanar?”
“Not at all.”
Even with Prien’s firm answer, I did not drop my suspicion.
“Really? For real? You’re not lying?”
“If you dislike that, there is also the option of staying in the temple until we find a way to remove the bracelet.”
“I’ll trust you.”
Having surrendered quickly, I held my hand under the light and examined in detail the bracelet that would be with me for the time being.
Vines and flowers were engraved in intaglio along the silver ring, and something like a transparent gem was set in the center of the flower.
‘It definitely looks, on the surface, like an ordinary bracelet—aside from seeming far too expensive.’
“However, Baron…… there is one minor problem.”
“Yes?”
“It seems it will take a little time for permission to remove it to be granted.”
“How long?”
“It will be difficult within today. About a day.”
“……”
“I will make arrangements so you can send word to the mansion.”
I sighed and nodded.
* * *
“You stayed out overnight?”
“……”
Jaka’s eyes narrowed as he looked me over from head to toe.
My heart began to pound rapidly.
Surely he hadn’t noticed, right?
How much had I screamed when I woke up in the morning and found my eyes swollen like balloons!
That was even after I’d gone to sleep the night before with an ice pack on them.
If I hadn’t even done that, what sort of state would I have been standing in before Jaka right now? Just imagining it made me dizzy.
Just as Jaka’s eyebrows were about to shoot upward, I struck first.
“A-an adult! If something urgent comes up, an adult can stay out overnight.”
Jaka’s gaze dropped below a certain temperature. A chill ran down my spine.
Just then, Julie, who had belatedly come out to greet me, made a fuss.
“Oh my, Lady Asha! You’re back already? Then did you come without even having breakfast?”
“No, I had breakfast. The temple starts the day really early……”
Julie, deciding that the soreness around my eyes was because I’d gotten up early in the morning and was tired, nodded.
However, Jaka did not withdraw his suspicious gaze.
“That’s not it, you cri……”
I grabbed Jaka’s arm and tugged, speaking loudly.
“Breakfast! I did eat breakfast, but for some reason I’m hungry. Could I have a meal?”
Julie suddenly glared at me.
“No drinks with the meal!”
“All right……”
It seemed she had mistaken my asking for a meal as a ploy because I hadn’t been able to drink alcohol while I was at the temple.
“Jaka, then you should go to the kitchen now and……”
Just as Julie turned toward Jaka and was about to start ordering him around—
Thump, thump, thump!
A holy knight knocked on the front gate, craning his neck toward the inside of the mansion, and said in a displeased voice,
“How much longer will this take?”
Julie and Jaka’s gazes simultaneously fixed on me.
“Who is that?”
Roughly thirty minutes earlier.
‘I’m terribly sorry, but could I go in alone first and explain the situation?’
‘You’re the one who caused this incident, and now you’re saying you’ll leave us standing outside the gate……?’
‘You may do so as long as you like.’
That’s right.
I had not returned alone.
‘How did it go?’
“As it is, by default, an item forbidden from being taken out, I believe it will only be possible if a supervisor is assigned to it at all times.”
“Pardon?”
And the person who stepped forward as the right man for the job was none other than Prien Izanar himself.
Since he held a fairly high position within the temple, the higher-ups had apparently been able to grant permission, and I had no choice but to accept.
No matter what, I couldn’t stay trapped in the temple until the bracelet fell off!
“That’s…… due to unavoidable circumstances…… for the time being…… he’ll be staying with us…… at our mansion…….”
Prien, who had been standing quietly behind the holy knight pouting in displeasure, gave a slight smile when our eyes met.
Instead of doing that, why don’t you try stopping your subordinate…….
Julie, having spotted Prien, clapped a hand over her mouth.
I ignored Jaka’s persistent gaze, which felt as if it were sticking to my cheek.
“This is Sir Prien Izanar. The human next to him is…… no one you need to worry about. He’ll just move the luggage and go right back.”
Even though Prien had said it was fine, that man had insisted on carrying the luggage himself and followed us all the way to my mansion.
‘What a suspicious holy knight.’
Unbothered by my lacking introduction, he strode into the courtyard with the luggage bags in both hands, as if he had been waiting for his cue.
Julie came out from beyond the door and looked them over from here and there.
Regardless of how everyone else reacted, Prien walked over quietly and stood beside me.
As if that were his rightful place.
Jaka stared fixedly at Prien.
There was no way Prien didn’t notice, but his expression didn’t change in the slightest as he remained at my side.
“Anyway, you’ve met before, so everyone…… at least say hello…… yes.”
I sent words no one was listening to into the air.
The holy knight was pointlessly bustling about, Prien was leisurely, Jaka had been quiet for a while now, and Julie kept letting out exclamations.
The only one who reacted to my words, at least, was Prien.
When his eyes met Julie’s, Prien gave a polite nod.
Only then did Julie bow as well.
“Ah! Then…… I’ll be in your care from now on. Please feel free to call me Julie.”
At that, Prien also returned the greeting with courteous formality.
“I have heard a great deal about you. I will be in your care as well.”
“Oh my, Lady Asha spoke about me……?”
“Talk about that later.”
I poked Julie in the waist.
“Ah, right. It would be better to discuss things like that little by little later.”
As she said that and looked back at me, Julie’s reaction was strange.
As if…… there was still something left for me to be surprised about.
As though to answer my question right on time, someone walked out from the back of the mansion.
It was the aide. That is, Duke Gladinair’s aide.
‘Huh?’
Since the place he appeared in was my mansion, the sense of incongruity was immense.
‘Why is that man here?’
Cold sweat streamed down my back.
Ah, the weather is so hot.
Hot, so hot…….