Chapter 56

Hein Helvilleshine, Second Rank of the Celestial Knights.

That is who I am now.

—I am not Lastiara Huzya’s knight.

I am a knight who could never become anyone’s knight. I am merely a pathetic man born into a prestigious family of Huzya knights, living every day in fear of my own family name.

I first met the young lady when I was eighteen, shortly after I had been appointed as one of the Celestial Knights.

I was guided into the dim basement of the Great Cathedral, passing through several doors protected by multiple seals, until I finally encountered her in a room lit by a single candle.

At that moment, the young lady was fast asleep with her eyes closed.

Resting atop a soft bed and covered by pure white sheets, she possessed a beauty that seemed out of this world.

I had received a brief explanation beforehand, so I understood that this was the “Vessel for Saint Tiara.”

I caught my breath as I gazed upon the young lady—upon that girl.

“Is this… the ‘Tiara’ everyone speaks of…?”

“Yes. She is the long-cherished wish of our nation, Huzya, and the pinnacle of our magical technology. She serves as the physical vessel—the body—for the ‘Rebirth’ magic left behind by Saint Tiara.”

The man who had guided me, Fedelt, answered concisely.

He was a middle-aged man serving as the proxy for the Prime Minister of Huzya. Currently, the Celestial Knights report directly to Fedelt, making him my superior.

As his murky eyes suggested, he was a man who wouldn’t hesitate to use any means necessary, but his loyalty to the country was second to none. He was… a decent enough boss, all things considered.

“Just how long has this been going on? From the look of her, she appears to be in her mid-teens…?”

“No, she is zero years old. We only recently managed to stabilize the vessel’s body. If I recall, it has been about three months since her birth…”

“Three months…? Then, why does she look like…”

I was astonished.

There was no way the girl sleeping before my eyes was an infant.

She was nearly as tall as I was. No matter how you looked at her, she was an adult.

“It is possible with our current magical technology. We needed to have this ready in time for the Holy Birth Festival three years from now, so her physical age was naturally accelerated. We must offer a completed sixteen-year-old product on the designated day, in the year foretold by the Founder…”

“I-I see…”

Fedelt continued his explanation as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“You have been chosen as her tutor for that purpose. Knight Hein Helvilleshine.”

“A tutor…”

“For the time being, she will be treated as a descendant of Saint Tiara. We will grant her the status of a living god and prepare her for the coming day. …I want you to take charge of some of those preparations. She must be equipped with the appropriate strength and education. If her body is weak or dull when the Saint descends, the plan will be delayed. We need the Saint to get to work immediately.”

I finally started to see the full picture.

In short, my mission was to raise this girl into a vessel that would not be an insult to Saint Tiara.

“So I just need to train her? I think I can manage that much.”

“No, it isn’t just about training. This is the important part.”

Fedelt continued, his eyes remaining murky.

“Soon, a sense of self will sprout within her. When that happens, the problem is whether or not this girl will gracefully accept the ritual. I want you to guide her in various ways toward that end.”

A shadow fell over the picture I had just formed.

I responded with a question.

“U-Um, a sense of self will sprout? In this girl? A heart belonging to a different girl, separate from Saint Tiara…?”

“That is only natural. ‘This’ is not anyone yet, but she is also a single infant born a few months ago. There is a possibility that her ego will refuse to be overwritten by the ego of Saint Tiara.”

“O-Overwritten? Not co-existing, but overwritten? That means—”

Doesn’t that mean this girl will die?

Just as that realization hit me and I tried to spark a faint sense of righteous indignation, I was cut off by a cold string of words.

“This is the decision of the state, the consensus of the Levan Church, and the final will of the Founder. Knight Hein.”

“…”

My tiny spark of indignation was effortlessly crushed by the frozen block that was the “decision of the state.”

“This being will become the Saint whom everyone rears. That is something to be celebrated, never something to be pitied. The sentiment you just felt could be interpreted as treason against the state.”

“N-No, certainly not.”

Treason, my foot.

He sure talks big just because he has a higher rank.

I bowed my head while metaphorically spitting on the floor in my mind.

“Listen, the girl will be happy to become Tiara. We will be happy to welcome her. The people will be happy to celebrate it. —That is exactly how it will go. If it happens that way, no one will be unhappy, right? Making everyone happy. That is your job. That is why you were chosen; you are close to her in age and skilled at spinning tales. Just use your talent for fiction to color the beauty of the Levan Church, the greatness of Saint Tiara, and the nobility of mission and devotion. That is all.”

Fedelt cut the explanation short, signaling the end of the conversation.

However, the explanation was nowhere near sufficient.

He had no intention of telling me about her origin, the plan, or that “will of the Founder.”

I suppose a low-ranking rookie knight doesn’t need to know anything.

Naturally, I had to obey.

I had to bite my lip and endure. That was the destiny of a knight of Helvilleshine.

“Very well, I’m leaving it to you. Knight of Helvilleshine.”

With those words, Fedelt placed a chain of language upon me.

Turning his back on me—as I could do nothing but solemnly accept the chain—Fedelt left the room.

Left behind in the dim room, I approached the bed where the girl slept while letting out a sigh.

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—That was my first encounter with the young lady.

And so, I moved to wake the girl up.

“H-hey there. I’m Hein. Nice to meet you.”

I spoke as gently and casually as I could.

For the time being, my goal was to gain her trust as her tutor.

The girl sat up, clutching her aching head.

“Ah, uuh… H-Hein? Wh-who… who am I…? My head…”

The girl understood my words and obediently tried to recall her name.

However, she soon realized she didn’t know who she was.

“Me, me, me, I…? I… don’t know my name? Ugh, information… so much information is surging and then vanishing…!”

From those words, I could guess the girl’s condition.

They had likely embedded everyday knowledge and language into her through a blood-based ritual.

If left alone, she would eventually understand the basic things required of a sixteen-year-old. If not for that, there was no way I could have such a smooth conversation with someone who was technically only three months old.

“No, don’t push yourself. A name has already been prepared for you.”

When I said that, the girl’s eyes snapped open and she stared at me. She looked at me with the pure gaze of an infant seeing light for the first time.

To this girl who had just discovered the light, I bestowed a name.

It was the name Fedelt had prepared.

“Lastiara… Your name is Lastiara Huzya.”

I granted her a name that could only be described as a curse.

“Lastiara… I am Lastiara…”

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she repeated the name happily.

Resigned to the fact that this was just my job, I moved the conversation forward.

“…Nice to meet you, Lastiara. Ah, wait, should I call you Lady Lastiara? You’re a living god, after all… Does that mean I have to use formal speech too? Anyway, My Lady. I’m Hein, and I’ll be your tutor starting today. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask.”

I gave the girl only the information she needed.

“I understand, Mr. Hein.”

The girl smiled and agreed.

Then, she fell into thought for a moment before looking at my face and asking a question with a puzzled expression.

“Mr. Hein, there’s something I want to ask you right away.”

“What is it?”

I intended to answer her to the best of my ability.

And so, I asked her back kindly.

“Why do you look so sad?”

But I realized instantly that being “kind” or doing “the best I could” was an impossibility.

“S-Sad?”

“Yes.”

I instinctively pressed my hand to my face.

My fingers traced my mouth, nose, cheeks, and eyes, and I realized my expression was distorted.

I understood it, but I couldn’t admit it.

It was something unnecessary for my job.

“That can’t be right… I’m smiling right now. I’m surely giving you a kind smile. You must be mistaken…”

“…Is that so?”

The girl repeated, sounding genuinely perplexed.

She was likely confused by the discrepancy between the common sense provided by her blood and the information before her eyes.

Still, I stood my ground.

“Yes, it’s just a misunderstanding.”

I didn’t pity the girl.

I felt no sympathy, no empathy. …I couldn’t afford to.

That’s what I thought at the time.

That was certainly what I decided…

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When I made that decision, I likely decided my own path at the same time.

—I would never be the girl’s knight as long as I lived.

The moment I accepted that was this very moment.

If I could redo my life just once, I would want to go back to this time.

I want to go back and do it over.

No matter how grand a title like “Celestial Knight” I might hold, no matter if ten thousand people praise me as a great knight—I want to erase the moment I realized I was nothing more than a coward who wouldn’t even try to save a single girl.

—Not long after this, I fell in love with this innocent girl.

But it was already too late.

By the time I fell in love and wanted to become her knight, I no longer had the right.

Because I had thrown it away myself.

The role of the person who would save her.

The role of her protagonist.

Instead, I had obtained a seat as a filthy villain who did nothing but deceive the heroine with lies.

That foolish villain continued his irreversible actions.

He had to, because otherwise, he couldn’t stay by her side.

If I tried to save her, it would be revealed that I was a filthy villain. If it were revealed, she would undoubtedly be disillusioned by the man who kept lying with a fake smile plastered on his face. I was terrified of that.

But that wasn’t all.

I was afraid of making the country my enemy.

I was afraid of losing my current position.

I was afraid of betraying my family’s expectations.

Huzya, Helvilleshine, the Celestial Knights—my father, mother, siblings, and friends—everything made my body go dull.

It’s simple.

I couldn’t even die for love.

I was just a pathetic man.

The only thing a man like me could do was one thing.

To turn her into the perfect “Lastiara” through happiness, without letting her suffer.

I would make her idealize Saint Tiara, make her want to be a hero, and make her believe that saving the country was happiness. That was the perfect “Lastiara.” That was the only thing left for me—the only thing I could do for her.

That would make the girl happy…

That was the only path where the girl could end in happiness…

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I kept piling up excuses like that.

Knowing full well that it wasn’t okay…

I continued…

That is who I am.

Hein Helvilleshine, the man who cannot be the girl’s knight.

And so, I continued to turn my eyes away from what I should have done, spending one year, then two, performing brainwashing under the guise of “education.” However, one day, with only a short time left until the promised Holy Birth Festival—the girl spoke.

As if a ship sailing through a dark night had spotted something on the horizon, the girl made a wish.

“…Mr. Hein. …Lastly, I want to see the outside world.”

It was only then that I realized there was a fraying edge to the girl I thought was perfect.

For the first time, I realized that my own subconscious had created that very flaw.

Shortly after this, the girl, Lastiara, would meet a black-haired, black-eyed boy named Christ—

That was the beginning of the story of a girl and a boy.

The moment the gears of fate began to turn.

I can still clearly remember that sound even now.