🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 24
“…What about Trish?”
“I told her to leave.”
“But the knock at the door… you must have heard it, right?”
“I opened it before they could knock.”
It was absurd. First, Anastasia had something more important to say to the pale-faced Trish, who was bowing deeply in panic.
“Trish?”
“I- it’s all my fault… it’s all my fault…”
“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
The sun was already hanging high in the sky. Anastasia shrugged her small shoulders and closed her eyes.
“Well, it can’t be helped. It’s too late to suddenly go have breakfast now, right?”
“Should I help you get ready starting now…?”
“No need. Louis can’t really do anything to me anyway.”
Artorius nodded.
“She is the last mage of this world.”
As if proving it, Anastasia lifted the teapot from the tray Trish had brought and poured tea into a cup using magic.
“She’s impossible to kill, impossible to detain, and if she leaves for another country, she becomes the most troublesome existence imaginable. Probably only the cardinal and I are on that level in this country.”
“But are you sure it’s alright to skip it like this…?”
“What’s the problem?”
“W-well… you’re staying in the prince’s annex right next door…”
“Right.”
It seemed difficult for Trish to even say it.
Her small lips opened and closed several times before she finally spoke.
“If… if that happens, there will definitely be bad rumors spreading inside the palace.”
“Bad rumors…”
The palace had its own rules. But Anastasia had no obligation to follow them.
Still, she could pretend to. After all, she intended to take this place eventually.
“Trish, could you help me get dressed?”
Trish’s face immediately brightened.
“R-really? I’ll do my best!”
“Artorius, could you ask Enoch to prepare the carriage?”
“At such a short distance?”
“You can’t exactly carry me there.”
The words “Isn’t walking enough?” almost slipped out of Artorius’s mouth, but he swallowed them after reading something in Anastasia’s eyes.
“…Very well.”
“Good.”
Trish, unaware of the strange atmosphere, opened Anastasia’s wardrobe and marveled at Esteban Hothengel’s clothes.
“So…”
“I’ve already explained everything.”
Enoch pressed his aching forehead.
If what this large man said was true, then Anastasia had casually rejected the prince’s breakfast invitation.
After accepting it in the first place.
“Still… you are preparing to go now, correct?”
“As I said. Yes.”
Enoch sighed deeply and rubbed his temples.
“The horses are fine. The carriage was inspected this morning. We can depart anytime.”
“Excellent.”
“However… the prince’s residence is very close. Why insist on a carriage?”
“I asked as well. I was scolded with only a look.”
“…With a look?”
Artorius nodded.
“…I do not know how else to describe it.”
“I doubt it was scolding. She likely had a reason.”
“That may be so.”
Enoch began attaching the horses to the carriage one by one.
“Truthfully… I do not understand her anymore.”
“Is that so?”
“The lady I knew was kind and gentle. But now she has become sharp and decisive.”
Even though Enoch knew more about Anastasia than Artorius did, he did not understand the reason.
That was a secret only Artorius and Anastasia shared.
“Do you know anything?”
At the question, Artorius paused for a moment.
“I do. But I cannot speak of it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is not mine alone. It is about Anastasia.”
“You cannot spread a lady’s secrets, is that it?”
Artorius nodded. Enoch accepted it without complaint. That was proper conduct for a knight.
Though he also knew this large man acted more like Anastasia’s protector than her knight. It was presumptuous.
Still, if the lady relied on him naturally, who was he to interfere?
A butler serves quietly.
“Preparations are nearly complete. But her dressing will still take at least an hour.”
“Women’s preparation has always been like that. Nothing has changed.”
“You sound quite experienced.”
Enoch recalled what he knew of Saden.
But nowhere did it say they lived longer than humans. They were still a branch of humanity.
So then…
“I have lived a little longer than you might expect.”
“And I should not ask further?”
Artorius nodded again.
“Correct.”
“Then I have no choice.”
The old butler lightly touched the hidden blade in his cane.
“…I will trust that you will not harm the lady.”
“Wise.”
“My mother once told me that those who come from beyond the world treasure their words.”
A misunderstanding.
It was true that Artorius had obtained abyssal power from beyond the world. But he himself was still human of this land.
Though even that was no longer accurate.
Still, a bitter taste lingered in his mouth.
“That is not incorrect.”
“Some make contracts with demons. Others follow doctrine and serve gods.”
Because they value promises.
Artorius closed his eyes.
“Everything did begin with a promise.”
“Indeed.”
Enoch hung his cane on the carriage hook.
“So I will trust yours as well.”
The old man’s eyes sharpened.
“That too is a promise, do you understand?”
Artorius nodded.
“I trust you will keep yours as well.”
“And I trust you understand that as well.”
“Quick to learn.”
It was a surprisingly pleasant conversation. Not in content, but both men thought so anyway.
After what felt like a long time, Anastasia finished dressing.
The first to react to the opening door was Artorius.
He rushed forward and took her hand. Trish and Enoch tilted their heads, unable to hear his footsteps.
He was usually not like this.
“Did you wait long, Artorius?”
“…Not particularly.”
Seeing his expression completely different from what she alone could see, Anastasia shrugged and said nothing.
“I wonder what Louis is thinking right now.”
Anastasia looked amused, but Trish was not. Enoch shook his head at his granddaughter’s pale face.
“Don’t be so afraid, Trish.”
“But I might be blamed in your place…”
Anastasia shook her head.
“No, that won’t happen.”
“Really…?”
“I know the situation. I’ll protect you, so don’t worry.”
Only then did Trish breathe a sigh of relief.
If rumors spread that she had slept through a breakfast invitation from the heir to the throne on her first day as a lady-in-waiting…
There would be no future employment for her at all.
“The carriage is ready this way, my lady.”
“Good. You’ll come with me, right, Artorius?”
“Wherever I am invited.”
The carriage prepared for the court mage was sturdy enough, but she did not intend to ride on top of it this time.
Still, she could not let Enoch lift her into it.
The carriage door closed, and Enoch and Trish sat at the driver’s seat.
It was time to face the prince.
Lady Summers was sweating.
She was the most likely fiancée candidate for Prince Louis I, though nothing had been decided yet.
And now, a new rival had appeared.
Even though Anastasia herself did not think so, to Lady Summers she was a clear threat.
Especially since she had never once been excluded from the prince’s weekly breakfast invitations.
Until this week.
“…What is even going on?”
She did not know exactly who this court mage or Second Princess of Etrange was, but it was clear Louis had turned his attention from her to this new woman.
Even after being stood up for breakfast, he remained seated there.
According to her maid’s report, he was even ordering fresh dishes to replace the cold ones.
“Is he really planning to wait until she arrives…?”
