Chapter 113
“How should I answer?”
To put it simply, what Ruen had asked was the truth.
Although we didn’t do what people generally imagine.
Going into a Lodging with a being like the Princess and discussing marriage was, without a single lie mixed in, the complete truth.
“So it would be right to say yes, but…”
Feeling that things would get out of hand the moment I said yes straightforwardly here, I urgently waved my hands and spoke.
“I think there’s some misunderstanding. It wasn’t that kind of vibe.”
“…Saying it wasn’t that kind of vibe means you did do it, right?”
I had no idea what she meant by saying I did it.
As I felt a headache coming on and thought about how I had no idea how to resolve this.
Suddenly, a good idea came to mind, and I pulled Daisy out from my arms and spoke.
“No, think about it carefully. With Daisy there, do you think I’d do the kind of thing you guys are thinking of?”
Saying that, I placed Daisy on my palm and held her out.
Daisy, with her arms crossed tightly and her cheeks puffed out, swiftly turned her head away.
“Ppiya!”
“…?”
Is she sulking by any chance?
Since I hadn’t expected Daisy to react like this, I couldn’t hide my fluster. Right around then.
Liana let out a sigh and calmed the situation down.
“Saintess, please calm down. You know as well that Lord Damian wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“B-But…”
“But Saintess, I have a question. What kind of thing is that “such a thing” you mentioned?”
“…?!”
At Liana’s question, Ruen startled in surprise.
Then she hesitated and averted her gaze.
Seeing Ruen’s earlobes turn bright red, I realized the situation was largely resolved and let out a sigh of relief. Right around then.
Shiren stepped forward and spoke to me.
“So what’s this talk about marriage? Are you really going to get married?”
It was her usual expressionless face, but I could feel that she was a little angry.
Since Shiren being that angry meant she was genuinely mad, I decided for now to explain step by step what had happened.
“Ah… So she was the one who unilaterally asked to get married.”
Ruen, seemingly embarrassed about what she had said to me earlier, kept averting my gaze with her face dyed bright red.
I found Ruen’s reaction amusing, so I was staring intently at her to tease her on purpose.
when Shiren suddenly appeared and spoke to me.
“So what are you going to do? Are you going to marry that Princess person?”
“Well…”
The conditions the Princess offered for marriage were certainly alluring.
Even if the Imperial Family’s situation wasn’t going so well, their power was still robust.
If we formed an Alliance, interfering with House Karsaril would become a considerably difficult task, no matter how powerful an Order it was.
“But when one thinks about it more deeply, I also wondered if it was really necessary.”
Whether it was the Order or Dark Mages, they would be silenced with a single Shadow Bomb anyway, so it was questionable if I really needed to go as far as getting married.
On top of that, getting married would create all sorts of restrictions, and I didn’t feel any merit in dealing with them.
Therefore, I told her I was thinking of declining for now.
“Yeah. That’s fine then. I’ll let you off the hook for the flick on the forehead.”
Shiren forgave me more easily than expected and nodded her head.
“By the way, a flick on the forehead?”
While I was wondering why she had wanted to flick my forehead.
Ruen, who had been letting out a sigh of relief, stared at me and spoke.
“Then are you planning to wrap up the banquet slowly and kill Archbishop Mikhail now?”
At that question, I fell into thought for a moment.
For one, I wanted to defeat the Final Boss that appeared at the end of the banquet before leaving.
“On top of that, I should probably express to the Princess my clear intention to refuse as well.”
So, thinking it would be better to stay a little longer for now, I told them I would stay put.
Ruen pouted, seemingly displeased with my choice, but soon nodded and cheered me on.
“If I had it my way, I’d tell you to just come back now… but I’ll still respect your opinion, Damian.”
I felt an urge to poke the whining Ruen’s cheek.
But feeling like she might bite me if I did, I held back. Then Liana let out a sigh and spoke.
“Then the plan to bring the Princess over to our side has become a failure.”
A failure.
I nodded, feeling a strange sense of bitterness rising up.
'Bitterness aside, there’s no need to forcefully hold onto her.'
When Interests didn’t align, letting go quickly was ideal for both of us.
Deciding to end the relationship at this point, I resolved to decline with appropriate words when I returned.
As soon as the next morning arrived, I immediately headed to the Lodging where Pria was staying.
Usually, when sleeping in an unfamiliar place, people tend not to be able to sleep for long.
In Pria’s case, this place seemed to suit her well, as the sight of her fast asleep caught my eye.
“Should I just let her sleep soundly?”
Since there was still time left before the banquet started anyway, I decided to let Pria sleep a little more, and sat on the sofa with a sigh.
“Now then, what should I do?”
While I was contemplating how to decline cleanly.
Pria got up from the bed with a half-asleep face, waving her hands around as she spoke.
“Why didn’t you wake me up today…”
“…?”
“We’ll be late for the banquet… Eung.”
Seeing Pria whining in front of me, I was momentarily flustered and at a loss for words.
While I was debating whether I should just wake her up, Pria seemed to have come to her senses.
Her voice rapidly grew softer.
“…Uh.”
A short silence flowed.
Looking at Pria, who was gasping in shock in front of me, I smiled awkwardly and offered a greeting.
“Did you sleep well?”
“…W-What? What is it?”
She finally seemed to be waking up a bit.
However, it was a bit awkward to give my answer regarding marriage in this state.
Deciding to tell her after going to the Banquet Hall, I spoke briefly.
“Then shall we slowly head back, Princess.”
“Ah, yeah.”
Deciding to give her time to sort things out, I stood up from my seat and looked out the window.
'It’s peaceful.'
Looking at that sight that seemed completely unrelated to war, I smiled bitterly.
As soon as we returned to the Banquet Hall, Pria reverted to the exact appearance she had shown when I first saw her and spoke to me.
“You’re going to decline, right?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re going to decline the offer I made. Aren’t you?”
Could Pria perhaps read other people’s minds?
Wondering how she knew this, I stared at her wordlessly, and she shrugged her shoulders and told me the reason.
“You kept acting like you were trying to conclude things, so I figured you’d decline sooner or later.”
Having nothing else to say, I looked at Pria.
Pria neatly arranged her pink hair and spoke to me.
“Thanks to you, I had a good experience and spent an unforgettable day, so I’m truly thankful for that. Thank you.”
Pria also seemed to want to wrap things up cleanly, making various comments as she expressed her gratitude to me.
But judging by the deep regret laced in her voice, she didn’t seem too pleased with this conclusion.
“Ah, and I’m just saying this in case. I won’t tell anyone your identity, so you don’t need to worry. I may not look it, but my lips are quite sealed.”
Still, she didn’t seem to want to cling unbecomingly to me, as she just waved her hand and walked away.
I watched her retreating back when I suddenly told her something I had forgotten.
“There’s a Clone of the Princess right now, so you shouldn’t go in that state.”
“Ah.”
With those words, Pria scurried over to me with her face dyed bright red.
Then she pouted and spoke to me.
“You should have told me beforehand…”
Using a Shadow, I approached Princess Pria’s Clone, simultaneously eliminating the Clone while placing the Princess back in her proper spot.
“…Thank you.”
Pria, perhaps embarrassed by the unseemly behavior she had shown earlier, kept avoiding my gaze as she conveyed her thanks.
Looking at the Princess, I held back my laughter and continued speaking.
“Don’t mention it. This much isn’t difficult.”
With those words, just as I was really about to slowly leave,
suddenly, a loud voice was heard from the opposite side.
“The Master of the Banquet has appeared!”
The Master of the Banquet must mean the Final Boss of the Banquet Hall.
Hearing those words, I decided to go defeat the Master of the Banquet, but the moment I tried to turn my body.
Pria looked at me and tossed me a piece of information.
“There’s a possibility that Archbishop Mikhail will participate in defeating the Master of the Banquet, so you should keep that in mind.”
That was quite an interesting piece of information.
Just as I thanked her and was about to go.
I heard her expressing her regret in a fading voice from behind.
“…I hope we can meet again next time.”
Since this was something I couldn’t give a definite answer to, I merely nodded my head and moved forward.
* * *
As I returned to the center of the Banquet Hall, what I saw was a somewhat chaotic scene.
I recalled what Liana had said in the past: that the Banquet Hall was a kind of amusement.
This sight of the Imperial Faction struggling was highly likely to be an extremely abnormal scene, so I smiled with satisfaction.
'It seems it’s because of the rifts I created.'
Since there was nothing else that could be called a variable, I was contemplating whether I should create a few more rifts. Right then.
From far away, the figure of a somewhat familiar person caught my eye.
“Mikhail, an Archbishop.”
Looking at him, my long-standing nemesis, I felt the need to give him a “greeting (bomb)” and grabbed a Shadow Bomb I had stocked up in my Shadow.