I stepped into Prince Leon’s private room for the first time with Prince Leon’s guidance.
“Wow~ as expected of Prince Leon’s room! So many different minerals, so nice!…Oh, I see, you’re arranging them by region!”
I looked around the room with such admiration and curiosity.
Prince Leon’s room had many large shelves lined up against the wall, and inside the shelves were a beautiful display of colorful ores.
“Thank you! After all, it’s only Sister Cecilia who would say that to me~”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Most people will certainly tell you that it’s beautiful, but they don’t realize that you place them in different regions. Furthermore, my brother would say with a dumbfounded face that I am collecting too much~!”
Prince Leon’s cheeks puffed out in disapproval as he said this.
Seeing Prince Leon’s face, I couldn’t help but blow out my mouth, hiding it with my hand.
“Fufu, Prince Leon just turned 15 this year and completed a magnificent coming of age ceremony…I’m relieved to see that he hasn’t changed at all. Because…if the one who thought he was still a child suddenly became an adult, I’m sure I would have been perplexed.”
“…”
I was happy to see Prince Leon, who hadn’t changed at all, smiling, but for some reason he fell silent upon hearing my words and stared at me with a sullen face.
“Prince Leon?”
“…I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Oh, I hope I didn’t offend you…I’m sorry. It’s true that at that age, just coming of age, it’s still very complicated…”
When I realized the reason for Prince Leon’s grumpiness, I hurriedly apologized.
Honestly, as someone who has experienced being an adult in a past life, 15 years old still looks like a child. But it’s true that even in my past life, 15 years old was a difficult age to be 15. I still had a complicated combination of wanting to play and wanting to be an adult…
I was apologizing to Prince Leon and remembering the events in my previous life.
“…I can’t wait for Sister Cecilia to be aware of me as an adult man.”
“What? Did you say something to me?”
“Mmm, nothing. Now that we’re done talking about this, I’d like you to take a look at something my sister Cecilia.”
“What do you want me to see?”
“Yes! For now, sit here!”
Prince Leon smiled his usual smile and pulled my hand and made me sit on the couch in front of his desk.
And this Prince Leon went once to the other room and came back immediately, but he had a rolled up piece of paper in his hand in the shape of a tube.
“This is what I wanted you to see~”
So said Prince Leon happily, and he sat down next to me and spread the paper out on his desk to show me.
“This…looks like a floor plan, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it is!”
“Um…where is it?”
“I’m actually thinking of building an ore room to display my collection.”
“Oh, I see.”
I still have some more ores I want, but I’ve been having trouble finding a place to put it, and I’ve decided to build a special room for it, because I’m not done decorating it.
“Oh! I don’t suppose the man who just came in…”
“Yes, yes! He’s an architect. He draws up blueprints that meet a lot of my needs.”
“Wow.”
I looked at the floor plan carefully, shouting in admiration, and found a part of it that caught my attention and pointed to it with a curious look on my face.
“…Are you going to add a toilet and a bath as well?”
“Yes! Plus, we can put a bed in here so you can sleep in it.”
“I see…you’re turning it into a relaxing hobby room.”
“That’s what I’m talking about! So, I’d like for Sister Cecilia to look at this floor plan and give me her opinion on how it should be done or anything else.”
“You’re asking for my opinion?”
“I want to hear a woman’s point of view.”
“Hmmm…As far as I’m concerned, it’s fine if Prince Leon feels comfortable living here, but…well, if I may make an opinion, the positioning of this bed and the shelves provided with the ores is a bit…maybe if you put the bed here, you can see the ores more clearly. Isn’t that right?”
“…It’s true! I didn’t notice that at all! Thank you, Sister Cecilia!”
Prince Leon then thanked me happily, brought out a pen and quickly scribbled my opinion on the floor plan.
“Is there anywhere else?”
“No, I think that’s fine. But…it looks like it will be a very nice room. I’d love to be able to relax here, too!”
“Then I’ll be the first to invite Sister Cecilia when it’s finished!”
“Are you sure? Wow, now I’m looking forward to it!”
I clasped my hands together and was delighted to see Prince Leon looking at me with a smiling smile.
However, I didn’t think too much about the fact that I had felt something unusual was stuck in my head when I saw the floor plan.
Then, after Prince Leon asked me a lot of questions about my favorite ores and colors, I decided to leave.
“Thank you, Cecilia-sister! That was very helpful!”
“No, I don’t think I have been of much help. But I hope you can finish it soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Yes! Come back and visit me!”
As I bowed with a pecking order, Prince Leon waved me off with his usual smile.
I smiled and bowed my head lightly once more as Prince Leon still waved his hand at me, even though we were a long way from his room, but I didn’t realize that his lips were moving a little and his smile had turned into something scary.
A few days after the fountain event, I was summoned by my father again to the conference room.
There I found Nina and the rest of the usual members of the group gathered there.
I immediately suspected it was something to do with Nina.
And just as I had expected, a priest came into the room with father.
“Well, the reason why you are all here today is because I would like to talk to you about the ‘Celestial Maiden’, Nina’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land.”
“Holy Land…a pilgrimage?”
The priest’s words caused Nina to voice her confusion.
“Yes. The priestesses who have been chosen to be “Celestial Maidens” for generations have a ritual of praying to the statues of the goddesses that are dedicated in various places. It’s called a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.”
“Oh, really…”
Nina was nodding at the priest’s explanation, but she had an uneasy look on her face.
But when I heard the priest’s words, I remembered a scene in my mind.
Ah… there was such an event! As I recall, during this event, she’s supposed to go out of the palace and travel for a while. But this event… she was supposed to go with the man she chose for the unveiling parade…but I don’t know why I was chosen instead, so what would happen in this case?
I remembered the events of the unveiling parade and decided to watch what happened next in silence.
“I understand. I will do my duty to the best of my ability.”
“As expected of Nina! Then thank you!”
“Yes! But…if that was all you had to say, there was no need to bring everyone here, was there?”
“No, I’m afraid it’s just the beginning that counts.”
“Is this important to you?”
“…In fact, when you go on this pilgrimage to the Holy Land, you will need someone to accompany you, Nina-sama.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And the person who will be accompanying you will be the same person who was your partner in the unveiling parade.”
“What? Then the one who would be willing to accompany me…Miss Cecilia!?”
Nina looked at me with a happy expression as her eyes widened and her cheeks slightly stained.
I knew it was me…
I thought to myself and let out a small sigh so that no one would notice.
“…Yes. Normally it would be Cecilia-sama, but…although we will be providing her with an escort, we felt that it would be somewhat dangerous to have two women go, so after discussing it with Mr. Reinhardt, we have decided to make a special exception this time and ask Nina-sama to choose her partner once again.”
“Yeah…”
The priest’s words depressed Nina with a disappointed look on her face.
The priest looked at my father, who was puzzled by Nina’s situation and had a puzzled expression on his face as well.
To be honest, I didn’t think it was necessary for them to be so depressed, but when I glanced at the others, they all had a bitter smile on their faces.
Huh? It’s like they all knew Nina’s reaction would be this predictable…
At that thought, Nina nodded to the priest in a small way, still with a dark expression on her face.
“I understand…If that’s the reason, I’m very sorry, but I’ll give up. But since I can’t choose anyone other than Cecilia-sama, I will go with the one chosen by the priest-sama.”
“Okay…so in this case, Kai—”
“Oh, you don’t mind if I go, do you?”
Before the priest could say “Kaiser,” I timidly raised my hand and came forward.
Because after seeing Nina’s face looking so sad like that, I couldn’t help but raise my voice.
“Cecilia! What the hell are you talking about!? A pilgrimage to the Holy Land means you have to leave the Royal Capital for a while and travel to the outlying regions, you know? There’s no way I’m going to let my precious daughter, Cecilia, go to such a place!”
“…Did father come up with the idea to change partners this time?”
“Ugh…that’s…”
My father began to choke on his words and became confused by my wild looks and words.
I let out a big sigh and stared at him.
“Father! I am very glad that you are concerned about me, but you are the prime minister of this country in the first place. You can’t let someone of such status take the initiative and twist the rules with personal feelings!”
“Uh…Sorry, Cecilia.”
“That’s all very well if you understand. Then I’ll be fine with coming along, won’t I?”
“No, I think it’s highly problematic.”
“What? Kaiser?”
Kaiser interrupted between me and my father and approached me with his usual pseudo-smile on his face.
“Cecilia, it’s certainly not a good thing to change the rules for personal reasons, but still, I can understand Lord Reinhardt’s concern. But since rules are rules, I don’t think it can be helped if Cecilia is sent on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land as Nina’s partner. So I, as Cecilia’s fiancé, will also accompany her on this trip instead.”
“…What? Is Kaiser going with me?”
“Yes, I’m confident in my swordsmanship, so I can protect you and Nina closer than guards.”
“But…”
“Lord Reinhardt, how about that, then?”
“…Well, all right, then.”
Kaiser quickly looked at my father and asked permission before he heard my rebuttal.
My shoulders slumped at the sight of that same old Kaiser, and I decided to give up.
“Well then, Nina, I’ll take care of you again.”
“Oh, yes! Thank you!…Lady Cecilia! I’m so happy to be able to work with you!”
“Oh, yes. I’m glad to work with you too. I look forward to seeing you for a while.”
When I saw Nina’s happy face, I thought it was okay.
But at that moment, people who had been silent until then spoke up.
“If Kaiser is allowed to accompany, I’d like to come too. I’m very interested in that pilgrimage to the Holy Land.”
“I’d like to see some of the goddesses that are dedicated in various places. I’m sure it will be a great source of knowledge for later on.”
“Hey! You’re all cheating! I’m going too!”
“Traveling with Lady Cecilia…such a delicious situation I would love to go to!”
“Prince Kaiser…I can protect the Princess and Lady Nina well enough on my own as captain of the guards, I’m sure you can count on me.”
“Prince Alfeld, Ghislan, Prince Leon, Lady Lateia, and Viktor each made a commotion and the place was in an uproar for a while.”
But afterwards, they decided that both of the princes could not be absent from the country at the same time, so Prince Leon was absent. Lady Lateia was also dissuaded from coming.
So, in the end, we left the two dissatisfied-looking people behind and headed out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a larger group than originally planned.
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