Seijo no Hazu ga, Douyara Nottoraremashita – Extra 07

This chapter is about Lector, Anise and Father Austin after they left the fortress and travelled to the capital.

Vice-General Jouvence’s beloved wife, the cause of his headache, slammed his office door open and said, “Hey honey! What is this all about?!” 

“Oh… It’s been a while, I’m glad you’re here.”

The Vice-General looked at his wife calmly as if he had expected her.

She’s later than I expected, he thought.

Princess Crowill was excited.

“Hey! This! What’s this mean?! Is it just a misprint?! But I don’t believe a newspaper will misprint the name of the important Saint. Or is this another one of Lec’s plots?!” she said as she waved around a newspaper that had been published in the capital some time ago.

On the front page of the newspaper, a big banner read, “A new Saint, Liana, is born!”

A short while ago, Lector and Anise had gone to the capital for the ‘Saint’s Ordination Ceremony’.

Since it was the request of the palace, the ‘Saint’s Ordination Ceremony’ should have acknowledged Anise as a Saint, so why was Saint ‘Liana’ born?

“… It seems Lec planned it poorly this time. This was from a while back; did you not know?”

“Of course, I didn’t know! I went out of the kingdom for a while… Oh my, did I not tell you…?” Princess Crowill saw the Vice-General’s scornful eyes and mumbled, though she didn’t stay silent for long.

The Vice-General spoke before she could talk again, “You didn’t tell me. You’re always like that. But I can understand why you didn’t know about that until recently. I really thought you would be here earlier, but this makes perfect sense.”

The Vice-General nodded silently.

“Oh my… well, foreign nations don’t get newspapers from this kingdom… but I didn’t know about this at all when I got back. The ‘Saint’ is Anise-chan, right? There’s no way that Lec would make a mistake.”

Princess Crowill kept waving the newspaper in her hand as she occasionally tilted her head in confusion.

“She should be. Apparently, something happened in the capital. Have you read a more recent newspaper? They’ve gotten more radical. It’s something you would normally be happy to gossip about, but since it’s Lec’s scandal, I wouldn’t suggest reading it while you’re excited if you haven’t already.”

“Too bad! I’ve already read it! What was with that fake article?! That Lec… would never! He’s really in love with Anise-chan, and yet… and yet…”

“Well, the truth is often different from what you see. Also, Lec has a favour to ask you. You’re going to be busy. I’ll tell you about it but ask Garwin for detailed instructions later.”

“Garwin…? That tamer? He’s still here?” Princess Crowill said as she raised an eyebrow.

A key member of Lec’s intelligence organisation is still here? Lec didn’t take him to the capital? She thought.

But the Vice-General replied with an extremely calm expression, “Yes, almost all of his key members are still here. The capital is practically under the Queen’s control, so he probably doesn’t want his assets in her sight. And as expected, all of Lec’s assets in the capital have been taken away. Apparently, Lolo, the magic beast has also been sealed up, so I guess he made the right decision. You’ll help the poor guy, won’t you?”

The Vice-General looked straight at his wife, who was folding her arms with a look of displeasure on her face.

“Naturally! It’s unacceptable of her to bully our hateful, but cute Lec. That Queen really does whatever she wants! I’ll do anything to knock her off her socks,” Princess Crowill answered while snorting. She seemed to have her own reasons for wanting to do this.

“That’s just like you. There’s something that only you, as a royal, can do.”

“Oh my, leave it to me. Anise-chan is safe after being framed by that Queen, right? This newspaper doesn’t write a single thing about Anise-chan. It’s as if she never existed in the first place. You don’t actually think she’s gone, do you?” Princess Crowill continued to wave the newspaper as she said this. The newspaper that had been waved around so many times was beginning to look worn out and ragged.

“I don’t think that Lec would let that happen. According to his report, she has entered the ‘God’s Daughters’ monastery. If she’s there, then she’s probably safe for the time being.”

“What’d you say?! … So, that means that Queen did acknowledge Anise-chan’s ‘healing’… but does that mean that there’s someone else who’s more capable than Anise? But I can’t believe that Lek didn’t know about this before,” Princess Crowill muttered as she stared at the beautiful black-and-white picture of ‘Saint Liana’ in the newspaper she was holding. The ‘Saint’ in the picture had a white face framed with beautiful blonde hair and a compassionate expression on her face. Her eyes were blue, or maybe grey. Anyway, they weren’t black, but were light coloured eyes.

The Saint is nothing like Anise-chan, Princess Crowill felt frustrated when she thought this.

“Anyway, everyone’s safe for now, but it seems that Lec’s in a difficult situation. He secretly asked for our help. Of course, I’ll do everything in my power to help him.”

“… Wouldn’t that be treason against the Queen? Are you alright with that?”

“Clearly. We believe in Lec. Otherwise, I wouldn’t trust him with my life. Or maybe you don’t believe in him?” the Vice General looked at his wife and said with a grin. He already knew her answer.

“Oh my, honey, of course I do! Lector and Anise-chan are both like my cute children! I’ll do anything for them. Yes, anything!” Princess Crowill replied with a grim, black smile which wasn’t appropriate for her noble birth upbringing.

The Vice-General nodded in satisfaction when he saw this.

“That’s just like you. I want you to do me a favour. There are things that only you, a royal, can do. First of all, you must get these records out of the royal palace’s classified section as soon as you can―――…”

And so, from that day on, the Vice-General and his wife began spending a lot of time alone in his office every day.

Princess Crowill would sometimes leave the fortress in a rush, but she would come back to the Vice-General straight away.

The servants gossiped that she was finally moving her life here after completing her important business in the capital. They believed that she had finally decided to stop neglecting her husband and wanted to spend time with him.

Everyone in this remote fortress watched this harmonious middle-aged couple warmly since the young Master and his wife had been gone for a long time.

“I should have threatened them a little. I’ve gotten their weakness, but I’ll be careful not to tell anyone ―――…”

“You’re amazing. Can you get into the palace treasury? There’s ―――…”

“If both of Lec’s shadows are here, then I can ―――…”

“But don’t let anyone die. Act completely ―――…”

“I’ll properly ―――…”

“Also. The King and royal family ―――…”

“Of course ―――…”

They smiled.

Ufufufufu…

The two of them had the same expressions on their faces and their breathing was in sync. They were perfect for each other.

It was a warm afternoon.

The seemingly elegant conversation in the elegant garden pavilion full of flowers, with hot tea poured into elegant and delicate tea cups and beautiful, delicious, and colourful sweets wasn’t always peaceful.