Nina and I climbed into the lavishly decorated carriage and sat side by side on the seats.
Then, when we were ready, the carriage started to move slowly.
And around the carriage, the knights on horseback also started to move forward together.
Of course, at the head of those knights, Viktor was riding a fine black horse.
And so we proceeded from the castle to the city, being seen off by Kaiser and the others.
When we arrived in town, there were already many people along the roadside, waving to us.
We waved back and smiled at them.
Then we received cheers from everywhere, and everyone looked happy.
“Everyone is very happy, aren’t they?”
“I suppose so. Because for the first time in decades, the Celestial Maiden has been chosen.”
“…to be honest, I was still worried.”
“Why?”
“When I was in the castle, Cecilia-sama was good to me in many ways, and thanks to that, I was recognized by the other nobles to a point, but…I didn’t know how the people of the city would react.”
“I see… but it’s nice to see that you’ve been properly recognized.”
“Yes! I’m so happy!”
It made me glad to see Nina smiling with a really happy smile.
As we were waving to people again, we heard a variety of voices from those people.
“The maiden is very pretty”
“She really is—and also because the shrine maiden this time is a commoner like us, it’s very familiar to me.”
“Shrine Maiden-sama is beautiful! Cute~!”
“Ahhhh, I’m glad I got to see something nice like this before I die! Thanks! Thanks!”
There were men and women talking happily, little boys, and even an old lady who was rubbing her hands together in worship while looking at Nina.
Hmm~ As I thought, Nina’s cuteness and the shrine maiden outfit that suits her so well, everyone recognized Nina as the ‘Celestial Maiden’ in one shot! And when so many people are happy for Nina, it makes me happy too!
So I was waving to those people, happy in my heart.
Then I heard a conversation that was obviously about me.
“Who is that person next to the shrine maiden? I thought she was a man since she wore men’s clothing, but… that’s a woman, right?”
“Speaking of which, I heard that a noble was chosen by prior notice to be the priestess’s escort?”
“I heard that too! I believe it was… Lady Cecilia, the duke’s daughter.”
“The duke’s daughter! Why would someone like that dress as a man?”
“You know what? We ordinary people can’t possibly understand what the nobles are thinking~”
I heard such a voice and noticed that people everywhere were looking at me strangely.
Then Viktor, who seemed to have heard the voice, came up to my side, steering his horse with a grim expression on his face.
“Princess… Wouldn’t it have been better if you had worn a dress after all?”
“Ummm, well, maybe so… but it doesn’t matter if I’m allowed to dress like this, right?”
“Yes, well, yes, but… what are you going to do?”
“That’s easy.”
I smiled meaningfully at Viktor and immediately gave a big smile to the people who were looking at me with their strange eyes.
At that moment, everything went quiet, and immediately other voices erupted from everywhere.
“Good! Good!”
“A beautiful woman dressed as a man is wonderful!”
“Wow! As a man, I can see how that’s possible.”
“A noble’s game or not, I’m so glad I was born!”
“Thank you God! Thank you!”
Such reactions erupted from all over the place, and seeing such people, Viktor gave me a surprised look.
“Did the princess know that this would happen?”
“Yeah, yeah, well…”
I gave a drawn-out smile as I slurred my words.
…I didn’t think I’d get this level of reaction. Somehow I had the feeling that since it’s a Japanese game world, a beautiful woman dressed as a man would be accepted~. Well, it was accepted, but I didn’t expect such an excessive reaction…
I kept waving my hand at the people who were staring at me with glittering eyes, pulling at my cheeks as I thought about it.
I had been driving through the city for a while when the carriage suddenly came to a stop with the sound of a horse whining.
“Kyah!”
“Nina!”
Nina almost fell forward with the sudden impact of stopping, and I hurriedly stopped her from falling over.
“Nina, are you okay!?”
“Yes, thank you, Lady Cecilia.”
“Princess! Lady Nina! Are you okay!?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. But, Viktor, what is going on?”
And then… all of a sudden a girl jumped out in front of the carriage…
As soon as I heard Viktor’s words, I looked forward and saw a young girl from between the coachman with his horses, who was quieting the horses in the carriage.
The girl was sitting on the ground with a frightened expression on her face, looking up at the two horses in front of her.
But she was too scared to move, or maybe she was in tears and couldn’t move.
Then our knight escort got off his horse and approached the girl. But the expression on his face was clearly angry.
“What are you doing!? This is a noble carriage for shrine maidens! I won’t let people like you stand in the way of that! As an infidel, I’m going to beat you to death right now!”
The knight yelled and drew his sword from his waistband and tried to swing it down at the girl.
“What?”
“That idiot!”
“Please stop!”
My startled voice combined with Viktor’s impatient voice, plus a screaming voice that I assumed was the girl’s mother, came from among the noisy people.
But at that time, Nina, who had gotten out of the carriage before she knew it, interrupted between the knight and the girl, opening her hands and shielding the girl against her back.
“L-Lady Nina!”
“Please, please put the sword away!”
“But this girl…”
“Do it!”
“I-I understand…”
Nina’s strong tone and gaze made the knight back down and put away the sword as he was told.
The people who were watching the scene breathlessly let out a cry of relief.
I was relieved that I there was not any trouble when Viktor got off his horse and walked towards Nina with a grim expression on his face.
“Nina-sama, I’m very sorry that my men have been so rude to you at this time. This is the first time he has joined the Order and this is his first big job, so he seemed to be tense. But even so, my lack of guidance is the cause of this, so I’ll give him strict guidance later……You should apologize too.”
“I’m sorry!”
Viktor bowed to Nina and the others and immediately gave a sharp look to a knight standing nearby and made him apologize.
Then Viktor dragged the knight down to the rear, and apologized to me as we passed each other.
Then, when the situation managed to subside, people began to praise Nina.
“You are a maiden! I didn’t know they were going to help on the spur of the moment in that state!”
“I would have been too scared to go.”
“I couldn’t make it either… Shrine Maiden-sama, that’s awesome!”
“You’re a very kind shrine maiden!”
Amidst such a flurry of praise, the mother, who had finally reached the girl’s bottom, hugged her with tears in her eyes.
“I’m so glad you’re safe!”
“Oh, Mom!”
The girl, too, buried her face in her mother’s chest and began to cry.
Nina came up to them and squatted down and gently patted the crying girl on the head.
“It’s all right now,” she said. “It’s going to be all right.”
“Shrine Maiden-sama.”
The girl looked up from her mother’s chest and turned her tear-stained face to Nina.
Nina looked at the girl’s face and smiled gently, then took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her tears away.
“Thank you so very, very much, shrine maiden-sama!”
“No, I was just doing the obvious. More importantly… why did you jump out in front of the carriage?”
“Oh! Mi-chan, where are you!”
“Mi-chan?”
The girl remembered something and started looking around for something.
Nina looked at the girl with a strange look on her face and asked her what she was looking for.
As I was watching Nina and the others on the carriage, I suddenly saw something out of the corner of my eye that caught my attention.
That is…
I quickly realized what it was and quietly got out of the carriage and gently picked it up from its hiding place in the shadows.
Then, holding it to my chest, I approached Nina and her friends.
“Hey, by Mi-chan, are you talking about this girl?”
“Meow.”
“Oh! Mi-chan!”
The girl was delighted to see the kitten in my arms, her grey fur with a red ribbon around her neck, and she was happy to see me holding her up.
I immediately knelt in front of the girl and handed the kitten to her.
“You went out in front of the carriage chasing after this little girl, didn’t you? But…if something happens to you, your mother and this kitty will be sad, so you shouldn’t be reckless.”
“…Yes. I’m sorry.”
Yeah, she’s a good kid who knows how to apologize.
I smiled softly at the girl and gently patted her head.
At that moment, more cheers came up again from around us, and the girl and her mother also stared at me with blank faces.
“Well…”
“Lady Cecilia…your kindness is a foul with that appearance!”
I looked at Nina at the sound of her voice and saw her blushing and staring at me in ecstasy.
“Sis, you look like a prince!”
Furthermore, the girl was also staring at me with sparkling eyes, and I had the feeling that the kitten in the girl’s arms was also staring at me with a happy face.
Huh? I don’t know why… just a few minutes ago, everyone was praising Nina and making her look like she was the only one they could see…but now all eyes are focused on me…
Confused by this atmosphere, I suddenly looked at Viktor at the back of the carriage, and for some reason, Viktor let out a deep sigh while holding his forehead.
No, I just gave the kitten back to the girl like normal!
I shouted that in my mind but wanted to leave the place as soon as possible, so I hurriedly led the parent and child back to the people, took Nina’s hand and walked back to the carriage and asked Viktor to move the carriage for us.
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