Chapter 74
Yusti-ah and Yuna headed to a teahouse near the Magic Tower.
Since the two were quite famous, a small commotion arose in the teahouse.
It was understandable, considering two members of the Hero’s Party had gathered in one place.
However, the commotion didn’t last long, and soon, silence fell.
Sip - .
After taking a sip of her tea, Yusti-ah set her teacup down and broke the ice.
“Have you been well?”
Yusti-ah had so many things she wanted to ask Yuna, but out of politeness, she asked how she was doing before getting to the main point.
“It was a huge ordeal last time, after all.”
With her family having gone through such an ordeal, she couldn’t help but be concerned, both as an acquaintance and as someone involved.
“Yeah, thankfully, my family and I have been doing well.”
Yuna had a smile on her lips.
It wasn’t a forced smile to forget her pain, but a genuine one.
“That’s a relief. Only good things will happen from now on.”
“I hope so. Yusti-ah, only good things will happen for you, too.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
The exchange of words was the very definition of heartwarming.
Yusti-ah let out a soft laugh, “Huhu -,” like any noble young lady, and took another sip of her tea.
But wasn’t something strange?
'W-Wait, this isn’t it…?'
When she first came to the teahouse, she had definitely planned to interrogate her about her relationship with Franz, but she had gotten swept up in Yuna’s bright smile.
Finally coming to her senses, Yusti-ah cut straight to the chase.
“Yuna, you met with Franz a while ago, right?”
“Yeah, we ate together at my house.”
“Pardon? What I was going to say was…”
What Yusti-ah had intended to bring up was, of course, the time they captured the cultist, Belphegor, alive.
Because Franz had said he was able to solve the code and capture him alive thanks to Yuna.
But what in the world was this?
“You ate at your house…?!”
It seemed they hadn’t just met for official business, but had shared a private setting as well.
To even visit her house and eat together, this was just like…
…Wait, there was one thing she needed to confirm before that.
“Was your family home?”
The one who had saved Yuna’s family was none other than Franz, so perhaps he had been formally invited to dinner.
If that were the case, visiting her house for a meal would be completely understandable.
However, Yuna’s answer completely missed Yusti-ah’s expectations.
“No, was it just the two of us eating?”
“…J-Just the two of you?!”
Having raised her voice without realizing it, Yusti-ah glanced around out of the corner of her eye before continuing in a low voice.
“Why? Why on earth did you two eat alone?”
“I had a lot to be thankful to Franz for in various ways, so I wanted to treat him to a meal at least.”
“Are you talking about when he saved your family last time?”
“That too, but he also paid a lot of attention to helping me find a house this time.”
Huh?
Yusti-ah’s eyes turned round.
What kind of nonsense was this now, him helping her find a house?
He was a man of endless surprises. The more she learned, the more new things kept popping out.
“Could you explain that in a bit more detail?”
“Ah, yeah. You know how I’ve said for a long time that I wanted to live in a big house? It’s because of that…”
Yuna explained in detail what had happened with Franz.
From her saying she wanted to live in a big house, to the cultist being on the mountain behind the house they had painstakingly found, and finally, to her planning to live in Duke Ishtar’s Castle.
After Yusti-ah heard the whole story, a question formed in her mind.
“So the conclusion is this: Franz will receive a ducal title, and you will be living in Franz’s house.”
“Hmm -, if you put it that way, I guess so?”
Yuna answered very calmly.
As if this sort of thing was nothing at all.
But Yusti-ah didn’t take it that way.
“Since they are living in the same house, what in the world does that…?!”
No matter how deep their friendship was, where in the world was there a man who would tell a woman to live in his house?
“A-Are you two perhaps planning to get married, or are you in love or something?”
“Hey, no way. What do I have going for me to marry Franz? I’m a commoner, and I’m not even smart.”
“What if Franz says he likes you…?”
Asking very cautiously, Yusti-ah carefully observed her expression and waited for an answer.
At that, Yuna seemed flustered for a moment before giving an awkward smile.
“W-Well? I’ve never thought about it…”
“Then think about it now.”
What on earth was she saying?
Yusti-ah felt truly foolish, even though they were her own words.
“Why am I being like this…?”
Lately, whenever it came to matters concerning Franz, she found herself reacting intensely for no reason.
It was the same when he captured the cultist alive not too long ago.
Normally, she would have thought it was a relief not to get tangled up in something troublesome, but for some reason, she felt disappointed.
She should just let it go.
Just as Yusti-ah thought that and was about to speak.
“I’m sorry. This conversation is…”
“I think I’d accept him…?”
Yuna’s words meant that if Franz said he liked her, she would accept his feelings.
It was a truly significant answer, so Yusti-ah’s mind went blank for a moment.
“Then that means Yuna has feelings for Franz too…?”
She had originally planned to roughly wrap things up around here, but now that Yuna had given a clear answer, she couldn’t bring herself to do so.
“Why…?”
“Honestly, he’s too good for me. He’s handsome, his family background is way better than mine, he’s an unprecedented mage, and he’s the hero who subjugated the Demon Lord. On top of that, he saved my family.”
Every single word was so true that she couldn’t even argue back.
“Honestly, he is handsome.”
He would deny it when women complimented him, but honestly, looking at it objectively, he had quite a handsome face. It was to the point where she had even thought he had looks but no personality.
“…I can understand that.”
“W-What about you, then? Take off your title as saintess and think about it purely as a woman.”
“M-Me…?!!”
At Yuna’s question, Yusti-ah became flustered.
She only now realized just how difficult the question she had asked was.
“So, marrying Franz, huh…?”
If it had been during their Hero’s Party days, she would have refused no matter how much money she was offered.
Because back then, he was truly no different from a feral cat.
Not only was his personality always on edge, but she really hated him because he was a perfectionist.
But if it were now.
“Maybe a little…”
Wouldn’t it be okay to at least consider it?
His personality had loosened up a lot, after all.
Honestly, it was hard to find flaws in any other aspect of him.
It might be nice to take a walk together in a quiet forest.
Picking mushrooms, putting them in a basket, and going back home to cook.
“No, no. What am I thinking right now…?”
Yusti-ah shook her head vigorously from side to side to erase the thought.
It was a ridiculous notion in the first place.
She, a saintess, coming to like him, getting married, all of it.
So there was no need to even think about it.
“I-I don’t know.”
But even so, she couldn’t clearly answer that such a thing would never happen.
, for whatever reason, though she didn’t know why.
After that, the two spent their time having a truly unproductive conversation.
Soon, after some time had passed and they had emptied their teacups, the two left the teahouse.
“Ah, right. I forgot to mention it. Franz is currently out with his secretary.”
“Really? Then I guess I have no choice but to go back.”
“I had fun today. Get back safely.”
“Yeah, I had fun too. And Yusti-ah, you should come over to my house for a meal sometime too. Franz said it was delicious, so it’ll definitely suit your tastes as well.”
It subtly felt like a brag, but knowing Yuna’s personality, she probably didn’t mean it that way.
So she just needed to take the words at face value.
“Yes, I will.”
“Yeah, see you next time.”
Yuna waved lightly in greeting and left.
Yusti-ah let out a deep sigh as she watched her retreating figure.
She didn’t know why, but her chest felt just a tiny bit tight.
* * *
The sun that had been floating in the sky was now hanging precariously over the mountain ridge.
The sight of the sun hanging over the snow-covered mountain felt truly beautiful.
Perhaps it felt even more so because he was looking at it from inside a carriage.
“We’re almost there now. You’ll be able to see it once we cross this hill.”
Arian, his secretary and acting navigator, sitting beside him, said.
“Come to think of it, this is my first time.”
Even though he had lived in the empire for over 20 years, this was his first time coming to the North.
It would be one thing if transportation were developed enough to make a day trip out of it, but since it took more than two days just one way, going on a trip wasn’t easy either.
Not that he had the time for it in the first place.
He wondered if it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take this opportunity to try making a large stagecoach.
A tourism business planned by the Magic Tower. This would definitely be a success.
Franz was having these pleasant imaginations in his head.
As the carriage crossed the hill, the sight of a large city began to appear in the distance.
They had finally arrived at the location of the Duke Phrygia Castle, the North’s Ice City Serpa.