Seijo no Hazu ga, Douyara Nottoraremashita – Chapter 82

I could do nothing but drink tea alone while watching with half-hearted resignation at the men who looked as if they were about to turn their teacups into weapons to start a mock battle.

I’m sure I can’t stop them now. Alright, I just have to save you, right? I’ll save you all. From the looks of it, it seemed they were looking forward to this every year, and it would be tactless of me to take it away from them.

And it’s not like I don’t want to see Lector’s cool appearance.

After all, it’s rare to see him train and I’ve never seen him in a serious fight before. He must look cool when he fights seriously…

I can heal him all up even if he gets a little injured. It’s not a hard thing to do. I can heal him as long as he doesn’t die instantly. Yes, that’s also my job. I won’t disappoint everyone! Huh?! Aren’t I getting desperate?

With the sudden motivation from the leaders, the news of the competition was quickly announced throughout the castle.

The fortress staff, who were familiar with the event since it was held every year and were overjoyed that it was being held this year, quickly made flawless preparations for the competition and the competition was held on a sunny winter day, not long after it was hastily decided to be held.

The fortress staff are too brilliant for setting it up so skilfully…

The fortress suddenly became extremely lively in the days the staff were preparing for the competition.

There was nothing else to celebrate, and people in the fortress normally live a simple life with nothing to look forward to, so it’s understandable that everyone wanted this kind of event.

On the day of the competition, I don’t know what kind of skill it was, but there were small fireballs flying around everywhere in the morning like fireworks and people were creating water fountains.

It created a rainbow and it looked amazing~.

Soldiers all around the fortress, who wanted to show their ability and advance through the rounds by winning as much as possible, were polishing their weapons and enchanting it with magic, and near them, were young servant women who were looking at them with passionate eyes.

Some women were handing out charms to their lovers, praying for their victory, and the air was filled with excitement for the first time in a long while.

Yup, how nice~. It’s nice to have a festival once in a while.

In the meantime, Garwin and his men have dispatched a large number of birds and four-legged beasts to guard the border and are ready to respond if there is any movement; the guards were also on their usual routine.

It looked like business as usual from the outside, but inside the fortress gates there is a fun festival just for today.

In the midst of all the excitement and restlessness surrounding the fortress, it seemed that the General had other concerns than his own fortunes of war.

Yes, it’s the morning of the competition but my situation right now is…

I was woken up early in the morning, and I was made to change into an extravagant outfit that my (temporary) husband had arranged for me, and for some reason, my (temporary) husband looked at the finishing touches done to me with satisfaction.

“Nice, you look beautiful. It actually took a while to arrange this diadem though. I’m glad I can show you off this time. The formal saint attire suits you very well, Anise,” he said as he sat comfortably on the chair with a radiant smile on his face. He was looking at me with a dazzling twinkle in his eyes. He had planned a lot again on his own.

I had no idea he had made these arrangements, and I didn’t know there was such a thing as formal attire for ‘Saints’…

What’s with this, some kind of princess? I swallowed my words and looked in the mirror.

“Anise-sama, you look so pretty! You’re a beautiful Saint! You look great…!”

I was a little puzzled when the maids and other servants, who were looking at me, said such things enthusiastically.

The reason for this situation is… because I’m the competition’s guest of honour. 

As a member of the royal family and a ‘Saint’, I was told that I would be sitting in the topmost seat and observing the competition in the tent that I was admiring yesterday when I had a glimpse of it.

That was my seat…? I thought those seats were for the General and Vice-General…

And I have to wear the ‘formal attire’ to attend the competition as a guest of honour.

The ‘formal attire’ is an outfit that represents authority.

He had ordered an outfit that was obviously extremely expensive with a white flowing drape decorated in gold and silver threats. Of course, it was ordered by Lector, so it fitted me perfectly. On top of that, I wore a cloak that gave off a powerful aura of greatness.

Even though I would be inside of a tent, it was winter and cold. The cloak was made from high-class fur and thick fabric with patterns embroidered. Just wearing this and standing here was enough to make me feel intimidated.

And finally, there was this jewelled diadem.

This diadem, which was apparently also ordered by Lector, was apparently designed to represent the ‘Saint’ and was for my exclusive use. The way the jewels were placed and the design that surrounded the jewels were a symbol of the ‘Saint’.

To me, it just looked like a lump of glittering jewels that were about to blind me.

What’s with this radiance? I wonder if there’s some kind of magic on it that makes it glow this much. It was shining so brightly that I couldn’t help but think it could light up the streets at night.

“Crowns used by the royal family are made in a workshop at the castle. I ordered this diadem when I was there and was a little worried about how it would turn out. But it looks good on you,” Lector said. He looked quite satisfied, but say, didn’t you need to get permission from the King, get rid of obstacles created by the Queen, and prepare many jewels for just this one diadem? The jewels that adorn this diadem were always accompanied by the word ‘very precious’ when explained earlier…

This isn’t something that can easily be made, is it…?

I can only feel astonished that he overcame all that and arranged such a gorgeous and wonderful ‘Saint set’ for me. When did he do all this? It must have taken a long time to get all this done. How long has he been planning this?

I thought to myself.

“Thank you, Lector. The outfit is lovely,” I said and smiled because I thought that was the best thing I could do for him now and that this would probably make him happy.

So, I decided to smile and accept it even if there was a double meaning behind how heavy this was.

It was actually really heavy. The diadem was heavy, but so was the outfit.

But it didn’t feel too cold in the tent thanks to this gorgeous outfit.

The makeup skills of my maid, Liza, were actually on a professional level this time, and she applied showy makeup on me for the front stage. The makeup looked so flashy that it made me want to ask myself, “Who is this?” but I’m sure it looks very beautiful from a distance.

Stage makeup is amazing. My eyes and lips were emphasized to make my facial features clear from a distance, so the makeup was applied thickly. I was a little dismayed when I looked in the mirror since my makeup was applied so thickly, but I guess if she hadn’t applied my makeup like this then people wouldn’t be able to see me from a distance.

Amazing, Liza. Where did you learn to apply makeup like this? It was really flashy, but I guess it was her skill that made it look beautiful as a whole.

It was an amazing transformation.

If I were to suddenly bump into someone in this flashy makeup and outfit, then I’m sure they’ll be terrified and run away immediately. I’m still afraid of the arrogant aura this look gives off, no matter how many times I see it.

This is me.

This diadem, this outfit and this makeup. The overall aura these things produce made the normally plain me look noble even if I don’t like it.

Ah… anyone can look good with the right clothes…

The flashiness of my overall outfit doesn’t suit this military base where everything is usually plain…