Chapter 13
Julius-san didn’t seem particularly bothered, so I figured this was just how he was. Just then, Edgardo-san greeted us in a cheerful voice...
“So, which one am I supposed to serve? We’re supposed to surround the Saint, right? Which one’s the Saint?”
“!?”
I had probably just heard something I shouldn’t have.
(Attend... serve? Surround her? Have men... attend on her...???)
(So... the supporters are actually meant to be members of the Saint’s reverse harem!?)
It was a common trope in novels for handsome men to surround a Saint, a princess, or a powerful woman, but the thought that it was about to happen right before my eyes made a pathetic little squeak escape me.
(Wait... so Julius-san, too...?)
“Ow! Why’d you hit me, Sylvain-sama!?”
“Because you’re an idiot.”
As I listened to their conversation from a distance after a satisfyingly sharp smack, the realization made my breathing grow a little ragged for some reason. I was clutching the stone in my necklace without realizing it.
“Ri—”
“But the Kingdom of Viene practices monogamy, right? It’d be a problem if the Saint-sama didn’t know she had to choose one person, so— Ow! Why’d you punch me, Julius-san? And with a fist, no less!!!”
“Because you’re an idiot.”
The supporters appointed by the kingdom were to serve and support the Saint, and she would choose one person.
(Ah... so we’re talking about a future spouse, that sort of thing...)
If the supporters had been assembled for that sort of purpose, it made sense that they were impressive men spanning a wide range of ages.
“This is ridiculous...!”
Toko-san’s voice pulled me out of my sinking thoughts. She sprang up from the sofa and took my hand.
“We don’t need any supporters. I’m not interested!”
“Let’s go, Riko.”
“Ah, Toko-sa...”
Without even looking back at Julius-san, the two of us rushed out of the room.
“Ah, so she was the Saint...”
“...Who was it that recommended this idiot as a supporter again...?”
“Sylvain-sama’s older brother—the King.”
Just before the door closed, I thought I heard those three say that.
◇
“Seriously, seriously, treating people like idiots...!!!”
I was led into a lavish room—was this Toko-san’s?—and sat down beside her on a canopy bed.
Toko-san, still caught up in her emotions, slammed a pillow onto the bed. Feathers drifted through the air.
“Does that bald old tanuki think I’ll do whatever he wants just because he throws men at me?!”
(So the king’s bald...)
“Don’t underestimate me!!!”
Toko-san’s right hand plunged into the pillow she had pinned to the bed with a muffled thump.
“...Even without any of that, I’ve already decided what I’m going to do... I’ll see it through to the end...!”
“I’ll protect the lives of the people in this country...!”
“Toko-san...”
Amid the drifting feathers, her hair disheveled and sweat-slick, panting hard with her shoulders heaving, Toko-san still had a light in her eyes. She looked beautiful.
(She’s amazing...)
(This is... Toko-san’s story, isn’t it...)
The proud, beautiful Saint summoned at the kingdom’s behest.
Handsome men surrounding her, as though to protect her...
Would Julius-san be among them, too...?
(I’m... just a mob, so... it has nothing to do with me...)
“...”
Perhaps noticing my slightly gloomy expression, Toko-san smoothed her hair and sat back down beside me.
“I made you feel uncomfortable too, Riko...”
“Huh? No! The whole supporters thing had nothing to do with me, so I wasn’t upset or anything...”
I’d only been there while they talked about the Saint and her supporters—something that had nothing to do with me. I was the only outsider.
“...That look on your face tells me that man with the suspicious smile really has been treating you well...”
“Huh...?”
Toko-san gently pulled me into a hug. She smelled faintly sweet, like flowers.
“That idiot is out of the question, but I don’t think that man has any intention of serving me or sucking up to me, you know?”
“He doesn’t put up that kind of wall when he talks to you, does he?”
“That’s... true, but... still...”
“...I really can’t stand it, but... that fixation—no... I think his feelings for you are genuine.”
As she said that, Toko-san tapped my necklace with her fingertip.
Then, for some reason, it felt as though that spot grew softly warm. It was strange.