CHAPTER 50………………
As Lumiere tilted his head at Lerazier and opened the door to his room, Lerazier caught him by the arm.
“As.”
Lumiere paused and looked back. Lerazier approached him with a friendly smile.
Then he pulled a small envelope from his coat.
“To celebrate how close we’ve gotten today.”
Lumiere stared at the envelope in his hand, and Lerazier gave it a little shake.
“When I was getting the portrait, I managed to get another one. It’s a portrait of Xenia as a child. It’s small, but just the right size for a pendant. It should fit that watch, too.”
Lerazier gestured toward the pocket watch hanging around Lumiere’s neck. Understanding immediately, Lumiere reached out and took the envelope.
Lerazier burst into laughter.
“You’re so transparent. Adorable!”
Lumiere simply dipped his head once more.
With a light remark telling him to get some rest, Lerazier disappeared into his own room. Lumiere hurried inside his.
Eager to see what was inside, he tore open the envelope right there by the door.
Just as Lerazier had said, inside was a tiny personal portrait, small enough to fit into a pocket watch.
It showed Xenia slightly older than in the family portrait tucked at her side, and her face looked almost exactly as he remembered. Lumiere broke into a radiant smile.
“Xenia.”
He quickly opened his pocket watch and placed the miniature on the opposite side of the clock face. It fit perfectly, as though it had been made for it. Holding the watch carefully, he pressed a small kiss to the picture.
Early the next morning, Xenia opened her eyes to Lumiere’s hand gently waking her.
“Lumiere.”
He must have already washed up; he smelled fresh and clean.
He gave her a faint eye-smile, then asked with a displeased expression,
“Are you working again today?”
“…I don’t know.”
Xenia stared at the ceiling with a weary look.
The day before, after being caught by the Demon King, she had been forced to work overtime under his absurd order to “work as much as you’ve played.”
‘Didn’t I tell you to rest? All you did was cause trouble. If you work, at least you won’t make noise.’
If only she could have thrown a stack of documents at that infuriating face—it would have been so satisfying.
Xenia let out a deep sigh and checked her wrist. It was clean and white, without a single trace of what had happened the day before.
Fixing even her wrist just so he could make her work—the Demon King was truly relentless. As she stared at it silently, Lumiere gently took her wrist and brushed his thumb over it.
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
“…Shall we go downstairs for breakfast?”
If they ate here, the Demon King might call and summon her again.
The previous evening, he had sent her down to eat, making her think she was done for the day—only to call her back the moment dinner ended and make her work again. Remembering it made her shudder.
“It might be a little uncomfortable.”
Xenia looked apologetically at his bare face. If they went out to eat, it would surely be inconvenient for him in many ways.
But Lumiere smiled as if it didn’t matter.
“Then we should leave this inn altogether. Hurry and wash up. Even if a message comes, I’ll ignore it.”
At his playful tone, Xenia let out a small laugh and sat up.
“You’re right. I should hurry.”
They had to leave before the Demon King contacted her.
Xenia finished getting ready at remarkable speed. Though she didn’t wear a robe, she put on a wide-brimmed hat to cover her face.
Afraid she might run into Lerazier, she hurried downstairs with Lumiere.
As they were about to leave the inn, Lumiere stopped her.
“I’ll ask the staff to recommend a good restaurant.”
Come to think of it, the place the innkeeper had recommended yesterday hadn’t been bad.
“Will you?”
“Yes. Wait here a moment.”
With a gentle smile, Lumiere approached the clerk at the front desk. Xenia sat on a chair off to one side, waiting for him.
Right behind her was the inn’s dining area. Though she could hear snippets of conversation, the inn’s refined atmosphere kept it from being too noisy.
She had no interest in eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations.
That is—unless they were talking about the Hero.
“The Hero, you know.”
Boredly seated, Xenia straightened at once.
“You heard he went down south this time, right?”
“Of course. It’s all anyone’s talking about.”
“Apparently our great Hero burned down an entire rice field.”
At the voice thick with sarcasm, Xenia doubted her ears. So did the other man.
“What?”
Even at his incredulous tone, the first speaker clicked his tongue and continued.
“They say crop prices are going to rise again because of him.”
Xenia expected the other man to protest such disrespect toward the Hero.
“I knew it. What the hell did he do to burn down a whole field?”
But it seemed he didn’t hold the Hero in high regard either.
“Calls himself a Hero and can’t even cleanly take care of a single demon—causing that much damage…”
Xenia’s face twisted at the unbelievable direction of the conversation.
“If the Hero were any good, the demons would’ve been wiped out ages ago.”
“Exactly. What is he even doing while people die every day?”
What nonsense are these lunatics spewing?
“If it weren’t for the Saintess, we’d have been doomed long ago.”
“I hear he’s got a pretty face, though.”
“Isn’t he just a figurehead?”
They burst into snickering laughter. It was thoroughly unpleasant. Xenia shot to her feet and turned to glare at the two men.
‘Ugly bastards…’
They had no right to comment on anyone’s face. Oblivious to her fury, they continued.
“I hear it’s his companions who do all the real work.”
“Didn’t some village beg him for help, and he just left because he had something else to attend?”
“I heard it was some kind of ball.”
“Ha! He’s just a commoner like us.”
Though she didn’t want to think it, one impression came unbidden: nouveau riche fools.
“The nobles call him ‘Hero, Hero,’ and he must think he’s something special.”
“And I hear among nobles, they don’t even really treat him as one of them since he’s a commoner.”
“Kids don’t know any better—they worship him.”
“They don’t understand reality.”
“Little boys say they want to grow up to be the Hero.”
“Ugh. They’ll grow out of it.”
“Still, you can’t exactly shatter a child’s dreams.”
Xenia turned away coldly. There was no point confronting them, and she didn’t want to hear another word.
Just then, as she prepared to step outside where Lumiere could see her, another remark drifted over.
“Isn’t it all because he landed himself the right woman?”
“Exactly. All thanks to her.”
“Being the Hero sure has its perks, huh?”
“Meeting someone that high and mighty.”
What are they even talking about now? Xenia shot them an irritated glare, ready to snap at them to keep it down.
Then she heard something unbelievable.
“They’re only bowing their heads because he’s engaged to the Imperial Princess.”
What did they just say?
“His Majesty is generous, giving his only daughter, the Imperial Princess, to him.”
His Majesty. In the Empire, that could only mean her uncle—the Emperor.
And as far as Xenia knew, her aunt could no longer bear children. The Emperor’s only child was her cousin, Jeremiah.
“Truly, there’s no ruler as benevolent as His Majesty.”
“They say he sent donations to the area affected this time, too.”
“Must be tough, having chosen the wrong son-in-law.”
“Well, an engagement is just an engagement. It can always be broken.”
“What could Princess Jeremiah possibly lack? There’s no lady more refined.”
“Indeed! The Empire’s most eligible bride!”
“They say she’s stunning—a dazzling beauty.”
So that meant Lumiere was engaged to Jeremiah…
“Xenia, there’s a decent restaurant about five minutes away. They serve food you’d like. Let’s go there.”
Taking a deep breath, Xenia stared blankly at Lumiere, who had approached her.
“Xenia?”
Looking at him tilting his head in confusion, she asked dully,
“Are you engaged to Jeremiah?”
Lumiere’s eyes widened in shock. His lips parted and closed as he darted his gaze around, as if checking her reaction.
In that moment, Xenia’s mood sank into the gutter.
Unbelievable.
If he had just nodded calmly, as though it were nothing, she might not have felt this awful.
Why am I only finding out about this now?
Because whether the Hero was engaged or not had never mattered to her.
But Jeremiah? And he told me he liked me while being engaged to Jeremiah?
Is he insane?
Granted, at the time, Lumiere hadn’t known that Xenia was Jeremiah’s cousin. But even so, once he learned the truth, he should have told her immediately.
