CHAPTER 51…………………………….
Lumière and Lelouch, leaving Zhenya behind, went down to the fifth floor in silence. As Lumière nodded toward the door to open it, Lelouch grabbed him.
“Ah, you.”
Lumière paused, turning to him, and Lelouch approached with a friendly smile. Then he pulled a small envelope from his coat.
“Consider this a token for how close we’ve become today.”
Lumière stared at the envelope, and Lelouch shook it slightly.
“I got another one along with the portrait. It’s a childhood portrait of Zhenya. Small, but enough to fit in a pendant. The same goes for that watch.”
Lelouch gestured toward the pocket watch hanging around Lumière’s neck. Understanding immediately, Lumière reached out and took the small envelope.
Then Lelouch laughed heartily.
“How transparent, how cute!”
Lumière nodded back at him once more. Lelouch disappeared into the room first, telling him to rest, and Lumière hurried inside.
Eager to see the contents, Lumière tore open the envelope right by the door. Inside was a tiny personal portrait, just as Lelouch had said—small enough to fit into a pocket watch.
The face looked slightly older than Zhenya’s family portrait tucked under his arm, but resembled the memory he held of her. Lumière smiled brightly.
“Zhenya.”
He quickly opened the pocket watch and placed the picture on the opposite side of the clock face. It fit perfectly. Lumière held the watch gently, pressing a small kiss onto the portrait.
Early in the morning, Zhenya woke up at Lumière’s gesture.
“Lumière.”
He smelled pleasantly of someone who had already washed. Lumière gave a small, teasing smile before asking, slightly annoyed:
“Will you be working again today?”
“…I don’t know.”
Zhenya stared at the ceiling with a weary expression. The previous day, captured by the Demon Lord, she had been forced to work overtime under his absurd orders.
“Didn’t I tell you to rest? Wouldn’t working keep you from causing trouble?”
Seeing that face, so irritatingly smug, she wished she could throw the documents at him in frustration.
Zhenya sighed and checked her wrist. Her clean, pale wrist showed no traces of yesterday.
The Demon Lord had even fixed her wrist after making her work—he was relentless. As she quietly stared at her wrist, Lumière took her hand and gently brushed it.
“I hope you don’t have to do it.”
“…Shall we go downstairs for breakfast?”
She didn’t want to eat there; otherwise, the Demon Lord might call her back for more work. She shivered, recalling how the day before, she had been sent down for dinner thinking her work was done, only to be summoned sharply once the meal ended.
“It might be a bit uncomfortable.”
Zhenya looked apologetically at his bare face. Going out for breakfast would probably inconvenience Lumière in various ways.
But Lumière smiled as if it were fine.
“We should leave this inn entirely. Then get ready quickly. I’ll ignore any calls.”
Zhenya chuckled lightly at his playful words and got up.
“Yes, I should hurry and wash up.”
She had to leave the room before the Demon Lord could contact her.
Zhenya quickly finished preparing, even grabbing a hat with a brim to hide her face. She hurried Lumière down to the first floor, in case she ran into Lelouch.
Just as they were about to leave the inn, Lumière stopped her.
“I’ll ask the inn staff for a good restaurant.”
Indeed, the place recommended by the inn yesterday hadn’t been bad.
“Shall we?”
“Yes, wait a moment.”
Smiling warmly, Lumière approached the front desk staff. Zhenya waited, sitting on a chair placed in the corner of the inn.
The restaurant was just behind them, so they could hear bits of conversation, though the inn was upscale enough not to be too noisy.
Zhenya could hear the people behind her, but she wasn’t in the mood to eavesdrop—except they weren’t talking about anything innocent.
“The hero, you know.”
Bored, Zhenya straightened up.
“Did you hear the hero went down south this time?”
“Of course. The rumors are everywhere.”
“They say the great hero burned the rice fields completely?”
Zhenya could hardly believe what she was hearing, and the men noticed her reaction.
“What?”
Despite their astonished voices, the first speaker continued with a click of the tongue.
“Thanks to that, crop prices are going to rise even more.”
Zhenya assumed they would be angry with the hero for such behavior.
“I knew it. How could they possibly burn all the rice fields?”
But it seemed they weren’t particularly fond of the hero either.
“The hero couldn’t even deal with a single demon properly… causing all this damage…”
Zhenya’s face contorted at the absurdity of their conversation.
“Wouldn’t the demons already have been handled if the hero did their job properly?”
“Exactly. How can people keep dying every day?”
What are these crazy fools talking about?
“If it weren’t for the saintess, we’d all be ruined by now.”
“Oh, but they say she’s very pretty.”
“Isn’t she just a figurehead?”
They giggled amongst themselves, which Zhenya found extremely unpleasant. She stood up and turned to glare at the two men.
‘Ugly brats…’
They were in no position to talk about appearances. Despite Zhenya’s anger, they continued talking.
“It seems the companions do all the real work anyway.”
“Why, they begged people in some village for help, then just left for other business?”
Despite their fancy clothes, the men’s manners were lowly.
“They said it was some kind of ball?”
“Ha! They’re just commoners like us.”
Zhenya thought, though she didn’t want to: rich peasants with too much money.
“The nobles keep praising the hero, so the hero thinks they’re important.”
“Among the nobles, they still wouldn’t be treated as commoners.”
“The kids praise the hero without knowing better.”
“They don’t know reality.”
“Boys even say they want to be heroes when they grow up.”
“Oh dear. They’ll grow out of it.”
“Yeah. But you can’t break the children’s illusions either.”
Zhenya turned coldly away. Confronting them now or listening further was pointless.
Lumière seemed to have finished speaking, so leaving the inn beforehand seemed wise.
Zhenya told Lumière she would wait outside. At the same time, more unpleasant voices reached her ears.
“They only idolize him because he’s good with women.”
“Exactly. All thanks to her.”
“The hero’s lucky, right?”
“To meet such an amazing person.”
What nonsense is this? Zhenya glared. Just as she was about to tell them to shut up, she heard something unbelievable:
“Everyone bows because he’s engaged to the princess.”
What did they just say?
“The emperor is magnanimous, matching his only daughter, Her Highness the Princess, with a partner.”
The emperor—here, the only person they could refer to as “His Majesty” was Zhenya’s uncle, the emperor.
And as far as Zhenya knew, her aunt could no longer have children, making the emperor’s only child her cousin Jeremiah.
“Then, really, where else could there be a ruler like our emperor?”
“They say the emperor even sent donations to the affected areas.”
“They just picked the wrong son-in-law and got embarrassed.”
So what they meant was…
“Well, an engagement is just an engagement. Doesn’t mean it can’t be broken off.”
“Sure, why would Princess Jeremiah want anyone else? Where else could you find someone so noble?”
“Exactly, the empire’s best bride!”
“They say she’s gorgeous, a dazzling beauty.”
So… Lumière and Jeremiah are engaged…
“Zhenya, there’s a good restaurant about five minutes away. They have food I think you’ll like. Let’s go there.”
Taking a deep breath, Zhenya looked up blankly at Lumière approaching her.
“Zhenya?”
Looking confused, Lumière tilted his head, and she asked stupidly:
“Are you engaged to Jeremiah?”
Lumière’s eyes widened in surprise. He opened his mouth, then rolled his eyes as if checking her reaction. At that moment, Zhenya felt utterly crushed.
‘Unbelievable.’
If he had just nodded casually as if it were nothing, she might not have felt so bad.
‘Why did I only find out now?’
Of course, the hero’s engagement wasn’t something Zhenya had been focused on.
But Jeremiah? He’s engaged to Jeremiah and yet told me he likes me?
‘Is he crazy?’
At the time, Lumière didn’t know that Zhenya was Jeremiah’s cousin, but he should have told her immediately once he found out.
“What kind of crazy family tree is this?”
