TEARS rolled down Raven’s cheeks when he took the first bite of his freshly grilled steak.
“I’ve never eaten meat this good before!” he sobbed. “I’m so happy I could die right this second.”
As he ate, he kept repeating those same phrases, as well as other words to that effect. He chewed each bite furiously, chasing after the most flavor each mouthful could offer. The vegetable soup and the soft, fluffy bread were awarded the same sort of praise—and he kept asking for more. Although Marialite was touched by his reaction, she was beginning to worry about him.
“Don’t eat too fast, all right? At that rate, you’ll give yourself a terrible tummy ache.”
“You don’t need to worry about him, Lady Marialite. His stomach’s far stronger than you might think. He can ingest poison with no trouble, after all,” Sirius smiled.
“…Well, that’s a relief,” she replied after a moment. She wasn’t entirely sure how she was supposed to react to that.
“Anyway, Raven—how did you know I was here?” Sirius asked, curious.
“Mmmf,” Raven began, stuffing his cheeks full of bread. “I followed traces of your magic. With a big, strong demon like you, you’re pretty easy to detect.”
Marialite wasn’t sure how it was done, but apparently, using magic to seek people out was easy among demons.
I bet that comes in handy.
“Children have less magical energy, though, so they’re harder to find,” Raven continued. In other words, Sirius was now brimming with strong magical energy. “You’ve been taking care of Lord Sirius while I struggled to find him, right, Marialite? I can’t thank you enough.” He bowed his head low in gratitude.
“Oh, please, you don’t have to bow or anything. It’s been a pleasure looking after him. Every day with him has been great fun—and I mean that. If I didn’t have him, I would’ve been very alone.”
If anything, I’m the one who should be thanking them.
The house would’ve felt extremely empty had she been there alone with the absence of her parents more apparent than ever. She still probably would have kept on living as usual, though; she would have pushed through the loneliness and found a way to make her day-to-day life fulfilling one way or another.
Even so, it would have been far gloomier than the happy, joyful life she was now living with Sirius.
“Are you single then, Marialite? I sorta just assumed you were married,” Raven admitted.
“Ha, the townspeople say the same thing every now and again,” she laughed dryly. “They ask if my husband’s doing all right back at home.”
“Exactly! I’d think the same thing,” Raven nodded enthusiastically. Sirius immediately shot a wrathful glare at him.
“What do you mean by that? Depending on how you answer, your life may be at stake…” he threatened.
“Well, she’s so calm and collected, y’know? She’s got that wifely aura about her.”
Sirius fell completely silent.
“Lord Sirius… I bet you just thought ‘that’s hot,’ didn’t you?” Raven teased with a sly grin.
“I never thought such a thing.”
“The faster you deny it, the more suspicious you are!” he jeered.
“No. I was just thinking of how I’d get rid of her husband,” he said seriously, his tone dark. Raven’s smile froze in place.
“Yeesh, you’re terrifying.”
However, Marialite’s next words possessed the power to freeze the air of the room itself.
“It’s actually a little bit true, though.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
The two of them looked like their very reality had just been shaken.
“Don’t you remember, Sirius? I must’ve told you before. I was engaged to Prince Rufus, and—”
“What in the blue blazes?! You’ve never told me that! Never!” Sirius hollered, putting his hands over both of Marialite’s shoulders. She could feel his fingers shaking.
This might be the first time I’ve ever heard him raise his voice like that.
Now that she thought back on it, indeed—she couldn’t recall ever discussing it with him.
“Oh. Sorry! I forgot,” she admitted with a bashful laugh.
“H-How could something that important slip your mind?!” Sirius despaired.
“We broke off the engagement after both Prince Rufus and I came to a mutual understanding, so I wasn’t all too bothered by it.”
Engagement wasn’t exactly the kind of thing people discussed with children, so she decided not to tell him. Then, by the time Sirius grew up, she didn’t think about it much anymore. Apparently, it came as a much bigger shock to him than she would’ve expected.
“Lady Marialite…” he began, deadly serious. “You should’ve told me earlier. If I’d have known, I would have hunted down this ‘Rufus,’ and—”
“Whoa, there!” Raven interrupted him with a shout before he could say anything that would get him imprisoned for treason. He then turned to Marialite. “You must have been through a lot, Lady Marialite. That’s tough!”
Seeing the warm, gentle woman before them, no one would have thought that she’d once been engaged to the nation’s crown prince. Not even for a second.
Raven glanced around the room, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“But, Lady Marialite… You’re not a noble, are you? How did you manage to catch the prince’s eye?” he asked.
“I thought the same thing at first,” she laughed. “However, it turns out that His Majesty arranged our engagement purely based on me being a saint.”
“Hold up… You’re a saint?” Raven gasped. He’d long abandoned his steak and was now fixedly staring at her in amazement. Sirius, meanwhile, was completely absorbed in his plans to overthrow the prince.
Marialite decided to tell them her story from beginning to end. They listened with the same gobsmacked look on their faces, and when it finally got to the crucial point…
“But, why did he break off the engagement in the first place?” Raven asked, incredulous.
“Oh—he said I’m too old now.”
More stunned silence.
“Right. That’s it,” Sirius announced, standing from the table and slamming his palms down on the wood. “Let’s kill the prince! At once! You know what they say: ‘strike while the iron is hot’!” A huge, menacing grin spread across his face as he said it.
On the other hand, Raven clapped a hand over his mouth, frozen in disbelief. Question marks were written all over Marialite’s face as she studied their reactions.
“Umm… What’s bothering you both so much?” she hedged.
“What’s bothering us? Everything! The whole thing is just plain nasty!” Raven frowned.
“I have to say I agree. Lady Marialite… Do you honestly believe that was an ‘amicable’ break-up?” Sirius asked lowly, his voice strained.
Marialite nodded firmly. All in all, she was glad she managed to avoid marrying a man she didn’t love. She didn’t think that marriages made for political or financial security were necessarily a bad thing, but personally, she would much rather spend the rest of her life happily in love.
That was why she was relieved it was all over.
“Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad you broke up. It would’ve been awful if that scumbag of a prince stole you away. However, his reasoning for breaking the engagement off is abhorrent. He deserves to die a thousand deaths,” Sirius enunciated clearly.
“Exactly!” Raven piped up. “They made you become Rufus’ fiancée against your will, and then cut you off because of your age?! Who cares if they’re royalty? That’s messed up!”
“O-Oh,” Marialite wavered. Sirius was one thing, but she was surprised to hear a boy she’d only just met in such an outrage. He seemed to truly resent the royal family for what they did to her.
Raven sighed, his eyes swimming with angry tears.
“Seriously…” he huffed. “They think that if they have magic items, they won’t need any help from the saints anymore? The arrogance is unbelievable!”
“I heard that the devices allow anyone to use the same powers as a saint, but…” Marialite recalled.
“Yeah, but they need magic devices to do anything! There’s a big difference between them and you. You can use holy power without any help at all! You’re amazingly talented!” Raven insisted.
“…You really think so?” Her sky-blue eyes shone with hesitation.
Although she had been proclaimed the crown princess when they found out she was a saint, no one had ever given her such high praise before—even when using her powers for the sake of the nation. It was a given that she would give herself up and use the holy energy bestowed upon her for the people and the king.