He shook his head. “You were here, my princess—the precious daughter of the fifth consort. To me, you are the lady I serve. At the same time, you are somewhat of a little sister or daughter in my eyes. How could I ever leave you behind? That said, my refusal to abide by the fourth consort might have contributed to part of her displeasure. I am remorseful about that.”
“That’s not true at all. If you weren’t with me, Helt, I would’ve been all alone. Thanks for always being there for me. Love you.” She threw her arms around Helt and hugged him tight.
A troubled sigh spilled out from above her head. “I can’t say that your actions are befitting of your status as a princess. However…” His large, encompassing hand reached out to pat Amelia’s head. “I adore you as well, my little princess. It is my dearest wish that you find happiness in your life.”
When Amelia raised her face, Helt pulled his lips into a broad smile. It was contagious, and Amelia felt her lips loosening up too.
Then she realized something. “Huh? Now that I think about it, it’s pretty impressive for an orphan to become one of the king’s consorts.”
She’d never questioned it before, but possibly because of her newly resurrected memories from back in Japan, something didn’t seem right about that. Based on what she knew, one’s birth status was highly regarded in an aristocracy.
“That is because the fifth consort was a Saint.”
“Does being a Saint mean that you’ll become a consort?” Amelia tilted her head. “What do Saints do in the first place?”
The fifth consort had barely ever left the Fifth Palace. The most she’d done was look after Amelia and manifest watermelons. As far as Amelia could remember, her mother hadn’t done anything too special.
“Right, the fifth consort never brought up such topics around you, now that I think back.” He paused. “Well, we can’t exactly stand around and talk here forever. Shall we head inside?”
Under Helt’s ushering, Amelia entered the room and took a seat on the sofa. The knight adeptly prepared some tea and offered it to her.
Thanks to the provisions that Luke had given, Amelia’s meals had improved significantly. This tea was also one such offering—it had a subtle floral aroma and was delightful.
“The Saint is a sacred being who can bring forth a special stone, which we call the orison stone. These stones are enshrined within the royal court and churches as relics that can ward off evil and protect this nation. It is a power that solely emerges within women, and I hear that in some cases, this power would awaken without warning and disappear just as abruptly, regardless of one’s age or marital status.”
The word “Saint” had arbitrarily given Amelia the impression that it referred to unmarried, youthful maidens, but it appeared that wasn’t the case.
“Orison stones are invaluable, and generally speaking, all of them fall under the ownership of the kingdom. However, the Saint is permitted to keep a single one at hand and wear it.”
Hearing the word “wear,” Amelia gave Helt a hard stare. “Don’t tell me…”
“Precisely. The necklace that Princess Prisca has snatched away is one of the fifth consort’s orison stones. It was a captivating malachite of profound verdant, decorated with a striped pattern.”
Amelia had never known that the necklace she’d been wearing as a memento was actually that precious. Belatedly, she thought that she should have taken it back from Prisca by force after all.
Held furrowed his brows minutely. “The stone we saw earlier was a pale pea green, almost certainly the result of losing mana. That necklace was an item the fifth consort entrusted to you for your protection, but that princess snatched it from you. I honestly find that infuriating.”
“Mana?” Amelia echoed. “That stone has mana?”
Nodding, Helt placed a plate of cookies on the table. These were also gifts from Luke—chocolate and oranges had been worked into the dough, and they were delicious.
“They are stones used for the protection of the country, so naturally, they are filled to the brim with mana,” he answered. “Not to mention that the fifth consort, the Saint herself, wore this particular necklace at all times.”
“You mentioned that it’s lost mana just now, right? Does mana fade from these stones over time?”
Say, for example, if the orison stones could be likened to dry cell batteries, it would make sense that the necklace’s stone would naturally discharge on its own.
“That, I am afraid, is a question I have no answer to. I believe if you don’t use it, it should stay as it is.” He paused. “The orison stone must be emitting mana on its own because her attitude toward you is poor.”
“Can that happen?”
“No, but this is a matter of my own feelings on the subject!”
Helt was evidently in a sour mood. Exasperated, Amelia quietly reached out. When he saw the strawberry sitting on her palm, Helt’s expression eased up.
“Thank you, my princess,” Helt said as he accepted the strawberry. “I am a blessed man to be granted your strawberries… In fact, if it were possible, I would love to preserve them permanently.” After gazing at the fruit intently, he plopped it into his mouth.
“Don’t say the same things as Luke.” Amelia huffed. “That aside, it could mean…that stone is losing its powers.”
Not much time had passed since Prisca had snatched away the necklace at the beginning of the time loop, and Amelia doubted that it had practically lost its powers overnight. The only plausible scenario she could come up with was that someone had used its mana, causing there to be barely any left.
The question was, how in the world could you make a stone lose an amount of mana that was enough to protect a country? What could it even be used for?
When she thought up to that point, a chill ran down Amelia’s spine. It can’t be. Is the power source of the time loops—
That was when Helt’s voice cut into her inspiring thoughts. “Now, as for your question about whether all Saints would become the king’s consort…”
Snapping back to reality at his voice, Amelia barely replied, “Ah, right.”
“If the Saint is already married, she would be granted status befitting her title. However, if she is single, she will generally become the king’s consort. Or, she would marry into a household of corresponding status. Well, you could say it is the nobles’ method of enclosing the Saint within their reach under the pretext of protecting her. Due to this tradition, it is said that those with the potential to become a Saint are often born within the royal family.”
“O-Oh.”
Amelia replied so that her reaction wouldn’t seem unnatural, but Helt’s speech was the last thing on her mind right now. It was preoccupied with a much more dire possibility.
The fifth consort’s memento might be the power source of the time loops.