At times like these I often mimicked His Highness, that person who was often asking me to do impossible, unreasonable things, yet all the same was someone I couldn’t bring myself to hate. Knowing him, he probably realized the burdens he placed on my shoulders, but if he wasn’t going to say anything, then neither was I. That was just what it was to be a man.
And so, I mimicked that unscrupulous somebody, walking off with full confidence in my step. All in order to go see the best woman in the world.
Aaand my persona collapsed instantly. Yeah, the only ones to see it crumble were Nia and other members of our household, so I could say I managed to dodge a fatal blow, but in the moment I didn’t have the wherewithal to think about any of that; the moment I entered the Saintess’s waiting room and the door shut behind me, I had fallen to my knees.
It was likely that Laura had seen this would happen and had prepared accordingly; the priest who’d guided me here had pushed me through the door from behind, and Tom had been standing right by the door in the perfect position to shut it with the sharpest movements I’d seen from him yet. But that was all stuff I thought of later, because I had absolutely no luxury to think about it at the moment.
“U-Um, Lord Ark? Are you okay?” Nia asked hesitantly.
And even seeing her do that was hard on me right now. The only thing going through my head was this: A Goddess is here, and she’s looking at me. Only me.
“Nia... You’re so beautiful...”
“U-Um, really, Lord Ark, are you okay?”
She was saying the exact same thing to me as she had before, but in a completely different way. The first time had been out of pure worry, but the second time was with a lot of shyness. Her cheeks were slightly red, and she was averting her eyes just a little bit. It was all so adorable.
Not only beautiful, but truly lovely. She’s perfection. As that thought rushed through my head at full speed, I came back to my senses.
“I-I’m fine, Nia,” I finally got out. “My apologies. You’re just so beautiful that for just a moment I became utterly enchanted and bewitched.”
“It seems like you still might be confused...”
I’d only said what I was thinking, but Nia’s face was getting even redder. Cute. No, Ark! Calm down, be cool.
“It’s just that even confused, the first thing I think of when I see you is how beautiful you are.”
“Um, now I think I’m getting confused too...”
That was weird. I’d said it with the straightest face possible to show that I was composed again, but Nia’s face was still flushed. I had no idea where I’d gone wrong here, and I wasn’t sure what to do.
“All right, all right. Madam, Master, have you forgotten the important jobs you have today?”
Someone shot in between us, clapping her hands. It was, of course, Laura. I mean, yeah, it was a good thing considering the time and place. And her saying that made me remember that a very important ceremony was about to take place.
“My apologies. That’s right. And it looks like you’re well prepared,” I said, looking at Nia once again.
The first thing that I saw was her dress—a cool and clear white that was bright to the eyes. It wasn’t gaudy as a whole, but it used a ton of intricate, masterfully made lace, the calculated draping of which gave her a gorgeous and holy aura.
And it was Nia wearing that dress—Nia, who already was brilliant and had incredible strength of heart. What was more, today she was wearing makeup that made her look a little bit more adult than usual, so it wasn’t a stretch to say that she now was a goddess who had descended from heaven.
“No, that is definitely an exaggeration, all right?!” Nia screeched, voice echoing.
Oh shit! “D-Did I just say that out loud?”
“Yes. Very, very clearly...”
My face went bright red at Nia’s immediate response. I had meant everything that came out of my mouth, but the fact that other people had heard it was incredibly embarrassing.
“I would have preferred if Nia was the only one who heard that...”
“That’s what you’re concerned about?!”
I was about to say that yes, it was, but I stopped myself. If I’d said it, then we’d be doing this back and forth forever.
“Seriously. Please leave that sort of talk for the bedroom,” Laura’s cold voice rang out. Nia froze in place, now red as a tomato.
I mean, I think I froze too, but that was that. I mean, well, that was something I needed to get ready for, sooner or later.
“Laura, you really are a capable maid,” I said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been less pleased to receive such praise.”
Damn, she’s harsh. Her curt words actually were a little bit of a relief for me.
The Saintess, reborn in the present day, and the hero who saved her. With us propped up like that there weren’t a lot of people who could speak to the two of us like that anymore. I mean, His Highness Prince Alphonse could run his mouth all he wanted to. Wait, put it that way and he was a precious person to us too, huh?
But I was honestly thankful to have a servant who could be straight with us like that. It would keep me sane and prevent me from getting carried away with the power and authority I’d been given.
“Please keep this disposition in the future,” I said to Laura. “I’m sure that either you or Tom could slam me in the back of the head if I ever got arrogant and unguarded.”
“Could you not get me mixed up in all of this so casually?!” Tom screeched in reply, but I couldn’t take back what I said. Few people in my life could physically knock some sense into me, so he needed to stick around after all this too.