OSMLH 8

Chapter 8

“Did you perhaps write something false?”

The profile prepared for the wedding officiant was supposed to contain only the truth. If any lies were discovered, a fine had to be paid.

If it was revealed that the profile had been falsified, Duke Brücke, who had written it, would be summoned to the temple and forced to pay the fine.

It was tempting to report him, but the consequences could backfire on Rurutie. He might complain that they were ordering him around over an amount of money that wasn’t even enough to buy a single trash bin for the Brücke estate.

If the fine had been large enough to seriously damage the household, she would have reported him immediately. It was a shame that it wasn’t.

“It’s personal information, so please forget about it. How would you feel if I knew private information about you, Commander Incruder?”

The profile for the wedding ceremony must have gone on and on, listing everything from Rurutie’s age to her hobbies and special skills.

“How would I feel?”

“You’d be uncomfortable, wouldn’t you?”

“Not at all.”

His low voice was smooth and pleasant to listen to.

Without realizing it, Rurutie fixed her gaze on his lips. His mouth stiffened into a straight line.

Staring so intently was extremely impolite.

Perhaps she kept losing herself because of his exceptionally handsome face.

“Ahem. So, you also officiate weddings, Commander? Isn’t that normally the priests’ job?”

Since it was the wedding of a duke’s daughter, a High Priest had originally been assigned to officiate. If there had been an urgent circumstance, he would have been replaced by a priest directly under the High Priest.

“I was replaced by order of His Holiness the Pope while I was serving as the High Priest’s escort.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know the reason myself.”

The Commander of the Holy Knights held a rank equal to that of a High Priest. Apparently, they had changed the officiant to someone of equal rank so the nobles wouldn’t become angry over the fact that the arrangement differed from what had been agreed upon.

Rurutie nodded.

“I’ve arranged for one of your maids to stay upstairs.”

“Did you make a request directly to my family?”

“No. The maid herself came and knocked on the Holy Knights’ door.”

Everyone at the estate would have known that Count Haind was the husband her father had chosen for her.

There was only one maid who would follow Rurutie after she rejected her father’s decision, believing that she was taking Rurutie’s side.

It must be Sui!

Even without hearing her name, Rurutie knew exactly who he meant. She smiled brightly, genuinely pleased.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

If it had been another Holy Knight, they probably would have showered her smile with admiration, calling it a masterpiece.

But Kanechel remained composed.

After quietly sipping his tea for a moment, he finally brought up the main subject.

“I am well aware that Lady Brücke has no intention of marrying me.”

“You seem to know my thoughts so well. Perhaps you received a prophecy?”

The Goddess had always bestowed prophecies only upon women of the same sex as herself. That was why the Popes had always been women, and why a man like him could never receive a prophecy.

Despite Rurutie’s sarcastic joke, he merely gave a low chuckle.

She had thought he could either glare at someone with eyes as sharp as shards of ice or maintain a stiff expression like a statue.

Apparently, he could laugh, too.

“Even without a prophecy, it is easy enough to predict. There is no reason for the daughter of House Brücke to want a poor clergyman who has lost his power.”

If all she considered was his occupation as a clergyman, he might indeed have no value.

This man really doesn’t seem to know how valuable his appearance is.

Even if he were a beggar on the street, people would probably come running with bags of money, fighting over the chance to marry him.

Unfortunately, he had never appeared at any official functions, so his identity had remained completely hidden until now.

The investiture ceremonies for knights were normally open to the public. They were perfect opportunities for the knights to make a favorable impression.

However, for several years, every investiture ceremony of the Holy Knights had been conducted in secret.

Even though unpleasant rumors had spread that they were hiding some shameful activity that they didn’t want outsiders to see, the ceremonies had remained strictly private.

The truth was that they were trying to hide how poor the Holy Knights were.

Thanks to that, there had been no nobles pursuing Kanechel.

If he frequently visited the Imperial Palace for missions, there would surely be many people eager to have him.

For now, there was no competition.

But she had no reason to cling to him anyway.

Her goal of breaking off her engagement with Count Haind had already been accomplished.

“If you weren’t a clergyman, then what? Do you really think I’d like some old geezer twice my age?”

“No. You may stay here until your wounded heart has healed, but I would prefer you to return home before you suffer unnecessarily. This is not a suitable place for someone of your status.”

In other words, she could remain here until Count Haind calmed down after throwing a fit over the humiliation he had suffered.

Instead of drinking her tea, Rurutie ran a finger around the rim of the round teacup.

A faint tea fragrance drifted through the air.

Compared with the tea she had drunk at the mansion, its crude aroma was nothing special, yet somehow it made her feel better.

It was a scent she could never have experienced at the mansion.

It was proof that she was somewhere other than under her father’s roof.

“If I stay for about a month, Father will probably change his mind. But…”

If it had been her father, he would have interrupted her before she could even finish.

He considered Rurutie trash. He would have cut her off in the middle of the conversation, declaring that her unnecessary words weren’t worth listening to.

But Kanechel calmly waited for her to finish.

For some reason, that simple act of consideration felt strangely precious.

“He’ll just find another husband for me. I’ll be sold off again to some man I’ve never seen before, whose name and face I don’t even know.”

Only after saying it did Rurutie realize that she had gone too far.

She had let herself complain because she felt relieved by the fact that her father wasn’t there.

But even if she told him her troubles, what could he possibly do to solve them?

For some reason, the Holy Knights seemed to like her, but even if they offered their support, it would be nowhere near enough to stand against her father.

“Ahem. I’m not saying you should marry me or anything, Commander. I suppose I was talking about things that didn’t need to be said.”

“It wasn’t unnecessary.”

Rurutie lifted her gaze from the teacup and looked at him across the table.

His eyes were trembling slightly.

Is he sympathizing with me?

It wasn’t unpleasant to see someone thinking about her, even just a little.

In her previous life, when she read the novel, she had been deeply envious of the heroine.

It was because Kanechel had chosen to devote everything he had to that woman.

The heroine was a maid serving the Empress, known as the Empire’s most beautiful woman, a descendant of dragons, the greatest water mage, and the White Lily.

She had fallen in love with Kanechel when he came to the Imperial Palace on a mission.

“Why don’t you understand how I feel?”

“My heart already belongs to someone else.”

“It’s her, isn’t it? But she’s already…”

“Please stop.”

“Commander… Please, just look at me once.”

“What is your intention in behaving this way toward a priest? Please do not insult me.”

Their back-and-forth had changed around this time.

Kanechel, who had always rejected her, finally accepted her confession.

But then a problem arose.

Glen, the male protagonist and First Prince, who had been defending the northern region, returned to the Imperial Palace and proposed to Mervin.

Their love triangle became increasingly complicated as it became entangled with the struggle for the throne.

Unfortunately, Mervin served the Empress, and the Empress wanted to make her own son, the Second Prince, Emperor.

Kanechel did everything, no matter how crazy, to help Mervin.

If I had someone who would unconditionally stand on my side…

If Rurutie had someone like that, she would have challenged anything without fearing failure.

Even if it meant standing against her immensely powerful father, she would willingly take on the challenge.

She wondered what it felt like to have someone who could serve as such a dependable support.

But his heart did not belong to Rurutie.

Ah… Do I know a little about that feeling?

Rurutie remembered a boy she hadn’t thought about in a long time.

If he were still alive, he would surely have supported her crazy desire to bring her father down—and he would have joined her without hesitation.

The boy she had buried in her heart because not even his corpse could be found.

He had been an experimental slave her father had purchased.

Rat.

About a year after Gerst was banished.

Rurutie began going out frequently.

She always went out with Gailde.

Whenever sales at the Brücke Trading Company declined, Gailde would take Rurutie to the residential districts of the free people.

“Rurutie. Smile.”

“Yes.”

Gailde deliberately rolled down the carriage window and put on a false smile.

The free people passing by recognized the black lion emblem of House Brücke engraved on the carriage.

“Look! It’s Duke Brücke!”

“Unlike the other nobles, he’s come to check on the free people. How kind of him!”

After receiving the cheers of the free people, Gailde closed the carriage door.

“Tsk. Look at those vermin rushing over because they’re so pleased. Disgusting every time I see them.”

Gailde cursed the very people who had welcomed him.

Sales would probably increase for a while, but he was still in a foul mood.

“I shouldn’t have allowed this ridiculous business in the first place. I really should be selling Black Crystal…”

Gailde muttered to himself as he became absorbed in planning his business.

Sitting across from him, Rurutie remembered what Gerst had told her.

Her father had apparently planned to start a business using Black Crystal, a black mineral considered a symbol of good fortune.

The moment Rurutie heard the business proposal, she knew.

It definitely won’t work.

But now that she was alone, Rurutie was too afraid of her father to say it aloud.

Even without her saying anything, the Brücke Trading Company’s sales were already declining, so he probably wouldn’t start another business anyway.

While Gailde was lost in thought, the coachman approached.

“Your Grace, shall we return to the mansion now?”

“No. We’re going to the slave market. Hurry.”

Gailde took Rurutie to the slave market.

Every slave locked inside the iron cages wore the same expression as Rurutie.

She couldn’t bring herself to look away from them, feeling a strange kinship with the people trapped there.

Gailde roughly seized Rurutie’s arm and dragged her inside while she stood there dazed.