Empress Henzela. A woman who deeply hates Edan.

A noble young lady born into an ancient ducal family, noble from birth.

Her family had wealth and power to the extent that kings of other countries wanted to arrange marriages.

Thanks to this, the imperial family was quite wary of her, and it was said that she helped turn the hearts of the nobles and lent much strength until the incompetent emperor ascended to the throne and established himself.

Although it wasn’t in the original, in such a situation, wouldn’t the empress have wanted to kill the emperor for taking a concubine?

Even so, it’s unacceptable that her resentment went to the innocent Edan. In the past, Edan was so obedient that he accepted everything willingly even when he was locked up in a remote place and faced death.

I wondered why the emperor had to secretly divert the potion and give it in secret, but it turns out he was being careful of that woman. The ban on entering the temple that Killian demanded must have also been done with her permission.

“Great Saint. You will certainly make the potion.”

I nodded.

“Yes. The potion will be minimally necessary for those with abilities.”

“Good. You will certainly help with making the pills too. If by any chance, even later, the timing goes wrong and the nobles find out, please take responsibility.”

“What timing?”

“I’m continuing to produce pills even after the Great Saint has disappeared. To avoid being caught, there mustn’t be a period when the Great Saint’s position is empty.”

He’s thought that far?

“Are you saying you’ll announce me as the successor right away without revealing to the outside that Ivy was a witch?”

“It wouldn’t be bad, would it?”

“My, how daring of you.”

The High Priest, clearly displeased with my sarcastic tone, said:

“Anyway, I’m saying to take responsibility even if things go wrong.”

How meticulous.

“If we’re caught, I can just say I helped you from the beginning.”

“How would the nobles believe that? I might become a fraud.”

What is he saying? He’s already committing fraud. You’re already a fraud!

I clicked my tongue like Edan and spread my hands indifferently.

“If they really can’t believe it, I can put on a performance then.”

I created a fluffy pink healing power and floated it in the air.

“How’s this? You can just say I was the Great Saint, just not officially announced, and show this, right?”

The healing power, rippling like slime, danced fluidly in the air.

It was nothing special to me as I had been making it like this all along, but for some reason, the High Priest’s expression was a cauldron of confusion.

“H-How did you do that?”

“I just did it.”

“That’s, that’s what I’m asking, how exactly did you do such a…!”

What is he saying? It’s just possible.

“It’s possible because I’m the real Great Saint, isn’t it?”

The High Priest clutched his white hat as if tearing at it.

“Until now, no one has been able to manifest power directly like that!”

“Oh, really?”

I sent the healing blob flying like a fountain and smiled brightly.

“I guess it’s because I’m so exceptional. That’s good. You have one more reason to try to please me, High Priest.”

The garden behind the temple was neatly cleaned up.

The torn-up lawn was completely restored, and the wall Ivy had crashed into was clean without any traces of blood.

“You’re also granting my request to make Maxim my attendant. Right?”

Ruben nodded at my words.

The High Priest, though I don’t like his opportunistic and slippery behavior, is quick to change his stance and handle matters.

When I said that the attendant the temple was assigning to help me, whatever ‘call’ is, had to be Maxim or no one else, the High Priest nodded.

It was a good thing. Although there’s the inconvenience of coming and going to the temple, I’ll be able to meet comfortably with Maxim and research the Archmage’s book together.

Instead, he asked me to take a tour around the temple today, as there were other priests watching.

He said he would keep it secret from the outside, but the priests who witnessed my power today have high expectations for the new Great Saint, so I should pretend to care for the temple to reassure them. That way, it would be easier for him to silence the priests as well.

Since I had to pretend to listen to at least one of the High Priest’s opinions, we leisurely walked along the garden path before returning to the Grand Duchy.

“Wow! Lord Ruben, look at that. There’s a rainbow. It’s so romantic.”

“Hmm, it’s fake. It seems to be created by magic. There’s no way a rainbow could appear in broad daylight without moisture. It’s too vivid as well. Though the starting point of the rainbow is hidden by trees, there must be an artifact there that’s creating it from…”

I, who had been smiling brightly at the rare sight, wiped the smile off my face and cut off Ruben’s words.

“Lord Ruben.”

“Yes.”

“…You’re extremely realistic.”

“Well, yes.”

Ruben has no sense of romance.

The temple was much larger than I thought and had many buildings.

Wanting to emphasize holiness and wealth, most of the buildings were white with gold patterns engraved here and there. The shapes were diverse. Some had arch-shaped patterns designed on the corners of round columns, while others had leaf or flower carvings engraved on square door frames.

I was looking around here and there, feeling as if I was walking through an ancient historical site.

As I was entering a passageway of a building with a round spire, I heard women’s voices mentioning a familiar name from behind a pillar.

“Isn’t that the person Crown Prince Killian brought?”

Instinctively, I stopped walking and quickly hid behind the pillar.

“Shh! Lord Ruben, this way!”

“…”

Ruben, who had paused to look at me, twitched his eyebrows. But when I frowned seriously and gestured, he slowly moved behind me.

“The person who came today is the one from last time. I recognized her immediately because her hair color was so pretty!”

“You mean the day Ivy, the Great Sai… no, that witch was caught red-handed?”

“Yes! The Northern Duke also came that day. You know, right?”

“I know because it was such a commotion. The garden behind was guarded so tightly that even the holy knights couldn’t get near, but how did you see it?”

“I didn’t see it, I heard it. The girl who was off duty that day was in the garden.”

“Why?”

“She was there to bring a pen and a pledge to the witch. That’s when the real Great Saint was revealed, and she had pink hair. They say her face was incredibly beautiful too.”

The maids in brown dresses with neat white aprons all let out an “Ah” of exclamation.

One of the maids who had been listening quietly poked the side of the maid who had been leading the conversation.

“You’re talking as if you saw it yourself when you didn’t even see it?”

“Okay, I exaggerated a bit. But seeing her today, it’s true that the real Great Saint is beautiful, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

I felt a bit embarrassed. I am pretty. Above all, I got a definite answer from Edan. Okay, I’m pretty.

“But I heard that the Crown Prince and the Northern Duke had a dispute with her in the middle… I wonder if something like that will happen again?”

“It might.”

“The Duke was the winner then, right?”

“Well. In the end, he couldn’t marry Princess Ciela, so I guess he wasn’t the winner?”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

I, who had been listening to the conversation with pleasure, froze on the spot.

The duke they’re talking about must be the duke I know, right?

I turned to Ruben, creaking.

“…”

Ruben frowned deeply and then strode forward in front of the maids.

The maids were startled by Ruben’s sudden appearance, and then looked puzzled as they observed him, wondering why a knight had appeared.

Then, after confirming the northern emblem engraved on Ruben’s black cloak, they panicked and all bowed their heads together.

“We, we’re sorry!”

Apologizing as if in a chorus, they ran away as if fleeing.

Edan and Killian’s relationship that wasn’t in the original work. All I know about the past of these two is the story Edan told me and the information Maxim leaked.

The information that in the past, there was a princess of a small country whom Killian loved and even proposed to, but was rejected.

But Edan was the winner? Marriage? Are they saying that princess was Princess Ciela?

“Ruben, what does that mean?”

After everyone had disappeared, I came out from behind the pillar into the passageway.

Ruben, who was standing with his back to me in front, became as still as a statue when he heard my words.

I ran up in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes.

“Please explain. What happened between Edan and Crown Prince Killian? Did Princess… no, Empress Ciela promise to marry Edan in the past?”

Ruben lowered his eyelids quietly, avoiding my gaze, and said with a troubled expression.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then tell me. What happened?”

“I’m sorry.”

“…Is it a secret?”

Ruben nodded slightly.

“It has been until now. If you ask the Duke directly, Lady Latieana, he might tell you himself. But I can’t say it with my own mouth.”

Faced with Ruben’s resolute attitude, I couldn’t press any further.

Just this morning, he was a great right-hand man helping me, but now he’s a right-hand man loyal only to Edan to the point of being annoying.

But it’s because he’s this kind of person that he’s by Edan’s side. He’s a subordinate that trustworthy.

“I understand.”

Realizing that pressing Ruben wouldn’t do any good, I nodded and turned around.

Then I’ll just ask Edan directly.

There was a guest at the Grand Duchy when we returned. An unfamiliar flagged carriage was placed in front of the bridge, and the knights’ attire was of an unfamiliar design I had never seen within the empire.

“It looks like someone has come. Do you know who it is?”

As the carriage Ruben and I were riding in passed by the strangers and started crossing the bridge, Ruben answered quietly, almost to himself, as I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

“They’re people from the Eastern Empire. We definitely sent a letter of refusal, but…”

“The Eastern Empire?”

Could it be Empress Ciela?

Entering the Grand Duchy, I practically jumped out of the carriage and looked around.

I saw a knight from the Eastern Empire standing near the annex building.

“Lady Latieana!”

Ruben hurriedly followed me.

I ran towards the small yard behind the annex, and just as I was turning the corner, I spotted Edan and a woman.

“…!”

At that moment, for some reason, the woman was reaching out her hand to grab Edan.

As her long, smooth fingers rapidly approached Edan’s arm, I grimaced and bit my lip.

Edan swiftly avoided her touch.

Oh? The woman momentarily lost her balance and staggered, while Edan furrowed his brow sharply and took another step back.

How quick…

At that moment, Ruben, who had followed, spoke nonchalantly as if reading my thoughts.

“Don’t underestimate the Duke’s agility.”