Chapter 10
ㅤAfter waiting for Chelsea to calm down, I start speaking again.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Chelsea. Regardless of how it started, I love you now. If Lily were still my fiancée, I’m sure we could have gotten along well enough, but I think it would have been a superficial relationship. I wouldn’t have been able to laugh as my true self like I do with you, or think of it as something to be happy about.”
ㅤ”……Lord Oswald.”
ㅤ”I want you, and no one else, by my side…….Do you dislike the idea?”
ㅤ”No, no……!”
ㅤ
ㅤChelsea shakes her head vigorously and glances at Lily. Lily, who naturally noticed this, chuckled as if she saw right through her.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Just so you know, you don’t need to worry about me. I honestly don’t have any feelings for Oswald.”
ㅤ”Aren’t you putting a little too much emphasis on that?”
ㅤ”Of course I am. I almost hate the man who’s stealing my cute little sister.”
ㅤ”How straightforward.”
ㅤ
ㅤI think Lily is also showing her true colors now. Chelsea, who finally laughed at our conversation, looked at me directly.
ㅤ
ㅤ”I……I want to be Lord Oswald’s wife.”
ㅤ”Yes. I’d be delighted.”
ㅤ
ㅤMy beloved girl smiled, blossoming like a flower.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ””……Ah.””
ㅤ
ㅤIt’s a month later. I, having recovered most of my magical power, am at the royal court for the first time in a while. I’m going back to work next week. I bump into Lily there. This is the first time I’ve seen her in two weeks, since she dispelled the miasma.
ㅤ
ㅤ”You look well.”
ㅤ”Thanks to you. As you can see, my face has completely healed, and my fiancée’s reaction is so cute that I’m happy every day.”
ㅤ”I shouldn’t have healed it.”
ㅤ
ㅤLily and I have become close enough to exchange lighthearted banter like this, revealing our true selves to each other. I think it’s much better than our formal, distant relationship during our engagement.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Are you here for work too?”
ㅤ”Yes. The Year of Calamity is over, but the miasma still naturally emerges. I’m occasionally called to subjugate magical beasts and purify the land, and I come here to report.”
ㅤ”I see.”
ㅤ”By the way, I’m going to your house after this.”
ㅤ”Huh? I haven’t heard anything about that.”
ㅤ”Chelsea invited me.”
ㅤ
ㅤ……Come to think of it, she was grinning this morning and said,”Please come home early today.”I thought she was lonely because I was going out alone, but apparently not.
ㅤ
ㅤ”It makes me sad sometimes that I have to be jealous of you.”
ㅤ”Oh my, it’s a celebration of Oswald’s recovery.”
ㅤ
ㅤWe chat as we walk down the hallway side by side.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……Shortly before you barged in, Chelsea was sighing a lot.”
ㅤ”Did you make her cry? Let me punch you.”
ㅤ”No, no. I think she was lonely because she couldn’t see you.”
ㅤ”……Is that so?”
ㅤ”Yes. So please come visit whenever you can.”
ㅤ”Alright.”
ㅤ
ㅤLily, who said,”Thank you,”smiled, not as the Saint, but as an older sister.
ㅤ
ㅤ”I’ve been wondering, why is your sister so precious to you?”
ㅤ
ㅤChelsea is certainly adorable, but why did she go so far as to protect her, even at the cost of her own reputation?
ㅤ
ㅤ”Don’t you have any siblings, Lord Oswald?”
ㅤ”No. I was abandoned in front of an orphanage as a baby, so I don’t even know my parents, let alone siblings. There were younger children at the orphanage, but I have this hair color, you see. By the time I was old enough to understand things, I was sent to a magic school.”
ㅤ
ㅤEducation in this country is free. If you’re recognized as particularly talented, you’re provided with food and shelter, and raised to serve the country. Without knowing what love from a family is, I learned to live with a superficial smile.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……Having someone who unconditionally adores you just because you’re their older sister is truly reassuring.”
ㅤ
ㅤLily starts speaking softly, still looking straight ahead.
ㅤ
ㅤ”My sister and I are four years apart, right? By the time she was born and learned to walk, I was already becoming aware of how others perceived me.”
ㅤ
ㅤShe must have been told that she would one day save the country as the Saint, with her platinum blonde hair and magical power that surpassed other children her age, and the approaching Year of Calamity.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Even my parents said that I was a special child…….To me, as a small child, those words felt like rejection. I wasn’t happy or anything about my hair color being different from my parents’.”
ㅤ
ㅤI imagine how she must have felt, being treated differently, all alone.
ㅤ
ㅤ”And then, she, who had just started walking, would follow me around. Even after she learned to speak, she would call me ‘onee-sama, onee-sama.’……Just that made me want to protect the world.”
ㅤ”……I see.”
ㅤ
ㅤ”It’s a secret,”Lily said with a smile. I have a feeling that it wasn’t Chelsea, but Lily, who was reading the monster’s lines with such convincing acting. She could surely become both a Saint and a monster for her beloved little sister.
ㅤ
ㅤ”I think I understand why Chelsea grew up to be so honest. It’s probably because you raised her with so much care.”
ㅤ”Oh my, her honesty is natural. That’s what’s so great about her.”
ㅤ”Indeed. But she’s so honest that it’s troublesome. Lately, she’s been accepting my affection so honestly and returning it in kind that I’m worried I might lose control before we’re officially married.”
ㅤ”Try it, I’ll slap you.”
ㅤ
ㅤAs we return to lighthearted banter to dispel the sentimental atmosphere, a figure approaches from down the hallway.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Lily!”
ㅤ”Your Highness.”
ㅤ”……Oswald is here too?”
ㅤ”It’s been a while, Your Highness.”
ㅤ
ㅤOh. It’s the Crown Prince, the one Lily is rumored to be pursuing. After rushing over in a fluster, he frowns slightly when he realizes it’s me standing next to Lily.
ㅤ
ㅤ”So the news about the miasma being dispelled was true.”
ㅤ”Yes, thank you for your concern.”
ㅤ”No, you put your life on the line for the country. I thank you.”
ㅤ
ㅤThe Crown Prince is highly trusted and popular among the people for his handsome features and his honesty, which is worrisome for a member of the royal family. He looks back and forth between Lily and me, seemingly struggling to say something.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……Um, you two……You’re on good terms even though you broke off your engagement.”
ㅤ””We’re not.””
ㅤ
ㅤThe Crown Prince is dumbfounded by our perfectly synchronized reply.
ㅤ
ㅤ”It can’t be helped, since she’s the older sister of my lovely fiancée.”
ㅤ”It can’t be helped, since my sister is being held hostage.”
ㅤ”I-I see.”
ㅤ
ㅤHey, there’s no hostage. Lily pretended not to notice my glare.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Well then, may I invite you to dinner tonight?”
ㅤ
ㅤThe Crown Prince took Lily’s hand and asked, kissing her fingertips respectfully. Hey, what’s going on?
ㅤ
ㅤ”I have a promise with my sister today.”
ㅤ”Then how about tomorrow?”
ㅤ”……Tomorrow, well……”
ㅤ”Thank you!”
ㅤ
ㅤ”I’ll contact you again,”the Crown Prince said as he ran off. A court official was waiting for him down the hallway, so he probably slipped away from his duties.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……I heard you were pursuing the Crown Prince.”
ㅤ”It’s the other way around. He’s pursuing me.”
ㅤ”Why?”
ㅤ”Before we left for the last village, I went to see him. I heard it was a terrible situation, so I thought there might be a chance……”
ㅤ
ㅤA chance. There have been stories of Saints losing their lives during the Year of Calamity in the past.
ㅤ
ㅤ”What did you ask for?”
ㅤ”It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
ㅤ
ㅤIt must be about Chelsea. I thought so intuitively. I had no way of knowing until later, when the Crown Prince told me directly, that she had said something passionate like,”Please don’t let my sister suffer if something happens to me. I’m protecting this country not because I’m the Saint, but because I’m her older sister.”
ㅤ
ㅤ”He said he fell in love with me at first sight when I said that.”
ㅤ”Aren’t you going to accept him? He’s the best catch after me.”
ㅤ”How disrespectful.”
ㅤ
ㅤI think she’s not entirely averse to the idea, since she kept looking back at him as he walked away.
ㅤ
ㅤ”I’m not going to accept him until Chelsea gets married.”
ㅤ”Why?”
ㅤ”Because I wouldn’t be able to sit at the family table.”
ㅤ
ㅤAh, I see. At a wedding of my class, which includes major nobles, Knight Order Captains, and the Magic Division Captain, it’s customary for royalty to attend. If she became the Crown Prince’s fiancée, she would have to sit at the royal table, not the family table.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Poor His Highness.”
ㅤ”……I intend to accept him once she does.”
ㅤ”Then, for His Highness’s sake, I’ll tell Chelsea as soon as possible.”
ㅤ
ㅤIt seems I can’t afford to be complacent and wait until my work settles down.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ━━-Three months later.
ㅤ
ㅤChelsea’s wedding dress, which she was eager to have made”as quickly as possible,”took a long time to tailor, as expected. With two people saying”this is cute”and”that suits you,”Chelsea laughed with a troubled expression. It’s a fond memory how Lily and I protested when she said,”You two are like siblings.”
ㅤ
ㅤThe ceremony was held on a beautiful sunny day. Many people saw the Saint hugging her sister and crying her eyes out, and the rumor that she was abusing her sister disappeared.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ(The End)
