My relief lasted only a brief moment. I would like to omit what the king talked about next! He started talking about how I first went to Klausner’s Domain and then all the things I’d done in the other regions after that—but why in the world was he bringing up things that had nothing to do with monster-slaying?! In fact, the majority of it had to do with, of all things, food.
Would that I could just disappear right now…!
After regaling everyone with all the embarrassing things I’d done, the king finally brought his speech to a close. He ended it by saying that the final black swamp had been purged just recently and that the palace had confirmed that the numbers of monsters had decreased to their old levels. And…
“I hereby declare that the monster plague has come to an end.”
With that, the entire venue broke out in applause. Everyone I could see was overjoyed, their expressions sparkling. It had taken so much to get to this point, but seeing their happy faces and knowing that I was the reason for their smiles made it all worthwhile.
I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside as I gazed out at them. When the applause came to an end, the king said, “And today, I bring you yet another happy announcement.”
Which meant that it was my turn.
Everyone’s excited murmurs were instantly silenced, and a portion of the crowd turned to stare at me. The gravity of their gazes made the air itself grow heavy.
“The Saint is now betrothed to Knight Commander Albert Hawke of the Knights of the Third Order.”
The crowd erupted in murmurs again—much louder ones than when I had initially entered the room. However, Albert, who was standing at an angle from me, didn’t seem remotely fazed.
Once the murmurs had just about died down, he came to stand next to me and bowed to the crowd. Normally, someone of his station would never stand on the same platform as the king, and people had likely started talking amongst themselves the minute they noticed him enter on my heels.
But today was a special day, because the fact of the matter was, Albert was m-my—my fiancé.
There was one other reason they’d all started whispering: my dress.
My outfit was appropriate for an evening ball, but the people in the know had evidently noticed something else.
I was wearing a ballgown that, as usual, the palace had prepared for me. In the Kingdom of Salutania, it was the typical custom for the man’s family to supply his bride-to-be with the dresses and accessories that she wore at social events. However, there hadn’t been enough time for the Hawkes to order me new dresses, so I’d decided beforehand to stick with the one the palace already had for me. Both Albert and Mother had seemed terribly regretful that they hadn’t been able to prepare my attire, but there was nothing to do about it.
So, as a compromise, I was wearing jewelry that had been passed down in the Hawke family for generations.
I was incredibly worried about possibly losing them, but Mother had refused to let me go without. Specifically, she had lent me a necklace with a matching bracelet and earrings. Each featured a clear blue-gray stone as its centerpiece, with numerous colorless, translucent gems arranged around that main stone. Maybe they were diamonds? Either way, I’d only seen this kind of jewelry in museums.
Meanwhile, my gown was made of several layers of the same thin chiffon as the dress I had worn when meeting my in-laws. As was appropriate for an evening party, this one was far lacier, with more embroidery, and it was all around way fancier. Importantly, the undertones were blue-gray.
That’s right—both my dress and accessories were the same color as Albert’s eyes, a defining trait of House Hawke. And, as it so happened, adorning yourself in the colors of your betrothed’s hair and eyes was common practice in the Kingdom of Salutania.
That all being said, it was pretty easy to guess why people started talking the second they saw me, right? I was decked out from head to toe in my fiancé’s colors—so much so that, when Albert came to fetch me as my escort and first laid eyes upon me, he had gone wide-eyed and been momentarily too stunned to move.
Then that shock had melted into the most heart-pounding of smiles.
A part of me felt uncomfortable in such a lovely dress and jewelry, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t happy to wear them. I was also over the moon when Albert complimented my appearance. But whether that made me feel shy or not was a completely different matter… Urk!
“Furthermore…”
I got so lost in remembering everything that happened just before I arrived that I belatedly realized the king was still speaking.
Huh? I’m pretty sure the end of the monster crisis and my engagement was the whole story, right? I didn’t hear about any other announcements, at least. Is there some kind of urgent news he has to relay? I wondered as I turned back to the king.
The next thing he said left me completely stunned.
“Second Prince Rayne is now betrothed to Elizabeth of House Ashley.”
The second the king finished speaking, we heard the biggest commotion thus far today.
I wasn’t the only one caught off guard; a ton of others were stunned as well.
Wait, Prince Rayne? Engaged to Elizabeth of House Ashley? Elizabeth Ashley? Huh? Wait, does he mean Liz?! Upon realizing that the prince’s betrothed was my close friend, I searched for her in the crowd.
I spotted the two of them right away. It didn’t take much looking. They had suddenly appeared at the bottom of the platform we stood on. They turned toward the crowd and bowed, at which the audience broke out into applause. It was just a few people at first, but eventually the whole crowd joined in.
After receiving the people’s blessing, Liz and the prince exchanged smiles with one another.
Meanwhile, all I could do was stare, stupefied by the new couple.