The Banquet

When Arthur opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Kei’s smiling face.

“Good morning. Lord Arthur, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah… thank you.”

Seeing her smile the moment he woke up made Arthur’s heart flutter slightly. He truly was in the middle of adolescence.

“I’m glad to see you’re feeling refreshed. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Either unaware of his flustered feelings or simply ignoring them, Kei gently helped Arthur sit up, smoothed the wrinkles in his clothes caused by lying down, and used a comb to fix his hair.

Looking out the window, Arthur realized it was already dark. Kei had let him rest on her lap for quite a while, but she didn’t show even a hint of discomfort—instead, she smiled softly.

“Everything’s ready. Let’s head to the banquet.”

“Right… wait, they started without the guest of honor still asleep?!”

Even from here, he could hear the cheerful noise of the festivities. No way… they were treating Elaine as the main guest instead of him? That thought made him irrationally annoyed. Truly petty.

Seeing Arthur sulking, Kei gently soothed him.

“Well, that just shows how happy they are. I’m sure the villagers are grateful to you as well, Lord Arthur.”

“Are you sure…? Don’t they like the Saintess better?”

“That’s not true at all. Besides, I heard they’re serving Gokuuma Bird dishes that can only be eaten here. I’m excited too. Let’s go and—”

Just as Kei was speaking, a cute gurgle echoed. It wasn’t Arthur. Then…? When he looked at her face, it was flushed bright red.

Their eyes met, and she quickly covered her face with her hands and offered an excuse.

“T-That wasn’t what it sounded like, I swear…”

“You could’ve just gone to the banquet ahead of me. Don’t worry about me…”

“There’s no way I could do that while you were working so hard and resting, Lord Arthur. I’m your personal maid—your big sister maid, remember?”

“Kei…”

That’s right… she was the one who had stayed by his side even when he was imprisoned. Loyalty meant everything to Kei. For her, this was only natural.

Feeling her kindness once again, Arthur nearly teared up. To cover it up, he cracked a joke.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting. Let’s go before the food’s gone—my personal maid seems famished.”

“Ah! You’re not supposed to bring that up, Lord Arthur!!”

Watching her puff out her cheeks in mock annoyance, Arthur felt a warmth in his heart as they left the room. But… there was one thing that worried him.

It was a memory from his previous life. After healing people just like this, he was invited to a banquet too. But the moment he walked in, the entire atmosphere had grown heavy.

He hadn’t understood it at the time, but in hindsight, they had been walking on eggshells around him. He didn’t really mind if they did that out of their own awkwardness.

But if that awkwardness ended up making Kei uncomfortable, he couldn’t bear it… That was the thought that lingered in his mind.

“Oh! It’s Lord Arthur!! Thank you!!”

“He’s the other savior of our village!!”

“Hey, Tristan!! Stop dancing naked already!! You’re going to traumatize Lord Arthur with your filth!!”

As soon as Arthur stepped into the Village Chief’s house where the banquet was being held, cheers erupted around him.

“Huh…?”

While Arthur stood there dumbfounded, Kei smiled beside him as if to say, “See? I told you so.”