Chapter 85

I added a few more words in a hurry, as the Crown Prince’s eyes looked like they were about to roll back as if he were on the verge of doing something reckless. I made a point to openly appeal to the fact that I wasn’t on Cardinal Samuel’s side.

His pupils shook violently as he stared at me, suggesting he had felt something from my words.

“Right. Thinking about it, there’s no way you’d be on that side to begin with. Hereis and Sir Ilian aren’t fools; they wouldn’t have brought a spy of Cardinal Samuel to the decoration ceremony.”

It seemed the Crown Prince was aware of the antagonistic relationship between Ilian and Cardinal Samuel. Well, it made sense, considering the Empire likely had a firm grasp on the fundamental inner workings of the Holy State.

“So you came with Sir Ilian’s help. That means there’s a plan behind all this, right?”

The Crown Prince conveniently filled in the blanks for himself. He remarked that he had stayed too long and might arouse suspicion, then left after saying he’d see me later.

‘See me later? No thanks.’

I’d be happy if I never saw him again for the rest of my life. At least as Belita, even if it’s impossible as the Saintess.

‘I’m just glad he seemed too distracted to push further.’

It seemed I didn’t need to worry about what to do if he got even more aggressive.

‘By tomorrow, this ordeal will finally be over.’

Before heading out, I absentmindedly looked out the window at the swaying leaves under the gathering darkness, feeling a bit sentimental.

‘…Once the Edelina chapter is complete, I’ll have some breathing room until the next one.’

Enough time to finish off the wedding before the next chapter triggers.

In other words, this was effectively the final chapter in terms of the game’s main progression.

The approaching ending was starting to feel real.

With a lighter heart, I took a step forward to return to my room.

“Whoa~ So this is the Great Cathedral! It’s even more grand and luxurious than I imagined!”

Two young men with youthful features, wearing the uniforms of a prestigious academy, were walking through the bustling central hall of the Great Cathedral, accompanied by a man who appeared to be their supervising teacher.

“Besides, they don’t even open this place to the public unless there’s a special event!”

The brown-haired youth couldn’t hide his excitement as he looked around at the famous artworks decorating every corner of the central hall.

“Stop acting like a country bumpkin, will you?”

In contrast, a blonde youth watched him with a look of pathetic disdain, seemingly uninterested.

“Well, I’m not a high-ranking noble like you, so this is my first time seeing something like this…”

“I told you, I’m not exactly a high-ranking noble.”

“Aha~! Is the sole successor to the House of Duke Rubel saying that again?”

“It was never supposed to be mine anyway.”

At those calm words, the other youth slammed a hand against his back with quite a bit of force.

“Sir Hereis became the Saintess’s companion, didn’t he? Everything turned out well, so why are you so reluctant?”

“I’m not exactly reluctant,” the youth whispered, as he increased his pace with his long legs.

“Hey, hey, hey! Why are you going so fast?”

“…I heard they’re going to keep this place open for several months. If so, it won’t be such a rare sight anymore, will it?”

“I-Is that so?”

“Of course, of course~.”

The youth, preoccupied with catching up to the group, felt something was off.

“Hey, you’re changing the subject again!”

Just as the youth was about to press the matter, a dignified voice stopped them.

“Finn, Oscar. You two are immature brats who followed me here after begging and pleading because I’m a witness for the sacred heresy trial. Do not act rashly, and mind your manners.”

The man who finally spoke up because of the noise behind him was Brandon Krohl.
A professor at the Kataten Science Academy, he was currently at the Great Cathedral to attend Edelina Peyers’s heresy trial as a witness.

While it was rare for even a part of the Great Cathedral to be opened, it was said that since all heresy trials were currently open to the public, an exception had been made for the time being.

“Oh, we know~!”

Brandon’s direct student, Finn, was a commoner with wealthy merchant parents.
His speech and behavior were flippant, making Brandon wonder if he had bought his way into the academy when he first saw him in a lecture, but…

Brandon caught a glimpse of Finn following him from behind.

‘Surprisingly, his skills weren’t bad.’

So, he ended up taking him on as a student.

Furthermore, thanks to his flippancy—or to put it nicely, his exceptional social skills—he had somehow become friends with the son of the only Ducal house in the Nilcaron Empire.

Through that connection, Oscar Rubel had accompanied them on this field trip, saying that the research he heard about from Finn was interesting and that he wanted to help.

However, it was quite an unsettling matter.

Oscar Rubel was a younger cousin to Hereis Rubel.

Brandon didn’t know the exact nature of their relationship, but he was a bit suspicious of Oscar’s intent in requesting to accompany him to an event involving Hereis Rubel.

Not that there was anything he could do about it, but Brandon decided to subtly probe.

“Finn is one thing, but Oscar, I’m not sure why you insisted on coming.”

“Wait, I’m just ‘one thing’?”

Oscar spoke immediately, without even a polite pause, as if the reason wasn’t a big deal.

“If I come here, I might get to meet the Saintess. I was just curious about the rumored Saintess.”

Professor Brandon wiped away his suspicious gaze.

It was a typical answer for students of the Kataten Academy, who lived confined by their research and were driven by pure curiosity.

And Brandon himself was just as curious about the Saintess.

“Me too! It’s a shame we won’t be able to see the Saintess’s face! But there are rumors that her aura is extraordinary. I’m so curious to see what she feels like.”

“No matter what, she’s still a person. How different could she be?”

It would be a disaster if he responded and the boys got excited and started talking too much.

Brandon cut them off cleanly.

“That may be true, but…”

“Let’s just go.”

“Um, but what’s going to happen to Professor Edelina?”

Brandon’s face stiffened slightly.

The blonde youth, Oscar, let out a low sigh. His expression seemed to say, You’re really asking that?

“No! I mean, I know, but surely it won’t go as far as an execution… right?”

“Why do you think it won’t?”

“Th-that…”

“You’re too noisy; I can’t travel with you anymore. I have someone to meet for a moment, so wait quietly in your room. Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Just us?”

They arrived at the room while talking. It was a lodging the Order had prepared for the three of them.

One room for the two students. One room for the professor.

The door Brandon opened was for the students.

He gestured for them to get in quickly, asking what they were doing just standing there.

“Don’t come out. I’m asking you, please.”

“Yawn~ Yeah, sure. We’re tired too.”

Oscar, who had already gone inside and claimed a spot on a bed, replied with a yawn.

“If Oscar says so! It’s a shame, but we’ll be resting.”

Finn, sitting on the opposite bed, spoke submissively as if he had given up.

“Good.”

Letting out a faint sigh, Brandon sent a sharp look toward the two students one last time before closing the door.

Click… click…

A few seconds of silence followed.

Just as the sound of Brandon’s boots began to fade, Finn spoke up in a low voice.

“Hey, hey, he didn’t lock the door, did he? No matter how blunt he is, he wouldn’t do something as immoral as imprisoning his own students, right?”

Oscar, who had acted as if he were about to take a nap, was already gripping the doorknob.

Click!

The knob turned easily.

“This is a door that only locks from the inside. Even if he wanted to lock us in, he couldn’t.”

“Puhaha! You’re always faster than me at times like this.”

Finn rolled around laughing so hard that the blankets became a mess.

Oscar shot him a look of pathetic disdain before speaking.

“You’re going, right?”

“Of course~.”

Creeak…

The two male students, having tossed aside their cumbersome uniform jackets, first surveyed the situation through the tiny crack in the door.

“Looks like there’s no one there?”

“Seems so.”

Oscar kept his guard up and scanned the surroundings in case Brandon returned, while Finn looked for which path to take.

“Professor Brandon’s footsteps definitely headed left. Then shall we go the opposite way?”

“Anywhere is fine as long as it’s not this suffocating room.”

“Alright, then just trust me!”

He’d never been here before either; what on earth was he thinking, telling someone to trust him?

Oscar let out a small sigh and followed behind the leading Finn.

How long had they been wandering around?

Just as the crowd was starting to feel claustrophobic.

“Huh?”

When Oscar suddenly came to a halt, Finn asked what was wrong.

Or rather, he tried to ask.

“Hey, where are you going~!”

Without a word, Oscar headed somewhere with determined strides, and Finn hurriedly chased after him.

“Hey, wait a second!”

“……”

“Can’t you hear me? Belita!”

…!

Oscar chased after a familiar silhouette, and the person who turned around in surprise at hearing the name was exactly the face he expected.

Though for some reason, her hair color had changed a bit.

Oscar let a smirk curl onto his lips as he looked at Belita, who was staring back at him with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

“I knew it. Belita.”

“…”

I was just about to cross over into the corridor leading to my residence.

Someone was shouting loudly in the hallway, so I tried to go on my way while muttering light curses under my breath.

But then…

“Belita!”

Hearing the real name of my body’s original owner for the first time in a long while sent a sharp shiver down my spine.

‘Crazy. Why is he here?’

I turned around to see a familiar face calling out to me with a welcoming smile.

It was Oscar Rubel, the protagonist’s younger cousin.

It was the first time I’d seen him since the first chapter.

Of course, that wasn’t the important part right now.

There was a fundamental problem.

‘How did he recognize me?’

I was wearing a disguise of sorts, after all…

Was it just because he knew Belita’s original face?

But even so, considering the impression was quite different from the original and he’d spotted me from a fair distance, it was clear he had an incredible eye for detail.

‘What do I do now?’

If I wanted to deny it, I should have just ignored him and kept going, but the moment I turned around, it was already over.

‘Even so, is it okay to act like I know him?’

Of course not… or maybe it is?

I happen to be wearing a maid uniform right now.

I could just say that after leaving the Ducal House, I got a job at the Order of Ralphican.

“Ah, did you come here because of that incident? Because you survived thanks to the miracle?”

I had made up my mind and was just about to open my mouth when Oscar beat me to it.

…Come to think of it, that’s a pretty plausible set of circumstances.

Technically, wasn’t Belita’s life saved thanks to Ralphican certifying that she wasn’t a murderer?

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think she was so deeply moved that she decided to devote her life to working for Ralphican.

“That incident? Miracle?”

…?

A young man with a naive-looking face scratched his fluffy hair as he stood beside Oscar.

The name ‘Finn’ was hovering over his head.

Oscar’s shoulders jumped, seemingly unaware that the guy had followed him.

“Agh! You scared me. Why did you follow me?”

“What do you mean why? Didn’t we agree to stick together?”

In the game, Oscar was a friendly extra character who appeared occasionally after the prologue and even came to the wedding at the end.

‘Was he actually here too?’

Just not shown in the game scenes? As an extra?

I wasn’t sure, but this was yet another ridiculous variable.

“So, you two know each other?”

While I was debating whether Oscar’s presence here today was a variable caused by me or if it was part of the original story, Finn spoke with a playful curl of his lips.

He even made weird sound effects like “Hehehe,” with a flushed face.

He was pointing back and forth between me and Oscar as he spoke.