Chapter 79
I said it.
‘I said it…!’
A wave of heat surged from my tailbone, ran up my spine, and shot all the way to the top of my head.
At this point, if someone splashed cold water on me, wouldn’t steam burst out?
That was how hot my whole body felt.
My eardrums were pounding too.
Will it look like I have ulterior motives? It will, won’t it?
I didn’t dare lift my head.
More than anything, this silence. It’s scary. Sob.
“A-ah, no. I thought about it! The rumor has already spread, and even if we explain, there probably won’t be many people who believe it.”
“…So?”
“So… since it’s come to this, I thought we could try a fake relationship.”
I raised my head slightly and gave a sheepish grin, as if asking for understanding.
“Saintess. …I don’t really understand. How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
So firm.
Well, I hadn’t expected His Majesty to immediately grab onto my proposal and say, ‘All right. Let’s do that.’
How am I supposed to package this—!
I racked my brain.
I couldn’t exactly say, ‘This just occurred to me, but if I say I’m dating Your Majesty, I think Derachi will tuck his tail and run.’
“Well, that is… um….”
Ugh.
In my imagination, I’d already executed a brilliant scheme and even reached various agreements with His Majesty.
Reality: I couldn’t even get a single sentence out properly.
…Honestly, I expected this.
Even if it’s fake, I’m basically trying to seduce His Majesty into dating me!
My heart was pounding like crazy even now, my fingertips trembling.
It was a miracle I’d even managed to ask, “Would you like to fake-date?”
…What scheme.
When had my life ever gone according to plan?
Let’s just push forward.
If this adds even one more safeguard to keep His Majesty safe…!
“Saintess?”
“Fine. I’ll tell you the truth.”
I lifted my head sharply.
“I’ve gotten into serious trouble because of this rumor.”
“…I know. That’s why I was going to make sure no further harm comes to you—”
“Your Majesty.”
I’ve watched His Majesty for months now.
I know, to some extent, how he treats me.
Letting the Saintess live like a flower in a greenhouse if that’s what she wants, minimizing outside contact when my hair is black…
His Majesty wants to protect the image of Zendal’s Saintess.
“You know what?”
I lowered my gaze, imagining an actress playing a tragic heroine.
“I can’t even get married anymore.”
Drip.
If someone had been listening, they might have spit out their drink.
I never thought a line straight out of some makjang drama would come out of my mouth.
Anyway.
It seemed to work quite well on His Majesty.
“The rumors have already spread like this…! Even if I explain it’s not true, who would believe me…! I-I can’t get married now—!”
“Th-that….”
It was the first time I’d seen His Majesty so flustered he couldn’t even speak properly!
After rubbing his face dry a few times, he stood up from the sofa with a resolute expression.
Why does he look so handsome even while sighing…?
“Perhaps it’s better to erase everyone’s memories. Even if it takes time, I’ll personally—”
“Eek. That’s mental manipulation. If it goes wrong, people could become idiots…!”
“If I do it, I can keep it from harming their minds. Shinari, wait just a few months.”
A few months, what!
Your Majesty, you said there might be a war in a few months!
The word war made me anxious again.
So I pleaded with him at length.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just say we’re dating? And I said it’s fake! I won’t even hold hands or do anything!”
“Then all the more reason not to. Rather than such a false relationship, something sincere—”
“Then there’s even less of a problem. Because I like you, Your Majesty.”
“…The Saintess should meet someone better than me—”
“Meet someone better than Your Majesty?”
I’d heard that so often my ears were about to get calluses.
“I’m really sick of it.”
“…What?”
His Majesty asked back, looking as if he’d misheard.
I flinched a little at how shocked he looked, but my nerve had grown lately.
Probably because His Majesty had indulged me so much.
Since we were at it, I decided to push my luck a bit more.
“It’s always like this. Your Majesty says I should meet someone better than you, and I can’t find anyone better than you.”
Let’s omit the part where appearance is included in my criteria.
“Instead of arguing like this forever, why don’t we take this chance to experience it ourselves?”
“……”
“They say ideals and reality are different. You might realize you’re actually a good person, or I might think the opposite.”
His Majesty just listened quietly, which actually worked in my favor.
It let me deliver it like a declaration of war.
“As for the rumor, we can announce later that it wasn’t true. So just one month.”
I held up my index finger toward him.
“Let’s try dating for just one month.”
One month would be more than enough time for Derachi to hear that the Saintess likes Zendal’s Emperor, right?
“So if you really aren’t a good person, unlike my ideals, I’ll give up.”
Of course, that would never happen.
No matter how high I set my standards, they were useless in front of His Majesty’s looks.
Sitting in the desk chair, I stretched out my hand toward His Majesty on the distant sofa, offering an air handshake.
“Deal?”
***
Late at night, Allend sat leaning against his bed’s headboard, staring at a single sheet of paper in his hand.
…It was a problem we had to face.
In the end, he accepted the Saintess’s conditions.
As she’d said, they couldn’t go on forever, circling the same argument like a waterwheel.
It was something that had to be resolved someday.
Allend thought it might actually be for the best.
Wouldn’t it be a good thing if, through this opportunity, the Saintess gave up the feelings she had for him?
The tightness in his chest must still be lingering guilt.
Even the healing priest had said there was nothing wrong with his body.
If the Saintess stopped liking him, the symptoms would disappear—that was what Allend believed.
“Let’s write up a contract too.”
What Allend held was a dating contract.
Since it wasn’t a real relationship, they decided to list the things they wanted each other to keep and draft it formally.
“Hmm, first—don’t deliberately act like a bad person.”
As if she’d somehow seen through his intention to prove he wasn’t a good person,
the Saintess proposed that condition first.
He didn’t like it, but he agreed.
Then they exchanged their wishes, filling in the contract whenever the other consented.
“Oh, and let’s include the duration. This relationship ends in one month.”
Allend stared at the bottom of the contract.
A one-month term, and two signatures.
A contract known only to the two of them had been concluded.
Then…
How should he make the Saintess dislike him?
“I-I can’t accept something like this…!”
Come to think of it, the Saintess seemed uncomfortable when he treated her well.
Whenever she reluctantly granted his requests because she was swayed by his face, hadn’t she trembled and muttered, ‘Your personality is really awful.’?
“……”
As Allend pondered, a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.
***
Wh-what is this.
It was time to head to the chapel for work.
I had just said goodbye and stepped outside the palace, only to run back inside three seconds later.
W-what is going on—?!
I couldn’t understand what I had just seen.
It was clearly the kind of beauty you’d expect to see in a heavenly realm, not this world.
I must’ve seen wrong. I saw wrong.
I cautiously poked my head past the door to check again.
I hadn’t seen wrong.
His Majesty was standing in front of the Prodita Palace gates, accompanied by Captain Henkel.
And not only that—his uniform was sharper than usual, his hair styled naturally with pomade to frame his face.
Sapphire cufflinks at his sleeves, a brooch on his collar.
Our eyes met, and His Majesty smiled gently.
“Saintess. Did you sleep well last night?”
Ah. My, my eyes.
Am I still in bed, dreaming that I got ready for work?
My real body must still be under the blankets.
There’s no way this is reality…!
“A dream…!”
“It’s reality.”
He says it’s not a dream.
Half-hidden behind the massive doorframe, I asked him,
“W-why are you here so early in the morning…?”
“I stopped by on my way to pray at the Imperial Chapel. I remembered that you usually go around this time.”
You don’t pray…!
In the months I’ve been working, His Majesty has come to the chapel maybe three times.
Priest Raul even said there couldn’t be a more relaxed workplace.
Anyway—what is this?
Why has the kind version suddenly come back to life…?!
“S-so, what is it?”
More than feeling happy to see his face first thing in the morning, I felt afraid.
This was a feeling I hadn’t had in a while.
“Saintess… watching you is amusing.”
That’s the ill-tempered His Majesty from back when he treated me like a lackey.
I looked at him with full suspicion.
But today his looks were shining.
Porcelain-like skin without a single visible pore, a nose bridge so perfect even a cosmetic surgeon would raise both hands in surrender, eyelashes long enough to cast shadows, lips just the right shade of red…
“Shall we go together?”
“Yes.”
….
Nooo. My body! I got bewitched again! Why are you betraying me?!
Where did my resolve to stay on guard go? My body nodded on its own, answered, and walked straight toward His Majesty.
“I’m pleased. To be able to spend the morning with the Saintess.”
Good heavens.
I’d forgotten—our Emperor is a genius actor.
M-me, me, me—!
What do I do now…?!
I had no idea why he’d suddenly started acting like a gentle emperor.
Was it because of the contract yesterday?
Maybe there was something written on the back page I hadn’t noticed.
There’s a reason people say to check the back page before signing a contract….
I wanted to run to my room and check it immediately, but my body refused to cooperate.
It was too busy awkwardly walking beside His Majesty.
Had the commute to the chapel always been this long…?
“L-look over there…! The Saintess and His Majesty are together…!”
“To think the two beloved by the God Seikan are a pair. Just looking at them is bliss.”
“I’m glad I lived to see this day.”
Whispers spread around us.
Things were definitely going according to my plan to spread the rumor that His Majesty and I were dating.
But why did I feel so nervous…?
“Y-Your Majesty.”
Finally, conscious of Captain Henkel and Dune following behind, I lowered my voice and asked,
“Why are you doing this?”
His Majesty leaned slightly closer and whispered back, just loud enough for me to hear.
“The Saintess suggested we try it for a month. Dating.”
